Author: Kajoyan Gevork

RANGE OF EVENTS DEDICATED TO 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WERE LAUNCHED IN JERUSALEM

ARMENPRESS
25 April, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS: Jerusalem and around the world
marked Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on Tuesday with ceremonies
commemorating Armenians in Turkey who were killed between 1915
and 1923, reports Armenpress. A remembrance service was held in
the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the capital’s Old City on
Monday night, and a requiem service and holy mass were conducted in the
St. James Cathedral of the Armenian Church on Sunday morning, also in
the Old City. On Monday evening, ahead of the commemoration services,
Archbishop Aris Shirvanian of the Armenian Patriarchate addressed
members of the Yedidya Synagogue in Jerusalem to speak about the events
surrounding the genocide and its repercussions on the Armenian people.

“All Armenians stand together and claim justice and reparations,”
he told The Jerusalem Post. The Armenian people and the descendants
of those killed have pursued recognition of the genocide since
1965, he said. “Until then, the generation of the survivors who had
suffered as children and seen with their own eyes the killings and
kidnappings, starvation and tortures were in a period of mourning,
but the newgeneration has sought justice for what was done to the
Armenian people during this great crime, the first genocide of the
twentieth century.” Israel has not recognized the killings as genocide,
largely due to concerns about possible damage such a move could cause
regarding its diplomatic relations with Turkey. Last year, Knesset
Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that he intended to establish an annual
parliamentary session to mark the Armenian genocide.

A spokesman for Rivlin told the Post on Tuesday that although no such
session has been formally scheduled, in light of Rivlin’s position on
the issue it is likely to go ahead in the near future, but did not
say if it would happen in the coming Knesset session. MK Arye Eldad
(National Union), who has made efforts in the Knesset to officially
recognize the genocide, said Israeli recognition “is getting closer,”
especially following the “breaking of the taboo of even discussing
it in the Knesset,” in reference to a session held in the Education
Committee in December. “The issue is extremely important,” Eldad said.

“There are those who try to deny the Holocaust and so we demand that
people are ethical and recognize that this really happened. So we
need to do the same thing for the Armenians who were killed in their
hundreds of thousands, at the very least we can do something symbolic
and mark the day.”

Regarding the potential for harming relations with Turkey, Eldad
commented that any hopes that the Turkish government will become more
amenable to Israel in the near future are futile.

TURKS, ARMENIANS SILENTLY COMMEMORATE 1915 EVENTS

armradio.am
25.04.2012 17:51

Turks and Turkish-Armenians gathered in Ä°stanbul’s central square
on April 24. A sit-down strike organized by the Say No to Racism and
Nationalism initiative in Taksim Square was attended by a group of
public figures, including wife of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, Rakel Dink; Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Istanbul
deputies Sırrı Sureyya Onder and Sebahat Tuncel; former Freedom and
Solidarity Party (ODP) head Ufuk Uras; journalists Oral CalıÅ~_lar,
Huseyin Hatemi and Hilal Kaplan as well as other intellectuals,
Today’s Zaman reports.

Protesters laid carnations in front of a banner that said, “This
pain belongs to all of us.” ZiÅ~_an Tokac, who made a statement on
behalf of the protesting group, said Armenians were sent into exile to
places where they could not survive, recounting atrocities committed
at that time.

Uras told reporters that Turkey will face its history and “shared pain”
in building a 21st century democracy. He added that people from all
walks of life were present at the sit-in protest.

Rakel Dink said Armenians had gone through things that she cannot even
say aloud and that they are still facing similar problems. Meanwhile,
two nationalist groups protested the gathering; however, police didn’t
allow them to approach the group.

YEREVAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO DECLARE STRIKE TO SUPPORT FORMER CHANCELLOR

news.am
April 25, 2012 | 15:55

YEREVAN. – Yerevan State Linguistic University students on Wednesday
moved to the Government with ‘Zolyan, Bryusov is with you,’ ‘Free and
Fair Bryusov’ posters demanding that former Chancellor Suren Zolyan
should not be dismissed.

The students have earlier met with PM Tigran Sargsyan, as well as
the Education Minister Armen Ashotyan. In addition, the government
representative, having met with them on Wednesday offered to appeal
the Minister’s decision in the court. The students declared to strike
starting from Thursday.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am has earlier informed Yerevan State Linguistic
University Chancellor Suren Zolyan was dismissed from his post
recently under the order of Armenia’s Minister of Education and
Science Armen Ashotyan.

The Minister released twice strict reprimands against the Chancellor,
as the latter disobeyed Ashotyan’s orders by participating for a
session, which the Minister had considered to be inappropriate.

NICOLAS SARKOZY ET FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SUR LA MEME LIGNE CONTRE LE NEGATIONNISME

armenews.com

mercredi 25 avril 2012

C’est un evenement historique, non seulement pour les francais
d’origine armenienne, mais egalement pour l’ensemble du peuple
armenien la où il se trouve aux quatre coins de la planète. Pour la
première fois dans l’Histoire de la Republique, un president rend
hommage aux victimes du crime perpetre sur le peuple armenien en
1915 et s’engage comme il l’avait promis, si il est reelu aux plus
hautes fonctions de l’Etat, a representer dès le mois de juin 2012,
un nouveau texte criminalisant la negation du genocide des armeniens
sur le territoire francais.

Mardi 24 Avril 2012, place du Canada, attenante au Jardin d’Erevan
inaugure le 12 mars 2009 par le maire de Paris Bertrand Delanoë,
les deux candidats a l’election presidentielle, Francois Hollande et
Nicolas Sarkozy, ont tenu a se joindre aux descendants des survivants
du genocide perpetre sur ordre du gouvernement ottoman en 1915 pour
honorer la memoire de ceux qui il y a 97 ans ont ete elimine de la
surface de la Terre dans une barbarie sans nom, n’epargnant ni les
enfants, ni les femmes ni les personnes âgees. Un genocide non reconnu
et nie 97 annees plus tard par la Turquie.

Une foule considerable, estimee a près de 5000 personnes avait envahi
la place du Canada au pied de la statue de Komitas et ses abords
dès 18h pour assister a la ceremonie de recueillement en hommage
aux 1 500 000 armeniens massacres sur ses propres terres en 1915 et
son prolongement dans l’assassinat du journaliste Hrant Dink le 19
janvier 2007 a Istanbul.

Avec vingt minutes de retard sur l’horaire prevu, Francois
Hollande s’est adresse aux francais d’origine armenienne, après
une presentation du candidat a l’election presidentielle par Mourad
Papazian, co-president du CCAF.

Dans son discours, le leader du Parti socialiste, citant la celèbre
phrase de Jean-Jaurès “On ne peut vivre avec dans sa cave le cadavre d’
un peuple assassine”, a reaffirme sa position quant a une proposition
de loi visant a penaliser la negation du genocide armenien, appuyant
sur le fait que la question devait etre parfaitement etudiee afin
qu’on ne se retrouve pas dans la situation qui a amene le Conseil
constitutionnel a abroger la loi Boyer. Il a egalement promis a la
communaute armenienne, si il est elu President de la Republique,
de venir chaque 24 Avril se recueillir a ses côtes pour commemorer
et honorer les victimes du genocide.

Dix minutes après avoir salue la foule et rencontre les diverses
personnalites de la communaute et des elus de la Republique, Francois
Hollande a regagne sa voiture sans croiser Nicolas Sarkozy.

Le President Sarkozy, presente par Alexis Govciyan, President du CCAF
national, precede par la Garde republicaine, grave et visiblement
emu, a rappele son bouleversant voyage a Erevan, lequel l’a conforte
dans l’idee qu’il fallait absolument legiferer dans la condamnation
du negationnisme. Il a ensuite depose une gerbe de fleurs au pied
de la statue du reverend Komitas, avant que ne soit entonnee la
Marseillaise par le choeur de la Garde, reprise par l’assemblee de
la communaute armenienne.

Document Elysee

La foule des franciliens d’origine armenienne, ses leaders en tete,
s’est ensuite dirigee vers les Champs Elysees et stationnee sur le
trottoir faisant directement face a l’annexe de l’ambassade de Turquie.

Document Radio Yan L’evenement a ete couvert par l’ensemble des medias
francais de presse et de la radio-television.

Parmi les personnalites presentes, on reconnaissait Frederic Lefèvre,
Patrick Devedjian, Pierre Lelouch, Christian Estrosi, Andre Santini,
Richard Prasquier (Crif), Francois Pupponi, Philippe Kaltenbach,
et les maires et conseillers municipaux des communes voisines ;
l’ambassadeur d’Armenie en France Viguen Tchitetchian, Monseigneur
Norvan Zakarian, Andreas Mavroyiannis, Vincent Niore, Patrick Arabian
et les representants de la communaute : Ara Toranian (CCAF), Harout
Mardirossian (CDCA), Antoine Bagdikian (Anacra), Saro Mardiryan
(Hentchak), Hrach Varjabedian (BFCA) Loris Toufanian (Nor seround),
etc.

