Author: Kajoyan Gevork

COMMENTARY OF THE NKR MFA INFORMATION DEPARTMENT ON THE TRAGIC EVENTS IN MARAGHA

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 18:04:50 – 02/04/2012

In the history of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, abounding in
numerous facts of atrocity and vandalism by Azerbaijan, the events in
the village of Maragha of the NKR Martakert region are one of the most
extreme manifestations of sadism and barbarity ever known to humanity.

On April 10, 1992, after a three-hour preparatory bombardment,
the subunits of the Azerbaijani regular army invaded the village of
Maragha from the Azerbaijani village of Mir-Bashir (now Tartar). As
a result of the aggression 100 people were massacred – mostly women,
children, and elderly persons. Scores of people were taken hostages
and later were exchanged but the fate of many of them still remains
unknown. Two weeks later, on April 22-23, the village was repeatedly
attacked and the people who had come back to their burnt homes were
forced to abandon the village once and for all.

The monstrous crimes in Maragha followed the Armenian pogroms and
deportations in the Northern Atsakh, Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad and
other settlements of Azerbaijan and were aimed at frightening the
people and disabling them to live in their homeland. By the depth of
human tragedy, the level of cruelty, the number of people exposed to
violence and captured, the events in the village of Maragha occupy
a special place among the bloody crimes committed by Azerbaijan in
Getashen, Martounashen, Buzlukh, Erkej and the other Armenian villages
in the northern part of the NKR in 1991-1992.

Vice Speaker of the House of Lords of the British Parliament Baroness
Caroline Cox, who visited the place of the tragedy several days later,
was shocked at what she saw. “They are not of human race” -said the
Baroness about the Azerbaijani servicemen who had carried out the
slaughter. Baroness Caroline Cox both took pictures and video-taped
those atrocities committed by the Azerbaijanis in the village of
Maragha and also described them in her book ‘Ethnic Cleansing in
Progress”, as well as in her numerous interviews.

“It is impossible to describe what we saw there. The village was
completely destroyed. The people were burying the dead, rather to say
anything that was possible to bury, charred human remains, tortured,
cut or sawed parts of bodies. We saw the bloody swords by which
they had done all these brutalities. After killing the villagers
the Azeris robbed and burnt the village. By the way, they told us
that the servicemen were followed by the civilians with trunks who
were going to finish the robbery, – and we saw some of those trunks
scattered all over the land, which the looters did not manage to take
away with them”, – witnessed Caroline Cox.

Seda Poghosyan, an eyewitness of the tragic events, who was saved
by a miracle told. “The women, elderly people and children were
hiding themselves in the basements and dugouts. On the third day –
on April 10, 1992, the Azeris invaded Maragha. Several people came
up to the dugout where I along with my daughter-in-law Marine and our
two children – 4-year-old Karen and 2-year-old Vigen were hidden. The
Azeris commanded us to get out of the dugout. The first was an old man
Sasha, Asya and Zabel followed him. As soon as a man was getting out
of the dugout he was immediately killed. My daughter-in-law leaving
her children with me also walked up the stairs. The Azeri, with
a knife in his hands prepared for stab, stopped and began tearing
away her jewellery. Then he tore her dress. She broke into a run,
the Azerbaijani rushed after her. The exit from the dugout was open.

People dashed for the exit. They were noticed by the Azerbaijanis who
were busy with robbery and threw themselves to kill with axes, knives
and scythes. Masya and Ruben Ananyans were overcut immediately. I
saw how my daughter-in-law’s sister Karina was trying to escape from
the executioners.

Larisa Badalyan, a resident of the village of Maragha, was held
hostage by the Azeris from April 10 till December 2, 1992.

“Women, Zoya, Masho and Tamara, were led out of the cell by turn,
and brought back blood-stained and half-naked. In an hour the door
opened, the armed soldiers burst into the cell and pulled off the
remains of their clothes and raped.

Three days later we were brought to a prison in Kubatly, where I saw
my son Apres, who was mentally ill. His eye came out, his head was
swollen. A young Armenian from Martakert was on the floor beaten up
to death… My son served as a shepherd, I did chores. We slept in a
barrack, ate leavings. My son was often beaten up before my eyes. Once
they brought a body of a dead Azerbaijani and they wanted to overcut
us on his grave…”- she witnessed.

In 1997, a number of human rights organizations conjointly prepared a
comprehensive reference on the events in Maragha and submitted it to
the UN Commission on Human Rights. The Helsinki Watch International
Human Rights Organization officially confirmed that scores of
civilians were martyrized and tens of women and children were taken
hostages. However, the international media did not cover the massacre
of the Armenians in Maragha at all and the international community
has not given yet a corresponding assessment to these tragic events.

“You have the most powerful weapon – the truth – said Baroness Cox.

You should bring it to the international structures’ notice that
Azerbaijan attempted to commit genocide against the population of
Karabakh. You must more actively present to the world the mass crimes
perpetrated against Armenians in Maragha, Sumgait, Baku, etc. These
are crimes against humanity. I support the Armenians and comprehend
that they will never be able to live under the Azerbaijani dominion, as
the Armenians of Karabakh, who lived under the control of Azerbaijan,
suffered much”.

The massacre in the village of Maragha, which is still under
Azerbaijan’s occupation, cannot be called a military operation,
as there were no military bases in the village but only peaceful
citizens, who became the main target of the aggression. The crimes
were aimed at deporting the Armenian people from their homeland.

Summarizing the abovementioned, we should state that the slaughter
of unarmed civil population of Maragha is a crime against humanity
and civilization, without period of limitation, and the perpetrators
of this crime must carry punishment to the fullest extent of the law.

ARMENIA HAS ALWAYS STOOD FOR SETTLEMENT OF IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROBLEM VIA NEGOTIATIONS

armradio.am
02.04.2012 19:19

Armenia has always stood for the settlement of Iran’s nuclear
problem via negotiations, dialogue between Iran and the international
community, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told a joint
press conference in Yerevan with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“Our position remains unchanged. Iran is our neighbor country, and
we are interested in excluding the use of force or ways other than
negotiations for the settlement of the issue,” Nalbandian said.

The application of military force in Iran will affect not only
the security of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also the whole South
Caucasus and the Arab World, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
said in turn.

OSCE STUDY SHOWS 95 JOURNALISTS JAILED IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 2, 2012 – 16:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Dunja MijatoviÄ~G, the OSCE Representative on Freedom
of the Media, presented an updated analysis on imprisoned journalists
in Turkey on April 2 and called for immediate reform of the nation’s
media laws.

“The number of imprisoned journalists in Turkey has significantly
increased in the past year,” MijatoviÄ~G said. “This is worrisome and
demands the immediate attention and swift action of the authorities.”

Ninety-five journalists are in prison today, up from 57 a year ago,
according to the OSCE study, which is an update of a similar analysis
published last year.

“The sheer number of imprisoned journalists raises fundamental
questions about the law and policy on journalism and free expression
in Turkey. I am concerned that the threat of imprisonment will lead
to further widespread self-censorship,” MijatoviÄ~G said.

“The laws need to be changed so journalists are not jailed for their
work. Those who are in prison now need to be released,” MijatoviÄ~G
said.

The study shows journalists face extended pre-trial detention and
long sentences if convicted.

“Courts do not routinely grant pre-trial release to accused
journalists,” she said. “I am aware of only seven recent occasions
when journalists were released pending trial, a development which
I publicly welcomed. I hope others will be released soon and their
trials finalized swiftly.”

The study shows that the laws most commonly used to jail journalists
are Article 5 and 7 of the Anti-Terror Law (relating to articles of
the Criminal Code on terrorist offences and organizations or assisting
members of or making propaganda in connection with such organizations,
as well as the lengthening of sentences), and Article 314 of the
Criminal Code (on establishing, commanding or becoming member of an
armed organization with the aim of committing certain offences).

MijatoviÄ~G said that she recognized the legitimate right of
governments to fight terrorism and protect national security and
their citizens.

“However, objective reporting about all issues, including sensitive
topics such as terrorism, is a fundamental part of democratic societies
and journalists play an indispensable role by providing information
to the public.”

Ahead of publication, MijatoviÄ~G sent the study and shared her
concerns with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, offering
her Office’s full assistance in reforming the media laws in Turkey,
OSCE said on its website.

ARMENIAN, RUSSIAN FMS: IRAN WAR WILL NEGATIVELY AFFECT SOUTH CAUCASUS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 2, 2012 – 17:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia is concerned over peaceful resolution of
Iran’s issue, RA Foreign Minister said.

“Any hostilities on border with Armenia will negatively affect RA
and the whole region,” Edward Nalbandian told a press conference.

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov, in turn, noted that in case of development
of the worst possible scenario i.e. military intervention, it will
affect Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, the whole South Caucasus region,
the Middle East and the Arab world. Lavrov said that exclusively
legal means of peaceful resolution of the problem may be applied
against Iran, ruling out military intervention.

RESCUERS DISASSEMBLE SHEET METALS HANGING ATOP BUILDING IN ARMENIA’S SEVAN CITY

news.am
April 02, 2012 | 17:08

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) received
a call, on March 31 at 3:33 pm, informing that sheet metals were
suspended at the rooftop of a residential building in Sevan city,
that they presented a danger to the passersby below, and rescuers
were needed to disassemble them.

A rescue squad was dispatched to the scene, MES informs.

The fire and rescue team disassembled the hanging sheet metals,
and thereby eliminated the risk of their falling.

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT VISITS YEREVAN ROAD POLICE NEW REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT

/ARKA/
APRIL 2, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, April 2. /ARKA/. Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan visited
on Monday a new building of Road Police Registration and Examination
Department in Yerevan. The president, accompanied by Armenia’s Police
Chief Vladimir Gasparyan, City Mayor Taron Margaryan and Road Police
directors, took a tour around the building equipped with the modern
technology.

Road Police Deputy Chief Colonel Artur Tonoyan said the modernized
department, that will start operating on April 3, will embody
the functions of the first, second and third Yerevan Road Police
departments. The total expenses on construction works were estimated to
nearly 1.2 billion drams (nearly $3.1 million) from the state budget,
according to him.

“The new department that is equipped with the modern technology, will
ease registration procedures as well as vehicle control,” Tonoyan said.

The new department will make it possible to use a number of new
modern methods on obtaining driving license, control, registration
and implementation of vehicle deals, he clarified.

Thus, motorists who have a driving license will get a chance to pass
a driving exam (without passing theory) and obtain certificates of
a new category, Tonoyan added.

Moreover, electronic signature for making deals on transport vehicles
disposal and purchase will be practiced, according to him. Tonoyan
said the straight-flow method that will significantly facilitate
procedure implementations, will be used in accordance with “one
window” principle.

Tonoyan also clarified that now the citizens will just have to drive a
vehicle to the technical inspection station to verify the accordance
between the real and documentary data of the vehicle, to check if a
vehicle is wanted and compulsory car insurance existence.

After this, the citizens will have to complete protocol cards, which
will contain the real data of the vehicle, payment kinds and sizes
for the related procedures, and only after that inspector-operators
will go on with implementing them.

Tonoyan added that this new method will facilitate the implementation
of all the procedures, and the carrying out operations will require
20-35 minutes instead of the former 1-2 hours.

Moreover, he said the new department will ensure reduction in
corruption risks.

L’ARMENIE ET LA FRANCE RENFORCENT LEUR COOPERATION DANS LE SECTEUR CINEMATOGRAPHIQUE
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 3 avril 2012

Paris a accueilli une ceremonie de signature d’une convention de
cooperation dans le domaine du cinema entre l’Armenie et la France.

L’ambassadeur armenien en France Vigen Chitechyan, le vice -ministre
de la Culture Arev Samuelyan et Eric Guirado, realisateur francais
etaient presents lors de la ceremonie. Les deux parties ont discute
des perspectives de developpement soulignant le besoin d’approfondir
la cooperation bilaterale par des visites regulières et des ” masters
classes “.

En achèvement la reunion, le vice-ministre a invite Eric Guirado en
Armenie dans le cadre du festival l’Abricot d’Or.

Yerevan citizens are owners of Yerevan

12:28 pm | March 31, 2012 | Social

Statement of the group initiating demolition of buildings at Mashtots Park

“The statement of the RA Police on the demolition scheduled at
Mashtots Park on March 31 at 13:00 shows that the police intend to
continue protecting the buildings that were arbitrarily built with
serious violations of conditions in the area that is considered the
property of Yerevan. We assume that the RA Police is aware of its
responsibility for protecting the illegal property and all the
consequences.

We remind that Yerevan is a community with a population. The residents
of the community can directly implement local self-government within
the limits of the administrative territory of Yerevan. The structure
arbitrarily located in the land that is considered the community’s
property is recognized as the property of the state or the community,
regardless of who built it. The owners of the land have the right to
destroy any structure that was arbitrarily built in that area.

We continue to believe that the right of the members of society
fighting against illegal actions at Mashtots Park to be heard remains
violated. We are certain that there is still a need of actions to
protect the community’s property.

We also hope that the RA Police presents more substantiated arguments
on March 31, except for the possible use of force to suspend actions
aimed at defending civil rights.”

Shoah Foundation to archive testimonies from Armenian Genocide survivors
By Susan Abram Staff Writerdailynews.com
Posted: 04/01/2012 10:34:50 AM PDT
April 1, 2012 6:39 PM GMT Updated: 04/01/2012 11:39:02 AM PDT

The question would forever link one crime against humanity to another.

“Our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the
physical destruction of the enemy,” Adolf Hitler said in his 1939
speech to justify his proposed invasion of Poland.

“Only thus shall we gain the living space which we need. Who, after
all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

More than 70 years after Hitler asked that question, the voices of
Armenians who survived the Genocide that began in 1915 will join the
testimonies of those who survived the Holocaust of World War II, as
part of a collaboration between the Shoah Foundation Institute and the
USC Institute of Armenian Studies Leadership Council.

“These testimonies exist because (the survivors) wanted the world to
know that this happened,” said Stephen Smith, executive director for
the Shoah Foundation Institute, at the University of Southern
California.

The voices and images not only strengthen evidence that such
atrocities occurred, but also will show how crimes against humanity
are born out of bigotry, prejudice, and intolerance if gone unnoticed,
Smith said.

Founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994, the Shoah Foundation Institute
includes more than 52,000 digitized testimonies of the survivors and
witnesses of the Holocaust. It took more than 15 years not only to
record the accounts, but also to index them properly so that scholars,
journalists and those serious about learning could find specific
stories by name, birth place or experience.

The foundation is now conducting a similar project with more than 400
films made by J. Michael Hagopian. He was a small child when his
mother hid him in a well from Turkish soldiers who raided the village
of Kharberd in what was then Western Armenia, now part of Turkey.

He survived and migrated to the United States and became a filmmaker
who recorded the experience of Genocide survivors and witnesses.

Filmmaker Carla Garapedian, who worked with Hagopian and is leading
the Armenian Film Foundation’s effort to digitize the work, called the
availability of the accounts significant.

“This is the first time that Armenian Genocide interviews will be made
available on such a wide network, so that universities around the
world will be able to access them,” she said. “This is an important
moment in terms of educating the public, from the point of view of
survivors and witnesses. … In understanding genocide in that
comparative way, we may be able to prevent it.”

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died from 1915-23 in what has been
called the first genocide of the 20th century.

The Turkish government maintains the deaths were a consequence of
betrayal and civil unrest in what was then the Ottoman Empire.
Armenians, however, say the killings involved the systematic cleansing
of Christians, which included Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. But the
word genocide has become politicized, with both the United States and
Turkish governments refusing to call it such. Armenian-American
activists have said the U.S. government won’t officially recognize the
killings as genocide because it would hurt relations with Turkey, a
NATO ally.

In an interview with the Daily News in 2010, months before his death,
Hagopian said the accounts he filmed should be enough proof of what
occurred.

