Author: Ekmekjian Janet

SPONSORS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION BACK OFF
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Los Angeles Times, CA
Oct 26 2007

October 25, 2007 WASHINGTON — Yielding to fierce diplomatic and
political pressure, congressional sponsors of an Armenian genocide
resolution abruptly put off a vote on the measure Thursday and defused
a mounting confrontation with Turkey that was threatening to hamper
the U.S. war effort in Iraq. The decision was a swift reversal for
the long-debated resolution, disappointing supporters who only two
weeks ago were optimistic that the House would approve it. "We’re
not going to bring it up until we’re confident we have the votes
to pass it," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., who introduced the
measure. "It’s going to take some time." The action extricated House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., from the clash between a powerful
constituency in California and an important U.S. military ally. As
the measure approached a vote, the Turkish government warned it could
lead to a rupture in relations and disrupt U.S. military operations
in Iraq. Most of the supplies headed to U.S. forces in Iraq are flown
through Turkey. The issue also came up as the U.S. was imploring
Turkey not to send forces into northern Iraq to curb Kurdish rebel
attacks. Republican opponents welcomed the delay and blamed Pelosi
for a miscalculation on an important foreign policy matter.

"Fortunately, the right decision was made before this debacle turned
into a full-blown national security crisis," said Minority Leader John
A. Boehner, R-Ohio. The resolution’s backers once counted a majority
of the House as sponsors. When it cleared the Foreign Affairs Committee
two weeks ago, Pelosi pledged to bring it to the floor. "When it passed
out of Foreign Affairs, I thought it was finally going to happen,"
said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., a sponsor of the resolution,
which calls on the president to "accurately characterize the systematic
and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide." But
support began to drain away as President Bush and Turkey escalated
their warnings and the situation in northern Iraq deteriorated. Two
dozen representatives have withdrawn their support since the resolution
was introduced, raising doubts about whether it could pass. Supporters
said Pelosi remains committed to the measure and that they had no
choice but to bow to political reality. "If this were to come up
to the floor today, it would be too close to call," said Rep. Brad
Sherman, D-Calif. They stressed that they are delaying the vote only
to buy time to rebuild political support. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich.,
co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues who has
pressed the resolution for more than a decade, said he was hopeful.

"We have never been anywhere near this close. Never," he said. "I
don’t think we’re going to give up." The Turkish government disputes
that the World War I era killings of more than a million Armenians
by the Ottoman Turks was a genocide, contending that both Turks
and Armenians were casualties of the war, famine and disease. But
historical evidence and authoritative research support the term, and
the Los Angeles Times’ policy is to refer to the deaths as genocide.

ARMENIAN FM: ARMENIA-IRAN RELATIONS DEEPENING DAY BY DAY

arminfo
2007-10-25 14:11:00

ArmInfo. The relations of Armenia and Iran are deepening day by day,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said at a press conference,
Thursday.

Commenting on the recent visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
to Yerevan, the minister called it comprehensive. ‘Our relations with
Iran are deepening day by day. The projects implemented, starting from
the gas pipeline up to the possible construction of oil processing
plant and Armenia-Iran railway, are of both bilateral and regional
importance,’ the minister said. He also added that the last two
programs are currently discussed. ‘It is necessary to carry serious
economic calculations. However, these topics are on the agenda, which
testifies to their strategic importance,’ Vardan Oskanyan said. The
minister also added that the increase of trade turnover was also
discussed during the visit of the Iranian president to Armenia. ‘Thus,
I think we will become witnesses of both successful completion of the
started projects and beginning of new ones within the nearest future,’
Minister Oskanyan said.

Asked about the differences in the explanation of Armenian and
Iranian parties why President Amadinejad cut short the visit to
Armenia, Minister Oskanyan said Mass Media has complicated the
issue. The minister sees nothing extraordinary in the change of
the visit program. He said the Armenian delegation also sometimes
cuts short its visit to foreign countries. He also added that only
the protocolar part of the visit was cut, which did not affect the
content of the negotiations. To recall, the visits to the Armenian
Genocide Memorial, the local Iranian mosque, and to the Parliament
of Armenia were cut from the visit program of the Iranian president.

TURKEY’S BLAME GAME

Jewish Exponent, PA
Oct 25 2007

Is it possible to condemn genocide without helping to lay the
foundation for another catastrophe? That’s the difficulty faced
by those who are debating the wisdom of a congressional resolution
condemning the massacre of Armenians by Turkey during World War I.

Jews are sensitive to the grief that Armenians feel over the mass
murder of their people, as well as the ongoing need to condemn genocide
whenever and wherever it happens. At the same time, American Jewry
has celebrated Turkey’s stance as a Muslim country that has good
relations with Israel, and which, by and large, supports America’s
initiatives on Islamist terror.

Turkey should not feel threatened by an acknowledgment of what
happened to Armenians 90 years ago. But for nationalist reasons, the
Turks consider any measure that speaks of genocide to be an insult
that will destroy their alliance with the United States and their
relationship with Israel.

Unfortunately, organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have
found themselves in the crossfire on this issue. And though most
of organized Jewry still opposes the congressional resolution, the
Turks seem to be blaming Jewish influence for its passage last week
in committee. But by trying to force those who value Turkey and its
unique role in the region to oppose the resolution, they are putting
us in a position where it can be argued that we are denying genocide
or at least downplaying it. That is clearly too much to ask. The
genocide of the Armenians is a fact.

Those who say that friendship with Turkey is unimportant also remain in
a state of denial. The country is at a delicate stage of its history
as Islamist political forces are edging ever closer to tilting the
country away from its secular traditions. Should Turkey move from
being a force for stability in the region to one that is aggressively
seeking to exploit tensions (as is the case with its battle with
Kurdish nationalists in northern Iraq), that would be a disaster.

Turkey’s stance opposing the remembrance of Armenian suffering is
not reasonable, but neither is a position that heedlessly chucks a
vital alliance into the trash can. Choosing this particular moment in
history to pick a fight with Turkey makes no sense. The bad judgment of
those who have pushed this resolution forward has created a situation
where it may not be possible to avoid choosing between remembering
murder and keeping Turkey as a friend. If so, it should be clearly
understood that, no matter which side prevails in Congress, both
options are unacceptable.

REPORT: ISRAEL MARRING TURKEY-US TIES

PRESS TV
Oct 24 2007
Iran

The recent crisis in US-Turkish relations is embedded in the Israeli
lobby’s concern over Turkey’s closer ties with Iran and Syria.

According to a report carried on the Rense website Wednesday, the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Turkey’s other
erstwhile friends, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), are
concerned about its amicable ties with the mentioned countries.

The report adds that the Israeli lobby, withdrawing support for their
former allies in Turkey, have pushed for the approval of the Armenian
genocide resolution.

Turkey, Syria, and Iran are cooperating in battling PKK forces on their
respective territories. It appears that Israel is willing to sacrifice
its past close relations with Turkey in its support for the Kurds.

Israel’s Mossad has re-established close links with the Kurds in the
region and is creating tension between Iran, Turkey, and the Kurds,
the report notes.

The election of an Islamic-minded government in Turkey has been
another reason for AIPAC, the ADL, and the neocons in Washington to
turn up the heat on Ankara.

Adding to the anger of the Israel lobby was the recent natural gas
deal inked between Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Iran will provide Syria
with Iranian gas via Turkish pipelines.

Turkey has already blamed Israel for the passage by the US House
International Relations Committee of the Armenian genocide resolution.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan reportedly told Israeli president
Shimon Peres earlier this month that since Israel ultimately controls
Jewish-American organizations like the ADL, Turkey held Israel partly
responsible for the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution.

ARRESTED OPPOSITION FIGURES NOT SET FREE AS YET, LEVON TER-PETROSIAN IN LOCAL POLICE OFFICE, FIRST OMBUDSMAN AGAIN TRIES TO ENTER POLICE OFFICE

Noyan Tapan
Oct 24, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the data of 01:50
a.m. of October 24, none of the nine opposition figures arrested on the
eve was set free. However, the latters freely communicated through the
phone and said that no acts of violence were being committed against
them, only explanatory notes were being made. Levon Ter-Petrosian,
the first President of the Republic of Armenia, had been in the
building of the Kentron local police office for already an hour and
a half. Larisa Alaverdian, the first Ombudsman of Armenia, was trying
to enter the police office again, however, she had not managed as yet.

It should be mentioned that the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "4th
Power" Shogher Matevosian, the editor-in-chief of the daily "Armenian
Time" Nikol Pashinian, the chairman of the Conservative Party Mikael
Hayrapetian, the representative of the "Armenian National Movement"
party David Matevosian, the chairman of the "Democratic Homeland" party
Petros Makeyan and several other people are among the arrested people.

According to the information provided to a Noyan Tapan correspondemt
by the reporter of "Armenian Time" Lusine Barseghian, the reason
for the arrest of the above-mentioned people was the procession that
they and several dozen supporters organized, during which they, by
using a loud-speaker, were calling to the residents of Yerevan for
participating in the opposition rally scheduled for October 26 in
the Freedom Square. In addition to this, the procession participants
distributed leaflets of the same contents.

SENDING THE WORLD A MESSAGE ON GENOCIDE
By Irshad Manji

CBS News, NY
Oct 24 2007

The New Republic: Global Reputation Could Be Helped By Denouncing
Armenian Deaths

(The New Republic) This column was written by Irshad Manji.

Now playing on Capitol Hill: a political drama over whether Turkey
deserves denunciation for its mass deportation and murder of Armenians
starting in 1915, otherwise known as genocide.

Initiated by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, this symbolic vote
has sparked more than symbolic anger from at the White House — and
from the Turkish government itself. The Bush administration insists
that now is the not the time to be offending Turkey, which borders
Iraq and provides the United States with key access routes in its
war on terror.

Then there are ordinary people like my sister. More accustomed
to condemning President Bush, she too frowns on the anti-genocide
resolution. "How would it benefit the U.S.?" she asked me bluntly in
an e-mail last week. Her question was not that of an American wanting
to protect her country’s best interests, but that of a Canadian who
does not trust the motives of her narcissistic neighbor. I told my
sister I would get back to her.

The timing of this resolution should raise questions — all the more
so because of who initiated it: Democrats in Congress. They are the
gang for whom success in today’s Iraq, not slaughter in yesterday’s
Turkey, is the signal issue in America. HBO’s Bill Maher nailed that
point when he quipped, "This is why the voters gave control of the
House to the Democrats. To send a stern message to the Ottoman Empire."

Still, there is at least one important reason to recognize the Armenian
genocide now, and it relates directly to America’s implosion in Iraq:
Democracy has been redefined not just in the Middle East, but also in
the United States. These days, American politicians must pay attention
to "voters" who live well beyond their shores.

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put it, "Some of the things that
are harmful to our troops relate to values — Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo,
torture…. Our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a
country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation."

Hers is a subtle argument about the need for the United States
to reclaim the moral high ground on human rights. It might be too
subtle for most Americans who, let us face it, have little concern
for what may or may not have happened countless miles away more than
three generations ago — especially if the debate harms U.S. troops
right now.

But Ms. Pelosi’s argument is not meant for Americans. It is intended
for an international audience.

America remains the only country in the world with a universal
constituency. Domestic politics in the United States often have
a profound effect in every corner of the earth, from determining
immigration flows and investment patterns to handing leaders and
their heirs the excuses they crave to blur the lines between God
and government.

The same cannot be said of domestic politics in modern, multicultural
entrepots such as India, Britain, or China. Nor do domestic politics
in feisty, fiery states like Iran and Israel set precedents for the
rest of us. Not yet, anyway.

No wonder so much of the world seethes that only Americans can vote for
the next president of the United States. I hear it from young Muslims
whenever I travel to Europe. And it is not just Muslims who express a
sense of disenfranchisement. In my home of Canada, a regular columnist
for the newspaper of record recently suggested that Al Gore would be
president if people outside of the United States could cast ballots.

How many countries enjoy a reach so long and far that non-citizens
would care enough to want a say in its leader — or journalists would
care enough to speculate how the rest of the world would vote?

America’s universal constituency is what House Democrats are
acknowledging in their Armenian genocide resolution.

Doubtless, I am about to be accused of naivete. Left-wing critics
will sniff that this condemnation is a pretext to milk campaign
contributions from Armenian genocide survivors, who, like their Jewish
counterparts, are dying off. And, bonus, worshipping at the altar of
their potent lobbies has its rewards, after all.

Right-wing detractors will sneer that this move is meant to
undermine the war on terror by alienating a crucial ally, even if
unintentionally. Indeed, many House Democrats have begun wavering
on the anti-genocide measure because of Turkey’s threat to block its
borders to American war planners should any vote pass.

That threat may be moot: With tensions escalating between military
conflict now looming between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), the border that Washington desperately needs to be free and
clear is not. Ankara has been moving tanks, troops, and choppers to the
Turkey-Iraq border. America’s priorities do not count nearly as much
as they did a week ago, genocide resolution or no genocide resolution.

Which brings us back to the original case for pronouncing on the
Armenian slaughter — a moral case.

The question for Americans ought to be: Since when is it wrong to
speak out against genocide, however many years have elapsed? People of
good conscience continued raising their voices against slavery in the
United States well after abolition. Are they reckless or sinister for
offending many Americans? In any event, is causing offense a reason
to stop remembering?

Here is the question for Turks: Why should your history be immune to
America’s judgment when, according to surveys of global attitudes about
the United States, you as a nation are among the most anti-American
(read: judgmental) in all of the Muslim world?

Finally, a question for my sister in Vancouver who suspects American
intentions: As a voter in that massive caucus called international
public opinion, are you ready to credit some United States legislators
for maturing?

I am not sure. Canadians take smug glee in the claim that only
one-third of United States Congress members have passports. It is an
old rumor that Democrats, at least, are striving to shed.

Will non-Americans meet them half way, or will we continue to charge
them all with tribalism in order to appease a deeper insecurity within
our own nations?

The campaign is on. Welcome to democracy.

IRANIAN PRESIDENT SUSPENDS VISIT TO ARMENIA

ITAR-TASS
Oct 23 2007
Russia

YEREVAN, October 22 (Itar-Tass) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has suspended his visit to Armenia and leaves for home, ITAR-TASS
learnt at the press service of the Armenian president.

Unofficial sources name unforeseen circumstances emerged in Iran as
a reason for altering the visit programme.

In the morning, the Iranian head of state was to visit the memorial
to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and in the afternoon,
he was expected to address deputies of the Armenian parliament.

"Today’s program has been cancelled, and the Iranian president
is flying to Teheran," a representative of the presidential press
service said.

NON-MATERIAL CULTURAL HERITAGE NEEDS LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION IN ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Oct 23, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Cultural globalization has called
forth the necessity to bring out problems of preservation of national
indentity, national culture, including keeping of non-material cultural
heritage, and to find a new solutions to them. Karine Khodikian, the
RA Deputy Minister of Culture, stated this at the October 23 third
international three-day conference under the title "Knowledge and
Symbol, Belief and Custom," dedicated to preservation of non-material
cultural values.

According to her, the whole non-material cultural heritage and system
of values need legislative and institutional protection today in
Armenia. At that, not only adoption of individual laws by the state,
but also bringing them in line with international standards regulating
the sphere is necessary.

Garnik Guyumjian, the Head of the State Programs, Cultural Cooperation,
Science and Education Unit of Cultural Policy Department of the RA
Ministry of Culture, said in his speech that the Ministry has already
worked out a bill On Non-material Cultural Heritage, which is at the
interested Ministries. The law’s adoption pursues a single purpose,
to regulate legal interrelations in the sphere, to specify state
governance bodies’ authorities, to establish the directions, in which
international cooperation should be carried out. G. Guyumjian said
that Armenia joined the International Convention On Preservation of
Non-material Values in 2005.

G. Guyumjian said that the bill will have a special provision on
preservation of non-material cultural heritage in the Diaspora.

Ethnographer Levon Abrahamian’s report on the subject "Indefinite
Limits of Non-material Culture" rendered clear the borderline between
material and non-material values. "Non-material culture is everything
surrounding us, which is not tangible. In my opinion, we should start
from what is lost or disappears from our life. For instance, a singer
sings, his ability to sing is a non-material, not tangible value:
the matter is how to preserve the ability to perform (a bad or good
song or performance are not important)," the ethnographer said giving
assurance that material values cannot be be created today unless we
have non-material values.

ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL ENTERPRISES TO BE REHABILITATED IN ARMENIA

ARKA News Agency
Oct 22 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, October 22. /ARKA/. The activity of chemical enterprises
will be rehabilitated in Armenia, said President of the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) Radik Martirosyan during the International
and chemical technologies.

According to Martirosyan, the prospects of rehabilitating chemical
production in Armenia will be discussed during the conference.

"The Armenian Government intends to conduct work on the rehabilitation
of chemical plants by their own efforts and by attraction of private
means. Of course, we will also participate in it: our elaborations
in the chemical sphere were always used in the Soviet Union,"
Martirosyan said.

He pointed out that the chemical production has a very important role
in the development of the Armenian economy.

"During the conference we will discuss the last achievement of science
and technology in the sphere of organic chemistry, as well as the ways
and methods of using scientific elaborations in the production. At
present there are some difficulties, as the economy is doing the
first steps," he said.

He pointed out that the conference has a great significance not
only in the development of the Armenian science and production, but
also the development of the international cooperation in the sphere
of chemistry.

The international scientific and technical conference dedicated to the
50th anniversary of the Institute of General and Non-organic chemistry
after M. Manvelya, NAS will be held in Armenia on October 22-25.

Specialists from Russia and Georgia will participate in the
conference.

A FOREIGN-POLICY TURKEY IF EVER THERE WAS ONE
By Cal Thomas, [email protected]

Sauk Valley Newspapers, IL
pinion/columnists/337618732355982.txt
Oct 21 2007

Democrats playing a dangerous game with genocide vote

Just as it appears the United States may have turned an important
corner in Iraq with the reported disabling of al-Qaida, Turkey is
threatening to invade northern Iraq in an attempt to stop attacks by
Kurdish rebels on Turkish territory.

House Democrats added fuel to the combustible situation when the
House Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 10 passed a resolution that
recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. The resolution is opposed by the Bush
administration, not necessarily because it disagrees that genocide
occurred nearly a century ago, but because such a resolution will
inflame passions at a time when there are passions enough in the
neighborhood.

Democrats, who control Congress, are playing a dangerous game that
might severely damage America’s foreign policy, further diminish
President Bush, hand over a weakened presidency to his successor and
put more of our troops in jeopardy.

That reality apparently began to reach the Democratic congressional
leadership by midweek, as supporters of the resolution began a retreat
and senior Democrats urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to drop her
support for the measure.

Since Saddam Hussein was toppled from power, Turkey has been
threatening to invade northern Iraq to settle old scores. Turkey has
the provocation it believes it needs in the killing of 30 Turkish
soldiers and civilians by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(known as the PKK) in just the last two weeks.

Writing in the publication Insight, Gallia Lindenstrauss notes,
"(Turkish) President Abdullah Gul accused American politicians of
sacrificing big issues for petty games of domestic politics."

That sounds about right.

Are Democrats so cynical that they would stir an already boiling pot
in hopes that it would negate whatever success America finally may be
having in quelling terrorist acts in Iraq? One would hope that is not
the case, but given their leadership’s rhetoric about the war already
being lost and their refusal to acknowledge even the slightest progress
in Iraq as positive lest it reflect well on the Bush administration,
cynicism about their cynical actions might be justified.

If Turkey will not be dissuaded from entering Iraq to root out the
rebels, the Bush administration might consider helping the Turks do
the job quickly and as painlessly as possible so they might hastily
return to their side of the border. If the Kurds wish to continue
with their prosperous and more peaceful lifestyles, they will help
locate and expunge the rebels among them.

The last thing the region needs is to inflame Islamic fundamentalists,
who, despite tensions that have long threatened to topple Ankara’s
secular government, have so far managed to peacefully coexist with
moderate Muslims, as well as secularists.

A senior commander of the rebel group, Duran Kalkan, was quoted in
an Associated Press story as saying the Turkish military will suffer
a serious blow if it launches a cross-border offensive and would be
"bogged down in a quagmire." Another quagmire is precisely what is
not needed in Iraq. Oil prices, which have increased in recent days in
anticipation of Turkish military action, would go even higher should
another front be opened in Iraq.

There should be no rush to condemn a genocide that took place more
than nine decades ago (and the very word "genocide" is in dispute
as a description of what happened). Politically, it might play well
for Democrats, but it could backfire and have severe repercussions
for American foreign policy, American forces in Iraq (supply lines
could be disrupted) and American interests in Iraq and throughout the
region for years to come. The next president cannot possibly enjoy
long-term benefits from such shortsightedness by House Democrats.

Whatever immediate political gain Democrats might hope to extract
from this misguided and ill-timed resolution will be overcome by the
long-term pain it generates. Apparently, there are limits beyond which
even Democrats are not willing to go in their pursuit of political
gain. There are some issues that ought to transcend partisanship and
this is one of them.