Author: Hovik Karapetian

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The Armenian Weekly; Volume 73, No. 36; Sept. 8, 2007

Commentary and Analysis:

1. An Open Letter to Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, ADL
By Michael G. Mensoian

2. New Turkish President
By Garen Yeparian

3. Letter to the Editor

***

1. An Open Letter to Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, ADL
By Michael G. Mensoian

The purpose of this letter is to discuss the oft mentioned desire of the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to encourage Turkey and Armenia to begin the
process of reconciliation by confronting their shared past. I am not sure
that the ADL fully understands what prevents this meaningful sharing from
taking place.

The Armenian genocide is a historic fact that has been extensively and
impartially studied and accepted by eminent international historians and
genocide scholars. However, Turkish leaders have chosen to turn a blind eye
to this dark and sorry chapter in their modern history. Not only has the
Turkish government refused to see what happened, but they have resorted to a
continuous and well-financed campaign of denial and historic revisionism to
hide their guilt. The ADL cannot be unaware of the litany of lies and
deceptive statements that Ankara has authored these many years.

The ADL must have decided that the independent eye-witness accounts of
depravity, the photographs depicting the numerous acts of brutality and the
pages of official documents that speak to an Armenian genocide were
irrelevant when it declared that the genocide only merited its qualified
recognition. Then in the same breath, so-to-speak, the ADL hedged its
position by saying that it would not support the resolution before the
United States Congress to recognize the Armenian genocide. How can the ADL
recognize the Armenian genocide-albeit partially-and then simultaneously go
on record that it does not want Congress to recognize the Armenian genocide?
Isn’t that counterproductive?

The position crafted by the ADL is nothing less than a tacit acceptance of
the egregious lies and deceptive statements that serve as the basis for
Turkey’s policy of denial and historic revisionism. This position by the ADL
only encourages Turkish intransigence. I cannot allow myself to believe that
this is the intent or purpose of the ADL.

I have served as co-chair and participant in Holocaust Observances in the
City of Newton, Mass., while a commissioner on the Newton Human Rights
Commission. I hold dear a letter from Lenny Zakim, then-New England director
of the ADL, thanking me for my efforts. His death was a severe loss to the
entire community. I mention this because I have always respected the mission
of the ADL. Unfortunately, the series of recent episodes by the ADL has been
regrettable.

Armenians have never had any fear of confronting their shared past with the
Turkish people. On the contrary, it has been the fear of the Turkish
government, for obvious reasons, to confront its shared past with the
Armenian people that prevents rapprochement. On this most significant of
issues-recognition of the Armenian genocide-the ADL has failed. This was the
opportunity for the ADL to forcefully and forthrightly speak out against
genocide, holocaust and ethnic cleansing as political solutions.
Unfortunately, the ADL for whatever reasons preferred not to seize the
moment. The vacillation and equivocation amply demonstrated by the current
leadership during these past several weeks has not enhanced the credibility
of the ADL.

Sincerely,
Michael G. Mensoian
—————————————– ———

2. New Turkish President
By Garen Yeparian

I guess the hurly-burly’s done and the battle lost and won, but who noticed?
What came in roaring like it might shake Asia Minor to its political core
actually transpired with little more than a whimper. Maybe this is why the
L.A. Times mislabled its "World in Brief" coverage of Abdullah Gul’s
election as Turkey’s president under the header "Afghanistan."

Well, I guess the burly could be applicable, since that’s how Gul’s physique
has been described. He may yet need it despite getting in with 339 votes out
of 550. The secularists and military, with their pre- and post-election
warnings, have made clear they’ll be watching him like hawks, or perhaps in
this case more like vultures or hyenas. But all the fears of intervention by
Turkey’s military, their ominous pronouncements and the hundreds of
thousands of secularist protesters amounted to naught.

Gul’s former party, the AKP (officially, as president, he no longer belongs
to it) has progressed. It has been performing well on the economic and
international front. It is well organized and sees to people’s needs. It has
not become tainted by scandal as most of Turkey’s other political sectors
are. So, it gets the votes. It calls early parliamentary elections as a
result of the earlier, unsuccessful effort to elect Gul president, and by
all accounts, emerges even stronger. The pashas (as the military is often
referred to) must be fuming, their medals about to melt.

Was this much ado about nothing? All that ink and all those pixels were
expended on news and commentary leading up to the election, and then barely
any reporting of the result. After all, the Turkish presidency, unlike the
American and French ones, is largely ceremonial and impotent. And, Gul was
kissing up to the pashas as soon as he had a chance. Only time will tell.
This may be another indication, like the nano-opening regarding the Armenian
genocide, that Turkey really is changing. However, in his memoirs, Roupen
Der Minasian tells of Armenian villagers, when referring to Turks and Kurds,
saying "sokheen caghtsruh chga"-"there’s no such thing as a sweet onion."

>From an Armenian point of view, more interesting than who Gul will appoint
as judges and what laws he might not veto (this is the bogeyman lofted by
the secularists- that the AKP will now enact an Islamist legislative
agenda), is what he might do regarding the genocide. As I recall, Prime
Minister Erdogan, the real power in the AKP, made supportive noises
regarding holding the genocide conference in Turkish-renamed Constantinople
two years ago. I can’t help but wonder if the office of the presidency might
not be used to floating trial balloons of "solutions," be they sneaky or
sincere, to Turkey’s genocide "problem." Maybe he’ll be used for some quiet
diplomacy. Certainly, we can’t expect anything new from him regarding
relations with Armenia or the diaspora, nor the (ill) treatment of Armenians
and other minorities in Turkey. It’s just not part of his job description.

Perhaps more important in all this was the restoration of a Kurdish presence
in Parliament. Also interesting would be to learn how much the AKP has used
the example of religion-driven politics in the U.S. Have there been any
direct contacts? If so, that would be really worrisome.

Let’s watch this guy. Let’s watch Turkey. And let’s do it more intently and
thoroughly than we ever have, and particularly more than the last two
decades during which our focus has shifted a bit too much to the needs of
Eastern Armenia. It’s long past time to restore a balanced approach to our
efforts regarding our homeland-all of it.
————————————–

3. Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I applaud your well-written and fair coverage of the ADL’s missteps in last
week’s paper. I was disheartened and embarrassed by the mistakes made by
Abraham Foxman, whom I’ve held in high regard. But I am also pleased that as
an organization that is based in principle, steps have been taken to rectify
his error in judgment. Hopefully upon further reflection and understanding,
congressional Resolution H.R./S.R.106, which officially recognizes the
Armenian genocide, will be supported by the ADL based purely on facts and
principle.

My wish is that like Germany, Turkey will make amends and admit to its past.

Jeff Jacoby wrote a good piece recently in the Aug. 22 issue of the Boston
Globe. Charles Jacobs of the David Project did likewise.

If you haven’t yet, both pieces are available to read on the David Project
website at

As a Jew, I’ve always felt a personal kinship with the Armenian community
not only because of our common history as victims of state-sponsored
genocide but also because of the many loving, intelligent and gifted
individuals I’ve met. Last summer, I was quite surprised and disappointed in
the unbalanced coverage that was reported in the Armenian Weekly regarding
the war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. The facts of the war as
reported seemed quite distorted and biased. My wish is that the silver
lining in this discussion forms a closer bond and deeper understanding
between our communities.

Alan Alpert
Brighton, Mass.

RED CROSS INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ENVISAGES TO IMPLEMENT COMPARISON OF DATA OF THOSE LOST WITHOUT TRACE AND DISCOVERED CORPSES

Noyan Tapan
Sep 7, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. It is envisaged to collect the
personal data of those lost without a trace by the assistance of
international institutions and compare them with the discovered
corpses and ashes within the frameworks of the Armenian mission of the
Red Cross International Committee. This information was provided by
James Reynolds, the head of the Armenian delegation of the Red Cross
International Committee, during the meeting with Aghvan Hovsepian,
the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, which was held
on September 5. He expressed hope that thus they will receive an
opportunity to get new information about the destiny of those lost
without a trace.

According to the message of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office,
Aghvan Hovsepian expressed readiness to support the implementation of
the program, that is to say, to provide the Red Cross International
Committee with the information the Prosecutor’s Office possesses on
the criminal cases filed in such cases, and in case of necessity to
support to conduct a post mortem, as well as a forensic examination.

The Prosecutor General also approved of the initiative of the Red
Cross for organizing a conference dedicated to the assistance of
social-psychological services in the penitentiary institutions
of Armenia.

NOVRUZ MAMMADOV ADVISES TO BE COLD-BLOODED TO ARMENIANS’ PARTICIPATION IN THE CIS MEETING IN BAKU

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 4 2007

"Participation of Armenian representatives in the events organized by
international organizations is inevitable. It does not depend on our
will," chief of President’s Office International Affairs Department
Novruz Mammadov said, APA reports. He said that we should approach
participation of Armenian delegation at the meeting of the CIS Interior
Ministers’ Council in Baku on September 5-6 from this context.

"International law and behavior norms require being cold-blooded
concerning this issue," he said.

Haigazian University
Mira Yardemian, Public Relations Director
P.O.Box: 11-1748
Riad El Solh 1107 2090
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: 01-349230/1
01-353010/1/2

Katia Peltekian lectures on: British Prime Minister William Gladstone and
the Armenian Massacres of the Late 19th Century

On Thursday the 12th of April 2007, at the Cultural Hour organized by
Haigazian University, Ms. Katia Peltekian, of the English department at the
University, presented an illustrated lecture on the British Prime Minister
Gladstone and the Armenian Massacres of the Late 19th Century.
In her opening speech, Dr. Arda Ekmekji, Dean of the faculty of Arts and
Sciences, noted that the month of April witnesses two sad spots in the
collective memory of our local community; one is the Armenian Genocide
during the First World War, and the other is the start of the Lebanese civil
war back in 1975. Ekmekji pointed out that Armenians cannot forget and
forgive the massacres, as long as it is not acknowledged by the
international community.
Guest lecturer, Katia Peltekian highlighted on a part of the Armenian
history, towards the end of the 19th century, when massacres were committed
by Ottoman Turkey, in Eastern Anatolia and Constantinople.
Peltekian demonstrated clippings of newspapers during the late 19th century,
like the Halifax Herald, Washington Post, and the New York Times, which
mention massacres of the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in Erzroum and
Constantinople.
Peltkian explained how Armenians living in the British Empire at that time,
presented religious artifacts to British statesmen in recognition of their
efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Armenians.
Prime Minister William E. Gladstone was honored then for defending the
Armenian cause in the Parliament and at gatherings in different cities
around Great Britain. Peltekian noted that Gladstone was well-known for his
speeches, and activist movements.
Gladstone”s last public speech was in Liverpool, on September 24, 1896,
where he emphasized the deliberate policy of the Turkish government to
exterminate the Armenian nation.
Armenians honored him with a chalice and stained-glass window, offered to
St. Dieniol church in Wales, where Gladstone used to attend mass.

GEORGIAN FIRST LADY TO VISIT ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.01.2007 15:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian First Lady Sandra Elizabeth Roelofs will
have a working visit to Armenia January 16-18. The Georgian State
Chancellery reports during the visit issues on medical, social and
cultural cooperation will be discussed. Also a meeting between Armenian
First Lady Bella Kocharian and Sandra Roelofs is planned. Sandra
Elizabeth Rulovs is WHO Ambassador to the Eastern Europe on the fight
against tuberculosis. The wife of Georgian president also will visit
Armenian great composer Aram Khachaturian’s museum and will meet
there with professors and students of Yerevan State Conservatoire. In
the Georgian Embassy a reception will be held in Sandra Elizabeth
Roelofs’s honor, ‘Novosti Gruzia’ reports.

