Author: Kajoyan Gevork

“RADICAL”: TURKISH MINISTRY OF INTERIOR’S REFUSES TO PAY A MORAL COMPENSATION TO THE FAMILY OF HRANT DINK

armradio.am
06.08.2011 15:25

The Turkish “Radical” newspaper writes that the Turkish Ministry of
Interior’s refuses to pay a moral compensation to the family of Hrant
Dink and is planning to appeal the decision on compensation.

The 10th Administrative Court on October 272010 has forced the Turkish
Interior Ministry to pay a moral compensation of 100 thousand lira
to the brothers of Hrant Dink Khosrov and Erwand. Insisting that the
Ministry has failed to fulfill its obligations to maintain security
and prevent Dink’s murder, despite a lot of information about the
danger threatening him.

The Turkish “Radical” newspaper reports that Turkey’s refusal to
pay a moral compensation is motivated by the fact that paying 100
thousand lira compensation to Dink’s family may lead to “unjustified
enrichment”.

The 100 thousand Turkish lira today, according to our calculations,
makes about 57 and a half thousand dollars.

HOVHANNISYAN, GEVORGYAN WIN VICTORIES IN WORLD JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 5TH ROUND

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 6, 2011 – 12:43 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia’s Robert Hovhanisyan scored a victory over
Austria’s Junta Ikeda while Maria Gevorgyan defeated WIM Karolina
Olsarova of Czech Republic in the 5th round of the World Junior Chess
Championships 2011 in Chennai, India.

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan tied a game against Milos Roganovic and retained
the 10th place with 3 points. Hovhanisyan is currently 24th. Gevorgyan
climbed to 14th place.

U.S. REP. JEAN SCHMIDT TO REPAY $500,000 TO TURKISH COALITION OF AMERICA

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 6, 2011 – 12:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt, Republican of
Ohio, has been ordered by the House Ethics Committee to repay a
Turkish-American group $500,000 for legal services it improperly
paid for to help her pursue a defamation lawsuit and other legal
proceedings against a Democratic opponent in the 2008 election.

The action by the House committee, disclosed Friday, August 5, did not
come with a formal punishment, because ethics investigators concluded
that Ms. Schmidt had been misled by her own lawyers from the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund about who was paying the legal bills.

Ms. Schmidt was ordered to amend her annual personal financial
disclosure reports to acknowledge the gift from the Turkish Coalition
of America, which actually paid the bills, and then reimburse the
lawyers, New York Times reported.

The case involving Ms. Schmidt has its origins in the move in 2007
by Armenian-Americans to get the House to pass the American Genocide
resolution.

Ms. Schmidt sided with the Turkish-American groups.

One of her opponents in the 2008 race, who lost the Democratic
nomination, accused her of taking “blood money” in the form of
campaign contributions in return for her opposition to the House
resolution. Ms. Schmidt ended up filing a $6.8 million defamation
lawsuit, and the legal bills were improperly paid by the Turkish
Coalition, the ethics committee concluded. There were also other
legal challenges to her election, which were handled by lawyers paid
by the coalition.

HULIQ.com, SC
Aug 6 2011

Azerbaijan could become net oil importer by 2030, state report says

Submitted by Sandy Smith on 2011-08-06

Declining oil reserves starting in 2013 combined with falling
commodity prices could throw the Azeri economy and government budget
into a tailspin.

While the Azeri government’s own Center for Economic and Social
Development says that the country is in the midst of an oil boom as it
develops huge reserves in the Caspian Sea, government forecasts call
for oil revenues to peak in 2012 and reserves to peak in the following
year. The rate of decline, the government says, could turn the country
into a net oil importer as soon as 2030.

Oil production is already running below last year’s pace. For the
first six months of this year, Azerbaijan produced 23.8 million metric
tons (174.5 million barrels) of oil, a drop of 1.445 million metric
tons (10.596 million barrels), or 5.6%, from last year’s production to
date. Natural gas production is also off. The 12.91 billion cubic
meters produced in the first six months of 2011 is 238 million cubic
meters, or 2.1%, below the figure for the same period last year. That
figure casts some doubt on Azeri government forecasts that call for
the country to produce 29.13 billion cubic meters of gas this year,
7.8% more than was produced last year.

Combined with falling commodity prices for oil and gas, the production
declines spell trouble in the long run for the Azeri economy and
government budget. Azerbaijan has relied on oil exports to power its
economy, and a sustained fall in those would drive up government
budget deficits and interest rates thanks to declining tax revenue.

The hit to the economy and government budget could even affect the
ongoing dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority Armenian region
within Azerbaijans borders. The inhabitants of the region have waged a
fight for autonomy dating back to the late 1980s in which neighboring
Armenia has taken interest. Azerbaijan has used oil revenues to
suppress the autonomy movement and hold off on any negotiations or
moves that might result in autonomy for the region. A severe falloff
in revenues could force the government to the bargaining table with
the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

news.am, Armenia
Aug 6 2011

Old American Armenian brutally killed in Turkey

August 06, 2011 | 00:45

ANKARA. – A 74-year-old Armenian Arman Azak was brutally killed in one
of touristic cottages of Turkish Bodrum city.

On July 30 at 7:00 p.m. local time, Arman Azak called the gendarmerie
and said that he was attacked. The dispatched group of gendarmes and
doctors found the blood around the body of the old man.

The forensic medical expertise showed that the man got brutally beaten
by a blunt object and received 30 stab wounds, reports Turkish Dogan
agency.

The search of man’s pockets and house revealed a huge number of
expensive goods, which remained untouched. This suggests that the
murder had specific motive.

ASIM-DER demands Armenian immigrants’ deportation

17:48 – 05.08.11

The Izmir-based Union against Claims by Armenians (ASIM-DER) demands
that Turkey deport illegal Armenian immigrants, the Ihlas news agency
reports.

ASIM-DER Press Secretary Erhan Hacikasimoglu reported that the
organization addressed a letter to the Turkish Ministry of the
Interior and indicated the need for deporting illegal Armenian
immigrants.

“Armenians illegally living in Turkey are freely moving around our
country, and Armenian tourists stroll where they like without
permission. We, as an NGO, are concerned over the fact that, after
leaving our country, these same Armenians engage in propaganda against
the Turkish nation,” he said. “We are well aware that, years ago,
after the murder of Chief Editor of Agos newspaper Hrant Dink,
Armenians illegally living in Turkey were among those chanting the
slogan ‘We are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink’ in Istanbul
streets. The Armenians illegally living in our country under the
sponsorship of wealthy Armenian businessmen, with their number
increasing day by day, must be deported from Turkey. We, citizens of
Turkey, are concerned over Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s
anti-Turkish statements made on every occasion, as well as over the
increasing number of Armenians illegally living in Turkey,”
Hacikasimoglu said.

It is not for the first time that threats to deport Armenians have
been issued in Turkey. In an interview with the BBC Turkish service
last year, Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan issued similar threats.

“Radical”: Turkish Ministry of Interior’s refuses to pay a moral
compensation to the family of Hrant Dink

armradio.am
06.08.2011 15:25

The Turkish “Radical” newspaper writes that the Turkish Ministry of
Interior’s refuses to pay a moral compensation to the family of Hrant
Dink and is planning to appeal the decision on compensation.

The 10th Administrative Court on October 272010 has forced the Turkish
Interior Ministry to pay a moral compensation of 100 thousand lira to
the brothers of Hrant Dink Khosrov and Erwand. Insisting that the
Ministry has failed to fulfill its obligations to maintain security
and prevent Dink’s murder, despite a lot of information about the
danger threatening him.

The Turkish “Radical” newspaper reports that Turkey’s refusal to pay a
moral compensation is motivated by the fact that paying 100 thousand
lira compensation to Dink’s family may lead to “unjustified
enrichment”.

The 100 thousand Turkish lira today, according to our calculations,
makes about 57 and a half thousand dollars.

US Senate recognizes Abkhazia, South Ossetia

10:47 – 01.08.11

The US Senate unanimously passed on July 29 a resolution supporting
Georgia’s territorial integrity and recognizing Abkhazia and South
Ossetia as regions `occupied by the Russian Federation’, Civil Georgia
reported.

The resolution, S RES 175, was sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeanne
Shaheen and Republican Senator Lindsay Graham. The both Senators are
co-chair of Georgia Task Force at the US think-tank Atlantic Council –
a bipartisan group aimed at promoting policy debate on Georgia.

`Today, the Senate spoke with one voice in support of Georgia’s
territorial integrity,’ Senator Shaheen said on July 29. `While I am
pleased by the Senate’s action and the clear message we are sending to
Georgia and the Russian Federation, the situation there remains
fragile and unresolved, as Russian troops are still occupying
Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.’

Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Temur Yakobashvili, praised
the resolution.

`This document is a very solid and firm foundation for de-occupation
of the Georgian territories,’ Yakobashvili said.

The approved resolution is slightly amended from its initial draft,
which was first referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
in December, 2010; but in essence the document remains the same,
calling on Russia to withdraw troops to pre-August, 2008 war
positions.

In one of the amendments the final text changes term `de facto’ in
reference to the authorities in breakaway regions with `the
authorities in control in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia’ –
a wording used by the Georgian government in its State Strategy on
Occupied Territories.

Among other amendments introduced in the final text are references to
some of the new developments, which have taken place since December,
such as remarks by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the April
15, 2011 meeting in Berlin between the Foreign Ministers of NATO and
Georgia in which she said that she shared Georgia’s concerns regarding
`recent Russian activities that can negatively affect regional
stability.’ The draft also makes a reference to the Russian Foreign
Minister’s visits to Sokhumi and Tskhinvali in April.

The resolution affirms that it is `the policy of the United States to
support the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of
Georgia and the inviolability of its borders, and to recognize
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as regions of Georgia occupied by the
Russian Federation.’

It calls on Moscow, Tskhinvali and Sokhumi to allow for the full and
dignified return of internally displaced persons and international
missions to Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The resolution also says that the Senate `supports peaceful,
constructive engagement and confidence-building measures between the
Government of Georgia and the authorities in control in South Ossetia
and Abkhazia and encourages additional people-to-people contacts.’

`[The Senate] affirms that finding a peaceful resolution to the
conflict is a key priority for the United States in the Caucasus
region and that lasting regional stability can only be achieved
through peaceful means and long-term diplomatic and political dialogue
between all parties,’ the resolution says.

The Georgian authorities have been actively lobbying for this type of
resolution, that would refer to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied
regions, in Washington and other western capitals, describing the
effort as part of `de-occupation policy’.

Georgian parliamentary committee for foreign relations sent in April,
2010 a request to lawmakers from 31 countries to `declare the two
Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories
under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed
by Russia’ in those territories.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs,
Philip H. Gordon, said in March, 2011, that use of term “occupied” by
Washington in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was not meant to
be a “provocation,” but simply description of situation on the ground.

“We don’t know what else to call it,” he said while speaking at the
Global Security 2011 Forum in Bratislava on March 3.

Tert.am

EDUCATION MATTERS: STILL CARRYING THE VICTIMS’ SCARS
By Dan Kimber

Glendale News Press
Aug 4 2011
CA

One of the more interesting discussions I had with my classes
following our study of World War II was the question of what to do
with former Nazis hunted down and captured decades after their crimes
were committed.

Here is the scenario, taken from actual cases, I presented to the
students. This always led to some interesting values clarification. It
is based on actual stories that have been played out many times in
different parts of the world.

The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center traces down a man living in
Norwalk, Calif. who they claim sent thousands of Jews to their death
when he served as a judge during the second world war. Like many
Germans serving under the Third Reich, he fled to North or South
America toward the end of the war when an Allied victory seemed
imminent.

The man changed his name, got married, had children/grandchildren,
was a good neighbor, a solid citizen and a pillar in the community
in which he lived. When confronted with his past, he was 88 years
old. He had, for all intents and purposes, created a new life for
himself and severed all ties with his old life.

And now the questions for my students to ponder: Does the second half
of this man’s life in any way absolve him from the stain of his earlier
life, or should his crimes against humanity follow him to his grave?

What is to be gained by bringing such a man to judgment after the
passage of so many years? Is it justice, revenge or some sense of
closure that is served? Are there some crimes so despicable, some
people so lacking in human decency, that there is no possibility of
redemption in this lifetime?

Most answered the last question with a resounding, “Yes!” And, as
you might imagine, it was nearly unanimous among my Armenian students.

Even though the perpetrators of the genocide that wiped out half of
their ancestors nearly a century ago are all dead, their crimes will
never be erased from the minds of their victims’ descendants.

I was asked by a student years ago why there wasn’t ever an Armenian
organization like the Wiesenthal Center to hunt down the Turkish
murderers of 1915 and bring them to justice. My answer was that their
crimes were never acknowledged by the perpetrators or by a relatively
indifferent world.

Other questions were asked that persist to this day. I’ll paraphrase:

In light of the many challenges we already face in dealing with people
currently engaged in mass murder around the world, does it make sense
to keep fighting the wrongs of a past century? At some point, can’t
we figure out how to let go of the fight without forgetting that it
happened and resolving that it not be repeated?

Might it not be more appropriate to cease fighting against the demons
in our past and instead fight against those who follow actively in
their footsteps?

I am inclined to believe that mass murder has no statute of
limitations. The record of the past in such cases can, and must,
provoke us to redouble our efforts to prosecute the genocidal maniacs
of the present.

The voices of massacred Armenians, Cambodians, Bosnians, Rwandans,
Native Americans – and the list goes on – have been stilled, but the
memory of their suffering and the murder of innocents leaves us with
the moral imperative to eradicate the evil of genocide.

Those who see such a resolution as “needless clinging to the past”
will come to appreciate that the past is never in the past as long
as there are victims, and descendants of those victims, who carry
the scars of its atrocities.

DAN KIMBER taught in the Glendale Unified School District for more
than 30 years. He may be reached at [email protected].

ARMENIAN REFUGEES PARTICIPATED IN DEMONSTRATION IN FRANCE

news.am
Aug 4 2011
Armenia

AVEYRON. – Following the day of the demonstration of social workers
in France, people who want shelter also expressed their anger and
concern on Wednesday, Midi Libre French newspaper reports.

“We have no right to receive money allowance or get free food. How
can we survive?” Ara told the local journalist.

He spoke on behalf of many Armenian families demonstrating with him.

However, not all families were among the demonstrators. Many of
them were afraid of police. The whole aid is in blockade, Ara’s
girlfriend added.

Several members of the League of Human Rights came to support the
demonstrators. One of them stressed the difficulties that humanitarian
organizations come across. Thus, families who were left without
shelter would like to call the attention of authorities and media on
their life condition.

Departmental management of social consolidation and protection of
people explained the situation by the difficulty to satisfy all
demands of the refugees.