Author: Chalian Meline

WAS IT GENOCIDE?
By Guenter Lewy

Jerusalem Post
May 14 2006

Armenians call the calamitous events of 1915-16 in the Ottoman Empire
the first genocide of the 20th century. Most Turks refer to the episode
as a wartime relocation made necessary by the treasonous conduct of
their Armenian minority.

The debate over what actually happened has been going on for almost
100 years; it crops up periodically in various parts of the world
when members of the Armenian diaspora push for recognition of the
Armenian genocide by their respective parliaments, and the Turkish
government warn of retaliation.

On September 29, 2005 the European Parliament in Strasbourg adopted a
resolution demanding that, as a condition of admission to the European
Union, Turkey acknowledge the killing of its Armenians during World
War I as an instance of genocide.

According to the Genocide Convention of 1948, intent is a necessary
condition of genocide, and most other definitions of this crime of
crimes similarly insist upon the centrality of malicious intent.

Hence the crucial question in this controversy is not the huge loss
of life in and by itself but rather whether the Young Turk regime
intentionally sought the deaths we know to have occurred.

Both sides agree that several hundred thousand men, women and children
were forced from their homes, and that during a harrowing trek over
mountains and through deserts, uncounted multitudes died of starvation
and disease, or were murdered.

To the victims it makes no difference whether they met their deaths
as a result of a carefully planned scheme of annihilation, in
consequence of a panicky reaction to a misjudged threat, or for any
other reason. It does, however, make a difference for the accuracy of
the historical record, not to mention the future of Turkish-Armenian
relations.

ARMENIANS and their supporters concede the absence of Turkish
documentary evidence to prove the responsibility of the Ottoman
government for the massacres, but cite the reports of foreign diplomats
and missionaries on the scene. Given the large number of deaths and
the observed complicity of local officials in the murders, it is not
surprising that many of these witnesses concluded the high death toll
was an intended outcome of the deportation process.

Still, well-informed as many foreign observers were about the events
unfolding before their eyes, their insight into the mind-set and real
intentions of the government in Istanbul was necessarily limited.

Indeed, to this day the inner workings of the Young Turk regime, and
especially the role of the triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Djemal,
are understood only very inadequately.

Most Turks, too, misread the historical record. Quasi-official
historians speak of “so-called massacres,” or blame the deaths on
starvation and disease that are said to have afflicted a far larger
numbers of Turks.

And yet there exists an important difference between lives lost as
a result of natural causes such as famine and epidemics – blows of
fortune that afflicted Muslims and Christians alike – and deaths due
to deliberate killing.

It is undeniable that thousands of Armenians died at the hands of
their corrupt escorts and the Kurdish tribesmen who occupied their
route southward to Ottoman Syria.

CURRENTLY both sides in this controversy make their case by simplifying
a complex historical reality and ignoring crucial evidence that would
yield a more nuanced picture. Both parties also use heavy-handed
tactics to advance their cause and silence a full debate of the issues.

The Turkish government has applied diplomatic pressure and threats
and has harassed dissenting Turkish authors; Armenians accuse all
those who do not call the massacres a case of genocide of seeking to
appease the Turkish government.

In 1994 Armenians in France took the well-known Middle East scholar
Bernard Lewis to court and charged him with causing “grievous prejudice
to truthful memory” because he denied the accusation of genocide. The
court found against Lewis and imposed a token fine.

It is doubtful that contested historical questions are the legitimate
province of courts of law or parliaments. Armenians should recognize
that distinguished scholars of Ottoman history have questioned the
appropriateness of the genocide label for the tragic events of this
period, and should cease calling all those who question the Armenian
version of these occurrences “denialists” on a par with deniers of
the Holocaust. Turks must acknowledge the misdeeds of some of their
compatriots during World War I.

With so much that is unknown, both sides should step back from the
sterile was-it-genocide-or-not debate and instead seek a common pool
of reliable historical knowledge.

The writer is a professor emeritus of political science at the
University of Massachusetts and author most recently of The Armenian
Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide.

cid=1145961343282&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2 FShowFull

Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 14 2006

Letter To French M.Ps

ANKARA – ”Members of the Turkish-French Parliamentary Friendship
Group have sent a letter to French parliamentarians in which they
express their objection to the resolution that considers denial of
Armenian genocide a crime”, said Omer Ozyilmaz, the deputy chairman
of the group.

Ozyilmaz told a press conference at the parliament that the mentioned
resolution will be debated at the French parliament in coming days,
and their letter has been sent to French parliament speaker, chairmen
of political groups at the parliament, chairmen of parliamentary
commissions and delegations, dignitaries of the Socialist Party, and
the members of the French-Turkish Friendship Group.