ORHAN PAMUK’S ‘SNOW’ TO BE HEARD IN ARMENIAN
By Anahit Hovsepian in Germany
AZG Armenian Daily
10/11/2006
On November 10, at 7.00 pm “Snow” novel of 2006 Nobel Prize winner
Orhan Pamuk will be declaimed in parts in 5 language at Lev Kopelev
forum in Cologne, Germany.
The international literary soiree, as the event is dubbed in the
invitation letters, will be accompanied by a performance (Grigor
Manukian) and a slideshow.
“Snow” is a wonderful novel, a travel into a village narrated
with great imagination. Parts of the novel will be read in German
by Albrecht Keezer (journalist), in Armenian by Hasmik Hakobian
(translator), in Turkish by Hyula Engin (translator), in Kurdish by
Adnan Dindar and in Russian by Harutyun Harutyunian. The town of Kars
depicted in the novel will be displayed in the slideshow.
The gathering will help give new push to the 54-year-old novelist’s
work that was translated into 34 languages.
The novel that deals with love and fanaticism, traditions and modern
trends place Pamuk among the greatest authors of our time, Kolner
Stadt Anzeiger magazine reports. The magazine intends to organize 4
more such events.

ISRAELI PILOTS ‘DELIBERATELY MISS’ TARGETS
Inigo Gilmore at Hatzor Air Base, Israel
Sunday August 6, 2006
The Observer
Fliers admit aborting raids on civilian targets as concern grows over
the reliability of intelligence
At least two Israeli fighter pilots have deliberately missed civilian
targets in Lebanon as disquiet grows in the military about flawed
intelligence, The Observer has learnt. Sources say the pilots
were worried that targets had been wrongly identified as Hizbollah
facilities.
Voices expressing concern over the armed forces’ failures are getting
louder. One Israeli cabinet minister said last week: ‘We gave the
army so much money. Why are we getting these results?’ Last week
saw Hizbollah’s guerrilla force, dismissed by senior Israeli military
officials as ‘ragtag’, inflict further casualties on one of the world’s
most powerful armies in southern Lebanon. At least 12 elite troops,
the equivalent of Britain’s SAS, have already been killed, and by
yesterday afternoon Israel’s military death toll had climbed to 45.
As the bodies pile up, so the Israeli media has begun to turn,
accusing the military of lacking the proper equipment, training and
intelligence to fight a guerrilla war in Lebanon. Israel’s Defence
Minister, Amir Peretz, on a tour of the front lines, was confronted
by troubled reserve soldiers who told him they lacked proper equipment
and training.
Israel’s chief of staff, Major-General Dan Halutz, had vowed to wipe
out Hizbollah’s missile threat within 10 days. These claims are now
being mocked as rockets rain down on Israel’s north with ever greater
intensity, despite an intense and highly destructive air bombardment.
As one well-connected Israeli expert put it: ‘If we have such good
information in Lebanon, how come we still don’t know the hideout of
missiles and launchers?… If we don’t know the location of their
weapons, why should we know which house is a Hizbollah house?’
As international outrage over civilian deaths grows, the spotlight
is increasingly turning on Israeli air operations. The Observer has
learnt that one senior commander who has been involved in the air
attacks in Lebanon has already raised concerns that some of the air
force’s actions might be considered ‘war crimes’.
Yonatan Shapiro, a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot dismissed from
reserve duty after signing a ‘refusenik’ letter in 2004, said he had
spoken with Israeli F-16 pilots in recent days and learnt that some
had aborted missions because of concerns about the reliability of
intelligence information. According to Shapiro, some pilots justified
aborting missions out of ‘common sense’ and in the context of the
Israeli Defence Force’s moral code of conduct, which says every effort
should be made to avoiding harming civilians.
Shapiro said: ‘Some pilots told me they have shot at the side of
targets because they’re afraid people will be there, and they don’t
trust any more those who give them the coordinates and targets.’
He added: ‘One pilot told me he was asked to hit a house on a hill,
which was supposed to be a place from where Hizbollah was launching
Katyusha missiles. But he was afraid civilians were in the house,
so he shot next to the house …
‘Pilots are always being told they will be judged on results, but if
the results are hundreds of dead civilians while Hizbollah is still
able to fire all these rockets, then something is very wrong.’
So far none of the pilots has publicly refused to fly missions but
some are wobbling, according to Shapiro. He said: ‘Their target could
be a house firing a cannon at Israel and it could be a house full of
children, so it’s a real dilemma; it’s not black and white. But …
I’m calling on them to refuse, in order save our country from
self-destruction.’
Meron Rappoport, a former editor at the Israeli daily Haaretz and
military analyst, criticised the air force’s methods for selecting
targets: ‘The impression is that information is sometimes lacking.
One squadron leader admitted the evidence used to determine attacks
on cars is sometimes circumstantial – meaning that if people are in
an area after Israeli forces warned them to leave, the assumption
is that those left behind must be linked to Hizbollah … This is
problematic, as aid agencies have said many people did not leave …
because they could not, or it was unsafe to travel on the roads thanks
to Israel’s aerial bombardment.’
These revelations raise further serious questions about the airstrike
in Qana last Sunday that left dozens dead, which continues to arouse
international outrage. From the outset, the Israeli military’s version
of events has been shrouded in ambiguity, with the army releasing a
video it claims shows Katyusha rockets being fired from Qana, even
though the video was dated two days earlier, and claiming that more
than 150 rockets had been fired from the location.
Some IDF officials have continued to refer vaguely to Katyushas being
launched ‘near houses’ in the village and to non-specific ‘terrorist
activity’ inside the targeted building. In a statement on Thursday,
the IDF said it the air force did not know there were civilians in
what they believed was an empty building, yet paradoxically blamed
Hizbollah for using those killed as ‘human shields’.
Human rights groups have attacked the findings as illogical. Amnesty
International described the investigation as a ‘whitewash’, saying
Israeli intelligence must have been aware of the civilians’.
One Israeli commander from a different squadron called the Qana bombing
a ‘mistake’ and was unable to explain the apparent contradiction in
the IDF’s position, although he insisted there would have been no
deliberate targeting of civilians. He said he had seen the video of
the attack, and admitted: ‘Generally they [Hizbollah] are using human
shields … That specific building – I don’t know the reason it was
chosen as a target.’

