Author: Kajoyan Gevork

GERMANY AND KARABAKH ISSUE
Igor Muradyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 10:58:21 – 20/02/2012

The press informed that the German Bundestag working group on
foreign policies has issued a position paper entitled “20 years of
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh: a new impulse for a peaceful conflict
resolution”. It may be fraud, or partial fraud, however, if bundestag
is related to this text, it could be evaluated as 60 years of pedantry
and harmfulness of the German foreign policy.

In terms of meaning and content, neither Turkey nor Azerbaijan has
made a statement whose interests this libel protects. The Armenian
ambassador to Germany has to find out the motivation and personal
interest of the authors of this filthy initiative. The ambassador of
Armenia to Berlin will have nothing to do in that country unless it
clarifies this issue.

In the past 20 years Armenia has not explained to Germany that it
supported and covered up Turkey in the time of perpetration of the
Genocide. In 1997 the Armenian scientific society tried to shed a
light on this issue, which led to the counteraction of the Armenian
government. Problems do not occur out of nowhere, they are built
in favorable conditions and in the result of inaction of possible
opponents. By the way, there is no such information in the website
of Bundestag. The Armenian foreign ministry has not responded to this.

The Azerbaijanis may invent anything, this nation is totally marred.

The official politics of Germany does not match these statements,
and perhaps it is time to display the position of Germany on the
Karabakh issue. Germany does not have a clearly laid out policy on
the Karabakh issue, and after several attempts of activity in the
South Caucasus the Germans have understood that it is not time for
political activity in the region.

If we speak about the strategy of Germany on the “big diagonal”,
in other words, the railway of Baghdad, it is hardly useful for
Germany to harm the interests of Armenia, on the contrary. In fact,
Germany may have interests in the Caspian gas.

However, the position paper of the parliamentary working group of
small importance must be given a relevant evaluation and halt. For
the time being, it would be better to find out who the members of this
notorious working group and everything related to it. It is enough to
pretend that we deal with the civilized West marred with hypocrisy,
racism and saving themselves by way of sacrificing others.

NAREG HARTOUNIAN: “THEY’RE TELLING US TO PACK UP AND LEAVE THE COUNTRY”

HETQ
12:37, February 20, 2012

The RA Customs Agency has slapped a ban on all Tsar brand items
imported by the Hartounian family’s GH Storage Enterprises company.

This is the latest development in the tax evasion case pitting the
diaspora Armenian Hartounian’s and Armenia’s State Revenue Committee.

The Hartounian’s argue that the move is a violation of their
constitutional rights to operate a business.

Despite the fact that the amount of contested tax is 111 million AMD,
the Compulsory Enforcement Service refused to freeze 1.2 billion of
the company’s real estate.

Instead, the CES today froze all fixed and variable property belonging
to the company.

Commenting on today’s decision, Nareg Hartounian said he had no doubt
that the whole affair is being planned in an attempt to destroy the
family business.

“They are telling us straight out to pack up and leave,” he said.

UYL ADDRESSES OPEN LETTER TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Tert.am
20.02.12

The United Youth League (YUL) movement has addressed an open letter
to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

In its letter, the movement calls on the president to deal with the
problem of Yerevan’s Mashtots park.

The letter reads in part:

“Dear Mr President,

“Confident in your goodwill, the United Youth League is calling on
you to deal with the problem of construction in Mashtots park.

“At present, no green zone in our city must be turned into a trade
area, with polluted air and few public gardens.

“We are also well aware of the fact that the kiosk owners and workers
may lose their job. So we propose that the kiosks be removed from
the city’s center to other parts.”

MARCH TO YERABLUR: EIGHT YEARS SINCE ARMENIAN OFFICER GURGEN MARGARYAN HACKED TO DEATH

Panorama.am
20/02/2012

The Young Union of Yerevan State University Alumni is organizing
a march to Yerablur today to mark the 8th anniversary of murder of
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, organization’s press office said.

The march will start from Yerablur. Action participants will head to
Yerablur Church, then will visit Gurgen Margaryan’s grave. Some of
them will address the event.

The action has been initiated by the Armenian Defense Ministry, Gurgen
Margaryan Foundation, and Generation of Independence organization.

On February 19, 2004, Armenian citizen, Lieutenant of Armenian Armed
Forces Gurgen Margaryan, 26, was hacked to death while asleep by Ramil
Safarov, a Lieutenant of the Azerbaijani Army. Both were participants
of an English language training course within the framework of the
NATO-sponsored “Partnership for Peace” program held in Budapest,
Hungary.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 17 2012

Hrant Dink photos up for auction

NTVMSNBC

Photos showing slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink fishing at
the seaside have gone up for auction, private broadcaster NTV reported
on its website today.

The three photos, taken while the Dink was fishing on Büyükada island,
will be part of an auction that also includes 300 other photos.

The bidding for the photos will begin at 1,500 Turkish Liras.

The auction, hosted by the Artium Gallery, will take place Feb. 23 at
the Sofa Hotel. The photos will be on display until then in the Artium
building in TeÅ?vikiye, Istanbul.

Dink, the editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos, which is published in
Armenian and Turkish, was gunned outside his newspaper’s office in
2007.

February/17/2012

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 18 2012

Why `Zionists’ might give me an award

by MUSTAFA AKYOL

You might have heard that there are dozens of journalists in Turkey’s
prisons. For sure, this is a serious problem for Turkish democracy,
and hence I have been critical of the laws and legal mindset that has
caused these detentions. However, for the sake of presenting Turkey
with all its nuances, let me also shed some light on what sort of
`journalism’ we could be talking about here.

The majority of the journalists in jail are supporters of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and they have been accused of
venerating the PKK’s terrorist actions. Recently, a prison sentence
was given to a headline which read, `Suicide bombing: the road to
Kurdish liberation,’ which would be a crime in some EU states as well.
(Mere sympathy for the PKK, however, should of course be free. But our
illiberal laws disagree.)

The most controversial cases are those of almost a dozen journalists
who are accused of making propaganda on behalf of the would-be juntas
in the Turkish military. And most of these are affiliated with a
popular website called `OdaTV.’
Frankly, I am not an avid reader of OdaTV, but recently one of their
pieces made my day. For it was about no one else but me and had a most
interesting headline: `Why will a Zionist foundation give an award to
Mustafa Akyol in March?’

`The jury will announce its decision in March, but let me tell you in
advance,’ asserted Mehmet Å?ekeroÄ?lu, the writer of the article. `The
award will be given to Mustafa Akyol, who had long been chosen.’

What Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu was talking about is the Lioner Gelber Prize, which
is presented annually to the best non-fiction book of the year. I have
been indeed lucky enough to have my book, `Islam without Extremes: A
Muslim Case for Liberty’ (W.W. Norton) as one of the 10 nominees of
this year, along with titles by Henry Kissinger and Francis Fukuyama.
But why Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu defined the Canada-based Lioner Gelber
Foundation as `Zionist’ is beyond me. It is probably the result of the
paranoid anti-Semitism that is prevalent in many other `news stories’
of OdaTv.

Yet why in the world would a `Zionist foundation’ reward me? For my
great contributions as a veteran Kibbutznik? Well, Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu had
an even better explanation. `In the recent years,’ he wrote, the
`tarikatçı-Zionist media’ had told me, `go on my son, write and
speak.’ (`Tarikatçı’ is someone who is a member of an Islamic sect; so
I was lucky to have both Islamists and `Zionists’ as my mentors.)
These forces had in fact done the same polishing for Orhan Pamuk, who,
according to Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu, was rewarded for betraying the Turkish
nation by supporting `the Armenian genocide libel.’

But what was my treason to the Turkish nation? Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu wisely explained:

`Mustafa Akyol… is a sworn enemy of socialism, and a defender of
capitalism whose wildness have penetrated into all his senses and
bones… His biggest mission is to convince the poor masses that their
dire conditions are a part of their `fate,’ and not the product of
capitalism… So, there is nothing more normal than a liberal-Zionist
foundation giving an award to Akyol.’

In other words, I was a distributor of the `opium of the people’
(a.k.a. religion), and hence came my bribes from the world’s
capitalist cabals.

Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu’s piece went on and on with such demonizing rhetoric, as
many other pieces in OdaTV do. Since I am familiar with such bilge, I
did not take it seriously. Moreover, I am ready to defend the right of
Mr. Å?ekeroÄ?lu and other Oda TV writers to keep on pushing their
ideology ` a toxic blend of socialism, nationalism, secularism and
anti-Semitism. But I would also disagree with anyone who thinks that
this is the type of `journalism’ that Turkey needs to become a saner
country.

February/18/2012

APA, Azerbaijan
Feb 18 2012

Kamal Abdullah: `Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh fears of
perspectives of meetings with Azerbaijani community’

[ 18 Feb 2012 14:36 ]
Baku. Parvin Abbasov – APA. Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh
avoids the meeting with Azerbaijani community.

I think they fear of perspectives of these negotiations, because
Armenians saw the current political, economical and moral situation of
Azerbaijan as a result of these relations and while comparing it with
current situation of Armenia they didn’t find an encouraging thing.
That’s why Armenian community avoids the contacts with Azerbaijani
community, member of the Public Union of `Azerbaijani Community of
Nagorno Karabakh’, rector of the Baku Slavic University Kamal Abdullah
told the journalists, APA reports. He said that finally Azerbaijan was
destined to live in neighborhood with them: `That’s why the steps
toward the settlement of relations must be continued. We took the
first step and they must continue it. But they didn’t continue and
unfortunately avoid taking relevant steps.’

Yerkrapah Board chairman calls Armenian President brother-in-arms

February 18, 2012 – 16:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Yerkrapah Volunteer Union will back its
brother-in-arms President Serzh Sargsyan, Board chairman Manvel
Grigoryan said during the 9th meeting of Yerkrapah.

Asked if it stipulates endorsing ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) headed by President Sargsyan during forthcoming parliamentary
elections Mr. Grigoryan answered, `There has not been voiced a
statement on backing RPA. President is our comrade-in-arms and we will
support him.’

In this context, he noted that Serzh Sargsyan was Defense Minister
during national-liberation movement in Karabakh, and Yerkrapah
fulfilled his orders, stressing Serzh Sargsyan’s presence at Union’s
meeting as President of Armenia and not RPA leader.

Mr. Grigoryan further ruled out the possibility of another convention
aimed at announcing Yerkrapah’s support for any political forces on
the threshold of parliamentary race.

Today, February 18 Yerevan hosted the 9th meeting of Yerkrapah
Volunteer Union during which Manvel Grigoryan was reelected to the
post of Board chairman.

A statement was also approved confirming Union’s support for Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in foreign and domestic policy issues.

Yerkrapah Volunteer Union was established in 1993. It currently
comprises over 10 thousand members, most of them being veterans of
Karabakh war.

Yerkrapah member: We’ll take retaliatory action in case of Azeri attack

February 18, 2012 – 16:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Yerkrapah Volunteer Union stands ready to protect
homeland in case Azerbaijan launches an offensive, Yerkrapah Board
chairman said.

`If Azerbaijan dares attack our statehood, Artsakh, we will resort to
retaliatory measures,’ Manvel Grigoryan said.

He further noted Armenia’s readiness to defend itself whilst
refraining from attacking the enemy first.

Today, February 18 Yerevan hosted the 9th meeting of Yerkrapah
Volunteer Union during which Manvel Grigoryan was reelected to the
post of Board chairman.

A statement was also approved confirming Union’s support for Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan in foreign and domestic policy issues.

Yerkrapah Volunteer Union was established in 1993. It currently
comprises over 10 thousand members, most of them being veterans of
Karabakh war.

How Will the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Represent Genocide?
2012-02-18 11:34:02 | | Press release

Toronto, Canada – The International Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (`IIGHRS-Zoryan’)
was invited to a public gathering in Winnipeg by the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights (`CMHR’) in April 2003, after an initial meeting with
Gail Asper in Toronto. As a Canadian institution, we lent our name
publicly in support of the CMHR at an early stage.

Our early enthusiasm diminished over time, owing to the politics
surrounding the museum. Owing to such politics, we still have no idea
how the Armenian Genocide and other cases will be represented in the
CMHR. The IIGHRS-Zoryan made a detailed presentation to CMHR officials
in December 2009, as part of its public consultation, on how to
represent genocide in general, and the Armenian Genocide in
particular. When we found that the public consultations were not being
taken into consideration by museum officials, and there was an outcry
from various communities about what they felt was unfair treatment, we
subsequently issued two public statements on this issue in February
and August 2011, and wrote directly to Stuart Murray, the museum’s
President and Chief Executive Officer. None of the points have been
dealt with by the CMHR, nor has our letter been responded to.

The arguments can be read in detail on the IIGHRS-Zoryan website, at

and

The essence of the arguments is as follows.

The lack of responsiveness of the CMHR and the absence of information
about how cases of the gross violation of human rights will be
represented raise questions as to which cases will be included, how
much space will be allotted to each case, what their content will be,
if they will have a permanent or only temporary exhibit, and how these
decisions are made. Moreover, there is a close relationship between
the gross violation of human rights and genocide that is being
neglected in the museum’s planning. Unless we study such cases
comparatively, the lessons that can be learned are of limited value,
particularly with a view to the prevention of such cases.

In trying to fend off criticism from various community groups over its
handling of these issues, the CMHR posted a statement on its website,
originally appearing as a letter in the Globe & Mail on March 23,
2011, that the museum is not about genocide and never was. The August
2011 IIGHRS-Zoryan editorial rebutted this with explicit statements to
the contrary from the museum’s own publicity. The editorial also
argued the benefits of studying the known cases of genocide on a
comparative basis. Finally, the editorial pointed out that as a
federal institution, the CMHR was legally required to adhere to the
official Canadian policy of multiculturalism, which is to integrate
all citizens into Canadian society and treat them fairly and equally.

We recently learned from Armenian community representatives that the
museum will include the five genocides officially recognized by
Canada’s Parliament, including the Armenian Genocide, but we still do
not know how they will be represented or how the CMHR will deal with
the fundamental questions raised in our two public statements. It
seems that the CHMR is playing community politics by contacting
different groups at different times, while ignoring the challenging
questions raised by an institute whose mission is the study of these
very issues. We raise these issues today to make the Armenian
community aware of what has transpired over the past eight years. The
IIGHRS-Zoryan calls upon the Armenian community of Canada to speak
with one voice and to demand answers to these questions, for which we
have been awaiting an answer for a long time.

George Shirinian, Executive Director

Zoryan Institute

255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310

Toronto, ON

Canada M3B 3H9

Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736

News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan