Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

UN MEMORIAL DEDIE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN INAUGURE DANS LE SUD DE LA HONGRIE

Un memorial dedie aux victimes du genocide armenien pendant la Première
Guerre mondiale a ete inauguree samedi a Szeged, en Hongrie.

Le khatchkar a ete erigee dans le parc de la solidarite chretienne près
de la cathedrale de Szeged. Lors de la ceremonie, l’ambassadeur de
bonne volonte Levon Sarkissian (frère du president Serge Sarkissian)
s’est felicite que le memorial ait ete inaugure en Hongrie. ” Bien
que la periode recente a connu des moments difficiles, ils ont ete
balayes comme de la cendre dans le vent ” a-t-il dit.

Bien que les relations diplomatiques entre l’Armenie et la Hongrie
aient ete brisees, les liens entre les deux pays remontent a plusieurs
siècles a precise Levon Sarkissian. L’ambassadeur a souligne la
necessite de rendre hommage aux 1,5 millions de victimes et se battre
pour empecher des atrocites similaires partout dans le monde.

Adressant une lettre aux participants, le ministre hongrois des
Affaires etrangères Janos Martonyi a declare que les deux pays avaient
ete lies par des siècles d’amitie, resultant d’une foi chretienne
commune, d’un destin commun et des realisations remarquables des
Armeniens qui s’etaient installes en Hongrie.

Janos Martonyi a declare que l’amitie armeno-hongroise doit encore
etre approfondie et la cooperation elargie dans tous les domaines de
la vie, y compris les relations diplomatiques.

mardi 23 avril 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA SHOULD HAVE A HEALTHY READING OF TURKEY’S 2015 STRATEGY

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
April 23 2013

Would you be surprised if I told you that Turkey is Armenia’s
third-biggest trade partner, I asked my colleagues at the Hurriyet
Daily News. “Of course we wouldn’t. Turkey is one of Armenia’s few
outlets to the world,” they told me.

As veteran journalist Sedat Ergin told me the other day, we do suffer
from time to time from professorial deformation and assume that what
we know is known to everybody else.

It still sounded a little awkward to hear this statistical data,
given the fact that the two countries have no diplomatic relations;
the borders are closed and that Armenia keeps complaining to the
whole world about how it suffers under Turkish trade embargo and
how uncivilized it is to keep borders closed at an age of fast
globalization.

A quick Google search revealed that Turkish and Armenian businesswomen
met in Yerevan at the beginning of April to inquire about ways
to increase trade relations. The news agency that reported about
this meeting pointed to the fact that Turkish-Armenian trade in
January-February 2013 was $24.8 million, increasing by 7.2 percent
from a year before, sourcing the Armenian national statistical service.

These inputs are important as we are yet in that period of the year
that makes us focus on Turkey-Armenia relations, as Armenians prepare
to commemorate on April 24 the anniversary of the 1915 killings
that they consider amounting to genocide. While not excluding the
possibility of surprises, the Turkish Foreign Ministry is not expecting
this year a major action on the part of third countries that would
create tension in bilateral ties. But Turkish officials are aware
that this might be like the silence before the storm, since they are
also aware of the activities geared toward 2015. No one, of course,
should expect the Turkish government to remain idle regarding these
activities.

No doubt Turkey does have a strategy and it will be very important how
this strategy is read and analyzed by Yerevan. First of all, Yerevan
should not see Turkey’s action plan just as a “counterstrategy” to
neutralize Armenians’ efforts for the recognition of the 1915 killings
as genocide. Obviously Turkish officials will spare no effort to
provide their counterarguments against Armenians’ thesis. But Turkey’s
strategy will go beyond mere counteroffensive efforts. It would most
probably seek and even force a window of opportunity that would lead
to normalized relations with Armenia, in parallel to mending ties
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And that’s where Armenia should not fall in the same trap as the Greek
Cypriots. The Greek Cypriot administration thought and still believes
that it could impose a peace deal on its own terms as Turkey would
bow to pressure for the sake of entering to the EU. While Turkish-EU
relations have stalled seemingly due to the Cyprus question, we all
know that accession talks are not going forward not because of Cyprus
but because of the big European powers. And so far Turkey has not
changed its Cyprus policy.

By the same token, Armenians should not expect Turkey to change
its policy of making normalization of its relations with Yerevan
conditional on the solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The
last time Ankara tried a slight disengagement between the two, we
know how it ended.

In short: Turkey’s efforts to seek and even force an opening that
could lead to both Ankara-Yerevan and Yerevan-Baku normalization will
not stem out of fear of Armenians’ 2015 strategy; on the contrary
Turkey might want to divert the international attention to a frozen
conflict in the Caucasus, the continuation of which only serves the
interests of big powers but not of the regional ones.

April/23/2013

From: Baghdasarian

OBAMA NOT EXPECTED TO USE G-WORD, AVOIDING CRISIS WITH TURKEY

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 22 2013

US President Barack Obama is not likely to use “genocide” in a speech
marking the anniversary of the 1915 Armenian mass killings at the
hands of Ottoman Empire, analysts say.

“If he uses the word [genocide], it would be a big surprise,” said
BarıÅ~_ Ozdal, an expert in the Armenian question and lecturer at
the international relations department of Bursa’s Uludag University.

“The US strategic interests require it not to use that word, looking to
the developments in the region. The Syrian crisis is ongoing. And, on
the other hand, Turkey has an increasing geopolitical and geostrategic
importance. So, the US’ regional interest renders such a possibility
unlikely,” Ozdal claimed.

As a presidential candidate, Obama repeatedly vowed to recognize
the Armenian genocide once in office, voicing his commitment to
commemorating and ending genocide.

Since 2009, the Armenian diaspora in the US has waited for the
president to honor his promise. Obama’s repeated failure to use the
word “genocide” in his Armenian Remembrance Day message has created
deep disappointment in the community.

The US has not officially recognized the Armenians’ claim that there
was genocide in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. Before Obama’s
presidency, US leaders blocked attempts to pass resolutions recognizing
the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Mehmet Yegin, a Turkey-US relations expert at the Ankara-based
International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), also mentioned
that Obama would not change his standard definitions regarding the
1915 events, saying that he would avoid using the issue as a foreign
policy tool.

“Obama is using a standard language in his speech [regarding the
Armenian genocide]. As opposed to precedent, he does not use statistics
in speech like ‘1.5 million Armenians have died.’ Also the Armenian
lobbies have gotten used to his wording,” Yegin commented.

Yegin also said that Obama would never use the events as a foreign
policy tool, unlike some of his political predecessors.

“For example, the former President George Bush mentioned the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Also, he was giving messages to Armenians
for a closer cooperation with the US, instead of Russia,” he explained.

In previous years, Obama found himself between a rock and a hard
place while trying to satisfy both Turkish and Armenian claims over
the events of 1915 to 1923.

Describing the events in his previous speeches as “Meds Yeghern”,
which means “Great Calamity” in Armenian, Obama has not only drawn
a rebuff from both Turkey, who described the US president’s wording
as one-sided, but also from the Armenian population, given that he
failed to label the events as genocide.

However, Ozdal claimed that for Obama to use the Armenian term is a
disadvantage for Turkey in the long-term.

“Using the Armenian phrase would negate the Turkish thesis on the
question, because that phrase has started to procure acceptance as
‘genocide’ in the terminology of international relations,” Ozdal
proposed.

From: Baghdasarian

ISRAEL: THE POLITICS BEHIND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Al-Monitor
April 22 2013

By: Akiva Eldar for Al-Monitor Israel Pulse Posted on April 22.

On Wednesday [April 24] the world will mark the 98th anniversary of
the genocide carried out against the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.

As it does every year, this year, too, Israel will be silent. The
Jewish state, which just two weeks ago [April 8] honored the 6 million
Jews who perished in the Holocaust, will abstain from marking the
genocide in which 1 million to 1.5 million Armenians perished.

President Shimon Peres, who spoke at the central memorial ceremony
at Yad Vashem and pointed a finger at “those who forget and deny the
Holocaust,” will continue, as he does every year, to ignore the cruel
genocide carried out a quarter of a century before World War II.

When Adolf Hitler was asked how the world would respond to his “Final
Solution” plan – the extermination of the Jewish people in Europe –
he replied, without compunction: “Who, after all, speaks today of
the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Germany speaks today of the annihilation of the Jews, assumes
responsibility for the Holocaust, memorializes the victims and
compensates the survivors. Turkey not only refuses to recognize the
Armenian genocide – its government conducts all-out wars against
states that mention the event and punishes governments that grant
it official recognition. Only a year and a half ago, Turkey recalled
its ambassador from Paris to protest the French parliament’s approval
of legislation that criminalizes the denial of the Armenian genocide
(several weeks later, the law was repealed).

The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide
defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole
or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such.”

The man who coined the term genocide and fought for adoption of the
treaty was the Jewish-Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin, whose entire
family was annihilated in the Holocaust. He himself managed to flee
to the United States. Lemkin referred specifically to the Armenian
annihilation as an act of genocide. This position was never adopted
by Israeli governments. The official Israeli position was summed up
in 2001 in an interview by then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with
the Turkish Daily News: “The Armenians suffered a tragedy,” he said,
“but not genocide.”

In advance of the Armenian memorial day someone should point out to
the president a compilation of testimony provided by members of Nili
(a Jewish spy ring that operated in Palestine during World War I in
an effort to help the British army wrest it from the Turks) about
what befell the Armenians. He might just change his mind.

This is the testimony of Eitan Belkind, a Nili man who infiltrated
the Turkish military:

“I was amazed to see the river colored red with the blood and bodies of
decapitated children floating on the water. The sight was horrendous –
and we are powerless to help.” Belkind later described how Circassian
soldiers ordered the Armenians to gather thorns and thistles and form
them into a large pyramid, tied some 5,000 people to each other hand
to hand in a ring around the thorn pile and set it on fire. “The fire
rose to the sky along with the screams of the wretched people charred
to death in the bonfire,” he wrote. “I fled from the place because I
could not watch that horrible scene. I urged my horse to gallop with
all his might and after a wild two-hour ride I could still hear their
miserable cries until their voices died out. Two days later I went back
to the place and saw the charred bodies of thousands of human beings.”

In a memorandum submitted to the British Ministry of Defense in 1916,
Nili leader Aaron Aaronsohn wrote: “The massacre of the Armenians is
a well-planned Turkish action and the Germans were partners in this
shameful act.”

These harsh words were echoed at a seminar held on April 11 of
this year on the subject of “The Nakba in Israel’s National Memory”
(by The Walter Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through
Education and the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel
Aviv University). During the discussion, Professor Yair Auron of the
Open University, who for years has been leading a determined struggle
for recognition of the Armenian genocide, was sharply critical of
the indifference of Israel’s political and academic elite to the
tragedies of other nations. Later, in an interview with Al-Monitor,
Auron contended that through their indifference, “they are defiling
the memory of the Holocaust.”

And, in fact, other than a handful of right- and left-wing politicians,
none of the leaders of mainstream Israeli politics showed up. For
them, any attempt to hint that other peoples were also persecuted
and massacred for racist reasons is considered “disrespect for
the Holocaust” (they themselves, on the other hand, often use
the term “Holocaust,” especially to scare the Israeli public with
the Iranian threat). They do not define the Armenian genocide as a
human-Jewish-ethical issue. Israeli universities make do with teaching
the Jewish Holocaust and evince no interest in the disasters of other
peoples. Nonetheless, at Auron’s instigation, the Open University has
for several years been teaching a course on the Armenian genocide,
which is much in demand by students.

The recognition of the Armenian genocide by Israeli decision-makers
is a question of politics, of the relationship between Israel,
Turkey and the United States. Who cares about relations with little
Armenia (3 million citizens)? In fact, Israel even earned several
million dollars recently, benefiting from the Turkish government’s
decision to cancel a weapons deal with France in retaliation for the
above-mentioned legislation against denial of the Armenian genocide.

