Author: Kajoyan Gevork

TURKISH PM THREATENS TO EXPEL 100,000 ARMENIANS OVER GENOCIDE VOTE
Adam Gabbatt and agencies

guardian.co.uk
Thursday 18 March 2010 14.52 GMT

Tayyip Erdogan says he ‘may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to
their country’ after the 1915 Ottoman killings vote

Tayyip Erdogan, left, and his deputy Bulent Arinc in Ankara last month.

Turkey’s prime minister has threatened to expel 100,000 Armenian
immigrants after the US and Sweden agreed to describe first world
war killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Earlier this month, the US House committee on foreign affairs voted
by 23-22 that the massacre of around 1.5 million Armenians in 1915
should be classified as genocide.

Turkey, a Nato member and candidate to join the European Union,
withdrew its ambassador from the US in the wake of the vote, as it
did from Sweden days later, when the Swedish parliament also agreed
the slaughter should be described as genocide.

Turkey warned the decisions could undermine efforts at reconciliation
with Armenia after decades of hostility, and yesterday, Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan gave a clear warning what the consequences would be
if the votes, which are non-binding, were ratified.

"There are currently 170,000 Armenians living in our country. Only
70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the
remaining 100,000," he told the BBC Turkish service.

"If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their
country because they are not my citizens. I don’t have to keep them
in my country."

Armenia believes Turkey killed over 1 million Armenians when they were
deported from Turkish Armenia in 1915 and sent to Syria or Palestine.

Erdogan’s threat to expel tens of thousands of immigrants was
criticised by the Armenian prime minister, Tigran Sarksyan.

"This kind of political statement does not help improve relations
between the two states," he said.

"I agree with the assessment that when the Turkish prime minister
allows himself to make such statements, the events of 1915 immediately
return to our memory."

Turkey’s reaction to the US vote in particular has led to speculation
that the country may prevent the US army’s use of the Incirlik air
base in south-east Turkey, which provides logistical support to troops
travelling to and from Iraq.

Turkey experienced a huge influx of people from Armenia after the
country’s devastating earthquake in 1988. Thousands of illegal
Armenian immigrants work in low-skilled jobs in Turkey, although
there is dispute over the exact number.

Armenian immigrants had been permitted to work in Turkey as a
"display of our peaceful approach," Erdogan said, but he added:
"We have to get something in return."

EDWARD NALBANDIAN: BLACKMAIL IS NOT THE WAY TO BE USED IN CIVILIZED WORLD

Noyan Tapan
March 18, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s
statements with threats on deporting Armenians from Turkey and other
statements of the kind are inadmissible: they damage the normalization
of Armenia-Turkey relations. As RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
declared at a March 18 press conference, with such statements Turkey
shows that it is not absolutely ready to move forward.

The RA Foreign Minister noted that even in Turkey many do not
understand how such a statement could be made. According to E.

Nalbandian, it is not the first time such statements are made: such
statements were also made before the Armenian Genocide of 1915, as
well as before massacres of Armenians in a number of populated areas
of Azerbaijan in the 1980-s.

"We hope that more realistic approach will prevail in Turkey, they will
listen to international community’s opinion. They should move forward
without preconditions, without blackmail, without threats, without
provocations and fulfill the agreements reached by the two sides and
not threaten Armenia, other countries. Blackmail is not the way to
be used in the civilized world," the RA Foreign Minister declared.

Miroslav Lajcak, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia – EU member,
in his turn, said that the European Union welcomes the signing of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols. "We would like to see ratification
by the parliaments without linking them with other issues, without
preconditions," he said.

In response to the question of how EU treats Armenia’s blockade by
Turkey the Slovak Foreign Minister said that Turkey is a candidate
for membership to EU and its progress in that process depends on how
it will fulfill its commitments.

According to M. Lajcak, in the issue of Nagorno Karabakh settlement
EU supports the negotiations process proceeding within the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the basis of Madrid proposals.

