GERMAN FM TO VISIT ARMENIA
armradio.am
14.03.2012 11:26
The Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Guido
Westerwelle, will arrive in Armenia on March 16 at the invitation of
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.
Within the framework of the visit Guido Westerwelle is expected to
meet Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Edward Nalbandian.
The German Foreign Minister will visit Tsitsernakaberd to lay a wreath
at the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims.
‘GRANDMA’S TATTOOS’ TO BE SCREENED IN ISTANBUL
asbarez
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
Khanoum is featured in “Grandma’s Tattoos” ISTANBUL–“Grandma’s
Tattoos,” the groundbreaking documentary chronicling the lives of
tattooed Genocide survivors by Swedish-Armenian filmmaker Suzanne
Khardalian will be screened in Istanbul on Thursday and Friday,
reported Hurriyet Daily News.
The film will be part of the 10th International Filmmor Festival and
will screen at Istanbul’s AFM FitaÅ~_ Beyoglu movie theater.
Khardalian said she was delighted her film would reach Turkish
audiences. “My film might serve as a platform to invite dialogue, to
discuss issues that are very difficult. It is actually an invitation
to deal with our deep-rooted taboos, taboos that have crippled us,
both Armenians and Turks,” reported Hurriyet.
Khardalian said she was also a bit nervous because the film was a
very personal story. “When making this film, I understood after long
deliberation and reflection that I had to be in this. Although the
film is about my grandma, it is as much about me. It is about my
reality today.”
She said rapes and traumas of women deeply concerned her as a female
director, because her grandmother was exposed to violence and her
body was tattooed during the events of 1915.
“To be born as a girl was a tragedy for her. I can still hear her
cursing me, and I did not like her. When I found out the reality,
I felt enormous shame,” she said.
“I have never been to Turkey. But let me tell to you that like all
Armenians I know the geography by heart,” Khardalian said.
Filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian Khardalian is an independent filmmaker
and writer. She studied journalism in Beirut and Paris and worked as a
journalist in Paris until 1985 when she started to work on films. She
also holds a Master’s Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from
the Fletcher School at Tufts University and contributes articles to
different journals. She has directed more than twenty films that have
been shown both in Europe and the US.
“Grandma was abducted and kept in slavery for many years somewhere in
Turkey. She was also forcibly marked, -tattooed – as a property, the
same way you mark cattle. The discovery of the story has shaken me. I
share the shame, the guilt and anger that infected my grandma’s life.
Grandma Khanoum’s fate was not an aberration. On the contrary tens of
thousands of Armenian children and teenagers were raped and abducted,
kept in slavery,” explained Khardalian.
“Grandma’s Tattoos” was screened in San Francisco, Westwood, Glendale,
Boston, New Jersey, Michigan and New York in December. It was also
broadcast on Al Jazeerah English in January.
Pop to Replace Intelligentsia
Naira Hayrumyan
Story from Lragir.am News:
Published: 15:56:58 – 12/03/2012
The traditional intelligentsia is not useful anymore and the ruling
party has decided to pick up pop stars.
During the local election of Yerevan in 2009 the ruling party used the
traditional method of political strategy, namely the involvement of
the national intelligentsia – eminent and respectable people – in the
election campaign. In Yerevan, posters appeared with the portraits of
Martin Vardazaryan and other charismatic and good people of culture,
and even criticism from their lips was perceived as support to the
ruling party.
As a result the government was unable to make a respectable
intelligent face for itself because one could discern oligarchs behind
them, with sly eyes and tough looks. Instead, the intelligentsia was
fully discredited. Some of them had been discredited earlier but after
the elections the intelligentsia stopped being the image resource for
the government.
After Tata Simonyan’s concert to mark the youth congress of the
Republicans another image resource – rabiz or city folk – was crossed
out. The concert got a strong backlash. Prime Minister Sargsyan known
as a rock fan, who made a drunk speech in the concert, was criticized
for upholding the city folk style – rabiz.
New resources are needed now which have not been discredited yet but
are ready to stake their reputation to support the ruling party. Noted
journalists, singers, maybe a whole party of people are standing in
line for this role to be crossed out of the government resource after
the election.
New Europe
March 11 2012
Tehran questions Baku over Israeli arms deal
Article | March 11, 2012 – 8:07pm
Iran challenged Azerbaijan over $1.5bn in arms it said were purchased
from Israel, Iranian state media reported.
Following news of the arms deal between Azerbaijan and Israel,
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Tehran Javanshir Akhundov was called in to
the foreign ministry through Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed
Abbas Araqchi to explain the weapons and to receive a warning that
Israel must not be permitted to use Azerbaijan to stage `terrorist
acts’ against Iran.
Akhundov acknowledged the arms purchase after getting confirmation
from his government but explained that the weapons were bought `to
liberate occupied Azerbaijani land,’ and that the government will not
allow these arms be used against another country, especially Islamic
Republic of Iran. Armenian forces are occupying Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The ambassador repeated Azerbaijan’s intention to develop relations
with Iran and called for an exchange of views to mitigate the growing
strained relations. “Considering declared policy by the Zionist regime
on growing penetration in bordering countries with Iran and using
these states’ territories against it, the Iran’s senior diplomat
warned against any kind of use of Azerbaijan Republic territory by the
Zionist regime for terrorist acts against Iran,” the ministry report
said.
According to the recent deal between Azerbaijan and Israel Aerospace
Industries, Baku will receive planes, drones and an advanced missile
defence system. It should be noted that the arms sale deal came amid
high tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran.
The reports of arms deal between Azerbaijan and Israel come a week
after authorities in Azerbaijan arrested a terrorist cell whose
members belonged to the Hizbullah terror group and held Iranian
passports.
Obama has no time to congratulate Putin
news.am
March 09, 2012 | 19:33
WASHINGTON. – U.S. President Barack Obama has no time to congratulate
newly elected Russian President Vladimir Putin for his victory, the
White House representative Jay Carney said, utro.ru reports.
Carney believes both Presidents will talk by all means, but not at the
moment as their schedules are very tense, RIA Novosti reports.
To note, Russian presidential elections took place on Mar. 4, while
the U.S. approved the results as soon as the Central Electoral
Committee announced them. In addition, congratulations for the victory
went not to Putin, but the Russian people by the State Department.
Cyprus annexation talk sparks debate
06/03/2012
Turkey’s European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis’ comments to Turkish
Cypriot newspaper Kıbrıs sparked a debate over whether Turkey might proceed
in annexing North Cyprus.
By Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times in Istanbul — 06/03/12
[image: photo]
“All options are on the table for a solution to the Cyprus issue,” Turkey’s
European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis said. [Reuters]
Frustrated by the lack of progress over the Cyprus issue, Turkey’s top
government officials have repeatedly declared that if there is no solution
by July 1st, when Cyprus takes over the rotating EU presidency, Turkey
would suspend dialogue with the Union until the following presidency in
January 2013.
“All options are on the table for a solution to the Cyprus issue. The
solution [that Turkey would consider] would include reunification under a
deal that the two leaders could reach, creation of two independent states
after an agreement between the two leaders if they are unable to reach a
deal for reunification, or annexation of the [Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus] to Turkey,” Turkey’s European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis said.
These harsh statements are mainly related to the deadlock over EU-Turkey
relations under the conditionality of the Cyprus conflict, experts argue.
According to Istituto Affari Internazionali Deputy Director Nathalie Tocci,
Bagis’ statements are reminiscent of Turkey’s stance towards the 1997-1999
Cyprus conflict when veiled threats of annexation were also made.
“It is no coincidence that such threats are being made again now,” Tocci
told *SETimes*. “In both cases — 1997-1999 and today — Turkey’s relations
with the EU were, and are, in a dire state. In the past, because of the
cold shower received by Turkey at the Luxembourg summit in 1997, and today
because of the stalled accession negotiations.”
However, experts are not of the same mind concerning the greater
significance of the statement.
European University of Lefke’s Mehmet Hasguler thinks the recent emphasis
made by Bagis is a significant counter-move showing that there is a wide
range of alternatives on the table for the current deadlock over the Cyprus
issue, she told *SETimes*.
“When AK Party came to power, it took over a heavy agenda on Cyprus and
started to reverse the longstanding trend of accusing the Turkish community
to block any solution.”
However, being a guarantor state in Cyprus according to the 1960 Treaty of
Guarantee, Turkey is prohibited from any annexation scenario, Cyprus 2015
Initiative Research Director Ahmet Sozen said.