EUROVISION PUTS AZERBAIJAN IN HUMAN RIGHTS SPOTLIGHT

Wednesday, 25 April 2012 12:26

BAKU: Standing on a peninsula that reaches out into Baku’s Caspian
Sea bay, the sparkling new Crystal Hall is a symbol of Azerbaijan’s
hopes and ambitions for next month’s Eurovision song contest.

As well as building the ultra-modern venue at breakneck speed, the
ex-Soviet state has hung out Eurovision flags across the capital as
public anticipation grows ahead of an event watched by an estimated
125 million viewers.

“Naturally, a country which hosts this contest is given an opportunity
to introduce itself to the whole world,” said Tahir Mammadov, a
member of the working group organising the event in Baku, promising
a spectacular show spiced up with elements of traditional Azerbaijani
folklore.

But campaigners hope that it will also draw international attention
to alleged human rights violations in Azerbaijan, an oil-rich,
mainly Muslim but officially secular state led by strongman President
Ilham Aliyev.

“Human rights are being systematically violated in Azerbaijan,” said
Giorgi Gogia of Human Rights Watch, alleging that 70 people including
seven journalists were currently in jail for political reasons.

ights groups say that freedom of expression is being suppressed
and dissenting voices silenced as the authorities seek to enforce
stability in a country that went through war and political turmoil
after the Soviet collapse.

Local activists have set up a campaign called Sing for Democracy in
an attempt to ensure that politics joins pop at centre stage in media
coverage of the contest.

“Eurovision must be yet another tool to promote Azerbaijan’s European
integration, first of all through the improvement of the situation
with human rights,” said Rasul Jafarov of Sing for Democracy.

The authorities have been infuriated by Western media reports
which focus on democratic failings rather than economic successes
in a country that has gained strategic importance by pumping oil
to European markets and providing transit routes for the NATO-led
campaign in Afghanistan.

“Freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights are fully
respected in Azerbaijan,” said Mubariz Gurbanly, a senior official
from President Aliyev’s governing New Azerbaijan party.

Aliyev said earlier this month that a “dirty campaign” was being waged
to discredit Azerbaijan through the media in what officials claim is
a conspiracy masterminded by the country’s Armenian enemies.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in conflict since Armenian forces
seized the region of Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war
that killed 30,000 — an emotionally-charged issue that led Armenia
to boycott this year’s Eurovision.

“Thanks to its financial resources, the Armenian lobby is securing
the publication of negative materials about Azerbaijan,” said Gurbanly.

He added that “Islamophobes” were also responsible for some critical
reports.

“They simply do not like the fact that Eurovision is being held in
a majority-Muslim country,” he said.

Azerbaijan’s energy-fuelled economy has boomed since Aliyev came to
power in 2003, succeeding his father Heydar, an ex-KGB officer and
Communist-era boss.

Aliyev was re-elected by a landslide in 2008, and a referendum victory
the following year abolished a two-term presidential limit, offering
him the possibility of ruling the country of 9.1 million people far
into the future.

Opposition protests, which were effectively banned for several years
and broken up by riot police when they did take place, were recently
permitted to resume on the outskirts of Baku but have failed to
attract mass support.

Azerbaijan is set to become a key link in the EU’s Southern Gas
Corridor pipeline project, and officials believe that Eurovision will
also sprinkle some stardust on the country’s image.

“We are sure that when they (Eurovision fans) see Azerbaijan, they
will love it,” said organiser Mammadov.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY: OBAMA’S APRIL 24TH STATEMENT “VERY PROBLEMATIC”

hetq
11:11, April 25, 2012

What follows is the official text issued by Turkey’s Foreign Ministry
regarding U.S. President Obama’s statement issued on April 24. Obama
described the events of 1915 as a “great tragedy”.

In his statement issued on 24 April 2012, US President Obama
demonstrated this year once again an unfounded approach which reflects
the Armenian views regarding the dispute between Turks and Armenians
on the painful part of their common history. We regard this statement,
which distorts the historical facts, as very problematic in every
aspect and deeply regret it.

Issued upon domestic political considerations and interpreting
controversial historical events with a selective sense of justice,
such one-sided statements are not only misguided, but also render the
normalization of the relations between Turkey and Armenia difficult.

What should be done by the US, as an important ally of Turkey,
is not to further deepen the problem with such an approach, which
also damages Turkish-American relations, but to provide constructive
contributions for its resolution and, in this regard, to encourage
the Armenian side, which avoids joint historical research, to be more
realistic and conciliatory.

It should also be known that the pain experienced during the World War
I is a shared one and the memory of that period is as sensitive for
the Turkish people as for the Armenians. Despite all the prejudiced
attempts to interfere with the writing of history, we will maintain
our efforts to reach a just memory.

OVER 1000 RALLY TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ISTANBUL

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 22:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Over 1000 people gathered in Taksim Square in
Istanbul, Turkey, to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide
on April 24 evening.

The rally began at 19.15 pm and lasted about half an hour under the
motto “No to racism”. As a source in Istanbul told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter, the participants, Armenians among them, were sitting on the
ground as a sign of protest. Some of the demonstrators were holding
photos of Hrant Dink, the slain editor of Agos Armenian-Turkish
newspaper.

Meanwhile, representatives of Turkish opposition party Halk Kurtulush
Partisi, or HKP (People’s Liberation Party), occupied the center of
the square with posters reading “Armenian Genocide is a lie”.

Police officers with batons made up a chain between the two groups
to prevent clashes.

SARKOZY, HOLLANDE PLEDGE TO ADOPT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 25, 2012 – 02:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On April 24, both presidential candidates of France –
Francois Hollande and current President Nicolas Sarkozy participated
in Armenian Genocide commemorative ceremony at Memorial to Komitas
and victims of Armenian Genocide in Paris. The candidates, however,
didn’t meet one another during the event.

Francois Hollande was the first to come to the venue. Welcoming the
participants, he reiterated his pledge to adopt a bill criminalizing
the Armenian genocide denial in case he comes to power.

“Despite any pressure, I will take all necessary steps for passage
of the bill. The Armenian history will never be forgotten as it will
never be disputed,” he said.

Sarkozy, too, pledged to adopt a bill penalizing the Armenian Genocide
negation.

“As head of state, I was forced to obey the Constitutional Court’s
decision. However, I promise that the new text of the bill will be
submitted already in June,” he said.

French Armenian community leaders commented on participation of both
candidates in Genocide commemoration ceremony, given the fact that
Nicolas Sarkozy partook in such an event for the first time in his
term of office, in contrast to his rival Hollande.

“I am glad that both the current and future presidents of France
attended the ceremony,” Nouvelles d’Armenie quoted the head of the
Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France Frank Papazian
as saying with irony.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a 45,000 euro fine and
a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against
humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill adopted
by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide
was anti-constitutional.

In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on
January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice
of freedom of expression and communication.”

Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara
halted political and military cooperation with France and was
threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took
effect.

Immediately after French Constitutional Council ruling, President
Nicolas Sarkozy instructed the government to submit a new draft law
punishing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

WHY IS APRIL 24 SO IMPORTANT FOR TURKEY?
by ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z

Today’s Zaman
April 24 2012
Turkey

When I started to write this article I saw that the Armenian-Turkish
weekly Agos had already run a piece that said all I want to say on
this topic.

I absolutely agree with Agos that recognizing 1915 is not only about
the past, but also about the future of this country. It is also
about seeking justice for the endless victims of the tragedy. As Agos
indicates, the solution lies in dialog between Turks and Armenians —
not in declarations from third party politicians, who only exploit
this matter for their political interests. As Agos stated, Turkey is
already in the process of confronting its past crimes through the coup
and Ergenekon cases. But without recognizing what happened in 1915,
this process could never be called complete. I respectfully bow before
the Armenian victims who suffered deeply and those who lost their lives
in 1915, and I leave the floor to Agos and their meaningful piece:

“The reason why we don’t want to forget the things that happened 97
years ago is not only a matter of paying our tributes to the innocent
souls that were lost, but also because of our firm belief in another
future… The deeper meaning that lies in the prominent minstrel
Hovhannes Tumanyan’s words “Abrek yeregek, payts mez bes cabrek” (Live
long children, but don’t live like us), refers to the responsibility
of building a peaceful future. Attaining a firm cognition on how the
people, the nature and the civilization were all exterminated in 1915
is a sine qua non for such a responsibility.

