Author: Kajoyan Gevork

El Litoral.com, Argentina
26 abril 2014

Un nuevo aniversario del genocidio armenio

Por parte de Turquía y de la comunidad internacional no hay una
respuesta contundente para condenar el exterminio de un millón de
personas.

e cumplen noventa y nueve años del genocidio armenio y Turquía hasta
el momento no ha dicho una palabra relevante sobre el tema y, no
conforme con ello, amenaza con sanciones o ruptura de relaciones a los
países que se animen a condenar a una de las masacres colectivas del
siglo XX, siglo que a decir verdad, fue muy generoso en masacres y
exterminios de inocentes.

En estos días el primer ministro Recep Tayyip Erdogan calificó como
inhumanas las muertes masivas y expresó públicamente sus condolencias
a los descendientes de las víctimas y habló de un dolor compartido.
Aunque negó la responsabilidad de los llamados “jóvenes turcos”, y se
refirió a ellos como la camada de oficiales e intelectuales que se
propusieron modernizar al país. ¿Un primer paso? Es probable, pero muy
pequeño el reconocimiento, casi insignificante atendiendo la magnitud
de la tragedia.

Al respecto, los estudios históricos, los testimonios personales, las
denuncias de la propia comunidad armenia en el mundo, han permitido
conocer en detalle cómo más de un millón y medio de personas fue
asesinado sin piedad por el exclusivo hecho de pertenecer a una
nación. En efecto, a la hora de aniquilar, el régimen turco no se
preocupó en diferenciar niños de ancianos, hombres de mujeres. Bastaba
ser armenio para morir.

Sobre esta masacre sistemática, acerca de estas decisiones políticas
de exterminio, no hay autocrítica hasta la fecha, ni asignación de
responsabilidades históricas y, por supuesto, tampoco hay reparación
moral y material a los descendientes de aquellas víctimas. El tema
debe resultarle complicado o conflictivo al gobierno turco -al actual
y a los anteriores- porque por no asumir un crimen de hace un siglo no
puede ingresar a la Unión Europea con todos los beneficios económicos
y financieros que ello le ocasionaría.

¿Alguien se imagina qué sería de Alemania en la actualidad si el
canciller Adenauer no hubiera tomado la decisión de condenar el
Holocausto perpetrado por los nazis? Sin esa autocrítica, pedido de
disculpas e indemnización a las víctimas, ¿podría hoy Alemania ser la
potencia más influyente de Europa? ¿Por qué entonces Turquía no se
hace cargo de una realidad que los historiadores ya han probado hasta
en los detalles? Imposible saberlo.

Queda pendiente, de todos modos, una reflexión acerca de los crímenes
que se pueden cometer en nombre del nacionalismo, la pureza étnica y
el fanatismo religioso. No deja de ser una cruel paradoja que el
movimiento político que en su momento se propuso refundar a Turquía en
términos modernos, laicos e incluso democráticos, haya sido al mismo
tiempo el responsable de una masacre que se prolongó por lo menos
durante diez años.

Después de ello, el silencio. O las excusas increíbles. El argumento
más difundido para justificar lo injustificable es que los armenios
conspiraban contra la integridad territorial del país, además de
colaborar con sus enemigos históricos. Ninguna de esas imputaciones
pudieron probarse, pero lo que queda fuera de duda es que el genocidio
se cometió.

En la actualidad, sólo un puñado de países critica públicamente lo
sucedido. Entre esos países se encuentra la Argentina, lo cual nos
honra. Sería deseable que ese ejemplo sea asumido por otras naciones,
sin ceder a las presiones de la diplomacia turca. Se trata de reparar
una masacre del pasado, pero también de atestiguar hacia el futuro que
el genocidio es un crimen contra la humanidad y como tal debe ser
sancionado.

El genocidio es un crimen contra la humanidad y como tal debe ser sancionado

Liberty News On Line, NY
May 3 2014

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ACCUSED OF SUPPORTING RADICAL ISLAMISTS WHO ARE
KILLING THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS

05-02-2014 11:33 pm – Katie Gorka – Breitbart.com

A growing number of Syrian Christian leaders are traveling to the
United States to plead with lawmakers to stop sending arms to the
rebels. The most recent visitor is the Patriarch of the Church of
Antioch, His Beatitude Gregorios III, who is based in Damascus.

For the first three years of the civil war, Syria’s Christian leaders
have not been frequent visitors to the U.S., in part fearing reprisals
when they return to Syria, but also because they have been reluctant
to engage in what they see as political issues. But with the civil war
now in its fourth year, they are taking a more public stance. Visiting
Washington, D.C., in January of this year to speak about the war,
Bishop Armash Nalbandian, primate of the Armenian Church of Damascus,
said that after he witnessed the bombing of the St. John of Damascus
School, which killed nine children, he did not care anymore about his
own safety. He said he will now do and say anything to help end the
war.