“Bagis risks violating the very treaty obligations of Turkey under
international law when he — as a formal representative of Turkey —
discusses alternative solution models in Cyprus in this detail even for
tactical reasons,” Sozen told to *SETimes*.
Sozen said that annexation is not only devoid of the international law
basis, but also of popular support among Turkish Cypriots.
“According to a public opinion poll that Cyprus 2015 Initiative conducted
[in late 2010], 52% of the Turkish Cypriots find the ‘annexation with
Turkey’ solution model as ‘entirely unacceptable’, while only 23% finds
this option as ‘satisfactory’.”
But, tactical or not, all moves do have a price tag.
“Of course it is risky to show such harsh reactions concerning the Cyprus
issue. But, if Turkey is determined to make such an annexation, we can
assume that Turkey made a final decision about its EU membership bid,”
according to Hasguler.
“This should make all those — in Cyprus, Turkey and the EU — interested
in a solution on the island realise how pivotal Turkey’s accession
prospects are to reconciliation in Cyprus,” Tocci said.
Sabah, Turkey
March 5 2012
Turkish weapon sales span the globe
Turkey’s Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation had a record
breaking year in profit with weapons and ammunition sales to 29
different countries including the United States and Germany.
Last year, the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation set a
historical record in profit for selling weapons and ammunition to a
total of 29 different countries spanning from Panama to the
Philippines to Switzerland and the United States. With a 180 percent
increase in profit compared to figures from the year prior, 2011 sales
reaped in 165 million liras in net profit. Assigned to providing all
forms of weaponry, ammunition, rockets and explosives, the
corporation’s 2010 sales figure of 650 million liras soared to 850
million liras last year.
A 350 MILLION LIRA HIT ON THE CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT
Orders from Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense, the Armed Forces,
the Ministry of the Interior, the Department of Police and the
National Intelligence organization alone reached 350 million, 832
thousand liras last year.
In recent years the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation has
designed a number of new products, not only through establishing a
series of university and industry collaborations but also as a result
of heeding significant consideration to research and development,
resulting in an increase in exports every year. Last year, the
Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation sold a total of 98
million, 478 thousand liras worth of weapons and ammunition to 29
different nations spanning from Panama to the Philippines and from
Switzerland to the United States. Including domestic sales, the
Machinery and Chemical Industry (MKEK) realized a total 165 million
lira in profit last year. In 2011, the Corporation also managed to
sign on to 630 million liras worth of exporting agreements in 2011.
SAUDI’S SHOOT FOR THE SS30 RANGE
Saudi Arabia purchased the highest number of weaponry from MKEK at
44.6 million liras last year. Saudi Arabia primarily purchased SS30
rockets as well as a significant number of cartridges and ammunition.
Following Saudi Arabia was Bahrain with 17.2 million liras worth of
exports with Oman in third for the highest number of sales at 7.1
million liras. The majority of sales made to Bahrain and Oman
consisted of bullets and cartridges.
A 283 MILLION LIRA PROJECT
MKEK is currently operating with 28 of Turkey’s most prestigious
universities to fulfill a total of 127 R & D projects including the
‘National Tank Altay”, the ”Modern National Infantry Rifle”, the
”Sharpshooting Rifle”, ”Air Portable Howeitzer” and the
”Penetrable Bomb”. The total budget for the aforementioned projects
is 283 million liras.
The total sales made abroad by the Machinery and Chemical Industry
Corporation on a Turkish Lira basis is as follows:
Countries – Total (TL)
Saudi Arabia 44,577,382
Bahrain 17,166,325
Oman 7,077,690
UAE 5,555,765
Colombia 4,023,549
Belgium 3,848,964
Pakistan 3,529,094
USA 2,675,761
Italy 1,441,100
Azerbaijan 1,292,353
Kazakhstan 1,191,925
Turkmenistan 822,780
Portugal 744,888
Chile 680,739
Egypt 573,213
Switzerland 532,304
Cameroon 525,369
Germany 454,915
Vietnam 386,249
Panama 332,288
Philippines 316,226
Tunisia 201,373
Indonesia 141,114
Romania 124,355
Qatar 120,195
Thailand 71,008
Morocco 64,993
Belarus 6,289
Total 98,478.206
My hero: Raphael Lemkin by AL Kennedy
‘He changed the world with a word and yet remains virtually unknown’
– [image: AL Kennedy]
–
– AL Kennedy
– guardian.co.uk , Friday 9 March 2012
22.55 GMT
– Article
history
[image: Raphael Lemkin]
Raphael Lemkin in 1950. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis
Raphael Lemkinwas
a dogged campaigner with a burning faith in the power of language and
the law. He changed the world with a word and yet remains virtually unknown.
