Author: Jagharian Tania

SERGEY MINASYAN: THE FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY HAS EXHAUSTED ITSELF
Liana Yeghiazaryan

"Radiolur"
26.04.2010 18:57

Political scientist Sergey Minasyan predicts a new format for
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. He says the football
diplomacy has exhausted itself. For Armenia, this is not only an
Armenian-Turkish process, since it is related to the Karabakh issue
to some extent.

Armenia is attempting to solve its problems with Turkey and Azerbaijan
in different ways, but over the past two years Armenia did not manage
to fully separate the two.

"However, the fact that Baku is not 100% sure Turkey will always
support it at least strategically and will stand by Azerbaijan in
case military actions resume, caused certain misunderstanding inside
Azerbaijan and created mistrust. The same cannot be said about Ankara,"
Sergey Minasyan said.

EVENTS DEDICATED TO THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY IN SYRIA

Aysor
April 26 2010
Armenia

On April 24, 2010 on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the
Armenian Great Genocide in St. Sargis Church of Damascus Holy Liturgy
was served after which was served a dirge at the monument of the
Genocide victims.

As the press and public relations department of the RA MFA informs, the
participants of the ceremony moved to the Armenian cemetery of Damascus
where the monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide is situated.

The Armenian Ambassador to Syria Arshak Polandyana and the staff of
the embassy put a wreath at the monument of the Genocide Monument.

On the ceremony many Syrian Armenians, citizens of Armenia, diplomats,
journalists and social workers partook.

Three governors of Syrian – Armenian community together with heads
of parties of Syrian Armenian community visited the RA embassy on
the same day and left notes in the call up memory book.

Italian officials pay tribute to the memory of Armenian genocide victims

Armradio.am
24.04.2010 17:08

The Head of the Italian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Riccardo Migliori, accompanied by Italy’s Ambassador to Armenia Bruno
Scapini, visited Tsitsernakaberd today to pay tribute to the memory of
the Armenian Genocide victims.

`I’m here to pay tribute to the victims of the tragedy that occurred
95 years ago and prevent the reoccurrence of such events in the
future,’ the Italian official said, reminding that the Parliament of
Italy recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2000.

Ambassador Scapini said there is a great Armenian community in his
country and they are holding Genocide commemoration events there
today. `I think, Italians are participating in these events with the
challenge of their conscience for centuries-long amity of the Armenian
and Italian people,’ Bruno Scapini said, adding that Italians must
share the grief of their friends.

According to him, Italy is among the countries that propagate the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. `We continue working with
different countries and international structures to push the
recognition of the Armenian genocide forward,’ the Ambassador said.

United Press International UPI
April 24 2010

Obama: 1915 Armenian killings atrocity

WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) — U.S. President Obama referred Saturday
to the slaughter of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as "one of the worst
atrocities of the 20th century."

In a statement in honor of Armenian Remembrance Day, he avoided the
word "genocide," a term the Turkish government resists.

"On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that 95 years
ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began," Obama
said. "In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were
massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire."

The Turkish government argues the killings were not aimed at the
elimination of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire.

Obama urged Turkey to confront its own history.

"I salute the Turks who saved Armenians in 1915 and am encouraged by
the dialogue among Turks and Armenians, and within Turkey itself,
regarding this painful history," he said. "Together, the Turkish and
Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common
history and recognize their common humanity."

ITALIAN MP: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS A QUESTION THAT CONCERNS NOT ONLY ARMENIA AND TURKEY

ArmInfo
2010-04-24 11:05:00

ArmInfo. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a question that
concerns not only Armenia and Turkey but the whole world, the head of
the Italian delegation to the OSCE PA Riccardo Migliori said during
a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan Apr 23.

The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia quotes
Migliori as saying that he has come to Yerevan specially to attend
the events commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

ARMENIA HALTS DEAL ON TURKEY TIES

europe/8636800.stm
Published: 2010/04/22 11:12:13 GMT

Armenia’s ruling coalition has said it is halting the ratification
in parliament of landmark accords on normalising relations with Turkey.

It said it was because of Turkey’s refusal to "ratify the protocols
without preconditions", chiefly over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The countries signed a historic deal in 2009 to re-establish diplomatic
ties.

There had been a century of hostility following the World War I mass
killings of Armenians.

MASS KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks
in 1915-6 Many historians and the Armenian people believe the
killings amount to genocide Turks and some historians deny they were
orchestrated More than 20 countries regard the massacres as genocide

Diplomatic moves to normalise relations have faltered recently.

The Armenian coalition decided to halt the ratification process of
the accord signed in October last year after Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it would depend on a peace deal over
Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian statement said.

