Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIE
Kim et Khloé Kardashian rencontrent leurs cousines en Arménie

“Dans la famille Kardashian, je demande les cousines”. Arrivés
mercredi soir à Erevan, la capitale arménienne, et accueillis par une
foule de journalistes et d’admirateurs, Kim. K, son mari (le rappeur
Kanye West), leur enfant North et sa soeur Khloé, ont rencontré jeudi 9
avril d’autres membres de la famille Kardashian élargie.

Entourée de ses gardes du corps, la vedette, habillée de beige, et son
entourage, ont visité le centre-ville mercredi. Dans la foulée, la
starlette et son entourage ont découvert d’autres membres de leur
famille, trois cousines de la fratrie Kim, Kourtney, Khloé et Robert
Kardashian Jr. Le clan réuni a été reçue par le Premier ministre
arménien Hovik Abrahamyan.

“Khloé et moi sommes venues (rencontrer le Premier ministre,ndlr) avec
nos cousines Kourtni et Kara ! Krista tu nous manques ! Oui, nous
avons trois cousines, toutes soeurs, et leurs prénoms commencent tous
par un K ! LOL”, a écrit Kim Kardashian sur Instragram, partageant les
photos officielles de la rencontre.

La vedette de télé-réalité et sa soeur ont également posé jeudi devant
l’imposant monument de la Mère Arménie dans le parc de la victoire (la
photo ci-dessous). Kim et son équipe doivent poursuivre cette visite
de huit jours en visitant le mémorial du génocide à Erevan et les
Archives nationales pour consulter des documents à propos des ancêtres
Kardashian.

La starlette doit ensuite se rendre dans la ville de Gyumri, où sa
famille éloignée réside. Les ancêtres du côté paternel de la famille
Kardashian ont émigré aux États-Unis depuis l’Arménie pour fuir les
massacres de 1915-1917.

“Les Kardashian se sont excusés de ne pas parler arménien, mais ont
déclaré qu’ils étaient en train d’apprendre leur langue natale”,
peut-on lire dans un communiqué diffusé par les services du Premier
ministre.”Ils ont promis de continuer la lutte pour la reconnaissance
internationale et la condamnation du génocide arménien”, dit-il aussi.

Selon l’organisateur du voyage de la vedette américaine, Kim
Kardashian se rend pour la première fois dans le pays de ses ancêtres
pour “travailler sur un film documentaire à propos du génocide
arménien” et “commémorer ses victimes”.

Hormis quelques selfies avec ses fans, Kim Kardashian a refusé de
parler à la presse et a préféré s’exprimer sur les réseaux sociaux.
“Arménie, on est là !!!!! Nous sommes si reconnaissants d’être là et
de commencer le voyage de toute une vie ! Merci à tout ceux qui nous
ont salués ! J’ai hte d’explorer notre pays et de manger de la
nourriture délicieuse !”, a-t-elle écrit sur Instagram à son arrivée.

Le pays s’apprête à marquer le 24 avril le 100e anniversaire du
génocide arménien,qui a fait 1,5 millions de morts selon Erevan,
pendant la Première Guerre mondiale.

La Turquie a toujours refusé d’admettre toute élimination planifiée
tout comme le terme de “génocide”, évoquant la mort d’environ 500.000
Arméniens qui s’étaient rangés du côté de son ennemie la Russie, lors
de combats ou à cause de famines.

AFP

samedi 11 avril 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

AGMI and Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation sign cooperation memorandum

18:16, 11 April, 2015

YEREVAN, 11 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation has
signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute. As the Public Relations Department of the Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute reports to “Armenpress”, the memorandum
signed by Hayk Demoyan and Steven Spielberg lays the foundation for
future cooperation.

Through cooperation, the memoirs of 60 eyewitnesses of the Armenian
Genocide will be digitized and will be publicly available as part of
the Armenian Genocide Collection of the U.S.-based Shoah Foundation
starting from April 24th, on the occasion of the Centennial of the
Armenian Genocide.