In the letter, Turkish MPs have stressed that it is an unjust move to
define the incidents which occurred during the World War I and which
have not been clarified yet, as ”genocide”, Ozyilmaz noted.

Ozyilmaz said that the letter refers to the joint press conference
that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and CHP (main opposition
Republican People’s Party) leader Deniz Baykal held last year in
which they announced that Turkish archives will always be open to
historians.

However, Armenia has not responded to Erdogan’s and Baykal’s call
yet, he stated.

Expressing belief that bilateral relations get harmed if this
resolution is adopted at the French parliament, Ozyilmaz said that
historians and researchers are the ones who should actually deal with
this matter.

On the other hand, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman Sinan
Aygun sent letters to Jean-Francois Bernardin, president of the
Association of French Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACFCI), and
Pierre Simon, chairman of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, expressing
his reaction to French draft law which aims to criminalize denial of
so-called Armenian genocide.

In his letters, Aygun stresses that Turkish-French relations should
not be harmed due to populist initiatives of a few irresponsible
politicians.

Aygun notes that an EU member France, which is one of defenders of
freedom of expression, wants to restrict freedom of speech through
this bill, which is a contradiction.

RECORD OF LONGEVITY ON STAGE IN ARMENIA BELONGS TO DRAMATIC THEATER’S PERFORMANCE “TO FORGET HEROSTRATUS”

Noyan Tapan
May 11 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Today the record of stage longevity in
Armenia belongs to Grigory Gorin’s performance “To Forget Herostratus”
staged 30 years ago at Yerevan Hrachya Ghaplanian Dramatic Theater. The
performance is in the theater’s repertoire up to this day and is
considered the most frequently performed one. According to Armen
Khandikian, the producer of the performance and the Art Director
of the theater, on May 13, the performance will be presented for
the 240th time on the Dramatic Theater’s stage and first it was
presented as far back as on March 1 1976. Performance author Armen
Khandikian said that he started to stage this work with theater
founder Hrachya Ghaplanian. “Herostratus” has become the lath of
my stage biography, with which I continued to work in the future,”
A.Khandikian emphasized. According to theatrical critic Levon Mutafian,
“Herostratus” that was proved by time and which hundreds of spectators
admired, was a brave and new word for the theatrical critics of that
period. “The performance was persecuted and strictly criticized.

But the continuing flow of spectators coming to the theater and the
crowded halls just defeated the time and the ideology of the system,”
the theatrical critic emphasized. According to him, for 30 years the
performance has not lost its freshness, it remains modern “as it was
not national by its form and socialist by its content, it was general
by its form and common to mall mankind by its ideology”. “Khandikian
threw down a challenge to the rules and dicta torship of the time
by means of Herostratus, making unacceptable keeping silence and
tolerating any longer,” L.Mutafian considers.

MIKA TRIUMPH IN ARMENIAN CUP

UEFA
May 10 2006

FC MIKA have won their fifth Armenian Cup after Armen Shahgeldyan’s
23rd-minute goal earned them a 1-0 win against FC Pyunik in Tuesday’s
final.

Crucial breakthrough

Both teams made a bright start with plenty of chances in the
opening 15 miutes but it was to be Shahgeldyan who made the crucial
breakthrough. Pyunik defender Rafael Safaryan failed to clear Arsen
Meloyan’s long ball, allowing Shahgeldyan to ghost past Robert
Arzumanyan and score with the outside of his boot.

Other chances

Shahgeldyan had other chances to score later in the game as MIKA made
up for previous defeats against Pyunik in the league, but the Yerevan
side will have more than a few regrets after the game with Agvan
Lazarian, Arsen Avetisyan, Levon Pachahjyan and Tigran Karabagtsyan
all missing good chances.

Final meeting

MIKA and Pyunik are the only two sides to have won the Armenian Cup
since 2000, although this is their first meeting in the final. MIKA
have qualified for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup while
Pyunik will compete in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions
League as reigning Armenian champions.

ANGRY TURKS WITHDRAW FROM MILITARY EXERCISE
Brian Laghi

Ottawa Bureau Chief; With A Report From Stan Oziewicz

Globe and Mail, Canada
May 10 2006

Turkey has pulled out of an international military air exercise at
CFB Cold Lake to protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s
characterization of a mass killing of Armenians as a genocide,
escalating an already testy diplomatic spat.

Officials with the Turkish embassy confirmed yesterday that a
half-dozen Turkish jet fighters, as well as support aircraft that were
supposed to take part in the exercise May 17 to June 24 in Alberta,
have been withdrawn. The move comes after the Turkish government
recalled its ambassador, Aydemir Erman, to Ankara for discussions.

“I think one can draw that conclusion at this point,” said one
official, when asked whether the decision flowed from Mr. Harper’s
remarks. “This seems to be related to the not-so-good period of
relations we are going through.”