"Considering the Turkish side’s refusal to fulfil the requirement
to ratify the accord without preconditions in a reasonable time,
making the continuation of the ratification process in the national
parliament pointless, we consider it necessary to suspend this
process," the statement said.

"The political majority in the national assembly considers statements
from the Turkish side in recent days as unacceptable, specifically
those by Prime Minister Erdogan, who has again made the ratification
of the Armenia-Turkish protocols by the Turkish parliament directly
dependent on a resolution over Nagorno-Karabakh," it said.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 to protest against
Armenia’s war with its neighbour Azerbaijan over the enclave, which
is within Azerbaijan but under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.

Thousands of people lost their lives in a conflict that erupted after
the break-up of the Soviet Union.

A fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994 leaving Karabakh under de
facto ethnic Armenian control.

In October last year, Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord
normalising relations despite differences over the World War I mass
killings of Armenians.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide,
but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were
deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire.

They were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.

ARMENIAN DIASPORA OF MALTA TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 22, 2010 – 18:17 AMT 13:17 GMT

On April 24, the Armenian community of Malta will commemorate the
Armenian Genocide victims at khachkar set in the center of Valetta,
miasin.ru reported.

TURKEY, ARMENIA SHOULD ‘MOVE AHEAD’

news.az
April 22 2010
Azerbaijan

Sabine Freizer Ankara and Yerevan should act now on the less
controversial aspects of the rapprochement accords, setting aside
full ratification until later.

This is the view put forward by Sabine Freizer, Europe Program director
for the International Crisis Group.

Writing for the Global Post, Freizer said that the protocols on
normalizing relations and opening the border, signed by Armenia and
Turkey in October 2009, had stalled with no likelihood of ratification
in the respective parliaments any time soon.

‘The Turkish government decided that it could not ignore Azeri pressure
and with difficult negotiations going on concerning constitutional
reform, it does not want to pick a fight over border opening with
the nationalist opposition in parliament. There is little chance
that the twin protocols can move until after the next round of
Turkish elections in 2011, or until Azerbaijan and Armenia sign
the long-awaited agreement on basic principles on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution,’ Freizer said.

She writes that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is also under
pressure. ‘Even though a quick ratification in Armenia would firmly
put the ball in Turkey’s court and give Yerevan credit internationally,
domestic opposition is strong.’

Armenia and Turkey could go ahead and establish diplomatic ties,
the analyst said.

‘The decade of confidence-building that preceded the Turkey-Armenian
protocol signing could now be lost unless there is progress soon. The
best step now would be for Ankara and Yerevan to temporarily put
aside the most difficult aspects of the protocols and move ahead with
the less controversial parts. Despite current troubles, they could
proceed with the establishment of diplomatic ties and recognition of
their mutual border. These need no parliamentary approval, are purely
about bilateral relations and are not linked to Nagorno-Karabakh.

‘Turkey and Armenia have a mounting number of bilateral issues to
address requiring simple consular services. There are up to 40,000
Armenian citizens living in Turkey, tens of thousands of Armenian
tourists visit the Turkish riviera every year and countless Turkish
truck drivers and small businesses operating in Armenia.’

RADIO AURORA CHANGING PLAYLIST ON APRIL 24

Tert.am
22.04.10

An Armenian local radio station Aurora is changing its play-list from
the midnight on April 24 on the occasion of the commemoration of the
Armenian Genocide. On this day the station will air music performances
relevant to the symbolism of the atmosphere of the day.

Also part of the commemoration Aurora will air the following text in
different languages:

"April 24 is the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.

This was the first international crime in the history of mankind
orchestrated with the aim of exterminating a whole nation for its
national affiliation.

The killing of 1.5 million of Armenians … It will be impossible
to hide the physical extermination of one of the oldest nations in
the world which had a large investment in the development of human
civilization.

The text will be read in the following languages: Armenian, Russian,
English, French, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Arabic,
Turkish, Persian, German, Chinese, Belorussian, Kurdish, Polish,
Greek and Jewish.

PROGRAM ON CREATION OF RESTORATION CENTER TO BE LAUNCHED IN SEPTEMBER 2010

ArmInfo
2010-04-22 12:36:00

ArmInfo. The program on creation of a Restoration Center will be
launched in September 2010, Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan
told ArmInfo correspondent.

She recalled that in January 2010 an agreement was signed with the
Italian government on grant provision. Poghosyan said that the first
tranche of the grant was doubled to 1 mln EUR. "We are glad to say that
the Italian party promised to provide us with every possible support
in implementation of the program on creation of the Restoration
Center",- she said. The Center will operate on the basis of other
establishments. For instance, a center for restoration of frescoes
will be launched at the Erebouni Reserve Museum, and a center for
restoration of cultural values – at the National Gallery.

The future Center will be actively engaged in education activities.