Author: Hovhannisian John

Whittier Daily News, CA
March 6 2010

Schiff’s Armenian genocide bill takes first step towards passage

By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/04/2010 05:51:47 PM PST

Congressman Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena (Courtesy Photo)A House committee
Thursday passed a local congressman’s bill that would recognize the
mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide – and the
Turkish government immediately recalled its U.S. ambassador.

The bill by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, narrowly passed in the House
Foreign Affairs Committee by a 23-22 vote.

Schiff said the Turkish response was fully expected. He doesn’t
believe, however, that opposition from the close U.S. ally is a reason
to oppose the bill.

"It usually boils down to the claim that now is just not a good time
for Turkish-U.S. relations," Schiff said. "But if we don’t do it now,
when will be the right time?"

Hakan Tekin, the Turkish government’s consulate general in Los
Angeles, said his government hopes the bill does not get any further
and jeopardize relations between the two countries.

"It will cause severe damage if it is adapted by the U.S. Congress,"
Tekin said.

Turkey has steadfastly claimed that the deaths of Armenians in the
break-up of the Ottoman Empire during World War I were part of a civil
war that brought casualties to both sides.

Armenians and most historians have characterized it as a concerted
government effort to eliminate Armenians from a new Turkish nation.

Schiff had introduced his bill previously and successfully got it
through a committee hearing in October 2007, which caused Turkey to
recall its ambassador at the time. But the bill did not have the votes
to get through the House, Schiff said.

He said he will lobby for support for it in the next few weeks but
will not call for a vote unless he is sure it will pass.

"If it were to be voted down, the Turkish government would claim it
meant Congress was denying that the genocide happened," Schiff said.

Local Armenian groups praised the vote. The Rev. Father Nareg
Pehlivanian of the Montebello Armenian Church said he believes more
and more members of Congress are determined to vote in favor of a
genocide resolution.

"This shows that Turkey cannot give orders to the United States,"
Pehlivanian said.

Raffi Hamparian, chairman of the Pasadena branch of the Armenian
National Committee, said he is encouraged by the vote and believes
that eventually Congress will approve the resolution.

"I think we’ve gotten passed the `he said,’ `she said,’ mentality,
where there’s denial the genocide happened," said Hamparian. "I’ve got
faith that the U.S. Congress will do the right thing."

Read more: Schiff’s Armenian genocide bill takes first step towards
passage – Whittier Daily News

L’Express, France
5 Mars 2010

Ankara en colère après un vote sur le génocide arménien aux USA

Par Reuters, publié le 05/03/2010 à 07:20

WASHINGTON РLa commission des Affaires ̩trang̬res de la Chambre des
représentants américaine a reconnu le statut de génocide au massacre
des Arméniens par les forces ottomanes pendant la Première Guerre
mondiale, provoquant la colère de la Turquie.

Camp d’Arméniens dans le désert syrien. La commission des Affaires
étrangères de la Chambre des représentants américaine a reconnu le
statut de génocide au massacre des Arméniens par les forces ottomanes
pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, provoquant la colère de la
Turquie. (Reuters/Armenian National Institute/Courtesy of Sybil
Stevens/Wegner Collection/Deutches Literaturarchiv, Marbach & United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Ankara a aussitôt rappelé son ambassadeur aux Etats-Unis pour consultations.

Les députés se sont prononcés par 23 voix contre 22 en faveur de cette
résolution non contraignante, qui invite le président Barack Obama Ã
utiliser le terme de génocide pour évoquer le massacre.

L’issue de ce vote ouvre la voie à un examen du texte par l’ensemble
des élus, mais on ignore s’il sera mis aux voix. L’administration
Obama et la Turquie ont invité les députés à y renoncer.

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a annoncé le rappel de
l’ambassadeur aux Etats-Unis dans un communiqué diffusé immédiatement
après le vote de la commission des Affaires étrangères.

Il s’est inquiété en outre des conséquences de cette décision sur les
relations entre Ankara et Washington et sur le processus de
réconciliation entamé avec l’Arménie.