“The evidence against Turkey is enormous,” Hagopian said. “The Germans
have admitted what had happened (during the Holocaust). The Turks have
to admit it so that there is remorse, and after that atonement and
then forgiveness.

“They can’t kill babies and take wives and not face retribution.”

Samples of survivor and witness testimonies include recollections of
babies pulled from their mother’s arms by Turkish soldiers then thrown
into the air, and caught by a bayonet at the end of a rifle. There are
memories of bloodied bodies floating down a river, and the systematic
torture of intellectuals.

What makes Hagopian’s films that much more connected to the
testimonies to the Holocaust is that he was encouraged to record
survivors’ accounts by Armin Wegner – a German soldier. Wegner was an
Army medic who was stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War
I. While there, he took hundreds of photographs documenting what was
happening to the Armenians, which eventually resulted in his
arrest. But he was able to sneak the photographs out.

Hagopian’s first film that related to the genocide was an interview
with Wegner.

Both of their contributions, as well as the Shoah Foundation, will be
honored at a gala and fundraiser on April 15 by the USC Institute of
Armenian Studies’ Leadership Council. Funds raised will go toward the
continued work of digitizing Hagopian’s footage.

“Wegner is very much a real symbol for what we’re doing,” Smith
said. “Wegner was Hitler’s (symbolic) nemesis. He was there and
photographed the Armenian Genocide. While Hitler is saying who now
remembers the Armenians, Wegner says he remembers the Armenians.”

The digitalization process, which includes indexing key words in
Hagopian’s films, should be completed in about two years, said Jerry
Papazian, an advisory board member with the USC Institute of Armenian
Studies Leadership Council.

“This (project) so defines who we are, this horrible thing that
happened to our ancestors,” Papazian said. “Our theme has been `Don’t
let their voices be forgotten’.”

The Shoah Foundation Institute also is working to archive witness
accounts of the massacres in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. The goal
is to make people aware of what can happen if the world closes its
eyes and turns its back.

“I’m delighted that the Armenian community trusts us with their
personal community legacy,” Smith said. “Trust is the first step. When
you don’t trust, that’s the breeding ground for bigotry, prejudice,
and intolerance.”

Wheelchair granny’s underwear was stuffed with jewellery

By Poly Pantelides Published on March 31, 2012

A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND 83-year-old woman, underwear stuffed with
jewellery, was arrested, along with three others for allegedly trying
to smuggle stolen goods out of the country late on Thursday.

Three Armenian women, including the 83-year-old, and a Cypriot man,
41, were yesterday remanded for five days by the Larnaca District
Court.

When she appeared in court yesterday, the 83-year-old grandmother had
seemingly abandoned the use of the wheelchair and walked into the
courthouse on her own.

The four are being investigated for allegedly committing a felony,
theft and the illegal possession of property.

They were arrested after a Larnaca airport security guard who was
patting down the old lady discovered a number of items of jewellery
stashed in her underwear with the price tags still attached.

The 83-year-old arrived at the airport in a wheelchair and checked in
a little after 7pm.

She was going to be on the same flight with a friend – a 36-year-old
woman – and the wife of her grandson – a 24 year old who was being
extradited out of Cyprus.

The latter arrived at the airport under police escort, while the other
two women had packed for her and carried her bags for her, Larnaca
police spokesman Christos Andreou said.

But the 83-year-old was searched when she was going through security.

`A female guard on duty at the control discovered jewellery
meticulously hidden in her possession,’ Andreou said. He said police
suspected she was only in the wheelchair to try and avoid a search.

The grandmother also had clothes, shoes, jewels, watches, perfumes and
electronic goods in her hand luggage.

The 83-year-old claimed the other two women had given her the
jewellery.

Authorities then searched the 36-year-old’s luggage and found
perfumes, clothes, sunglasses and electronic goods, with the price
tags still attached.

The 24-year-old also had a large quantity of new clothes in her
luggage.

`They all blamed each other,’ Andreou said adding that `eventually
they claimed to have bought everything’.

The police said that none of the three women gave a satisfactory
explanation of how they came by the items.

The 41-year-old man was arrested after one of the women implicated
him.

All four deny any wrongdoing.