Author: Chavushian

ILKHAM ALIEV IS PREPARED FOR WAR AGAINST ARMENIA AND FOR COOPERATION WITH GEORGIA
by Natalia Pulina, Vladimir Mishin
Translated by Pavel Pushkin

Source: Moscovskie Novosti, No. 5, February 09-15, 2007, p. 20
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
February 12, 2007 Monday

TRANSCAUCASIAN ARM WRESTLING; THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN DOES NOT
RULE OUR RESTARTING OF WAR AGAINST ARMENIA AND TURKEY SUPPORTS HIM;
The president of Azerbaijan, Ilkham Aliev, broke his silence and did
not rule out restarting hostilities with Armenia should resolving
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict fail. Aliev expressed his assurance
that he would win "the second phase of war" against Armenia.

Until recently, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia preferred
not to release harsh statement that could aggravate the already tense
relations between the republics.

The president of Azerbaijan, Ilkham Aliev, broke his silence and did
not rule out restarting hostilities with Armenia should resolving
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict fail. Aliev expressed his assurance
that he would win "the second phase of war" against Armenia.

Ankara supported the belligerent stance of Baku. Nevzat Yalcintas, head
of the parliamentary group of Turkey in the OSCE, called on Azerbaijan
to prepare for a war against Armenia, "If you do not wish annexation
of land and wish for peace, prepare for war. If it is impossible
to solve the problem by peaceful means, Baku should be prepared for
anything." The Turkish representative also expressed his surprise by
the fact that Baku and Ankara had not signed a security treaty.

The topic of deepened military cooperation, up to the signing of a
treaty on the provision of mutual assistance, was probably discussed
during the recent visit of Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiev to
Ankara. Leila Yunus, Director of the Azerbaijani Institute of Peace
and Democracy, says that Baku may count on the military technological
and diplomatic support of Turkey. Even though no less than 60% of
Azerbaijan’s citizens support the forceful resolving of the conflict,
Baku is not ready to unleash the war. Yunus explains, "The Azerbaijani
army is not inferior to the Armenian army now.

However, hostilities will have a drawn-out nature." The prospects
of Baku in the "international aspect" look equally vague in terms of
war. That is why Azerbaijan focused on the reinforcement of the army.

This will enable the country to achieve superiority over Yerevan and
will force Armenia to increase the military budget. This will also
weaken the economy and the army of Armenia.

Speaking about Nagorno-Karabakh, Aliev periodically releases "shocking"
statements. The reason is that Azerbaijan, which has lost an actual
war to Armenia, tries to win an "information war" understanding
that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will not be solved in the near
future. Baku rattles the saber against the background of chilling
relations with Moscow, whereas contacts of Moscow with Armenia keep
growing stronger. For various reasons, the final breaking of contacts
with Russia is not in the interests of Azerbaijan. First of all,
among such reasons are the prospects for Baku’s participation in the
North-South project in which Moscow and Tehran are also interested. The
only negative aspect for Baku is the discontent of Washington, which
is trying to play on worsening relations between the Transcaucasian
republics and Russia. In a related move, lobbyists in the US prevent
the development of a railway via the territory of Georgia to connect
Turkey and Azerbaijan. In the middle of the week, the President of
Azerbaijan and Georgia, Ilkham Aliev and Mikhail Saakashvili, signed
an agreement on the construction of the railway in the middle of the
week in Tbilisi. If the project Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku is implemented,
Armenia will be exposed to an increased economic blockade because
the railway will bypass its territory. It is obvious that the plans
of the railway construction contradict the geostrategic interests of
Russia too.

BRYZA: WHITE HOUSE GOING TO DISSUADE CONGRESS FROM PASSING GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2007 13:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A top US State Department official with
responsibility for Turkey said the administration was committed
to dissuading Congress from passing a resolution recognizing the
Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, but said that it was
difficult to make this case while Turkey still kept in its penal code
laws which restricted freedom of speech.

"Deep introspection" was the best way to honor victims of the episode
and to prevent a recurrence of future," according to Matthew Bryza,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. He said
that a resolution of Congress would simply lead to a retrenchment
inside Turkey and a hardening of attitudes that would make internal
discussion more difficult.

He called for widespread debate on the issue among philosophers,
archival historians and ordinary people and cited the popular wave of
sympathy for the murdered Armenian editor Hrant Dink as evidence that
many in Turkey wished to achieve a reconciliation with their past. A
resolution of Congress would "kill that process," he said. At the
same time he suggested that it was impossible to convince the outside
world that Turkey could engage in a "candid and heartfelt discussion"
while people who spoke their minds were being prosecuted. "Article
301 has to go away," he said. This is the clause of the Turkish penal
code making it an offense to "insult Turkishness" under which Dink
was successfully prosecuted, reports Today’s Zaman.

AMBASSADOR OF TURKMENISTAN IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Feb 8 2007

On February 7 the RA National Assembly President Mr. Tigran Torosyan
received Ambassador of Turkmenistan in Armenia Mr. Khidir Saparliyev
on the occasion of the completion of his diplomatic mission in Armenia.

The RA NA President thanked Mr. Ambassador for short, but effective
cooperation, noting that he promoted the development of the
two countries’ relations in its natural way. The relationships
between Armenia and Turkmenistan were and will be friendly: the
two countries have bilateral strong relations; they cooperate in
international structures. Mr. Torosyan highlighted the establishment
of Intergovernmental Committee meeting, which will symbolize the
continuity of the development of inter-state relations. Touching upon
the presidential elections on February 11, the NA President expressed
hope that they will be held in natural way and will ensure sustainable
development for Turkmenistan.

Expressing gratitude to Armenian authorities for cooperation and their
support, Mr. Khidir Saparliyev noted that he gained a lot of friends
during the short time, and Armenia for a long time will remain in
his heart and memory as a second motherland, where one always wishes
to return. He assured that Turkmenistan will continue its first
President’s adopted policy and after the presidential elections on
February 11 the Turkmen-Armenian relations will continue towards
friendship and cooperation. He wished success in the parliamentary
elections in Armenia by expressing confidence that the parliament
of the new convocation will be an exemplary successor of the most
important activity – legislative function – of the state.

Other issues were discussed during the meeting as well.

California Courier Online, February 8, 2007

1 – Commentary
Truth Prevails over Millions Spent
By Turks to Lie about the Genocide

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

2 – UCLA AEF Chair Hosts Three
Events in Coming Weeks
3 – Prisoner of Conscience to Speak
On Holocaust Remembrance Day
4 – Armenian Fertility Specialist Helps
67-Year-Old Gives Birth to Twins
5 – Prelacy Relocates
To New Building
6 – ‘The Armenian Genocide’ Film
To Air March 29 on KOCE-TV
7 – TIME Magazine Distributes Documentary;
Adopts Policy on the Armenian Genocide
8- The ‘Armenian Schindler’s List’ Now
Accessible for Readers in English
****************************************** ************************
1 – Commentary
Truth Prevails over Millions Spent
By Turks to Lie about the Genocide

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

It took a little more than a year and a half, but it was well worth
the wait. After lengthy, sometimes complex, but mostly amicable
discussions, the European edition of TIME magazine, in its Feb. 12,
2007 issue, published a full-page text on the Armenian Genocide and
distributed a complimentary DVD, in English and French, which
contains a compelling 52-minute documentary on the Armenian Genocide
by French director Laurence Jourdan. The DVD also includes a
46-minute interview with Dr. Yves Ternon, a leading expert on the
Armenian Genocide.
This issue of the magazine, which has been on newsstands since Feb. 2
in 67 countries throughout Europe, parts of Africa, Asia and the
Middle East, was sold out within the first 48 hours of its
availability. Extra copies can be ordered by contacting:
[email protected].
Both the DVD and the full-page ad were provided free of charge by
TIME Europe (circulation 550,000) after realizing that its staff,
without proper review, had inserted a Turkish DVD as a paid
advertisement, under the guise of promoting tourism in Turkey in the
June 6, 2005 issue of TIME Europe.
The Turkish DVD, paid for by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, was a
deceitful attempt to spread malicious lies and denialist propaganda
on the Armenian Genocide. Sinan Aygun, the Chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce, subsequently disclosed that Turkey’s General Chief of Staff
had approved the DVD for distribution through TME. He also revealed
that the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism had prepared the
sinister DVD.
When scores of TIME subscribers, the Switzerland-Armenia Association
(SAA) and this columnist complained to TIME executives, Managing
Editor James Kelly in a letter to SAA dated Sept. 2, 2005, apologized
for having disseminated the Turkish DVD which he said "was not
adequately reviewed by anyone at TIME." Furthermore, he acknowledged
that the Turkish DVD did not "meet TIME’s standards for fairness and
accuracy."
Moreover, TIME (Europe) published in its October 17, 2005 issue, a
critical page-long letter to the editor — possibly the longest
letter ever published in the history of the magazine — jointly
signed by the following five French organizations: Memoire 2000, the
Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France, Comité de
Defense de la Cause Armenienne – ANC France, J’Accuse, and the
Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples. In an
Editorial note, TIME restated its earlier apology for disseminating
the Turkish DVD.
In December 2005, these five organizations along with the
Switzerland-Armenia Association, the French Association of Armenian
Lawyers and Jurists, the EUROPEAN – ARMENIAN FEDERATION for Justice
and Democracy, and The California Courier newspaper reached an
amicable agreement with TIME executives ensuring that the facts of
the Armenian Genocide will not be distorted again in the pages of the
magazine.
TIME agreed to distribute free of charge in its European edition an
Armenian Genocide documentary selected by the Armenian side. The
magazine paid the licensing fee for use of the DVD as well as the
cost of duplicating over half million copies. TIME also agreed to
publish free of charge a full-page ad on the Armenian Genocide.
In addition, Michael Elliott, the Editor of TIME International,
issued the following significant written statement: "Please be
advised that, in common with other leading news organizations, it is
TIME’s policy and practice to refer to the Armenian genocide as a
historical fact. Accordingly, I will be informing our correspondents
and editors that the term ‘Armenian genocide’ should be used without
qualification."
The above mentioned organizations are pleased that the very costly
Turkish attempt to distort the facts of the Armenian Genocide
backfired and was properly countered by TIME magazine which placed
journalistic ethics above all other considerations.
Turkish officials, on the other hand, were very displeased with this
turn of events. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, when asked for his
reaction to the DVD in TIME magazine, told CNN TURK last Friday: "Now
millions of people [in Europe] will be brainwashed against Turkey."
Turkish TV networks and newspapers provided extensive coverage of
this unexpected development. Turkish denialist circles have already
launched an e-mail campaign against TIME magazine. Those wishing to
counter the Turkish complaints should send their e-mails to:
[email protected], thanking TIME executives for
reaffirming the true facts of the Armenian Genocide.
The above achievement is the result of lengthy discussions with TIME
executives. For the first time, several Armenian and non-Armenian
organizations throughout Europe and the United States worked together
on a common project. Now that such a network is in place, it becomes
easier to organize such a multinational coordinated effort in the
future on other significant issues.
The Turks paid over a million dollars to advertise their denial of
the Armenian Genocide in seven languages. With the kind assistance of
TIME, the Armenians and their friends succeeded in organizing a
successful response using nothing more than the language of truth!
******************************************* *********************************
*****
2 – UCLA AEF Chair Hosts Three
Events in Coming Weeks
LOS ANGELES – Over the next few weeks, the Armenian Educational
Foundation Chair at UCLA will be holding three events in Burbank, and
Los Angeles.
The first event will be held February 16, at 8 p.m., at the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church, 3325 N Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank. Under
the auspices of Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, "An Evening to
Celebrate" will mark the publication of the first six volumes edited
by Professor Richard Hovannisian in the UCLA international conference
series, "Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces."
The event is open to the public at no charge.
On February 25, at 3:30 p.m., a program "Hrant Dink: His Legacy and
His Challenge," will be held at UCLA Dodd Hall 147, co-sponsored by
the UCLA AEF Chair and Near Eastern Center, and Turkish Students to
Commemorate ‘Our Hrant’, and the Organization of Istanbul Armenians.
Parking is available at Structure No. 2, Hilgard Avenue, UCLA
Entrance at Westholme Avenue.
The event is open to the public at no charge.
March 17-18, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 2- 5:30
p.m., the AEF will host "The Ebb and Flow of the Armenian Communities
of the Indian Ocean."
The lectures will be held at UCLA Young Hall 50 (Court of Sciences).
Parking, Structure No. 2, Hilgard Avenue UCLA Entrance at Westholme
Avenue. Open to the public at no charge.
UCLA parking fee is $8.00.
******************************************* ******************************
3 – Prisoner of Conscience to Speak
On Holocaust Remembrance Day
DENVER – Bestselling author and Amnesty International "prisoner of
conscience" Taner Akcam will speak on his recent book, A Shameful
Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish
Responsibility, in Denver’s Mizel Museum at 2:30 PM on April 15,
(Holocaust Remembrance Day).
The lecture, hosted by Armenians of Colorado, Inc., will be part of
the Armenian Genocide awareness and remembrance events in Colorado
that will include a commemoration at the State Capitol’s Armenian
Genocide memorial plaque located on the Northeastern grounds in
Denver on, April 22, at 1:30PM.
Sociologist and historian Taner Akcam teaches at the Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota. Akcam
grew up in Turkey, where he was imprisoned for editing a political
publication and was adopted by Amnesty International as a prisoner of
conscience in 1976. Akcam later received political asylum in Germany,
where he earned a PhD from the University of Hannover and worked with
the Hamburg Institute for Social Research on issues concerning the
history of violence and torture in Turkey.
Akcam is widely recognized as one of the first Turkish scholars to
write extensively and authoritatively on the Turkish genocide of the
Armenians in the early 20th century where 1.5 million Armenians were
brutally exterminated at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. He is
currently facing criminal charges for "insulting Turkishness" in his
homeland, a crime under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. The
charge stems from publishing a column defending Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink’s use of the term "Armenian Genocide" on
October 6, 2006. Dink was the editor of the weekly Turkish-Armenian
newspaper Agos until, January 19, when he was assassinated by a
Turkish nationalist.
Attendees to Akcam’s lecture will also have free access to "The Dead
Weight of Complacency," a dual exhibition of local artists’
interpretation of genocide presented by the Mizel Museum and Colorado
Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action running from Jan. 11 to
April 27. The Museum is located at 400 S Kearney St, Denver.
Taner Akcam’s lecture is free of charge and will be followed by a
discussion and reception. For additional information contact Simon
Maghakyan at 720-252-7265.
The sponsor of the lecture, Armenians of Colorado, Inc. (AOC) was
established in June 1982. It is a 501(c) (3) non-profit, cultural
organization charged with a purpose to create a cohesive Armenian
community and to further the understanding of Armenian history,
culture, and heritage. AOC actively supports issues and concerns of
the Armenian-American community here in Colorado as well as those
identified within the Armenian Diaspora throughout the world.
For more information about Armenians of Colorado go to

****************** ************************************************** ******
4 – Armenian Fertility Specialist Helps
67-Year-Old Gives Birth to Twins
LOS ANGELES – Carmela Bousada, a 67-year-old Spanish woman, became
the oldest woman to give birth having delivered twin sons in
Barcelona, Spain on December 29. The in vitro fertilization (IVF)
process was conducted by Dr. Vicken Sahakian, medical director of the
Pacific Fertility Center, which has offices in Glendale and Westwood
in the Los Angeles area. Previously, the oldest woman to have given
birth was a Romanian woman who gave birth to a daughter at age 66 in
January 2005.
"I am glad the in vitro fertilization process was successful and both
the patient and the newborns are doing well, however, I would never
recommend that a female of this age go through this procedure due to
the potential health risks and social implications of a pregnancy at
that age," said Dr. Vicken Sahakian. "I do not accept single female
patients over the age of 55
and unfortunately, in this case, the patient deceived us about her
age in order to receive treatment."
The Pacific Fertility Center is one of the leading medical practices
specializing in fertility issues in California.
Carmela Bousada is a retired department store employee who lives in
Cadiz, in southern Spain. The twins, Pau and Christian, were born
seven weeks premature but are now healthy and at home with Ms.
Bousada.
********’**************************** *************************************
5 – Prelacy Relocates
To New Building
LA CRESCENTA, Calif. – The Western Prelacy announced last week that
the renovation project of the Western Prelacy has concluded, and it
is in the process of moving to its new offices at 6252 Honolulu Ave.,
in La Crescenta, Calif.
Regular office hours will officially resume at the new building on
Feb.5, 2007. Office hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Details
on the upcoming official opening ceremony will be forthcoming, the
Prelacy release said last week.
Contact information for the Prelacy offices is: Tel: 818-248-7737/8;
Fax: 818-248-7745; Email: [email protected].
The Prelacy Website is: .
************************************************ **************************
6 – ‘The Armenian Genocide’ Film
To Air March 29 on KOCE-TV
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – – Emmy Award-winning producer Andrew
Goldberg will appear live in the studios of KOCE-TV, Orange County’s
PBS station, for a special broadcast of his award-winning
documentary, The Armenian Genocide, on Thursday March 29 at 8:00 p.m.
Since the film first aired, this will be Goldberg’s first television
appearance in the Los Angeles and Southern California area – home to
the largest Armenian community in the U.S. The Armenian Genocide is
the unprecedented, powerful and complete story of the first genocide
of the 20th century when over a million Armenians were killed at the
hands of the Ottoman Turks.
The film received extraordinary reviews and coverage in almost every
major newspaper in the U.S., including the Wall Street Journal, The
Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and
countless other publications. Alessandra Stanley, the chief
television critic of The New York Times, described the film as
"powerful" adding that it ".honors the victims of the Genocide." The
NJ Star Ledger called the film "serious, literate and ultimately
heartbreaking." The film has sold internationally to major networks
in Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and
Finland, as well as many other countries. Narrated by Julianna
Margulies, The Armenian Genocide features additional narrations from
Ed Harris, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Laura Linney, Paul Rudd
and Jared Leto to name a few.
"KOCE is proud to be the only station in the Southland, including Los
Angeles, to air The Armenian Genocide," said Mel Rogers, president
and general manager of KOCE-TV. "This film and its topic represent
part of the mission of public television to stimulate responsible
discussion and illuminate complex issues. Since most Americans do not
fully understand the issue in all its complexity, we are committed to
offering the program which we sincerely hope will help viewers better
understand this chapter in world history."
Featuring interviews with leading experts in the field, such as
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power, and New York Times
best-selling author, Peter Balakian, this film features
never-before-seen historical footage of the events and key players of
one of the greatest untold stories of the 20th century.
Filmed in the U.S., France, Germany, Belgium, Turkey and
Syria, the program features discussions with Kurdish and Turkish
citizens in modern-day Turkey who speak openly about the stories told
to them by their parents and grandparents. "As Turkey seeks to join
the European Union 90 years later, this film can give people a much
better understanding of why this issue is such an important and
current part of the international conversation about Turkey’s role in
the world today," said Goldberg.
Emmy-award winning producer Andrew Goldberg’s television credits
include PBS, ABC News, E!, CNN, and countless others. In addition to
writing, directing and producing The Armenian Genocide, Goldberg’s
recent documentaries include Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The
Resurgence, A Yiddish World Remembered, and The Armenians, A Story of
Survival. He has also written and produced commercials for such
companies as Bell South, Sephora/Louis Vuitton, AT&T and PetSmart.
He is currently working on a two-hour film for PBS called Jerusalem:
Center of the World.
Major underwriters include John and Judy Bedrosian, The Lincy
Foundation, The Avanessians Family Foundation and The
Manoogian-Simone Foundation.
************************************** *************************************
7 – TIME Magazine Distributes Documentary;
Adopts Policy on the Armenian Genocide
GLENDALE – The Feb. 12, 2007 issue of the European edition of TIME
magazine –available in newsstands throughout Europe as of Feb. 2nd
— carries a full-page factual announcement on the Armenian Genocide,
along with a complimentary DVD, in English and French, which contains
a compelling 52-minute documentary on the Armenian Genocide by French
director Laurence Jourdan. The DVD also includes a 46-minute
interview with Dr. Yves Ternon, a leading expert on the Armenian
Genocide.
Both the DVD and the full-page ad were provided free of charge by
TIME Europe (circulation 550,000) after realizing that its staff,
without proper review, had inserted in the June 6, 2005 issue of TIME
Europe a Turkish DVD as a paid advertisement under the guise of
promoting tourism to Turkey. The Turkish DVD, paid for by the Ankara
Chamber of Commerce, was a deceitful attempt to spread malicious lies
and denialist propaganda on the Armenian Genocide. To correct this
error, TIME (Europe) published, in its October 17, 2005 issue, a
critical page-long letter to the editor jointly signed by the
following five French organizations: Memoire 2000, the Coordinating
Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), Comité de Défense
de la Cause Arménienne (CDCA) — ANC France, J’Accuse, and the
Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples (MRAP). In
an Editor’s note appended to the letter, TIME apologized for
disseminating the Turkish DVD.
In December 2005, these five organizations along with the
Switzerland-Armenia Association (SAA), the French Association of
Armenian Lawyers and Jurists (AFAJA), the European-Armenian
Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), and The California
Courier newspaper reached an amicable agreement with TIME executives
ensuring that the facts of the Armenian Genocide are not distorted
again in the pages of the magazine.
Subsequently, Michael Elliott, the Editor of TIME International,
issued the following public statement: "Please be advised that, in
common with other leading news organizations, it is TIME’s policy and
practice to refer to the Armenian genocide as a historical fact.
Accordingly, I will be informing our correspondents and editors that
the term ‘Armenian genocide’ should be used without qualification."
The above mentioned organizations are fully satisfied with the
corrective steps taken by TIME magazine.
They are also pleased that the Turkish attempt to distort the facts
of the Armenian Genocide, supported by considerable financial
resources, was properly countered as a result of these organizations’
close cooperation with TIME which placed journalistic ethics above
all other considerations.
********************************** ****************************************
8 – The ‘Armenian Schindler’s List’ Now
Accessible for Readers in English.
University of Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Geoffrey Brock’s translation from Italian of the
debut novel by Antonia Arslan, brings the story of her family’s
struggle for survival in the Armenian genocide to the
English-speaking world.
The Kirkus Review calls Skylark Farm an "Armenian Schindler’s List."
The Bloomberg reviewer praised the "impressive subtlety" of Brock’s
translation of Arslan’s "powerful account."
Brock is assistant professor of creative writing and translation in
the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Arkansas.
In the prologue to her novel, Arslan remembers herself as a small
child savoring the names of relatives who lived all over the world.
She thinks of Arussiag in Beirut, Zareh in Aleppo, Nevart in Fresno
and Michel in Copacabana as travelers.
In fact, they are among the few survivors from her family of the
Armenian genocide of 1915, and she uses bits of memories to write a
novel that tells their story and the story of those killed. Arslan
grew up in Italy, the granddaughter of an Armenian who was living in
Venice at the time of the genocide. The men and boys of his family
back home in Anatolia were killed one night in May and buried beneath
the tennis court of the family’s country house, Skylark Farm.
Brock, an award-winning translator of other Italian authors, seeks to
recreate the literary experience of a work in translation. In the
case of Arslan’s novel, even the translation of the title was a
question. In Italian, the novel’s title is La Masseria delle
Allodole.
"It was a difficult title to translate," Brock said. "The word
‘masseria’ refers to a kind of farm, though it isn’t the standard
word for farm. And in the novel, it’s used specifically to refer to a
house that presumably used to be a farmhouse but is now really a
country house. I strongly considered The House of Skylarks as a
title, but the phrase in Italian has a strong rustic overtone that I
wanted to maintain."
Acknowledging the many who helped reconstruct that tragic time,
Arslan thanks "all the gentle, daydreaming Armenians who, in Milan
and Rome and the world over, welcomed me and nourished me with
ancient images and unforeseen kinship and gave me the gift of
treasured memories."
Brock noted that the novel has been very popular in Italy and is
being made into a film by Italian directors, the Taviani brothers.
The American edition of Skylark Farm is published by Alfred A. Knopf,
New York.
******************************************** ******************************
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Los Angeles Times, CA
Feb 4 2006

EDITORIAL
New hope for genocide resolution

Measure calling for the president to acknowledge the Armenian
genocide might finally pass Congress.
February 4, 2007

LAST WEEK, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) engaged in what has become
a biannual congressional ritual: Introducing a nonbinding resolution
instructing the president of the United States to call Turkey’s
Ottoman-era slaughter of Armenians a genocide. Unlike in years past,
however, this time the symbolic but important legislation actually
has a legitimate chance at passage.

Two recent developments have created momentum. First, the Democratic
Party, which has historically been more sympathetic to the
resolution, now controls Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San
Francisco) in particular has taken a keen interest in bringing the
matter to a vote. Second, a 17-year-old gunman last month executed in
cold blood the respected Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on a
crowded Istanbul street.

The slaying of Dink, who had been prosecuted for acknowledging the
genocide, has sent a collective shiver down Turkey’s spine,
triggering street demonstrations and renewed calls for the government
to change its policy. It is still a crime in Turkey to speak the
truth about a period of history whose accepted worldwide
interpretation Ankara still denies.

Schiff’s resolution merely calls on the president to ensure that U.S.
foreign policy "reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity"
regarding the genocide and that he use the G-word during his annual
message commemorating the National Day of Remembrance of Man’s
Inhumanity to Man on April 24, the date in 1915 when Turkey rounded
up 250 Armenian intellectuals to be slaughtered. That the resolution
is so mild makes the White House’s opposition all the more vexing.

Even though President Bush made a campaign promise in 2000 to use the
word "genocide," his flip-flop is neither surprising nor mysterious –
Ankara has considerable diplomatic influence, and Turkey is too
valuable an ally to alienate with congressional resolutions. Yet the
U.S. is at its best when it chooses truth over expedience, especially
in matters as grave as genocide. It’s hard to say "never again"
convincingly if you’re too afraid to speak bluntly about what you aim
to prevent.

Turkish police posed for picture with killer of Armenian journalist
By Peter Popham

The Indpendent/UK
Published: 03 February 2007

Less than a fortnight after huge crowds thronged the streets of
Istanbul at the funeral of the murdered Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, chanting, "We are all Armenian," Turkey yesterday showed
another, more sinister face.

Turkish newspapers and television news programmes carried images of
the man accused of shooting Mr Dink posing proudly behind a Turkish
flag with police officers. In the background was a poster bearing the
words of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk: "The nation’s land is sacred. It
cannot be left to fate."

The video caused shock and consternation as commentators warned it was
another sign of the growing power of Turkish ultra- nationalism as the
nation gears up for parliamentary and presidential elections later
this year.

Ismet Berkan, editor of the liberal newspaper Radikal, said that the
release of the video was like killing Mr Dink a second time. It
proved, he claimed, "that the murderer and his associates are not
alone, that their supporters … have penetrated all segments of the
state."

Hrant Dink was the founder and editor of Agos, the weekly newspaper of
Turkey’s small and beleaguered Armenian population. Since launching
the paper he had fought tirelessly to improve relations between Turkey
and Armenia, which have been in deep freeze since the extermination of
Armenia’s large community in Anatolia between 1915 and 1917, the first
genocide of the 20th century.

Mr Dink told Turks to face the facts about the genocide, but his great
goal was reconciliation. When France passed a law making denial of the
Armenian genocide a criminal offence, for example, Mr Dink declared
that he would go to France to deny it himself. He wrote that Armenians
should "clear their blood of hatred for the Turks".

Mangled in reiteration by Turkish nationalist websites, these words
became "Turkish blood is dirty" – sparking 17-year-old Ogun Samast to
travel to Istanbul from the Black Sea city of Trabzon and shoot Mr
Dink outside his office. Seven others, all from Trabzon, have now
been arrested for involvement.

A police spokesperson said an investigation into the video footage and
its leaking was under way.

Malaysia Sun, Malaysia
Feb 2 2007

History makes way for Surge

The journalist Hossam al-Hamalawy was right to wonder aloud in May
2003, shortly after America’s invasion had commenced, whether Iraq
had become "the new bus stop for the mujahideen after Kabul, Bosnia,
Grozny, Kosovo and Kashmir."

Others were thinking along similar lines.

It seems the US occupation has created "a new generation of
mujahideen similar to the Afghani Arabs, the ‘Iraqi Arabs’," said
Muhammad Salah, Cairo bureau chief of Al Hayat, a little over a month
after American troops breached Iraq’s borders. US aggression, Salah
said, "has created favorable conditions for recruiting more cadres"
and "has shifted the fortunes of Islamists."

And, of course, even then it should have been obvious that
al-Hamalawy and Salah were right.

A month after the US invasion in 2003, young Indonesians were queuing
up openly to register and volunteer to fight in Iraq against American
troops. Around the same period, Islamist fighters composed largely of
volunteer students from Jordanian and Syrian universities were
battling US marines inside Baghdad. In Saudi Arabia, authorities
interrogating three hundred captives — young Saudis on their way to
fight in Iraq — determine that among their captives, "few if any had
previous contact with al-Qaida and that most were motivated by the
U.S. occupation."

"I’m sure George Bush never meant to help us," said the head of the
Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, Mamun Hodaibi, in 2003. "But he did."
Of course he did. But too few noticed because maybe too many wanted
to be blind.

How many Iraqi lives were ground to dust during America’s brutal
assault on Fallujah alone? How many family members and friends who
survived the carnage have since added their rage to the Iraqi
furnace? These are uncomfortable questions. We would rather have
asinine formulas: topple Saddam’s government and rose water and rice
will be thrown at the feet of the invading troops. Capture the tyrant
and the violence will wind down. Take out the Ba’athist dead-enders
and the fighting will stop. Take out Uday and Qusay Hussein and it’ll
be Mission Accomplished. Bump off Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the
insurgency will collapse.

And now the monster Saddam has been lynched; there is a new
Disneyland blueprint for winning. The Bush administration calls it
The Surge: one more push in Iraq for total victory — the deployment
of over 20,000 more US troops– in addition to the 135,000 US
soldiers already stationed in Iraq — "to help Iraqis clear and
secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population."

Feral stupidity is fanaticism: you discover you are going in the
wrong direction, and you double your speed.

In The Burning Tigris, a book about the Armenian genocide, Peter
Badakian reminds us that memory today has become such a moral act;
it’s surely a timely reminder. Because without remembering, we "are
subject to somebody else’s remembering, or somebody else’s
forgetting."

It’s a compelling way of looking at things, and maybe if we thought
about it more we’d be thinking less about the cost-benefit aspects of
America’s proposed surge and more about the wake of US global
peacekeeping.

February 1986; extracts of a taped conversation between the US
government and the government of Iran. Iranian representative: "We
must get the Hawk missiles…. Iran is being destroyed. We need those
missiles."

The US government: "[I]f your government can cause the humanitarian
release of the Americans held in Beirut … ten hours immediately
after they are released the airplane will land with the remaining
Hawk missile parts."

After the US received one hostage, Iran got millions of dollars worth
of missiles, a cake in the shape of a key, revolvers and a Bible with
a handwritten note quoting St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians: "And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying ‘All the
nations shall be blessed in you.’" Signed, "Ronald Reagan, Oct. 3,
1986."

On the same year, Reagan told Saddam Hussein "Iraq should step up its
air war and bombing of Iran." Three years later, through the
determined prodding of James Baker, the same Baker who headed the
eminent Iraq Study Group advising George W. Bush on how to secure
peace in Iraq, America gave the Iraqi tyrant an additional $1 billion
subsidy, "along with germ seed for anthrax, helicopters, and the
notorious ‘dual-use’ material that could be used for chemical and
biological weapons."

"I tremble for my country," said Thomas Jefferson, "when I reflect
that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." And he is
right to tremble. We should, too.

We reap what we sow, we sow with what we forget, and some have sown
bitter fruit, in the land of others where life has become what the
poet Pablo Neruda described as great sorrow, where each "day is not
hour by hour / but pain by pain."

(Renato Redentor Constantino is a writer and painter based in Quezon
City. He is the author of the recently released book The Poverty of
Memory: Essays on History and Empire (CFNS: 2006). He maintains a
blog site at and can be reached via
[email protected]. )

PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey hopes U.S. Congress not to adopt resolution on recognizing Genocide
01.02.2007 18:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US-Turkey ties again face test as the Armenian
Genocide’ resolution occurs in the Congress, Today’s Zaman
reports. The resolution puts Turkish-US relations to a new test after
tension over Iraq throughout the past several years. Turkish officials
have repeatedly warned that relations would suffer irreparable damage
if the resolution is passed. `We hope the resolution will never be
brought before the president. Even in this case, we hope the United
States will not show weakness in the face of Armenian Diaspora
efforts,’ said Faruk Çelik, a deputy from the ruling Justice and
Development Party. `Otherwise, Turkish-US ties will be seriously
affected,’ he said.

In his part, Inal Batu, a lawmaker from the opposition Republican
People’s Party, admitted that prospects were much stronger for passage
of the resolution as compared to the past. `Armenians are closer than
ever to success,’ he told Today’s Zaman. `But I still believe that the
United States will not alienate its strategic partner.’

US Embassy pleased with Armenia’s engagement with NATO via IPAP

ArmRadio.am
01.02.2007 18:00

US Embassy in Armenia disseminated a statement today, which says, in
particular, `We are very pleased with Armenia’s engagement with NATO
via its Individual Partnership Action Plan. Mr. Frank Boland, from
NATO’s International Staff is in Yerevan this week to evaluate this
progress in a more technical nature.

Each Partner country makes its own decisions on how closely it will
integrate with the Alliance. Armenia has made clear that it does not
seek membership in the Alliance and NATO acknowledges this decision
while at the same time welcoming its substantive engagement. We regret
the error in a press statement issues by the Marshall Center on
January 31 as it does not reflect either US or NATO policy.’

New York Sun, NY
Jan 31 2007

Screaming To Be Heard
Movies

By STEVE DOLLAR
January 31, 2007

Even though its topic is the Armenian genocide of a century ago, the
new documentary "Screamers" is startlingly of the moment. The film’s
premiere in New York this past weekend was overshadowed by the
January 19 assassination of one of its most forthright subjects, the
Turkish-Armenian journalist and activist Hrant Dink.

Director Carla Garapedian remembers the day she spent with Dink, who
had been prosecuted three times for "insulting Turkishness," by
speaking out about the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917. "He told me, `Every time I
leave the office, I look over my shoulder,’" Ms. Garapedian said.
"And he was shot outside his office. It’s very upsetting. He got a
lot of publicity inside Turkey because of the film."

As a documentary producer long affiliated with the BBC, the
American-born filmmaker is no stranger to global hot spots. Turkey is
not supposed to be one of them. But that’s part of the film’s
message. Turkish nationalism and its suppression of free speech is at
odds with its desire to become part of the European Union, while its
strategic location gives it political leverage with Western powers,
which avoid official use of the "G" word. Turkish authorities offered
Ms. Garapedian no official response to the copy of "Screamers" she
sent them, she said, but they did make a public declaration about
denying "lies disseminated by the Armenian Diaspora."

"Something that happened 100 years ago is part of a current political
debate," Ms. Garapedian said, chatting recently over an espresso
during a brief New York visit. "The government has institutionalized
its denial of it. They prosecute anyone who talks about it. It’s a
very extreme thing." The granddaughter of survivors who is part of a
strong Armenian community in Los Angeles, Ms. Garapedian always
thought the topic was too personal for her. Then she began following
the progressive heavy metal band System of a Down, a quartet of young
Armenian musicians from Los Angeles who had grandparents who also
were survivors, and had grown up hearing the same kinds of stories
that Ms. Garapedian’s family had told her.

Meeting fans at the band’s concerts, she was impressed by how much
American teenagers knew about the genocide. "These were kids and they
were not Armenians," she said. "So I decided, maybe the way to tell
the story is from the grassroots up, from the music and the kids’
point of views, rather than it being the kind of documentary I
usually make, which is more didactic."

As such, "Screamers" is an unusual hybrid of "rockumentary" and
social protest film. It mixes extensive concert and backstage footage
of System of a Down, whose complex rhythms and old-world folk
flourishes set it apart from many of its Ozzfest peers, as surely as
the explicit political themes in its lyrics. Ms. Garapedian expanded
on her initial premise at the behest of System’s vocalist, Serj
Tankian, whose then-94-year-old grandfather, Stepan Haytayan, was
interviewed, along with other survivors, activists, and historians
for the film.

"He wanted it to be about all genocides," Ms. Garapedian said. And so
"Screamers" draws a line from the Armenians through a century of
other genocides, citing Hitler’s notorious refrain, "Who remembers
the Armenians?"

The big question, as posed by Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar Samantha
Powers ("A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide"), and
repeated by Ms. Garapedian, is: "Why is it that America says `never
again,’ but genocides keep repeating? Why is our policy one of
nonintervention and neutrality?"

The film’s title, which at first suggests System’s aggressive rock,
is actually drawn from Ms. Powers’s work. "Screamers are people who
refuse to stand by and watch something unfold," Ms. Garapedian said.
"Perpetrators always deny. It’s us colluding in the denial, because
of our foreign policy – that’s what’s really galling. The economic
and defense interests are very strong."

Had Ms. Garapedian’s grandmother, who survived into her mid-90s,
lived long enough, she would have made an impressive witness.

"It just seems like I’ve always known about it," the filmmaker said.
"Even the meals she would make, there would always be a story because
she was on the deportation march. Even during the 1994 earthquake, my
grandmother lived in Van Nuys, not too far from the epicenter. I
drove over to grandma’s – is she going to be okay? Water mains have
burst. Cars are turned over. Complete chaos. I get to grandma’s
house, and she’s walking amid devastation. You can smell chemicals in
the air because of the chemical plant nearby where something burst.

"I said, `Grandma, are you okay?’ and she said, `Honey, you want some
breakfast?’ I said, `Grandma! Breakfast? Are you okay?’ And she takes
my hand and says, `Honey, this is nothing.’ Everything in her life
compared to being on the deportation march and seeing people die
around her, such barbarity, everything is nothing."