WHY DID PACE NOT DISCUSS HERITAGE’S TIMETABLE?

Tert.am
19:04 ~U 18.03.10

A timetable on reforms to the electoral system presented to the
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) by Armenian opposition Heritage Party was not discussed
during the March 17 PACE session, probably because of shortage of time,
Heritage Party faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan told Tert.am.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs
timetables had been presented to PACE’s Monitoring Committee also by
the Armenian National Congress and the Heritage Party.

Postanjyan said she was sure that the document had reached the
Committee, adding that it was not yet clear how it might be discussed.

"Any document presented by me has certainly been discussed in PACE,
one way or another. I am sure that this document will not be left to
inattention either," said she.

According to Postanjyan, the fact that PACE co-rapporteurs Georges
Colombier and John Prescott are expected to visit Armenia and hold
hearings also with opposition representatives means that opposition’s
viewpoint has not been fully presented to the Committee.

"Therefore, Colombier and Prescott want to get acquainted with our
views on the spot, explained Postanjyan.

BAKO SAHAKYAN, PRESIDENT OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC, MET A GROUP OF PROMINENT REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SPHERES OF LITERATURE AND SPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
March 17, 2010

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIANS TODAY. On 16 March
President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met a group of
prominent representatives of the spheres of literature and sport of
the Republic of Armenia. Writer and publicist Zori Balayan, chairman of
the Writer’s Union of Armenia Levon Ananyan, head of the Institute of
literature of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Avik Isahakyan,
president of the Armenian Sambo Federation Leonid Hayrapetyan partook
at the meeting and discussed issues related to the development of
literature and sports. Within this context special attention was paid
to strengthening ties between Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora.

According to the report of the central information department of the
office of the NKR President, head of the NKR Union of Writers Vardan
Hakobyan partook at the meeting.

GORDON: TURKEY AND THE UNITED STATES "HAVE BEEN PARTNERS FOR DECADES AND THAT PARTNERSHIP IS AS IMPORTANT TODAY AS IT HAS EVER BEEN

APA
March 17 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. "Turkey and the United States "have been partners for
decades and that partnership is as important today as it has ever
been", APA reports quoting Washington DC correspondent.

"We believe that Turkey is and wants to remain anchored in the
Euro-Atlantic community. However, the fact that some have questioned
the strength of our ties does highlight an important issue. The
relationship, which was much easier to justify when we faced a shared
Soviet threat, requires hard work and attention – on both sides",
US Assistant Secretary Philip H. Gordon stated on March 17th.

Mr. Gordon delivered remarks on the Obama Administration’s Relationship
with Turkey at the Washington based Brookings Institution, APA’s
Washington correspondent reports.

"This could hardly be a more important or timely subject and this is a
particularly appropriate moment to reflect on it. Almost a year ago,
President Obama traveled to Turkey during his first overseas trip. "
– he reminded.

Mr. Gordon pointed out that, few countries play such a crucial role
in such a diverse set of important areas: "How many countries have
borders with as diverse an array of countries as Turkey – Greece,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. With
its combination of strategic, economic, and cultural links, Turkey’s
influence touches such vital concerns of both our countries as the
stability of the Middle East and relations with the broader Islamic
world, relations with the Caucasus and Black Sea region, the transit of
energy from the Caspian Basin to Europe, the security and development
of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and the maintenance of strong
ties to Europe and the Trans-Atlantic alliance".

Assistant Secretary also pointed out that, "Turkey is already playing
a crucial role as a transit hub for energy to the rest of Europe –
heating homes, lighting offices, and powering industry across the
continent.

"The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which came online in 2006,
delivers one million barrels per day of petroleum and in 2007 the
South Caucasus pipeline began bringing natural gas from Azerbaijan to
Turkey. What these various projects and a variety of proposed future
initiatives show is that Turkey will be an integral part of meeting
Europe’s energy needs and providing for Europe’s energy security".