Born in 1900 in Belarus, he studied linguistics, philosophy and law. He
became obsessed with a crime that, at that point, had no name: the mass
murder of groups, simply because of their identity. He was aware of the
Turkish massacre of Armenians and of the Assyrians murdered in Iraq –
unpunished crimes that would allow Hitler to believe his final solution
could be achieved without international intervention. Lemkin identified the
stages that led to mass murder: the demonisation of a group, the
destruction of its culture, restriction of its freedoms and rights, the
small rehearsals of extermination.
In 1933 Lemkin, then working as public prosecutor in Poland, presented a
paper to the League of Nations legal committee in Madrid that described
what he then referred to as “the Crime of Barbarity” and its prevention.
His statement lost him his job, but he continued to pursue the idea that
the rule of law could save us from even the gravest crime.
When the Nazis invaded Poland, Lemkin – a Jew – was wounded defending
Warsaw. He fled, first to Sweden and then the US. Most of his family were
murdered in the Holocaust. He’d been unable to prevent what he had guessed
was coming and spent the rest of his life battling what he came to call
genocide. He named and defined humanity’s ultimate crime and was the prime
mover behind the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide . He worked
himself to death to establish a legal framework that defends us all. That
politicians have consistently failed to use the tools he gave them is their
shame and not his. He was a remarkable man.
=95 AL Kennedy’s *The Blue Book* (Jonathan Cape) has been longlisted for the
2012 Orange prize.
Agence France Presse
March 8, 2012 Thursday 12:52 PM GMT
Turkish leader hints France to be invited to Syria summit
TUNIS, March 8 2012
Turkish President Abdullah Gul indicated Thursday that France will be
invited to the next meeting of the “Friends of Syria” to be held in
Istanbul despite a slump in ties over a genocide bill.
A distinction must be made between bilateral relations and an
international conference,” Gul said on a visit to Tunisia, after a
Turkish diplomat said Ankara had not decided whether to invite France
to the conference.
Istanbul will host the second “Friends of Syria” conference, probably
in late March, after the first meeting in Tunis on February 24.
The French parliament passed a law last year making denial that the
Ottoman empire committed genocide against its Armenian population a
criminal offence, infuriating Turkey.
France had already recognised the killings as a genocide, but the new
law sought to go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up
to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000).
The French Constitutional Council labelled the law “unconstitutional,”
but President Nicolas Sarkozy promptly ordered his government to draft
a new bill.
Gul called for wide international participation at the Istanbul
conference, “including Russia,” an ally of Bashar al-Assad’s regime,
which along with China boycotted the Tunis meet.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his host, Tunisian President
Moncef Marzouki, he said a preparatory meeting would be held in a
couple of weeks.
Gul and Marzouki both said they were opposed to any foreign
intervention in Syria and stressed the need for a political solution.
Marzouki predicted that “sooner or later the regime will fall,” while
Gul said, “No regime can stay in power by oppressing its people in
this manner.”
The Tunisian president has offered asylum to Assad if it helps to
bring peace to Syria after nearly a year of violence.
Activist denies links with opposition alliance
11:49 – 09.03.12
An active member of the Sardarapat Movement and a coordinator for the
Armenian Volunteers Union, Zhirayr Sefilyan, has issued a statement,
denying any links between his union and the opposition Armenian
National Congress (ANC).
The activist particularly said that the Union withdrew from the
opposition alliance in the summer of 2009 and ceased to maintain any
ties with it ever since.
`As the coordinator of the initiative, I bring our society’s attention
to the fact that we, i.e. – the Armenian Volunteers’ Union, and
personally I, have not officially had anything in common with the
[Armenian National] Congress since the summer of 2009,’ reads the
statement.
Tert.am