Author: Hovhannisian John

TIME TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Vahe Gabrielyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s

AZG Armenian Daily
16/10/2007

The Armenian ambassador to Britain on why he believes, nearly a
century on, Turkey should admit to a genocide

Throughout the twentieth century to the present day there has not been
any substantiated doubt about the character of the mass deportations,
expropriation, abduction, torture, starvation and killings of millions
of Armenians throughout Ottoman Turkey that started on a large scale
in 1915 and carried onto 1923.

Centrally planned by the government of the day and meticulously
executed by the huge machine of the state bureaucracy, army, police,
hired gangs and – specially released for that purpose – criminals
from prisons, the campaign had one clear aim expressly stated by the
government in secret directives: to rid Anatolia of its indigenous
Armenian population and settle the so – called ‘Armenian question’
for good.

An entire nation and its Christian culture were eliminated to secure
a homogenous Turkish state on territories where Armenians had lived
for many centuries.

Terms such as "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing" were not in circulation
then, so Winston Churchill later referred to the 1915 massacre of
1.5 million Armenians as an "administrative holocaust".

The Turkish authorities made no secret of the aim once it was achieved
and other governments and nations have known the truth since. One
of the early accounts of Armenian Genocide was published in 1916
in Britain.

The British Government at the time commissioned James Bryce and Arnold
Toynbee to compile evidence on the events in Armenia. The subsequent
report was printed in the British Parliamentary Blue Book series
"The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-1916". The
report leaves no doubt about what was taking place.

In 1915, thirty-three years before UN Genocide Convention was adopted,
the Armenian Genocide was condemned by the international community as
a crime against humanity. It is well acknowledged that Polish jurist
Raphael Lemkin, when he coined the term genocide in 1944, cited the
Turkish extermination of the Armenians and the Nazi extermination of
the Jews as defining examples of what he meant by genocide.

Amidst huge international pressure, the Turkish Government succeeding
the Young Turks had not only to recognize the scale and vehemence of
the atrocities but also to try the perpetrators in military tribunals
and sentence the leaders to death.

However, the sentences were not carried out and with the passage of
time moods changed not only in Turkey but also in some countries, such
as the UK, where Turkey is nowadays seen as a key alley. Still, even
in countries that have not yet for some reason recognized the Genocide
scholars have no doubts about the character of the events: they point
out that there is no scholarly issue, only one of political expediency.

Armenians throughout the world insist that there be an international
recognition and condemnation of what is often called the first genocide
of the twentieth century. We are past the stage of scholarly discussion
since a very few challenge the fact. To dispel any doubt, 126 leading
scholars of the Holocaust placed a statement in the New York Times in
June 2000 declaring the "incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide"
and urging western democracies to acknowledge it.

In 2005 the International Association of Genocide Scholars addressed
an open letter to Turkey’s Prime Minister R. Erdogan calling upon him
to recognize the truth. The evidence is so overwhelming that the only
question remaining is how to help the two nations close that shameful
page of the history, reconcile and move forward.

However, despite the affirmation of the Armenian Genocide by the
overwhelming majority of historians, academic institutions on
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, increasingly more parliaments and
governments around the world, and by more and more Turkish scholars
and intellectuals, the Turkish government still actively denies
the fact. So long as they do that, Armenians have no choice but to
struggle for wider international recognition.

This is however not an end in itself. It is important that Turkey
recognizes the Genocide, apologizes and condemns it. When the
Germans have apologized for the sufferings they had caused to the
Jews, the British for slavery, the Americans for their treatment
of native Americans etc, Turkey’s continuing denial, moreover,
increasing efforts and resources spent on the denial are alarming
signs, aggravated by their insistence not to establish diplomatic
relations with neighboring Armenia and by maintaining a blockade on
all ground communication. Armenia does not even set the recognition of
the Genocide as a prerequisite for normalizing relations and calls for
establishing diplomatic relations and opening of the border without
any preconditions.

As the killing this January of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian
editor of the Agos bilingual periodical demonstrates, international
community cannot stand aside and watch. Hrant was persecuted under the
infamous 301 article for "insulting Turkish identity" and the hysteria
around someone daring to speak the truth created the fertile soil for
the hatred that killed him. His case was shamefully still open even
after his assassination and in a demonstration of absolute absence of
morality, Turkish courts yesterday sentenced Hrant’s son, as well as
another of Agos’s current staff to a year of imprisonment under the
same accusations, for simply daring to re-print Hrant’s words.

This is why the world should not yield to Turkish threats that are
outright blackmailing. The resolutions in various legislatures across
the world, and recently in the US House of Representative Foreign
Relations Committee are not merely the result of Armenian Diaspora’s
– which by the way, was created in the first place because of the
genocide in Turkey – influence. It is because there are more people
who believe in values and in putting the wrongs right.

A number of British MPs have tabled an EDM (Early Day Motion),
to raise the awareness about the Armenian Genocide and calling on
British Government to recognize it as such. Currently, around 170 MPs
across the party lines have signed an EDM which reads "That this House
believes that the killing of over a million Armenians in 1915 was an
act of genocide; calls upon the UK Government to recognize it as such;
and believes that it would be in Turkey’s long-term interests to do
the same."

Their number grows steadily. It is time the British Government followed
many others and re-affirmed the UK’s place among the standard-bearers
of democracy and human rights.

It is worth repeating that international recognition of the Genocide
cannot do harm to Turkish-Armenian relations since they simply do
not exist. It does not prevent a dialogue, on the contrary, creates
the necessary conditions to start a frank one. By recognizing the
historic truth and helping open the last closed border in Europe,
the international community can facilitate long-lasting stability and
prosperity in our region. And it is also probably time to show that the
human race’s evolution into the 21st century is evolution of ideals,
principles and a code of behavior that should take precedence over
political expediency or sheer commercial interest.

IT IS ALL FALLING APART
By winston

OpEdNews, PA
hp?p=opedne_winston_071012_it_is_all_falling_ap.ht m
Oct 15 2007

Just as experts predicted years ago.

It is not just the non-Kurdish part of Iraq destabilizing, or even
just Iraq. It is not only the US military that is committing atrocities
in Iraq.

As the article "Slog comments prove GWOT to be only a scam". click
here describes; "It has been bandied about before, but the US’
military dominance makes us less safe against terrorism, and W’s
(GWOT) tactics run counter to the accepted reality that never in
history has a super-power won an "asymmetric warfare" battle by use
of military might solely.

Presidential Decision Directive 62, issued in 1998, says, "America’s
unrivaled military superiority means that potential enemies (whether
nations or terrorist groups) that choose to attack us will be more
likely to resort to terror instead of conventional military assault."

With both the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington is trying
to turn a Fourth Generation war, a war with non-state entities, into
a Second Generation war, a war against another state that is fought
by the simple application of firepower to targets. History shows
that W’s (GWOT) will fail, and understandably alienate the world,
particularly the Islamic segment against us, but what are history or
reality to these GOP goons who believe that Rove can spin any set of
cold, hard facts, to GOP partisan advantage.

When Russia attacked Afghanistan the Soviets dealt with the Herat
guerrillas by bombing 75% of the city into rubble. That still failed
to stop the urban guerrilla tactics. See any relationship to Fallujah
and Baghdad? Fallujah was decimated but the insurgents survived.

McCain alluded to this in his "whack a mole" comments."

Every time W is spouting off that he is winning in "the everlasting
war against terrorism"-which has been changed to "those who are
against us", "GWOT" and "Islamofascism" you must realize that never in
"history has a super-power won an asymmetric warfare battle by use
of military might solely."

Whatever W calls it won’t change history and aren’t we supposed to
learn from the mistakes of the past or else we’ll just be repeating
past mistakes?

This article also notes George Will, a noted conservative lackey,
stated "The London plot against civil aviation confirmed that better
law enforcement, which probably could have prevented Sept. 11, is
central to combating terrorism. F-16s are not useful tools against
terrorism that issues from places such as Hamburg and High Wycombe,
England." Will, a stalwart Republican, went further: "Cooperation
between Pakistani and British law enforcement has validated John
Kerry’s belief expressed in one of the 2004 presidential debates that
although the war on terror will be ‘occasionally military,’ it is
‘primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation."

When you think about Iraq you worry about the Sunni against Shiite
and Sunni against Sunni in al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Shiites against
other Shiites, but not the Kurdish part of Iraq.

The article "PKK rebels say heading into Turkey from Iraq" at
s_say_heading_into_Turkey_from_Iraq_f
states "Kurdish separatist rebels said on Friday they were crossing
back into Turkey to target politicians and police after Ankara said
it was preparing to attack them in the mountains of northern Iraq.

A statement by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could further increase
domestic pressure on Ankara to launch a major offensive that Washington
fears could destabilize a relatively peaceful area of Iraq and have
ramifications through the region."

Not only that but, as The article
"Tensions Rise in Turkey on Two Fronts" at
ticle/2007/10/11/AR2007101101276.html
states "The Turkish government warned Thursday that a congressional
committee vote labeling the mass killings of Armenians during the
Ottoman Empire as genocide would "endanger relations" with the United
States, and it summoned its ambassador from Washington for emergency
consultations.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee vote on the Armenian deaths — one
of the most sensitive issues in Turkish politics and society — came
as Turkish officials said they were preparing to seek parliamentary
authority to launch a military assault across the border in Kurdish
northern Iraq in retribution for Kurdish rebel attacks that have killed
29 Turkish soldiers, police and civilians in the past two weeks."

Turkey slaughtered all of those Armenians during the Ottoman Empire and
now they are ignoring the demands of the sovereign state of Iraq as
"Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul told reporters, "There is no need for
parliamentary authorization for a hot-pursuit operation" to chase
suspected PKK guerrillas.

However, Iraq has denied Turkey permission to conduct such raids."

You have to wonder why the Democrats in the House have to draw
attention to an ages old Turkish crime against Armenians. The Turkish
will just use it against the US and the Iraqis also.

The "bubble boy" should have followed his Secretary of State’s
"Powell Doctrine" before starting his Iraq theater of GWOT. Let’s
see–not enough troops, and of the meager number of them all were
ill prepared and equipped, possessing no plans for the occupation,
and no exit strategy-that about sums it up. All of those points were
failures from the point of the man who tried to dummy it down for the
"intellectually incurious" dummy W with the "Pottery Barn" phrase of
"You break it. You own it" being a clear prognostication of what
would inevitably ensue.

Just how atrocious is "Mission Accomplished"! The article
"U.N. Report on Iraq Details An ‘Ever-Deepening’ Crisis" at
ticle/2007/10/11/AR2007101102138.html
states "A U.N. report issued Thursday outlined an "ever-deepening
humanitarian crisis" in Iraq, with thousands of people driven from
their homes each month, ongoing indiscriminate killings and "routine
torture" in Iraqi prisons….

The assessment by the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, which
covered a three-month period ending June 30, found that civilians
were suffering "devastating consequences" from violence across the
country. It documented more than 100 civilians allegedly killed by
U.S.-led forces during airstrikes or raids.

The report described Iraq in more dire terms than last month’s
congressional testimony from top U.S. military and embassy officials,
which stressed improvements in the security situation.

"The killings are still taking place, the torture is still being
reported, the due process issues are still unresolved," said Ivana
Vuco, a U.N. human rights officer in Baghdad.

The first draft of the U.N. report was completed in August, but release
of the final version was delayed for more than a month following a
request by the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, according
to a confidential account by a senior U.N. official.

Crocker insisted that Iraq be given time to respond to the allegations,
according to the account. The United States then prepared critical
assessments of the U.N. investigation that were included in the
final report.

U.N. officials in Baghdad said the report was not intended to challenge
the U.S. military’s assertion that this year’s troop escalation helped
reduce violence in much of Iraq. The reporting period ended before
the time in which the U.S. military has described the sharpest drops
in violence. The U.N. agency said it was again unable to persuade
the Iraqi government to release civilian casualty figures.

Vuco said her organization was not trying to determine whether the
situation in Iraq had improved or deteriorated. "As long as there
are human rights violations, there are still concerns," she said.