“While remembering 1915, we take strength not from our desire for
punishment or revenge, but from our wish to collectively get rid of
the chains of the past. For what will eventually emancipate us is the
truth. They intimidate people by saying, “They call our grandfather
murderers!” but those who bear responsibility are not Turks, Muslims
or Kurds. For it is not people who commit genocides, but the mindset.

Just like the Nazis, the Ä°ttihat mentality, did actually sacrifice
both the victim and the perpetrator; the ones who lost their lives
were gone, but those who remained became sick. What made the successor
governments an accomplice to this deep-rooted crime has been the
systematic policy of forgetting and denial.

“In fact, we are not any longer debating what happened in 1915 in
Turkey. Everyone debating on this subject knows that, in this very
dark year and the ensuing years, hundreds of thousands of people
were uprooted from their homes and were never able to return, with
a great majority of them lying somewhere in some corner of Anatolia
or in Syrian deserts without a tombstone. They also know that many
people had to convert their religions to be able to survive and
sought shelter in Muslim families… Nowadays, these facts are only
countered by the obdurate argument, “No one can ever dare to say that
we committed genocide!” As if, the use of any other word could lessen
all that happened…

“As 2015 drawing near, we witness some efforts that are made to drag
Turkey to a more nationalistic ground and we are concerned about it…

As long as Turks and Armenians fail to see how the third parties
hypocritically exploit this issue and fail to make a collective effort
to solve their problems together, we will have to live with all these
concerns for a very long time. It’s inevitable.

“Turkey remembers the truths about her republican history, though very
late and with strings attached. Turkey is settling her accounts with
the coup d’état, massacres and the crimes committed by the state. The
Ergenekon trial, the Sept. 12 trial, the Feb. 28 investigation, the
inquisition of what happened in Dersim in 1938. Each and every one
of those bears historic importance. Should these cases be handled
in due process, they all have the potential to take the country on
a brand new path. When we take a closer look to these trials and
investigations to better understand their significance, we can see
that all groups in Turkey — Turks and Kurds, Muslims and Alevis —
has fallen victim to the practices of the state. Even though each
group maintains its tendency to put forward its own victimization,
a holistic look into politics indicates that it is the founding
ideology that lies beneath the root cause of all these victimhood.

“…Without securing cognition about what happened in 1915, we may
get as close to the doorsteps of the new Turkey, but we cannot get
through it.”

ARAM I WARNS AGAINST TURKISH ‘INFILTRATIONS,’ VOWS NOT TO GIVE RIGHTS OF ARMENIANS

NaharNet

April 24 2012
Lebanon

The head of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I,
warned on Tuesday that Turkey began “infiltrating” different parts
of the world to silence the Armenian people.

“Turkey began to infiltrate not only the countries of the East and
the Arab and Islamic worlds but also Europe, Africa and America,
using its international tools, diplomatic relations and economic
power to silence the Armenian people that is asking for justice,”
Aram I said on the 97th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks during World War I.

“We expect from our Arab friends and western states – Christians
and Muslims alike – to defend the right and the truth and stay on
course with justice” leaving behind the Turkish diplomatic stances,
he said in his sermon at the seat of the Catholicosate in Antelias,
north of Beirut.

There is documented proof that the genocide took place although the
Turkish government continues to deny it, he said.

“All Armenians should hold onto their faith and continue with their
struggle” he stressed, saying “we won’t give up our legitimate rights
as long as justice hasn’t been achieved.”

Aram I asked for compensation and said Turkey should return to
Armenians occupied lands and church properties.

After the service, around 7,000 to 10,000 Armenians marched to the
Turkish embassy in Rabieh, carrying banners in Arabic, Armenian
and English demanding Ankara’s official recognition of the Armenian
genocide.

In front of the embassy, Armenian MPs gave speeches and the crowd sang
the Armenian and Lebanese national anthems, with all three Armenian
political parties participating.

Several Turkish flags were torn up and set ablaze and some
demonstrators threw water, eggs, sticks and firecrackers onto the
embassy premises.

Party leaders and fellow demonstrators prevented a confrontation with
the Lebanese security forces when some attempted to break through
the barbed-wire barrier.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed in 1915 in what is
now Eastern Turkey as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim
supported by several other countries.

But Ankara only argues that there was heavy loss of life on both
sides during fighting in the area.