The Harper government sparked Turkey’s ire after Mr. Harper recognized,
on behalf of the federal government last month, that Armenians had
suffered a genocide at the hands of Turkey during and after the First
World War. The issue is hugely controversial in Turkey, where the
government says the deaths were caused by the war and civil strife.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor said the Turks
cancelled their participation on Friday.

“This is a Turkish decision,” communications director Etienne Allard
said. “Exercise Maple Flag is a major training exercise which brings
great benefits to all participants. Turkey is an important NATO ally
and we hope they will be able to participate in future exercises.”

Exercise Maple Flag, at the Canadian Forces base in northeastern
Alberta, will involve about 40 aircraft and the pilots of nine
countries — Canada, Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands,
Sweden, the United States, New Zealand and Singapore.

The Turkish embassy released a statement this week in which it
suggested Canada should avoid meddling in the issue.

“Turkey rejects and condemns attempts based on long years of propaganda
and political designs to create one-sided versions of history and to
have lies be acknowledged as if they were facts,” the statement said.

About 70,000 Armenians live in Canada, mostly in Toronto and
Montreal. They are just as adamant that what happened to their
forebears was a genocide.

The Conservative Party’s sympathy for the Armenian viewpoint stems
back to well before the party was created from the merger of the old
Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party, a source said.

The source added that Mr. Harper traditionally has been opposed to
recognition of past historical wrongs, but is no longer.

Turkey’s criticism of the characterization of the Armenian deaths as
genocide is long-standing and consistent.

Orhan Pamuk, a leading Turkish novelist, was accused last year of
insulting the Turkish nation and faced criminal charges for telling a
Swiss newspaper that a million Armenians had been killed on Turkish
soil.

The case was highly embarrassing to the government in Ankara because
it coincided with important meetings concerning Turkey’s attempt to
join the European Union. It is not entirely clear why the case was
dropped in January.

Last month, a court in Istanbul dropped charges against four Turkish
journalists accused of insulting the country’s courts, but decided
to press ahead with the trial of a fifth, according to the state-run
Anatolia news agency.

The five, who had faced from six months to 10 years in prison, have
been on trial since February for criticizing in print a court’s
decision last year to shut down a conference in Istanbul about the
mass killings of Armenians by Turks during the Ottoman Empire.

The court dropped charges against four of the journalists because
prosecutors had not filed the charges within the required two-month
period after the publication of the articles, the state-run Anatolia
news agency reported.

But the court decided to proceed with the trial of Murat Belge,
a columnist for Radikal, the agency said.

Agence France Presse — English
May 9, 2006 Tuesday 4:41 PM GMT

French businesses in Turkey oppose French Armenia genocide bill

ANKARA, May 9 2006

The French Chamber of Commerce in Ankara said Tuesday it has asked
President Jacques Chirac to block a French bill that would make it a
punishable offence to deny the existence of the 1915 Armenian
genocide.

The organisation, which counts some 430 French companies as members,
said in a letter sent Monday to Chirac, a copy of which was obtained
by AFP, that the proposed legislation “would be perceived by the
entire Turkish nation as an unacceptable and hostile act” that could
“cause irremediable harm” to relations between the two countries.

Turkey and Armenia disagree about whether massacres of Armenians
under the Ottoman Empire should be termed genocide.

Representatives of 22 French companies with operations in Turkey met
Tuesday with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who
encouraged them to express their opposition to the bill, the Anatolia
news agency reported.

Last week, Turkey warned France that bilateral ties would suffer
“incalculable damage” if the National Assembly passed the bill. The
Turkish ambassador to Paris was withdrawn “for consultations” this
week.

If approved, the bill would provide for one year in prison and a
45,000-euro (57,000-dollar) fine for any person who denied that the
1915-1917 massacres of Armenians were genocide.

The bill, which follows a 2001 French law officially recognising the
massacres as genocide, was proposed by members of the opposition
Socialist Party (PS) and will have its first reading before the
Assembly on May 18.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917, as the Ottoman Empire,
modern Turkey’s predecessor, was falling apart.

Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians and
at least as many Turks died in civil strife when the Armenians took
up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian
troops invading Ottoman soil.

Armenian minister urges Azerbaijan to recognize Karabakh independence

Regnum, Moscow
9 May 06

[No dateline] A Regnum correspondent has reported from Stepanakert
that during a visit to Nagornyy Karabakh, Armenian Defence Minister
Serzh Sarkisyan said: “I do not agree with the statement that our
victory in the [Karabakh] war thrust upon us by Azerbaijan is only
half of the job. Victory is victory. Nagornyy Karabakh had
triumphed.”

The minister confidently said that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
could only be resolved through mutual concessions. “The establishment
of peace is impossible without mutual concessions. Azerbaijan should
recognize the Nagornyy Karabakh people’s right to independence. Over
there they should understand that the people have the right to live as
they want,” Sarkisyan said.