Among the most serious issues raised in the report is the treatment
of detainees. The U.N. agency found that as of June, 44,325 detainees
were in Iraqi or U.S. custody, an increase of nearly 4,000 people
since April. Many of them, it said, remained in detention for months
without having their cases reviewed or with limited access to legal
counsel. The report also expressed concerns about overcrowding and
poor hygiene in detention centers, particularly pretrial holding
cells run by the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. The agency said it
"remained gravely concerned at continuing reports of the widespread
and routine torture or ill-treatment of detainees."…

An Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said
the ministry "totally rejects this report." Khalaf said politicians,
journalists and human rights workers have visited ministry facilities,
and "they didn’t witness any kind of abuse."

The UN was intimidated into delaying the release of the report,
but facts are facts.

And it is not only US soldiers who are doing the damage. These
private mercenaries–who everyone thinks are lining W’s pockets,
are more vile than any other group ever.

The article "Blackwater Guards Fired at Fleeing
Cars, Soldiers SayFirst U.S. Troops on Scene Found No
Evidence of Shooting by Iraqis; Incident Called ‘Criminal’" at
ticle/2007/10/11/AR2007101101030.html
states "Blackwater USA guards shot at Iraqi civilians as they tried
to drive away from a Baghdad square on Sept. 16, according to a
report compiled by the first U.S. soldiers to arrive at the scene,
where they found no evidence that Iraqis had fired weapons.

"It appeared to me they were fleeing the scene when they were
engaged. It had every indication of an excessive shooting," said Lt.

Col. Mike Tarsa, whose soldiers reached Nisoor Square 20 to 25 minutes
after the gunfire subsided.

His soldiers’ report — based upon their observations at the scene,
eyewitness interviews and discussions with Iraqi police — concluded
that there was "no enemy activity involved" and described the shootings
as a "criminal event."

Their conclusions mirrored those reached by the Iraqi government,
which has said the Blackwater guards killed 17 people."

It is all falling apart–just as experts predicted years ago, but W
still wants our apathetic populace to cower in awe at his might. That
is what the "Daddy Party" does!

Authors Bio: Winston is an ex-Social Worker, burnt out by too much
indifference regading our weak and weary who had too little interest
in politics until the illegal Iraq War started.

REJECTION TO JUDGE

A1+
[03:08 pm] 15 October, 2007

Today Gagik Hakobian, the shareholder of Royal Armenia Company appeared
in the courtroom handcuffed and escorted by policemen.

The court rejected advocate Ashot Sargsian’s petition to change the
preventive punishment.

To remind: Gagik Hakobian was detained at Zvartnots airport the
moment he returned from Spain. He had left Armenia to undergo
medical treatment in Spain and failed to attend the Appellate Court
hearings. The Court of Appeals ordered law-enforcement authorities
to locate and again arrest the businessman, dismissing his assurances
that he will return to the country after completing the treatment.

According to Ashot Sargsian, the court convened a sitting on October
8 and decided to engage Gagik Hakobian into the legal proceedings.

Ashot Sargsian presented rejection to Judge Suren Ghazarian and
accused him of unbiased and objective treatment. The judge retired
to the consultation room.

Le Monde, France
13 octobre 2007 samedi

Crise entre les Etats-Unis et la Turquie

La Turquie a rappelé, jeudi 11 octobre, son ambassadeur en poste à
Washington après l’adoption, la veille, par une commission du Congrès
américain, d’un texte qualifiant de génocide les massacres
d’Arméniens perpétrés sous l’Empire ottoman, au début du XXe siècle.
Cette résolution embarrasse la Maison Blanche et indigne la Turquie.
Elle pourrait empoisonner les relations entre les deux pays à un
moment où les Etats-Unis ont plus que jamais besoin de la Turquie.
Celle-ci est l’un des points de passage du réapprovisionnement des
missions américaines en Irak et en Afghanistan. Si le texte était
voté, Ankara pourrait prendre des mesures de rétorsion.

The Scotsman, UK
Oct 12 2007

US-Turkey alliance shaken by vote on Armenia ‘genocide’

ALEX MASSIE
IN WASHINGTON

ARMENIANS celebrated a landmark victory in Washington yesterday after
the US Congress moved a step closer to formally recognising the
Armenian genocide of 1915.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee defied President George W Bush
and the Washington foreign policy establishment by voting 27-21 to
put a resolution categorising the death of up to 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide to a vote of the full House of Representatives.

The resolution, which is backed by the Democratic leadership in the
House, will come up for a vote before the House retires for the
Thanksgiving recess next month.

Last night, Turkey withdrew its ambassador in the US for
"consultations".

The committee’s vote was a triumph for Armenian-American interest
groups who have lobbied Congress for decades to pass a resolution –
against the might of Turkish opposition.

After the debate, which was attended by elderly Armenian émigrés who
lived through the atrocities, the interest groups said they would
fight to ensure approval by the full House.

"We hope that this process will lead to the full recognition by the
United States of America of the fact of the Armenian genocide," said
Armenia’s foreign minister, Robert Kocharian.

"It is long past time for the US government to acknowledge and affirm
this horrible chapter of history – the first genocide of the 20th
century and a part of history that we must never forget," said Bryan
Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America.

Some committee members said backers were hypocrites or plain "crazy",
as Representative Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, put it. "We’re
talking about ‘stiffing’ the one ally that is helping us over there
[in Iraq]. It just doesn’t make any sense," he told a packed hearing
room.

The committee’s decision paves the way for a month of furious
lobbying from both sides. Turkey denies that any genocide took place,
blaming the death of, by Turkish estimates, between 250,000 and
500,000 Armenians on the general confusion and horrors of war.

Turkey warned yesterday that passing the resolution would severely
compromise the health of US-Turkish relations. "This unacceptable
decision of the committee, like similar ones in the past, is not
regarded by the Turkish people as valid or of any value," said
President Abdullah Gul. In a letter sent to Mr Bush, Mr Gul vowed
that "in the case that Armenian allegations are accepted, there will
be serious problems in the relations between the two countries."

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives,
represents a California district with a large Armenian community that
has helped push her to backing the resolution, regardless of the
damage it may do to relations between Washington and Ankara.

"For most members, this is about domestic politics, not foreign
relations," said a senior Democratic aide who predicted that if the
resolution "comes to the floor, it will pass". The resolution’s
backers claim they have the support of 226 of the 435 members of
Congress – enough for a comfortable majority.

"The sad truth is the modern government of Turkey refuses to come to
terms with this genocide,” said Congressman Chris Smith, a
Republican from New Jersey. "It is this denial that keeps the
Armenian genocide a burning issue."

The fight over an often overlooked element of First World War history
has become a struggle between realpolitik and idealism as members of
Congress balance their obligations to their conscience against what
the resolution’s opponents say is the American national interest.

Eight former secretaries of state and three former defence
secretaries wrote to members of Congress warning that passing the
resolution would damage vital US interests in the Middle East.
President George W Bush – who backed recognising the genocide in 2000
– also warned that while "we all deeply regret the tragic suffering
of the Armenian people, this resolution is not the right response to
these mass killings."

Mr Bush said the resolution would do "great harm to our relations
with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror".

The debate has even embroiled American Jewish groups in controversy.

Turkey is the only Muslim country friendly to Israel and leading US
Jewish organisations have called upon congress to resist Armenian
entreaties that the genocide be recognised. "I don’t think
congressional action will help reconcile the issue. The resolution
takes a position; it comes to a judgment," said Abe Foxman, head of
the Anti-Defamation League earlier this year. "The Turks and
Armenians need to revisit their past. The Jewish community shouldn’t
be the arbiter of that history, nor should the US Congress."

Jewish reluctance to recognise another genocide has been criticised
by members of Congress and Armenian campaigners.

In London, the US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, warned that the
consequences of the decision to have a full vote on the genocide
resolution could be severe. "The Turks have been quite clear about
some of the measures they would have to take if this resolution
passes."

Mr Gates said Turkey was vital to the US war effort in Iraq, with 70
per cent of US air cargo and 30 per cent of fuel shipped to Iraq
passing through Turkey and the country’s Incirclik airbase acting as
a vital hub for US operations.

The vote also came as Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships
attacked suspected positions of Kurdish rebels near Iraq, a possible
prelude to a cross-border operation that the Bush administration has
opposed. The US, already preoccupied with efforts to stabilise other
areas of Iraq, believes that Turkish intervention in the relatively
peaceful north could further destabilise the country.

Turkey did its best to confirm Mr Gates’ warning. "This draft
resolution will put US soldiers in danger," Egemen Bagis, an adviser
to the Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan, told CNN. "If our ally
accuses us of crimes that we did not commit then we will start to
question the advantages of our co-operation.

"Yesterday some in Congress wanted to play hardball. I can assure you
Turkey knows how to play hardball."

He promised that if the resolution was passed "we will do something
and I can promise you it won’t be pleasant".

Public prosecutors in Turkey have previously used a law prohibiting
"insulting Turkishness" to silence some Turkish intellectuals who
spoke of atrocities endured by Armenians.

The son of a journalist killed earlier this year after calling the
massacre of Armenians genocide was convicted of insulting Turkey’s
identity for republishing his father’s remarks.

Arat Dink, editor of the Armenian newspaper Agos, received a one-year
suspended sentence for "insulting Turkishness", said his lawyer. He
said he would appeal against the sentences.

Mr Dink is the son of an ethnic Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, who
was convicted of the same charge and then killed by a Turkish youth
in January.

THE BACKGROUND
IN THE late 19th century the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian minority,
numbering an estimated two million, was encouraged by exiled groups
in the United States, Geneva and in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to
assert its nationalism.

Repression by Ottoman irregulars, mainly Kurds, led to the massacre
of some 30,000 Armenians in eastern Anatolia in 1894-6.

Several thousand more were killed in Constantinople in August 1896
after Armenian extremists seized the Ottoman Bank to draw attention
to their cause.

The massacres were halted after the Great Powers threatened to
intervene.

– WHAT HAPPENED IN 1915?:

As the Ottomans fought Russian forces in eastern Anatolia during the
First World War, many Armenians formed partisan groups to assist the
invading Russian armies. On 24 April, 1915, Turkey arrested and
killed hundreds of the Armenian intelligentsia. In May of that year
Ottoman commanders began the mass deportation of Armenians from
eastern Turkey thinking they might assist Russian invaders.

Thousands were marched from the Anatolian borders toward Syria and
Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Armenians say some 1.5 million died either
in massacres or from starvation or deprivation as they were marched
through the desert.

It is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern,
systematic genocides, as many Western sources point to the sheer
scale of the death toll as evidence for a systematic, organised plan
to eliminate the Armenians. The event is also said to be the
second-most studied case of genocide. To date 21 countries have
officially recognised the campaign as genocide.

– TURKEY’S VIEW:

Turkey has always denied there was a systematic campaign to
annihilate Armenians, saying that thousands of Turks and Armenians
died in ethnic violence as the Ottoman Empire started to collapse and
fought a Russian invasion of its eastern provinces during the First
World War.

The modern Turkish republic was established in 1923 after the Ottoman
empire collapsed.

This article:
onal.cfm?id=1629662007

TURKEY CALLS FOR US PRODUCT BOYCOTT

PRESS TV, Iran
Oct 12 2007

Turkey calls for a boycott on US made products following a US senate
committee’s resolution labeling the 1915 Armenian incident genocide.

A Turkish Consumers’ Union spokesperson on Thursday called on Turkish
nationals to reject all US manufactured products following The US
House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee’s approval of
labeling the 1995 Armenian incident "genocide."

According to Xinhua, Bulent Deniz, a Consumers Union spokesperson,
in a written statement said that "we decided not to use US-made
products to protest the approval of the resolution by the US House
Foreign Affairs Committee."

The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday
approved the resolution by 27 votes to 21.

US CONGRESS RESOLUTION ON SO-CALLED ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ THREATENS US-TURKEY RELATIONS: AZERBAIJANI POLITICIANS

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I. Alizade / The adoption of a resolution
by the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the US Congress Lower House
with regards to recognition of the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’
may significantly damage American-Turkish relations, according to
Azerbaijani politicians.

"It is possible to say that most probably the resolution will be
adopted by the Congress. It the Congress adopts the resolution on
recognition of the so-called ‘Armenian genocide’, it will poses a
significant threat to the State interests of the US," said the Chairman
of the Azerbaijan Democratic Reforms Party (DRP), MP Asim Mollazade,
on 11 October in Baku.

On 9 October the US Congress’s Committee for Foreign Affairs adopted
the resolution on so-called ‘Armenian genocide’, with twenty-seven
votes against twenty-one votes. The resolution says that in 1915-1917
the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against the Armenians.

