Author: Ekmekjian Janet

PACE TURNED KOSOVO RESOLUTION UPSIDE DOWN
by Mikhail Zygar

RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
January 23, 2008 Wednesday

Europe has split into two when the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday were discussing the status of
breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo. Some voted for Serbia to retain
its territorial integrity and thanked Russian President Vladimir
Putin. Others said that Russia’s position is counterproductive and
Kosovo’s independence is inevitable. The original meaning of the
resolution drafted by Lord Russell-Johnston was reversed as the
assembly voted against Kosovo’s immediate independence.

Lord Russell-Johnston has been concerned with the Kosovo settlement
only in the past two years. "The initial draft of the report that I
wrote mentioned independence for Kosovo," he told Kommersant. "I’m
absolutely sure that this is the only way to break the stalemate."

But right before the session Lord Russel-Johnston amended his report
to defend the paper against outright negative reaction from those
delegations that oppose Kosovo’s independence. That’s why he did not
urge to recognize Kosovo’s independence but said that "the potential
for compromise is still not exhausted and alternative decisions
should be considered". What is more, he asked the UN Security Council
"overcome the existing controversy and come up with any sort of
solution" otherwise Europe should brace itself for Kosovo declaring
independence.

Presenting the report Lord Russell-Johnston said that Russia
which opposes Kosovo’s independence is being illogical. It supports
separatist regimes in Transdniestria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia but,
on the other hand, it denies Kosovo the right for independence. He
believes that Kosovo’s independence will not create any particular
disturbances nor will it become a dangerous precedent. He went on to
compare Russia with "a bear who is trying to crush a mouse only to
show his power".

Although Lord Russell-Johnston assured Kommersant that the revised
draft is very mild, his report caused a storm in the PACE. More than
50 delegates signed up to speak on the Kosovo issue.

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian delegation, got indignant
by the comparison with the bear. "It’s strange to hear this kind
of comparison from a citizen of Great Britain which has suggested
Russia amend its constitution and believes that the British law should
work on the Russian territory – I’m referring to the recent conflict
over the British Council." Mr. Kosachev believes that that it is too
early to say that there is no point in further talks. This kind of
statements will only let the Albanians know that they don’t need to
enter any talks with the Serbs as Europe is going to recognize their
independence anyway, he said. Mr. Kosachev concluded that the only
good thing that Europeans could do for Kosovo and Serbia is admit
the whole of Serbia to the EU and then Kosovo will have no point in
trying to go its separate way.

This idea sounded very fresh. The EU-hostile Radical Party has so
far been the only big ally of Russia in Serbia. Mr. Kosachev has
thus admitted that President Tadic’s Democratic Party is the only
valid source of power in Serbia as integration with the EU rather
than isolation could solve the Kosovo conflict.

However, there was no one else to go on with the Russian lawmaker’s
idea. Lord Russell-Johnston said later that everyone was so much
interested in their own arguments that they were not hearing what
others were saying. Half of the delegations spoke against the report.

"We are not talking about a unique situation," Britain’s Mike
Hancock, Lord Russell-Johnston’s fellow Liberal Democrat, said. "It is
dangerous to suggest that the Kosovo solution of UDI is not setting a
precedent. We are saying that, because there is no ongoing dialogue,
we should simply cave in, give them all the resources that they need
and create a failed state in the heart of Europe."

"We cannot say that all ways to find a compromise have been exhausted
if we don’t’ want to see a new war on the Balkans," said French
Socialist Josette Durrieu.

"My country has experienced the imposed separation of part of its
territory in the past. Violent separatist efforts were supported from
the outside and boosted by pressure from a segment of the international
community," said Czech Communist Katerina Konecna. "We know it under
the name of the Munich agreement."

"The countries that did not accept the independence of Chechnya at
the time have no right to accept the independence of Kosovo today,"
another Czech lawmaker, Tomas Jirsa from the European Democrats said.

Azerbaijan’s delegation vehemently opposed the resolution saying
that Kosovo would surely become a dangerous precedent and hinder the
Nagorno- Karabakh settlement.

