Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 30 2011

The Next Armenian Revolution

2012 is the year of Dragon which usually is a year of revolutions in
Armenia. There was a revolution in Armenia in 1988 – the Armenian
nation stood up in a spiritual and political uprising. The energy of
this uprising was so big that Armenia became independent, the Armenian
nation won the war resisting challenges and trials inside and outside
the country.

But the anti-revolution quickly won in Armenia in terms of qualities
and activities of the regime of that period, and a
military-feudalistic regime, a symbiosis of soldiers and officials was
established in the country.

The next Dragon’s year was 2000, the year of the next revolution in
Armenia. In the result of internecine scramble, the
military-feudalistic system collapsed, and a system called
`criminal-oligarchic’ was formed instead.

This system was stronger and more `advanced’ than the previous one, so
it won. Why advanced? Because unlike its predecessor it was based on
the `law’. If under the military-feudalistic regime, the perceptions
of a couple of people were imposed on the society, under the
criminal-oligarchic system, the relations were based on the `law’ of
systemic agreements to divide the country into quotas and `zones’. The
arbitrary definitions and perceptions of `good and evil’ were
substituted by clear and tough rules of the game.

So, the Armenian society started adapting to the reality of living and
building relations on the basis of certain laws rather than
perceptions. This was something new to the Armenian society, because
our so-called political history, as much as we know, is a history of
perceptions which have nothing to do with the reality.

In this sense, the criminal-oligarchic system was very important for
the Armenian people because getting adapted to the mechanism of living
on the `laws’ of this system, it could pass to the establishment of
the state law.

Observing the experience of Western nations, we can see the evolution
of feudalistic systems into a criminal, and afterwards constitutional
systems. Almost all the nations have gone through this which, for
different reasons, lost the axis of internal existence, the moral
norms and the rules of internal relations.

2012 is the next Dragon’s year. The criminal-oligarchic system has
cracked now not because of internecine disagreement, as it is
believed, but due to the logic of internal and external objective
developments. In parallel to this, the legal and constitutional
awareness and civil values are gradually being established in Armenia,
the vivid proof of which is the active, literate and effective civil
initiatives. The former system will not withdraw unless a new system
of a different quality is formed. The Armenian society is on its way
of creating the new system.

In this sense, 2012 will be a revolutionary year. It is true that the
path of the new Armenian revolution will be hard because the entire
anti-revolutionary resource, the coalition and the opposition, the
political and economic `elite’, are a giant obstacle. But their time
has passed because the legal and constitutional awareness is something
that can’t be defeated.

Long live the new Armenian revolution!

Hayk Aramyan

Public Television of Armenia
Dec 31 2011

Armenian president vows to break negative stereotypes over elections

In his New Year address to the nation, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan has promised to do his best to break common stereotype that
elections serve only to come to power.

In his speech broadcast live by the Armenian Public TV at 1950 gmt on
31 December, Sargsyan hailed Armenia’s successes and achievements in
2011 and spoke about the new stage of development for the country.

“As we all know, an election to the National Assembly will be held
next year. We often perceive elections, I want to repeat, we just
perceive [elections], as a means of coming to power or preserving it.
It is high time to understand that there exist much higher aims,” the
president said.

Sargsyan said he had made his own decision long ago to refuse this
stereotype and to “implant principles of truly national and truly
state approach in political life”.

“It is not a secret, I have needed help and I need it [now],” Sargsyan said.

The Armenian president described the forthcoming 2012 as a year of
hard work and new achievements in all spheres of activity in the
republic. Sargsyan urged the Armenian people to leave indifference and
hostility in the past year and begin the new year with promises of new
victories “for the good of our motherland – Armenia, Artsakh,
Diaspora, for the sake of peace and creation, for the sake of our
families, parents, children and our sons standing on the border”.

[translated from Armenian]

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 31 2011

Turkish PM again slams France

31 December 2011, 20:37 (GMT+04:00) Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan delivered a televised national address and made remarks
on France’s approval of a bill penalizing the denial of the so-called
“Armenian genocide”, TRT English reported.

