Author: Chalian Meline

Colgate Maroon News (subscription), NY
Oct 14 2005
Peter Balakian’s The Burning Tigris: The Horrors of Armenian Genocide
By Elsie Denton
Published: Friday, October 14, 2005

In the early years of World War I, another tragedy was taking place
far more quietly to the east. Between 1914 and 1916 over a million
Armenians were rounded up by Turkish officials and systematically
“deported” – in most cases this amounted to murder. Modern-day Turkey
currently disputes that the Armenian tragedy should be called
genocide, but there is little doubt in the international community
that the mass killings of Armenians were in fact systematic genocide.
In his book, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s
Response, Colgate’s own Professor of English and University Studies,
Peter Balakian, brings to life both the horror of the Armenian
genocide and America’s humanitarian response to the crisis. Time and
again he uses powerful eyewitness accounts of the genocide, which,
though on a smaller scale, were no less horrendous than the
Holocaust.
On the governmental level, the response to this international tragedy
was meager. Most politicians, Woodrow Wilson included, found their
hands tied by diplomatic complexities. This does not mean that there
was no response to the crisis. As Balakian makes very clear over the
course of his book, the Armenian genocide was America’s first
international human-rights effort.
Thousands of people around the country on many levels of society
poured their hearts out to the Armenian people. They raised money for
relief work and food supplies and helped find homes for the thousands
of Armenians fleeing their homeland. “The Armenian genocide is
important,” said Balakian, “not only because it is one of the
earliest examples of modern genocide, but also because it is
America’s first international humanitarian aid movement. Americans
should know about that part of their history.”
The Burning Tigris recently gained recognition when it won the
prestigious Raphael Lemkin Prize, which is given out biannually to
the best scholarly book on the subject of genocide, mass killings and
gross human-rights violations. Despite the prestige conferred by the
prize, Balakian did not want it to overshadow the real issue: the
reality of terrible and continuing genocide throughout the world.
“Genocide is a real problem today and it is not going away. Nobody is
safe,” he said.
Genocides are not dark phantoms locked firmly in our turbulent past.
They are real and happening right now in many corners of the world
from the Balkans, Rwanda, and East Tambour to the current massacres
in the Darfur region of Sudan. “Genocide is a modern problem,” says
Balakian, “because before the modern era and the evolution of the
nation state, governments didn’t have the centralized bureaucracy or
the technology to systematically target and exterminate ethnic
minorities. It isn’t just that killing occurs that distinguishes
modern genocide, but how fast it occurs.”
The problem of genocide gets surprisingly little governmental
recognition. Many times the issue is simply ignored by those in
power, while people suffer and die. This can often be attributed to
two main causes: lack of recognition and information about the
existence of a genocide and sticky diplomatic maneuvering by the
governments involved.
For instance, the reality of the Armenian genocide is recognized by
all Western powers except for the US and UK. These two countries have
withheld official recognition of the massacres so that they could
maintain their military bases in Turkey.
Even if governments were at all prepared to take action against
genocide, there still remains the difficulty of realizing that
genocide is taking place. A government engaged in the massacre of its
people is unlikely to report its activities to the international
community. Also, many areas in the world are so torn by war and
strife that it is difficult to distinguish coordinated mass killings
from the background level of death and violence. An effective system
of detection needs to be created.
This system would need to be an impartial third party. Balakian
suggests the creation of “an international organization charged with
detection, prevention and intervention in instances of gross
violations of human rights. Not only must this type of organization
exist to prevent future massacres, but it must also have the power to
enforce its edicts in the form of an International Human Rights Army
not beholden to any one world power. Though Balakian maintained that
“we can’t reform or transform the human race,” we can still install
regulations and checks on their capacity to kill one another.
Such a coherent international effort to confront the issue of
genocide is long overdue, particularly with major powers like the US
and UK stalling on the issue. “The Bush administration has
continually refused to take action on what is happening in Darfur,
and refused to embrace the process of the international courts at the
Hague,” said Balakian. “It is then up to ordinary citizens to make a
difference, to take the power into their own hands and to fight for
human rights.”
Last year, a group of students at Swarthmore College did just that.
They started the Genocide Intervention fund to raise money to stop
the slaughter of innocent people in Darfur. The group has been
immensely successful. So far they have raised $250,000, which they
are preparing to donate to the African Union peacekeepers. Their
group may have started as a small group of Jewish and Armenian
students whose pasts were deeply affected by genocide, but it has
grown far larger than that. There are now over 100 colleges
participating in the fund and more are getting involved all the time.
Students interested in becoming involved in the Genocide Intervention
Fund can contact Balakian via email at [email protected] or
to go talk to him during his office hours. More Information is
avaibale at
Balakian teaches a course called Modern Genocide. It is about being
educated about what is going on and doing something about it. “The
study of history enables us to behave more ethically in the present.
That is why teaching about genocide is so valuable,” said Balakian.

AXA INDEMNISE LES DESCENDANTS DES RESCAPES DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
La Presse Canadienne
Canadian Press
Oct 14 2005
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Le groupe d’assurance francais AXA s’est engage a
verser 17 millions de dollars aux descendants de victimes du genocide
armenien qui avaient souscrit des polices d’assurance-vie avant 1915,
a-t-on appris jeudi auprès des avocats des plaignants.
Cet accord, intervenu dans le cadre d’une action intentee devant un
tribunal federal de Los Angeles, fait suite a l’action collective
engagee depuis plusieurs annees par les avocats americains d’origine
armenienne Yeghiayan et Associes, Geragos & Geragos et Kabateck
Brown Kellner.
Un accord similaire avait ete conclu en fevrier entre des descendants
de victimes et l’assureur americain New York Life, pour un montant
de 20 millions de dollars.
Au terme de cet accord, AXA s’engage a verser 11 millions de dollars
a un fonds mis en place pour dedommager les descendants de victimes
qui avaient souscrit avant 1915 des polices d’assurance avec des
compagnies aujourd’hui integrees dans le groupe. En outre, 3 millions
de dollars seront reverses a des organisations caritatives armeniennes
basees en France.
De sources proches des plaignants, on rappelle que la compagnie
d’assurance l’Union-Vie, devenue UAP puis rachete par AXA, ne
s’est jamais acquitte du reversement des primes des assurances vie
souscrites dans l’Empire Ottoman et dont les souscripteurs ont peri
lors du genocide armenien de 1915.
Au total, la Compagnie Union Vie etaient detentrices de 10.899 contrats
d’assurance vie dans l’Empire Ottoman. Le president d’Union-Vie, dans
une lettre transmise au ministère francais des Affaires etrangères,
en date du 11 avril 1922, a reconnu que le decès de ces souscripteurs
armeniens etait dû aux massacres perpetres par les Turcs et non par une
mort naturelle. Dans ce meme courrier, il indique qu’il pourrait etre
prejudiciable pour le prestige de la compagnie de ne pas s’acquitter
des primes d’assurances vies. Pour autant, aucune d’entre elles n’a
encore ete reglee.
En juillet dernier, le Comite de defense de la cause armenienne
(CDCA) et la Federation euro-armenienne avaient appele la communaute
armenienne et ses amis a s’associer a la petition adressee au president
du conseil de surveillance d’AXA, Claude Bebear, afin de lui exprimer
toute l’attention et l’interet qu’ils portaient a la juste solution
de ce procès.
–Boundary_(ID_rOG6GLH5T8NzTm6QUA7j2w)–

KOCHARIAN: REFORMS DRIVING FORCE OF COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT
Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 23:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met
with members of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), reported the Press Service of
the Armenian leader. R.
Kocharian noted with satisfaction that the EBRD-Armenia relations
are converting to a more actual level. He specially noted EBRD active
work with the private sector. Reforms are implemented in Armenia with
confidence that they are the driving force of country’s development,
Kocharian stated. In his words, reforms resulted in a rather impressing
economic growth and the joint programs with the Bank have a certain
role in it. The parties also discussed possible directions of future
cooperation. R. Kocharian said he would like the EBRD to participate
in development of Armenia’s economy more actively.

WINE FOR ST. STEPHEN’S
Belmont Citizen-Herald, MA
Oct 13 2005
St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School’s PTO will host its fourth
annual Wine Tasting event on Friday, Oct. 21, starting at 7 p.m.
The venue will be the newly opened Arsenal Center for the Arts in
Watertown, Greater Boston’s new home for the visual, literary and
performing arts. The event will have about 300 attendees, sampling
wines from all around the world and food from many of the area’s fine
food establishments. While mingling, they will also enjoy the sounds
of Gitano Rafael, a trio playing gypsy guitar music.
This year’s event will feature a masquerade theme, since it is
taking place so close to Halloween, and guests are encouraged to
wear masks. For those unable to find the perfect mask before coming,
there will be a chance to pick one up at the event – many varieties
will be sold at the door.
As in years past, the evening will include a live as well as a
silent auction featuring works of art and other one-of-a-kind items
from Armenia.
Donations for the tickets are $50 per person. Tickets need to be
purchased in advance, as they will not be sold at the door. The event
usually sells out. To reserve your tickets, call Linda at 617-901-8022
or e-mail [email protected].
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BUSINESSMEN ARRESTED AMID COURT BATTLE WITH ARMENIAN CUSTOMS
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 13 2005
The two top executives of a coffee importing company who have alleged
high-level corruption within Armenian customs have been arrested on
charges of fraud and smuggling, their lawyer said on Thursday.
The arrest of Gagik Hakobian and his deputy Aram Ghazarian is the
latest twist in a long-running bitter dispute between their Royal
Armenia firm and the State Customs Committee (SCC). It began nearly
two years ago when they the company claimed to be penalized for its
refusal to cut illegal deals with corrupt customs officials.
Criminal proceedings against the Royal Armenia executives were launched
by the National Security Service (NSS), the Armenian successor to
the KGB secret police, last spring. The case is reportedly based on
a complaint filed by a U.S. citizen of Armenian descent who claims
that Royal Armenia owes him $164,000 for coffee supplies and has
failed to pay up. The man, identified as Vache Petrosian, has also
alleged that Hakobian and his associates forged financial statements
to understate the volume of their imports.
Hakobian’s lawyer, Ashot Sargsian, described the case as “weird.” “I
wonder why he went to the National Security Service,” Sargsian
told RFE/RL. “If one of the parties fails to honor its contractual
obligations, it must be taken to court.”
“I don’t know what National Security wants today. They themselves
probably don’t know,” he said.
The NSS refused to comment on the case on the grounds that the
investigation is still going on.
Speaking at a news conference last June, Hakobian charged that he is
being prosecuted in retaliation for its high-profile battle with the
customs chiefs. “We are dealing with a group of officials who set
unofficial rules, and if you don’t comply with those rules then you
must not operate,” he said.
The two-year dispute centers on the Customs Committee’s controversial
discretionary power to determine the market value of imported
commodities before levying a fixed 10 percent duty from them. Royal
Armenia, which imports, processes and sells coffee, said last year that
customs officials offered to grossly undervalue price of its imported
coffee beans in return for sharing in the resulting extra profits.
The Armenian customs has evaluated one kilogram of Indonesian raw
coffee imported by Royal Armenia at $1.8. The company insists that
its real purchasing price was only $1.24 per kilogram. The value of
the same sort of coffee brought in by other importers is set at $1.1
per kilogram or even less.
Customs officials say they trust invoices submitted by Royal Armenia’s
competitors but they have yet to clearly explain why they distrust
customs declarations issued by Hakobian’s company.
Royal Armenia says it has repeatedly demanded a written explanation
of the price evaluation policy from the customs but to no avail. It
asked Armenia’s Economic Court last month to force the SCC to provide
such a document and reconsider its controversial import duties. The
court is still considering the lawsuit
Customs administration is one of the most frequent sources of
complaints made by Armenian entrepreneurs. However, few of them go
public with their grievances for fear of government retribution.
Royal Armenia is the only private firm which is known to have publicly
clashed with the SCC in recent years.
Corruption among Armenian officials in charge of collecting taxes and
import duties is widespread. President Robert Kocharian personally
warned senior customs officials on two occasions this year to stop
harassing honest taxpayers and helping importers avoid taxes in return
for kickbacks.
Armenia’s controversial customs chief, Armen Avetisian, is believed to
be close to Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Incidentally, Avetisian
has held senior posts in the NSS in the past.

RETURN OF DEPOSITS OR POVERTY OVERCOMING PLAN?
A1+
| 17:46:05 | 12-10-2005 | Politics |
During the coalition session yesterday a decision was made about the
principle of returning the deposits of the citizens made in the Soviet
times. According to the Prime Minister, the Government has chosen a
way of compensation which will be considered respectable.
According to the offer, the compensation will take place the following
way: up to 1000 rubles will be compensated by $200, 1000-3000 rubles
– $340, 3000-5000 rubles – $420, 5000-10000 rubles – $460, and above
10 000 rubles – $480.
The compensation will be made according to the degree of the social
status.
The people who are included in the groups recognized “needy” will
receive the money first. The Government has allotted 1 billion ARMD
for this purpose. “The rest will be paid as soon as we can afford
it. The other Governments will decide what to do”, Andranik Margaryan
mentioned.
Nevertheless, it is early to speak about the return of the deposits
as the process will be long. Up to now there have been two Committees
investigating the matter, but now a third one we be created which
will revise the list of those who have deposits.
By the way, oppositional deputy Manouk Gasparyan does not believe
that the deposits will be return. He says, “I have not heard of it
as a program to return deposits. Everyone says – Poverty overcoming
strategic plan”.

AXA INSURANCE COMPANY WILL PAY $17 MILLION TO HEIRS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
Pan Armenian
13.10.2005 21:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Descendants of Armenians, who had fallen victim of
the Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, agreed to call back their
collective suit against Axa French insurance company. The latter
agreed to pay $17 million to Armenian philanthropic organizations. The
case was heard at a California court. The plaintiffs accused Axa in
unwillingness to pay insurance sums for their relatives’ killed in the
massacre. One of the lawyers of the Armenian community stated their
ultimate goal is to convince Turkey and US to officially recognize the
Genocide fact, when 1.5 million Armenians were killed, reported BBC.

KARABAKH SEPARATISTS DENY AZERI REPORT OF TRUCE VIOLATION
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005
Yerevan, 12 October: The press service of the Defence Ministry of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] has flatly denied Azerbaijani
media reports about an alleged cease-fire violation two days ago.
The report is wide of the mark and is disinformation, the NKR Defence
Ministry reports.
The Azerbaijani media has quoted the press service of the Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry as saying that no-one was wounded as a result of the
“cease-fire violation”.

RIA Novosti
12/ 10/ 2005
U.S. energy establishment expresses interest in Iran-Armenia pipeline
YEREVAN, October 12 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – U.S. Energy Secretary
Samuel W. Bodman said Wednesday that the United States would be interested
in contributing to the Iran-Armenia natural gas pipeline project.
Bodman met with his counterpart Armen Movsisyan in Armenia’s capital to
discuss the pipeline, as well as to consider the possibility of holding a
U.S.-Armenian energy forum for private companies and financial institutions
in order to boost Armenia’s energy sector, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
reported.
Movsisyan said Armenia’s only nuclear power plant could be shut down only if
there were other energy-generating facilities available to replace it. He
said Armenia expected the U.S. to help it in ensuring the plant’s safety and
developing alternative energy sources.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE GIVES MIXED GRADE FOR AZERBAIJANI ELECTION PREPARATIONS
Jahan Aliyeva 10/11/05
EurasiaNet, NY
Oct 11 2005
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s first report
on conditions in Azerbaijan in the run-up to the country’s November
6 parliamentary elections promises to further debate over whether
government bans on opposition rallies in downtown Baku violate voters’
right to freedom of assembly.
The nine-page report, published on September 30, focused on events
within Azerbaijan between September 5 and September 23, and did not
include assessments of three recent unsanctioned demonstrations in
the Azerbaijani capital which left scores wounded.
The report praised President Ilham Aliyev’s May 11 decree that called
for officials to provide conditions for a free and fair parliamentary
vote, and warned them against tolerating voting irregularities. The
decree ordered election officials to produce accurate and updated
voter lists and make them available for all candidates, and to ensure
all candidates have equal access to state media.
The report concluded that the decree has improved the overall campaign
atmosphere, but noted that considerable problems still remain.
Although opposition rallies have been permitted throughout
Azerbaijan, the report noted that they occur “under a heavy police
presence.” The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) observation mission reported that local authorities “assume
considerable discretion to restrict and prohibit rallies,” although
Azerbaijan’s Law on Freedom of Assembly states that rally bans or
restrictions “must be highly needed” or “a measure of last resort.”
To date, no court has overturned a decision to ban an opposition rally,
the report added.
The report went on to state that Azerbaijani authorities have ignored
OSCE recommendations for improving the legislative framework for the
November 6 elections, The Election Code has been amended six times
mostly due to “technical reasons,” the report argues, and does not
address recommendations from the OSCE and the Council of Europe’s
Venice Commission for an equal representation of pro-government and
opposition representatives on the Central Election Commission.
According to the report, the method for forming election commissions
“ensures the pro-government parties a dominant position at all
levels.” The 15-member commission is made up of six representatives
of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party, six from the opposition parties
(three from parties with parliamentary representation, three from
parties not represented in parliament), and three non-partisan members
of parliament. The non-partisan members, however, frequently vote
with the YAP representatives, leaving the opposition in a minority.
The report also took issue with the government’s rejection of
suggestions that voter’s fingers be inked to avoid multiple, or
“carousel,” voting, a problem in both the 2003 presidential elections
and last parliamentary elections in 2000. “The inking of voters’ finger
has not been considered as a mechanism for increasing public confidence
in the election process by diminishing the risk of multiple voting.”
The Azerbaijani government has dismissed the report’s conclusions as
misguided. Traveling in the Kurdamir region in the southwest of the
country on October 6, President Aliyev stated that the Election Code
and his May 11 decree provide sufficiently for free and fair elections.
Sayyad Aran, a member of the parliamentary Legal Policy and State
Development Commission for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party, echoed
that position, saying that he does not agree with the complaints on
restrictions of freedom of assembly.
“Both in the regions and in Baku, the opposition is always given
permission to conduct rallies. Simply, they do not agree with the
given place and insist on other places, which then become unsanctioned
rallies,” Aran said.
For its part, the Central Election Commission has rejected OSCE
criticism of the election commissions’ make-up, Natiq Mammadov,
a CEC representative, stated that ruling party members do not hold
the majority representation on election commissions. “Election
commissions were formed equally from government, opposition and
non-partisans,” Mammadov said. As for the inking of voter’s fingers,
Mammadov stressed that the Election Code contains sufficient provisions
to avoid multiple voting.
Criticism of the report was not limited to the government, however.
Isa Gambar, leader of the Musavat Party, one of the three parties that
makes up the largest opposition election alliance, Azadlig (Freedom),
said that although the report took note of overall problems, ranging
from authorities’ control over the election commissions to the issue
of voter identification cards, the report did not include information
on interference in the election campaign by police and violations of
the right to assembly.
“We just hope that the next reports would examine and include the
violence during opposition rallies and especially the violence during
the September 25 protest and October 1 rally,” Gambar said. “All those
facts indicate that the Azerbaijani government is not preparing to
conduct a transparent poll, but [,instead,] flawed elections,”
Democratic Party of Azerbaijan Deputy Chairman Sardar Calaloglu
shared the same point of view, saying that the report could have
been much tougher. According to Calaloglu, the report’s mention of
improvements in registering candidates and granting permission to
hold rallies were simply a poor attempt by the Aliyev government to
show that the election will be transparent.
But Calaoglu, speaking before the October 9 demonstration, said the
election commissions remain under the control of the ruling Yeni
Azerbaijan party, and that the violence during the October 1 rally
indicates that the November 6 elections will be falsified.
The OSCE mission report did not include the unsanctioned demonstrations
by the Azadlig bloc of three major opposition parties on Sept. 25
and Oct. 1, which resulted in clashes between police and protesters.
The report noted as an improvement the registration of more than
2000 candidates, including 48 political parties and blocs, saying
the elections offer the prospect of a broad choice to voters at the
polling stations. Overall, the OSCE considered the work of the CEC
satisfactory, pointing to regular meetings open to local media and
observers.
However, the report raised concern over the internally displaced
persons (IDPs), who make up some 12 percent of the electorate, noting
that 800,000 IDP, mostly refugees from the Karabakh conflict with
Armenia, are living far from their polling stations.
The CEC’s Mammadov put that situation down to simple logistics.
“Polling stations have been organized in the places where many
refugees live close together,” CEC member Mammadov said. “But it is
not possible to create the possibility to vote for each refugee who
is living far away from a polling station.”
The OSCE, however, has not been alone in expressing reservations
about the chances for a democratic vote this November. On October 4,
the New York City-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization issued a
statement that argued that abuse against the opposition cast serious
doubt on the Azerbaijani government’s commitment to ensuring a fair
nationwide poll. HRW urged the United States and the Council of
Europe to forcefully condemn the police violence against protestors
during the opposition’s unsanctioned demonstrations in central Baku
on September 25 and October 1.
One day after the HRW statement, the US Department of State expressed
strong concerns about the events of September 25 and October 1 and
urged both the authorities and opposition to “return to the negotiating
table in the four weeks before the election.”
Following the violence that marked the opposition’s October 9
demonstration, the US embassy in Baku issued a statement that called
on “all parliamentary candidates and political parties to work with
voters seriously to gain their trust and support.”
“The US embassy thinks that it is important for Azerbaijan’s future
to hold a successful election,” the statement concluded.
Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: Jahan Aliyeva is a freelance reporter
currently based in Tbilisi.