Author: Badalian Vardan

Armenia and Cyprus must create common front against Turkey, says Omirou

Yiannakis Omirou
CYPRUS – FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE
* Friday, 21 November, 2014

House of Representatives President Yiannakis Omirou, who is in Armenia
on an official visit, has said that the two countries must intensify
their bilateral cooperation.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, he said the countries must join
forces in international organisations, and utilise their access to
decision-making centres around the world, creating a common front
against Turkey.

Omirou, who was addressing, on Wednesday, the Armenian National
Assembly declared his “full readiness to undertake action, both on a
personal and parliamentary level”.

Armenian Folk Band Performed at the Largest Folklore Festival of Argentina

Agencia Prensa Armenia

The Armenian Folk Band Kusan performed for the first time in history
at the National Folklore Festival of Cosquin (),
Argentina, on Monday, January 26. “Despite the genocide, they are
here. They kept their identity and cultural legacy and transmitted it
to humanity,” said the presenter of the most important festival of
folk music in Argentina and Latin America.

“From the beginning, people connected with us. When we spoke about the
genocide people joined us. We perceived a feeling of solidarity,” said
Enrique Avakian, director and creator of Kusan after the show. At the
end, they played traditional Argentinean songs like Carnavalito and
Zamba para olvidar with the typical Armenian instruments.

The Cosquin Folk Festival lasts nine days and gathers the most
important folklore musicians and bands of the continent.

( Link -> )
Agencia de Noticias Prensa Armenia
Armenia 1366, Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel. (5411) 4775-7595
[email protected]
twitter.com/PrensaArmenia

PRESS RELEASE
January 28, 2015

FLORIDA ARMENIANS
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Email: [email protected]
Web:

Sayat Nova Dance Company of Boston Brings Armenian History and Culture to
Life in South Florida

By Mercedes Gechidjian
FLArmenians Miami Contributor

BOCA RATON, FL – What does it mean to be an Armenian? What have the
Armenian people been through in 3,000 years? How have we flourished as a
people and as a nation? These are some of the questions that Sayat Nova
Dance Company of Boston’s (SNDC) production A Journey Through Time
answered during their powerful performance on Saturday, January 24 at
Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton.

The event was held in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 1915
Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were brutally tortured
and killed by Turkish nationalists. The show took the audience on a magical
and heartfelt journey through Armenian history, in which the adoption of
Christianity, the genocide, and the creation of a free and independent
Armenia were portrayed.

The program was organized into two parts. Part one, consisted of a travel
through time, in which the audience met famed Armenian hero’s Saint Gregory
the Illuminator in Khor Virab and Vartan Mamigonian in the Battle of
Avarayr, among many others. Yet, the most agonizing encounter was with the
twenty brides of Adana in 1909, where the audience saw the gruesome
execution of twenty, innocent, young women. Part two, on the other hand,
celebrated the many cultural and melodic dances of the Armenian culture,
including crowd favorites, Kochari and Nare Nare. This part of the
production showed that, even amid tragedy, Armenians have always managed to
stay connected to their roots and the essence of being Armenian; in
addition to finding both peace and courage through the art of music and
dancing.

(According to the definition by SNDC: Kochari- `Is an ancient national,
ritual dance symbolizing movements that express the sense of `fighting the
battle of life.’ Nare Nare- `[is a] festive dance celebrating the spirit,
love, and allegiance of Armenians to their homeland.’)

This wonderful event would not have been possible without the Armenian
Genocide Commemoration, Inc. (AGC) and their efforts to raise awareness of
the Armenian Genocide in Florida. Their mission is to educate Armenian and
non-Armenians in the local community on a very dark time in world history.
`I
felt proud, relieved, wired,’ stated Arsine Kaloustian, the Public
Affairs
Director of Florida Armenians and Chairman of AGC. `A lot of people and a
lot of work went into bringing Sayat Nova to Florida. There were a lot of
moving parts to this and to watch it come together so seamlessly was
energizing. To know that it was the first official event in the USA that
was commemorating the centennial was very emotional for me,’ Kaloustian
said.

With over 700 tickets sold, Sayat Nova’s A Journey Through Time was a
great success for the Armenian community of Florida, and encouraged all of
us to help raise awareness and seek justice towards the atrocities that
occurred in 1915. As the Armenian proverb states, `If the village stands,
it can break a trunk (strength increases unity).’

Available online at:

Arstakh to live in peace soon – Tsvetana Paskaleva

18:46 * 28.01.15

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan awarded Medal of Commendation to
Tsvetana Paskaleva, a Bulgarian journalist and documentary film
author, on Armenian Army Day.

In her speech, Ms Paskaleva said in particular:

“We have common memories and responsibility. The memories we always
pay tribute to and the responsibility for all that we have today. It
was achieved at the cost of the blood of the Armenian people’s sons
and tears of Armenian mothers. All of us, both here, in Karabakh and
abroad, must defend our borders.

“My dear soldiers who are on the border now, know that you are
protectors. Be brave and courageous and defend the borders with
credit. Dear parents, the loss is great and the wounds cannot healed.

“We will live on to see this day. I know it will happen this century,
we must just believe and work on it. Dear parents, we bow down before
you. We are sorry we could not save your children. They will remain
among heroes forever.”

Armenian army is the people’s army – Bako Sahakyan

09:50 * 28.01.15

President of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic Bako Sahakyan has
offered his congratulations to the president and the defense minister
of Armenia on the Day of the Army.

His address to President Serzh Sargsyan is below:

“Respected President Sargsyan,

“On behalf of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic and
personally myself, I sincerely congratulate you on the Day of the
Army, a dear and important holiday to all the Armenians.

“You have been standing at the very foundation of the national army’s
formation, and today, as a Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Republic
of Armenia Armed Forces, you do all your best to increase the
Fatherland’s defense capacity.

“The Armenian Army is a people’s army. The best sons of our nation
contributed to the establishment of the Army, and today. their brave
sons devotedly carry out the sacred duty of defending the Fatherland.
We render homage and glory to all those whose have contributed to the
formation of a strong and efficient army, to those who maintain our
Fatherland’s borders steadfast, safeguard our people’s tranquility and
peaceful life.

“I once again congratulate you and the entire Armenian nation on this
memorable day, wishing you all peace, sound health, success and all
the best on the way towards the continuous strengthening and
prosperity-building of the independent Armenian statehood”.

“Localization” of War: Who Do They Think in Moscow?

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 28 January 2015, 13:32

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs Called on Azerbaijan to Observe its
Commitments to a Peaceful Resolution of the Conflict

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office DaÄ?iÄ? voices concern over recent
developments on Armenian-Azerbaijani border and Line of Contact

Seiran Ohanyan: Peace Requires Confidence Building

Azerbaijan Filled with Panic

Conclusion of Forensic Examination of Karen Petrosyan Has Been Received

Cooperation of any country of Eastern Europe and Central Asia with
NATO and the United States has an anti-Russian vector, and Moscow
perceives it this way.

The present problems have occurred recently, some experts think they
have always existed but now they have become more tangible and acute
due to the rapprochement between NATO and Armenia.

The content of NATO-Armenia relations is not inferior to NATO-Georgia
relations, for example. The NATO-Georgia topic has become more common
in the strategic context, hence it is hardly possible to `blackmail’
Russia with the Georgian topic. Armenia is a `fresh’ topic that has
not been elaborated. Therefore, Armenia is currently seen as an
important lever of pressure on Russia, to thwart Russia’s attempts at
the strategic level.

The opportunities to combine cooperation with NATO and CSTO are
categorically rejected, though in this case it causes doubts and
expresses the position of not only the Russian political leadership
but also the military command and military circles.

In answer to the question how Russia perceives Armenia’s willingness
to cooperate with NATO the Russian experts suggested the following:

– Armenia would like to get assistance from Russia and NATO simultaneously;

– Russian foreign policy on Azerbaijan and Turkey causes doubts in
Armenia, which is wrong and is explained by the lack of political
experience of Armenian leaders;

– If formerly NATO-Armenia relations were `under control’ and were
understood by Moscow, now these relations have crossed the line, which
is evidence to Armenia’s involvement in NATOs’ strategic plans;

– Armenia has no real guarantee of security from NATO and will not get
that guarantee, at least in the format which would allow expecting
military assistance in case of a military conflict.

In answer to the question how `normal’ it is for Russia to supply
weapons to Azerbaijan, they state clearly: it’s normal. In addition,
arguments are brought, such as otherwise Azerbaijan will buy weapons
from other countries, and military technical cooperation with Armenia
is quite successful.

Then what attitude would Russia have to the supply of weapons to
Armenia by NATO member states? Russia knows about these intentions, it
is Armenia’s sovereign affair but these supplies will hardly be
large-scale and comprehensive, experts think.

At the same time, the Russian leadership has expressed its negative
attitude to this, questioning military technical cooperation with
Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, this opinion has not been taken into
account, explaining that the ministry of defense needs money and this
money is raised from export of weapons. This also causes doubts but
such is the decision of the political leadership.

