Author: Kajoyan Gevork

FRENCH COUNCIL ANNULS LAW AGAINST DENIAL OF GENOCIDE
by SCOTT SAYARE

The International Herald Tribune
March 1, 2012 Thursday
France

Turkey applauds ruling, but Sarkozy promises to introduce rewritten
bill

ABSTRACT The Turkish government hailed the ruling and moved to lift
recently imposed penalties, but President Nicolas Sarkozy Enhanced
Coverage LinkingNicolas Sarkozy -Search using:Biographies Plus
NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysvowed to introduce a rewritten bill
criminalizing denial of Armenian genocide.

FULL TEXT The French Constitutional Council has struck down a draft
law that would have criminalized the denial of an Armenian genocide
by the Ottoman Turks, legislation that has soured relations between
France and Turkey.

The controversy over the bill is likely to persist, however. President
Nicolas Sarkozy, Enhanced Coverage LinkingNicolas Sarkozy, -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Dayswho backed the
legislation, vowed Tuesday to submit a new bill with revised language.

He has in the past indicated that he would push to see that denial
of an Armenian genocide is made a crime even if the council ruled
against the draft law.

Mr. Sarkozy offered no indication as to how he thought a new bill
might overcome the objections of the council, which ruled Tuesday that
“the legislature did unconstitutional harm to the exercise of freedom
of expression and communication” in approving the legislation.

After passage of the bill in the French Senate last month, dozens of
lawmakers from across the political spectrum submitted appeals to the
council, insisting that the legislation violated free speech rights
and that it was not the place of the legislature to impose its own
explanation for the hundreds of thousands of Armenian deaths that
began in 1915, amid the chaos of World War I and the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.

The government in Ankara, the Turkish capital, shared that assessment
and hailed the council’s decision on Tuesday. Turkish leaders will
meet to consider the lifting of economic sanctions imposed because of
the bill and the reinstatement of political and military cooperation
with France, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday. It remained
unclear how Turkey might react should Mr. Sarkozy submit a new bill.

“We consider the annulment of the legislation by the Constitutional
Council as a step that complies with the principles of freedom
of expression and research, the rule of law and international law
in France,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday evening in
a statement.

The ministry urged France to treat the “conflict between Turkey and
Armenia in a just and scientific manner,” in order to contribute to
its resolution “rather than deepening it.”

Among the penalties Turkey imposed because of the bill was the
cancellation of the annually issued permission for French military
planes to use Turkish airspace. The Turkish government has long
maintained that an Armenian genocide did not occur and considers
suggestions to the contrary to be an affront to Turkish identity.

Turkish law treats the public affirmation of an Armenian genocide as
a crime.

Historians widely believe that about 1.5 million Armenians were
systematically killed by Ottoman Turkish troops. Turkey maintains
that no more than 500,000 Armenians died, with many of them victims
of starvation or exposure, and not targeted killings.

A French law from 2001 recognizes the Armenian genocide as fact
but calls for no sanctions for those who contest it. The draft law
struck down on Tuesday would have punished denial of the genocide
with up to one year in prison and a fine of up to (EURO)45,000,
or more than $60,000.

The council that ruled on Tuesday evaluates the constitutionality of
French laws; its members include former presidents of France. Mr.

Sarkozy was prohibited from signing the genocide bill into law while
the council deliberated.

A statement released by Mr. Sarkozy’s office said he “measures the
immense disappointment and the profound sadness of all those who had
welcomed with recognition and hope the adoption of this law.”

The government and the news media in Turkey had lambasted the French
legislation and its backers, accusing French lawmakers of racism and
charging that the writing of history was well beyond the bounds of
their mandate. Some Turkish officials suggested Mr. Sarkozy had backed
the draft law in an effort to pander to the Armenian electorate; Mr.
Sarkozy is up for re-election this year.

In a Twitter message on Tuesday, Bulent Arinc, a deputy prime
minister of Turkey, praised the French council for declining to
“indulge political concerns” in its decision.

A LOOK AT THE OTHER “SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE VATICAN,” THE ARCHIVES OF PROPAGANDA FIDE

Rome Reports
March 2 2012

March 2, 2012. (Romreports.com) Each one of these documents tells
a unique story. Behind this seal, slab of wood or even this drawing
there’s intriguing history. All of these treasure are stored here,
in the archive of Propaganda Fide, the most important file on
evangelization.

“It includes 12,500 volumes with an average of 800 or 900 documents
per volume. So, I would estimate around 10 or 11 million documents.

It includes all types of languages. Also many Oriental languages like
Arabic, Coptic, Armenian, and Tibetan. The documents are written on
plain paper, rice paper, palm leaves, white silk, red silk, and even
parchment, which is animal skin, in this case, goat, lamb and small
cows,” said Luis Cuña Ramos, the archivist of Propaganda Fide.

Propaganda Fide is the Vatican department that’s in charge of
missions. In its headquarters it stores all the documents that were
kept and sent by missionaries to Rome from 1622 to 1959.

Msgr. Luis Cuña Ramos Archivist, Archives of Propaganda Fide “We
have letters that were written by nuncios, bishops, missionaries,
and also the replies to those letters. It spans through countries
throughout Asia, Africa, Oceania, America, Canada, Northern Europe
and Eastern Europe.”

The writings are not always on paper. Some are also kept on objects.

This hand carved wooden slab has an inscription in Arabic and it was
actually used to print the first Bible in Arabic and Latin. This letter
is etched in red silk. In it, Catholics from a parish in China directly
address the Pope and ask for their former pastor to return to their
church. Then, there’s this jade seal which holds a unique registration.

Msgr. Luis Cuña Ramos Archivist, Archives of Propaganda Fide “The
seal was used by the emperor to sign the death sentence of several
Christians. It was preserved by Christians of the court as a relic
and it was later given to John Paul II. The seal has the famous words
of Tertullian: ‘Blood of martyrs, the seed of Christians.'”

They’re described as much more than just documents. They are stories
and items that have made their way to Rome, after the Gospel took
them all over the world.

Watch Video at

IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Iran’s naval drills. Archive

REUTERS/ Fars News/Hamed Jafarnejad22:29 02/03/2012Sergei Markedonov
for RIA Novosti

At a meeting with editors of leading Western newspapers Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin said Russia will do all it can to prevent war in Iran.

But is this war already inevitable?

This is the question on the minds of many in Russia and abroad. A
fresh outbreak of violence in the Middle East could destabilize the
South Caucasus and other post-Soviet regions. There is no such thing
as a foreign war.

On March 5, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama is due to meet with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two leaders are expected
to focus on Iran’s nuclear program and the geopolitical situation
in the Middle East. Where do they see eye to eye? Will they be able
to stop the Iranian crisis from developing into a military conflict,
or will they choose escalation? Of course, the answer to this question
does not depend solely on them.

Hell to pay

If politics were rational, it would be clear that nobody stands to
gain from an armed conflict between Iran and the United States or
between Iran and a coalition of states (including the United States
and Israel).

War would curtail the production of oil and gas and inflate prices.

This would deal a blow to the West, primarily Europe, which is already
going through hard times. Russia would also lose out in this scenario,
as the West would start saving, reducing fuel consumption and buying
less Russian hydrocarbons.

While the parallels are a bit artificial, but something similar
took place in the 1970s. The repercussions of that oil crisis and
the Soviet Union’s collapse are still reverberating throughout many
parts of Eurasia.

Military action would also hurt China, whose prosperity is largely
based on the ability of the West to purchase the consumer goods China
produces, right down to the souvenirs from Washington, D.C. with a
“Made in China” label.

© RIA Novosti.

Unrest in the Arab countries

Israel stands to lose the most from a military conflict. It is still
reeling from the Arab Spring and the vague prospects of Egypt and
Libya’s Islamization.

Today many Arab countries and Iran are competing in a proxy struggle
in Syria. Were Israel to attack Iran, this could help unify these
opponents against “global Zionism.”

The odds of military action

Iran will not gain any benefits from armed conflict, either. Combative
rhetoric is all well and good, but in the event of war Iran’s
infrastructure will be subject to massive strikes.

Onlookers might point out that during the long war with Iraq,
the Iranians grew accustomed to the privations and casualties. But
ordinary Iranians are hardly interested in going through this again.

Any war is an ordeal, and Iran will grow poorer without the ability
to export oil.

Regrettably, politics is not as rational as we would like it to be.

Iran is too sore a subject for the United States, which cannot get over
its failure in 1979. At that time it did not gain anything from the
economic sanctions against Iran, which continued to develop without
America and exert influence in the region. For Tehran, America is
still the Great Satan.

As a result, even a minor miscalculation by either side could result
in major consequences. There is not much hope that realists will gain
the upper hand on either side.

It is important to prepare for negative scenarios. At any rate,
nobody should hope for an easy blitzkrieg.

Russia may have to deal with an influx of refugees. It is enough to
imagine that Iran may strike Azerbaijan under the pretext of fighting
the Israeli-Azerbaijani military partnership and arms purchases by
Baku. Do not forget that Azerbaijan borders on Russia’s Dagestan in
the north.

But even if this does not happen, Baku may try to exploit the situation
and speed up the military solution of the Nagorny Karabakh issue.

Avoiding war in Iran

Moscow will have to make a difficult choice given the competing groups
of influence among the Russian elite. After Russia’s loss of influence
in Georgia, a strong link to Armenia or Azerbaijan is not exactly in
line with Russian interests in the South Caucasus.

Moscow stands to gain from positive contacts with both Yerevan and
Baku, seeking a compromise on the Nagorny Karabakh issue rather than
the victory of one side.

Thus, a war in Iran or around Iran will compel Russia to break all
statuses-quo and seek new configurations. This will complicate matters
for Russia and prevent it from resolving other no less important
domestic and foreign policy problems.

These problems will not subside after the presidential election. We
do not need an Iranian Spring, much less a whole year of Iran. Russia
may receive some short-term gains from higher oil prices but they
will not turn into a strategic success.

Regardless of how the Iranian card will be played in the
foreseeable future, Russia is facing urgent challenges – rapid
economic diversification, breaking its dependence on hydrocarbons,
and the consolidation of a smart economy and high-tech development
(not limited to Skolkovo).

It would be best if military action can be avoided in Iran. The
main goal for all players – above all Washington and Tehran – is to
diffuse the potential for armed conflict, turning it into a conflict
of interests without extremes, or perhaps even pragmatic interstate
relations. This is the only way to calm down the hotheads on both
sides and move toward a resolution of urgent issues instead of
escalating tensions.

Sergei Markedonov is a visiting fellow of the Center for Strategic
and International Studies in Washington, DC

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and may not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS OSCE MEDIATORS

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 2 2012
Russia

The Armenian Foreign Minister on Friday received OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs Robert Bradtke, Igor Popov and Jacques Faure and the personal
representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk,
News.am reports.

The sides discussed issues related to the Karabakh peace process,
in particular ways of implementing the arrangements agreed on by the
Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian leaders during their January 23
meeting in Sochi.

“AFTER VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH IN FRANCE, TURKEY’S TURN NEXT?”

BIAnet.org
March 2 2012
Turkey

Reporters Without Borders appreciated the French Constitutional Court’s
decision against the law proposal related the denial of genocide. The
international organization now urged Turkish authorities to fulfil
their responsibilities regarding free speech.

Paris – BÄ°A News Center02 March 2012, Friday Reporters Without
Borders hails yesterday’s ruling by the Constitutional Council that a
proposed law punishing the “denial of legally recognized genocides”
is unconstitutional. It had been on the verge of being signed into
law by President Sarkozy.

“We are pleased that freedom of expression has not been sacrificed
to a cause, no matter how just the cause may be,” Reporters Without
Borders said. “The dangerous breach opened by this law has been closed
for the time being but it has already damaged the credibility of the
democratic values defended by France and those who defend human rights
and the Armenian cause in Turkey.

“We urge France’s politicians to renounce any intention of drafting
an amended version of this law. Any thought of using legislation to
establish an official history of past events should be ruled out for
good after this precedent.

“The Turkish authorities must now face their responsibilities. In the
name of free speech, they have for weeks been condemning the French
parliament’s meddling in history. Now they must prove that their
comments were not just tailored to the circumstances by allowing
Turkish citizens to mention the Armenian genocide without fear of
being prosecuted.

“Consistency requires that, at the very least, they immediately
decriminalize two offences, insulting the Turkish nation (article
301 of the criminal code) and insulting the memory of Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk (Law 5816 of 25 July1951).

“This decision does not exempt Turkey from finally confronting its
own history; quite the contrary. Now that Ankara no longer has the
excuse of ‘foreign meddling,’ it must remove the straightjacket of
official history from the Turkish republic, open a debate about the
fate of Turkey’s minorities and end the growing criminalization of
journalistic activities.”

Reporters Without Borders had written to France’s parliamentarians on
25 January urging them to ask the Constitutional Council to determine
whether the proposed law was constitutional (see below). Inciting
“discrimination, hatred or violence” continues to be punishable in
France under article 24 of its 1881 press law.

Source: RSF (Reporters Sans Frontiers – Reporters Without Borders)

ARMENIA HAS LOST NAGORNO-KARABAKH – ARAM SARKISYAN

Vestnik Kavkaza
March 2 2012
Russia

Opposition needs to make the upcoming polls presidential, leader
of the Respublika Party, a part of the Armenian National Congress,
Aram Sarkisyan said at a meeting of the ANC yesterday, Armenia Today
reports.

The official said that 130,000 people left Armenia for good, it is
about the size of Nagorno-Karabakh. About 80% of people would leave
the country if they had a chance to, Sarkisyan quotes social polls.

The party leader emphasized that the main problem of Armenia is
monopoly. It has monopolized government, parliament and economy. An
attempt to rid the country of monopoly was made on February 26,
2008, when people left the meeting of Serzh Sargsyan and came for the
“Go Armenia” protests of opposition.

ISRAEL-AZERBAIJAN ARMS DEAL SIGNALS CLOSE TIES, WHILE RAISING TENSIONS WITH IRAN

ARMENPRESS
MARCH 2, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS: Israeli defense officials confirmed
Sunday a deal to sell $1,6 billion in arms, including drones and
missile defense systems, to Azerbaijan, Armenpress reports citing
“ReporterNet.com”.

The deal reflects the close relationship between Israel, which finds
itself increasingly isolated in an increasingly hostile region, and
Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran and is building up its
military capability in the midst of its own dispute with Armenia.

The news comes at a delicate time, with tensions flaring between
Israel and Iran dominate headlines and analysts warning that an
Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could spiral into a
regional conflict. Now, growing tensions between Iran and Azerbaijan
have created another cause for concern.

“This deal is not a surprise in a sense, in that Azerbaijan has
staked itself out as a sort of pro-Western power in the region,”
said Thomas de Waal, a senior associate in the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace’s Russia and Eurasia Program.

De Waal described Azerbaijan as a mainly Muslim country with a secular
government that must balance building strong ties with the United
States and Israel with steering clear of a conflict with Iran.

The main motivation for Azerbaijan to buy these weapons, he said, is
to intimidate Armenia in their ongoing conflict over Armenian-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed separatist region that is predominately
ethnic Armenian, but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

“Azerbaijan is trying to build up its military because of this
conflict,” said de Waal, adding that the country’s military spending is
among the world’s fastest-growing over the past five years. “In doing
this, they are looking for partners and training to professionalize
their army, which was really nothing 10 years ago. And so Israel is
obviously someone they can rely on to do that.”

HOSPITAL WORKER, 45, WINS $168M AFTER SHE WAS FIRED FOR COMPLAINING THAT CO-WORKERS SLAPPED HER BEHIND

Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:30 PM on 2nd March 2012

Colleagues pulled her on to their laps and one told her: ‘You’re
going to give in to me’

A hospital worker has won $168million in a sexual harassment suit –
believed to be the largest ever sum awarded to a single employee.

A court awarded the staggering payout to Ani Chopourian after
co-workers allegedly repeatedly slapped her behind and pulled her
into their laps.

When she complained to the human resources department at Mercy General
Hospital in Sacramento, California, she was promptly fired.

Scroll down for video

‘Vindicated’: Ani Chopourian worked as a surgical physicians assistant
for two years. She claims she was fired after she complained of
sexual harassment

A federal court jury found the hospital and its owner, Catholic
Healthcare West, liable for $125million in damages.