Ivica Dacic, leader of the Serbian Socialists, Slobodan Milosevic’s
former party, asked why the Europeans are willing to grant independence
to Kosovo but refuse it to Corsica, Quebec, Catalonia, Basques,
Northern Ireland, Kurdistan, Palestine and Northern Cyprus.

"Thanks to Russia, the Duma and Putin!" the Serbian parliament’s
deputy speakers said finishing her speech.

When the deputies went out for a break Konstantin Kosachev looked
very upbeat. "The situation is fifty-fifty," he told Kommersant. "The
resolution may be passed and it may be voted down. But we shouldn’t
underestimate discipline among EU members." Dutch deputy Tiny Kox,
leader of the United Left, told Kommersant that the resolution
had already been "murdered". The judicial committee endorsed the
amendments that had already reversed its meaning. A key amendment that
was submitted by 12 delegates including Russia and Serbia took out the
phrase that talks reached a stalemate and the EU should get prepared
for Kosovo to declare independence to introduce a new one suggesting
new talks. Most delegates voted against calling the talks stalemated
and supported the idea of ordering new talks without attaching any
deadlines. But much to the dissatisfaction of the Serbia and Russian
delegations, Lord Russell- Johnston’s statement that the EU should
expect Kosovo to declare independence soon has not been taken out of
the final draft.

In other words, the majority at the PACE agreed with arguments of the
both parties indicating that they are against Kosovo’s independence
but admit that it is inevitable.

NO RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT AND KOSOVO – AZERBAIJANI MP

Trend News Agency
Jan 22 2008
Azerbaijan

France, Strasburg, 22 January / Trend corr A. Maharramli / There
is no resemblance between the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and other
conflicts ongoing in the post-Soviet area.

"The historical roots of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict do not
have resemblance to others," MP Ganira Pashayeva, a member of the
Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE), said at a PACE meeting during discussions over the
future status of Kosovo on 22 January.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.

On January 2005, PACE passed Resolution 1416 in regards to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The Resolution says that Armenia occupies
Azerbaijani territories. It also contains suggestions on settling
the conflict. PACE established a sub-committee on control over
implementation of the document.

The PACE winter session is ongoing in Strasburg. An Azerbaijani
delegation is in attendance. The session will end on 25 January.

According to Pashayeva, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a result
of the occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. "And
that caused ethnic cleansing in the region," she said.

Pashayeva called on Armenian MPs to try not find resemblance between
Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh, but to try their best for settlement of
the conflict.

" Azerbaijan supports the efforts of international organizations in
settling the Kosovo conflict which has been ongoing for many years.

The lingering Kosovo conflict impedes stability and security in the
region. Thousands of people have been suffering from that for a long
period. Therefore, determination of the Kosovo status and a soon to
be solution to the problem is very important. Unfortunately, several
countries and forces are trying to make use of the Kosovo conflict
for their own interests," the MP said.

Armenian officials state that Kosovo may be a precedent in settling
conflicts ongoing in CIS countries, i.e. the Nagorno-Karabakh, South
Ossetia and Trans-Dniester conflicts, she said.

"These statements and ideas first of all confuse the Armenian people,
as well as Armenians who are Azerbaijani citizens and are residing in
the occupied Azerbaijani territories. At the same time, they seriously
harm ongoing peaceful negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh between the
two countries," Pashayeva said.

ARMENIAN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SPHERE IS AT STAGE OF REFORMS AND DEVELOPMENT

Noyan Tapan
Jan 22, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The Job Skills vocational
education program being implemented in Armenia within the framework
of cooperation between the British Council and the RA Ministry
of Education and Science has a purpose of assisting vocational
education system’s improval and development. Within the framework
of this three-year program, it is envisaged to repair 11 vocational
education institutions, to work out 80 criteria regulating the
sphere, to organize retraining of lecturers and top employees, as
well as students abroad. Artak Aghbalian, the Head of the Vocational
Education Department of the RA Ministry of Education and Science,
said this at the January 21 program’s Armenian presentation at Yerevan
Informatics College.

According to A. Aghbalian, this sector of Armenian education was
destroyed and lost its former significance in consequence of the
change of socio-economic relations. However, this system, which is
very important for development of country’s economy, has taken the
way of reforms and restoration for already two years.

A. Aghbalian said that at the end of the program Job Skills being
implemented with the assistance of the British Council, in 2010,
Armenia will have 12 multi-function vocational education institutions,
which will provide the regions with proper specialists. At the same
time, he said that the labor market is being studied, and specialists
will be trained according to the demand.

A. Aghbalian also said that within the framework of the program,
Ministry’s representatives have already visited European and Asian
countries for several times for the purpose of exchanging experience
and passing retraining. And Yerevan Informatics College having 1500
students cooperates with the institutions of the same name in Great
Britain and Israel.

Levon Mkrtchian, the RA Minister of Education and Science, who was
present at the event, said that the Job Skills program implemented
by the British Council will not only contribute to restoration
of vocational institutions, but also will promote strengthening
and development of business-vocational education ties: businessmen
should order the vocational institutions the specialists they need,
by investing sums for their education. He is convinced that if this
tie is created, "we will have both high-quality specialists and jobs,
and we will have no excess of specialists on the labor market."

Minister L. Mkrtchian said that the state has allocated 5bn 898m
drams to the vocational education sphere in 2008.

It should be also mentioned that the Job Skills program is implemented
in 17 countries of South East Europe.

SEMINAR ON COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM

armradio.am
22.01.2008 16:37

On January 23 a seminar on combating money laundering and financing
of terrorism will be held in Yerevan. The seminar will be conducted
by representatives of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service
(Rosfinmonitoring) here for a four-day visit. The seminar is meant
for corresponding departments of RA Prosecutor’s Office, Police,
the National Security Service, the Tax and Custom Services and the
Central Bank of Armenia.

During the seminar the Russian experts will present experience of
Rosfinmonitoring in the filed of combating money laundering and
financing of terrorism and will launch discussions on the mechanisms
and problems existing the sphere.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 19 2008

Dink murder investigation stuck at square one on first anniversary

It has been exactly one year since Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink was fatally shot outside his office by an ultranationalist
teenager, but the investigation into his murder has been stalled
since the first few months after the assassination.

The anniversary of Dink’s murder is being commemorated with a series
of ceremonies in Turkey and abroad. Dink’s lawyers, domestic and
international rights organizations and activists on this day are
expressing their frustration that the murder investigation seems to
be stuck at square one and voicing their concern that there may be
attempts to protect the suspects. A lengthy list of suspicious
irregularities in the Dink murder investigation, including deleted
records and hidden files suggestive of a police cover-up attempt, has
marred the judicial process. Much of the evidence has indicated that
the murder could have been prevented.

On Thursday the Dink family filed a criminal complaint against
Ýstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah and the officers of the
Ýstanbul Police Department on charges of negligence.

The file accuses Cerrah and his police officers of having "abetted"
the perpetrators of the Dink murder and of being members of the gang
that plotted his assassination.

Calls for abolishing or at least amending Article 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK), which criminalizes "denigrating Turkishness," were
renewed as the anniversary of Dink’s murder approached. Dink had been
sentenced to six months in prison under the controversial article. In
a statement released on Friday, the International Publishers
Association (IPA) announced they would be participating in the
memorial activities to "be there in solidarity with the writers and
publishers’ community of Turkey, to find out more about the proposed
legislative changes, and to meet with writers and publishers who are
on trial or under threat." Bjørn Smith-Simonsen, the chairman of the
IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, said in a statement indicating
that the IPA has been leading an international campaign for the
repeal of Article 301.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement, "The authorities
must push ahead with the investigation in order to identify all
those, whoever they are, who were involved in this terrible crime."

The RSF also called for amending or repealing Article 301. "This is
the only way to ensure that Dink is the last victim of hatred in
Turkey," it said.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Zafer Üskül, who led
a parliamentary committee which confirmed the irregularities in the
Dink investigation, said Parliament’s Human Rights Committee was
working to shed light on the details of the Dink murder. "Inspectors
are investigating the claims. Nobody should think they are serving
brotherhood in this country by protecting gangs, thugs and
terrorists," he said in a reference to apparent attempts to protect
the suspects in the Dink case.

According to Fethiye Çetin, who represents the Dink family in the
trial, the Turkish public at large stands firmly behind an amendment
of the infamous article. In an interview with Today’s Zaman, Çetin
admitted that changing the article is not something that can be done
overnight. According to her, the AK Party government is willing to
change the article as needed since it is an important obstacle to
Turkey’s accession talks with the EU. Çetin believes the government
needs to find a balance between the pro-status quo establishment and
the will of the people for change to protect its precarious position
in Turkey’s vulnerable democracy. Although the establishment is
against changing 301, the government should not be discouraged and
must keep on trying to change it. "They have the public support to
change this article," Çetin said.

What went wrong with the investigation

At the end of a long year of police and judicial investigations into
the Dink murder, little has been achieved because much evidence
linking the suspects to the murder has disappeared, or rather has
been purposefully destroyed, according to Çetin. "We simply can’t do
our work properly," she said.

Following Dink’s murder, mounting evidence has indicated that the
police were tipped off about the assassination plot a couple of
times, months before the actual attack. Ýstanbul’s police chief has
also acknowledged that there was a tip-off about a possible attack on
Dink, but said its urgency level was too low for his department to
take it seriously.

More dishearteningly, links between the police and suspects have been
revealed. For example, Erhan Tuncel, a key suspect in the murder, was
previously a police informant. Although Tuncel is suspected of having
incited Dink’s murderer, he is also the one said to have tipped off
the Ýstanbul police. Important pieces of evidence, including Tuncel’s
police records, were hidden from the court. In fact, Tuncel’s file
with the police was destroyed, since it constitutes a "state secret"
according to officials.

The investigation has yielded more evidence linking the masterminds
of the murder plot to the police force in Ýstanbul, Trabzon, the
hometown of most of the suspects and the place where the
assassination was planned, and in Ankara, where the police had
intelligence about the murder.

Acts committed in the name of obscuring crucial evidence were not
limited to hiding or destroying files on suspects, Çetin says.
Footage from the security cameras of shops and banks located close to
the crime scene recorded during the time of the murder was also
mysteriously lost. Çetin believes if these recordings had not been
lost, they would have been invaluable in locating the contacts of the
hit man and his accomplice, if there was anybody else with him at the
time of the murder.

‘Nationalism is an instrument of dark forces clinging to power’

According to Çetin, who formerly led a committee on minorities under
the Ýstanbul Bar Association, the blatant hiding or destroying of
evidence is deeply related to the unhealthy functioning of the
Turkish justice system. "Turkey is not a properly functioning state
of law," Çetin said. Like many here, she said she is certain that
dark and powerful behind-the-scenes forces within the state hold the
real power. "It is these powers that have authority over the justice
system," she explained. Çetin said since the founding of the Republic
of Turkey there has always been an alliance of some parts of the
military and civilian bureaucracy who deemed themselves the guardians
of the republic. According to Çetin, the fight has always been
between "those who want to change the system and those who want to
keep it as it is."

Çetin said current developments suggest that pro-status-quo forces
are starting to use nationalism as an instrument to foment public
opinion in a way that serves their interests. This new brand of
nationalism is increasingly taking root in society, she said. "At
this point these groups start to use nationalism as a tool to
mobilize the people. Suddenly there is a big civil movement of
nationalists coming to the surface, regarding itself as a guardian,
too," she added.

This new development she sees is reflected not only in the case of
Dink but also in the brutal murders of three Bible publishers in the
southeastern city of Malatya last April. The investigation into the
Malatya murders has also produced questions similar to those in the
Dink investigation, including evidence suggestive of a police
cover-up and dubious links between one of the suspects and the
Malatya chief of police.

"Indeed, there are huge similarities between these two cases," Çetin
confirmed. Those fanning nationalist sentiment in favor of the status
quo naturally need to invent an enemy, she said. "Christians are,
therefore, an easy target. They are few, they are non-Muslim and they
are simply different," she explained.

19.01.2008

KRISTINA KAMP, BARIÞ ALTINTAÞ ÝSTANBUL

Aravot, Armenia
January 17, 2008 Thursday

ARMENIAN PARTY SAYS FUTURE PRESIDENT SHOULD ENSURE NATIONAL UNITY

by Margarit Yesayan
"A uniting person is required? ‘SHOULD NOT WE RESPOND?’"

The deputy chairman of the National Unity Party and the head of
Artashes Geghamyan’s election headquarters, Aleksan Karapetyan, said
yesterday [16 January] that he will not speak about Ter-Petrosyan
[the presidential candidate, former Armenian president].

"Regardless of who is elected [president], he should be a uniting
person. If he does not unite, this country, this people will not
forgive anyone, and this unification should be proved not by
opportunistic statements but by concrete steps," said the deputy
chairman of the National Unity Party [NUP] and the head of Artashes
Geghamyan’s [the party’s leader] election headquarters, Aleksan
Karapetyan, while not responding to the question of whom else [would
he support] if not Geghamyan?

According to Aravot’s information, the landlords in Yerevan’s
Davidashen district refuse to office space for rent to the election
headquarters of presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan even at
exorbitant prices (as they beware of the consequences). Instead, the
leader of the National Unity Party and a presidential candidate,
Artashes Geghamyan, has opened his election headquarters in the same
district, in a quite a prominent place (the well-known "white shop").
People living in Davidashen have known for years that the "white
shop" is owned by MP Samvel Aleksanyan. And because it is just not
understandable how they refuse to rent space to one opposition
candidate and provide it in the most prominent place to another one,
Aravot daily asked the deputy chairman of the NUP and the head of
Artashes Geghamyan’s elections headquarters, Aleksan Karapetyan, when
he was at the Hayely [Mirror] discussion club yesterday [16 January],
how such coincidences happen? First of all we would like to
understand- whether the National Unity Party experiences any
difficulties in terms of renting space? In response to this question
Karapetyan said that they have had headquarters for two or three
years already and did not rent new spaces. Their back-up headquarters
will be opened " in apartments of supporters, that is the conditions
are already there". Aleksan Karapetyan dismissed our information that
this "white shop" belongs to Samvel Aleksanyan. "It is not Samvel
Aleksanyan’s, it belongs to a member of our party and is not in any
way related to Samvel Aleksanyan." Later Mr Karapetyan said that if
needed he can introduce the owners of this place.

Incidentally, the majority of questions that were addressed to
Aleksan Karapetyan concerned Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Journalists wanted
to understand why the candidate of the National Unity Party and
members of the party speak more about Ter-Petrosyan than about their
programmes, and why the NUP people never miss an opportunity to "hit
out at" the former president and so on. The head of Artashes
Geghamyan’s election headquarters, while attentively and patiently
listening to all these questions, did not yield to "provocations" and
did not say almost any word about Ter-Petrosyan: "Journalists make
provocations and one cannot answer them. And when you do answer, they
omit the first part and leave only the last bit. Now I don’t want to
talk about Levon Ter-Petrosyan and do not want to answer your
questions concerning him. I want to present what the National Unity
is taking to the presidential elections". Karapetyan said that they
did not do battle against Levon Ter-Petrosyan "from the beginning":
"The fact that Artashes Geghamyan was one of the first to meet Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, is evidence of this". And the National Unity Party
started to respond to Levon Ter-Petrosyan at the time, when "he said
that those who do not join him are enemies of the people, proteges of
the government and so on. This offended us. We are in the politics
for seven years, and he has been around for ten… I do not want to
speak about it any more. And why should we join him, let’s start form
this. We do not think that he is the candidate who our people are
waiting for, who will lead the country in the direction that we want.
We stand by the programme of our candidate. And if he (Ter-Petrosyan
– M.E.) starts to traduce our leader – should not we answer? If we do
not answer, they say that we speak about Ter-Petrosyan while leaving
aside their programme." The deputy chairman of the National Unity
Party also said that their purpose is the unification of the nation,
and if people are found, "who would want to oppose this unification,
interfere and create instability in the country, so that our
century-long "friends" – the Turkish and the Azerbaijanis – get
happy, we will not stand this and we will deliver a counter-blow to
these people and we will not let our people be short-changed".

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 18 2008

Matthew Bryza: "The parties of the Nagorno-Garabagh conflict decide
for themselves whether to increase the number of sides or not"

18 January 2008 [12:39] – Today.Az

The parties of the conflict have a right to decide whether to share
information regarding the negotiations or not.

The statement was made by US Minsk Group co-chairman Matthew Bryza
in a response to the question of reporters on Baku about the complete
awareness of separatist regime leaders in Nagorno Garabagh about the
negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which are considered
confidential.

He noted that not only the presidents and prime ministers of the two
countries are informed about the details of talks.

"For example, I know that the government members of Armenia discuss
negotiation process with Azerbaijan", he said.

As for the participation of Nagorno Garabagh in the negotiation
process, the co-chairman considers that all communities of Nagorno
Garabagh must be involved in this process.

"Yet it is still early to speak about it. The parties decide for
themselves whether to increase the number of sides or not. Our main
task is to bring the talks to success. The current visit to the
region is connected with discussions of a plan, presented to the
parties in Madrid", he said.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Kocharian `congratulated’ Ter-Petrosian on `being elected’ for the
position of the Armenian President

January 18, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated in
Yerevan today that the `leadership of the country dos not define the
number of rounds of the presidential elections – this is the decision
of the people’.

Mediamax reports that, talking to the journalists after the meeting in
the Yerevan City Administration, the President stated that the talks
about the number of rounds are based on the results of social surveys,
which evidence that there is great likelihood that the elections will
be concluded in the first round.

Robert Kocharian stated that certain political forces are `very
sensitive’ concerning this issue, since the President, elected in the
very first round, bears great responsibility for the promises and the
programs, presented during the pre-election campaign, and `the second
round opens up great opportunities for political trade, and many would
want not to deprive themselves of the given opportunity’.

`Twice I was elected as a result of two rounds of elections, and I know
what I am talking about. Besides the direct responsibilities for the
people, certain indirect problems also occur. It is desirable that the
elected President not have those problems’, Robert Kocharian stated.

Answering the question on how he would comment on the statement of the
Ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian that `I am already elected
President’, President Robert Kocharian said: `Congratulations!’

YURI MANUKIAN HAS NO RIGHT TO CALL ALL COMMUNISTS FOR SUPPORTING ANY CANDIDATE, CPA LEADER SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Jan 16 2007

YEREVAN, JANUARY 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The decision not to support any
candidate in the presidential elections made at the 37th congress of
the Communist Party of Armenia (CPA) has been kept unchanged. Ruben
Tovmasian, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of CPA,
stated at the January 16 press conference. Meanwhile he said that
theoretically CPA is ready to support the candidate, who will admit
that the Soviet period was the golden age of the Armenian people,
will agree to declare November 29 a state holiday and will guarantee
the right of work, rest, free treatment and education of each citizen.

Touching upon the call of Yuri Manukian, the Chairman of the United
Communist Party of Armenia, voiced the day before, according to which,
all communists should vote for pro-governmental candidate S. Sargsian,
R. Tovmasian said that UCPA or any other force considering itself
communist has no right to make such a statement. "It is tactlessness
when a non-existing party makes a statement on behalf of all
communists," the CPA leader said.

HRANT DINK : "NOW THEY KILL" , SAID ON JANUARY 19, 2007 THE HISTORIAN YVES TERNON

KarabakhOpen
17-01-2008 15:56:23

One year behind, the French historian, Yves Ternon, very shocked by the
murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, assassinated
of three bullets of revolver in front of the Agos’s entry newspaper
by the ultra nationalist Ogun Samast, declared at the press: "Now
they kill. Assassins!"

"Are you thus stupid Nobody stops the words with bullets. It’s the
future of your country which you compromised by killing this Turk
who said the truth. He was of Armenian origin, certainly, but it’s
as a Turkish citizen that he was expressed. This man will become a
legend. You are thus not able to understand that your negationnism
produces opposite effects. Since one century you have all tried to
deny the Armenians’s Genocide of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1916:
accuse the victims, to erase the memory of an exterminated people,
let to blackmail the nations, gag your public opinion, imprison your
most honourable citizens. He will to put up himself and become the
stone statue of Commander, a truth block which accuses. Assassins! By
killing it, you have to seek to destroy the hope of democracy in
Turkey. In the name of the truth, in the name of the courage to say,
I greet you, Hrant Dink, you that fought for the freedom of a word."

A world’s Armenian homage to Hrant Dink is available by loading on
the website armenianmemorial.com