In 2007, the Knesset decided to remove from its daily agenda a proposal
by Knesset Member Haim Oron of the Meretz Party to debate the Armenian
genocide in the Education and Culture Committee. The decision resulted
from orders by then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni, who feared that further discussion of the issue would
lead to a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey.

In a debate that took place in the Knesset five years later (June 12,
2012), over the objections of the diplomatic echelon, the government’s
representative, then Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan,
confessed that “this whole debate is taking place against the backdrop
of relations between Israel and Turkey.” Nothing has changed.

At the low point of relations with Turkey, following the failed May
2010 Israeli takeover of the flotilla to Gaza which gave birth to the
“Marmara Crisis,” some right-wing politicians suggested “punishing”
the Turks by recognizing the Armenian genocide. And what would we have
done now? Would Prime Minister Netanyahu have repealed the recognition
of the Armenian genocide to complement his apology to Turkey over the
Marmara? Hearing of that idea, Auron reacts with anger: “As a human
being and as a Jew, I am deeply ashamed that an issue of such basic
principle and ethics has been turned into a pawn.”

The office of President Peres did not respond to a query by Al-Monitor,
asking whether he had changed his mind regarding the genocide of the
Armenian people.

Akiva Eldar is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Israel Pulse. He
was formerly a senior columnist and editorial writer for Haaretz and
also served as the Hebrew daily’s US bureau chief and diplomatic
correspondent. His most recent book (with Idith Zertal), Lords of
the Land, on the Jewish settlements, was on the best-seller list in
Israel and has been translated into English, German and Arabic.

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. Federal Court Rules in Favor of Global Gold Against Caldera
Resources, Confirming International Arbitral Award on Marjan Gold Mine
in Armenia

RYE, N.Y., April 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Global Gold Corporation
(OTCQB:GBGD) is pleased to announce that in a decision signed April
15, 2013 and released on April 17, 2013 United States Federal Judge
Kenneth M. Karas of the Southern District of New York ruled for Global
Gold on issues concerning the joint venture agreement for the Marjan
mining property in southwestern Armenia by confirming the American
Arbitration Association award issued March 29, 2012 by retired Justice
Herman Cahn which stated that “[t]he property should revert to [Global
Gold] within thirty (30) days from the date [of the arbitration
award–by April 29, 2012]. Obviously, [Global Gold] may cause the
appropriate governmental bodies in Armenia to register the property in
[Global Gold’s] name.” Global Gold had already done so in 2012
following the binding arbitral decision of Justice Cahn and the
separate decision by Armenian courts culminating in a final decision
effective February 8, 2012 by the Armenian Court of Cassation
affirming prior Armenian trial court and court of appeals decisions
which ruled that Montreal based Caldera Resources, Inc.’s (“Caldera”)
registration and assumption of control of the Marjan Mine and Marjan
Mining Company, LLC through unilateral charter changes were illegal
and that ownership rests fully with Global Gold Mining, LLC (a wholly
owned subsidiary of Global Gold Corporation).

“The United States Federal Court decision is at least the fifth major
decision in Global’s favor in the face of a remarkable record of
defamatory and fabricated attacks by Caldera Resources and its
principals,” said Global Gold’s Chairman and CEO, Van Krikorian.
“Essentially Caldera and the Mavridis brothers, Vasilios (Bill) and
John, without any effective intervention from the company board,
carried out a plan of false representations and deception almost from
the start in early 2010, submitted misleading documents to Canadian
stock exchange officials for approval, illegally registered changes to
documents in Armenia at the direction of Bill Mavridis and another
Caldera representative (convicted counterfeiter Azat Vartanian), and
then tried to get away with a plan to take the Marjan property without
respecting the payment or other terms of the joint venture agreement,
all of which caused and continues to cause major damage to Global Gold
and its employees and operations. We are grateful to our outside
counsel, Brian Cousin of the Dentons firm () who really
was tenacious in exposing securities law violations aspects of
Caldera’s behavior. The arbitration case will now resume and proceed
to the attorneys fees, damages, and other phases as previously
reported. Global Gold has selected a mine contractor to start mining
at Marjan, the government has issued a fresh license valid until 2033,
and we will be reporting on the development of the property as the
year progresses.”

As the Federal Court decision summarized in its 21 page opinion:

First, as a condition precedent of the JV Agreement taking effect,
Caldera was required to make several payments. (Mar. 29 Order at 5.)
Among them was that “Caldera shall . . . issue 500,000 shares to
[Global Gold].” (Id. (quoting JV Agreement 4.3)) But the arbitrator
found this “condition precedent was not fulfilled.” (Id. at 6.)
Rather, while “Caldera offered evidence that a certificate in the
amount of 500,000 shares of its stock was created in the name of
Global Gold, Caldera admittedly never ‘paid’ or ‘delivered’ that
certificate to Global Gold.” (Id. at 6.) Second, another condition
precedent to the execution of the JV Agreement was “the approvals of
the TSX Venture Exchange.” (Id. at 7.) But the arbitrator found that
“Caldera never submitted a copy of the actual JV Agreement to the
TSX-V until the middle of these arbitration proceedings.” (Id.) The
arbitrator also found that Caldera had submitted to the TSXV the
December 19, 2009 letter agreement that “contained materially
different terms from the final JV Agreement.” (Id. at 8.) Thus, the
arbitrator found that “the TSX-V never approved the terms of the final
JV Agreement.” (Id. at 9.) Third, assuming arguendo that the JV
Agreement went into effect, Caldera was required to obtain the
unanimous consent of the members of the Marjan-Caldera Mining Company
to take certain actions, including borrowing money. (Id. at 14 (citing
LLC Agreement 4.13).) But Caldera took certain covered actions without
the consent of at least one of the members of the Company. (Id. at
15.) Fourth, also assuming arguendo that the JV Agreement went into
effect, Caldera was required to make certain payments required by the
agreement. (Id.) But the arbitrator found that Caldera never made
these payments. (Id.)

The Federal Court addressed and rejected each of Caldera’s arguments, noting:

Here, [Caldera] contends that the award should be vacated for a wide
variety of legally cognizable reasons–and even some reasons that may
not be legally cognizable. Respondent contends that the arbitrator
acted in manifest disregard of the law; that the award was “arbitrary
and capricious”; that the arbitrator engaged in “misbehavior”; that
the arbitrator “exceeded his power and authority”; that the arbitrator
conducted unlawful “ex parte communications”; and that the arbitrator
breached various rules of the American Arbitration Association
(“AAA”). (Resp. Mem. 6–15.) But before discussing why the Court
rejects these claims, it must be said that these concerns strike
something of a disingenuous note. It was Respondent [Caldera], after
all, who came to this same Court roughly two months before the order
at issue asking the Court to confirm the arbitrator’s January 19, 2012
interim order. At that time, [Caldera] expressed no concerns regarding
the propriety of the proceedings or the professional conduct of the
arbitrator. Yet, now that [Caldera] does not like the outcome of the
Partial Final Award, it asks this Court to believe that, for the
entire course of the arbitration proceedings, Justice Cahn was
presiding over what amounts to a kangaroo court. This reversal of
attitude is cause for some healthy skepticism.

In the process, Caldera cited cases that did not state what Caldera
urged and alleged facts and conclusions that were without bases. At
one point the Federal Court noted: “[t]hus, even applying Respondent’s
inapt New York case law, [Caldera’s] contention that the arbitrator
manifestly disregarded the law fails.” At another point, the Federal
Court stated: “[Caldera] contends that the award must be vacated
because Justice Cahn breached the AAA rules that governed the
proceeding. (Resp. Mem. 13–16.) [Caldera] cites no authority for the
proposition that a mere violation of the AAA Rules, by itself,
provides grounds for vacatur. Further, it is not exactly clear to the
Court precisely which AAA rules [Caldera] contends were broken.”

The full text of the Federal Court decision as well as the March 29,
2012 arbitral award and Global Gold’s recently issued mining license
(stating the amount of government approved reserves) are all available
on the company’s website:

The official versions of the Armenian Court decisions are available
through English translations of those
decisions are also available on the company’s website:
As disclosed previously, Global Gold assumes
no responsibility for the accuracy of any statements issued by Caldera
related to the Marjan matter, and the official rulings speak for
themselves.

Based on Caldera’s false report of TSX-V approval, on June 17, 2010,
Global Gold and Caldera announced they were proceeding with their
March 24, 2010 joint venture agreement to explore and bring the Marjan
property into commercial production. In late August 2010, Global Gold
learned that Caldera had circumvented the agreement by unilaterally
and illegally registering changes to the Armenian project company’s
charter to Global Gold’s detriment. Such changes could only have been
properly made with the signature of one of three authorized Global
Gold officers. However, Caldera was somehow able to register changes
without Global Gold’s consent or knowledge. Without even advising
Global Gold that it had made those changes to take control, Caldera
tried to have Global Gold sign a resolution that would have authorized
Caldera’s illegal acts. Global Gold refused. In addition, Caldera
advised that it would not be performing the mining license
requirements, failed to perform, and materially breached the
agreements in other ways.

On October 10, 2010, Caldera wrote to Global Gold that “any claims of
illegal registrations and request for changes must be addressed to
Administrative Court in Armenia.” Later, Caldera intervened in the
Armenian case, and repeatedly delayed adjudication for months, using
questionable tactics. After trial, court examination, and a 22 page
opinion, the verdict reinstated Global Gold as the sole shareholder of
Marjan Mining Company. The lower court identified as officers both
Caldera’s President Vasilios (Bill) Mavridis and its country
representative Azat Vartanian as responsible for Caldera’s actions in
this case. Subsequently, bank records showed three equal cash
withdrawals by Vartanian timed with each of the three challenged
Registry acts. Global Gold has reported to both Armenian and U.S
authorities the facts giving rise to potential Foreign Corrupt
Practices issues.

In a December 12, 2011 decision, the 54 page opinion concluded that
the “Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling for Global Gold, as did the
highest appellate court in Armenia, the Court of Cassation, in
February 2012, concluding “the decision becomes effective as of the
moment of its passing [February 8, 2012], and is not subject to being
appealed.”

Recently, Caldera has also publicly claimed that it continues to have
rights to the Marjan property based on the parties’ December 2009
agreement which called for the parties to enter into a mutually agreed
joint venture agreement, ignoring that Global Gold fulfilled that
obligation in March 2010 and that the prior agreement to agree was
merged into the March 2010 agreement, called for completion of
payments by Caldera by the end of 2012, and included other terms which
Caldera cannot meet. Caldera’s attempt to raise this lost issue in the
arbitral proceedings in December 2012 was not accepted, a fact that
Caldera fails to disclose, along with the findings of the March 29,
2012 arbitral decision, noted by the Federal Court, that the 2009 term
sheet document was an “agreement to agree.” Caldera and its officers
and agents have also continued an extraordinary, defamatory campaign
of harassment and filing of false claims over the internet and
elsewhere against the Company and its officials which may be pursued
during the damages phase of the arbitration and/or as a separate
matter. Caldera raised approximately five million dollars in
connection with the Marjan joint venture, but failed to pay Global
Gold the money it was owed, and tax returns filed by Caldera in
Armenia report less than $400,000 spent on the property.

The Marjan mining property is located in Southwestern Armenia, along
the Nakichevan border in the Syunik province. Further information is
available on the Global Gold Corporation website

From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Email: [email protected].
fax: +972-2-588 3658
Web:

On Sunday 28th April 2013 at 6.30 pm a Symposium and and Evening of
Commemoration will be held in the Senate Hall of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem. It is organized by the Armenian Studies program in the
Institute of Asian and African Studies.

Members of the general Israeli public, as well as Jerusalem’s Armenian
and other Christian communities will attend. They will hear words from
the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Prof. Reuven Amitai; HE Ms
Hranush Hakobian, Minister of the Diaspora (by video recording); HE Mr.
Tsolag Momjian, Honorary Consul of ROA in Jerusalem, and a
Representative of the Armenian Patriarchate.

Of special interest is that the renowned choral group, the Charlotta
Chorale from Tel-Aviv, contacted the organizers, offering to sing Psalms
and Prayer to mark the Chorale’s and its Director and Conductor Eli
Gefen’s identification and solidarity with the suffering of the Armenian
people. They will present a number of pieces. Fr. Koosan Aljanian of the
Armenian Cathedral of the Sts. James and Ms Sosé Krikorian will sing
appropriate pieces, from the Liturgy and by Komitas, respectively.

The evening will be chaired by Prof. Michael Stone, emeritus Professor
of Armenian Studies at the Hebrew University. It was made possible by
the generosity of Mr. Ts. Momjian and Mrs. Josa Bivin of Jerusalem and
of Mr. Sassoon Grigorian, Mr. Khajaque Kortian and Mr & Mrs Vache
Kahramanian of Sydney, Australia.

Those wishing to attend should write to Professor Stone
([email protected]) to receive an invitation, which will
constitute a permit to enter the campus and parking.

From: Baghdasarian

FRENCH TV AIRS FILM ABOUT FOOTBALLER MKHITARYAN

13:34, April 22, 2013

The French TV station Canal+ aired a film about Armenian football
midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan on April 20.

The film was shot over several months by director Remy Vorano in
Donetsk, Germany and Valance, as well as places where Mkhitaryan
grew up.

The camera crew of Canal+ visited Yerevan late in March to follow
preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier between the national
teams of Armenia and the Czech Republic and conduct interviews.

From: Baghdasarian

“THIS IS A POWERFUL WEAPON TO STOP AZERBAIJAN’S HYSTERIA”

April 20 2013

Colonel Grisha Sargsyan, the president of the Union of Militsiya
Special Forces Veterans, says Talking about the antiunion referendum
held in the USSR at the end of 1990 in an interview given to the Azeri
Service of Radio Liberty in March, Ayaz Mutalibov, a former President
of Azerbaijan, stated in particular: “I knew that this referendum
was of no importance, all the same, the Soviet Union was collapsing,
and the process would be carried through. One just had to seize that
opportunity, and I showed the results to Gorbachev one day after the
referendum, saying: ‘Look, the Azeri people take genuine offense at
you, but they voted for the maintenance of the USSR.’ I said that
this document had a certain price. Gorbachev asked what that price
was, and I answered that there was his order to clear Karabakh of
militants that was not carried out.” This interview was immediately
followed by the demand made by Colonel Grisha Sargsyan, the president
of the Union of Militsiya Special Forces Veterans, of the Armenian
government – the National Security Service, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Attorney General’s Office –
to prepare lawsuits in line with international law to be filed in the
International Court in The Hague to hold Mikhail Gorbachev and Ayaz
Mutalibov accountable for crimes against humanity. In this regard,
Aravot asked Grisha Sargsyan: * Mr. Sargsyan, has your demand
gotten any response? * There were responses both in writing and
orally. Since the new Cabinet is not formed yet, and the Cabinet’s
composition is not ready yet, i.e. in order that the started work is
not left unfinished as a result of possible change, we, as a demander,
will put forward facts after the new Cabinet is formed, in order that
the latter present those to the International Court in The Hague. If
the newly-formed Cabinet doesn’t meet our demand, we will demand the
resignations of the heads of the above-mentioned institutions. We will
demand, since we suffered from that operation. This is a powerful
weapon that can be used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stop
Azerbaijan’s hysteria and to eventually silence the latter. * In your
opinion, what were the main reasons for the fact that they allowed
the former Azeri president to oppose the Azeri government and to send
this kind of “message” to the world? * He was offended, insulted that
Azerbaijan deprived itself of everything. Mutalibov tried to return
to Azerbaijan, but he was bashed by the national front and was faced
with their intolerance. Mutalibov has been wanted in his fatherland
for 15 years now. He doesn’t visit his fatherland, in order not to
be imprisoned. He is considered an enemy in his fatherland. And this
“wild card” that he has given must be used. * Isn’t it possible that
our efforts to bring a lawsuit against Gorbachev in the international
court will be in vain, and Mutalibov’s interview given to Radio
Liberty will be described as libel and framing? * If it is the case,
let Gorbachev sue Mutalibov for libel and reaching a secret agreement.

However, he doesn’t do that, since it is a real fact. * A suit has been
pending in the Republic of Armenia for around 3 years. The prisoners
of war sued the government of the Republic of Armenia for not showing
financial and moral assistance to them. What is the reason for delaying
the verdict for such a long time? * It has been pending for 3 years,
because the government doesn’t know what to do. How can a state with
a poor treasury compensate them? This is also a good opportunity to
file a lawsuit in the international court and to demand that Mikhail
Gorbachev pay financial and moral compensation to the families of
those from the Militsiya Special Forces, Ministry of the Interior
of the Republic of Armenia, who were killed, as well as to those who
were captured and injured, from his Peace Foundation. The prisoners
of war are alive today and can give testimony. If Armenia is not able
to settle this dispute, these prisoners of war will file a lawsuit in
the European Court. The European Court will satisfy the demand and
will say, “Yes, the man has suffered,” will award ~@100 thousand in
compensation and will say, “Pay it,” and how will Armenia pay? Today
Gorbachev’s second present struck at our weakness. Our enemy offered
a great opportunity with their own hands, and we should seize it at
the right moment. KRISTINA MIRZOYAN

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© 1998 – 2013 Aravot – News from Armenia

From: Baghdasarian

CONSECRATING CHURCH OF AKHTAMAR DID NOT MAKE YOU ARMENIAN

April 22, 2013 | 00:04

YEREVAN. – During a rally, Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
leader Devlet Bahceli, who opposes the PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan-led
process toward settling the country’s Kurdish issue, strongly
criticized Erdogan.

Reflecting on the aforesaid process, the MHP chairman stated that
all this was organized hand-in-hand by the Turkish PM and Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life
sentence in Turkey, Haberler news agency of Turkey reports.

“When you received the ‘Jewish award for courage,’ that did not
make you a Jew. When you consecrated the church of Akhtamar, that
did not make you Armenian. When you organized a mass in the Sumela
Monastery, that did not make you a [Greek] Orthodox. But your visit
to the monuments of Orhon [that is, the oldest extant Turkish writings
dating back to the 8th century, discovered in the valley of the Orhon
River in northern Mongolia] likewise will not make you a Turk and a
nationalist,” Devlet Bahceli stated addressing Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION SHOULD BE TRANSFERRED TO LEGAL FIELD – EXPERT

12:40 ~U 22.04.13

The National Council of Western Armenia offers to put the accent not
on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by different countries
but its condemnation on legal platform, council’s chairman Armenak
Abrahamyan told the reporters on Monday.

He stressed that the recognition of Genocide by different countries
will not give anything to Armenia. “If we transfer this issue on legal
platform, the recognition of the Genocide will automatically happen.

We must reach the recognition of our rights as the recognition by
this or that country is not useful,” he said.

Abrahamyan said the Western Armenia’s National Council is engaged in
two trials. “We have applied to the European Court of Human Rights in
connection with Ani cases and to International court on Dersim cases.

All the means should be used and it is necessary to apply for reaching
condemnation of the whole Armenian Genocide,” he added.

Member of the council Tigran Pashabezyan said that during these
long years Turkey’s genocidal policy has not changed which must make
Armenia more sober.

“Armenian Genocide has been committed after 1915 as well in 80s. It
was committed against Armenians in Azerbaijan, and continues till now.

One of its examples is the elimination of Jougha cemetery,” he said.

According to him, Armenia must work out new strategy to reach
condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and raise the level of
self-protection to prevent Armenian genocide in every corner of
the world.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian