Author: Kajoyan Gevork

TURKISH PRESIDENT SLAMS ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ FRENCH HOSTILITY

Hurriyet Daily News
April 28 2012
Turkey

President Abdullah Gul has strongly denounced anti-Turkey rhetoric in
France’s presidential elections with regard to the World War I killings
of Armenians and voiced regret over the conduct of French politicians.

“I deeply regret the fact that the issue has recently become an
electioneering instrument in France and the unbelievable dimension
that hostility to Turkey is reaching,” Gul told reporters during a
visit to Canakkale.

The President reiterated a Turkish proposal for the creation of a
joint Turkish-Armenian committee of scholars to examine whether the
1915-17 events amounted to “genocide” as the Armenians claim. “We
are making a clear appeal to the whole world. Let’s establish a joint
history commission if you are sincere.

This commission should come together, hold discussions and look into
the archives. Let’s see what happened in a realistic way. But we have
received no response to our proposal,” he said.

THE CASE OF AN ARMENIAN PRIEST’S EXPIRED VISA IS UPSETTING MANY YOUNG PARISHIONERS

89.3 KPCC

May 1 2012

Liliya Chobanian and Sossi Postajian attended the same services
at Glendale’s St. Mary’s Church for years, but they didn’t know
each other.

As they sip tea in an Armenian-owned Pasadena restaurant, they chat
about the fact that they have much more in common than their faith:
They both followed the teachings of Father Barthev Gulumian, a young
and charismatic priest who was known for his earnestness.

“When you are hungry, what do you do?” asked Postajian, in an effort
to explain the feeling people got from his sermons. “You eat, because
you need to satisfy your flesh, right? The soul is the same way. You
need to go to a church that satisfies your soul, spiritually.”

But when Gulumian was removed from his post, she said, the church no
longer fed her soul.

Here is what happened: Gulumian was in the U.S. on an R-1 visa, given
to religious workers and arranged for by the Western Prelacy, the
Armenian Apostolic Church based in Lebanon. After five years, that visa
expired, which Gulumian only discovered when he was detained at LAX
last September by immigration authorities after returning from Lebanon.

Within a couple of months, the church said it simply could not
get Gulumian’s visa renewed, and he was reassigned far away, to
Venezuela-where there is a small population of about 2,000 Armenians.

The transfer did not sit well with Postajian and other parishioners,
so about 400 of them sent a letter to the highest leader in the church,
looking for answers.

“He did not send letters, he did not come out and address the issue
publicly. Nothing, zero, nada,” said Postajian.

Liliya Chobanian echoed the same frustration with the church
leadership. Why, she wondered, didn’t the Western Prelacy do more
to keep a priest who had successfully appealed to younger, urban
Armenian-Americans?

“My children being the second generation of Armenians in America,
they are going to have less of an Armenian identity than I do right
now,” said Chobanian. “You know, you go to college, you are of mixed
(descent), you even consider marrying outside of your culture, because
that turns into a normal lifestyle. But if the church is not there,
then we would never keep our identity.”

Last month, in a bold move, a group of mostly young parishioners
led in large part by Chobanian and Postajian came out on a rainy
Sunday to protest outside St. Mary’s. It was a rare public display
of discontent in this tradition-bound community.

“He is an innocent victim of politics,” said Vosgan Mekhitarian,
a scholar of Armenian culture and the son of a 1915 genocide survivor.

Mekhitarian is also a former priest. As the founding member of St.

Mary’s Church, Mekhitarian enjoyed popularity in the growing immigrant
Armenian community of the 70s. But at some point, he believes the
Western Prelacy found him to be a threat. In a way, says Mekhitarian,
the same thing happened with Father Barthev Gulumian.

“They do not want any priest to be popular enough in the community. I
don’t understand this, really,” said Mekitarian. “This is the right
guy, an educated priest. He was successful in bringing youth together.

Now, if Father Barthev is doing what the church is recommending,
and he’s successful – why kick him out?”

Coincidentally, as Mekhitarian speaks, he gets a call from another
local priest whose standing is under scrutiny by church officials.

Numerous attempts were made to speak to Western Prelacy Archbishop
Moushegh Mardirossian or other Armenian church leadership about these
cases, to no avail.

But in a statement issued last month, the church said it was compelled
to comply with U.S. laws, which, in Father Gulumian’s case, mandated
that he leave the U.S. The statement added that his return “will be
processed in compliance with U.S. immigration laws and policies.”

In the meantime, Liliya Chobanian and Sossi Postajian, alongside
hundreds of other young Armenians, are taking to social media to say
they are losing faith in their church. They are vowing to continue
to step up their protests against church leadership.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported
that Archbishop Hovnan Derderian is affiliated with the Armenian
Apostolic Church’s Western Prelacy. The story should have identified
that church official as Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian. We apologize
for the error.

Azerbaijan buys 123 various military vehicles from Turkey last year

Thu 26 April 2012 17:26 GMT | 18:26 Local Time

Deliveries on agreements signed with 3 military companies in amount of
USD 300 mln are continuing.
Turkish `Otokar’ company delivered 123 various military vehicles to
the Azerbaijan according to agreement signed last year, says the
report of Turkish Defense Industry Secretariat on its activity in
2011, APA reports.

Otokar Company sold 35 Cobra armored fighting vehicles, 37 ZPT armored
personnel carrier vehicles and 51 Land Rover vehicles within the
agreement in amount of USD 20.7 mln.

The report also said that 3 Turkish military companies, including
Otokar signed agreement with Azerbaijan late at the end of 2010 in
amount of USD 300 mln.

The deliveries are continuing.

News.Az

Die Presse compares Aliyev with Bahrain’s dictator

12:35 30/04/2012 » Region

Austrian `Die Presse’ paper compared Ilham Aliyev with Bahrain’s
dictator, Iranian `arannews.ir’ report said.

A year ago when Bahrain was hosting `Formula 1′ championship, the King
of Bahrain vowed to carry out reforms in the country, however, soon
after the championship was finished, the king strictly overwhelmed the
democratic wave in the country.

`On the eve of hosting Eurovision international song contest,
Azerbaijan’s President exercises pressure against religious activists
aimed to play fake atmosphere of security and happiness. While those
leaders host song and sport competitions to cover their crimes,’ the
paper writes.

Read also: Iranian clergyman: Iran to revise relations with Azerbaijan
if gay-parade is held

Source: Panorama.am

Azerbaijan hands over three Armenian POWs to third country

30 April 2012 [17:36] – TODAY.AZ

Azerbaijan has handed over three Armenian POWs to a third party,
Armenian media report, quoting a senior officer about POW issues and
the missing Samvel Asatryan. It wasn’t specified to which country the
prisoners were handed over.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

American Armenians to `welcome’ Azerbaijani president with protests

news.am
April 30, 2012 | 12:22

The American Armenians will `welcome’ the Azerbaijani president Ilham
Aliyev with mass demonstrations. The Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian confirmed
this in an interview with RFE/RL.

`Without a doubt, the Armenian community of the US is ready to
`welcome’ Aliyev and discuss Azerbaijan’s provocations against Armenia
and Karabakh. This visit is an opportunity for us to speak with the
media and our political leaders,’ Chouldjian noted.

`Ultimately, the US leadership and Congress must clearly warn
Azerbaijan that an aggressive policy toward Armenia and Karabakh is
simply unacceptable,’ she stressed.

Ilham Aliyev will visit New York in May, and in connection with
Azerbaijan’s assuming UN Security Council’s Chairmanship.

War hero to run for Artsakh presidency in July

April 30, 2012 – 13:32 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Artsakh war hero Vitali Balasanyan nominated himself
for presidency on April 28, thus challenging incumbent NKR leader Bako
Sahakyan.

Balasanyan, who is MP and former deputy defense minister of Karabakh,
will run for president as independent candidate, Karabakh-open.info
reports citing NKR Central Election Commission.

Current President Sahakyan submitted his nomination documents on April 23.

The nomination process started on April 20 and will be over by 18.00
pm, May 5. Presidential elections in Karabakh will take place on July
19, 2012.

Opposition bloc finds 150 deceased in Yerevan administrative region voting lists

news.am
April 30, 2012 | 13:54

YEREVAN. – The opposition bloc Armenian National Congress (ANC)
discovered the names of 150 people, who had died fifteen years ago, in
the voters’ list of capital Yerevan’s Arabkir Administrative Region.
Board Chairman Aram Manukyan of the Armenian National Movement
Party – which is a part of the ANC – said during a press conference on
Monday.

`The law states that the adjusting of the lists must end five days
before [the elections]. But no matter how much they [the Police
Passport and Visa Department] work, they cannot have a 100-percent
efficiency,’ stated Manukyan, who is also a single-mandate MP
candidate in Arabkir.

He added that in these lists the average number of those who are
currently outside Armenia is 15-20 percent, and those living abroad
were not considered to be absent from Armenia.

Aram Manukyan also informed that, according to their election
headquarters, those who have left the country for outside work were
not counted either, and the authorities had solely registered the
number of those who are absent from Armenia for a long time, and this
is 20 percent.

Azdak Exclusive, new collection of articles dedicated to Genocide anniversary

tert.am
11:35 • 30.04.12

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and the Lebanon based Armenian
newspaper Azdak have launched a joint collection of articles,
dedicated to the 97th anniversary of the Genocide.

Azdak Exclusive is the title of the new edition that covers scholarly
articles by PhD candidates of sciences, Suren Manukyan (Armenian
Genocide in Russian Soldier’s Eyes), Aram Mirzoyan (Fridtjof Nansen’s
Efforts to Repatriate Armenians) and Termine Mardoyan (The Massive
Resettlement of Expelled Smyrna-Armenians in Greece).

Other interesting articles include The Armenian Immigrants’
Integration to Syria’s Socio-Economic Life after Genocide (Narine
Margaryan), Efforts towards an Armenian-Greek Cooperation against
Ottoman Empire (Gevord Vardanyan), and Cultural Models as Signals of
Crowd Behavior (Hasmik Grigoryan).

ANCA: Archbishop Choloyan Urges Return of Churches; Genocide
Affirmation in Capitol Hill Meetings

29-04-2012 10:00:18 | USA | Press release

His Eminence offers Senate opening prayer; Completes day of meetings
with Senate and House Members

WASHINGTON, DC – His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of
the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern United States, called on
Members of Congress to urge Turkey to return confiscated Christian
churches and end U.S. complicity in Turkey’s genocide denial, during a
full day Capitol Hill meetings, this week, which began with the
offering of the opening prayer at the U.S. Senate and ended with an
invocation at the annual Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide Observance,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The Archbishop’s opening prayer at the Senate was held on April 25th,
at the request of Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed (D) and at the
invitation of the Senate Chaplain. `We thank you in the name of the
Armenian people for your divine mercy in providing them a safe refuge
in this blessed country, the United States of America, where they were
delivered from the depths of despair of genocide and welcomed with new
life,’ said His Eminence. `Reveal your infinite spirit to the members
of this Senate that they may be inspired toward a greatness of purpose
and ennobled in their quest for good governance.’

Video of Archbishop Choloyan’s Senate prayer may be viewed on the ANCA
Youtube page at:

Sen. Reed welcomed Archbishop Choloyan in a moving Senate floor
statement, which commemorated the Armenian Genocide and called for
U.S. affirmation of that crime. `This year I once again join my
colleagues in encouraging the United States to officially recognize
the Armenian genocide,’ explained Senator Reed. `Denial of this
history is not consistent with our country’s sensitivity to human
rights and our dedication to the highest and noblest principles that
should govern the world. We must continue to educate our young people
against this type of hatred and oppression so we can seek to prevent
such crimes against humanity in the future. It was indeed an honor to
be here to listen to the wise words of the Archbishop, to hear his
prayer, his reflection, and to go forth knowing that he is a powerful
force in our country for tolerance and decency,’ concluded Sen. Reed.

Later in the day, Sen. Reed tweeted about his meeting with the
Archbishop, stating, `Proud to host His Eminence Archbishop Choloyan
today for prayer observing anniversary of Armenian Genocide
#NEVERFORGET `

Sen. Reed’s floor statement can be viewed at:

Welcoming remarks were also offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV), who recounted a visit to a church during his first trip
to Armenia, in the early 1990’s after `that very brutal winter when
the Turks had cut off the oil to Armenia.’ He noted, `I have fond
memories of my visit to Armenia. I understand the resiliency of the
people of Armenia, and I remember visiting that church.’

Senate Majority Leader Reid’s floor statement can be viewed at:

Throughout the day, Archbishop Choloyan met with a bipartisan group of
legislators, including: Senators Scott Brown (R-MA), Ben Cardin
(D-MD), Al Franken (D-MN), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI),
and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), as well as, Representatives David
Cicilline (D-RI), Michael Grimm (R-NY), Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Bob
Turner (R-NY). Archbishop Choloyan was joined in his Congressional
visits by Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aktavoukian, Pastor of the Soorp Khatch
Armenian Apostolic Church in Bethesda, MD; ANCA Chairman Ken
Hachikian, ANCA Eastern Region Board Member Stephen Mesrobian, ANC
Rhode Island Chairman Steve Elmasian, as well as ANCA Legislative
Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian, and ANCA Capital Gateway Fellow
Kyle Movsessian.

In the evening, Archbishop Choloyan joined over 300 Armenian Americans
from across the U.S. at the annual Congressional Observance of the
Armenian Genocide, organized by the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues, in conjunction with Armenian American groups as well as the
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia and Office of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic in the U.S. In his invocation, His Eminence Oshagan Choloyan
noted that, `Today, once again we gather in this historic room in our
nation’s capital to honor the memory of our one-and-one-half million
martyrs whose faith and love in you never faltered, even unto death.
The first genocide of the 20th century was a prelude to more genocide.
The tragedy of genocide continued because the Ottoman Turkish
perpetrators of the Armenian genocide were neither confronted nor
punished.’

Take a pictorial tour of Archbishop Choloyan’s efforts in support of
U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide and legislation calling on
Turkey to return confiscated Christian Churches through pictures by
visiting the ANCA Facebook page:

News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan