Author: Kajoyan Gevork

L’ETAT-MAJOR GENERAL TURC ENVOIE TOUS LES DOCUMENTS SUR LE MASSACRE DE DERSIM DE 1938 AU PARLEMENT

TURQUIE

L’etat-major a envoye tous les documents qu’il a sur le massacre contre
les rebelles Alevis dans la province orientale de Tunceli, anciennement
connu sous le nom de Dersim, a une commission parlementaire.

Ainsi la Commission a recu recemment plus de 5000 pages de documents
de l’etat-major, permettant ainsi d’augmenter le nombre total de
pages sur la question remis par le Etat-major general a 46 000.

Les documents de l’etat-major comprennent des cartes, des lettres
privees, depeches officielles, des rapports de renseignement, des
evaluations, des rapports quotidiens, des transferts de troupes, des
listes de fugitifs, d’armes collectees dans le Dersim, des activites
de propagande, des incidents d’ordre public dans la region connexe, des
mesures de securite et les activites de separatisme et d’espionnage.

Les documents qui ont ete remis par l’etat-major general au Parlement
en 2012 ont revele que l’armee turque a lance une campagne de
propagande contre le leader de la rebellion affirmant qu’il etait
d’origine armenienne.

” Les prisonniers qui ont ete envoyes dans les provinces de l’Ouest
seront executes et les garcons non circoncis auront des noms armeniens
et bannis dans des pays chretiens. Les filles celibataires de Tunceli
seront mariees a des hommes turcs et des jeunes filles turques seront
mariees a des hommes de Tunceli. Les gens de Tunceli seront remplaces
au cours des mois du printemps suivant ” selon un document en date
du 30 decembre 1937.

samedi 17 août 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

ABDULLAH GUL: ‘I WISH THE SUMMIT OF THE COOPERATION COUNCIL OF TURKIC-SPEAKING STATES TO BE HELD IN NAGORNO KARABAKH IN FUTURE’

APA, Azerbaijan
Aug 16 2013

[ 16 August 2013 11:51 ]

Turkish President: ‘Nagorno Karabakh stands on top of all important
issues of the Turkic world’

Gabala. Rashad Suleymanov – APA. ‘Nagorno Karabakh stands on top of
all important issues of the Turkic world. The situation caused by
the occupation of Azerbaijani territories is inadmissible’, Turkish
President Abdullah Gul said addressing Gabala summit of the Cooperation
Council of Turkic-Speaking States, APA reports.

Gul noted that Nagorno Karabakh problem must be solved in a short
time: ‘We will give all support we can to solve the Nagorno Karabakh
problem peacefully, within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. I wish, in future, one of such summits to be organized in
one of towns of Nagorno Karabakh’.

TURKISH REPUBLIC OF SHALLOWNESS

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 17 2013

BELGÄ°N AKALTAN

Oh, how I wished, when I was 15, to be the flag-bearer for Turkey
at an international sports event. Just like other Turkish teenagers
who imagine themselves undertaking this honorable duty: Carrying the
Turkish flag while walking in front of the Turkish team…

Well, not anymore… When I say “not anymore,” I mean this honorable
deed has lost its meaning in my eyes and probably in the eyes of many
others. What should otherwise be a glorious moment has fallen victim
to shallowness; just like so many other things in today’s Turkey. We
seem to be going through times of massive superficiality.

What actually happened? Olympic medal-winning wrestler Rıza Kayaalp
posted racist tweets during the Gezi Park incidents, insulting
Armenians. The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
(FILA) suspended him for six months, banning him from competing
in international tournaments. The Turkish federation appealed the
decision. The suspension has been suspended pending the appeal process.

Immediately after posting racist tweets, Kayaalp was picked to bear
the Turkish flag during the opening ceremony of the Mediterranean
Games in Mersin. It was as if he was being rewarded for his racist
outbursts. Turkish sports officials all acted very protectively
toward him.

The government, which is trying so hard to keep politics out of
stadiums just before the football season begins, has, in a sharp
contrast, politicized the sports arena to an irreversible extent. I
think the next athlete to become the flag-bearer of Turkey will not
be able to do it with peace of mind.

What could be the reasons for this scandal? First of all, we have
fallen so behind international standards that the distance between
us and the contemporary world is widening every second. We have
also lost our ability to catch up because we have gone back a couple
of centuries. Instead of adopting the newest and the best, we have
developed an admiration for the past. This makes us unaware of what is
going on in the world, around us. We are very much behind in gender
equality, individual rights, minority rights, freedom of expression;
we have not updated our thoughts on hate speech, discrimination,
all kinds of violence, advanced democracy, women comfortably wearing
shorts… We are obsessed with the female body, how to cover it, how
to oppress it, how to restrict it… Medieval primitive chauvinism
has conquered our administration, academia, media, small towns and
certain neighborhoods of big cities. Those parts of Turkey are not
aware that the year is actually 2013.

The second reason is the effort to raise monotype people. Because
we Turks basically all have military minds, making soldiers out of
every individual is the aim of our entire education system. We want to
create a big, huge country with identical souls. It is as if accepting
everybody is Muslim, everybody is Turkish. And indeed everybody is
Sunni. We have destroyed our minorities. Even in Istanbul, the number
of minorities is decreasing day by day. Instead of communicating to
our people to love and embrace the person who may be different than
us, we have been preached at, or rather told, to hate the different.

We so resemble each other – there is no room left for the “different.”

Another factor is our official perception of Armenians. Because of
our own dilemma about the tragic events of 1915, we keep avoiding
confronting our past. We only hear about how the Armenians betrayed
us, how they betrayed the Ottoman Empire, how they tried to stab us
in the back, how they united with the enemy and tried to take our
land, how they attacked Turkish villages and innocent Turkish women
and children. And then tragic events happened. With the implication
that Armenians are all bad people and that they deserved what they got.

So we have developed a natural hatred against Armenians. The word
Armenian is used like an insult by certain segments, sometime by
officials. And this vicious practice is not being prevented or
discouraged. To call someone Armenian or of Armenian origin is used
like a swear word. Instead of fighting back against this dangerous
trend, nobody is doing anything about it. And a young athlete picks
it up and uses it…

Now, in this superficial environment my interpretations appear to
be not-so-deep either. What do you expect? I am also a product of
this land.

To break this superficiality and add some sophistication, here is a
paragraph from Mustafa Akyol’s column this week, titled, “Why Muslims
have few Nobel Prizes”:

“Today’s common Muslim mind, including the intellectual Muslim
mind, is quite insular, and is focused on protecting an “Islamic”
(and quite closed) mental sphere from influences from the outside
world. The result is a defensive culture that refuses to engage with
the ideas of ‘the unbelievers,’ and therefore only repeats what it has
learned from its own forebears. If we Muslims want more Nobel Prizes –
and all the knowledge, sophistication and success that they imply –
we must begin with challenging this closed-mindedness, and strive to
have more open minds.”

IRRITANTS XVII

Friday, August 16th, 2013

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Since it’s been a year or so since the last of these mini-diatribes
about various matters that irk me due to their shamelessness,
foolishness, or banality, I thought it was time for a few more
micro-rants against these people and practices.

Why is it that some of our compatriots, in this case, some of those
who own small businesses, feel cheating their customer is a good
practice? Two of us were at a small restaurant recently, one of
the kind that you can just tell does most of its business through
catering and take-out orders. We ordered a dinner each, were still
hungry, and asked for one more plate to share. Next thing we know,
two plates materialized. We laughed it off as a misunderstanding,
ate most of the food and boxed the rest to take home. When the bill
arrived, it seemed high. Looking closely, it turned out the plates
we’d ordered were charged at a dollar (each) higher than as priced
on the menu. So, we’ll never go back to that place again.

Moving from the personal to the collective, how about Genocide
recognition? Why hasn’t Israel done it yet? How can they justify their
continued, state level denial of what happened to Armenians when what
happened to Jews is what drives so many of the country’s policies,
behaviors, and mindsets? Conversely, the new pope recognized the
Genocide mere months after taking office. Of course this set off a
reaction from Turkey. What nerve! It’s bad enough the murderers (see
below) in Ankara insist on wasting their country’s time and resources
on denial. But it’s utterly intolerable that they seek accomplices,
and when rebuffed, get all huffy.

If you have any doubt about the murderous bent of the regime in Ankara,
you don’t even have to think back to its early days of attacking Kurds,
even bombing them outside Turkey’s borders, in Iraq.

You just have to observe their policies in Syria. Couple this
with the recent announcements of the numbers of Azeris fighting
in Syria, Azerbaijan’s bellicosity towards Armenia and Armenians,
its intensified sniper activity along its borders with Armenia, and
you have a crystal clear view of the Turkish approach to non-Turkic
neighbors- kill them. For the icing on the cake… read the news of
the arrests of three Lezghis – a small, stateless nation living in the
Caucasus Mountains – by Azerbaijani authorities. In Turkic practice,
we have seen that arrests are the precursors to killings.

While somewhat less murderous (think drone strikes in Afghanistan and
Pakistan), the Obama administration has been extremely banal. Not
only did the president renege on his pledge to properly recognize
the Genocide, he even co-opted others. Samantha Power whose book
(which addressed the Armenian case among others) and positions got her
not just one, but two, ANCA awards, has been silenced by accepting
a position with this administration. The administration has been so
adept in this vile vein that it effectively even made the U.S. Supreme
Court its accomplice in denial when the latter went along with the
administration’s recommendation NOT to hear the appeal of a federal
court’s decision, which found California’s law (extending the statute
of limitations on claims against insurance companies who never paid
the heirs of their covereds who were killed in the Genocide) to be
unconstitutional. We’ve got to find a way to penetrate the walls of
denial and Turkey-favoring that surround the White House (since ALL
administrations, for decades, have exhibited similar behaviors).

Since we’re on the topic of Genocide era life insurance, how about the
AXA case? That’s the one where the original team of lawyers fighting
for the claimants against French insurance company AXA ended up
fighting each other. They made some pretty remarkable and embarrassing
accusations against one another. But just a few weeks ago, we were
treated to a news release saying they had patched everything up. Huh?

I haven’t had a chance to read the 90-plus page agreement, so I’ll
refrain from commenting for now… more later.

GUL WANTS TURKIC SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN KARABAKH

Friday, August 16th, 2013

Turkish President Abdullah Gul addresses the Turkic summit

GABALA, Azerbaijan-Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Friday that he
wishes one day the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking
States would be held in Nagorno-Karabakh, reported the APA news agency.

“I wish the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States
to be held in Nagorno Karabakh in future,” said Gul who was addressing
the summit currently taking place in the northern Azeri city.

Gul said that Turkey will make every effort to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, adding that Turkey has always supported
Azerbaijan on this issue and will continue to do so in the future.

“One of the main problems of the Turkic world is the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory is
unacceptable. Therefore, the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking
States supports an early resolution of this conflict,” Gul said,
according to the Trend news agency.

The summit, being attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev,
President of Turkey Abdullah Gul, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek
Atambayev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is the third of
its kind to be held in recent years.

At the conclusion of the summit, participants issued a declaration
pledging an end to the Karabakh conflict.

In the joint declaration the parties reiterated the importance
they attach to the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is one of the main obstacles to
lasting stability and regional cooperation on the basis of sovereignty,
territorial integrity and inviolability of borders of Azerbaijan.

The parties emphasized the aim at strengthening political and
economic security of the States in accordance with the principles
of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders,
non-interference in internal affairs.

ARMENIAN EVENTS HELD IN ROMANIA’S DUMBRAVENI

15:50, 16 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. The town of DumbrÄ~Cveni in the north
of Sibiu County, in the centre of Transylvania, central Romania,
celebrated the City’s Day on August 16. The Armenian community of the
town joined the celebrations and organized a row of events on this
occasion. The Feast of the Holy Virgin was celebrated in St. Elizabeth
Armenian Catholic Church, which was established by the Armenians about
three centuries ago. The ceremony was followed by the evening of the
Armenian classic music and traditional hospitality. The event was
organized by the DumbrÄ~Cveni branch of the Armenian Union of Romania,
which was represented in the face of its chairman Ion Kalinescu,
the Armenian Catholic Church of Transylvania, and the DumbrÄ~Cveni
Municipality.

The Chairman of the Sibiu County Council Ioan Cindrea, Senator Viorel
Arcas, the Mayor of DumbrÄ~Cveni Georgeta Irimien, the Vice President
of the Armenian Union of Romania Sirun Terzyan, and the representative
of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Romania Arsen Mikayelyan
attended the events.

RUSSIA IS DISMANTLING CIS

Moscow’s efforts to keep the post-Soviet states in its orbit look
such only at first sight. In reality, they are planned steps aimed
at the collapse of the CIS and final break-up of post-Soviet states
with Russia.

“Punitive” methods applied to Ukraine, particularly the recent decision
of the Russian customs service to stop exports from Ukraine entailed
even more determination in Kiev to end its dependence on Moscow as
soon as possible.

Sale of Smerch missiles to Azerbaijan, presumably a “punitive” measure
for Armenia, eventually shattered the belief of Armenians in the
“strategic partnership with Russia”.

Other methods of repealing are applied to Central Asian states. In
particular, the recent migration initiatives of Russia, setup of
humiliating ghettos for Central Asian migrant workers caused outrage
even in countries which are usually loyal to Russia. “If Russia
sincerely treats us as humans, why is it hiding from us our first
president who encroached on the wealth of the state? Why does it allow
calls like “Russia for the Russians”, while our compatriots have to
huddle together on 12 square meters in groups of 20?” a Kirgizia-based
newspaper writes.

CIS is absolutely unviable. There are neither economic, nor political
relations between some of its members, such as Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Ukraine has not signed the charter of CIS, neither did Turkmenistan.

It is notable that Georgia’s leaving of the CIS in 2009 did not harm
the union because the union exists in papers only.

CSTO was set up to ensure security in the CIS but half of the CIS
members did not join CSTO, which means that the CIS does not have a
unified system of security. Moreover, some CIS members are in a state
of conflict.

In the Kremlin they understand the situation therefore they have
initiated new unions, first the Customs Union, then the Eurasian
Union. These unions, if established, will deprive the CIS of a meaning,
and now even in Moscow they are waiting any of the post-Soviet states
to leave the CIS. At least, Moscow will do everything to facilitate
that.

In the result of the collapse of the CIS a new group of countries will
escape Russian influence. If after the collapse of the USSR only the
Baltic States were able to break up with Russia, after the collapse
of the CIS only some Central Asian states and Belarus will stick to
Moscow. Perhaps, Putin was trying to keep Azerbaijan but this attempt
will hardly succeed.

CSTO looks more viable than the CIS. Although after signing of the
Association Agreement with the EU the four post-Soviet states –
Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – will need to review their
membership to certain unions.

Naira Hayrumyan 15:12 16/08/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

WILL GEORGIA FACE A CIVIL WAR?

The presidential election is drawing nearer in Georgia and still one
cannot understand to what extent the rating of the ruling party and
its leaders has gone up or down. Public polls suggest that the number
of people who have not made up their mind is growing but nevertheless
electoral activity remains high.

It is possible that the Georgian society has become wiser but
this time it does not demand rapid results, especially that it is
observing energetic decisions. The society is divided by mental, not
social criteria. Specific groups distinguished for their political
ambitions link their social situation and visions of future with
Mikhail Saakashvili’s team, which determines to a great extent the
existence of genuine opposition moods.

It should be noted that traditional Georgian politicians are so much
confused by the ongoing developments that they are no longer able to
make more or less realistic evaluations. As always, the opinion of
young politicians and experts is interesting who do not hurry to get
involved in an active phase of political activity. The axiom is that
the Georgian society was not ready for Mikhail Saakashvili’s team’s
reformist efforts and so far nobody has come up with a delicate
explanation of this phenomenon. The problem sof Abkhazia and South
Ossetia stopped being actual, and they are viewed as problems of
visible future, and everyone wonders what political forces will
further govern the country.

Georgia has experienced the advantages of economic and political
cooperation with Russia although it already has little importance. At
the same time, given the solidarity of a number of public and political
groups, the country approved and adopted a definite format of foreign
political priorities. Georgia designs a policy of neutrality, minding
the balance between the Western community and Russia, under closer
and binding relations with the EU and NATO.

It is not the demand of the West but an “objective course of historical
circumstances”. The problem, however, is that such setup may favor
the Western community but not Russia, and Russia will continue the
policy of tug-of-war. “In a helicopter-tractor tug-in-war the chain
will win.” Everyone has read this in the reader and hardly anyone is
ready to develop a more detained and substantial policy, and almost
everything in the Russian-Georgian relations has been left up to
“big, effective fragments”.

In Moscow and Tbilisi they understand that relations between them
cannot be more or less complete unless the political destiny of
Mikhail Saakashvili and his team is not determined which has a
highly influential cluster in the parliament and local government,
elective and representational bodies. The National Unity Party is
mostly dominant in the economy, in different public administration
bodies, and most importantly the law-enforcement and security agencies.