According to the US official, while Turkey plays an active role on
the world’s stage as a European power, it has also been equally active
in reaching out to its immediate neighbors.

"We are supportive of the Turkish government’s concept of pursuing
a policy of "zero problems" with its neighbors. This is a lofty and
admirable goal. Bringing it to fruition, as everyone recognizes,
will require difficult compromises and brave leadership" – he added.

Mr. Gordon also mentioned that, Turkey’s work with Armenia to normalize
relations demonstrates both the promise and the difficulty of this
enterprise.

"It holds out the prospect of positive transformative change in the
region. The steps taken so far by both countries have shown vision
and courage. Last October, in the presence of Secretary Clinton,
the foreign ministers of France, Russia, and Switzerland, and the EU
High Representative, the Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers signed
protocols on normalizing and developing their relations. We believe
that the implementation of these protocols – leading to diplomatic
ties and open borders – would be a historic development that would
benefit both countries and contribute to security and economic
prosperity throughout the region. We appreciate the effort that
has been made so far and urge both countries to ratify the protocols
without preconditions and as soon as possible, a point President Obama
made on the phone to President Gul just two weeks ago. Let us not
squander the historic progress already made. Ratification will bring
valuable benefits to both Turkey and Armenia. All who are invested
in the process must do their part to ensure that it moves forward".

Assistant Secretary also touched the resolution recently considered
by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"As President Obama has said, our interest remains a full, frank, and
just acknowledgement of the facts related to the events of 1915. But
the best way to do that, we believe, is for the Armenian and Turkish
people themselves to address this history as part of their efforts
to build a future of shared peace and prosperity. As both Secretary
Clinton and Secretary Gates have indicated, further Congressional
action could impede progress on the normalization of relations and
for that reason we oppose this resolution" – he said.

POLITICS, WHAT ELSE? YERITSYAN NOW TAKES A SWIPE AT TSARUKYAN

Tert.am
12:48 ~U 16.03.10

Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan had better evaluate
the work of ministers from his own party, according to a press report
released by the RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan in response
to earlier statements made by Tsarukyan.

"We advise Gagik Tsarukyan to evaluate the ministers from the
Prosperous Armenia Party and their work, while my work will be
evaluated by the RA president and prime minister," reads the release..

On March 15, Gagik Tsarukyan told reporters in the parliament that no
one around the world has said that the crisis was over, while Nerses
Yeritsyan, who recently said that the crisis had been overcome in
Armenia, "hasn’t been in his place" and he "is overseeing neither
the economy nor the state of the economy."

GENOCIDE RESOLUTION APPROVED BY SWEDISH PARLIAMENT — FULL TEXT

news.am

Ma rch 15 2010
Armenia

NEWS.am posts unofficial translation of the motion to Genocide
Resolution approved by Swedish Parliament on March 11.

1 Proposal for Parliament Decision

1. The Parliament announces to the government its decision in reference
to what is stated in the motion regarding Sweden recognizing the
1915 genocide against Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and
Pontic Greeks.

2. The Parliament announces to the government its decision in reference
to what is stated in the motion that Sweden should act within EU
and UN for an international recognition of the 1915 genocide against
Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks.

3. The Parliament announces to the government its decision in
reference to what is stated in the motion that Sweden should
act for Turkey to recognize the 1915 genocide against Armenians,
Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks.

2 Background

"Forum for living history is an authority which has the mission to –
with basis in the Holocaust – work with issues which concern tolerance,
democracy and human rights. By illuminating the darkest pieces of
the human history we want to affect the future."

So reads the description of an agency which works on mission by order
of the Swedish Government and educates, among others, about the 1915
genocide. The lesson of history is one of the cornerstones of the
present-day democracies where we have learned of our mistakes and by
preventing repetition of earlier errors we strive for a better future.

However, a prevention of future missteps, especially if these are
known from the history, can not be implemented if one does not openly
recognizes committed errors. Thus, history revisionism is a dangerous
tool for facilitating repetition of the dark pages of the history.

The 1915 genocide foremost engulfed Armenians,
Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks, but later came to also
affect other minorities. It was the dream of a large Turanic Empire,
Great Turan, which caused the Turkish leaders wanting to ethnically
homogenize the remains of the decaying Ottoman Empire at the turn of
the 19th century. This was achieved under the cover of the ongoing
world war, when the Armenian, Assyrian/Syrian/Chaldean and Pontic
Greek population of the empire were, almost entirely, annihilated.

Researchers estimate that about 1,500,000 Armenians, between 250,000
and 500,000 Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and about 350,000 Pontic
Greeks have been killed or disappeared.

During the short period following the Turkish defeat in 1918 until the
time when the Turkish nationalistic movement, under the leadership
of Mustafa Kemal, the genocide was discussed openly. Political
and military leaders stood on trial, accused for "war crimes"
and "committed crimes against humanity". Several of them were
found guilty and sentenced to the death or prison. During these
trials horrible details about the persecution of the minorities
in the Ottoman Empire were reveled. Thus, Turkey went through the
same phase as the one Germany experienced after the Second World
War. However, the process was short-lived. The emergence of the Turkish
nationalistic movement and the dissolution of the Sultanate resulted
in the discontinuation of the trials and the majority of the accused
were set free. Almost, the entire remaining Christian population –
Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans, and Pontic Greeks – were
expelled from areas they had inhabited for over thousands of years.

3 UN Genocide Convention 1948, the European Parliament and Official
Recognitions

Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who coined the term "genocide"
during the 1940s and was the father of the UN Convention of Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, was fully aware of the
1915 genocide and the failure of the international community to
intervene. His revision of the definition was adopted in the UN
Convention which reads as follows:

Article 2) In the present Convention, genocide means any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

– Killing members of the group;

– Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

– Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

– Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

– Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Furthermore, it is established that the present-day UN Convention from
1948 is not a new legislation, but merely a ratification of existing
international laws on "crimes against humanity" which were stated in
the Sèvres Treaty, Article 230 (1920). Even more important is the
fact that the UN Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory
Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, adopted on
November 26, 1968, in power since November 11, 1970, which ratifies
its retroactive an non-prescriptive nature. Of this very reason,
both massacres in the Ottoman Empire and the Holocaust are cases of
genocide in accordance to the UN Convention, in spite the fact that
both occurred before the Convention was established.

During the history of UN two larger studies/reports have been
conducted on the crime of genocide. The first was the so-called
Ruhashyankiko Report, from 1978, and the second was the Whitaker
Report, conducted by Benjamin Whitaker in 1985 (Economic and Social
Council Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Thirty-eighth session,
Item 4 of the provisional agenda, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1985/6).

The 1915 genocide is mentioned in several places in as an example
of committed genocides during the 20th century. The report was voted
on in the Subcommittee of the UN Committee for Human Rights with the
voices 14 against 1 (4 abstentions) in August, 1985. On June 18, 1987,
the European Parliament officially recognized the Armenian genocide.

Since 1965, that is, the 50th anniversary of the genocide, several
countries and organizations have officially recognized the 1915
genocide, among others Uruguay (1965), Cypress (1982), Russia (1995),
Greece (1996), Lebanon (1997), Belgium (1998), France (1998), Italy
(2000), The Vatican (2000), Switzerland (2003), Argentina (2003),
Canada (2004), Slovakia (2004), Netherlands (2004), Poland (2005),
Venezuela (2005), Germany (2005), Lithuania (2005), and Chile (2007).