The next step should be taken by the Congress House of Representatives,
through Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi may present the resolution to
the voting at the House’s next meeting.

Mollazade considers that recognizing a so-called ‘Armenian genocide’
will damage US relations with its largest ally in the Near East. "In
addition, it will inflict damage to the American-Turkish joint
programs," Mollazade said.

According to him, the resolution has been adopted in accordance with
the interests of the Armenian ethnic groups residing in the US. "The
US Administration well understands that recognizing a so-called
‘Armenian genocide’ will bring harm to the interests of Washington.

President George Bush’s protest against the decision of the Committee
testifies to that," Mollazade said.

He considers that the US Congress has a chance to improve its mistake,
by holding discussions and adopting a resolution on the Khojali
genocide, on of the most vicious tragedies of the 20th century, which
was committed by Armenia. "The US Congress may change the situation
through recognizing the Khojali genocide committed by Armenia,"
he said.

An independent politician Rasim Musabeyov said that the Armenian lobby,
which pushed for the adoption of the resolution on the so-called
‘Armenian genocide’ by the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the US
Congress Lower House, aims to hurt American-Turkish relations.

"It is impossible to allow it. Turkey should react coolly to it,"
Mollazade said.

The political scientist said the issue will be discussed in the Lower
House of the US Congress. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House,
is interested in putting the resolution forward for voting. "We can
predict that the Lower House of the Congress would pass the resolution
which recognizes the ‘Armenian genocide’. However, the adoption of the
resolution is not compulsory. The US President is recommended to take
into consideration that Armenians underwent genocide. However, George
W. Bush said he did not consider it to be an ‘Armenian genocide’,
Musabayov said.

According to Musabayov, the decision will not affect on the US
position in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Musabeyov believes
Turkey, however, may retaliate by stopping its relationships with
US Congress. At the same time the Turkish Parliament may pass the
resolution including genocide against First Nations people and the
murder of Muslims by the US.

One of the possible consequences of the decision may become a severe
worsening of Ankara’s relations towards the US policy in Iraq. It
may cause serious problems for Washington.

"The resolution adopted by the Lower House of the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Congress may approve the status of the document after
its approval by the House of the Representatives. I believe we should
prevent the biggest mistake of the 21st century," Aydin Mirzazadeh,
the member of the Political Council of the ruling New Azerbaijan
Party and member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, said.

By passing the resolution, the Democrats which make up the majority
in Congress, want to obtain the votes of the Armenian lobby at the
upcoming presidential elections. "Democrats made the wrong decision,
however, and have lost votes of their Turkish-origin US citizens,"
Mirzazadeh said.

Despite their decision being only of a recommendation nature, it may
still cause serious problems in US foreign policy.

The MP noted that the 70% of cargo for US military actions in Iraq is
transported by air and 30% by land are implemented via the Turkish
territory. If official Ankara imposes ban on transport, the end of
the war in Iraq would be catastrophic.

Vol. 3 No. 4 Oct-Dec 2007
2007 Issues

In this issue…

Message from the President and CEO: "A ‘Grand Undertaking’ in Global
Science Collaboration"

CRDF Presents 2007 George Brown Awards

CRDF Explores Expanded Cooperation with the Middle East

DeThomas Joins CRDF as Nonproliferation Programs Director

Eurasian Scientists Form Panel at HIV/AIDS Conference

Armenia’s First Independent Science Foundation Celebrates 10 Years

Carnegie Corporation Grants $1,000,000 to CRDF

2006 Annual Report Available Online

New Moscow and Kyiv Web Sites Launched

USRBC Annual Meeting to Highlight Emerging Opportunities and Risks

Armenia’s First Independent Science Foundation Celebrates 10 Years of
Continuous Activities
July 30, 2007

Announces New $300,000 University Initiative

Arlington, VA July 30, 2007 The Yerevan, Armenia-based National
Foundation of Science and Advanced Technologies (NFSAT) celebrates a
milestone tenth anniversary this month. Established with support from
the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) in 1997,
NFSAT has demonstrated the viability of peer review as a funding
mechanism; setting a precedent for the wider region and for all former
Soviet republics.

News Facts

* NFSAT was established on July 4, 1997, according to a
legislative act of the Republic of Armenia and was modeled after the
United States National Science Foundation and National Institutes of
Health. CRDF provides a major source of the financial support for
NFSAT under a U.S. Department of State program aimed at furthering
scientific and technical assistance to Armenia.

* To mark the anniversary, NFSAT will hold an international
conference reflect on NFSATs achievements and to announce the results
of the University Centers of Excellence Program (UCEP)in partnership
with CRDF and Yerevan State University. Under the program, three
university centers will be created and maintained by NFSAT to focus on
the preparation of young researchers and students in internationally
competitive fields of science. Each center will also receive $100,000
for modern equipment.

* CRDF Director of Centers & Institution Building Programs John
Modzelewski will attend the conference, as well as U.S. Embassy of
Armenia Charg daffairs Rudolf Perina and Deputy Chief of Mission
Joseph Pennington.

* Since its inception, NFSAT has supported Armenias scientific and
engineering potential by conducting objective, peer-reviewed research
competitions for joint teams of Armenian-U.S. scientistsessential for
building legitimacy within the Armenian scientific community for this
Western method of distributing science funding. Its focus on training
and infrastructure has also been a stimulus for regional cooperation.

* Building upon NFSATs success, CRDF patterned sister
organizations in Moldova (2000), Georgia (2001) and Azerbaijan (2002)
after its structure and principles.

Media Resources

* Hi-resolution photos of the event are available at

* More information about NFSAT is available at

* Information about CRDF-established institutions is available here.

About CRDF
CRDF is a nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress and
established in 1995 by the National Science Foundation. This unique
public-private partnership promotes international scientific and
technical collaboration through grants, technical resources, and
training.

About NFSAT
The National Foundation of Science and Advanced Technologies is an
independent, nonprofit, non-governmental foundation which is aimed to
prevent the dissolution of great Armenian scientific assets, to
promote scientific research and technological development in Armenia
according to the international standards, as well as the integration
of the Armenian scientific establishment into the international
scientific community.

etters_show.htm?doc_id=546935

Office of the Mayor
City of Los Angeles
ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA

200 N. Spring Street, Room 303
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-978-0600 – Phone
213-978-0775 – Fax

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Gil Durán
(213) 978-0741

October 10, 2007

STATEMENT OF MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA ON HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS
COMMITTEE*S VOTE TO FORMALLY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

LOS ANGELES * Mayor Villaraigosa issued the following statement in
response to today*s vote by the House Foreign Affairs Committee to
formally recognize the Armenian Genocide:

*Today, President Bush wrongly urged Congress to reject a resolution
to recognize the atrocities committed against the Armenian people from
1915-1923 as nothing less than genocide. I commend the House Foreign
Affairs Committee for rejecting the President*s position and casting a
vote of conscience. I urge all Angelenos to call on their
Congressional leaders to formally acknowledge the indisputable
historical fact of the Armenian Genocide. We must never * for any
reason * seek to clothe the horror of ethnic cleansing in bureaucratic
euphemisms.*

# # #

Areen Ibranossian
Policy Analyst
Finance & Performance Management Unit
Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa

[email protected]
(213) 922-9781

JOB FAIR TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN ON OCT 13

ARKA News Agency
Oct 9 2007
Armenia

YEREVAN, October 9. /ARKA/. A job fair under the slogan "Find what
you Search" will be held in Yerevan on October 13 within the scope
of the Week of Adult Education to be held on October 8-15.

According to Director of the Armenian office of the German organization
DVV International Nazareth Nazaretian, the aim of the traditional
job fair is to offer various job opportunities in Armenia.

"The previous job fairs had a different character, as they targeted
on attracting employed people with seniority looking for new career
prospects," he said.

Nazaretian pointed out that the aim of the job fair is to put into
practice job experience and professional skills.

According to Sona Harutyunian, director of the State Placement Service
Agency, RA Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, the job fair will
help to meet the demand of personnel. "Job fairs are recognized
internationally as a means of offering high quality services and
it is good that many organizations and institutions in Armenia have
taken an active interest in this event," she said.

The organizers of the fair are the State Placement Service Agency,
DVV International, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Union of
Entrepreneurs and Employers of Armenia, USAID, the British Council in
Armenia, as well as Career Center under the Yerevan Sate University,
the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University and the American University
of Armenia.