Author: Badalian Vardan

LIBAN
Beyrouth accueillera une conférence internationale à l’occasion du
100e. anniversaire du génocide arménien

L’Université Haykazyan de Beyrouth et les autorités libanaises dans le
cadre de la commémoration du 100e anniversaire du génocide arménien
vont organiser du 31 janvier au 1er février une conférence
internationale intitulée > parrainé par le chef de l’Union des Églises
évangéliques arméniennes au Moyen-Orient, Megerdich Karageozian.

Suren Manukyan (Les conséquences démographiques, culturelles,
géographiques, économiques et politiques du génocide arménien),
Vladimir Vardanyan (L’élimination des conséquences du génocide
arménien par le droit international), Zaven Msryan (La résistance de
la communauté internationale pendant et après le génocide arménien ),
Saleh Zahreddin (abus du génocide par les Etats contre la Turquie),
Arsen Avagyan (relations Arménie-Turquie de 1991 à 2014), Tatul
Hakobyan (Arménie-Turquie les relations non gouvernementales), Bulent
Bilmez (l’attitude de la Turquie envers les minorités (1923- 2014),
Hranush Kharatyan (Le statut des Arméniens dans la Turquie moderne :
Arméniens islamisés) feront des interventions avec les titres
mentionnés ci-dessus.

mardi 27 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

IHS Global Insight
January 26, 2015

Central Bank of Armenia raises interest rates in extra meeting in bid
to curtail inflation expectations

by Venla Sipila

The monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Armenia CBA) on
22 January 2015 called an unscheduled policy meeting, in which it
decided to increase its key refinancing rate by 100 basis points, from
8.5% to 9.5%. The previous rate revision had been an increase from
6.75% to 8.5% in December. The deposit rate was also increased from 7%
to 8%, whereas the Lombard repurchasing rate was lowered from 20% to
17%. These additional rate moves follow the policy direction taken in
December (seeArmenia: 29 December 2014:Central Bank of Armenia raises
interest rate as rapid dram depreciation lifts inflation
expectations). The next scheduled meeting of the monetary policy
committee will take place on 10 February. According to ARKA News, this
will be followed by publication of a detailed monetary policy
programme for the first quarter of 2015. The latest inflation results
from the Armenian National Statistical Service had shown that consumer
prices in December increased by 4.6% year on year (y/y), following the
November gain of 2.6% y/y. Prices jumped by 3.0% from November. The
average consumer price inflation rate for 2014 measured 3.0%,
following 5.8% in 2013.

Significance:While inflation at present fits within the CBA’s target
range, which is determined 2.5 percentage points on either side of the
central target of 4%, inflation expectations in the country are
elevated (seeArmenia: 14 January 2015:Armenian inflation accelerates
at end-2014, trend is likely to continue). This is mostly due to the
recent depreciation of the dram: over 2014, the AMD/USD exchange rate
weakened by 17%, while it slid by nearly 10% during December alone,
even as the central bank engaged in currency market interventions.
Weakening had continued in the first days of January, whereas
cumulative depreciation by 21 January since the turn of the year was
relatively modest, at 0.3%.The central bank hopes that the latest
interest rate moves will help in suppressing inflation expectations
and keeping inflation in target. The further rate rise is somewhat
surprising in its urgency, but not regarding the general policy
direction. Indeed, we believe that Armenian inflation is likely to
continue accelerating in at least in the near term, while it is not
unconceivable that inflation for 2015 as a whole will exceed the
target. Even as the low international oil prices and the overall
weakness of the economy have an opposite impact, we believe that the
depreciation of the dram will be the decisive factor determining near
term inflation developments. Given Armenia’s dependence on Russia for
remittances and export markets, combined with the very weak outlook or
the Russian economy, weakening pressures on the dram are unlikely to
disappear yet.

Ekklesia, UK
Jan 27 2015

‘Keep the memory alive’: Holocaust Memorial Day 2015

by Simon Barrow on 27 January 2015 – 7:45am

Events are taking place around the British and Irish isles to mark
Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday 27 January 2015. The theme for this
year is ‘Keep the memory alive’.

Seventy commemorative candles designed by Anish Kapoor are being lit
in every part of the country, to represent the 70 years since the
liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Earlier this week, Channel 4 television showed a remarkable
documentary entitled ‘Night Will Fall’ about the story of those who
filmed the terrible scenes in the Nazi death camps for a movie by
Sidney Bernstein (with assistance from Alfred Hitchcock) which was not
completed or shown immediately after the war, due to the sensitivity
of the material.

It contains some of the most graphic and horrific documentary evidence
of the crimes committed, and is a difficult to watch as it is
important. It also features filmmaker Branko Lustin, a producer who
filmed in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and who gave his account of
what it was like to film inside the camps. “I had peered into hell…
it is hard to describe,” he said.

‘Night Will Fall’, which lasts 80 minutes, has been screened in over
15 countries in the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day, and will be
available online for another 27 days, as well as on catch-up TV
provider services.

Meanwhile, the HMD website contains a good overview article on ‘The
Holocaust and the Genocides’ (plural) which sets out the horror that
afflicted many millions under the Nazis, and other atrocities,
including the Armenian Genocide, which is still not officially
recognised by Turkey, Israel and others.

In fact the term ‘genocide’ was first used in 1933, in a paper
presented to the League of Nations by the Polish lawyer, Raphael
Lemkin. He devised the concept in response to the atrocities
perpetrated against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire
between 1915 and 1923.

On 11 December 1946 the General Assembly of the United Nations
resolved that genocide was a crime under international law. This was
approved and ratified as a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide on 9 December 1948.

The Convention defines genocide as “any of the following acts
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
– killing members of the group
– causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
– deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
– imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
– forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.

Gregory H Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, has developed a
typology of the Eight Stages of genocide which explains the different
components that lead to genocidal outcomes.

References and resources:

* ‘Night Will Fall’ (C4):

(Deemed unsuitable for younger viewers)

* Viewers stunned by ‘harrowing and shocking’ Channel 4 documentary
(Metro, with a quote from me):

* Holocaust Memorial Day site:

* The Eight Stages of Genocide:

* More on HMD from Ekklesia:

* ‘From 1915 to 2015: the challenge of the Armenian Genocide
centenary’, by Dr Harry Hagopian, Ekklesia:

(c) Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia.

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

ARMENIANS LOSE 17 PEOPLE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT ZONE

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 26 2015

26 January 2015 – 11:56am

17 Armenian and 3 Azerbaijani soldiers have died in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone throughout January, Trend cites the
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Up to 20 Armenian soldiers were injured, the ministry added. The three
soldiers Azerbaijan lost received rank-3 Medals for Merit in Military
Service post-mortem on the order of Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.

TORONTO HOSTS EVENT COMMEMORATING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

19:14, 26 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On January 25, an event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide was organized in Toronto, Canada, with the assistance
of “One Free World International” NGO and the Embassy of the Republic
of Armenia in Canada.

The main speakers of the event were Minister of Employment and
Social Development and Minister for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney
and Ambassador of Armenia to Canada Armen Yeganian.

Ambassador Yeganian presented the consequences of the Armenian
Genocide, stressing the necessity of international recognition of the
Genocide for Armenians around the globe and the international community
alike. The Ambassador of Armenia touched upon the commemoration
scheduled events to be held in Armenia, Canada and elsewhere in 2015.

Over 1,000 participants of the event included the Heads of Toronto’s
Catholic and Protestant Churches, the Rabbi of Toronto, representatives
of Kurdish, Yazidi, Ismail communities and Canadian Armenians.

Turkish clergyman Rev. Hakan TaÃ…~_tan, who arrived from Istanbul,
apologized on the behalf of the Turkish people for the Armenian
Genocide.

DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF: GRAVE CRIMES ON RISE IN ARMENIA

The number of grave crimes has increased in Armenia in 2014, First
Deputy Chief of the Armenian Police Hunan Poghosyan said at a press
conference today.

According to him, this index grew by 7.5%. The number of murders and
attempted murders is on the rise, while the number of thefts declined.

.

26.01.15, 18:54

LE MINISTRE AUSTRALIEN DES AFFAIRES ETRANGERES JULIE BISHOP CONFIRME LA PRESSION DE LA TURQUIE

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

Des documents obtenus en vertu d’une demande d’accès a l’information
par le Comite National Armenien d’Australie (ANC Australie) confirment
que le gouvernement australien continue d’etre bâillonne par la
Turquie sur la question du genocide armenien.

Dans une lettre adressee au ministre des Affaires etrangères d’alors
de la Turquie, Ahmet Davutoglu, Julie Bishop ecrit : “Reconnaissant
les interets importants en jeu pour les deux pays, je vous assure
qu’il n’y a pas eu de decision de changer la position de longue date
des gouvernements australiens successifs sur cette question. ”

La lettre du ministre australien des Affaires etrangères souligne
en outre “la règle du bâillon” de la Turquie en qualifiant la
position de l’Australie sur le genocide armenien par ces mots : “en
reconnaissant les interets importants en jeu pour les deux pays”. Il
avait deja ete revele que la Turquie mène actuellement une campagne
internationale pour bâillonner les grandes nations afin qu’elle ne
parle pas franchement et honnetement sur le genocide armenien.

Une grande partie des documents publies par le ministère australien des
Affaires etrangères ont ete expurgee dans son integralite affirmant
que la divulgation des documents pourrait causer des dommages aux ”
relations internationales de la Communaute.”

Le directeur executif de l’ANC Australie Vache Kahramanian, a
commente : “Il est evident que l’Australie a succombe a des menaces
constantes de la Turquie visant a interdire aux deputes d’assister
aux commemorations du centenaire de l’ANZAC, alors qu’avant la fin
du Centenaire, l’Australie devrait reconnaître les evenements de 1915
comme un genocide “.

AZERBAIJAN THINKS ITS HOUR OF TRIUMPH HAS COME – ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

16:39 * 26.01.15

Armenian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Armenia’s Armed
Forces Serzh Sargsyan participated in a solemn meeting of the Board of
Armenia’s Ministry of Defense, on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary
of the Armenian army.

The participants in the meeting observed in minute’s silence to
pay tribute to the heroes that sacrificed their lives in defending
Armenia’s border and to all the servicemen and freedom-fighters that
sacrificed their lives in the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made an opening address at the
meeting:

“Honorable Generals and officers,

“Before we listen to reports, I would like to say a few words.

“First of all, I would like to say that the beginning of the year
saw tension and we witnessed numerous unprovoked attacks by the
enemy. We suffered heavy losses and we are grieving with the families
and relatives of all the fallen boys. I do not think anyone has any
doubts that Azerbaijanis will pay a heavy price for the life of each
of the boys – they have paid, are paying and will pay a heavy price.

“The aim of the enemy’s unprovoked attacks is obvious. Azerbaijan’s
leadership does not conceal they are seeking to create permanent
tension round us by combining political and military means. This is
a policy of overt blackmail, with its principal addressee being the
international community rather than we. Seeing its absurd ‘me-first’
style failing in the negotiations, official Baku is trying to show
everyone what it can do unless all of its whims are satisfied,
without seriously realizing or analyzing the aftermath for themselves.

Moreover, every time a problem arises inside Armenia or a tragic
event occurs, Azerbaijan thinks its hour of triumph has come and it
shows itself on the frontline.

“In vain; that’s absolutely to no purpose. Twenty-five years ago,
in conditions more complicated and difficult than now, we were the
eyewitness of their nonsensical speeches and appetite. I am sure
that most of those who have gathered in this hall remember them
voicing menacing remarks in the early 1990’s, threatening to wave
the Azerbaijani flag in [Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital] Stepanakert;
one of them had so much gone out of senses that he even was talking
about washing feet in [Lake] Sevan. After the [liberation of] Shoushi,
they were repeating their [desire] to drink tea in Shoushi every week
in a short time to come. We have eye-witnessed all that. We never
menaced, but we did coerce our predominance in the battlefield. We
are stronger today. We are much stronger than ever before.

“We do not have any reason to trigger a war. We never provoke incidents
on our own. You know very well about it. And we are never the first
to provoke an attack. We do not need that at all.

“But any incident incited against us has been and will always be
followed by retribution. The acts of retaliation we have initiated so
far have been symmetric in form and asymmetric in terms of inflicting
greater losses. ”

“Symmetric acts of retribution may be possible from now on. The hot
heads should wait for great many a surprise. Moreover, whenever we
see crowding on our border and along the Line of Contact, we vest
ourselves with the right to launch preventive actions.”

“Let no one think that we will be sitting in idleness, waiting till the
calamity gets into our homes. We are obliged to be fierce to anyone
plotting calamity for us. I repeat, the other side’s adventurousness
will force us to cause irrevocable damage through retribution.

“We do understand that the Azerbaijani authorities are ready to
mercilessly send hundreds and thousands citizens to the brink of death
to secure their own thrones’ protection. But we cannot tolerate that
at the price of our citizens and soldiers’ life. That cannot be done
at our expense.

“We stick to the belief that the right thing is to continue the talks
and to reach agreements under the well-known principles, and that
is possible only in case of maintaining the ceasefire and building
bridges of trust.”

“I once again declare, to the notice of all, that were ready to both
the good and bad. I have all the possible options there on my table.

“With a sober friend, we are can and must negotiate peace.

“On the non-sober adversary, we must and will by all means impose
peace.”

I WISH THE GROUND WOULD SWALLOW YOU UP – TURKISH ANALYST SLAMS ERDOGAN’S MESSAGE TO ARMENIAN LEADER

12:32 * 26.01.15

A Turkish political analyst has criticized President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s move to invite the Armenian president to the country next
year to join the Gallipoli battle’s 100th anniversary events on the
day coinciding with the Armenian Genocide centennial.

“I wish the ground would swallow you up. I see you have turned a blind
eye to those people’s pain, but you could have at least abstained
from mocking at them. Against the background of such a disgrace,
Erdogan is inviting Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Canakkale,”
Bakin Oran said in an article published in Radikal.

He noted that Turkey earlier traditionally celebrated the the Canakkale
(Galippoli) battle anniversary on March 18. “The president will this
year head to Canakkale with the Azerbaijani despot Ilham Aliyev,
the Turkish foreign policy’s biggest ‘attraction stone’. And they
will celebrate [the anniversary] on the day symbolizing the heinous
atrocities against the Armenians, committed by butchers of Ittihat
ve Terakki,” he wrote.

In his invitation letter, sent to the Armenian leader on January 16,
Erdogan said that they plan hold massive on April 23 and 24 to mark
the centenary of the battle. In his response message, issued shortly
after, President Sargsyan said that “it is not our rule to be hosted
without receiving an answer to our own invitation”.