4 The Research on the 1915 Genocide and Swedish Knowledge

Second to the Holocaust, the 1915 genocide is regarded as the most
studied case in the modern time. Today a broad and interdisciplinary
consensus exists among an overwhelming majority of genocide scholars
who regard the massacres in the Ottoman Empire during World War I
as genocide and which is referred by the scholars as the "genocide
prototype" (while the Holocaust is called the "genocide paradigm").

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), an
independent world leading and interdisciplinary authority within the
area, has in several occasions ratified a consensus in this matter,
namely: June 13, 1997, June 13, 2005, October 5, 2007 and April 23,
2008. The resolution from July 13, 2007 reads as follows:

WHEREAS the denial of genocide is widely recognized as the final stage
of genocide, enshrining impunity for the perpetrators of genocide,
and demonstrably paving the way for future genocides;

WHEREAS the Ottoman genocide against minority populations during and
following the First World War is usually depicted as a genocide against
Armenians alone, with little recognition of the qualitatively similar
genocides against other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire;

BE IT RESOLVED that it is the conviction of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars that the Ottoman campaign against
Christian minorities of the Empire between 1914 and 1923 constituted
a genocide against Armenians, Assyrians, and Pontian and Anatolian
Greeks.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Association calls upon the government
of Turkey to acknowledge the genocides against these populations,
to issue a formal apology, and to take prompt and meaningful steps
toward restitution.

ON June 8, more than 60 world leading genocide experts signed an
appeal directed to the members of the Parliament where they dismissed
the claims about disunity among scholars regarding the 1915 genocide.

The research must continue and both Turkey and the world must secure
the possibilities for an open, independent and undisturbed atmosphere,
among others by Turkey having to give full access to its archives
as well as allowing similar discussions without scientist, authors,
journalists and publishers risking prosecution for having commented
on the reality of the genocide.

New research at Uppsala University witnesses also about a genuine
Swedish knowledge of the 1915 genocide. Swedish Foreign Ministry and
General Staff Head Quarters were fully informed about the ongoing
annihilation through reports which the Swedish Ambassador Per Gustaf
August Cosswa Anckarsvärd and the Swedish Military Attaché Einar af
Wirsén (both stationed in Constantinople) sent to Stockholm. Among
others one can read the following:

â~@¢ Anckarsvärd, July 6, 1915: "Mr. Minister, The persecutions of
the Armenians have reached hair-raising proportions and all points to
the fact that the Young Turks want to seize the opportunity, since due
to different reasons there are no effective external pressure to be
feared, to once and for all put an end to the Armenian question. The
means for this are quite simple and consist of the extermination of
the Armenian nation."

â~@¢ Anckarsvärd, July 22, 1915: "It is not only the Armenians, but
also the Turkish subjects of Greek nationality who at the present are
subjected to severe persecutions… According to Mr.Tsamados [Greek
chargé d’affaires] it [the deportations] can not be any other issue
than an annihilation war against the Greek nation in Turkey …"

â~@¢ Anckarsvärd, September 2, 1915: "The six so-called
Armenian vilayets seem to be totally cleansed from, at least, its
Armenian-Catholic Armenians… It is obvious that the Turks are taking
the opportunity to, now during the war, exterminate the Armenian nation
so that when the peace comes no Armenian question longer exists."

â~@¢ Wirsén, May 13, 1916: " The health situation in Iraq is
horrifying.

Typhus fever claims numerous victims. The Armenian persecutions have
to a large degree contributed to the spreading of the disease, since
the expelled [Armenians] in hundred thousands have died from hunger
and deprivation along the roads."

â~@¢ Anckarsvärd, January 5, 1917: " The situation would have been
different if Turkey had followed the advice of the Central Powers
in letting them organise the question of provisioning etc…Even
worse than this is, however, the extermination of Armenians, which,
perhaps, could have been prevented if German advisers had in time
received authority over the civilian administration as the German
officers actually practise over army and navy."

â~@¢ Envoy Ahlgren, August 20, 1917: "The high prices continue
to climb…

There are several reasons:… and finally the strong decreasing of
labour power, caused partly by the mobilisation but partly also by
the extermination of the Armenian race".

In his memoirs "Memories from Peace and War" (1942), Wirsén dedicated
an entire chapter to the genocide. In "The Murder of a Nation",
Wirsén writes that:

"Officially, these [the deportations] had the goal to move the entire
Armenian population to the steppe regions of Northern Mesopotamia and
Syria, but in reality they aimed to exterminate the Armenians, whereby
the pure Turkish element in Asia Minor would achieve a dominating
position…. The annihilation of the Armenian nation in Asia Minor
must upset all human feelings. The way in which the Armenian issue
was solved was hair-raising."

In addition to these, there are numerous eyewitness accounts which
missionaries and field workers such as Alma Johansson, Maria Anholm,
Lars Erik Högberg, E. John Larson, Olga Moberg, Per Pehrsson and
others published. Hjalmar Branting was the very first person, who
long before Lemkin, used the term genocide ("folkmord") when he,
on March 26, 1917, called the persecutions against the Armenians as
"an organized and systematic genocide, worse than what we ever have
seen in Europe".

A recognition of the 1915 genocide is not only important in order to
redress the affected ethic groups and minorities which still live in
Turkey, but also for the promotion of Turkey’s development. Turkey can
not become a better democracy if the truth about its past is denied.

The Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was murdered for having openly
expressed himself regarding thegenocide and several others have been
prosecuted by the same infamous Paragraph 301. The latest changes
of the law by the Turkish Government are purely cosmetic and do not
imply any changes what so ever. It is said that history should be
left to historians and we completely support that. However, it is the
responsibility of the politicians to act in accordance to historic
facts and historic research. Furthermore, a Swedish recognition of
the truth and a historic fact should not imply any hinder for either
the reform work in Turkey or Turkey’s EU negotiations. With basis in
what we have stated above, we consider that Sweden should recognize
the 1915 genocide against Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans, and
Pontic Greeks. This should the Parliament present as its consideration
to the Government.

Furthermore, we do consider that Sweden should act internationally,
within the framework for EU and UN, for an international recognition of
the 1915 genocide against Armenians, Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans, and
Pontic Greeks. This should the Parliament present as its consideration
to the Government.

As long as countries such as Sweden does not confront Turkey with the
truth and the facts which are at hand, Turkey can not go further on
its path to an more open society, a better democracy and fully open
up its possibilities for a membership in EU. Thus, Sweden should
act for Turkey to recognize the 1915 genocide against Armenians,
Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans, and Pontic Greeks. This should the
Parliament present as its consideration to the Government.

Stockholm October 2, 2008

Alice Åström (Left) Annelie Enochson (Christian Democrat) Bodil
Ceballos (Green) Christopher Odmann (Green) Esabelle Dingizian
(Green) Fredrik Malm (Liberal) Hans Linde (Left) Helena Leander
(Green) Kalle Larsson (Left) Lars Ohly (Left) Lennart Sacrédeus
(Christian Democrat) Mats Pertoft (Green) Max Andersson (Green)
Nikos Papadopoulos (Social Democrat) Yilmaz Kerimo (Social Democrat).

12 250 DOMAINS REGISTERED IN .AM ZONE

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2010 19:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 12 250 domains have been registered in .am zone so
far, Igor Mkrtumyan President of the Internet Society of Armenia told
PanARMENIAN.Net. According to him, the first domain in the .am zone
was registered in 1996. On March 15 25 years ago first Internet domain
name ever registered on the Internet was Symbolics.com. In 2009 Aron
Meystedt acquired Symbolics.com from the Symbolics company. Currently
it serves as a personal blog for the owner.

According to the BBC, with reference to Netcraft, about 100 thousand
domains appear every day in the .com zone. According to Netcraft,
there are more than 206 million web sites on the Internet today.

TURKISH MP DIDN’T VOTE ON SWEDISH PARLIAMENT GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Tert.am
13:38 ~U 12.03.10

Green (or Environmental) Party member of Swedish parliament (Riksdag)
Mehmet Kaplan, who is of Turkish descent, left the hall during the
March 11 vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

According to Turkish news source Today’s Zaman, Kaplan said the
resolution could obstruct the recent developments in Turkey and called
on parliamentarians to vote against the resolution.

However, Turkish daily Milliyet reported that if Kaplan had not left
the room, had instead stayed and voted "no," perhaps the resolution
wouldn’t have been approved – especially since the resolution was
approved with 131 in favour and 130 against.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Chris Zakian
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

March 11, 2010
___________________

ANOUSH MATHEVOSIAN IS HONORED FOR HER VISIONARY PHILANTHROPY IN
ARMENIA, THROUGH THE FUND FOR ARMENIAN RELIEF

A visionary benefactor who has helped countless people in Armenia was
honored by Holy Etchmiadzin, the Republic of Armenia, and the Eastern
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, during a special award
presentation on Monday, March 8, 2010.

Ms. Anoush Mathevosian was visited in her New York home by Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, the Diocesan Primate; Ambassador Garen Nazarian, Armenia’s United
Nations ambassador; and Garnik Nanagoulian, executive director of the Fund
for Armenian Relief, accompanied by FAR’s projects director Arto Vorperian.

The visitors were honoring Ms. Mathevosian for her unmatched generosity to
the Fund for Armenian Relief-and through FAR, to the Republic of
Armenia-which in the course of two decades has significantly advanced life
in a host of spheres throughout Armenia.

Ms. Mathevosian’s investments in the future of Armenia have been many and
varied. Through FAR, she has built new schools and summer camps, renovated
university labs and auditoriums, and funded educational scholarships for
deserving students.

In addition to her FAR-related efforts, she established Armenia’s National
Mammography Center. Closer to home, it was Ms. Mathevosian who first
envisioned an Armenian Genocide Museum in Washington, D.C., and who became a
core benefactor of its establishment.

Her greatest passion, however, involves access to education. To that end
she established an endowment with FAR to provide scholarships to talented
but underprivileged youth in Armenia, to allow them to obtain university
degrees in their chosen fields. More than 170 young men and women-who would
otherwise have been unable to afford higher education-have pursued their
educational dreams through FAR’s Anoush Mathevosian Scholarship Program.

"You are a powerful example of how to invest in Armenia’s future, in the
most effective and wisest way," said Ambassador Nazarian, as he presented
Ms. Mathevosian with the "Gold Medal" of Armenia’s Ministry of Science and
Education.

Archbishop Barsamian presented Ms. Mathevosian with the "St. Gregory the
Illuminator Medal"-the highest award of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
bestowed by His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians.

In an accompanying pontifical encyclical, Catholicos Karekin praised Anoush
Mathevosian for "keeping love of Armenia and the Armenian Church strong in
your heart, and empowering our homeland with your patriotic service."

The Catholicos made special note of the "endowment you established with FAR,
to serve our nation’s youth in need, and allow them to pursue university
educations."

In his own remarks on the occasion, Archbishop Barsamian said to Ms.
Mathevosian that "the leadership of the Armenian Church and nation greatly
appreciate all of your efforts on behalf of our homeland, and honor the
creative vision you’ve brought to your benefactions through the Fund for
Armenian Relief."

The Primate also presented the honoree with document expressing the
congratulations and gratitude of all of the FAR Mathevosian Scholarship
beneficiaries-who are now working as journalists, doctors, IT experts,
engineers, teachers, and diplomats in Armenia.

"These names represent the new generation of Armenia, destined to completely
rebuild their homeland," said the Primate. "And I’m proud to say that every
one of them has become a FAR volunteer, who reaches out to help others-as
they were helped by a visionary woman, living thousands of miles from
Armenia."

As the presentation proceeded, Ms. Mathevosian could not conceal how deeply
she was affected by the tribute. "This is one of the happiest days of my
life, she said.

"I am thrilled to see how these talented youths have become good citizens of
our independent homeland," she continued. "It is they who will build the
new Armenia-the Armenia of our dreams. I am thankful to FAR for doing an
outstanding job in reaching out to our fellow Armenians in the homeland who
need our help."

* The Courage of Her Convictions

"It’s a pleasure and an inspiration knowing such a person as Anoush
Mathevosian," said Archbishop Barsamian in an interview after the March 8
ceremony. "She comes from a priestly family-I fondly recall her father, Der
Kaloust, and her mother. They were a wonderful family: pious, patriotic,
devoted to learning. Anoush and her sisters have been excellent role models
of the finest Armenian Christian ideals."

Born New Julfa, in Iran, Anoush Mathevosian proved such a talented student
in her Tehran high school that she became one of a very few granted an
opportunity to study in the United States. She graduated with honors the
New York Medical School and became a registered nurse. Later, she continued
her studies at Columbia University Teachers College, graduated in Public
Health Administration, and spent 16 years as an administrator in the City
Hospital of Elmhurst.

Though she had lost her brothers at an early age, Anoush had a special bond
with her sister Siranoush, who also came to the United States and worked at
the United Nations. Both sisters were strongly attached to the Armenian
Church.

In the 1960s, the Mathevosian sisters began investing in real estate, and
their great success in that area has been directed to support various
humanitarian projects, including the ones through FAR in Armenia.
Touchingly, one of those projects-Camp Siranoush, a summer haven for needy
children in Armenia-was created and named by Anoush as a memorial to her
departed sister.

"When the earthquake shook Armenia in 1988, Anoush was one of the first to
come to the Diocese, with concern to help the afflicted," recalled
Archbishop Barsamian. "And after Armenia declared its independence, it
became her vision to encourage the young generation of the country-to help
them develop their gifts for learning and leadership, to help develop our
homeland politically, economically, medically, and spiritually."

"This is a woman who has taken a hands-on approach to philanthropy, every
step of the way," said FAR executive director Nanagoulian. "Anoush has
thought long and hard about exactly what Armenia needs, and how she wants to
help."

"This is not a person who comes and asks, ‘What can I do?’" Mr. Nanagoulian
continued. "Anoush Mathevosian comes and says, ‘This is what I intend to
do-and I am going to fund it.’ She takes the initiative. And she really
shows the courage of her convictions by envisioning a project, and then
working through FAR to make it a reality."

He added: "The results have been extraordinary for Armenia-as the Holy See
of Etchmiadzin and the Armenian government acknowledged through these
awards."

On her part, Anoush Mathevosian affirmed her high opinion of the Fund for
Armenian Relief during the March 8 ceremony. "These projects are very
precious to me," she said, "and I am very happy to have entrusted them to
FAR. With FAR, I’m confident they’ll be handled with care, concern,
respect.and love."

Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served
hundreds of thousands of people through more than 220 relief and development
programs in Armenia and Karabagh. It has channeled more than $285 million
in humanitarian assistance by implementing a wide range of projects
including emergency relief, construction, education, medical aid, and
economic development.

–3/10/10

* * *

PHOTO CAPTIONS

FAR_Mathevosian1.jpg

Pictured (l-r): Armenia’s UN Ambassador Garen Nazarian, honoree Anoush
Mathevosian, and Diocesan Primate Archbishop Khajag Barsamian.

FAR_Mathevosian2.jpg

Anoush Mathevosian (center) was honored for her unmatched philanthropy to
the Republic of Armenia through the Fund for Armenian Relief, in a special
ceremony with Abp. Khajag Barsamian, Amb. Garen Nazarian, FAR Executive
Director Garnik Nanagoulian, and FAR projects director Arto Vorperian.

# # #