Warning France regarding its latest move on the bill, Erdogan said “We
can not allow any country to exploit feelings in order to win an
election by belittling Turkey.”

Premier renewed his call to open the historical archives.

“We will unveil our planned measures step by step against France
according to the process that the Armenian bill will go through. We
don’t intend to cover anything up. We are against the distortion of
historical facts, not clarification of them.”

Last week, the French parliament adopted a bill criminalizing denial
of the so-called “Armenian Genocide”.

A member of the French president’s party, the Union for a Popular
Movement (UMP) which has the parliamentary majority, presented the
bill to the legislative committee of the National Assembly earlier
this month.

Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, 38 of which
voted for, while 7 voted against the adoption of the bill.

The bill envisages about one year imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000
euros for denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of Turkey –
Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians
living in Anadolu and to date has achieved recognition of the
“Armenian Genocide” by the parliaments of some countries.

Erdogan also issued a warning on the Syrian crisis and said Turkey’s
sensitivity on the crisis is not based on interests but humanitarian
concerns. “We will continue to put forth our reaction until Syrian
administration halts violence and steps down only to be replaced by
people’s true will”, he said.

The premier pointed to the sectarian diversity in Iraq, saying that
this is a dangerous process and all sides in the country must act with
moderation.

On democratization and terror, Erdogan said Turkey will not step back
from democratization efforts.

Prime Minister Erdogan also made remarks on the performance of Turkish
economy amid a global financial crisis and said Turkey is among the
fastest growing economies in the world at a time when growth rates are
slowing down in many other countries.

The Australian
Jan 2 2012

ASIO detected bomb plot by Armenian terrorists

by: Brendan Nicholson
From: The Australian January 02, 2012 12:00AM

IN 1983, ASIO was trying to track down those responsible for a
terrorist attack in Sydney when investigators discovered another
atrocity was being planned.
ASIO’s action appears to have stalled the plot and delayed the
follow-up attack for three years.

Cabinet papers released yesterday show that ASIO had little to go on,
but in October 1983 it briefed the Hawke cabinet on its concerns that
a group called Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide was
planning an attack in Australia.

In 10 years, the group had killed dozens of Turkish diplomats around the world.

Nearly three decades later, the ASIO document released today has still
been heavily censored, but enough is left to reveal that a JCAG
member, Krikor Keverian, was intercepted with four handguns in his
baggage when returning from Los Angeles on July 12, 1983.

ASIO has removed the next bit but the document goes on: “It is
believed they were the ‘important things’ he was reminded to bring
back with him by Silva Donelian, whom ASIO believes played some role
in the killing in Sydney in December 1980 of Turkish consul-general
Sarik Ariyak and his bodyguard.” Their killers have never been found.

The security agency said it believed something was planned, but it was
not sure if or when it would take place.

The agency said a Levon Demirian was planning to return to Australia
early from Beirut on July 13 “because something has been brought
forward”. Demirian’s visit was cancelled after the discovery of the
handguns.

On July 14, ASIO said another Armenian, Agop Magarditch, who had
recently returned from the US, had reported guns were in a shipment of
furniture and personal items en route to him from Los Angeles. The
shipment was intercepted and a sub-machinegun, five pistols and
ammunition were found, with information on how to carry out an
assassination. ASIO said it suspected that Magarditch, on hearing of
Keverian’s arrest, had panicked and reported the weapons.

The agency said it had received reports from its agents that Demirian
was in Australia and it was likely he had used a false identity to
enter the country.

“Such an entry would suggest operational motive,” ASIO said.

ASIO noted that the JCAG had just tried, but failed, to carry out an
attack on the Turkish embassy in Lisbon. Some of those attackers came
from Beirut and all were equipped for a siege.

It concluded the pistols being brought into Australia by Keverian were
for use in an operation in which Demirian was to be involved.

ASIO said it was possible the group was planning a siege-hostage operation.

Responding to the agency’s concerns, the Hawke government initiated a
“special counter-terrorism risk alert”.