But speaking out against the war puts church leaders in a difficult
position. They want to protect their congregations and their nation,
but they then face accusations of supporting the Assad regime. His
Beatitude Gregorios said, “Everybody asks me, ‘Are you for or against
the regime?’ I tell them, I am not for or against the regime; I am not
for or against the opposition. I am for stability.” The complaint that
many in Syria now have is that while Assad is far from an ideal ruler,
they fear more what would follow in the wake of his downfall. The
Patriarch continued, “All the churches in the Middle East are saying
the same thing: ‘We want stability, but Europe and the United States
are ignoring us.'”

With foreign fighters flooding into Syria, concerns about worsening
chaos and escalating violence are not unreasonable. An estimated
130,000 people have been killed so far in the Syrian civil war, more
than 2.5 million Syrians have fled the country, and an estimated 6
million are internally displaced. In April, another Armenian Christian
school was bombed in Damascus, and on Tuesday, the extremist group
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced it had killed
two prisoners by crucifixion.

The conflict in Syria is capturing the imagination of Islamic
extremists in much the same way the wars in Bosnia and Afghanistan
did. According to a report issued by the Indonesia-based Institute for
Policy Analysis of Conflict:
Islamic eschatology predicts that the final battle at the end of time
will take place in Sham, the region sometimes called Greater Syria or
the Levant, encompassing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and
Israel. Indeed, within some extremist circles, the Syrian conflict is
known as the ‘one-way ticket jihad’ because anyone [who] goes there to
fight will be able to stay and see Islam’s final victory.

That may help explain why Syria has attracted an estimated 13,000 –
15,000 foreign fighters, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and
Information Center in Tel Aviv.

Patriarch Gregorios also believes that Syria’s fate has global import,
but for an entirely different reason. According to the Patriarch, the
future of Christians in the Middle East is at stake. In a four-hour
meeting that took place between Pope Francis and the Patriarchs of the
Middle Eastern churches on November 21, Pope Francis said:

Syria, Iraq, Egypt and areas of the Holy Land are still oozing tears.
The Bishop of Rome will not be at peace for as long as there are still
men and women of every religion, who have been robbed of their dignity
and deprived of a future and all the basic things they need to survive
and forced to become refugees and asylum seekers. Today, together with
the pastors of the Churches of the East, we appeal for everyone’s
right to a dignified life and to freely profess their faith be
respected. We should never resign ourselves to thinking of the Middle
East without the Christians, who for two thousand years confess the
name of Jesus, as full citizens in social, cultural and religious life
of the nations to which they belong.

According to Patriarch Gregorios, any future for Christians in the
Middle East requires that Muslims and Christians continue to live
together side by side. “The future of the dialogue between
Christianity and Islam is at stake in Syria,” he said. But the growing
presence of extremists is making that dialogue nearly impossible, and
the fact that the United States is providing arms to rebel groups,
which, in turn, end up in the hands of Muslim extremists also works
against dialogue.

The civil war in Syria also has growing security implications for the
United States. Jeh Johnson, who became Secretary of Homeland Security
in December, told ABC News this week, “Syria has become a matter of
homeland security, and we are very concerned about Syrian foreign
fighters, people who are going into Syria, who are being recruited by
extremists there and who then may leave Syria with a different purpose
in mind.” Foreign fighters are training and fighting alongside the AQ
affiliate, the al-Nusra Front, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham
(ISIS), and the fear is that when they return home to Europe and the
United States, they will bring their skills and extremism with them.

According to Ken Dilanian, writing in the L.A. Times, John Brennan,
director of the CIA, expressed similar apprehensions before a House
panel: “We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al
Qaeda organization to recruit individuals and develop the capability
to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to
use Syria as a launching pad.”

Last week, the British government launched a national campaign aimed
at families of would-be fighters, encouraging them to intervene and to
dissuade their young men from traveling to fight in Syria. An
estimated 400 British citizens have gone to fight in Syria, while an
estimated 50 American citizens have gone there as jihadis. Dilanian
noted, “James B. Comey, the FBI director, has said counter-terrorism
officials are trying to track U.S. veterans of the Syrian war who have
returned home.”

Patriarch Gregorios said during his visit to Washington that the voice
of the church now needs to be heard. Given the failure of the policies
that have been tried thus far, perhaps his advice should be heeded.

Azerbaijan shells Armenian border village (videos)

14:21 ¢ 03.05.14

Azerbaijan’s armed forces opened fire on an Armenian border village in
the morning as pilgrims of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese and
journalists headed there on a tour.

While the gunshots continued, the pilgrims, who had visited Aygepar
(Tavush region), were in front of the local secondary school, talking
to the principal and several clergymen who had hidden in the
school-yard, villagers have said.

Speaking to Tert.am, Priest Aram Mirzoyan, a diocesan prelate from the
town of Berd, said the enemy had initially targeted a tractor in an
apparent attempt to open fire against villagers working in the field.

Explosions Rock Aleppo’s Armenian District

Friday, May 2nd, 2014

Emergency workers in Aleppo search through debris after explosions
struck the city

ALEPPO’Explosions rocked the Armenian-populated areas of Syria’s
largest city at around 6 p.m. local time Friday, injuring two
Armenians and causing severe damage to buildings in the Villaner and
Sheikh Taha neighborhoods, reported Zarmig Boghigian a reporter for
the Gandzasar Weekly.

One of the injured was identified at Garbis Boshkezanian, a student at
the Karen Jeppe College and the other, Garabed Tavidian.

Firefighters came on the scene immediately and the wounded were
transported to a nearby hospital.

Earlier on Friday, another rocket attack on Aleppo injured three,
Garbis Kapaian, Raffi Balian and his son, Garo.

This follows days of intense fighting in Aleppo and the
Armenian-populated neighborhoods.

On Thursday, Krikor Alkdjian was injured. Three Syrian-Armenians were
killed between Wednesday and Thursday. Raffi Hekimian sustained fatal
wounds from artillery fire on Wednesday, which 25-year-old William
Margarian, a Syrian Army soldier died Thursday.

Khajag Djamgotchian, a 7th grade student also sustained injuries
during fighting in Aleppo on Thursday.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 2 2014

Baku, Tel-Aviv keen on deepening ties

2 May 2014, 12:54 (GMT+05:00)
By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan- Israel ties are developing in all areas, particularly
economy and politics, Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Speaker said.

Ogtay Asadov made the remark at a meeting with Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman on May 1.

Asadov said trade turnover between the two countries reached more than
$1.3 billion in 2013, adding that seven documents were signed and six
documents are expected to be signed between Azerbaijan and Israel.

Pointing to the role of the Azerbaijan-Israel Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, he expressed confidence that bilateral trades would
increase.

Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Asadov
lauded Israel’s support for Azerbaijan’s position and territorial
integrity.

Lieberman, in turn, praised bilateral relations and said there were
good opportunities for boosting cooperation even further, stressing
the role of inter-parliamentary cooperation in strengthening the
bilateral ties.

The Israeli foreign minister met with Parliament’s Deputy Speaker
Valeh Alasgarov and members of the international relations standing
committee afterwards.

The meeting discussed bilateral relations in various fields,
particularly communication technologies, science, medicine, and
innovations.

Alasgarov expressed confidence that Lieberman’s visit would contribute
to the development of friendship and cooperation between the two
countries, while Lieberman noted the importance of developing
bilateral relations and praised the presence of a strong Azerbaijani
Diaspora in Israel and a Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov received a
delegation led by Israeli Foreign Minister on May 2.

During the meeting they discussed bilateral relations between
Azerbaijan and Israel, the military-political situation in the region
and occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan Rafael Harpaz also attended the meeting.

Talking to journalists, the Israeli Foreign Minister said Azerbaijan,
a friendly country for Israel, is an example of tolerance.

He went on to add that the Jews living in Azerbaijan have always felt
comfortable, even during the Holocaust.

The minister said relations between Israel and Azerbaijan are now at
the highest level, adding that the number of Baku-Tel Aviv flights may
increas when there are enough passengers.

Responding to the possible participation of Israel in the OSCE Minsk
Group, Lieberman said such a proposal had not been made.

“However, if there is a proposal, Tel Aviv is ready to consider it,”
Lieberman said.

Referring to the relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, the Israeli
Foreign Minister said his country does not interfere in the affairs of
other states, and each state follows its own interests.

Responding to a question about the possibility of balancing Israel’s
foreign policy between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Minister said the
Israeli government and parliament have a general strategic line, and
no one can change this line in accordance with their views and
sympathies.

“If you look at the regularity of meetings between the representatives
of Israel and Azerbaijan and the level of bilateral cooperation and
trade turnover, then everything will be clear for you,” Lieberman
added.

He also spoke about the meetings between the representatives of the
two states, stressing that the foundation of excellent bilateral ties
was laid during Heydar Aliyev’s leadership, and President Ilham Aliyev
is continuing this course.

“Bilateral meetings between Ilham Aliyev, Shimon Peres, and Benjamin
Netanyahu in Davos became an important stage in our ties. Last year,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister paid a visit to Israel. It was a very
successful meeting. Israel and Azerbaijan intend to undertake joint
activities,” Lieberman added.

Earlier, Lieberman was received by Azerbaijani President and Foreign Minister.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 1, 2014 Thursday 07:15 PM GMT+4

Armenian communists march in Yerevan in support of Customs Union

YEREVAN May 1

– The Communist Party of Armenia was the only public and political
organisation in the country that held a May Day rally in Yerevan on
Thursday under the motto of accession to the Customs Union created by
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Several hundred people of different age marched through the central
streets of Yerevan towards the Russian Embassy, carrying Soviet-era
flags and placards and chanting “Russia, Russia!”

“We, the participants in a mass demonstration in Yerevan, are
appealing to the peoples of Armenia and Russia, as well as Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan requesting for all possible support to the
large-scale integration processes at this critical time,” the document
read out at the rally said.

“The upcoming accession of Armenia to the Customs Union is a crucial
solution for the people of our long-suffering republic,” the
demonstrators said. “This is the first step towards creating the
Eurasian Union next year.”

“In this situation, all efforts towards Armenia’s accession to the
Customs Union and its active and full participation in the creation of
the Eurasian Union have the wholehearted support of the overwhelming
majority of people in the country,” the communists said.

“Ukraine today is our common anguish. This country has become the
arena of a cynical Americano-European conspiracy that led to a coup in
Kiev and the seizure of power by the neo-Nazi,” the appeal said.

The Communist Party’s members “stressed the crucial role of
large-scale integration processes in the post-Soviet region” and
expressed their “readiness to facilitate Armenia’s accession to the
Customs and Eurasian Unions”.

They believe that “this is the only guarantee of military, political
and economic security of the country”.

On September 3, 2013, after talks with Russian President Vladimir
Putin, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced that the “Republic
of Armenia will join the Customs Union and will take practical steps
to this end and will subsequently participate in forming the Eurasian
Economic Union”.

At their summit in Moscow on December 24, 2013, the presidents of
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia approved an accession roadmap,
which said that the treaty on Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union
would be ready by May 2014.

Preliminary results of implementation by Armenia of the roadmap for
accession to the Customs Union were reported to the presidents of the
member states at a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission on
March 5, 2014.

“Over the two months that have passed since the December summit, and
we can say that Armenia has made great headway in implementing the
roadmap ahead of schedule. I feel optimistic about the possibility and
ability of Armenia to implement the 260-point roadmap and the amount
of work to be done before admission,” Viktor Khristenko, chairman of
the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Board, said.

Following Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s resignation, President
Sargsyan said Yerevan would continue the accession process at a new
pace.

Prime Minister Sargsyan said earlier that there were no obstacles to
Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union.

“There are no obstacles that could prevent Armenia from becoming a
member of the Customs Union,” he said, adding that “most of the work
has been done, and we only have to complete the list of waivers for
900 types of goods that are sensitive for Armenia”.

“We have grouped these goods, consulted the private sector and
organised public discussions in order to decide which types of goods,
raw materials and services are important and sensitive for us,” the
prime minister said.

“The first most important factor to benefit our business is that
economic entities will get unrestricted access to a large consumer
market,” he said. “The quality and degree of processing of our goods
and services are such that our economy is geared to and aimed at this
large market. The creation of new customs regimes will allow our
business to sell these goods and services freely in this large and
strong market.”

“This is a powerful stimulus for economic growth,” he added.

The second important factor is the simplification of customs
procedures. “The elimination of technical hindrances … means that
goods and services made in the country will be able to be exported to
the Customs Union member states without additional conditions,”
Sargsyan said.

Membership in the Customs Union will also help attract investments in
Armenia, he said and cited the Russian oil company Rosneft’s plans to
invest 400 million U.S. dollars in the republic’s economy.

Yet another factor is accessibility of inexpensive resources, Sargsyan
said. He recalled that “three agreements have been signed with Russia,
which guarantee long-term and stable supplies of resources to
companies”.

The prime minister believes that “integration processes will help
improve the quality of life in the republic” and hopes that “the free
movement of labour will reduce the risk of emigration [from Armenia]
considerably”.

The Customs Union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan was
established on December 19, 2009, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the
leaders of the three states – Dmitry Medvedev, Alexander Lukashenko,
and Nursultan Nazarbayev – signed the Joint Statement on its founding.
The first phase of the Customs Union’s functioning began on January 1,
2010, with the introduction of a uniform customs tariff.

The Customs Union’s highest bodies are the Interstate Councils of the
heads of states and governments of its members. Its joint permanent
governing body is the Customs Union Commission.

The Customs Union formation envisages creation of a common customs
territory where no customs duties or economic restrictions will apply,
save for special protective, anti-dumping and compensatory measures.
Within the Customs Union, a uniform customs tariff and other uniform
measures regulating the commodity trade with third nations will be
applied.

Human Rights Watch Urges Action on Azeri Abuses

Friday, May 2nd, 2014

Azerbaijani human rights advocate Leyla Yunus holds up a photograph of
arrested journalist and human rights defender Hilal Mammadov in Baku.
May 22, 2013. (Photo: RFE/RL)

Says Hollande, Council of Europe Leadership Should Speak Out

BERLIN’Azerbaijani authorities are harassing and engaging in
oppressive tactics against a prominent human rights defender,
international advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a statement
released on Friday. The organization says the Azerbaijani government
should end the harassment against prominent Azerbaijani human rights
defenders and peace advocates Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif.

`Azerbaijan’s international partners, in particular fellow members of
the Council of Europe, should make clear that continued harassment of
human rights defenders, and the Yunuses in particular, will affect
their relationships with Azerbaijan’s government,’ Human Rights Watch
(HRW) says.
`Leyla and Arif Yunus are among many people the Azerbaijani
authorities find `inconvenient,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe
and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. `No government should
be allowed to get away with targeting human rights defenders while
it’s seeking to boost its international prestige.’

On April 28, Baku airport police prevented the couple from leaving the
country, confiscated their passports, and subjected them to a 24-hour
ordeal that led to Arif Yunus’s hospitalization. The prosecutor’s
office subsequently designated them as witnesses in a treason
investigation against Azerbaijani journalist and civic activist Rauf
Mirgadirov, who was deported from Turkey on April 19 and then arrested
in Baku.

The authorities should immediately return the Yunuses’ passports and
stop the arbitrary interference with their freedom of movement and
right to leave their country, Human Rights Watch said. There is no
provision in Azerbaijani law to bar people who are designated
witnesses in a criminal investigation from leaving the country.

President Francois Hollande of France is scheduled to visit Azerbaijan
on May 11 and 12, and it is expected that Leyla Yunus may meet with
him when he is in Baku. In 2013 the French ambassador for human rights
awarded Yunus France’s Legion of Honor award (Ordre National de la
Légion d’honneur) ` the highest French decoration ` for her courage
and promotion of human rights. HRW says Hollande should insist on
seeing the Yunuses while in Baku and make clear that their freedom,
and Mirgadirov’s, is of great importance to him, and to
French-Azerbaijani relations.

On May 15, Azerbaijan will take over the rotating chairmanship of the
Council of Europe, Europe’s foremost human rights body. Human Rights
Watch is calling on the body’s secretary-general, Thorbjorn Jagland,
to express urgent concern about harassment of the Yunuses and the
treatment of Mirgadirov, as well as the wider crackdown on civic
activists and journalists under way for the past year in Azerbaijan,
which has intensified in recent months.

`The harassment against the Yunuses is only the latest example of the
Azerbaijani government’s efforts to muzzle critics,’ Denber said. `The
Council of Europe’s top leadership should step in immediately and say
that this conduct is utterly inappropriate for a government that is
about to take over the organization’s chairmanship.’

Leyla Yunus is the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy,
a human rights group formed in 1995 that has focused on combating
politically motivated prosecutions, corruption, violence against
women, and unlawful house evictions. It has also been involved in
projects aimed at improving people-to-people dialogue between people
in Azerbaijan and Armenia, against the background of the unresolved
conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the April 28 incident, airport police at about 11 p.m. stopped the
Yunuses from boarding a plane, searched their belongings, and
confiscated a laptop computer and documents. Yunus told Human Rights
Watch that the National Security Ministry and officials from the
prosecutor general’s office questioned the couple at the airport,
refusing to allow their lawyer access to them.

At about 3 a.m., law enforcement agents accompanied the couple to
their apartment and attempted to search it. Because the officials
refused to show Leyla Yunus a search warrant, she refused to allow
them to enter. During the exchange at the apartment, Arif Yunus, who
had been hospitalized the week before with high blood pressure and a
heart condition, fell ill and was rushed to the hospital again. He is
in intensive care.

The next morning, Leyla Yunus was questioned for hours at the
prosecutor general’s office, this time in the presence of her lawyer.
At about 4 p.m., she was released without charge. That evening police,
producing a warrant, searched her home and her office, confiscating,
among other things, books by Arif Yunus, a book in Armenian, a
photocopy of Mirgadirov’s ID, and computers.

Yunus’s lawyer told Human Rights Watch that all of the prosecutor’s
questions related to their work on building dialogue with Armenians
and her relationship with Mirgadirov, who is facing charges of spying
for Armenia in connection with trips he made to Armenia, Georgia, and
Turkey in 2008 and 2009.

Mirgadirov had been involved in `second track diplomacy’ between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. He participated in
meetings organized by nongovernmental organizations in Armenia aimed
at improving people-to-people dialogue between the conflicting sides.
The Institute for Peace and Democracy co-organized some of those
programs.

In an April 29 news article, the press service for the prosecutor
general’s office said that the Yunuses were witnesses to a criminal
investigation and alleged that they had previously ignored an attempt
to be served with an interrogation summons and follow-up phone calls
asking them to appear for questioning.

Yunus’s lawyer told Human Rights Watch that on April 24 an official
came to the Yunuses’ home to deliver a summons to appear for
interrogation in several hours, which Leyla Yunus refused, saying she
had not received adequate notice. Another person close to the case
told Human Rights Watch that this incident had resulted in Arif
Yunus’s earlier hospitalization with hypertension.

Azerbaijan has a long history of using bogus charges to imprison its
critics, including on treason charges, Human Rights Watch said.

In August 2011, violating a court injunction, the Baku authorities
demolished without warning a building owned by Leyla Yunus as part of
a government land clearance to make way for a park and business area.
The building housed the Institute for Peace and Democracy and two
other human rights groups. Yunus had repeatedly criticized the
government’s redevelopment plans for the area.

`The ordeal the authorities subjected the Yunuses to bears all the
marks of a government getting ready to pounce on two people it has
long had in its crosshairs,’ Denber said. `The government needs to
back off and both President Hollande and the Council of Europe need to
make that clear.’

En Réponse à Erdogan
Cent ans de solitude pour un jour de colère par Denis Donikian

Cent ans de Solitude pour un Jour de Colère

Par Denis Donikian

Je dédie cet article à Moustapha agha Aziz oglou, Maire de Malatia en 1915

En politique, celui qui croit toucher les cÅ`urs peut les révulser.
Avec ses subtiles et tardives condoléances à l’adresse des «
petits-enfants des Arméniens tués en 1915 », Recep TayyipErdogan,
Premier ministre turc, vient de siffler le début du match qui opposera
les commémorations du génocide de 1915 au négationnisme turc. Les
Arméniens du monde entier savent désormais que leur deuil sera un
combat contre l’amnésie génocidaire. Car leur deuil, loin d’être un
abattement de l’me arménienne, revêtira tous les aspects d’une guerre
mémorielle menée contre la kémalisation par laquelle tous les
gouvernements turcs confondus ont enkysté leur peuple depuis un siècle
sur la question arménienne.

Or, contre le mensonge de l’Etat négationniste, il ne faudra pas
s’attendre à une simple levée de boucliers. Ces boucliers sont levés
depuis déjà cinquante ans et même davantage. Non, il faudra s’attendre
à un véritable déferlement de la colère mondiale, arménienne et
humaniste. Ce que Monsieur Erdogan ne sait pas, c’est que chaque
Arménien né en diaspora voudra jouer sa part de vérité dans cet Hymne
à la Justice qui animera les nations et assiègera le pays qui s’entête
dans ses bottes d’accusé. Car « tous les petits-enfants des Arméniens
tués en 1915 » voudront rendre hommage à leurs grands-parents contre
le crime sans nom ni criminel où la turcité erdoganesque veut les
confiner. Il en est qui se préparent déjà depuis des années, qui
fourbissent leur indignation pour la rendre plus éclatante que jamais.
Chacun de ces petits-enfants ne voudra pas rater ça, faire du
mouvement, donner de la voix, montrer, argumenter. Donner la parole
aux morts dont on a défoncé la bouche. Et contre ÇA, personne ne
saurait faire barrage. On pourra contre manifester, crier à la
supercherie. En vain. La tempête est déjà en route. Elle sera légion
et contagieuse. Les indifférents seront touchés. Les contaminés de la
propagande turque se réveilleront tels qu’en eux-mêmes fleurira leur
conscience. La jeunesse turque ouvrira les yeux et le cÅ`ur. C’est
humain. C’est mathématique. Déjà chaque Arménien se tient fermement
dans les starting-blocks pour grossir la vague anti-négationniste dont
seront témoins toutes les nations du monde. J’en connais et des
meilleurs. Car le génocide turc a pourvu le monde entier de
petits-enfants d’Arméniens tués en 1915. Des petits-enfants qui y
pensent chaque jour. Et qui chaque jour ajoutent au précédent une
idée, une force, un désir de justice.

Déjà avec la saillie de ses condoléances, Erdogan les a agacés, ces
petits-enfants arméniens. Ceux qui dormaient fort se sont même
redressés. Ceux qui s’assimilaient se sont brutalement décillés. Ils
ont ouvert les yeux et ils ont ouvert leur gueule. Erdogan ne pouvait
pas mieux faire pour siffler le début du match. Il croyait abattre les
Arméniens comme des mouches d’un revers de main faussement
compassionnel. Mais non. Il croyait que la mort des Arméniens en 1915
avait rendu amorphes leurs petits-enfants. Non encore. Il les a
poussés au commentaire indigné comme si les morts parlaient encore en
leur bouche. Du plus réactif des petits-enfants comme Michel, Dzovinar
ou Antranik au plus actif comme Manoug, Osman, Ayse, du plus comique
comme Madénian au plus connu comme Aznavour. Des commémorations comme
on n’en aura jamais vues, partout dans le monde mais aussi en Turquie
même. Des commémorations telles que le croissant de lune en tremblera
dans son propre lit de sang. Et il va les recevoir en plein dans ses
condoléances, Erdogan. Que même s’il se fourrait du lokum dans les
esgourdes, ça va passer très fort et très dur. Ça lui fera des otites
et des acouphènes à vie.

Car oui, contre ÇA, la Turquie ne pourra rien. Rien pour maintenir
contre ÇA cette bassesse de l’histoire qu’elle perpétue bassement.
Incapable qu’elle sera de lancer ses tchétés contre les défilés qui
lui jetteront sa honte à la figure. Sans même la possibilité cette
fois de rafler de nuit les intellectuels arméniens, ni ceux qui
fraterniseront avec eux, pour les faire taire par l’exil, le chantage
ou la mort. Ses soldats n’arriveront pas à fusiller les hommes
valides, ni à torturer les prêtres, ni à noyer les enfants, ni à les
brûler dans les églises pour éteindre leurs cris. Tous auront l’me en
feu et la parole libre, la parole vivante, la parole européenne pour
dire à Monsieur Erdogan que ces Arméniens tués en 1915 l’ont été par
les vôtres hier et le sont encore par vous-même aujourd’hui.

Les commémorations liées à la bataille des Dardanelles le 25 avril ne
parviendront même pas à étouffer ces voix multiples et mondiales. Au
contraire, elles mettront davantage en lumière le trou béant qui
déchire une histoire de barbaries que la Turquie n’ose pas regarder en
face. On le sait bien pourquoi. Dans ce trou noir qui a pour nom
Frendjelar, Dara, Kharpout et autres, où sèche le sang des Arméniens
tués en 1915, mais aussi des Grecs et Assyro-Chaldéens, la Turquie
pourrait être entraînée tout entière, coupable d’avoir manipulé son
peuple durant cent années.

Grce à Dieu, pour éviter ce genre de gouffre, les pays qui ont
mauvais genre ressortent de leurs placards une bonne commémoration
pour redonner au peuple l’estime de soi. Cela se comprend. Celle des
Dardanelles se fera pour que la fierté d’être turc soit sauve et
échappe à l’opprobre que les commémorations arméniennes feront peser
sur la turcité. Mais ce sera du pur thétre, pas de la douleur
humaine. Ce sera une commémoration de carton, pas une commémoration
humaniste. Et aux yeux du monde la Turquie telle que la rêve Erdogan
en sortira plus amoindrie que jamais. Car il n’y a pas d’autre issue Ã
la fierté d’être turc que de reconnaître la déraison qui est Ã
l’origine de la douleur arménienne.

Lire la suite, voir lien plus bas

vendredi 2 mai 2014,
Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

ARMENIE
Le parti au pouvoir nomme un président du Parlement

Le Président Serge Sarkissian et son Parti républicain d’Arménie (HHK)
ont désigné Galust Sahakian, un leader du HHK comme le nouveau
président du parlement du pays.

L’organe directeur du HHK a approuvé Ã l’unanimité la candidature de
Sahakian lors d’une réunion en fin de semaine dernière sous la
présidence de Serge Sarkissian. Avec le parti au pouvoir qui contrôle
la majorité des sièges à l’Assemblée nationale, il est sûr d’être élu
président dans les prochains jours.

La position, qui est nominalement au deuxième rang dans la hiérarchie
de l’Etat arménien, est devenu vacant après que le précédent titulaire
Hovik Abrahamian, a été nommé Premier ministre au début du mois.

Expliquant son choix à la direction du HHK, Serge Sarkissian a cité
l’affiliation de longue durée de Galust Sahakian avec le parti et une
vaste expérience législative. « Je suis convaincu que Galust Sahakian
peut être président de l’Assemblée nationale et apporté son expérience
à l’Assemblée nationale, notre pays et au parti » a-t-il dit lors de
la réunion.

Galust Sahakian, 66 ans, est l’un des membres les plus anciens de
l’assemblée, ayant occupé un siège depuis 1995. Il a dirigé la faction
parlementaire du HHK pendant presque une décennie. Ses deux fils
occupent des postes élevés dans l’administration.

« J’essaie toujours de voir de bonnes choses dans les gens » a-t-il
dit à d’autres députés au parlement lundi. « Il n’y a pas de mauvaises
personnes, il n’y a que de mauvaises relations ».

Levon Zurabian, le leader parlementaire du Congrès national arménien
(HAK), a demandé Ã Galust Sahakian de commenter les rapports
persistants des médias qu’il est depuis longtemps engagé dans une
activité entrepreneuriale, en violation de la constitution. Galust
Sahakian a de nouveau nié posséder des entreprises.

Levon Zurabian a précisé que lui et d’autres députés du HAK
boycotteront l’élection du nouveau président parce qu’ils ne
considèrent pas le parlement contrôlé par le gouvernement comme
légitime.

Les députés de l’autre parti d’opposition, la Fédération
révolutionnaire arménienne (FRA), ne devraient également pas prendre
part au scrutin secret, même si leur chef, Armen Rustamian, a fait
l’éloge des traits personnels de Sahakian. Armen Rustamian a décrit le
futur président comme un constructeur de consensus occasionnel qui n’a
pas hésité Ã collaborer avec ses collègues de l’opposition.

Le Parti Arménie prospère, qui contrôle la deuxième plus grande
faction dans le parlement actuel, doit encore décider s’il va soutenir
la candidature de Sahakian.

vendredi 2 mai 2014,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

EDITORIAL
Erdogan : un pas en avant, deux pas en arrière

Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop. Il n’aura pas fallu attendre
une semaine pour qu’Erdogan, qui avait surpris son monde le 23 avril
en présentant ses condoléances aux petits fils des Arméniens tués en
1915, se recale sur un positionnement plus conforme aux fondamentaux
antiarméniens de l’État turc et au négationnisme qui en découle. En
affirmant avec cynisme le 28 avril qu’il n’y avait jamais eu de
génocide des Arméniens, « puisqu’il en restait encore », le Premier
ministre turc renoue donc spectaculairement avec une logique de haine
dont il avait fait mine de vouloir s’écarter, le temps d’une
déclaration.

Cette parenthèse compassionnelle, qui n’était certes ni une
reconnaissance du crime, ni des excuses, constituait cependant depuis
cent ans le premier geste gouvernemental turc non empreint d’aversion
à l’endroit des Arméniens. Jusqu’alors, la politique d’Ankara s’était
caractérisée par les massacres, le génocide, le négationnisme, la
terreur, le racisme, la discrimination et des brimades de toutes
sortes à l’égard de ce peuple sur la destruction duquel l’État turc a
construit ses fondations. Dans ce contexte, le fait que pour la
première fois un dirigeant de ce pays puisse exprimer une forme
d’empathie à son endroit, quand bien même eut-elle pu paraître bien
tardive et très calculée, laissait les plus bienveillants espérer un
changement de cap.

Ainsi les États-Unis avaient voulu déceler dans ces « condoléances »
un pas en avant vers la « réconciliation ». Il ne leur aura donc pas
fallu attendre très longtemps pour déchanter, puisque c’est
précisément sur la chaine américaine PBS que le Premier ministre turc
s’est repositionné avec éclat dans le droit fil du déni. Un réancrage
qui donne raison aux « réalistes » qui ont vu dans la proclamation
turque du 23 avril une opération d’enfumage uniquement destiné Ã
améliorer l’image de la Turquie sur la scène internationale. Dommage,
car ce « pas en avant », suivi de deux en arrière, a pour effet de
creuser encore la distance dans les relations arméno-turques déjÃ
quasiment inexistantes.

La dernière tentative de rapprochement en ce domaine – les protocoles
signés avec l’Arménie en octobre 2009 – avait échoué du fait des
conditions posées par Ankara, ultérieurement à leur signature. Ankara
avait en effet subordonné leur ratification à un règlement du conflit
du Haut-Karabagh en faveur de l’Azerbaïdjan. On se souvient aussi
qu’en 2001, la fameuse commission de réconciliation arméno-turque,
mise en place avec le soutien du Département d’État américain, avait
elle aussi fait long feu, après que la partie turque, qui avaient
demandé et obtenu la réunion d’une structure d’experts et d’historiens
sur les événements de 1915, eu quitté la table au motif de ses
résultats inacceptables à ses yeux. Le « Centre de justice
transitionnelle » dirigé par David Philips, et qui pourtant avait été
agréé par les Turcs, avaient en effet conclu qu’il s’agissait d’un
génocide, selon la définition de la convention des Nations-Unies de
1948. Il n’en avait pas fallu davantage pour qu’ils désertent la
négociation…

Il est donc pour le moins légitime de se poser la question de savoir
s’il y a quoi que ce soit à espérer des gouvernants turcs qui n’ont
visiblement pour but que de maintenir le statu quo et de continuer Ã
toucher les dividendes de l’entreprise d’extermination. Et ce, en
dépit de manoeuvres dont ont voit bien qu’elles ne visent qu’Ã
brouiller les pistes et à gagner, 99 ans après, toujours plus de
temps. Des gesticulations aussi déshonorantes que contre-productives
qui ne font que ternir encore davantage l’image d’un État génocidaire
et négationniste dont ils assument et perpétuent, sans vergogne, la
tradition criminelle.

Ara Toranian

vendredi 2 mai 2014,
Ara ©armenews.com