In this situation Armenia must take care of its military potential and
may hope for Russia’s assistance which is not interested in weakening
of Armenia and change of balance of forces in the region in prejudice
of Armenia, experts say.

Parity in relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan does not mean equal
relations, it is impossible in both political and strategic terms. The
geopolitical setting in the region is quite different, and Armenia
remains the only military partner.

Do the Russian experts consider the Russian-Armenian relations as
strategic? The notion `strategic’ is not legal, it is figurative
rather. Important agreements have been signed and are implemented
between Russia and Armenia, and they need to be amended with new
content instead of considerations how to describe these relations as
strategic.

The opinion on `localization’ of the war between Armenia and
Azerbaijan is interesting. These arguments cause doubts but they do
express Russia’s stance and policy.

By supplying weapons to Azerbaijan Russia is trying to set framework
conditions, namely limitation of possible military actions by
Azerbaijan. Localization of military actions within the area of the
Karabakh conflict and not shifting it to the territory of Armenia is
taken into account.

Hence, Russia intends to create a wall between itself and a possible
military conflict. The Russian political leadership rules out Russia’s
involvement in regional military conflicts, and it concerns not only
the South Caucasus but also Central Asia.

To what extent is Russia conducting a policy of `localization’ of
possible conflicts with regard to Turkey? With regard to risk
assessment and attitude to conflicts broader relations have formed
between Russia and Turkey. Russia has Turkey’s perception on a
possible Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in terms of unacceptability of a
military solution of the issue.

At the same time, it is assumed that resumption of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is seen as the result of large scale and
serious movement of policies of foreign parties on the region. Despite
immense procurement of weapons, Azerbaijan is not ready for a modern
war, and the great powers, including Turkey, are trying to explain
this.

Turkey’s military objectives relating to Azerbaijan are aimed at
prevention of bigger military conflicts than the Karabakh conflict in
which Turkey may be involved.

What is the cause of irritation of the Russian political leadership on
Armenia, Armenia’s aspiration to cooperate with the Euro-Atlantic
community, the reserved attitude towards the Eurasian project,
Armenia’s domestic problems? Experts find that rapprochement with NATO
and the EU has a key role in lack of confidence. Nevertheless, it is
impossible to ignore the Eurasian project in strategic terms.

This is personal insult because this initiative is personally Putin’s
initiative. Besides, the intactness of Russia’s positions abroad is
linked to the Eurasian project.

The western bloc of states is trying to prevent recovery of Russia’s
influence in the post-Soviet space, and rejecting the Eurasian project
may be considered as unfriendly policy on Russia in terms of its
strategic interests.

European Court holds hearing on Perinçek v. Switzerland case

13:02, 28 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The hearing of the case Perinçek v. Switzerland has started at the
European Court of Human Rights.

Armenia is represented at the Court by Amal Clooney, Geoffrey
Robertson, Toby Collis and Armenia’s Prosecutor General Gevorg
Kostanyan.

A group of Armenians is protesting in front of the European Court, the
European Federation for Justice and Development reports.

The applicant, DoÄ?u Perinçek, is a Turkish national who was born in
1942 and lives in Ankara (Turkey). Being a doctor of laws and the
Chairman of the Turkish Workers’ Party, he participated in various
conferences in Switzerland in May, July and September 2005, during
which he publicly denied that the Ottoman Empire had perpetrated the
crime of genocide against the Armenian people in 1915 and the
following years. He described the idea of an Armenian genocide as an
`international lie’.

The association `Switzerland- Armenia’ filed a criminal complaint
against him on 15 July 2005. On 9 March 2007 the Lausanne Police Court
found Mr Perinçek guilty of racial discrimination within the meaning
of the Swiss Criminal Code, finding that his motives were of a racist
tendency and did not contribute to the historical debate. Mr Perinçek
lodged an appeal that was dismissed by the Criminal Cassation Division
of the Vaud Cantonal Court.

In that court’s view, the Armenian genocide, like the Jewish genocide,
was a proven historical fact, recognised by the Swiss legislature on
the date of the adoption of Article 261bis of the Criminal Code. The
courts did not therefore need to refer to the work of historians in
order to accept its existence. The Cassation Division emphasised that
Mr Perinçek had only denied the characterisation as genocide without
calling into question the existence of the massacres and deportations
of Armenians. The Federal Court dismissed a further appeal by Mr
Perinçek in a judgment of 12 December 2007.

Relying on Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European
Convention on Human Rights, Mr Perinçek complains that the Swiss
courts breached his freedom of expression. He argues, in particular,
that Article 261bis, paragraph 4, of the Swiss Criminal Code is not
sufficiently foreseeable 3 Under Article 43 of the European Convention
on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber
judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request
that the case be referred to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court.
In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case
raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application
of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general
importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final
judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject
the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise
Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period
or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a
request to refer.5 in its effect, that his conviction was not
justified by the pursuit of a legitimate aim and that the alleged
breach of his freedom of expression was not `necessary in a democratic
society’.

In its Chamber judgment of 17 December 2013 the Court held, by five
votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 10 of the
Convention. It took the view that the grounds given by the Swiss
authorities to justify Mr Perinçek’s conviction were not all pertinent
and that, taken as a whole, they proved insufficient. The Court
observed that the domestic authorities had not shown, in particular,
that the applicant’s conviction met a `pressing social need’ or that
it was necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the
honour and feelings of the descendants of the victims of the
atrocities which dated back to 1915 and the following years.

The Court therefore found that the domestic authorities had
overstepped the margin of appreciation afforded to them in the present
case, which had arisen in the context of a debate of undeniable public
interest.

On 2 June the case was referred to the Grand Chamber at the request of
the Swiss Government.

Police Keep Teenage Witness in Custody for 2 Days Before Murder Case Hearing

01.27.2015 13:50 epress.am

The witnesses in the case of Vanadzor resident Karen Kungortsev, who
was charged with murdering 15-year old Davit Hovakimyan, are
continuing to give their testimonies in court. During the
interrogation process in the preliminary investigation, the rights of
a few minors were violated, especially the right to give testimony
with the presence of a lawyer or parent.

A minor, R.S., who gave testimony in court yesterday, was kept at the
police station for 2 days. According to Kungortsev’s lawyer, Helsinki
Association lawyer Arayik Papikyan, they “worked on him” while he was
in the police precinct. During his testimony, R.S. slightly changed
his original testimony, stating that he had been at the site of the
incident and had seen Kungortsev there. The latter, however, denies
the claim. According to the lawyer, there are other witnesses that
claim that R.S. was not present in the location during the fight. The
other two witnesses who gave testimonies against Kungortsev, went to
the court yesterday and said that the investigator wrote their
testimonies for them. When they were shown the testimonies, the
witnesses said that they were wrong and did not remember well;
confirming that the testimony was written in their handwriting. They
also claimed that, they were not present at place of the incident and
were informed of it by friends.

Recall, that in one of the previous hearings Gevorg Avagyan, a
witness, said that he was pushed by the police to testify against
Kungortsev. According to Avagyan, at the police station they showed
him a photo of Karen Kungortsev and stated that he has to testify
against him. “They said we’ll show you four photos, this person’s
photo will be in it as well and you’ll point him out,” explained
Gevorg Avagyan. One other witness took back his testimony, saying that
he had made up everything.

Recall, Karen Kungortsev does not admit guilt, and human rights
defenders and his attorney indicate violations recorded during the
preliminary investigations.

While behind bars, the accused has resorted to self harm, as well as
beginning a hunger strike. His mother said that her son was beaten by
police while under police custody and forced to confess.

The charges against Kungortsev were changed from murder to attempted
murder last August. At the same time, the investigation accused and
detained Vanadzor Medical Center company doctor Vladimir Ghukasyan for
unfair treatment and improper implementation of professional duties.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 26 2015

Turkey’s Worker’s Party chair says he is confident of ECHR ruling on
1915 incidents claims

ISTANBUL ` DoÄ?an News Agency

Turkey’s Workers’ Party (Ä°P) Chairman DoÄ?u Perinçek, who is being
tried at the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) Grand Chamber for
publicly denying that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against
Ottoman Armenians in 1915, has said he is confident that the ruling
will be in his favor.

Speaking at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport en route to Strasbourg
for the court hearing, Perinçek said it was “difficult to make just
decisions where prejudices prevail,” but added that he still awaited a
positive result.

`The second chamber of the ECHR made a bold decision on Dec. 17, 2013.
Now we are waiting for the same from the Grand Chamber. We are
confident because we are right,’ he added.

A national court verdict in Switzerland in 2007 resulted in the case
being brought to the ECHR. Perinçek was found guilty by a Swiss court
on March 9, 2007 after his participation in a number of conferences in
Switzerland in 2005, during which he publicly denied that the Ottoman
Empire had committed the crime of genocide against Ottoman Armenians.
Denying that the killings amounted to genocide is a criminal offense
in Switzerland.

According to Armenians, up to 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians were
killed starting from 1915 in a systematic campaign. Turkey denies that
the deaths amounted to genocide, saying the toll during the mass
deportation of Ottoman Armenians has been inflated and that those
killed in 1915 and 1916 were victims of general unrest during World
War I.

Perinçek had complained to the ECHR that Swiss courts had breached his
right to freedom of expression. The ECHR ruled on Dec. 17, 2013 that
his statements in Switzerland fell within the limits of freedom of
expression.

The ECHR ruling stated that `free exercise of the right to openly
discuss questions of a sensitive and controversial nature is one of
the fundamental aspects of freedom of expression and distinguishes a
tolerant and pluralistic democratic society from a totalitarian or
dictatorial regime.’

Switzerland objected to the judgment, after which the case was taken
to the ECHR’s Grand Chamber for the final verdict. The Grand Chamber
approved the inclusion of the state of Armenia as a third party
litigant in the case in September.

The case came to the world’s attention with news that Amal Clooney,
the prominent British-Lebanese lawyer and wife of Hollywood celebrity
George Clooney, would be one of the attorneys representing Armenia in
the case.

January/27/2015

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 27 2015

Armenia submits claims of hundred years’ prescription to Turkey

27 January 2015 – 12:21am

Recently, the Turkish newspaper Habertürk reported that Armenia and
the Armenian lobby are preparing a claim to land in Turkey, where
Istanbul Ataturk International Airport and the Cankaya Palace in
Ankara are located.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby in connection with the centenary of the
so-called “Armenian genocide” filed a lawsuit against Turkey for the
return of lands, which, according to them, were taken from some
Armenians during the events of 1915.

In addition, a resident of the United States, writer of Armenian
origin Haroot Sassouniyan, said that in the very near future Armenia
and the Armenian lobby intend to take serious steps to ensure that
this claim was considered by the court.

On January 3 of this year the writer of Armenian origin Zuart Sutsiyan
residing in the United States, raised the issue that land in the
Turkish town of Diyarbakir, where the airport is located, belonged to
his grandfather. Sutsiyan appealed to a court of Turkey and presented
documents that alleged the land on which the airport is located
belonged to his grandfather. The court is now exploring the
authenticity of submitted documents.

With the upcoming 100th anniversary of the so-called “Armenian
genocide”, commemorated on April 24, more claims and accusations are
being heard against Turkey. Territorial and financial claims against
Turkey have become a kind of leitmotif of Armenian public opinion both
in Armenia and in the diaspora, mainly in the western one.

The correspondent of the Vestnik Kavkaza asked Turkish historians and
political scientists, whether the Armenian claims are justified and
have a legal basis, and why exactly this time Armenia risked making
such dangerous political manoevres for the whole region?

Historian and author of “The Armenian Question in 120 Documents from
Russian State Archives” Mehmet Perindzhek noticed that after the
deportation in 1915 part of the property that the Armenians left
passed into public ownership or is used by individuals. He pointed out
that even before the end of the First World War, the Ottoman
government by order of the allied states returned property to Armenian
returnees or their heirs. “Return of property was also implied by the
Lausanne Peace Treaty for all those who returned, without any mention
of the Armenian population in the treaty itself,” the historian
claimed.

Perindzhek noted that under this treaty many people received their
lands, but some claims, because of the great period of time passed,
were not satisfied. “As a result, today it is impossible to return the
property to the heirs of deported Armenians,” the historian said.

Another Turkish political analyst, Cenk Bashlamyshly, said that in
Turkey property owned by Armenians who fled the country in 1915 can
actually be returned.

“Certainly, if there are unfair moments, they should be considered,
and the property returned to the heirs. But the main question is how
it will be proved that it actually belongs to them?” wondered the
analyst, adding that lawyers and jurists should express their opinion.
Despite this fact, Bashlamyshly is sure that the requirements of the
Armenian side are taken from the world of “fiction”, because it is
impossible to believe their appropriateness.

Political analyst also noted that the campaign for establishing claims
on property and territories in Turkey was made by Armenians on the eve
of the 100th anniversary of the events of 1915 and was expected, and
the closer April 24 approaches, the more the accusations against
Turkey will be strengthened.

“The most interesting thing is why these claims are heard only now, on
the eve of the anniversary of those events? Of course, we express our
condolences to those who lost loved ones. But events show that some
representatives of the Armenian diaspora are looking at this issue as
a matter of personal gain,” the analyst concluded.