TURKISH INTELLECTUALS’ LETTER TO LIBERATION: ‘ARMENIAN BILL WOULD CAUSE GRIEVOUS ERROR’
Nursun Erel
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 10 2006
An open letter from Turkish intellectuals sent this week to French
daily Liberation urges the rejection of a bill that would criminalize
the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide in France.
The letter was signed by Ahmet Insel, Baskin Oran, Elif Safak, Etyen
Mahcupyan, Halil Berktay, Hrant Dink, Murat Belge, Muge Gocek and
Ragip Zarakolu. It emphasizes that the 1915 incidents were a “disaster
for humanity” and warns, “But whatever its aim, such a parliamentary
act would destroy joint efforts to investigate the historical facts,
so we especially ask our Armenian friends not to cause such an error.”
The letter also recalls the efforts of Turkish intellectuals who
organized the Istanbul conference on the Armenian issue held last year,
even at the risk of being called traitors.
Here are excerpts from the letter:
“We, the Turkish citizens, feel all the burden of the inhuman disaster
faced by the Ottoman Armenians during the last days of Ottoman
Empire. The agony of Armenians is our agony. The 1915 disaster cannot
be denied by anyone who claims to be human. Looking for the reasons
and aims behind such a tragedy is nonsense.
“But the democratic process is on in Turkey, as was seen during the
Istanbul conference held last Sept. 23-24. This process will chip away
at the darkness confronting the public on that issue. Even though the
people who struggle for this are branded traitors, we know that these
are the stages of a democratic process, so we will keep on struggling
through the issue.
“But we have serious concerns about the French Parliament’s possible
approval of the Armenian bill. Whatever its aim, such an initiative
would destroy joint efforts to investigate the facts. Such an
initiative would curb free discussion in France and would also create
a negative impact in Turkey.
“Such polarization would encourage monologues, as France should
very well know. In fact, we need dialogue more than such a vicious
argument. Freedom of expression is a universal principle, just like
the struggle for the crimes against humanity. Defending one does not
mean neglecting the other.
“But today it’s a shame that both sides are unable to communicate
their understanding to one another. Such a deadlock carries the risk
of further, more serious conflicts.
“The pioneers of such initiatives in France or in other places should
take into consideration those circles who are trying to avoid free
argument about the 1915 incidents.
“Sharing all our concerns, we especially warn our Armenian brothers
not to cause a fatal error which could not be easily corrected.”

GERMAN GOVERNMENT PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR CONSERVATION FUND IN THE CAUCASUS
WWF Caucasus / Levan Pataraia
WWF International, Switzerland
March 9 2006
The Caucasus region is home to the Caucasus leopard, lynx and brown
bear.
The Caucasus region, covering some 50 million hectares, hosts an
extraordinarily high level of biodiversity.
09 Mar 2006 Berlin, Germany – German Development Minister Heidemarie
Wieczorek-Zeul has pledged ~@5 million to support the establishment
of a transboundary nature conservation fund in the southern Caucasus
region. Additional aid for the fund from international donors is
expected to see the amount rise to ~@40.
“Nature doesn’t know borders,” the minister said at the start of a
3-day ministerial conference on nature protection in the Caucasus
organized by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ), KfW development bank and WWF-Germany. “That’s why
cross-border cooperation is crucial for the national parks in the
Caucasus to be viable.”
The minister also stressed that the achievements in conservation
are the results of a continuous dialogue between NGOS, academics and
concerned governments.
The conservation fund aims to cover half the operational costs
for the most important conservation areas in this biodiversity-rich
region. The governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are expected
to cover the other half. This makes the fund an integral part of the
conservation strategy, developed by WWF and KfW, in cooperation with
experts and government representatives from the region. The effort
also represents a major contribution to the United Nations Convention
on Biological Diversity by the states from the southern Caucasus.
The fund is setting new standards for nature conservation as only the
interest is to be used for project work, leaving the capital stock
intact. This will secure permanent financing of park management,
rangers and research.
“Our bank has already made positive experiences in the past with the
establishment of the Borjormi-Kharagauli-National Park in Georgia,
the first national park in the region,” said Ingrid Matthaus-Maier,
member of the KfW-group Board of Managing Directors.
“The planned trust fund is an innovative tool to secure the
sustainability of the bank’s investments in conservation.”
According to WWF, the Caucasus region – covering some 50 million
hectares and home to an extraordinarily high level of biodiversity –
belongs to the 200 most important ecoregions on this planet. Its most
prominent species are the Caucasus leopard, lynx and the brown bear.
“No state can protect the highly threatened Caucasus leopard alone,”
said WWF-Germany CEO Dr Peter Prokosch. “This is why the launch of
this regional conservation fund is so important.”
For further information: Ralph Kampwirth, Press Officer WWF-Germany
Tel: +49-162-29144-73
newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=63080
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAGHDASARYAN DOESN’T THINK ARMENIAN LEGAL SYSTEM IS HAMPERING COUNTRY’S DEVELOPING
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 17 2005
YEREVAN, October 17. /ARKA/. Armenian National Assembly Speaker
Arthur Baghdasaryan doesn’t think Armenian legal system is barring
the country from developing, he said at A Common Future conference
in Yerevan. At the same time, he noted that the system needs a major
reformation to become a guarantor of lawfulness in the country.
Baghdasaryan stressed the importance of the crackdown on corruption
and economic mergers having monopolistic ambitions. “We have to
do whatever necessary to develop free economic market and form
offshore investors’ trust”, the lawmaker said. In his opinion,
favorable environment for investments is already created in Armenia,
but to retain this status Armenia should increasingly build up the
crackdown on corruption. “Government should become a partner to an
entrepreneur”, Baghdasaryan said. That’s why it is necessary to rid
the republic of corruption, he said. He attached a great importance to
struggle aginst corruption pointing out the need of rooting out it to
pave the way for free development of economic market and creation of
independent legal system, in which an entrepreneur will feel himself
shielded by the law.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress