Author: Kajoyan Gevork

AXA Inter-Attorney Squabble III

asbarez
Monday, December 12th, 2011

AXA company
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

On Monday, December 5, another hearing took place in Federal Judge
Christina A. Snyder’s court in downtown Los Angeles. It has two weeks
since the last one in the ongoing lawsuit that has pitted against one
another attorneys (Mark Geragos/Brian Kabateck vs. Vartkes Yeghiayan)
who once jointly fought the French insurance company AXA to secure
payment to the heirs of genocide victims who had bought life insurance
policies from that company. This time, the sides were more amicable,
and the hearing very brief, only Roman Silberfeld, Yeghiayan’s
attorney, and Mark Geragos, for the opposing side, spoke.

Once again, the name of Parsegh Kartalian name came up. He was the
administrator who ran the distribution of the millions of dollars that
AXA was required to pay to the rightful recipients of the insurance
policies’ payouts. This time, he was the focus of what both Geragos
and Silberfeld had agreed upon in their meeting that was ordered by
the judge at the previous hearing. They were going to ask Kartalian
for a report covering the claims paid, charitable contributions made,
and the office operation. It is hoped this report will clarify the
situation for all concerned. If the court is not satisfied with the
result, then a further hearing would be held.

The sides have agreed that all 13,000 claim files will be moved to a
neutral site with access for all. Whether this means the public is
included, or if it is just the parties to the current lawsuit, was not
specified. They have also agreed to hire an accounting firm to conduct
an audit all of them for a fixed fee. They have agreed to a firm, but
it has not yet been hired.

The sides also proposed reexamining the claims that had been paid to
correct for the 0.1% that had been discovered. But, only claims where
the payment was $10,000 or greater will be covered by this
arrangement. This is because smaller amounts would result in
corrections of less than $10, creating a state of diminishing returns.
The judge approved this, but added that the smaller claims should be
informed of this situation, and only if they request the correction
e.g. with the claimant paying the postage, would they receive the
funds.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 30.

In the interest of full disclosure, my family is an AXA claimant. The
claim was denied. No explanation was given.

Libération, France
Jeudi 15 Décembre 2011
Liberation.Fr Edition

Risque de nouvelle crise franco-turque sur le génocide arménien

La possible adoption au Parlement français d’une proposition de loi
liée au génocide arménien est sur le point de provoquer une nouvelle
crise majeure dans les relations entre la France et la Turquie, pays
clé pour la résolution de la question syrienne.

Au cours des dernières semaines, Ankara a mis en garde la France
contre ce projet qui sera débattu jeudi prochain à l’Assemblée
nationale et qui propose de sanctionner d’une peine de prison et d’une
amende la négation du génocide arménien de 1915, qu’Ankara refuse de
reconnaître.

La tension est montée d’un cran jeudi. Le ministre turc des Affaires
étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu a stigmatisé la “mentalité moyengeuse” de
la France. Et l’ambassade de Turquie a averti qu’un vote favorable
aurait des “conséquences irréparables dans tous les domaines des
relations bilatérales”, à commencer par le rappel pour consultations
de l’ambassadeur en France et le gel de toute coopération avec Paris.

Le porte-parole de l’ambassade turque Engin Solakoglu a évoqué les
discussions en cours sur la construction d’une deuxième centrale
nucléaire en Turquie: “Il n’y avait rien d’acquis (…) mais il serait
inimaginable que la France soit choisie” si le texte était adopté,
a-t-il dit.

La proposition de loi a été déposée par une députée de l’UMP, le parti
présidentiel, ce que n’a pas manqué de relever Ankara y voyant “un
acte hostile de l’exécutif français” et une démarche “liée au
calendrier politique français” pour séduire le demi-million de membres
de la communauté arménienne avant la présidentielle du printemps
prochain.

Devant les associations arméniennes, Nicolas Sarkozy, avant son
élection en 2007, s’était engagé à soutenir un tel texte au Parlement.

En visite en octobre à Erevan, il avait à nouveau jugé la négation du
génocide arménien “pas acceptable” et appelé la Turquie à “revisiter
son histoire”, déclenchant à nouveau les foudres d’Ankara, comme lors
de la reconnaissance du génocide par la France en 2001.

La Turquie reconnaît que 300.000 à 500.000 Arméniens ont péri dans
l’Anatolie ottomane en 1915, dans le chaos des dernières années de
l’Empire ottoman, mais elle nie l’existence d’une campagne
d’extermination d’un million et demi de personnes.

Le chef de la diplomatie française Alain Juppé a effectué en novembre
une visite à Ankara et parlé à l’unisson de son homologue turc pour
accentuer la pression sur le régime syrien et faire cesser la
répression féroce de l’opposition.

Cette visite a été perçue comme un signe d’apaisement dans les
relations avec Ankara. “La Turquie est aux avant-postes sur la
question syrienne” et la France cherche à jouer un rôle central sur ce
dossier, note l’universitaire Jean Marcou qui a dirigé de 2006 à 2010
à Istanbul l’Observatoire de la vie politique turque.

Mais après “une sorte d’éclaircie” lors de la visite de M. Juppé, il
prédit “une vive réaction” turque dans la foulée du débat
parlementaire.

Une délégation pour éviter «l’irréparable»

La diplomatie française est d’autant plus embarrassée que les
relations franco-turques sont dans une phase délicate depuis l’arrivée
au pouvoir de Nicolas Sarkozy qui s’oppose à l’entrée de la Turquie
dans l’Union européenne.

Pour éviter “l’irréparable”, une délégation de parlementaires turcs
est attendue lundi à Paris où elle rencontrera Axel Poniatowski,
président UMP de la Commission des Affaires étrangères de l’Assemblée
et probablement Alain Juppé.

M. Poniatowski admet que la situation est “compliquée”. “Autant la
reconnaissance du génocide n’est pas négociable, autant la nouvelle
proposition de loi n’est pas indispensable aujourd’hui. Cela va bien
au-delà de la question arménienne”, estime-t-il, ajoutant que “la
Turquie est un acteur incontournable” pour la gestion de la question
syrienne.

(AFP)

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 18 2011

The problem with France

FATMA DÝÞLÝ ZIBAK
[email protected]

Remarks made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan on Saturday
calling on France, which has been pondering passing a law that
criminalizes denying that the 1915 deportation of Ottoman Armenians
was genocide, to question its own history was the topic some Turkish
columnists dwelled on this Sunday.

Erdoðan noted that France was guilty of many a genocide in its North
African colonies, and also responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide,
where 800,000 people were brutally killed by Hutu rebels backed by the
French government.

Sabah’s Hasan Celal Güzel, also a former politician, shared the
opinions of Bülent Akarcalý, a former minister who served under a
Motherland Party (ANAP) government, on France’s diminishing importance
in the world. According to them, France in the international arena has
significantly faded over the past few decades. “Not a single French
artist remains at the global level that would justify learning French
in the fields of literature, cinema, theater and even music in the
past 20 years,” Güzel wrote, quoting Akarcalý.

He noted that there are many French high schools in Turkey, such as
St. Joseph, St. Michel. St Benoit, St. Pulchery or the Dame de Sion —
established during the Ottoman era. These are mostly very expensive
private schools. There are also French language schools that were
established in the republican era, sometimes with contributions from
Turks. Their alumni, however, have little chance of getting good jobs,
even at French firms, unless they learn a second and more useful
language, such as English or Russian. Most French companies in Turkey
now have executives who don’t speak a word of French, he noted.

Güzel wrote that not only was France globally unimportant, but also
increasingly hostile toward Turkey. He pointed out that it is not only
the current French government’s anti-Turkishness that is the problem,
but also that not a single group of French intellectuals or
businesspeople objected to Sarkozy’s anti-Turkish proposal.

“It should be accepted as a natural consequence that nothing will
remain in the world of Turks and Turkey about France or the French
language,” he said, and asked whether so many French-language schools
in Turkey were necessary. He said young people should be encouraged to
learn English and other world languages such as Spanish, Russian and
Chinese. “The best answer that Turkey, which has caught up with the
speed of the fast-changing globe, can give to France is to just ignore
it. Even reacting would just mean attaching too much importance to
it.”

Bugün daily’s Ahmet Taþgetiren in his column asserted that Sarkozy
needs Armenian votes for the next presidential election and that this
is why his government is attempting to pass a genocide denial law.
Taþgetiren said Sarkozy was using Turkey to increase his popularity.
He noted that Prime Minister Erdoðan wrote Sarkozy last week, warning
him against the “grave consequences” of passing a law that
criminalizes denying that the 1915 events were genocide. He said that,
in the face of the French government’s hostility towards Turkey,
politicians and Turkish business organizations lobbying against the
bill should do something that will serve as a “cautionary tale” for
others. He did not suggest a particular course of action to punish
France, but urged both Turkish diplomats and the business world to
avoid employing “submissive” or reconciliatory language, as this would
be contrary to “the language that Sarkozy speaks.”

Voice of America
Dec 17 2011

Turkish PM Lashes Out at France Over Genocide Bill

Posted Saturday, December 17th, 2011 at 6:00 pm

A French bill that would make it a crime to deny that the mass killing
of Armenians in 1915 was genocide is drawing criticism from Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at France
Saturday, during a news conference in Ankara with the chairman of
Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil.

Mr. Erdogan denied the Ottoman Empire committed genocide and said
France needed to look at what he called its own `dirty and bloody
history” in Algeria and Rwanda.

French lawmakers are set to consider the bill next Thursday . It
proposes a one-year prison sentence and a $58,500 fine for denying the
killings constitute genocide.

Armenia says as many as 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by Ottoman
Turks before and during World War One and the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire. Ankara denies this. It calls the death toll exaggerated and
says the dead were victims of civil war and unrest.

The Turkish prime minister also warned France that political and
economic relations would suffer if the bill passes. Turkey has said
any country recognizing an Armenian genocide faces a downgrade in
relations.

Bilateral relations between France and Turkey have already been under
strain. French President Nicolas Sarkozy opposes Turkey’s bid to join
the European Union.

ARMENIE-CONSOMMATION
L’Etat condamne « Ani gat » pour concurrence déloyale

La décision de la Commission d’Etat de lutte contre la concurrence
économique déloyale de condamner la société laitière « Ani gat » ainsi
que deux autres entreprises provoque une réaction de ces dernières.
Dikran Chaldjian, le directeur de production d’« Ani gat » condamnée à
payer 5 millions de drams à l’Etat a fait appel de la décision. Selon
D. Chaldjian, pour prendre cette décision, la Commission n’a pas
réalisé des études en laboratoire sur la composition des produits
incriminés. « En Arménie, il y a des standards nationaux, c’est sur
ces bases que la Commissions doit agir et nous pensons que les études
réalisées sur nos produits sont faux et les résultats erronés »
affirme D. Chaldjian. La Commission reproche à « Ani gat » d’inclure
dans ses produits laitiers de la graisse végétale. « Il n’y a pas de
graisse végétale dans nos produits » reprend D. Chaldjian. La société
« Ani gat » porte également le nom de « Tamara et Ani » une entreprise
fondée par la famille Mkrdtchian. Malgré la protestation de sociétés
condamnées, le contrôle actif des produits de consommation par l’Etat
est ressenti par les consommateurs d’Arménie comme un gage de sécurité
et de qualité de la production arménienne.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 18 décembre 2011,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

news.az, Azerbaijan
Dec 17 2011

‘Policy of zero problems with neighbors successful for Turkey’
Sat 17 December 2011 05:29 GMT | 7:29 Local Time

News.Az interviews Sinan Ulgen is a visiting scholar at Carnegie
Europe and the chairman of the Istanbul based EDAM think tank.

How successful is a ‘zero problem with neighbors’ policy declared by
Turkish government?

The zero problems with neighbors policy was successful and helped
Turkey to enhance its regional influence. But with the onset of the
Arab spring it became unsustainable. Because zero problems with
neighbors essentially meant having zero problems with regimes. As an
influential regional player and a NATO member, Turkey could not
continue to appear to give support to authoritarian regimes at a time
of democratic upheaval. So today, for all practical purposes, this
policy is dead.

How do you see a settlement of the Turkish-Israeli crisis and how soon
it can be achieved?

Turkey’s relationship with Israel has been seriously downgraded as a
result of the Mavi Marmara incident. The Turkish government stated 3
conditions for the normalization of the relationship with Israel.
Turkey expects Israel to issue a public apology, to pay compensation
to the families of the victims and finally to lift the embargo on
Gazza.

Before the breakdown of the talks, the two sides came very close to an
agreement fulfilling the first 2 conditions. But the negotiated text
was ultimately rejected by the Netanyahu government. There is
therefore little hope for the improvement in the relationship in the
near future. The best hope is for a future government in Israel to
adopt a more conciliatory approach to mend the relationship with
Turkey.

May this crisis concern somehow Azerbaijan? Turkey supports Azerbaijan
in the Karabakh conflict. May Turkey ask Azerbaijan to restrict its
cooperation with Israel?

The downgrading of Turkey’s relations with Israel will have regional
implications. One of these implications is with regard to Turkey’s
relations with Azerbaijan. Turkish policy makers will not ask Baku to
follow the same policy of downgrading relations with Israel. But they
will make their position known to their Azeri counterparts and ask for
solidarity with the Turkish position.

And what about problems between Turkey and Iran caused after Turkish
agreement to establish American radars on its territory? Does it mean
that interests of the Turkish ally – the US – are above policy of
Muslim solidarity conducting by the PM Erdogan?

The hosting of the early warning radar of the missile defense system
on Turkish territory was a critical decision. But it was also an
unsurprising decision to the extent that Turkey is a NATO member and
this was a NATO project. Ankara did not want to find itself in the
situation of blocking singlehandedly this important initiative. In
this case, it was clear that the fundamental tenets of Turkish foreign
policy fostering Turkey’s relations with the transatlantic community
were deemed to be more important than the proclivity for Muslim
solidarity.

Do you believe in normalization of Turkish-Armenian relation in the
nearest future and what are preconditions for that?