[Passage omitted: Nagornyy Karabakh celebrate the day of liberation of
Sushi on 9 May]

Azeri analysts warn of terrorist threat from Iran

Yeni Musavat, Baku
5 May 06

Text of Cavid Turan’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on
5 May headlined “Iran might carry out terrorist attacks in Azerbaijan”
and subheaded “Experts say the authorities should take urgent measures”

Iran has no intention of backing down on its uranium enrichment
programme and is continuing to issue ultimatums to countries opposing
its nuclear ambitions. As has been reported, the mullah regime has
said it will carry out heavy strikes against countries in the sphere
of US and Israeli interests.

Iranian officials have openly said that they will attack Azerbaijan’s
oil fields, the Baku-[Tbilisi]-Ceyhan [oil pipeline] and some other
strategic facilities. We reported in our earlier issues that Iran’s
defence minister even gave a list of targets to [Azerbaijani President]
Ilham Aliyev during his visit to Baku.

Given that even the USA, a world superpower, is vulnerable to the
terrorist threat, there is no point in saying that Azerbaijan is
capable of preventing this threat.

Military analyst Azad Isazada says that every threat from Iran should
be taken seriously. Isazada does not rule out that such groups also
exist among the large number of Iranian citizens doing business in
Azerbaijan [as published]. He said that subversive acts are realistic.

The threat of subversive acts is extremely serious, Isazada said,
adding that Azerbaijan is not prepared for these acts. At this stage,
Armenians will also support Iran in order to bring Azerbaijan to its
knees. At the same time, Russian intelligence might carry out terrorist
acts as well in order to knock Azerbaijan out of the West’s orbit,
Isazada says.

Independent expert Zafar Quliyev believes that the terrorist threat
is realistic.

“I do not think that these acts might target Azerbaijani
citizens. On the contrary, Iran is trying to win the hearts and
minds of Azerbaijanis. Terrorist acts might target oil facilities,
government buildings and foreign embassies,” he said.

The analyst believes that Azerbaijan is not prepared enough to prevent
these acts.

“As the military option [between the USA and Iran] is becoming more
and more realistic, security measures should be stepped up. Both
Azerbaijan’s territory and the buildings of international organizations
should be protected.

“On the other hand, the US-led anti-Iran coalition should shoulder
this responsibility if Azerbaijan joins this coalition,” Quliyev says.

Lawyer Osman Kazimov also believes that Azerbaijan is going to face
a terrorist threat.

“Given that Iran is behind most of the terrorist acts carried out in
the world, terrorist acts on Azerbaijan’s territory are realistic if
a war breaks out,” he said.

Kazimov thinks that Azerbaijan is not capable enough of preventing
the terrorist threat.

“Because Iranian intelligence is very capable and experienced in
terrorist attacks. But Azerbaijan’s main special services, which
can prevent terrorist acts, have so far focused on the political
rivals of the authorities. We know from our experience that terrorist
organizations ‘exposed’ at various times had contacts with special
services. I mean these services bury their own ‘problems’ themselves.

“Therefore, our special services should give up their traditional
work style and focus on this in order to prevent the experienced
and professional Iranian intelligence service from carrying out
terrorist acts.

“We should work hard with people. Complex measures should be taken,
especially in regions bordering on Iran, and counterintelligence
work should be stepped up. Security should be tightened at strategic
facilities, oil pipelines, government buildings and public catering
facilities.

“Apart from that, we need to use the support of countries which are
really friendly with us. We should not hesitate to use the support
of the US special services,” Kazimov said.

Armenia’s Armavia to lease 2 Airbus to replace destroyed jets

AFX Europe (Focus); May 07, 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia (AFX) – Armenian airline Armavia is to lease two
new Airbus jets to replace the two destroyed this week, the group’s
deputy commercial director Andrei Agadjanov said yesterday.

One of Armavia’s Airbus jets crashed into the Black Sea and another
burned in a hangar in Brussels.

OSCE envoy, Azeri leader discuss Karabakh, ties

Sources:

ANS TV, Baku 5 May 06

Azartac 5 May 06

The visiting OSCE rapporteur on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Goran
Lennmarker, said there are “good chances” for settling the lingering
Karabakh conflict this year, private TV station ANS has reported.

At a news conference in Baku on 5 May, Lennmarker said: “I state that
now there are good chances for finding a settlement that is acceptable
for Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

The TV added that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and Azeri-OSCE
relations topped the agenda of a meeting between Lennmarker and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the same day. The two men also
focused on the current situation and growing economy in Azerbaijan.

State-run news agency Azartac said that Lennmarker discussed the
issues in question with Azerbaijani Speaker Oqtay Asadov as well.