Author: Kajoyan Gevork

TURQUIE : MEMOIRE OTTOMANE, RETOUR DU REFOULE

Publie le : 14-01-2014

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN
vous propose cet article d’Etienne Copeaux publie sur son blog
susam-sokak.fr.

Legende photo : Le petit-fils d’Abdulhamid II, Selim Osmanoglu (en
turban blanc), lors d’une celebration “ottomane” a Berlin en 1997
(photo Turkiye, 22 avril 1997)

susam-sokak.fr

Esquisse n° 34 – Memoire ottomane, retour du refoule

Les evenements de Bosnie et du Kosovo, le siège de Sarajevo par les
Serbes (1992-1996), le massacre de Srebrenica (1995), ont revolte
l’opinion publique en Turquie. La sensibilite des Turcs a l’egard
de ces evenements a revele la force de la composante ” ottomane ”
du nationalisme turc, qui avait ete plus ou moins occultee.

Le mouvement kemaliste avait besoin de s’affirmer comme le renouveau
de la Turquie : en utilisant l’image, populaire en Europe, du ”
declin ottoman “, declin presente comme consubstantiel a une dynastie
incapable de gerer son patrimoine, il a fait croire a une coupure
radicale entre la republique naissante et l’empire.

Il est vrai que certaines reformes de Mustafa Kemal sont des coupures
decisives, comme celle de l’ecriture et de la langue, par lesquelles
les nouvelles generations turques sont devenues etrangères a leur
propre passe. La volonte de coupure accordait beaucoup d’importance aux
signes visuels ; l’ecriture en est un, et c’est jusqu’a la designation
de cette ecriture que va l’opprobre, car on ne dit pas, a son propos,
qu’elle est en ” caractères arabes “, mais que ce sont les ” anciennes
lettres ” (eski harfler). L’autre signe visuel est le vetement, et la
” modernisation ” forcee est passee par deux lois, en 1925 et 1934,
interdisant le port du fez et de certains vetements.

Or ces signes visuels, qui devraient logiquement renvoyer au referent
” epoque ottomane “, renvoyaient de plus en plus, dans les annees 1990,
au referent ” islam ” voire ” islamisme “, grâce au fonctionnement des
connotations : la republique est connotee ” laïque “, donc supposee
ennemie de la religion. La memoire ottomane, releguee aux oubliettes,
et la religion, repoussee dans la sphère privee, se retrouvaient de
facto dans un ensemble de signifiants communs.

Pourtant, a la fin du vingtième siècle, ce n’est pas seulement dans la
sphère politique de l’islam qu’on pouvait observer un retour du refoule
ottoman. Celui-ci procedait egalement du souci de retrouver passe
reel de son pays ou de sa famille (alors que le kemalisme renvoyait a
une Asie centrale lointaine et fantasmatique), et ce desir fortement
present dans la societe etait d’ailleurs facilite par l’autonomisation
des recherches historiques par rapport a la pensee officielle.

Lire la suite sur susam-sokak le blog d’Etienne Copeaux

Retour a la rubrique

Source/Lien : Infos Collectif VAN

PLUS DE 7100 PASSAGERS TRANSPORTES PAR LA COMPAGNIE DES CHEMINS DE FER DU CAUCASE DU SUD PENDANT LES VACANCES DU NOUVEL AN

ARMENIE

La compagnie ferroviaire a transporte plus de 7100 passagers pendant
les vacances du Nouvel An, c’est a dire sur la periode allant du 26
Decembre au 7 Janvier a annonce le service de presse de la societe.

Quelques 1226 personnes ont pris la liaison Erevan-Tbilissi-Erevan.

5900 autres personnes ont pris les trains de banlieue vers des
destinations a l’interieur du pays.

Parmi eux, 5200 ont pris la liaison Erevan-Gyumri-Erevan. Dans les
premiers jours de 2014 la demande pour les trains de banlieue etait
très elevee.

mardi 14 janvier 2014, Stephane ©armenews.com

DEFENSE MINISTRY: ARMENIAN SIDE REFRAINS FROM RESPONDING TO PROVOCATIONS

17:00 13/01/2014 ” TOPIC OF THE DAY

The Armenian side observes the agreements reached and mainly refrains
from responding to Azerbaijan’s provocations, Armenian Defense Ministry
spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan told Panorama.am.

Hovhannisyan’s comment came in response to a report of Azerbaijan’s
APA news agency claiming that an Azeri serviceman was injured as a
result of ceasefire violation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

“I have no other comment on this matter,” the spokesman said.

On January 10, throughout the day, Azerbaijan fired at Armenian
positions and settlements in various sections of Armenia-Azerbaijan
border. There were no casualties on the Armenian side.

Related: Azerbaijan fired at Armenian positions and settlements on
Jan. 10

Source: Panorama.am

AZERBAIJAN TRIES TO SHIFT RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSTABILITY IN THE REGION TO ARMENIA

by Marianna Lazarian

Monday, January 13, 19:13

“The presence of Armenia’s armed forces in the occupied lands of
Azerbaijan remains the main threat to peace, stability and development
in the region”, Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov says in his
interview to Italian media.

“The only way to achieve long-term peace and good-neighborly relations
is to withdraw the troops from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan”,
Mammadyarov says. He also stresses the need “to restore the territorial
integrity of the country, return about a million refugees and forced
migrants to their native land and ensure their rights”.

Le Figaro, France
Vendredi 10 Janvier 2014

Liberté d’expression : qui décide de ce qui peut se dire ?

par Boyer, Valérie et Torossian, Sévag

La députée des Bouches-du-Rhône et l’avocat s’interrogent sur la
cohérence du gouvernement à travers trois événements : la profanation
de l’église de la Madeleine par une Femen, l’affaire Dieudonné et
l’arrêteuropéen sur la négation du génocide arménien. En matière
d’expression publique, trois événements sans lien apparent sont venus
clore l’année 2013, dessinant les tendances lourdes de l’incohérence
du gouvernement actuel.Le premier est la profanation de l’église de la
Madeleine à Paris par le mouvement Femen importé d’Ukraine et se
revendiquant féministe. Voilà que quelques jours avant Noël, une femme
membre du mouvement s’immisce dans une messe, poitrine dénudée, mimant
un avortement sur l’autel avec un morceau de viande à la main, dans
l’objectif de faire « annuler Noël » et insultant de ce fait des
millions de chrétiens, dans l’indifférence générale et un silence
politico-médiatique assourdissant.Quelques jours plus tard, le
ministre de l’Intérieur annonce son intention de faire interdire les
spectacles du très controversé Dieudonné par voie de circulaire au nom
des limites à la liberté d’expression. On connaît la suite. Le maire
de Marseille demande également, à juste titre, à la préfecture
l’annulation du spectacle de Dieudonné au Silo.Au nom de la liberté
d’expression la plus effrénée, la Cour européenne des droits de
l’homme (CEDH) rend, à la mi-décembre, un arrêt alarmant sur l’absence
de « besoin social impérieux » de condamner le négationnisme du
génocide arménien.

Tous les génocides, y compris ceux reconnus par la loi, ne seraient
donc pas égaux, selon la CEDH, qui organise ainsi la concurrence des
mémoires.Entre ces trois événements à première vue éloignés, où est la
cohérence en matière de liberté d’expression ? C’est qu’à l’heure
actuelle la cohérence n’est plus un critère de l’action
gouvernementale. Qui décide aujourd’hui de l’admissibilité de
l’expression publique et des limites à sa liberté ?Le législateur vote
la loi, conformément à son mandat. Le Conseil constitutionnel la
valide ou l’invalide, conformément à sa mission. Le juge l’interprète
et l’applique selon une époque donnée, conformément à sa fonction
créatrice de jurisprudence. Et aujourd’hui, l’exécutif, quant à lui,
l’instrumentalise : il pioche dans ce qui l’intéresse, sans aucune
vision d’avenir et en mettant en danger sa légitimité.Avec ses effets
d’annonce, Manuel Valls joue un jeu dangereux, cherchant l’opération
de communication à tout prix, en véritable consommateur médiatique. Au
regard de la jurisprudence actuelle de la CEDH, extrêmement
protectrice de la liberté d’expression, la bataille juridique qui
s’engage risque soit d’être courte et décevante, si le juge
administratif donne raison à Dieudonné – qui contestera sans nul doute
chacun des arrêtés municipaux qui interdiront son spectacle -, soit
longue et dangereuse, car le juge de Strasbourg pourrait un jour
rendre un « arrêt Dieudonné » dramatique.Pour l’heure, le ministre de
l’Intérieur semble ne pas mesurer l’ampleur des conséquences
juridiques pouvant découler de sa circulaire, mais la publicité prime
aujourd’hui sur l’efficacité, la justice et la morale. Les limites à
la liberté d’expression sont déjà fixées par la loi de 1881 ; la
circulaire Valls n’est qu’un dangereux coup médiatique surabondant.Il
est par ailleurs étonnant de constater que les nombreuses sanctions
pénales et fiscales prises à l’encontre de Dieudonné ne sont pas
appliquées. Peut-être qu’avant de brandir une nouvelle circulaire le
gouvernement devrait simplement se préoccuper de faire appliquer les
lois qui existent dans notre pays. Pourquoi ne pas simplement y avoir
recours, plutôt que de s’adonner au matraquage médiatique ?Cela étant,
pour le gouvernement actuel, la réussite ou l’échec n’est plus un
paramètre : seul compte l’impact immédiat sur l’opinion publique. Le
spectacle d’un pseudo-humoriste qui fait de l’antisémitisme un fonds
de commerce mobilise ; l’« expression » outrancière et haineuse des
activistes Femen et leur intrusion dans un lieu de culte conduisant à
un dépôt de plainte de la paroisse de la Madeleine ne suscitent
paradoxalement aucune réaction du gouvernement.Encore une fois, le «
deux poids deux mesures » qui caractérise l’action du gouvernement
actuel sur bien des sujets n’est en aucun cas acceptable et choque
profondément. Si ces méthodes laissent indifférents les médias et une
grande partie de la classe politique, nombreux sont nos concitoyens
qui sont simplement scandalisés et expriment leur mécontentement.Il ne
s’agit pas de tout autoriser ou de tout interdire. La liberté
d’expression comme ses limites doivent être protégées. La liberté ne
s’affranchit pas de la légalité, et il appartient au gouvernement de
prendre ses responsabilités en autorisant, s’il en est besoin, la
représentation nationale à fixer le cadre et les limites de la liberté
d’expression, qui est une liberté relative et non absolue et qui doit
respecter les croyances et la mémoire des victimes.Le problème réside
dans le fait que le choix de l’expression acceptable s’opère désormais
en fonction de l’impact médiatique. Hélas, dans cette démarche
démagogique, le juge n’est pas tout à fait innocent. Celui de
Strasbourg a ainsi cru comprendre que nier le génocide arménien
n’avait aucune conséquence, ce qui revient à cautionner une
autorisation de causer de la douleur aux victimes. Et là aussi, ni le
gouvernement ni même François Hollande, qui s’étaient pourtant engagés
à punir la contestation de ce génocide, ne s’en sont émus. Pas un mot
!Une seule question doit se poser : qui décide de l’expression
publique et de ce qu’il est acceptable de dire ou de ne pas dire
?Est-ce l’intérêt immédiat du politique ? Le gouvernement actuel est
un consommateur de communication qui n’a aucun problème à afficher son
incohérence, jusqu’à ce que les tweets atteignent le seuil d’alarme ou
que les réactions de la population le contraignent. Ce management
attentiste, qui manque cruellement de personnalité et de conviction,
n’est que le miroir de la perte de repères dans laquelle s’engouffre
la France actuelle.Avec ses effets d’annonce, Manuel Valls joue un jeu
dangereux, cherchant l’opération de communication à tout prix, en
véritable consommateur médiatique

Riot Is A Matter of Time

Interview with Marineh Manucharyan, member of the managing board of
the Civil Contract.

Marine, the opposition is believed to be the main challenge to change
in Armenia. Do you agree?

There can be two ways of approaching this issue. Yes, in Armenia where
the government has a serious lack of legitimacy, responsibility
automatically falls on the opposition. However, every government is
accountable for the situation in the country and is responsible for
improvement. Unfortunately, in Armenia the regime hides its
incompetence and weakness behind allegations against political and
civil opposition groups. If the same energy and time were spent on
finding real solutions to real issues, the situation would be
different, I am sure.

Do you think the public could have prevented usurpation of power? If
yes, what mechanisms can you see?

Yes, I certainly do. I think we are living in a crucial period which
is also full of civil determination. I think it is just a matter of
time, I have no doubt. Today the opportunities for usurpation are
fewer and weaker because the regime is weak. It is criticized by a
number of wings, and importantly, the criticism is based on real
issues and real topics. I think the groups fighting against those
issues will come together, and there will be a breakthrough in the
modern history of Armenia.

So far such initiatives either lasted short or were not effective
enough. How are you going to ensure efficiency, how are you going to
win people over?

Let me disagree with you. All the initiatives of different periods are
important to me. Every initiative is very important at the right time
and in the right state of affairs. Such initiatives help awaken
different parts of the public and bring people together around
different ideas. As to the Civil Contract, it should be differentiated
from other initiatives because those initiatives address a specific
issue that occurs in one of the spheres of life, whereas the Civil
Contract intends to bring those people together for the text who will
aspire to forming an institutional opposition which is a vital
necessity to achieve breakthrough in the domestic life, as the history
of the past 20 years indicates.

Fights against mandatory funded pension, rise in fare, membership to
the Customs Union continue. In your opinion, will fragmental fights
eventually unite to achieve change of system?

I think, yes. Fragmental fight may not lead to change of system but it
is an excellent opportunity to bring together the human resource,
which is one of the key goals of the Civil Contract. It is also a very
good indicator that there is no way back. Every group at the stage of
fragmental fight has huge potential to unite with other groups, and at
this stage such public-political initiatives as the Civil Contract
must act as tools for unification.

Is it possible to achieve change faster, I mean without elections?

The situation in Armenia is flammable, and the regime with its
`unexpected’ decisions, such as September 3 or the parliamentary
majority’s group betrayal on December 23, tends to aggravate the
situation. Every such decision takes us away from the possibility of
achieving change through elections. During the modern history of
Armenia elections have never been linked to real change. This time,
however, real changes may take place without elections or may spur or
enable new and real elections.

Maybe women should deal with politics more?

I don’t want there to be gender discrimination against politicians. I
believe that the problem is not the gender of politicians but the
closeness of the system. The system must open up and involve fresh
people and fresh ideas. I am sure that politics will not lack women
then.

243
22:46 11/01/2014
Story from Lragir.am News:

Targets Of New World Order

Confrontation Is a Means of Observing Balance

The impression growing into confidence is that the new meaning of
foreign policies of the world powers is embedded in the combined
application of brutal processes, and escalation of confrontation in
parallel to them. The apologists of the new world order have recently
proposed a certain controllable stability but the representatives of
both the left and partly the right conservative projects preferred
rejecting this paradigm and ran into the less predictable perspective
of local wars which transform into a permanent world confrontation.

Certain groups that continue, despite financial challenges, to
initiate promotion of the global project of Atlantism are trying to
save the former format of the Western community by creating the North
Atlantic market and probably the currency. The issues of world’s major
currencies have not been resolved, the geopolitical prospects of the
West, as well as fight with terrorism which is acquiring new
approaches and ideologies in every new stage have not been defined.

Relations with Arab and other Islamist states remain obscure. NATO
does not propose new enlargement programs but plans development of
cooperation with the countries of Asia Pacific. Apparently, somewhere
behind the curtain of activities of George Bush administration, some
think tanks have concluded that the possible approaches of reloading
may be viewed as timeout on the eve of a new global attack on the Old
World supported by different and unexpected partners who will be
offered certain guarantees of security in return for partial loyalty.
Hence, brutality as such is supported and initiated, and confrontation
is used as a means of observing balance of forces in the world and in
separate regions.

At the same time, there occur doubts that the `new confrontation’ is
just a tactics, and there is a new paradigm of chaos management. Is a
global policy based on total but controllable brutality possible at
all? Apparently, there is confidence that it is possible or this is
presented as signs of something inapprehensible. In addition, attempts
are made to instill in mass consciousness perceptions that either a
nuclear war or total fight with world terror is an alternative to
global brutality and confrontation.

So who is the target of global brutality? Everyone but China. China is
a special point, and this line of behavior is pending. For its part,
China is not rushing into a global discussion on rejection of former
perceptions of the new world order.

The targets are Turkey, Russia, the France-Germany tandem, possibly
India and Israel, as well as Brazil. The geography of targets is
rather vast but a vast area within the borders of West-East-South is
outlining which will get different approaches, and different goals
will be set. This area with its resistance and false expansion will
constantly disturb vast regions while the future of these states
cannot be predicted.

The current ruling elites in Turkey and Russia are optimal for their
involvement in brutal confrontational processes. These elites believe
themselves to be a legitimate part of the global elite but in reality
they are on a leash and share the same cluster of problems.
Ostensibly, this should lead to close cooperation between these
states, and their elites believe that they are doing quite well.

Global brutality and confrontation cannot develop successfully without
the participation of strong regional powers in the space enlargement
in different forms. Who are these counter-partners? They are Turkey,
Russia, Saudi, Pakistan and, strange though it may seem, Poland and
Romania (this is conditional). However, in order not to go for
political exotics it should be noted that this policy is impossible
without combination of interests of leading banks, oil, raw material
and defense companies. However, there are signs that this alliance has
already been created. These economic entities have started behaving
strangely, and the motives and interests have not been defined.

One may hope that certain marginal areas are getting more preferential
terms and more apprehensible prospects. (The valley of the Nile has
always been fertile but it undergoes cataclysms while an oasis in a
desert is always stable though it remains an area of steady extinction
of history.) Everyone chooses something.

19:23 09/01/2014
Story from Lragir.am News:

Prosperous Armenia the largest opposition party in parliament – analyst

January 12, 2014 | 02:04

YEREVAN. – With participation in a protest action against cumulative
pension system, Prosperous Armenia (PA) is trying to some extent to
enforce its positions in the opposition field, political analyst
Sergey Minasyan said.

Minasyan, deputy director of Caucasus Institute, said the party is
trying not to miss the wave of protests in order to show that it is
the key non-coalition political force.

`Whether they like it or not, Prosperous Armenia at the moment is the
largest parliamentary opposition party in the country,’ Minasyan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am. The fact that PA has no representatives in the
Cabinet, at the same time being represented in the parliament, makes
it an opposition force.

On the other hand, analyst says, the opposition essence of PA differs
from that of the Armenian National Congress.

The four non-ruling-coalition factions of the Armenian National
Assembly will participate in a rally against the mandatory cumulative
pension plan.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am
News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Mike Gatto responds to Azerbaijani anger over resolution to recognize Karabakh

January 12, 2014 | 01:42

Assemblyman Mike Gatto responded to Azerbaijani accusations of playing
to Armenian lobbyists.

Earlier this week Mike Gatto introduced a resolution to recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh – a move that sparked anger Azerbaijani community of
U.S.

Nevertheless, Gatto is not hiding the fact that he is working with the
Armenian organizations.

`I have not hidden the fact that I’ve worked with three Armenian
advocacy organizations on this bill. It’s not a hidden thing,’
Glendale News-Press quotes the Assemblyman.

He added that these groups stand for the rights of people of Armenian
descent that want self-determination.

`That’s like saying the French were in bed with the American lobby.
It’s a very Soviet attitude to say people don’t have a right to
self-determination,’ Gatto said. `I thought the entire world was in
accord with self-determination. The area is now in a state of detente.
The Azerbaijanis tried to take it back by force and they failed.’

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Economists comment on increased pensions, officials’ salaries in Armenia

13:05 – 12.01.14

January 1, 2014, saw a 15% average increase in pensions.

Specifically, 111,900 pensioners had their pensions increased by 25%,
180,000 pensioners had their pensioned increased by 15 to 20 per cent,
and 93,000 had their pensioned increased by 20%. People with length of
service of 69 years and up had their relatively high monthly pensions,
AMD 70,000 (about $180) increased by 3 to 8 per cent.

At the same time, from January 1, 2014, MPs’ monthly salary was raised
from AMD 331,595 up to AMD 661,400. The salaries of the standing
committees’ chairpersons were raised up to AMD 793,680. Other
officials’ salaries were raised as well.

Tert.am turned to economists for comments.

Vardan Bostanjyan, an ex-member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP)
parliamentary group, said: `In terms of pensions, Armenia is among the
few states where, following the solidarity principle, the government
itself pays pensions. By raising pensions little by little, they try
to enable old people to provide for themselves.’

As to officials’ increased salaries, he noted: `I can assure you that
their number is within 300. When I was an MP, I studied the issue and
found out that Armenian officials’ salaries were lowest in the world.
It is a negative phenomenon, and salaries must be raised for this
problem to be gradually solved. We know that decision-makers are well
paid throughout the world. Another question is that they are not
properly doing their job. As to pensioners, we have 500,000 of them.
The government is unable to sharply increase their pensions.’
Bostanjyan hopes that Armenia will get out of the current critical
situation. He forecasts a price decline.

`I have arrived at the conclusion that, as part of a larger structure,
such as the Customs Union, we will resolve some of our problems
without putting our sovereignty at risk,’ he said.

For her part, an Armenian National Congress (ANC) party member Zoya
Tadevosyan told Tert.am that raising officials’ salaries in such a
poor country as Armenia cannot be justified.

`Even their previous salary, AMD 300,000 a month, was several times as
high as the minimum monthly wages in the country. I think the MPs,
with businessmen among them, might have been satisfied with their
previous salary. If the government has available funds, it must direct
them to raise pensions, because pensions and rather low in Armenia.’

Armenian News – Tert.am