The condition for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations are
clear and remain the same. The protocols negotiated between Ankara and
Erivan remain on the table. But Turkey conditions the ratification of
these protocols to progress on Karabakh. In other words, unless
Azerbaijan and Armenia reach an agreement on a roadmap on Karabakh,
Turkey will not ratify the protocols and there will be no progress on
normalizing relations with Armenia.

F.H.
News.Az

news.az, Azerbaijan
Dec 17 2011

‘Armenia, in fact, led itself into isolation’
Sat 17 December 2011 06:23 GMT | 8:23 Local Time

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project proved once again that major
projects in the region are realized with the joint agreement of
Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The statement came from editor-in-chief of ekonomisttuk.com website
and collaborator of the Istanbul University Oguz Ucar while commenting
on inclusion of the railway into the list of the world’s top 100
projects, Gun.Az reports.

‘From the first day, Armenian lobby has been trying hard to hamper the
realization of this project but despite all their efforts, the project
was launched. And this once again proved that all major projects in
the region can be realized with joint agreement of Azerbaijan and
Turkey. This railway will wildly effect on the region’s economic
situation and further consolidate the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey
unity’, O.Ucar said.

Ucar noted that standing apart such projects, Armenia will be left
alone in the region.

`Armenia, as a matter of fact, has led itself into isolation by
standing against such projects. Moreover, this policy deteriorate
Armenia’s social and economic situation even more in the future’, Ucar
underlined.

News.Az

Xinhua General News Service, China
December 16, 2011 Friday 10:40 AM EST

Turkish PM warns Sarkozy against French bill recognizing Armenian ”
genocide” claims

ANKARA Dec. 16

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday warned French
President Nicolas Sarkozy against a French bill recognizing the deaths
of Armenians in 1915 as ” genocide”, saying that the bill would have
“grave consequences” on the bilateral relations, the semiofficial
Anatolian news agency reported.

“I want to express this clearly,” Erdogan said in a letter sent to
Sarkozy, “these steps will lead to grave consequences for the
cultural, economic and political relations between France and Turkey,
and the responsibility of these consequences will fall on those who
initiated those steps.”

France’s National Assembly is expected to vote next week on the bill,
which recognizes the “genocide” claims and stipulates penalties for
those who publicly deny the claims.

Turkish officials said Thursday that if the French bill were to be
passed, Ankara would recall its ambassador in France and freeze the
bilateral ties.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or economic ties since
Armenia declared independence in 1991. The two countries have been
bogged down in a dispute over the World War I-era deaths of Armenians
under the Ottoman rule. Armenia says the deaths occurred in a
“genocide,” while Turkey denies the charge and insists that the
Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown
as the Ottoman Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was created.

Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to normalize their relations and
open borders last year, but the pacts need to be approved by both
countries’ parliaments before taking effect.

news.am, Armenia
Dec 17 2011

Armenian minister agrees allocating forest to Arab sheikh, but in
return for what? – newspaper

December 17, 2011 | 09:21

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Nature Protection Minister Aram Harutyunyan
(a.k.a. Bulki, meaning `cookie’) recently did perhaps the most
praiseworthy act throughout his activities. He refused to approve the
Government’s draft decision, whereby around a 148-hectare forest was
allocated to Arab sheikh Mohammed Musallam, Zhoghovurd daily writes.

`This was the reason why the notorious Agriculture Minister Sergo
Karapatyan stated in his report: `We must give the forest to a
proprietor so we can save it from fires.’ But since Bulki Aram is in a
vulnerable situation with his activities, he was unable to fight until
the end. We learned that the Arab’s partner, [the ruling coalition’s
Republican Party of Armenia] RPA MP – and brother of chairman Ara
Abrahamyan of [the Union of Armenians of Russia] UAS – Gagik Abrahamyan
sent envoys to Minister Harutyunyan, to give his written consent to
the allocation of the forest. They say Bulki has already agreed. But
in return for what?’ Zhoghovurd writes.

FFA President: Next week we will seriously discuss the issue of
construction of a trade center in territory of Hrazdan Stadium

arminfo
Saturday, December 17, 18:02

“Next week we will seriously discuss the issue of construction of a
trade center in the territory of Hrazdan Stadium”, President of
Football Federation of Armenia Rouben Hayrapetyan said at today’s
press conference.

The tenant of Hrazdan Stadium, member of the Republican Party of
Armenia Ashot Aghababyan is going to liquidate the fair in the
territory of the stadium and to build a trade center in the zone via
which the football fans were entering the territory of the stadium.

In the meantime, experts think that in case of emergency situations
this building will create serious problems for evacuation of the
people. Some protest actions have already been held against
Aghababyan’s plans. The protesters demanded canceling the decision on
construction.

“I am not going to speak about it today not to create the impression
that this issue is in the first place for me. Next week I will give a
press conference and will present new facts on this problem”,
Hayrapetyan said.