It is not clear from the documents what ASIO did next or whether the
suspected plot was ultimately foiled. But on November 23, 1986, a bomb
hidden in a car exploded in the basement of the building housing the
Turkish consulate in Melbourne.

The bomb had apparently exploded prematurely, and Hagob Levonian, from
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, was blown to pieces.

Levon Demirian was charged with murdering Levonian.

The Journal (Newcastle, UK)
December 31, 2011 Saturday

Family Deportation Threat Lifted

A FAMILY are looking forward to a happy New Year on Tyneside following
the end of their lengthy deportation battle.

Kamo and Nonna Manukyan have lived in Wallsend, North Tyneside, for
more than four years with their children Lusi, 20, and Arsen, 21.

The family were refused asylum and faced deportation to Armenia and Uzbekistan.

But now they are looking forward to a settled 2012 after being granted
discretionary leave, meaning they can stay in the UK for the next
three years.

Lusi said: “We have really enjoyed our first peaceful Christmas in the
UK and we have not had to worry about whether or not we will be here
in the New Year.

“We are really looking forward to it and we just hope that everything
will run smoothly for us from now on. I can’t describe how happy we
are. Our prayers and dreams have come true.” The family have just
moved into a new home in Wallsend and Lusi is settling into university
at Newcastle after enrolling on government and European Union studies,
while Arsen is on a fashion design course at Edinburgh University.

Parents Kamo and Nonna are looking for employment and are hoping to
start work soon.

The family believe they will be allowed to stay in their home in
Wallsend for three years before they need to make another claim for
asylum.

They fled Uzbekistan in 2007 and, since finding a home in the North
East, they have become pillars in the local community and have done
thousands of hours of volunteering between them.

Members of the community have supported the family with their fight to
stay in the UK, with hundreds signing a petition to keep them in the
North East.

The UK Border Agency said it was unable to comment on individual cases.

Targeted News Service
December 30, 2011 Friday 2:03 PM EST

U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in North Carolina (Dec. 30)

Alexandria, VA.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 30 — The following federal patents were awarded
to inventors in North Carolina.

***

Synopsys Assigned Patent

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 30 — Synopsys, Mountain View, Calif., has been
assigned a patent (8,085,279) developed by Grigor S. Avagyan, Yerevan,
Armenia, and Jeffrey T. Brubaker, Carrboro, N.C., for a “drawing an
image with transparent regions on top of another image without using
an alpha channel.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office states: “An image display system draws a first image on top of
a second image. Pixels of the first image include one or more color
channels which encode color information, but do not include an alpha
channel which encodes transparency information. The system encodes
transparency information for the pixels in the first image using at
least one bit in at least one color channel of each pixel. The system
draws the first image on top of the second image using the
transparency information encoded in the color channels of the pixels
to obtain a combined image.”

The patent application was filed on Oct. 30, 2009 (12/610,241). The
full-text of the patent can be found at
,085,279&OS=8,085,279&RS=8,085,279

Ekklesia, UK
Jan 1 2012

The Armenian Genocide: What about Turkey?

By Harry Hagopian
31 Dec 2011

Hold on for a minute: is this still December 2011 (just) or are we
already in April 2012? Before anyone assumes that I have taken
complete leave of my senses, I am asking this question merely because
of a recent hyper-inflation of stories in both the official media and
blogosphere that are linked to the Armenian genocide of 1915.

This trend usually occurs nearer the annual anniversary date of 24
April and not at the end of the year when politicians are far more
eager to rush back to their constituencies and rest after all the
rampant mess they have caused over the past year.

However, December 2011 was somewhat different in that it was
characterised by two key Armenian events – one in France and another
in Israel. In France, the National Assembly – the lower house of
parliament – approved a draft law that would criminalise the denial of
the Armenian genocide.

Nonetheless, the Senate – the upper house of parliament – still needs
to ratify the bill before it can ever become law. In fact, Bernard
Accoyer, Speaker of the National Assembly, stated that such
legislation was unlikely to be adopted by both houses of parliament
before the forthcoming presidential elections.

The Turkish reaction to the vote was both disproportionate and
vengeful when hackers crashed the website of the Senate in Paris. The
site ended up showing a black screen signed by Iskorpit – allegedly
the trademark of an infamous Turkish hacker who claims to have
hijacked numerous websites under a Distributed Denial of Service
(DDoS) attack in which thousands of hijacked computers bombard a
website with demands for information, swamping it and effectively
shutting it down. On the same day, the website of Valérie Boyer, the
parliamentarian from President Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party who was the
primary sponsor of the `genocide draft law’ was also hacked and
started showing a black screen with a Turkish flag.

Hot on the heels of the vote in the French National Assembly, the
Commission on Education, Culture and Sport in the Israeli Knesset
[Parliament] also debated whether Israel should mark April 24 as a
memorial day for `the massacre of the Armenian people’. Although a
similar proposal had been rejected by the Knesset in 2007, Zahava
Gal-On from the left-leaning Meretz party suggested that the colder
diplomatic climate might mean that the measure could gain support this
time round whilst the Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin stressed that the
issue was not a political one.

Apart from France and Israel, Milorad Dodik, Head of the Serbian
Sector of Bosnia from the Serbian Independent Social-Democratic Party,
also requested the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina to discuss a
bill prohibiting denial of the Armenian genocide. Nevertheless, there
is little likelihood for the adoption of such a bill since the Serbian
Social-Democrats have only 8 out of 42 seats in the Federal Parliament
of Bosnia.

Let me posit four key points that I would argue are germane to the
ongoing discourse over the issue of recognition.

– The timing of the debates in France and Israel reek of sheer
political expediency. In France, President Sarkozy is anxiously
courting the Armenian French votes in order to outdo François
Hollande’s Socialist Party in the presidential elections of April-May
2012. In Israel, the resurgent enthusiasm toward the Armenian genocide
is meant more as a potential threat – a red flag if you will – to
Turkey ever since bilateral relations chilled following the Mavi
Marmara flotilla incident of June 2010. Given the incontrovertible
historical authenticity of the genocide, coupled with a strong
collective anamnesis, should Armenian nationalism and faithfulness to
their identity accept their `cause’ to be crassly marketed with such
animated toadying in a political bazaar that debases the memory of
their murdered ancestors? Is it not clear that the Israeli Knesset or
the French Senate will not deliver the goods? Even the Serbian
proposal is more a spike against Croats and Bosnians than any real
solidarity with Armenians.

– Given the strategy pursued so far by many Armenians, what is the
long-term objective of those recognitions? Armenian and Turkish
emotions vacillate every time this issue comes up, but have the 21
state recognitions to date achieved any discernible or concrete result
in a geopolitical sense? Is it not perhaps time to think more
laterally?

– All the bluster from Turkey’s irascible Prime Minister – with his
comparisons to Algeria or his diplomatic sanctions against France –
claim a fury with the French for daring to criminalise the denial of
genocide. However, the blatant irony and dubious double-standards lie
in the fact that Turkey itself has already criminalised genocide
recognition in its Penal Code and has wantonly gaoled those who have
referred to the Armenian experience as genocide.

– Almost a century after this genocide, should Armenians go down the
road of muzzling freedom of expression – a fundamental right that the
whole Middle East and North Africa population is dying for these days?
Should one encourage legislating thought and thereby accepting the
limits of freedom of expression? Mind you, given the horrific scale of
the crime, this sensitive issue becomes laden with profound moral,
ethical, legal, political and psychological implications. Is it
perhaps not wiser to rely upon oneself and adopt a pan-Armenian
strategy that uses a sharper national compass?

In a nutshell, should recognition not pass directly and unfailingly
through Turkey rather than meander hither and thither?

