Author: Badalian Vardan

PRESSE-GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Le mensuel l’Histoire consacre un dossier de 50 pages sur les «
Arméniens : le premier génocide du XXáµ? siècle »

Le mensuel l’Histoire (n°408 daté de février 2015) vient de consacrer
un dossier de 50 pages sur le génocide arménien à l’occasion du 100ème
anniversaire du génocide des Arméniens. « Il y a cent ans le
gouvernement des Jeunes-Turcs commettait le premier génocide du XXe
siècle décimant la communauté arménienne, pourtant bien intégrée Ã
l’Empire ottoman. On comprend mieux aujourd’hui l’idéologie qui a
motivé les responsables et la mécanique implacable du massacre. Par
Boris Adjemian, Taner Akçam, Annette Becker, Hamit Bozarslan, Pierre
Chuvin, Vincent Duclert, François Georgeon, Raymond Kévorkian, Claire
Mouradian, Mikaël Nichanian et Yves Ternon » écrit l’Histoire.
Disponible auprès de tous les marchands de journaux (6,40 euros).

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 24 janvier 2015,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

NEW HEARING OF PERINcEK VS. SWITZERLAND ON JAN. 28

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 23 2015

Workers’ Party (Ä°P) Chairman Dogu Perincek. (Photo: Today’s Zaman)

January 23, 2015, Friday/ 17:58:52/ MULEYKE BARUTCU / ISTANBUL

The case of Workers’ Party (Ä°P) Chairman Dogu Perincek v. Switzerland,
which determined that calling the declaration of the mass killings
of Armenians during Ottoman rule in 1915 a genocide “an international
lie” cannot constitute a criminal offence in Switzerland, will again
be heard at the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) on Jan. 28.

The hearing comes after Switzerland’s objections were accepted by
the ECtHR. Switzerland is one of the countries that recognize the
1915 events that led to the mass killings of Armenian minorities of
the Ottoman Empire as genocide and accepted the law that legitimizes
its denial as crime. Perincek made statements during a lecture tour
in Switzerland in 2007 in the Swiss cities of Bern and Lozan calling
the Armenian genocide “an international lie.” A Swiss court charged
Perincek for violating the rules intentionally and sentenced him to
90 days imprisonment.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians died during World War I in Ottoman
Turkey in 1915 but denies that up to 1.5 million were killed and
that it constituted an act of genocide — a term used by many Western
historians, foreign parliaments and Armenians worldwide.

Perincek’s appeals against the Swiss judgment were rejected several
times, although later his sentence of imprisonment was replaced
with a fine. In 2008, Perincek appealed to the ECtHR claiming that
Switzerland was “limiting freedom of expression.” Perincek won the
case five years later on Dec. 17, 2013 when the ECtHR ruled against
Switzerland, determining that denying that the mass killings of
Armenians in 1915 amounted to a genocide was not a criminal offence.

In 2014, human rights organizations called for the Swiss government to
reject the ECtHR’s decision. In June of the same year Switzerland’s
appeal was accepted by the ECtHR, with a hearing date scheduled for
Jan. 28, 2015.

Eren Keskin, head of the Human Rights Association (Ä°HD), which will be
heard as a third-party intervention during the hearing, has said that
the issue is not whether the Armenian genocide should be recognized
legally but instead whether, “Perincek’s expressions pave the way to
racism and discrimination.”

EYES ON POLICE INTEL CHIEF IN DINK MURDER CASE

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 23 2015

Thousands of protesters gather outside the Agos newspaper to mark
the eighth anniversary of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s
murder in Ä°stanbul on Jan. 19. (Photo: AP)

January 23, 2015, Friday/ 17:07:22/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL

As the investigation further deepens into the 2007 murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, eyes are now on a senior
police official who headed the intelligence department of Trabzon at
the time of the killing after several of his underlings were arrested
on charges of involvement in the murder.

Three police officials working under Engin Dinc in the intelligence
department of the Trabzon Police Department were recently arrested
as part of an expanded probe into the killing of Dink. Dinc has been
promoted since then and is now one of the most senior officials at
the head of police intelligence.

But whether the investigation will be extended to include him as
a suspect remains a question. A news report published in the Taraf
daily on Friday said the top state authorities have agreed not to
allow him to be prosecuted even though testimonies of his associates
point to his involvement as well.

A court overseeing the case postponed the trial to April. 28.

Police officials Ercan Demir, Ozkan Mumcu and Muhittin Zenit have
been arrested as part of the trial.

An Ä°stanbul court arrested former Cizre Police Chief Ercan Demir,
who turned himself in on Monday after an arrest warrant had been
issued against him on Jan. 16.

Trabzon Police Department Assistant Commissioner Mumcu and Zenit were
arrested on Jan. 13 on charges of negligence and misconduct in the
murder of Dink.

Demir’s case raised curiosity as he had been appointed as head of
the police department in the restive southeastern town of Cizre only
a couple of weeks before an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Demir had been questioned as a suspect as part of the Dink murder
investigation by prosecutors at the Ä°stanbul Courthouse on Jan. 12,
but a court released him pending trial. Ä°stanbul prosecutors appealed
the court’s decision and Ä°stanbul’s Criminal Court of Peace issued
an arrest warrant for Demir on Jan. 16 on charges of “negligence in
preventing the murder.”

Taraf described the stalemate over Dinc’s questioning as a suspect
in the murder case as a crisis reminiscent of a 2012 case, in which
National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) head Hakan Fidan was summoned
by a prosecutor for questioning as a suspect in an investigation into
the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organization that
encompasses the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The prosecutor had been investigating allegations that MÄ°T agents
were active agents within the KCK. But the summoning of Fidan angered
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister at the time, who swiftly
pushed for legal changes that in turn protected Fidan from prosecution.

Taraf said Dinc might be obliged to testify as part of the case given
the fact that the Dink family insists that the investigation include
him as well. In such a case, it said, Dinc may quietly testify to
the prosecutor, likely to be followed by a decision to drop charges
against him.

Dink was shot and killed by an ultra-nationalist teenager. The hit
man, Ogun Samast, and 18 others were brought to trial. Since then,
the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case have
presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another
suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast
to commit murder.

The retrial process started in September 2014, when the Ä°stanbul 5th
High Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of
Appeals in May 2013 overturning the lower court ruling that acquitted
suspects in the Dink murder case of forming a terrorist organization.

This decision paved the way for the trial of public officials on the
charge of voluntary manslaughter.

There were also separate investigations going on, including in
Ä°stanbul and in Trabzon, in relation to Dink’s murder, and despite
the Dink family lawyers’ demands, they were not merged. Toward the
end of last year, they were finally combined.

ARMENIA CLAIMS LANDS IN TURKEY Â~@~S NEWSPAPER

Trend, Azerbaijan
Jan 23 2015

23 January 2015, 14:56 (GMT+04:00)
By Rufiz Hafizoglu- Trend:

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim lands in Turkey, the Turkish
newspaper Haberturk said Jan.22.

It is reported that the old presidential palace in Cankaya and part
of territory on which the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul is located are
among places that are being sought for return by Armenians.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby in connection with the centennial
of the so-called Armenian genocide filed a lawsuit in the court of
Turkey on the return of lands, which allegedly were taken away from
some of the Armenians during the events of 1915.

Harut Sassounian, a writer of Armenian origin residing in the US,
reportedly stressed that Armenia and the diaspora are considering
taking legal actions against Ankara, and will resort to international
courts if the lawsuits they file against the government are rejected
in Turkey.

On Jan.3 2015, a writer of Armenian origin Zuart Sudjian claimed the
land where Diyarbakır Airport is located, alleging that the land
was taken from Sudijian’s family and belongs to his grandfather.

At present, the court is clarifying the verity of the submitted
documents.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey’s predecessor, the
Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out “genocide” against the Armenians
living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied “the
genocide” took place.

While strengthening the efforts to promote the so-called genocide in
the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments
of some countries.

Although Turkey has repeatedly proposed to create an independent
commission to investigate the events of 1915, Armenia continues to
reject this proposal.

