Author: Boshkezenian Garik

ARMENIA ASSEMBLY ANNOUNCES MEDIA CAMPAIGN ON IMPORTANCE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AFFIRMATION

Tert.am
26.04.10

On the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian Assembly
of America (Assembly) launched a nationwide media campaign to educate
the public and explain the importance of affirmation of the Armenian
Genocide, announced the Assembly.

"Given Turkey’s ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide, the Assembly
is redoubling its efforts to ensure that the lessons of the Armenian
Genocide are not forgotten and urges passage of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution in the House and Senate," stated Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny.

"These videos, which started airing nationally today, promote genocide
education, affirmation and prevention," Ardouny continued.

The first video, Armenian Assembly Urges U.S. Affirmation of the
Armenian Genocide, aired earlier today (April 24th) and will be aired
again tonight (April 25th) at EST/8:15pm PST and at EST/8:57pm PST on
the Fox Business Network, which reaches nearly 60 million households.

The second video, Armenian Assembly: Education and Affirmation,
distributed to Public Television stations across the country was made
available for airing on April 24th.

Illinois Armenian American Community to honor 1.5 million victims of
Armenian Genocide

ILLINOIS, APRIL 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
National Committee of Illinois will host a series of events beginning
on Friday, April 23 and continuing through April 25 to honor the 95th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

On April 23 a demonstration titled "Against Turkish DENIAL" took place
in front of the Turkish Consulate.

On April 24 a commemorative program will take place in Armenian
Community Center Shahnasarian Hall.

On April 25 requiem will service to the memory of the victims of the
Armenian Genocide, wreath laying Ceremony will take place at Martyrs’
Monument.

Obama does not differ from presidents criticized by him for
non-recognition of Genocide

April 24, 2010 – 22:51 AMT 17:51 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

The non-usage of the word genocide by the U.S. President is a failure
to honor his own pledge, Head of the ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and
Political Affairs Office Director Kiro Manoyan said. `Though Barack
Obama used all the synonyms characterizing the Armenian Genocide,
except for that word, it proves that the he does not differ from the
presidents criticized by him for non-recognition of the Genocide. This
time he had no reasons for refraining from using the term genocide,’
Kiro Manoyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the Armenian community of the
U.S., again using term Meds Yeghern with respect to the Armenian
Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Interfax, Russia
April 22 2010

Armenia-Turkey normalization process collapses

YEREVAN April 22

Armenia announced on Thursday that it was cutting short efforts to
normalize its relations with Turkey, unilaterally ending a
normalization process launched in October 2009 and accusing Turkey of
being "unprepared to continue the process and move forward without
preconditions."

"We consider the current phase of Armenian-Turkish negotiations to be
over," President Serzh Sargsyan said in an address to the nation.

"Turkey is unprepared to continue the process and move forward without
preconditions. What can be seen as a ‘reasonable timeframe’ has taken
too long. Their position is unacceptable," he said.

He thanked Russia, the U.S. and Switzerland for trying to help the two
countries develop a normal relationship.

The process began in Zurich on October 10 as the Armenian and Turkish
foreign ministers signed protocols mapping out measures that included
establishing diplomatic relations.

NBC Bay Area , San Francisco
April 25 2010

Armenians March For Their Slain Fathers

Hundreds flow across the Golden Gate
By JESSICA GREENE

Hundreds of Armenians gathered in San Francisco Saturday for the "Walk
for Remembrance" across the Golden Gate Bridge commemorating the 95th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. They were part of a worldwide
rememberance of the mass killing of their fellow countrymen by Ottoman
Turks.

The killing began on April 24, 1915 with the murder of 800 Armenian
intellectuals. Ottoman leaders then evicted Armenians from thier homes
— an action that spiraled into the killing of an estimated 1.5
million people.

Hundreds of thousands of people lay flowers at a monument to the
victims in Armenia as part of the ceremonies. Ethnic Armenians also
gathered in cities across the world, including Moscow and Paris.

In East Jerusalem, Armenians protested outside the Turkish consulate.
Turkey has long denied that the deaths were genocide and claim the
death toll is exaggerated.

l-beat/Armenians-March-For-Fallen-Fathers-92026099 .html

AZERBAIJAN URGES TO RELEASE DISSENTING JOURNALIST FOR WRITING ABOUT KHOJALU

Tert.am
23.04.10

Amnesty International has urged the Azerbaijani authorities to free
a journalist jailed on trumped up charges of terrorism and defamation
after the European Court of Human Rights ruled he had been wrongfully
imprisoned.

The Court said on Thursday that Eynulla Fatullayev, jailed in April
2007 after writing a series of newspaper articles critical of the
authorities, should be released immediately.

"Azerbaijan should take this opportunity to show it is willing to
bring to an end its reputation for silencing dissenting voices and
imprisoning those that speak out against the government," said Natalia
Nozadze, Amnesty International’s researcher on Azerbaijan.

Eynulla Fatullayev was convicted of defamation after writing two
articles that disputed the official account of the 1992 mass killings
of Azerbaijani civilians in the town of Khojaly, during the conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

He was subsequently convicted on terrorism charges for publishing
an article discussing the possible consequences for Azerbaijan of
a US-Iranian war, which the Azerbaijani authorities regarded as a
threat of terrorism. The article criticized foreign policy decisions
made by the Azerbaijani government.

The European Court verdict stated that Eynulla Fatullayev’s convictions
on charges of defamation and terrorism violated his rights to free
expression. It found that he had been unfairly tried and that there
was "no justification for the imposition of a prison sentence."

If not contested the Court’s verdict becomes final after three months.

Amnesty International said it believed Eynulla Fatullayev’s
imprisonment was an attempt to silence his reporting and considers
him to be a prisoner of conscience.

As a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights, Azerbaijan
is obliged to adhere to the court’s final judgement. "The authorities
should release Eynulla Fatullayev without delay." said Natalia Nozadze.

ADAM SCHIFF URGES OBAMA TO PROPERLY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

ArmInfo
2010-04-23 11:20:00

ArmInfo. In a forcefully worded letter, Armenian Genocide Resolution
lead sponsor, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), urged President Barack
Obama to stand by his record as a U.S. Senator and his pledges as a
Presidential candidate to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide,
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.

"We join with Armenian Americans from across the country in thanking
Congressman Schiff for his leadership in calling upon President Obama
to keep his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide," ANCA Executive
Director Aram Hamparian said.

Earlier this week, 14 Senators issued a similar call, urging President
Obama to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide in his annual
statement.

To recall, despite his election pledge to recognize the Armenian
genocide, Barack Obama preferred to avoid the term "genocide" in his
last year speech on 24 April and used the term "mets yeghern" instead,
which has no legal or international meaning.

TURKEY COOL TO ARMENIA’S DECISION TO HALT RATIFICATION OF PROTOCOLS

Hurriyet Daily News
ey-cool-to-armenia8217s-move-seeks-ways-to-capital ize-it-2010-04-22
April 22 2010
Turkey

Yerevan’s call to halt ratification of an accord on normalizing ties
has Turkey evaluating the possible legal and political repercussions,
and prompted the country’s leader to reiterate his commitment to the
normalization process.

"It is up to them to decide how they want to move with the ratification
process," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters
in Ankara on Thursday. "I have expressed our loyalty to the protocols
on numerous occasions. We will press ahead with the process on the
principle that treaties are binding."

The prime minister’s remarks came as Armenia’s ruling coalition
announced earlier Thursday that it was halting ratification of
the peace accord on account of Turkey’s refusal to ratify the text
"without preconditions and in a reasonable timeframe."

Soon after the coalition parties’ statement, Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian confirmed his country’s freezing of the ratification of
the protocols with neighboring Turkey.

The coalition, which holds the majority in the Armenian parliament,
described as "unacceptable" recent statements by Erdogan linking the
process of ratifying the protocols to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to a report by Agence
France-Presse. The declaration was made by the ruling Republican,
Prosperous Armenia and Country of Law parties.

In Tallinn, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the
government had not yet received any official statement about the
accords.

"What we are doing now is evaluating the content of this statement,"
ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review in the Estonian capital, where Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu was attending a NATO meeting. Ozugergin added that Turkey
is also discussing what steps it could take in the upcoming period.

Following the Armenian statement, Davutoglu called Erdogan to inform
him about the developments. In Ankara, Erdogan said his country’s
stance concerning the ratification of the protocols is clear. "How
the ratification process could move forward and how a comprehensive
peace objective can be achieved in the region has been explained to
the parties concerned."

Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic
ties and open their border in a step toward ending decades of
hostility over Armenian allegations that Ottoman Turks committed
genocide against Armenians, a claim that Turkey rejects.

The deal, comprised of two protocols, needs parliamentary ratification
to take effect. The reconciliation process has since stalled, with
both sides questioning each other’s commitment to peace.

Three points

Early analyses made by Turkish diplomats on the ruling Armenian
coalition’s decision are based on the timing of the announcement as
well as its legal and political dimensions.

The statement came just two days before April 24, the day Armenians
mark the events of 1915, which they consider genocide. On the same
day, a number of countries, including the United States, issue annual
statements to commemorate the Armenian deaths.

"The timing of the statement is important. They are trying to force
Obama to be straighter in his statement," a senior Turkish diplomat
told the Daily News. Last year, U.S. President Barack Obama did not
use the word "genocide" in his April 24 statement, but described the
1915 incidents as "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century."

Following a meeting with Obama last week in Washington, Erdogan said
he was sure that the U.S. president would not use the word "genocide"
in his statement this year.

A group of experts at the Turkish Foreign Ministry have already begun
to look into the meaning of the statement and how it could affect
Turkey’s legal position.

Political consequences will be felt in the ongoing normalization
process, but the move could also be a tactical one to mobilize
opposition parties to force the government in Turkey to withdraw the
protocols from Parliament.

‘Right decision’

A senior official from the Dashnaktsutyun party, which left the
ruling coalition over its opposition to the normalization efforts,
hailed the move, saying, "the Sarkisian administration finally made
the right decision."

"Armenia will never yield to Erdogan’s preconditions, and never
back down on the Karabakh issue or the international recognition of
genocide," Vahan Hovanesian told the Daily News in Yerevan.

David Shahnazarian from the Armenian National Congress also criticized
what he called Turkey’s "never-ending" pre-conditions. "Under the
influence of Azerbaijan, Turkey cannot make progress on the protocols."

Ruben Safrastian, the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies
at the Republic of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences, said the
protocols had already come to a halt and put the responsibility for
that on Turkey. "We have missed the historic opportunity between Turkey
and Armenia. We must initiate a new process urgently, otherwise the
Turkey-Armenia relationship will head to an irreversible period,"
Safrastian told the Daily News.

Davutoglu was scheduled to meet Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton in Tallinn on the sidelines of the NATO foreign
ministers’ meeting. A senior diplomat confirmed that Davutoglu
was planning to raise this issue during the meeting. "It is equally
important to see how Americans interpret this statement," the diplomat
said. "That will help us complete our own analyses."

ARMENIAN RULING COALITION PROPOSES WITHDRAWAL OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS FROM NATIONAL ASSEMBLY’S AGENDA

/ARKA/
April 22, 2010
YEREVAN

Armenian ruling coalition proposes to cease the process of ratification
of Armenian-Turkish protocols in National Assembly.

Relations between Armenia and Turkey, tense until recently, have
started improving, and on October 10, 2009, Armenian and Turkish
foreign ministers – Edward Nalbandyan and Ahmet Davutoglu – signed
the protocols on establishment of diplomatic ties between the two
countries and development of bilateral relations.

The protocols are waiting for ratification by the two countries’
parliaments.

At their joint statement available on Armenian Parliament’s website,
the governing parties say that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,
supported by National Assembly’s majority, have taken certain steps
to improve Armenian-Turkish relations without any preconditions.

The United States, Russia, France, Switzerland have contributed a
great deal to this process.

Many countries have welcomed this initiative and stressed its
importance for regional stability.

"The constructive steps taken by Armenia and expectations of the
international community came across inconsistency, maneuvering and the
preconditions put forward by Turkish side. That is why the process of
ratification of Armenian-Turkish protocols has reached a deadlock,"
the ruling parties said in their joint statement.

They also say that the majority at Armenian National Assembly finds
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statements
unacceptable.

Armenian lawmakers think that these statements make ratification
directly dependent on settlement of Karabakh conflict.

"Turkish side’s refusal to ratify the protocols unconditionally and
in reasonable terms makes their ratification in Armenian National
Assembly senseless," the parties say.

That is why the majority of Armenian legislators finds it necessary
to cease the ratification process in Armenia and withdraw it from
the Parliament’s agenda until Turkey becomes ready for unconditional
continuation of the process.

After 2008 presidential elections a ruling coalition was formed
in Armenia.

The coalition member parties are Republican Party of Armenia, Orinats
Yerkir and Prosperous Armenia.

At its latest session convened on April 6, Armenian National Assembly
put discussion of Armenian-Turkish protocols on the agenda again.

Armenian Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan has said that the
protocols will be put on the National Assembly’s floor, but only
after their ratification by Turkish Parliament.

THE RA MINISTER OF DEFENCE RECEIVES THE AMBASSADOR OF THE PRC TO THE RA

;p=0 &id=1296&y=2010&m=04&d=22
20.04.10

On the 20th of April, 2010 the RA Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan
received the newly appointed ambassador of the People’s Republic of
China to the Republic of Armenia Tian Changchun.

Congratulating him on the new diplomatic post and underlining the high
level of the Armenian-Chinese relations, the Minister of Defence hoped
that during his administration the bilateral relations will become even
stronger and will include new spheres of cooperation. Stating that
in the previous years the Armenian-Chinese relations were effective
from the development and strengthening angel, particularly in the
sphere of military and military technological cooperation, Seyran
Ohanyan thanked the Government of the PRC and the commanders of its
army for the support they have shown to Armenia up to now.

During the conversation it was emphasized that the cooperation based
on the mutual understanding and high political dialogue continues to
develop in defence sector, as well as in social, economic and cultural
different spheres.

The RA Minister of Defence expressed his condolences to the ambassador
and the Chinese people for the victims of the recent earthquake in
China. The two sides also discussed matters related to the present
state of the bilateral relations in the military sector and its
prospects.

RA MoD Department of Information and Public Affairs