© Harry Hagopian is an international lawyer, ecumenist and EU
political consultant. He also acts as a Middle East and inter-faith
advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales and as
Middle East consultant to ACEP (Christians in Politics) in Paris. He
is an Ekklesia associate and regular contributor
(). Formerly an Executive
Secretary of the Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee and Executive
Director of the Middle East Council of Churches, he is now an
international fellow, Sorbonne III University, Paris, consultant to
the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (UK) and author
of The Armenian Church in the Holy Land. Dr Hagopian’s own website is

New York Post
Dec 29 2011

Brawl is mano amen-o

Monks gone wild at Jesus’ birth site

By ANDY SOLTIS

Dozens of Christian monks armed with brooms brawled at the sacred site
of Jesus’ birth yesterday when an annual cleanup turned into a turf
war.

Palestinian riot police had to storm the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem and use batons and shields to break up the fight between
rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics.

The Greeks and Armenians, along with Roman Catholics, share the
1,500-year-old church, which, according to Christian tradition, was
built over the cave where Jesus was born.

Each group regards specific areas of the West Bank compound as theirs
to administer.

The brawl began as monks were carrying out the annual routine of
cleaning up the church following Christmas Day celebrations, when
western Christian tourists fill Manger Square outside the church and
sing carols.

The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic clerics were readying their
sections in preparation for Orthodox Christmas, which is observed on
Jan. 7.

But this year’s cleanup was marred when some monks began arguing over
what they regarded as trespassing on their turf.

As shocked tourists looked on, the dispute grew into a shouting,
broom-wielding fight involving about 100 clerics, witnesses said.

Palestinian police had to squeeze themselves past the low-hanging
`Door of Humility’ to hurry inside and restore order.

Two Palestinian Authority officials received minor injuries, officials said.

`No one was arrested because all of those involved were men of God,’
Bethlehem Police Lt. Col. Khaled al-Tamimi said.

He shrugged off the incident. `Everything is all right, and things
have returned to normal,’ he said. `It was a trivial problem that . .
. occurs every year.’

The Sun, UK
Dec 28 2011

Affray in a manger for fighting monks

Rival clerics scrap in church built on Jesus’ birthplace

POLICE were called to break up a fight between clerics – at the church
believed to be built on the spot where Jesus was born.
Rival groups of broom-wielding Orthodox and Armenian clerics clashed
at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine, when tensions
flared during the cleaning of the church for the Orthodox Christian
celebrations in early January.

Around 100 priests and monks were thought to be involved in the
dispute, which was over the boundaries of the territory the different
groups care for within the church.

The former Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Head of the Palestinian
forces in Bethlehem were both slightly hurt in the scrap.

Relationships between the Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic clerics who
share responsibility for the church have often been difficult, and
there have been similar scuffles in recent years.

Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled al-Tamimi said: “It was a trivial problem
that occurs every year.

“Everything is alright and things have returned to normal.”

He said there were no arrests made because the monks who were involved
are “men of God”.

By MATT QUINTON

Agence France Presse
Dec 28 2011

Cleaning clergy brawl in Bethlehem
(AFP)

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories – An unholy row erupted between
Greek Orthodox and Armenian clergy on Wednesday over the cleaning of
the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, an AFP correspondent said.

Following Christmas celebrations, dozens of black-clad clerics from
both churches, armed with brooms and cleaning materials, began to work
on different parts of the church, built over the site where Jesus
Christ is believed to have been born.

But an Armenian priest supervising the work thought that a broom held
by a Greek Orthodox priest encroached on their space, and angry words
swiftly became a fight.

Palestinian policemen at the scene intervened and the priests resumed
their cleaning, an AFP correspondent said. A second fight was also
quelled.

No one was hurt in the brawl, and police made no arrests.

The Church of the Nativity, like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem’s Old City, is shared by various branches of Christianity,
each of which controls and jealously guards a part of the holy site.

Scuffles often erupt between Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests
during joint religious or cleaning ceremonies. In 2007, seven priests
were injured in a post-Christmas cleaning fight in the church.

The Church of the Nativity is built on the site where Christians
believe Jesus was born in a stable more than 2,000 years ago after
Mary and Joseph were turned away at an inn.