The National Unity Party has been injured but not defeated and is
ready for a persistent fight during the presidential campaign. It is
increasingly obvious that not only the United States but also Europe
would be satisfied with a bipartisan system in Georgia, and the current
situation of double power may become chronic, especially if supported
by the West which, like Russia, refrains from abrupt moves in the
“war-of-tug”.

Whoever B. Ivanishvili is, both sides would like to demonstrate that
he is their man, especially that the prime minister seriously believes
in the policy of neutrality.

It is hard to imagine a state aspiring to NATO membership build a
policy of neutrality in international relations but the problem is
not the combination of legal norms and real politics. Georgia will
first have to answer the question whether a small state may conduct
a so-called multi-vector policy.

The Russian political circles exaggerate simplicity of decisions
on return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgia. Of course,
everything is possible in the politics of Russia and other great
powers, including “legitimate genocidal actions”. If a policy of
review of the balance of forces and areas of influence in a global and
regional scale is implemented, the method of “legitimate genocides”
will become apparent and be practiced largely but for the time being
a slow policy of “remapping” is implemented, and it is necessary to
take into account the actual balance of forces.

Is Georgia ready for concessions in this format of relations? This is
the most complicated issue. Will the upcoming presidential elections
answer this question? Young and promising Georgian politicians and
experts who got a good education, mostly in the United States and
the UK, think that bipartisan or two-clan system is not applicable
to Georgia, even conventionally. Georgia is not big enough, and its
society is not politically and economically self-sufficient where
the clans or groups would stand each other for a long time.

It is an illusion that Georgia has had a multi-party system so
far. In fact, there are a lot of parties and a dominant ruling
party. A bipartisan system is an opportunity of strong and functional
influence of the opposition on the ruling party and a real opportunity
of rotation of the government. In Georgia neither the ruling circles
nor the opposition will agree to it.

If the Georgian Dream Party wins in the presidential election, the
National Unity Party will be annihilated politically because Mikhail
Saakashvili’s team is not going to give up power.

Some experts think that the ability of National Unity to resist to
the government is another myth of the Georgian society but there is
another opinion that Georgia will face a civil war. These opinions
are diverse while experienced Georgian politicians present more
unequivocal evaluations – either we, or them. Although, in fact,
it is evidence to an upcoming long-term confrontation.

Igor Muradyan 11:51 16/08/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

Armenia is losing its art treasures – criminologist

15:37 – 17.08.13

Armenia is now being robbed of its precious treasures of art and
culture, a criminologist has said, commenting on recent thefts of
valuable books and canvasses.

`That’s a theft of a nationwide significance, with each side trying to
find excuses of its own,’ Sergey Galoyan told reporters on Saturday,
promising to unveil individual names in the near future.

According to him, the recent theft of highly valuable books from two
libraries of Armenia was a crime in the strictest sense of the word.
`And who said what books had been taken? No one was informed of
anything,’ he said.

Galoyan further noted that valuable canvasses by Alexander
Bazhbeuk-Melikyan, a Soviet Armenian artist and graphic designer ,
were also stolen recently. The criminologist promised to publicize
more details in this connection too.

David Babayan comments on Gül’s statement

13:40, 17 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 17, ARMENPRESS: The official Stepanakert understands
the provocative and belligerent context of the Abdullah
Gül’s statement, but in case of an official request it would not be
against the summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkicspeaking
states.
`If they apply with such an intention, the official Stepanakert will
discuss and organize it. I do not see any problem here. It is another
thing when
the President of Turkey with his abovementioned statement tries to
bring instability and force Azerbaijan for war actions, showing that
Turkey as
well will join it.

Such an approach is destructive and does not have any future’, –
reported the Head of the General Information Department of the
Artsakh President’s Staff David Babayan to Armenpress, commenting on
the statement made by the President of Turkey Abdulla Gül, in which
he expressed his hope that `one day we will all gather in one of the
towns in Karabakh’.

As stated by David Babayan, if Turkey has adopted such an approach, it
should disturb the international community, especially NATO and
OSCE. The Head of the General Information Department of the Artsakh
President’s Staff noted that the Gül’s statement proves that Turkey
is not a reliable partner.

At the third summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-speaking
states in Gabala the Turkish President Abdullah Gül this time as well
did not shine with a diplomatic tact, noting as a settlement base only
that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a part of the territorial integrity
of
Azerbaijan. Moreover, Gül gave way to the Turkic itch, expressing his
hope that `one day we will all gather in one of the towns in
Karabakh’.