IS THE LEADER OF DJAVAKHETI EXTREMISTS FORMING AN ARMED GROUP?

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 23 2015

23 January 2015 – 11:27am

Giorgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Karina Grigoryan, a former police officer, an Honor Decoration
holder, has made a sensational statement. She told the mass media
about the plans of the well-known figure Vaagan Chakhalyan to form in
Djavakheti (a region in southern Georgia where the Armenian population
dominates) an armed group for committing terrorist attacks. “According
to information of my source, Chakhalyan plans riots in the region. He
has already gathered an armed group (60-70 people) and sets ultimatums
to the current authorities,” Grigoryan says. According to her, “if
Chakhalyan fulfills his ideas in practice, I state that it will be
the fault of the current authorities due to their thoughtless steps;
they have been warned many times that Chakhalyan is a threat to the
region, and his release from jail would be a mistake.”

She is a significant figure, as well as Chakhalyan. One of the last
orders of former president Saakashvili was to award Karina Grigoryan
with the highest decoration of Georgia – the Honor Decoration. The
presidential administration quickly invited accredited journalists
to the great hall of the Ablabar Palace to “an important event.”

Saakashvili personally stated about a noble gesture by “a true citizen
of Georgia”, Karina Grigoryan – she resigned and left the Department
of Counterintelligence of the Interior Ministry in protest against
the release of Vaagan Chakhalyan from jail, according to a decision
of the new parliament.

The ruling Georgian Dream coalition came to power in October 2012
and amnestied two-thirds of all prisoners, including those who were
accused of extremism, espionage, and anti-government activities.

Later, the leaders of Georgian Dream explained that this was due to
the fact that Vaagan Chakhalyan was sentenced to jail for several
years not for separatism or formation of armed groups, but for a
fight in one of the Djavakheti state facilities, i.e. for hooliganism.

It seems Karina Grigoryan as an employee of the special services
knew about the activities of Chakhalyan in detail, dealt with him,
and that’s why she decided to resign. Former president Saakashvili,
who had only nominal power by that time (at least he could award
people), decided to mark the patriotic deed by a citizen who “rose
above ethnic nationalism”, as he said when he awarded Karina Grigoryan
with the highest decoration.

Then Saakashvili and Chakhalyan’s roads crossed. When the president
visited Akhalkalaki, the administrative center of Djavakheti,
Chakhalyan came to him (we admit that he is a very bold person)
together with a group of supporters and began to ask him rhetorical
questions about “an unfair trial,” “dictatorship,” and “violation of
Armenians’ rights in Djavakheti.”He spoke in Georgian, even though
he didn’t speak the language before his arrest. He studied the state
language in jail; and his teachers were other prisoners.

“Why don’t you return our churches? Why do you blow them up?”

Chakhalyan asked the president of Georgia. The guard didn’t stop him,
as Saakashvili gave them a sign not to interfere in “the dialogue”.

Then the communicators began to speak Russian. The dialogue ended with
a blow-up. “Do you think it’s you who should judge me?” Saakashvili
attacked. “I will listen to all citizens, but I won’t let such people
as you teach me morality.” In the end, Chakhalyan ran away, shouting
“Misha, go to Turkey! Misha – to Turkey!”

Is it realistic that Chakhalyan manages to form a group of 60-70
people for an armed struggle aimed at the separation of Djavakheti
from Georgia? The Interior Ministry of the country states that the
situation in the region is under control, and there are no threats
of any incidents, let alone armed riots. Djavakheti hasn’t seen
demonstrations with political slogans for a long time, it is true.

However, journalists don’t know where Chakhalyan is or what he is
doing. They couldn’t find him after the sensational statement by
Karina Grigoryan. We hope that the law-enforcement agencies are aware
of his activities and the place where he is located.

TURKEY’S PAST AND FUTURE COLLIDE: WHY 2015 IS A CRITICAL YEAR

CBC News, Canada
Jan 23 2015

ISIS, Syrian refugees and Kurdish unrest all factors in the year ahead

By Nil Koksal, CBC News

Turkey’s past and possible future seem to be picking a fight once
again.

Istanbul and Ankara saw major gatherings this week that show the kind
of year 2015 will be in Turkey, and why it matters.

In the nation’s capital on Monday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan did something
a Turkish president hasn’t done in 15 years. He held a meeting with
cabinet – an eight-and-a-half hour one at that.

This is big news here, because it is usually the prime minister, not
the president in his largely ceremonial role, who meets with ministers.

There were assurances Erdogan would not be making a habit of this. But
tell that to those who are concerned the president is tightening his
grip on power.

The governing AK (Justice & Development) Party puts this under the
banner of what it calls a “New Turkey.” Critics aren’t convinced.

They point to ongoing media censorship as one example of Erdogan’s
style of rule. Just this week, members of his party presented a new
bill that, if passed, would allow the government to shut down any
website it wants for “protection of public order.”

Turkey’s Twitter ban lifted after top court shoots it down

They are concerned Erdogan’s vision is far too reminiscent of Turkey’s
Ottoman past – a time of conquests, empire and single-leader rule.

Remembering the past

Part of that past once again reverberated through the streets of
Istanbul this week, where thousands gathered to remember Hrant Dink.

In 2007, the Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor was murdered outside
the paper’s Istanbul offices by a teenager now serving a 22-year
sentence. It is believed he didn’t act alone, but there is still no
clear picture of who helped orchestrate the crime.

As Dink mourners marched on the eighth anniversary of his death,
authorities announced the arrest of the former chief of intelligence
for the Trabzon police, who allegedly, along with other authorities,
ignored evidence of an imminent threat to the editor.

The arrest is not enough for Armenian Turks, however, who demand
answers not just for Dink’s murder, but for deaths that occurred 100
years ago.

This year marks the centenary of the killings of Armenian Turks
in 1915. In recent years, the Turkish government has taken steps
to improve relations with Armenia. It offered formal condolences,
but will not use the word genocide.

Armenian genocide: Conciliatory statement from Turkey PM rejected

Canada is among several countries that do, however, and Armenian
Turks demand the same of the country they still call home. As the
April anniversary of the massacres approaches, those demands are
likely to become louder.

A new strategy abroad

On the home front, Turkey is also grappling with a resurgence of
Kurdish violence in the southeast, the threat of the Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) at its border and a Syrian refugee crisis.

At the same time, Turkey continues to assert itself abroad.

Prime Minister (and former foreign minister) Ahmet Davutoglu looks
increasingly comfortable on the world stage. He is currently at
the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, ending Erdogan’s
long-standing boycott of the summit, which helps pave the way for
the G20 summit, which Turkey is hosting this year.

Earlier this week, Davutoglu met with British Prime Minister David
Cameron as well as British Muslim leaders to tackle the issue of
growing Islamophobia in Europe.

President Erdogan confronted concerns over ISIS in an address
to international Muslim leaders in Istanbul on Wednesday, asking
rhetorically where these extremists are “getting the authority” to
commit murder in the name of Islam, given that the Muslim faith does
not support such acts.

Charlie Hebdo attack: Hayat Boumeddiene may be in Syria Turkey denies
deal reached with U.S. on airbase use in ISIS fight

There has been criticism from the West that Turkey hasn’t said or
done enough to stem the rise of ISIS. Turkish officials say the vast
900-kilometre southern border separating the country from ISIS-held
areas in Syria is a clear example of how difficult stopping the
Islamic extremists, and preserving Turkey’s own security, can be.

A poll from Istanbul’s Kadir Has University found that 93.2 per cent
of Turks surveyed view ISIS as a terror organization, and 82.3 per
cent see ISIS as a serious threat to Turkey.

Turkish authorities say they’ve stopped thousands of potential
threats from getting through. Yet among the threats Turkey says it
has identified, the world is concerned with the ones that may have
gotten away.

Turkey has always been wedged tightly in a temperamental region,
but this space is now more volatile than ever. How well the country
navigates domestic challenges and the dangers on its doorstep, and how
it balances planning its future while addressing its past, will define
the year ahead. The entire region’s security may well depend on it.

FRESNO ART MUSEUM SHOW MARKS 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The Fresno Bee, CA
Jan 22 2015

By Ron Orozco

An exhibit featuring artwork by Armenian artists to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will be on display in four
galleries at Fresno Art Museum.

The show — “1915-2015: Tradition, Legacy, Culture” — opens Friday,
Jan. 23, with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and continues through April 26.

It is one of the first events of many planned by the Armenian Genocide
Centennial Fresno Committee, which seeks to raise awareness about
the Armenian Genocide of 1915 when 1.5 million Armenians were killed
by the Ottoman Turkish government and to inspire people to overcome
adversity through the stories of its survivors.

The exhibition features some of the most prominent Armenian artists of
the last century — John Altoon, Varujan Boghosian, Charles Garabedian,
Arshile Gorky, Khachik Khachatouryan and Rueben Nakian — as well
as artists with a local connection — Ara Dolarian, Ed Marouk, Varaz
Samuelian, Arminee Shishmanian and, of course, William Saroyan. Some
pieces are on loan from various art galleries and personal collections
throughout the country.

“The art is to celebrate the rich culture of the Armenian artists,”
says Joyce Kierejczyk, guest curator and committee member. “Even
though we have survived a genocide, they have been allowed to create
art and keep cultures alive through art.”

Regina Peters, another committee member, says the show is important to
the community: “It’s world-class art being brought into the community
to see, experience and educate.”

Here are 10 things to see and do at the exhibit:

* Bronze sculpture of Saroyan

In a window display, the piece by Shishmanian depicts Saroyan reading
while sitting on a tree stump. The tree also supports a bike that
Saroyan was known for riding all over town. It was Shishmanian’s
tribute to Saroyan on his 100th birthday. He was born on Aug. 31,
1908. Shishmanian, who lives and works in Fresno, creates a wide
range of art, including watercolor, acrylic, oil paintings, pastels
and bronze sculpture.

* “Genocide” assemblage by Boghosian

The surrealism of Boghosian’s assemblage features children’s blocks
in the colors of the national flag of Armenia — red, blue and
orange — and in different formations. One block bears the weight
of a grape-picking knife. The blocks and knife are “found objects”
that Boghosian uses in the assemblage. Kierejczyk believes the piece
shows “things that shouldn’t have happened” and the blocks represent
“building new life.”

* A bronze sculpture by Marouk

The piece stands about 15-inches tall, depicting a man with a hand on
the shoulder of a younger man in handcuffs. Peters believes the man
is offering counsel to a person being taken away. “It’s a very moving
piece,” she says. “At first, I didn’t see the handcuffs.” Marouk is a
former Fresno attorney who took up art later in life. His commissions
include busts done for the Robert Coyle Federal Courthouse, the
Fifth District Court of Appeals, the San Joaquin School of Law and
the Fresno County Law Library.

* Samuelian’s portrait of wife Anna

Known for bold colors and strong forms, Samuelian painted his wife
in a style he wouldn’t normally paint. “The eyes are compelling,”
Kierejczyk says. “She has a story to tell. When you look at her,
you can see how he loved her and how she loved him.” Samuelian’s
work is all around Fresno, including the large bronze sculpture of
Armenian legendary figure David of Sassoon on horseback wielding a
sword at Fresno County Courthouse Park and the bust of Saroyan at
Fresno Convention Center.

* Saroyan’s drawings

Saroyan is known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Many people
don’t realize he was also an artist. His paintings are lyrical,
free explorations of color and line. Saroyan said, “I began to make
drawings again … because my son was making them. … Most of the
drawings are made so swiftly as to seem to have been instantaneous.”

Peters says, “Children are taught in a traditional way to draw. This
will open to the contemporary drawing. He was consistent with the
style.”

* Sculptures of succulents by Khachatouryan

He is known for contemporary expressions of his bronze and stainless
steel sculptures. He also has employed experimental/multimedia, glass,
interactive, mosaics and murals. Kierejczyk says she appreciates
looking at the world of succulents through the artist’s eyes. “They
are artists taking something so rough and prickly and making it into
beautiful sculptures,” she says. “It is how he has taken art form to
bronze and stainless steel.”

* Altoon’s “Untitled”

He is known for his abstract and figurative work and adeptly executed
line, color and subject matter. “Untitled” was recently exhibited at
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Today, so many can also view
Altoon’s work on their smartphones, but to see “Untitled” in person is
a rare treat. “It comes to life 100 times when you see it in person,”
Peters says.

* Gorky’s collection

Gorky and his family were witnesses of the Armenian Genocide, resulting
in his mother’s death from starvation in 1919. In 1940s New York, he
participated in the avante-garde abstract art movement. He developed
his own style and moved into his own passionate, personal language
of visual expression, which was informed by the suffering and loss
he experienced in his own life.

* Listen to “Come On-a My House”

A recording of the song performed by Rosemary Clooney will be played
during the show — near the pieces on and by Saroyan. The song was
written by Ross Bagdasarian and his cousin, Saroyan, in the summer
of 1939 while driving across New Mexico. The melody is based on an
Armenian folk song. It was released by Clooney on her album by the
same title on June 6, 1951. The song launched Clooney’s career.

* Meet Joan Quinn

She is an art collector who has loaned pieces by Garabedian, known
for classic imagery in his bold paintings, and Altoon, including his
“Untitled” piece. She will be available to meet people at the reception
Jan. 23.

Read more here:

‘THERE WAS AND THERE WAS NOT,’ BY MELINE TOUMANI

The New York Times
Jan 23 2015

By CHRISTOPHER DE BELLAIGUEJAN. 23, 2015

In 2005, Meline Toumani, an Armenian-American, went to live in Turkey
— the country that, in its former incarnation as the Ottoman Empire,
killed more than one million Armenians beginning in 1915, in mass
deportations most historians regard as genocide. Fellow Armenians
considered her decision perverse, not least because she, like them,
had imbibed stories of Turkish plunder and murder along with her
mother’s milk. But Toumani is an idealistic, somewhat contrary soul.

Although in no doubt of Turkish culpability, she was convinced of
the need for reconciliation on a basic, human level.

Also setting her apart from most of her fellow Armenians was her
skepticism over their pursuit of genocide “recognition,” a cause
that unites the tiny, landlocked Republic of Armenia, on Turkey’s
eastern border, and a formidable diaspora scattered from Beirut to
Buenos Aires. Armenian pressure has led to resolutions recognizing the
genocide from the European Union and more than 40 American states (but
not the United States government), each one causing anger in Turkey.

What worried Toumani was that an obsession with the genocide had,
she believed, occluded all other aspects of the Armenian identity. In
the United States, she writes, “I could no longer stand to attend
any Armenian gathering, because it seemed that whether it was a
poetry reading, a concert or even a sporting match, it was always,
ultimately, about the genocide.”

Hence Toumani’s move to the heart of enemy territory, Istanbul, where
she began learning Turkish and even acquired a taste for Turkish food.

So successful was her acculturation that eventually she felt close
enough to the country to regard certain national idiosyncrasies as
“endearingly Turkish” — a phrase that would occur to few Armenians.

But the liaison soured. Four years later, her Turkish improved but
her identity in pieces, a “chain-smoking neurotic” whose pathetic
desire to ingratiate herself with the Turks had shades (as she saw it)
of Stockholm syndrome, Toumani limped back to the United States. She
left (after sobbing through a venomously antagonistic soccer match
between Turkey and Armenia) with few genuine Turkish friends and,
to cap it all, was regarded with suspicion by Turkey’s tiny surviving
Armenian community.

“There Was and There Was Not” (the title is the stock story opener in
several Middle Eastern cultures) is the sensitive, inquiring, somewhat
naïve account of this defeat. Toumani casts an unsparingly honest gaze
on her own motivations, endlessly trying to find the merit in the
other person’s point of view (even, as she discovers to her horror,
that of the top Turkish genocide-denier), though she can also be very
funny. A theme of the book is the alarm that Turks evince when they
find out she is Armenian — “The weather’s been beautiful lately,”
is a common response — and the unaccountable sense of deference she
feels in return. Having a pedicure in Istanbul one day, she does not
dare “subvert the natural order and inform the beautician that she
was sitting at an Armenian woman’s feet.”

All this comes against a backdrop of failing Armenian-Turkish
relations, for while Armenians in Turkey have become more assertive
and a growing number of Turks seem willing to atone for the past,
detente has yet to materialize. (Turkey and Armenia still do not
have diplomatic relations.) Toumani risks the ire of both sides by
“tampering,” as she puts it, “with the story we had all agreed
to tell.” Although it cost her some peace of mind, she has shown
considerable courage in doing so.

THERE WAS AND THERE WAS NOT

A Journey Through Hate and Possibility in Turkey, Armenia, and Beyond

By Meline Toumani

286 pp. Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Company. $28.

Christopher de Bellaigue is a London-based writer and broadcaster. His
most recent book is “Patriot of Persia: Muhammad Mossadegh and a
Tragic Anglo-American Coup.”

AKUNQ VILLAGE LANDLORD DEPRIVED OF OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PART IN TSARASAR GOLD MINE HEARINGS

17:07 January 22, 2015

EcoLur

On 16 January 2015 the public hearings on the environmental impact
assessment of Tsarasar gold mining project were held at Akunq Rural
Municipality submitted by “Armenian International Gold” LLC.

Tsarasar gold mine is located in the drainage basin of Lake Sevan,
which is located in the upper streams of the Masrik River.

“The main concerns of the residents are connected with the springs
of drinking water, but it turned out during the hearings that these
springs are not related to the area,” Nature Protection Ministry
“Environmental Expertise” SNCO expert Heriqnaz Lazarian said in
her telephone conversation with EcoLur. “There are no leased areas,
these are community areas and the community head provides them to
the company for investigations,” Heriqnaz Lazarian said.

EcoLur spoke with the residents and found out from Papin Hambardzumyan
that “International Gold” Company owned by an Avetiq Arzoyan has
already intruded into the land areas he leases causing pecuniary
damage. Papin Hambardzumyan was not informed about the public
hearings held on 16 January, and consequently, he didn’t take part
in the hearings and didn’t read any official document: “The village
head said that area was prospected in the Soviet period and is under
Avetiq Arzoyan’s discretion, all in all – 360 ha, nothing about my land
areas,” Papin Hambardzumyan said and added he will find out whether
or not the aforementioned company is going to operate in his area.

Under the prospecting of Tsarasar reserves, the concentration of
Tsarasar gold in one ton makes up several dozens grams.

EURO 26-MILLION ENPARD PROGRAM LAUNCHED TODAY IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, January 23. /ARKA/. ENPARD (European Neighborhood Program
for Rural Development Armenia) was launched today in Armenia.

Over a period of implementation of this three-year program run by the
European Union and the Austrian Development Agency, EURO 20 million
will be provided to the Armenian government as budgetary assistance
for sustainable and comprehensive development of rural communities.

Another EURO 5 million will be provided to the agriculture ministry
for supporting farming. In addition, the Austrian government will
provide EURO 1 million for implementing this program in Shirak,
Lori and Tavush provinces.

Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan
told journalists at the official ceremony.

In his words, this program is very important for Armenia’s agriculture
since it is mostly focused on strengthening capacity, establishing
cooperative farms, improving consultation system and enhancing food
safety, and income of the people working in the agriculture sector
will grow thanks to it.

Karapetyan said.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Traian Hristea,
on his side, said that the European Union is pleased to provide
important financial assistance to Armenia’s agriculture, since it
is an important component of the country’s economy and residents of
rural areas are employed here.

He said food safety and availability of loans are top-priority
focuses. The EURO 20-milling budgetary assistance will be transferred
in three tranches – EURO 6 million in 2015, EURO 7 million in 2016
and EURO 7 million in 2017.

The program beneficiaries are rural communities, farms and
members of groups producing agricultural products. —0—–