L’affaire risque d’être embarrassante pour Barack Obama, qui souhaite
entretenir de bonnes relations avec la Turquie, Etat membre de l’Otan
et relai essentiel des Etats-Unis au Proche-Orient, en Iran ou en
Afghanistan, sans s’aliéner la communauté américaine d’origine
arménienne à l’approche des élections de mi-mandat, en novembre.

"ASSIMILER Ã DES NAZIS"

Erevan a salué de son côté le vote de la commission. "Nous apprécions
cette décision au plus au point. Il s’agit d’une preuve supplémentaire
du dévouement du peuple américain en faveur des valeurs humaines
universelles et d’un pas important dans la prévention des crimes
contre l’humanité", a dit à Reuters le ministre arménien des Affaires
étrangères, Edouard Nalbandian.

La secrétaire d’Etat Hillary Clinton avait téléphoné mercredi à Howard
Berman, président de la commission des Affaires étrangères, pour lui
expliquer que le vote "risquait de mettre à mal le processus de
normalisation des relations" entre la Turquie et l’Arménie.

"Je ne pense pas qu’il soit du ressort d’un pays de déterminer comment
deux autres pays doivent résoudre leurs problèmes", a réagi jeudi
Clinton, actuellement en visite au Costa Rica.

Berman a balayé ces remarques, estimant que même si Ankara était un
allié "vital", "rien ne justifi(ait) que la Turquie détourne le regard
concernant la réalité du génocide arménien".

Barack Obama avait appelé mercredi de son côté son homologue turc
Adbullah Gül pour lui demander de ratifier rapidement le protocole de
normalisation des relations signé l’année dernière par Ankara et
Erevan.

La Turquie reconnaît le massacre de chrétiens arméniens par les
Ottomans mais nie qu’il ait fait plus de 1,5 million de morts et qu’il
s’agisse d’un génocide, un terme utilisé par un grand nombre
d’historiens occidentaux et des parlements étrangers.

"Le peuple turc et nous-mêmes sommes extrêmement vexés", a déclaré le
député turc Suat Kiniklioglu à la presse à Washington après le vote.

"Vous verrez dans les prochains jours et semaines que le parlement et
le gouvernement turcs vont prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour
faire connaître notre mécontentement en des termes sans équivoque
(…) Personne ne peut assimiler nos grands-parents à des nazis."

ankara-en-colere-apres-un-vote-sur-le-genocide-arm enien-aux-usa_853085.html

news.am, Armenia
March 5 2010

NATO: No comments on U.S.-Turkey relations

15:48 / 03/05/2010 NATO does not make any comments on the tension
between the United States and Turkey ‘ which are both NATO
member-states ‘ caused by the approval of the Armenian Genocide
resolution by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

March 4, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the Armenian
Genocide resolution by a vote of 23 to 22. Committee Chairman Howard
Berman voted for the resolution as well.

Turkish Ambassador to U.S. Namik Tan was recalled to Turkey for consultations.

The cool-down in the Turkey-U.S. relations may cause problems in
Turkey’s broader participation in the operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Washington also hopes for Turkey’s support in approving
sanctions against Iran at the U.N. Security Council.

T.P.

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 5 2010

Azerbaijani ruling party sends protest letter to U.S. Congress
05.03.2010 16:43
Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 March / Trend News, A. Huseynbala /

Azerbaijan’s ruling party appraises a resolution recognizing the
so-called "Armenian Genocide" by the U.S. House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee as a distortion of historical reality and
roughly violation of the principle of justice.

"As New Azerbaijan Party we expressed categorical protest in
connection with the adoption of such unfair decision containing the
elements of falsification of history by the U.S. Congress, and we have
sent a corresponding letter. Our address openly says that the decision
taken by Congress is directed against the interests of friendly and
brotherly Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan," Deputy Chairman and
Executive Secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party MP Ali Ahmedov
told journalists.

The address also says that adoption of such a decision, which has the
character of pressure on the opening of the Armenian-Turkish borders,
in fact, also directed against the rapid resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ahmedov said.

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday adopted 23 votes
to 22 a resolution recognizing the so-called "Armenian genocide".

The Moderate Voice
March 5 2010

Genocide is Genocide: Exposing the Truth About the Turkish Massacre of
the Armenians

Posted by MICHAEL STICKINGS, Assistant Editor in International, Politics, War

It was a close vote, 23-22, but the House Foreign Affairs Committee
voted yesterday, if I may quote the NYT, `to condemn as genocide the
mass killings of Armenians early in the last century, defying a
last-minute plea from the Obama administration to forgo a vote that
seemed sure to offend Turkey and jeopardize delicate efforts at
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.’

It’s a vote I applaud enthusiastically. And not for the first time.
Here’s what I wrote back in October 2007:

What happened to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 was
genocide ‘ an estimated 1.5 million killed, a brutal and systematic
process of deportation and slaughter aimed at wiping out the Armenian
population ‘ but you wouldn’t know it if you got your history from the
Turks, who committed the genocide (now known as the Armenian
Genocide, or Holocaust), or from their present-day apologists in the
Bush Administration, from Bush and Rice and Gates, the Holocaust
deniers who sit at the top of the U.S. government. The House Foreign
Affairs Committee passed a resolution last week, calling what happened
to the Armenians what it was, genocide, but the deniers wanted none of
it.

I wouldn’t describe Obama and those in his administration as deniers
(I’m sure they know and acknowledge privately what really happened),
but they’re certainly doing much the same thing the previous
administration did, namely, refusing to acknowledge publicly that what
happened in Armenia was genocide, and all because of those
ever-so-delicate, ever-so-important American-Turkish relations, which
apparently couldn’t survive an admission of truth.

For its part, Turkey has been waging a decades-long campaign to deny
the genocide, a shameful refusal not just to take responsibility for
one of the most horrendous massacres in history but even to admit that
it really happened. And its reaction when challenged, this time as
always, suggests a level of collective national immaturity that is
truly appalling. In response to the House vote ‘ which, again, was
just yesterday ‘ the Turkish ambassador to Washington was recalled and
the Turking prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, issued the following
statement: `We condemn this bill that denounces the Turkish nation of
a crime that it has not committed.’

Well, it did, whether it wants to admit it or not.

And while I understand the desire to maintain close and friendly
relations with Turkey, a valuable ally, there is simply no excuse for
the U.S. government, whether it’s Bush or Obama in the White House, to
play along with, and to lend credence to, such a lie. It might as well
deny that slavery ever happened.

Besides, the Turks are bluffing. Do they really want to cut off ties
with America? Hardly. They need America, just like they need the West
generally, and it’s about time their denials were puncutured and they
were held to account for one of the darkest events of the last
century.

Thankfully, 23 members of the U.S. House of Representatives agree. Not
thankfully, there are far too many, including at the highest levels of
the government, who are in cahoots with the Turks.

-is-genocide-exposing-the-truth-about-the-turkish- massacre-of-the-armenians/

EuroNews, France
March 5 2010

Corks pop in Armenia at `genocide’ resolution

In the capital of Armenia, applause and the pop of champagne corks
greeted the vote by the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee.

People rejoiced at the resolution labelling the mass killings of
Armenians in 1915 as `genocide’.

`Parliament will now cement itself as the source of progressive
ideas,’ Sociologist Ludmila Arutunyan said. `What will Armenians
receive? Nothing. They are simply trying to continue their case for
the recognition of genocide against people as a very important step in
preventing genocide in general. There are no personal agendas here.
This is social, human interest.’

On the streets of Yerevan, one passer-by said it was important to
speak out against the killings, which happened amid the chaos
surrounding World War I and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.

`A progressive and civilised society should express its opinion, that
it condemns such events, then it will be possible to live on this
planet in a civilized way,’ he said.

The vote comes at a tense time for Turkish-Armenian relations. The two
countries had agreed on protocols forseeing diplomatic relations and
an opening of the common border.

But Armenia’s highest court ruled against them, saying foreign policy
must conform with the view of the killings as genocide.

KNIGHTS AND DAUGHTERS OF VARTAN TO HONOR MATHEVOSIAN, TOUFAYANS
By Taleen Babayan

knights-and-daughters-of-vartan-to-honor-mathevosi an-toufayans/
March 3, 2010

NEW YORK-The Mid-Atlantic Knights and Daughters of Vartan will hold
their Third Annual Awards Dinner on Sat., March 27, under the auspices
of His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) at Kavookjian Hall in
New York.

The Lifetime Humanitarian Benefactor Award will be presented to
Anoush Mathevosian and Mr. and Mrs. Harry and Suzanne Toufayan, three
deserving figures in the Armenian community who have actively and
continuously supported both their homeland and the Armenian Diaspora
in countless ways.

Born in Egypt to the son of a baker, Harry Toufayan, immigrated to
the U.S. in 1963 with his parents. He continued his family’s baking
tradition by opening up his first plant in West New York, N.J. in
1968. In 1973, he moved operations from West New York to North Bergen
where the business flourished over the next three decades. As Toufayan
Bakeries continued to expand, he once again moved his business to its
current location in Ridgefield where his plant now comprises 115,000
square feet and employs 250 people. He opened two more plants in
Orlando, Fla. in 1985 and Plant City in 2006, which combined employ
over 500 people.

Harry and Suzanne Toufayan have been active and long-time supporters
of Armenia and Armenian organizations. They funded the Youth Center in
Etchmiadzin and are the benefactors of St. Haroutun Church in Orlando
Florida (named after Harry Toufayan’s father) which will be completed
in April 2010. They are also the major benefactors of an upcoming
expansion of St. Mary Armenian Church in Livingston, N.J. In addition,
the church hall at St. Mary’s is named after Harry Toufayan’s parents.

Harry and Suzanne Toufayan have also been generous supporters of the
Armenian Radio Hour of New Jersey program since its inception over
30 years ago.

Toufayan married his wife Suzanne, a registered nurse at Mt. Sinai
Hospital in New York, in 1969 at the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in
Bayside, Queens. They have three children-Karen, Kristine, and Gregory,
who are all involved in the family business-and seven grandchildren.

Anoush Mathevosian was born in Iran in 1926, the daughter of a priest,
and one of eight children. She immigrated to the U.S. for her college
education and received her nursing license in New York. She then
graduated from Teacher’s College at Columbia University and worked
as a nurse for 16 years.

In the 1960’s, Mathevosian started a successful real estate business
with her sister. Over the years, she has supported Armenia in many
ways. In 1997, she funded Camp Siranoush in Yeghegnadzor. The purpose
was to have a campsite for children whose parents had died in the
Karabagh war. In 2002, she built the Mathevosian School in Vanadzor.

She also started the Mathevosian Scholarship in conjunction with the
Fund for Armenian Relief, which provides scholarships to students in
Armenia who want to pursue a college education.

In addition, Mathevosian has been a supporter of the Armenian-American
Cultural Association and its humanitarian project in Armenia, the
Armenian American Wellness Center. She has also been a trustee of the
Armenian Assembly of America and Board Member of the Armenian National
Institute, and a longtime supporter of the Fund for Armenian Relief.

Serving as master of ceremonies for the Awards Dinner will be Prof.

Dennis Papazian, professor emeritus and founding director of the
Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He
was also the founding director of the Armenian Assembly of America
and is an active member of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America (Eastern), where he has served as a member and officer of
the Diocese Council.

Special entertainment for the evening will be provided by the Akh’tamar
Dance Ensemble of St. Thomas Armenian Church in Tenafly, N.J. The
group, founded in 1994 by a group of parents so their children could
maintain their Armenian heritage in the United States, now consists of
over 80 young Armenian boys and girls. The Akh’tamar Dance Ensemble has
performed around the country and is under the leadership of director
and choreographer Sylva Asadourian.

The 2010 Knights and Daughters of Vartan Annual Awards Dinner will
be held at Kavookjian Hall, 630 Second Ave. in New York City. The
cocktail reception is at 6:30 p.m., followed by the program and dinner
at 7:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, call Shake at (718) 729-7265.

WILL CONGRESSMEN APPROVE?

esolution
08:59 pm | March 04, 2010

Politics

Today the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives
was going to discuss the Armenian Genocide Resolution 252.

The discussions were going to start at 7 p.m. Yerevan time and were
to be followed by a vote. The resolution will be adopted if 24 out
of 46 committee members vote for it.

Head of "Heritage" party’s faction Armen Martirosyan is certain that
the resolution will be adopted, but had difficulty saying whether it
would become a topic of discussion for the Congress.

Is Armenian Genocide recognition in the interest of the US? In
response, Martirosyan said: I think the establishment of historical
justice is in the interest of all countries."

Deputy of the Republican faction Edward Sharmazanov is also
optimistic. "I think this issue is clear for the American society and
the political elite. Out of 50 states, 42 have recognized the Armenian
Genocide and many presidents have pronounced the word "genocide". The
issue is more on U.S.-Turkey relations because they are currently
multi-layered and problematic. I obviously expect approval."

Sharmazanov said that it would be naive for political figures to think
that the approval or disapproval of the resolution would condition
Armenia’s relations with the US.

"There is room for development of Armenian-American relations and I
am in favor of active development. If Turkey delays the ratification
of the Protocols and creates artificial obstacles, the intermediary
countries will use their levers to pressure Turkey and bring it
down to its knees. I think this resolution is one of those levers,"
said Sharmazanov.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives
has adopted such resolutions in 2000, 2005 and 2007. Although those
resolutions were greatly supported in Congress, they were not put up
for a vote in the plenary session of the House of Representatives.

ARMENIA’S NATIONAL GAS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY HAS 598,843 SUBSCRIBERS

ARKA
March 4, 2010

YEREVAN, March 4, /ARKA/. ArmRosGazprom (ARG), Armenia’s national
gas distribution company, said it has 598,843 subscribers connected
to its network. According to the company’s press office, the number
of subscribers grew by 1,472 in 2010 February. It said Armenia is
among three leading world countries in terms of the number of natural
gas consumers.

ARG is the only company dealing with import and distribution of
Russian natural gas coming to Armenia from Russia via Georgia. It
was established in 1997. Russian Gazprom holds 80 percent in it,
the remaining shares are owned by Armenian government.

ARKA RELEASES RECURRENT ISSUE OF QUARTERLY BULLETIN ‘ARMENIAN BANKS- PERFORMANCE INDICATORS’

ARKA
March 2, 2010

YEREVAN, March 2, /ARKA/. ARKA information agency has released a
recurrent issue of its quarterly bulletin ‘Armenian Banks-Performance
Indicators’ for quarter 4, 2009. The bulletin is compiled on the
basis of financial reports and statements published by banks in the
printed press and additional data, provided by the banks.

The 60-page bulletin has 9 chapters.

1. General description of banks. 2. Assets 3. Liabilities 4. Capital.

5. Profits/Losses. 6. Cash resources 7. Liquidity and capitalization
level. 8. Standard risk indicators. 9. Profitability rates.

The bulletin provides a general picture of the financial standing
of the banks and allows to make a comparative analysis of their
performance.

ARKA news agency, specialized in providing financial, economic and
political newsn, has been operating since 1996 May 1. Since 1999
it has been issuing monthly bulletin ‘Main Indicators of Armenian
Banks’; since 2005 March a quarterly bulletin ‘Credit Organizations of
Armenia’; since May 2006 an annual bulletin ‘Financial Indicators of
Banks’, based on results of annual independent auditing , since 2008
July the news agency has been issuing quarterly bulletin ‘Indicators
of Insurance Companies Performance’.