The memorandum will also provide the AGMI with the Shoah Foundation’s
Virtual History Archives, thanks to which scholars and average
citizens of Yerevan will have direct access to 52,000 collections
devoted to the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide and the Armenian
Genocide. Both institutions will also collaborate to carry out
educational programs.

Les Inrocks
10 avril 2015

Génocide des Arméniens: le mensonge d’un siècle

L’édito de Frédéric Bonnaud

24 avril 1915 : grande rafle des intellectuels et des notables
arméniens de Constantinople?; le génocide peut commencer. Cent ans
plus tard, le président de la République de Turquie, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, continue d’exiger des preuves. Barack Obama, lui, a déjÃ
déclaré que le génocide arménien était une incontestable vérité
historique. Mais les Etats-Unis d’Amérique ne sont pas prêts à une
reconnaissance officielle, aujourd’hui moins que jamais. La Turquie
demeure un allié trop important, puissant et ombrageux, depuis trop
longtemps, un verrou stratégique qu’il convient de ménager. Cent ans
après le début des massacres, seule une vingtaine de pays ont reconnu
officiellement le génocide et la Turquie s’arcboute sur son
négationnisme d’Etat, fondateur de son existence même, sa colonne
vertébrale idéologique, comme si elle craignait de s’effondrer en
cessant de nier une si vieille évidence, pourtant irréfutable et
documentée.

Dans l’entretien qu’il nous a accordé (lire pp. 52-55), le
géopoliticien Gérard Chaliand considère que la position turque
officielle n’évoluera plus guère, malgré la demande pressante des
forces vives de la société. Il rappelle le temps infini qu’il a fallu,
après les premiers témoignages occidentaux sur le sort atroce réservé
aux Arméniens de Turquie et les procès ottomans de 1919 condamnant par
contumace les organisateurs du génocide ` qui avaient pris la fuite `,
pour que cette tragédie cesse d’être celle des seuls Arméniens,
abandonnés à leur douleur, uniques dépositaires d’une mémoire qui
aurait dû être partagée et entretenue par l’humanité tout entière.
Mais la Turquie moderne naissait en 1923, après les ultimes tueries,
nettoyée de ses Arméniens d’Anatolie ` mais où s’étaient-ils
volatilisés, tous ces Arméniens?? `, et Mustafa Kemal avait plus
besoin d’union sacrée que de vérité historique. Le mensonge
s’installa, puis le silence, un silence interminable et difficilement
imaginable aujourd’hui, un silence de cinquante ans, brisé peu à peu,
y compris par l’emploi de ce que Chaliand appelle `le terrorisme
publicitaire’ de certaines organisations arméniennes.

`la dimension proprement totalitaire du phénomène’

En 1984, devant le Tribunal permanent des peuples, un tribunal
historique et symbolique réuni par Chaliand à la Sorbonne, Pierre
Vidal-Naquet déclarait : `Ce qui est important, voire capital, est que
le meurtre intentionnel des Juifs (et des Tsiganes) a, par contrecoup,
éclairé, défini, dans sa signification même, le massacre des Arméniens
comme massacre d’Etat, inaugurant la série déjà large du moderne
massacre d’Etat. C’est la dimension proprement totalitaire du
phénomène qui est commune aux deux génocides des Arméniens et des
Juifs.’ Et le grand historien français, auteur des Assassins de la
mémoire et réfutateur infatigable des négationnistes ` et du plus
célèbre d’entre eux, Robert Faurisson `, ajoutait : `Mais l’Allemagne,
elle, a reconnu son crime. Imaginons ce que peuvent ressentir les
minorités arméniennes. Imaginons Faurisson ministre, Faurisson
président de la République, Faurisson général, Faurisson ambassadeur,
Faurisson président de la Commission historique turque, membre du
Sénat, de l’université d’Istanbul, membre influent des Nations unies,
Faurisson répondant dans la presse chaque fois qu’il est question du
génocide des Juifs. Bref un Faurisson d’Etat doublé d’un Faurisson
international.’

Il s’agit de sortir de ce cauchemar. Il s’agit de lire Chaliand, Yves
Ternon ou Vincent Duclert (La France face au génocide des arméniens,
Fayard). Comme nous lisons Jean Hatzfeld sur le Rwanda ou Rithy Panh
sur le Cambodge. Pour que le génocide arménien fasse désormais
pleinement partie de notre histoire commune.

AZERBAIJAN BLACKLISTS NYT JOURNALIST FOR VISITING NAGORNO KARABAKH

15:56, 10 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

New-York Times journalist Seth Kugel has been included in the list of
undesirable persons of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry for visiting
Nagorno Karabakh, MFA Spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend.

Seth Kugel of the New York Times traveled to Armenia and Nagorno
Karabakh and wrote down the impressions in an extended article titled
“A warm welcome in the Caucasus mountains.”

Azerbaijan calls the article “biased” and claims it distorted facts.

ARMENIA CAN BUILD BRIDGE BETWEEN EU AND EURASIAN UNION – PRESIDENT

14:46 * 10.04.15

As a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union and a country sharing
many values with the EU, Armenia can serve as a unique bridge between
the two blocs, President Serzh Sargsyan said in Italy.

In a speech at a dinner event with Italian parliamentarians,
the Armenian leader highly prioritized the Armenia-EU relations,
considering the EU a pivotal role-player in Armenia. “Our partnership
is based first of all on values; the Armenians and the Armenian
civilization are part and parcel of the European civilization, and
our state is committed to push those values forward.

“Ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, new legal foundations
for the Armenia-EU relations will be built to put our relations
on a regular track. At the same time, being a member state of the
Eurasian Economic Union and pursing standards closest to the EU,
we can become a bridge for many European countries, including Italy,
opening the way to the 170 million market,” he said.

As a unique bridge in the Armenian-Italian relations, the president
particularly highlighted the role of the Mechitarist Congregation of
Venice (St Lazarus Island), which he said has served as an important
institution of Armenian studies and a special site of pilgrimage
since its inception in the 18th century.

Hailing the centuries-old friendship between the Armenian and Italian
nations, the president wished more success and achievements to the
development of future partnership.

INTELLECTUALS, ACTIVISTS REVEAL HISTORY OF DELIBERATE IGNORANCE OF 1915 EVENTS

16:51, 10 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Intellectuals and activists gathered in Ä°stanbul on Wednesday evening
for an eventcalled “Confront 1915,” where they peeled away the layers
of history that have been presented by the Turkish government when
discussing the shrouded massacre of Armenians in 1915, Today’s
Zamanreports.

Dr. Ohannes Kılıcdagı, a professor of sociology at Istanbul Bilgi
University and a columnist for the Armenian Agos weekly newspaper,
discussed how Armenians who were deported and survived persecution
were unable to return to their former homeland.

“[The period between] 1918-1920 was actually the time during which
the genocide was most openly discussed in the history of this land,
at a time when the Turkish Republic did not yet exist. After the
Kemalist regime and as the Ankara government began to stabilize
and become rooted, and wars were won … there was then a period of
‘clearing the air.’ What I mean by this is that arrangements were
made to prevent Armenians who were sent away from returning to their
property and possessions,” shared Kılıcdagı.

The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 after its founder,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and Turkish nationalists had emerged victorious
over Greeks, Armenians and Western forces in the Turkish War of
Independence. Today, despite international pressure, the Turkish
Republic does not recognize the events that took place during the
fall of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Kılıcdagı continued his discourse on the perception of history,
explaining: “And then began a period that I call the ‘period of
silence,’ which slowly began to create the perception that nothing
had happened here. Even more so, the perception that there were
never Armenians here [in the first place] was formed,” adding,
“A deliberate ignorance was spread and this was actually successful
to a large extent.”

Kılıcdagı went on to share the results of a survey performed by Dr.

Ferhat Kentel of Ä°stanbul Å~^ehir University. When participants of
the survey were asked, “When do you believe Armenians came to Turkey?”

One-third of the respondents said they believed that Armenians had come
to Turkey after the fall of the Soviet Union, while another one-third
acknowledged that they simply had no idea when the Armenians had come
to Turkey.

“Therefore, we see that two-thirds of Turkish society believe that
a people [Armenians] who were the first people of this land to be
written down in history, who existed here before the Common Era,
are commonly believed to have only arrived at the beginning of the
1990s,” he concluded.

Another speaker at Wednesday’s meeting was prominent human rights
lawyer Eren Keskin, who addressed the audience, saying, “We are very
late to be speaking about this issue.”

In line with Kılıcdagı’s argument that such ignorance was enforced
deliberately by the government, Keskin noted, “I think the Turkish
government has been very successful in its mission to cover up these
events.”

She told a personal story of her first encounter with the tragic past
of the Armenians in Turkey in which she explained how her grandfather
had demanded that her aunt Josephine, an Armenian, convert to Islam
before marrying his son, which she did.

Keskin believes that the example she shared highlights the ongoing
injustice and how the experience in her family, which was discussed but
went undisputed, gave her the opportunity to learn about discrimination
against Armenians from a young age. She then went on to describe her
career as a human rights lawyer with the Ä°stanbul branch of the Human
Rights Association (IHD). She noted that although she believed it to
be quite late, the IHD released a press statement in 2005 recognizing
the events of 1915 as genocide. After the IHD took this stance,
Keskin said they were condemned and their office building attacked.

ROME TO COMMEMORATE GENOCIDE DESPITE TURKEY’S EFFORTS

16:35 * 10.04.15

Rome will host commemoration events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide
centennial despite the strong pressures it recently faced by the
Turkish authorities.

On April 24, St Peter’s Temple of Vatican will serve a liturgy
dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million victims. The historic
ceremony will be unprecedented in scope, as the place of warship
earlier organized only prayers in remembrance of those killed in
genocides.

The liturgy will be held upon initiative of Pope Francis.

The pressures against him and the Holy See were unprecedented. The
Turkish side did all its best to disrupt the plans, but its efforts
proved fruitless. The liturgy will not only be served but also
broadcast live. Pope Francis, who has already written his sermon,
is expected to meet with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyam after
the mass (the pontific is usually the last to leave the temple after
ceremonies).

At the end, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and Patriarch of
the Holy See of Cilicia Aram II are expected to deliver addresses,
according to Mikael Minasyan, Armenia’s ambassador to the Holy See.

“This liturgy at the Holy See is unprecedented for several reasons. It
is important to note that there will also be a requiem mass. The
liturgy is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,
but it is being served for the Armenians around the world,” the state
news agency Armenpress quotes him as saying.

Armenian community representatives from different continents are
expected to attend the ceremony.

FAKTXEBER.COM: PACE CO-RAPPORTEUR ON AZERBAIJAN AVOIDS VISIT TO BAKU BECAUSE OF COUNTRY AUTHORITIESÂ~@~Y PRESSURE

12:34 10/04/2015 ” LAW

The visit to Azerbaijan by PACE (the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe) co-rapporteur, Spanish MP Pedro Agramunt, planned
for 8-9 April has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances,
PACE official page on Twitter reads. However, the Azerbaijani media
outlet Faktxeber.com has learnt that Agramunt avoids visiting Baku
because the authorities of Azerbaijan put pressure on him and insist
that he change the term ‘political prisoners’ into ‘prisoners whose
criminal cases have got alleged political motives’ in his upcoming
report in PACE on the human rights situation in that country.

According to the article, Agramunt, in his turn, tries to use his
‘health problems’ as an excuse for postponing the visit. Citing Saida
Gojamanli, a member of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Human Rights,
the outlet writes that one way or another the Spanish MP will have
to pay a visit to Azerbaijan till the end of June, that is, till the
beginning of the summer session.

The outlet reminds that PACE commissioned Agramunt to file a report
on human rights in Azerbaijan in June 2014 following numerous appeals
from the local activists, and that period coincided with Azerbaijan’s
chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the CoE. During this
period Azerbaijan not only failed to make a progress in the field of
human rights, but it also saw dramatic aggravation of the situation
due to the arrests of the activists and the journalists.

The outlet writes that Agramunt had been keeping silent for a long
time and did not pay a single visit to Baku till March 2014 when he
arrived on a shot-term visit to Azerbaijan with his Polish colleague
Tadeusz IwiÃ…~Dski, the co-rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee.

However, as the outlet highlights, the PACE rapporteurs avoided public
statements and press conferences during that visit.

In January 2013 European Stability Initiative NGO demanded PACE
co-rapporteur Pedro Agramunt’s resignation because of making a biased
report and hiding the whole truth about the authoritarian regime
in Azerbaijan. It called him an active representative of ‘caviar
diplomacy.’ During the winter session of PACE European Stability
Initiative issued a report titled “Caviar Diplomacy” which highlighted
the names of those who were engaged in Azerbaijani lobbying and got
‘caviar in return.’ Pedro Agramunt’s name was the first in the list.

Earlier, in 2012, Azerbaijani human rights defender Leyla Yunus had
reported that PACE rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, Agramunt and Gresh,
were being bribed by the Azerbaijani authorities. Yunus said that the
rapporteurs ignored all the materials they were given regarding the
facts of human rights violations and did not include them in their
preliminary report. In particular, the report did not include the
cases of Turach Zeynalov’s death from tortures in the detention centre
of the Ministry of National Security of Nakhijevan; the tortures
of Nakhijevani activist Zeynal Bagirzade; and the tortures of two
journalists from Hayal TV. The section “Freedom of Expression”
did not include the cases of the arrest of the journalists Avaz
Zeynalli and Anar Bayramli, Idrak Abbasov’s beating and Khadija
Ismayilova’s persecutions. The issue of rejecting NGO registration
was not highlighted while considering the “freedom of assembly,” etc.

Related:

”Caviar price” in PACE and struggle of Armenian diplomacy; head of
Armenian delegation in PACE commenting…

WORLD MUST RECOGNIZE CRIME, COMMITTED AGAINST ARMENIANS: ITALIAN MPS

14:32, 10 April, 2015

ROME, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS: The genocide, committed against the
Armenian nation in the past, should be a lesson for all of us that
one should respect the identity and culture of other peoples and one
should do everything not to repeat what had happened then. Armenpress
reports that in the evening on April 9, in the framework of the
official visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan to Italy, an Italian MP, Senator Emilia Grazia De Biasi
stated about this position during the dinner.

Touching upon the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
the Senator stated that the world should recognize the crime, committed
against the Armenian people.

“This nation, regardless of everything and the sufferings it had,
is ready for political, economic and social cooperation. Today the
presence of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
in Italy presents the hope for the future. I had a meeting with the
President in Armenia, when I visited the country with the Italian MPs.

And I am very much impressed by the visit. When we look at the
political figures of the Republic of Armenia, including the Ambassadors
of Armenia in Rome and Vatican, we feel that they present the glorious
history and hope and aspiration for peaceful future”, – concluded MP
Emilia Grazia De Biasi, Armenpress reports.

ARI HAJIAN FROM ARGENTINA: ARMENIA’S FUTURE PRESIDENT

Mаry Mamyan

15:15, April 8, 2015

“It’s unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in
our leadership”

Ari Hajian moved to Armenia from Argentina in 2010. His childhood
dream of living in Armenia has now been realized.

When he was still young in Argentina, it was an accepted practice to
have pen pals based in other countries. When he was 12 years old he
sent a letter to someone in Armenia that read he wanted to go to there
one day to play on the Armenian soccer team and become the president
of Armenia.

Ari is an architect by profession and works at Zvartnots International
Airport. When he was still living in Buenos Aires, the company he
used to work for was contracted to build apartment buildings in Zambia.

Although he was willing to go there, he later changed his mind because
Armenia was the only country where he wanted to live. Ari was able
to find work in his field and settle in Armenia.

While in Armenia he married fellow architect Nayri Abrahamyan, who
is from Iran. She moved to Armenia in 2002 to receive her higher
education in Yerevan. Nayri’s father said that she would feel better
about his daughter moving to Armenia alone rather than moving from
one part of town to another in Iran. Her mother and father followed
two years after Nayri moved to Armenia. Her father comes and goes to
Iran regularly for work-related reasons.

“A lot of people who come to Armenia become disappointed and go back,
but there were reasons why we decided to stay here,” Nayri said. “We
stayed after seeing both the good and the bad. It isn’t good for
people to play up Armenia by glorifying and idealizing it from a
distance. Then they come here, they see the bad side of things,
their expectations aren’t met and they leave.”

Nayri confessed that although she lived in Iran for 17 years, she
didn’t have trouble adjusting to life in Armenia from the get-go. It
was as if she had lived here her whole life. She especially liked
the freedom she felt, since Iran is a closed society where “it’s
difficult for women.”

Ari admitted that his ideas of patriotism changed after moving to
Armenia. For Armenians in the diaspora, Armenia seems like heaven,
or else they regard the country negatively or not at all. For some,
“longing justifies everything,” he said.

“My patriotism was all about demanding our lands­­–Karabakh,
Nakhichevan and Javakhk,” he said.”Now I believe we have to change our
government so these people find work and become stronger. A pensioner
shouldn’t be receiving 12,000 dram, it’s disgraceful. Then some
parliamentarian who drives a $150,000 car says there’s no budget. How
many pensioners would he help by selling his car? We have a serious
emigration problem and they could care less.”

Ari admires people who have chosen to learn foreign languages and
are able to receive a high-quality education abroad. They are the
ones who need to return and enact change, but many are disenchanted
because they encounter corruption and injustice.

“I teach at TUMO, and I am so happy to see the kids there, who are
geniuses, go abroad to learn,” Ari said. “But my heart breaks when
they stay put. I know thousands of cases like that.”

Ari and Nayri are annoyed that most of their friends have left the
country in recent years and live in a tiny circle.

“Now I start to wonder whether I was wrong to come to Armenia and
leave so much behind in Argentina,” she said. “What business do
I–a foreigner–have being here while people are leaving? Although
Armenia is a huge family and I feel like a member of it, I’m still
a foreigner.”

Ari’s family continues to live in Argentina. Although he misses them,
he says his decision’s been made. Both Ari and Nayri admit that they
are very attached to the country and people and they want to continue
living here. They also want to start their own business by opening a
design studio. But they don’t want to see people continuing to leave
the country.

“It’s unacceptable to have so many ignorant, uneducated people in our
leadership,” Ari said. “Our nation, which is one of the smartest,
should have the most educated parliamentarians and ministers. I
don’t get why we don’t. But I have a lot of hope, especially in the
new generation, which is very smart, stylish and mature. We have the
brains and the talent, but we still have this Soviet mentality. They
say there’s corruption all over the world, and if you’re going to
justify the country’s circumstances with that, then nothing will
change. The mentality has to change.”

Ari is frustrated with the government officials and oligarchs, but he
admires ordinary people. For instance, he loves to be around laborers
that have high values and keep on smiling and engaging, despite the
multiple problems they have.

“Although I’ve been here for five years, I’m always delighted to see
two people walking down the street speaking Armenian to each other,
I go crazy!” he said. “That closeness I have to the Armenian language,
which doesn’t exist in Argentina, still holds true, to hear Armenian
words and conversation. But I hate it when they mix in Russian.”

Ari has found a way to deal with people who use Russian in conversation
a lot of the time. In his office there’s a glass container in which
people have to deposit 10 dram every time they utter a Russian
word. After that people became more conscious about using foreign
words while speaking.

“I’m staying because I have hope that change will come, that more
Armenians from the diaspora will come here and that our mentality
will be brought along with them,” Ari said.