They also added $42.7million in compensation for lost wages and mental
anguish suffered by the 45-year-old surgical physicians assistant.

‘I’m a humble person,’ an emotional Chopourian told ABC News 10. ‘I
just wanted to take care of patients. I loved my job.’

The unwanted sexual advances, touching and innuendos between physicians
and staff occurred between 2006 and 2008, she said.

But when co-workers began ‘slapping [her] on the backside, grabbing
[her] waist, pulling [her] into their laps’ her complaints fell on
deaf ears.

‘One harasser would tell me, “you’re going to give into me” and I
would say, “I’m never going to give into you”,’ she said.

Denial: Mercy Hospital claims she was fired for failing to turn up
for work

When Chopourian told supervisors, who often witnessed the abuse,
‘they would laugh,’ she added to ABC News 10.

The Yale graduate documented the alleged abuse and mailed it to the
HR department but was fired a week later.

‘One harasser would tell me, “you’re going to give into me” and I
would say, “I’m never going to give into you”. My supervisors would
just laugh’

Ani Chopourian

In her lawsuit, she claimed she had been let go for her whistleblowing,
but the hospital argued it was a result of misconduct.

It said she was fired for failing to report for work one Sunday, but
Chopourian said she was on call but never notified she was needed at
the hospital.

The federal court jury agreed she had been unfairly dismissed.

While she feels ‘humbled and vindicated’ by the payout, she said her
ability to trust has been shattered.

‘What happened will forever be a part of me,’ Chopourian said.

Speaking to KCRA.com, lawyer Lawrance Bohm welcomed the payout.

Hurt: Chopourian said she finds it hard to trust people after the
incidents

Sum: Documents seen by ABC News 10 show the staggering payout

‘It’s a historic verdict and I’m sure the repercussions of it will
be felt far and wife throughout labour organisations,’ he said.

Mercy General President Denny Powell said in a statement they would
appeal the decision.

‘We are disappointed by the jury’s decision,’ he said. ‘We are
committed to providing a safe working environment, free from sexual
harassment and inappropriate behavior.

‘We stand by the actions we took in ending our relationship with this
former employee and we will appeal this decision.’

Bohm added: ‘It’s very disappointing that they want to appeal after
so much evidence and after so many witnesses came forward so bravely.’

Read more:

ARMENIAN MUSIC CONCERT TO BE PERFORMED IN BOSTON

PanARMENIAN.Net
March 2, 2012 – 16:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – On March 31, the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) New England District will host an evening of classical and
traditional Armenian music at the legendary Harvard Club in Boston,
Mass.

The Armenian Weekly reports that the concert will feature classically
trained Armenian musicians Ani Kalayjian, cellist; Sylvie Zakarian,
percussionist and marimba soloist; Henrik Karapetyan, violinist; Karen
Hakobyan, pianist and composer; and Sofya Melikyan, pianist. All are
past recipients of AGBU scholarships in the performing arts and have
performed on international stages, winning numerous competitions.

Under the direction of Mezzo-Soprano Solange Merdinian and Conductor
Aram Demirjian, the program will feature selections of harmonious
pieces by such composers as Khachaturian, Arutunian, Babadjanian,
Mirzoyan, Komitas, Brahms, Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Rachmaninoff.

The concert begins at 8 pm, followed by an open bar and hors d’oeuvres
reception where guests will have an opportunity to meet the artists.

ARMENIAN POLITICAL ANALYST SAYS RULING OF FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RESULT OF TURKISH LOBBYING

ARMENPRESS
MARCH 2, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. The ground of the ruling of the
Constitutional Council of France is not legal as the bill criminalizing
the denial of genocides passed through a number of serious pipes. The
reason of recognizing it unconstitutional should be searched on other
platforms, political analyst Menua Soghomonyan told news conference
Friday.

“The process of adoption of foreign political decisions in France is of
pluralistic and bureaucratic nature. The essence of the issue should
be sought in the activity of active Turkish lobby,” Soghomonyan said,
adding that the issue is not on the Armenian-Turkish but French-Turkish
level.