Author: Kajoyan Gevork

Sbidag: A small island of Syria in Yerevan

FEATURES | 14.12.12 | 14:29

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

By JULIA HAKOBYAN
ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor

Sbidag restaurant is getting prepared for the New Year banquet. The
modestly furnished hall is decorated with fir branches and garlands;
menus are on the tables, telling the current visitors of the holiday
dinner, which consists of traditional Arabic dishes. It also says:
`Join the party and enjoy the Syrian atmosphere.’

Sbidag is a small island of Aleppo in Yerevan, opened by Syrian
Armenians. It is a club, where the Armenians from Syria come to have
traditional dishes of Arabic cuisine, smoke hookah, play backgammon
and feel `at home’ in a Syrian atmosphere. Only talks on military
action in Syria and their nostalgia for their homeland keeps reminding
them of their uncertain status and future.

The restaurant was opened two months ago in the lounge belonging to
the Aram Manukian Cultural Youth Center of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, which
provided it free of charge. Besides the restaurant, there is an
internet club, children’s room and a small souvenir shop. In December,
the first wedding was celebrated in Sbidag (which means `white’).

Harout Kzirian, manager of the restaurant, is one of thousands of
Syrian Armenians, who were forced to leave their home in Syria and
seek shelter in Armenia.

“Armenia has always been in our dreams. My family and I have been
visiting Armenia every year and enjoyed our vacation here. But now we,
the Armenians of Syria are in an unenviable position, although we
found ourselves in our historical homeland, which has welcomed us. But
we all are dreaming to be back to our homeland in Syria, be back to
our homes, schools, universities, relatives and families. Every day we
follow the news but so far no good prediction of the conflict. We live
in hope, “says Kzirian, 30.

Until recently the community in Syria was considered to be one of the
most powerful Diaspora structures, which was home for over 80,000
Armenians, who played a significant role in the social, political and
cultural life of Syria.

Today, the once rich community of Syria is in a desperate situation.
Since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011 more than thirty
Armenians have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Syria, which has
resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000.

Kzirian came to Armenia with his family in May, but many of his
relatives and friends are still in Syria. He says they do not want to
leave, despite the problems they face every day, including snipers on
the roofs of the buildings and shortages of food and basic goods.

“I remember when rebels just started the attacks. Every time I was
hearing shots, I ran up to my small boy, took him in my arms, trying
to protect him. Then, some time later, it became almost a routine. One
just got used to it – at first you got scared, did not leave home,
then you learn to shift through the streets, hiding behind buildings.
You got used to the war,” he says bitterly.

According to the data from the Armenian Diaspora Ministry from the
beginning of the year around 10,000 people arrived from Syria to
Armenia. Presently there are about 6,000 remaining. About 800 are
students. Children have free access to the schools and kindergartens,
and for the university students the government has allocated 40
million drams ($100,000) to cover study costs.

Earlier this month, a group of Syrian Armenians met the Minister of
Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan, who told them if they want to farm, the
Armenian authorities will support them in company registration,
finding land, providing counseling and other opportunities such as low
loans. A labor fair will be held this weekend in Yerevan by the
initiative of the State Employment Service of the Ministry of Labor
and Social Affairs, where about 50 employers from Yerevan and the
provinces will meet Syrian Armenians.

Despite the efforts by the Ministry of Diaspora and the Armenian
authorities there are still some objective problems Syrian Armenians
face, such as unemployment, low salaries, and differences in the
social and cultural environment. In addition, many of the Syrian
Armenians living in Yerevan complain that they are not included in any
of the lists of beneficiaries who receive assistance from various
organizations.

But the main problem they face are housing and unemployment Only 150
have found jobs through assistance of the Ministry of Diaspora in
Armenia, where unemployment is a big problem also for natives.

Kzirian says many of his friends found occasional jobs and work
outside their professional specialties. One of his friends, a
successful jeweler from Aleppo, currently works in the food sector,
which according to Kzirian is the most accessible business sphere in
Armenia.

In Aleppo Kzirian had a graphics and design studio and a shop for
spare car parts. But after spending half a year in Armenia, and
investigating the market, he realized that none of his business will
be successful here, and years would be spent to succeed even in a
small business.

“When living in Syria, where sometimes we also had some financial
difficulties we used to say “Syria is difficult for business’. But we
were saying that before coming to Armenia,’ he says with a smile. `Now
we know Armenia is very difficult for business. There are several
reasons for that, but the primary reason is the absence of the
relevant market, high cost of the goods, which reach Armenia through
Georgian ports or via air. Recently I wanted to buy a small table made
of plastic, and all I found after a long search was a table for 45,000
drams ($110) of Turkish production. I think if Armenia will succeed in
having enterprises, for example, such as producing plastic chairs and
tables, then the economic picture would be different.”

Another employee of Sbidag is Kladis Aghbabian, an accountant from
Aleppo and a business management student at the Latakia University,
which she has not managed to finished because of the war.

In Sbidaq she worked in a small gift shop; some part of the profit
from sales goes for charitable purposes for her compatriots.

She says she did not want to leave Aleppo, but her parents persuaded
her and her sister to leave, after two of their relatives who arrived
from Yerevan died on the way from the airport to Aleppo being caught
in the rebels’ crossfire. Four Armenians were killed and 11 were
wounded that day.

“All my thoughts are on Syria. All Armenians lived well there, the
government’s attitude to us never differs from that of the Arabs, and
we enjoyed privileges. For example, the Armenian Easter was not
included in the official list of holidays, but students and
schoolchildren were given five days off during that Christian holiday.
We lived very freely, we celebrated all Armenian holidays, observed
all the traditions and learned the Armenian language at schools,” says
Aghbabian, 28, who now lives with her sister at their relative’s home.

Aghbabian’s family had a grocery shop in Aleppo, which has been closed
for four months.

“The food situation is getting worse every day. Now the city is
literally without bread. All goods are in high deficit. It hurts to
think how people live there.’

The Aghbabian sisters looking forward for the next week; at last their
parents and a brother decided to join them in Yerevan.

“My brother is an actor in the Armenian theater. I met some people
from the theatre community here and made some appointments for him. I
hope he’s lucky and he will found a job in his field.’

The trouble with the Armenian Genocide

14:31, December 14, 2012

By Cecilie Banke

(The following opinion piece appeared in the December 14, 2012 edition
of the Copenhagen Post)

Machiavelli once wrote that you can conquer a people, but you can’t
conquer their memories. Suppressed memories, he concluded, will only
have a way of cropping up whenever they get the chance. There can
hardly be a better modern example of this than the massacre of the
Armenians during the First World War.

Even though over 90 years has passed since Armenians living in the
former Ottoman Empire were forcibly deported, and even though the
memory of what happened was first suppressed and then later neglected,
the past two decades have seen increasing international focus on what
happened.

Most recently, the Danish Royal Library came under hefty criticism
from both sides for its decision to organise an exhibition about the
Armenian Genocide.

First, they were criticised by the Turkish Embassy. Then, when the
library decided to allow the Turks to present their side of the story,
the Armenian side protested. The decision was seen as kowtowing to
Turkey and continuing the denial that lies at the heart of the
dispute.

But how can something that happened over 90 years ago continue to
divide two countries? And why should the Royal Library be dragged into
a conflict that boils down to the Armenians’ struggle for the world to
recognise what happened to them during the war – before modern Turkey
even came into existence? It has happened because the question of the
Armenian genocide has become a part of the global culture of memory,
which over the past two decades has come to play an increasingly
significant role in inter-state relations and in the relationship
between minority groups and states. The question touches on not just
state policies towards minorities, it also touches on foreign policy
and security policy. States can improve their relations with their
neighbours if they own up to past crimes. The most famous example is
West Germany accepting its responsibility for crimes committed against
the Jews during the Second World War, symbolised by the spontaneous
gesture of humility and penance by the chancellor of West Germany,
Willy Brandt, when he fell on his knees at the memorial to the victims
of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Other gross violations of human
rights have come to define which historical signals states choose to
show to the rest of the world.

The row over the Royal Library’s exhibition shows how even a small
country like Denmark can get caught up in other countries’ conflicts
over how a specific period of history should be interpreted.
Disagreements about how the past should be interpreted can grow into a
diplomatic dispute and come to determine which signals independent
states show the rest of the world. The US Congress has, on more than
one occasion, been close to ratifying a resolution that would
recognise the Armenian Genocide, but each time pressure from Turkey
has prevented this from happening.

It is actions like these that Armenian interest groups, as well as
historians and other scholars, say constitute a Turkish attempt to
downplay the brutal deportation of Armenians and other Christian
groups. As Taner Akcam, a Turkish historian now teaching at Clark
University in the US, wrote in the New York Times recently: `Turkey’s
attitude towards the Armenians sends a worrying signal to the
Christian minority in the region. In such an interpretation,
responsibility for preserving not just Turkey’s modern history, but
also its Ottoman history, needs to be seen in terms of overarching
questions of security, stability and democracy in a region where
continued denial of past transgressions only adds to tensions between
ethnic and religious groups.’

Akcam’s views can also be seen as part of another trend in this global
culture of memory; it is expected that countries will own up to their
pasts the way Germany did. Germany has admitted its historical guilt
and has set the standard for how other states should act when faced
with a problematic past.

Nowadays, we expect that a state admits its guilt, atones for its
transgressions and compensates its victims. This is precisely what
Turkey is fighting against. Turkey does not believe it is responsible
for crimes committed by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
Nor does it see itself as having done something comparable to Germany
or that it needs to atone for anything or compensate anyone. As long
as there is an expectation that Turkey will face up to its violent
past, Turkey will continue to resist international pressure to
recognise the genocide.

However, letting Turkey present its version of the massacre of the
Armenians will not contribute to the process being carried out by
European and American historians to draw up a modern picture of the
Armenian Genocide. The Armenians will feel Denmark has bowed to
Turkish pressure. Instead, the library should support the efforts of
historians to place the Armenian Genocide in a historical context
together with other religiously motivated violence that arose as a
result of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Doing so would move the
discussion away from the difficult issue of whether or not it was
genocide and towards historical research and documentation, for the
benefit of everyone involved.

Memory is the way we recall what happened in the past. History is what
makes us wiser about it.

(The author is the head of the Danish Institute for International
Studies’ holocaust and genocide research unit)

Waiting … : The `motherland’ experience turns sour for some Syrian refugees

FEATURES | 14.12.12 | 14:54

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow

Mari (Madlen) Karayan and Anzhel Tatoyan (right)
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

A middle-aged woman opening the door to apartment N19 invites guests
to come in and sit on the only chair, or the bed. A young man sitting
in front of a computer doesn’t seem to notice the visitors, and keeps
his gaze glued to the screen.

`I am sorry I can’t offer a different place for you to sit, this is
all we have…’ says 65-year-old Anzhel Tatoyan, who has fled from Syria
to Armenia with her son. `It’s been seven days since we moved to this
place, before we had been renting an apartment. The beds lack
mattresses; even the warm blankets and pillows are gifts from our
neighbors. We were sleeping on bare iron wires.’

After renting an overpriced apartment for two months the mother and
son moved to one of the social houses in Darbnik village, Ararat
province (the building used to be an agricultural college renovated by
the United Nations Armenian office to accommodate Syrian refugees).

At first her son, 27-year-old Raffi Sayegh, came to Armenia, and a
month later returned to bring her from Aleppo.

`Part of my house collapsed, we had no electricity. We carried on by
candlelight. What could we do, in the daytime we could somehow live
with the danger, but at night we couldn’t sleep because we never knew
from which side danger might come. For two years we had been living
with scarce means, everything was so expensive, no job. My son worked
and earned our living. We had some savings but came here, spent it on
the rent and now are empty-handed with no job,’ says Anzhel.

Tears run from behind her eyeglasses. A family that has lived a
prosperous life, went through the trials of war, and in
life-threatening conditions made a difficult decision to leave
everything behind and move to the motherland.

During the first two months Raffi rented an apartment paying $700 per
month. Before, someone who had introduced himself as a real estate
agent took a $100 deposit and fled, Raffi never saw him again. $250
disappeared from the apartment they were renting.

`Our coming back to Armenia was probably a mistake. He thought he’d
find a job, but ended up paying rent unable to find employment, hence
he is penniless now. I did not want to come, I’d say if I have to die,
let me die in my home. I’d tell him: go, flee from here, I’ll stay,’
she says.

A gas stove stands in one corner, it’d take 12,000 ($30), which they
don’t have, to connect it to the general gas pipeline. The only source
of heat is a little low-capacity electric stove.
Raffi, unable to fake indifference any longer, interrupts the
conversation with an angry request not to rub salt in the wound if
`you are not going to cure it’.

`Every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. go to the airport and see how many [Syrian
Armenians] are going back. My friends all have left, they said they’d
rather go die there than live like this here. There is no employment,
should they stay to starve?’ says Raffi. `We know that Armenia is not
a wealthy country and it is not gold that we want from it, but why
cheat, rob, deceive… so many people have tricked me out of $100 and
never showed up again. I believed and trusted whom? An Armenian. We
had no such thing [in Syria], when an Armenian would cheat an
Armenian. We worked hard and had a good name of an Armenian. Where is
that name here? You don’t know what name [respect] an Armenian has
abroad, an Armenian’s name there has might.’

The Diaspora ministry handed Raffi a list of employment agencies,
organizations and individual’s willing to help Syrian Armenians to
find jobs. Raffi, a goldsmith, went to all of them one by one, with
not much luck – he was told to go back home and wait, they’d call.

`The notion of our fatherland has died in us. My hand is in fire,
yours in water, how do you feel? I am so disappointed that I don’t
want to leave these walls or communicate with anyone. Explain to me
one thing: why does a kilo of the same produce in the market cost 600
drams ($1.50) for others, but as soon as they see that I am not local
they sell it for 1,000 drams ($2,50). Why? I don’t get it?’ says
Raffi, turning his face back to the screen and pulls down his cap to
hide the tears of frustration.

Anzhel offers coffee, says she still has some brought from Aleppo. She
mixes coffee, sugar and water in a copper jazzve (traditional eastern
coffee maker) and puts it on the electric stove to cook.

Anzhel says her parents had migrated to Syria from Urfa (modern day
Turkey). She lost her husband early and brought up her son and
daughter alone. Her daughter is married and is now in Syria with her
husband’s family. They were living at one of Aleppo’s Armenian
districts. She says Nahatakats (Martyrs’) church was right next to her
house.

`It’s been six months since they started striking at our side. Now
they (Syrian rebels) have taken our houses and it is impossible to
drive them away. My first visit to Armenia was in 1981 during the
Soviet times. Back then they’d say the nation was starving, no
employment, but I came and saw wonderful hotels and abundant tables
laid before guests,’ recalls Anzhel.

A knock at the door brings in Marie, whom Anzhel calls Madlen. The
coffee starts boiling in the jazzve, she pours it into little cups and
serves, adding: `I’ll read your coffee cups.’ [fortune telling on
coffee grounds is quite common among Armenians]. She says fate doesn’t
separate her and Madlen, who was Anzhel’s neighbor in Aleppo.

Marie Karamian, 60, lives in Darbnik with her husband. They left their
daughter in Aleppo, who had passport issues and could not leave the
country; their son had moved to Armenia a decade before.

`When I saw Anzhel here, oh dear, I was so happy! We can at least
share our troubles, talk them over,’ says Marie.

Another knock on the door, this time it is Anzhel’s Iraqi-Armenian
neighbor Seda, who has been in here for a long time now. Anzhel
invites her to join and have some coffee.

The conversation around a cup of coffee expands from Iraq, Aleppo and
Darbnik to Europe and America. Even Raffi starts smiling. People
sharing the same predicament support each other, encourage to hold on
and wait for a change.

`We’ll wait for God to open a door… if things get better [in Syria] we
will return, our home is there…’ says Anzhel.

(This year around 6,000 Syrian Armenians have left their homes and
come to Armenia forced by the active hostilities in Syria; 1,000 among
them have moved on from Armenia to find refuge in other countries.)

`The Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Is a Part of the Government; Those
Are Serzh Sargsyan’s Games,’ Garnik Margaryan Says

DECEMBER 12, 2012 18:23

`It had to be so, they followed our example,’ Garnik Margaryan, a
member of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the leader of the
Motherland and Dignity Party, commented on the statement released by
the PAP today that they would not participate in the presidential
election and would not endorse anyone else in this manner.

According to Garnik Margaryan, `We also made a similar decision that
we wouldn’t endorse anyone etc… and they followed in our steps.’

In response to our question whether he hadn’t been surprised at the
PAP decision, Garnik Margaryan assured that he hadn’t, `The PAP is a
part of the government; those are Serzh Sargsyan’s games.’

As for what phase the PAP’s cooperation with the opposition –
particularly with the ANC – is entering after that decision, Garnik
Margaryan couldn’t say. He just stated that their political council
would convene tomorrow and they would have an answer to that question
tomorrow.

Let us remind that the Motherland and Dignity Party endorsed Levon
Ter-Petrossian’s candidacy in the previous presidential election, and
it has decided neither to nominate its own candidate nor to endorse
anyone in this election.

Hripsime JEBEJYAN

Aid from Armenia to Syria to be presented as Christmas gifts

11:23, 14 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS. The new humanitarian aid from
Armenia to Syria by “Help your Brother” Initiative targets children
and will be presented as Christmas gifts. In a conversation with
“Armenpress” the chairman of the Armenian National Educational and
Cultural Union Lilit Galstyan stated that at the moment they are
negotiating about the choice of the route.

Among other things Lilit Galstyan stated: “This time we have decided
to send Christmas gifts for the kids. We are considering sanding
sweets in the boxes for the children.” In addition she said that it’s
possible to transfer the new aid again via “Syrian Airlines”.

Also the Initiative is considering distributing Christmas gifts to the
Syrian-Armenian kids, who have currently settled in Armenia. Lilit
Galstyan stated: “We continue our assistance to the Syrian-Armenians
settled in Armenia as well and about 600 families have already
received aid.” She noted that they will organize a New Year show for
the Syrian-Armenian children.

Syrie
Les Arméniens à Nouveau en Fuite Tandis que les Combats font Rage en Syrie

C/ Diana Markosian

Des jeunes Arméniens de Syrie déplacés à l’École Cilicienne
nouvellement ouverte à Erevan, Arménie

Par Alia Malek

Publié le 11 décembre 2012

Erevan, Arménie – A l’École Cilicienne nouvellement ouverte dans cette
ancienne république soviétique, les livres de classe sont en arabe,
photocopiés à partir d’un ouvrage unique rapporté de Syrie. Le cours
est syrien, le drapeau sur le bureau du directeur est syrien, et les
enseignants et les élèves sont tous des Syriens. En lien avec : Les
USA devraient reconnaître les rebelles Syriens a dit Obama (le 12
décembre 2012)

The New York Times

Ils sont aussi Arméniens d’origine, poussés par la guerre civile de
Syrie vers une hypothétique patrie à peine connue.

` Ceux qui viennent ici veulent clairement s’en retourner `, dit le
directeur de l’école, Noura Pilibosyan, arrivé d’Alep, Syrie, cet été.
` L’Arménien est notre langue, mais notre culture est syrienne. C’est
dur de se retrouver ici `.

Leurs ancêtres ont fui le Génocide arménien dans ce qui est à présent
la Turquie il y a près d’un siècle et ils se sont installés en Syrie,
revitalisant l’un des nombreux groupes qui ont longtemps coexisté
là-bas.

Et maintenant, la fuite des Arméniens de Syrie – l’une des nombreuses
répercussions dont on se soucie peu, même si elles peuvent transformer
des pays éloignés de la Syrie – pose des questions sur le futur de la
diversité syrienne. Et cela force l’Arménie, qui compte sur ses fortes
communautés en diaspora pour ajouter à son poids géopolitique
relativement modeste, à se lancer dans des calculs délicats pour
l’encouragement ou le ralentissement de l’exode.

Pour l’instant, l’Arménie se prépare à toute éventualité. Elle envoie
de l’aide aux Arméniens en Syrie les aidant à rester et à survivre.
Mais elle les aide aussi à venir en Arménie, temporairement ou
définitivement, par l’attribution rapide de visas, de permis de
résidence, et de citoyenneté.

` Notre politique est de les aider de la façon qu’ils nous disent de
les aider `, nous dit Viguen Sargsyan, le chef de cabinet du président
de l’Arménie, Serge Sargsyan. Près de 6 000 Syriens ont trouvé refuge
en Arménie tandis qu’Alep sombre dans les combats, Alep, la plus
grande ville de Syrie, où on estime que vivent 80 000 des 120 000
Arméniens de Syrie. Ils sont plus nombreux à arriver chaque semaine
tandis que peu s’en retournent, incapables de s’habituer à Erevan ou
de vivre loin de leur maison et lieux de travail, laissés sans
surveillance derrière eux en Syrie.

Les Arméniens d’origine constituent une part de la marée de Syriens en
fuite dont on pense que le nombre atteindra 700 000 vers la fin de
l’année, principalement vers la Turquie, la Jordanie et le Liban. Mais
comme les Arméniens, contrairement aux autres Syriens, peuvent
aisément acquérir une autre nationalité, la Syrie pourrait voir l’une
de ses communautés vivantes diminuer définitivement.

Les Arméniens de Syrie sont connus pour leur artisanat de l’or et de
l’argent et leur cuisine excellente. Ils constituent également une
composante importante, s’agissant des liens avec la Russie et
l’Occident, tenant des rôles d’intermédiaires du fait de leurs
relations avec la diaspora arménienne à travers le monde.

Alep est le dernier vestige de l’Arménie de l’ouest, qui a été
historiquement séparée de ce qui est l’Arménie d’aujourd’hui par le
mont Ararat, une séparation qui au cours de l’histoire a donné lieu à
différentes langues et cultures.

Tandis que les Arméniens de Syrie sont restés officiellement neutres
dans la guerre civile syrienne, beaucoup sont, comme Chrétiens,
méfiants sur les tendances islamistes des rebelles, et comme
Arméniens, suspicieux sur les soutien des rebelles par la Turquie.
L’École Cilicienne, avec ses 250 élèves, reflète ici l’ambivalence des
Arméniens de Syrie : beaucoup veulent retourner dans leur vie en
diaspora, même s’il sont accueillis dans leur patrie historique.

` L’Arménie a toujours dit, ‘ venez chez vous ‘. Ils nous ont toujours
demandé de revenir , dit un homme disant s’appeler Harout qui visitait
un nouveau club d’Arméniens de Syrie ici à Erevan, la capitale.
Honnêtement, j’aime l’Arménie, mais je ne voudrais pas quitter la
Syrie. Je prie uniquement pour retourner `.

Pour l’Arménie, l’arrivée des Syriens rallume le débat sur la façon de
gérer les relations avec les Arméniens de la Diaspora : les encourager
à immigrer ou les laisser où ils se trouvent, depuis les USA jusqu’au
Moyen Orient, généreux en apports et engagé dans les groupes de
pression à l’étranger dans l’intérêt de l’Arménie.

Les partisans de la réinstallation soutiennent que la perte de la
Syrie pourrait finalement être un gain pour l’Arménie. Ils ne veulent
pas seulement protéger les compatriotes arméniens, ils veulent que les
Arméniens de Syrie, souvent expérimentés, fortunés, éduqués et
entreprenants – viennent aider dans le combat l’économique
postsoviétique, soutenir une immigration importante et apporter des
idées nouvelles.

` De telles diversités ne font qu’enrichir une nation `, nous dit Vahé
Yacoubian, un avocat basé en Californie qui investit en Arménie et a
conseillé le gouvernement. Le gouvernement essaie donc de favoriser la
réinstallation. Les Syriens en Arménie peuvent employer valablement
leur permis de conduire, accéder à des soins médicaux gratuits et
s’inscrire dans les universités.

Les groupes gouvernementaux et privés aident les Arméniens de Syrie à
trouver des emplois et à transférer leur activité en Arménie.

Une minorité véhémente joue sur les peurs de la violence en Syrie – et
sur le souvenir du Génocide ottoman – pour proposer un objectif
nationaliste plus élevé, le retour de tous les Arméniens au pays.

` Ceci est notre terre – pas Los Angeles, pas New York, pas la Syrie
`, nous a dit Vartan Marashlyan, ancien vice-ministre de la diaspora
et directeur exécutif de Repat Armenia, une association fondée en Août
pour ` promouvoir activement ` ce qu’elle appelle ` rapatriement ` des
Arméniens du monde entier.

Les Arméniens de Syrie à qui la Syrie manque ` veulent être dans
l’Alep d’il y a un an `, une situation de coexistence paisible qui ne
pourra plus se reproduire, dit-il. Parlant des morts du Génocide, il
ajouta, ` nous avons perdu un million et demi de personnes parce que
nous avons cru que cela était possible `.

Mais les Arméniens qui ont le mal du pays trouvent la réinstallation
difficile à envisager. Ils relèvent que les nationalistes tels M.
Marashlyan sont venus en Arménie par choix, et non pour fuir la
violence.

`Ils veulent me mettre sous l’étiquette ‘ repat ‘ ` ; nous dit Harout
Ekmanian, un Arménien de Syrie d’Alep. ` Je suis un Syrien en exil `.

Peu d’Arméniens de Syrie ont porté attention par le passé aux appels à
immigrer, même après l’indépendance d’avec l’Union Soviétique de 1991.
Ils se considéraient eux-mêmes comme Syriens, parlant en arabe et en
arménien occidental, pas l’arménien oriental parlé en Arménie.

Mais ils ont été tout de même nombreux à contribuer en argent et en
soutien à l’état à part entière, spécialement pendant la guerre
territoriale contre l’Azerbaïdjan qui se termina en 1991 et qui
continue ses soubresauts.

L’Arménie a aussi besoin de sa Diaspora du Moyen Orient pour se frayer
un chemin dans la région malgré les tensions, nous dit Salpi
Ghazarian, la directrice de la Fondation Civitas d’Erevan et ancienne
fonctionnaire du ministère des Affaires étrangères. Elle dit que les
Arméniens des pays arabes et d’Iran ont aidé à éviter que l’opposition
entre l’Arménie, un pays majoritairement chrétien, et l’Azerbaïdjan,
qui est majoritairement musulman, ne devienne un problème
pan-musulmans, en faisant pression sur leur gouvernement pour qu’il ne
prenne pas position.

La communauté arménienne de Téhéran participe aussi, de façon
cruciale, au développement des affaires avec les voisins de l’Iran,
dit-elle. L’Arménie est un pays enclavé, et ses frontières avec
l’Azerbaïdjan et son allié la Turquie, sont fermées, faisant de l’Iran
une ouverture vitale. ` Si ces communautés disparaissaient, ces
relations humains disparaîtraient aussi `, dit Mme Ghazarian. ` Il ne
restera alors plus de bons amis `. L’Arménie est restée neutre sur le
soulèvement en Syrie et a travaillé dur pour aider les personnes à
l’intérieur de la Syrie. Dans les mois qui viennent de s’écouler,
trois avions cargo transportant des aliments et des dons d’Arméniens
ont joint Erevan à Alep ; après d’intenses négociations avec à la fois
la Syrie, qui a sévèrement limité l’aide extérieure, et la Turquie,
qui normalement interdit son espace aérien aux cargos arméniens.
L’aide a été distribuée dans les quartiers Arméniens, mais
indépendamment de la nationalité ou de l’appartenance à une
communauté.

` Nous considérons la Syrie comme notre voisin `, dit Vahan
Hovhanissyan, un membre du Parlement qui a piloté cette opération. `
Les Arméniens ont de la gratitude envers la Syrie , dit-il, parce
qu’après le Génocide, ` la Syrie leur a permis de reprendre vie `. Le
gouvernement reconnaît que la Syrie est le seul asile que plusieurs
générations d’Arméniens de Syrie aient connu. Elle a approuvé le
programme des cours de syrien de l’École Cilicienne et ceux d’arménien
de l’ouest. Un parti politique arménien s’est chargé de ses dépenses.
L’enseignement est gratuit.

` Ils se sentent comme chez eux en Syrie `, dit Amalia Qocharyan, une
fonctionnaire de l’éducation arménienne. ` Mais la réalité est qu’ils
ont deux patries, la Syrie et l’Arménie `. A l’école, on a demandé à
une classe de septième à qui manquait la Syrie. Ils ont répondu à
l’unisson et en arabe : ` Ana `, ` moi `.

Lorsqu’on leur a parlé de la vie à Erevan, ils sont devenus plus
calmes. Ils disaient regretter leur maison et leurs amis ; l’un
d’entre eux dit qu’il ne pouvait être heureux devant les images de
combats à Alep. ` A Alep, j’étais habituée au drapeau arménien, et je
voulais m’y rendre `, dit Vana, onze ans. ` Ici, quand je vois le
drapeau Syrien, j’ai envie de retourner à la maison `.

Cet article a été financé en partie par le Centre Pulitzer de
Reportage sur les Crises

Traduction Gilbert Béguian pour Armenews

vendredi 14 décembre 2012,
Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey
December 12, 2012 Wednesday

EU Minister Bagis receives official of Armenian monastery

Turkish Minister of European Union (EU) Affairs and Chief Negotiator
Egemen Bagis received Rita Nurnur, chairwoman of Surp Gazer Armenian
Catholic Mkhitaryan Monastery and School Foundation. ISTANBUL Speaking
to reporters before his meeting with Nurnur, Egemen Bagis stressed
that the Armenian monastery and school foundation was one of the
oldest institutions in Istanbul.

Targeted News Service
December 12, 2012 Wednesday 6:02 AM EST

ADL Strongly Rejects ‘Price Tag Attacks’ on Christian Holy Sites

JERUSALEM, Israel

The Anti-Defamation League issued the following news release:

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called the most recent
so-called “price tag attacks” on Christian religious institutions in
Israel, including Jerusalem’s Monastery of the Cross and an Armenian
Cemetery “despicable and increasingly heinous.”

According to Israeli news reports, the perpetrators spray painted,
“Jesus is a son of a b***h” on the monastery and in addition, three
cars nearby were vandalized, one with graffiti reading “Happy
Hanukkah, triumph for the Maccabees.”

Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barakat have strongly condemned today’s attacks.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement:

We stand with our Christian friends to forcefully condemn these
heinous attacks, including the despicable desecration of a Christian
cemetery – a violation of the dead which should be sacred to everyone.
This represents a new, worse form of humiliation, and clearly
demonstrates that the price tag attackers have sunken to a new low.
The nature of the anti-Christian graffiti, particularly insulting
Jesus, is telling in that it is an attack on religion.

We call on the head of the new law enforcement task force assembled to
publicly address and investigate the so-called ‘price-tag’ incidents
and regularly brief the public and Christian leaders about the
progress being made to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

We further call for the formation of a coalition of appropriate
Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders to raise public
consciousness against the religious based hatred that appears to be at
the heart of these attacks against religious figures and houses of
worship.”

We commend the clear response by Israeli leadership for their swift
response and strongly encourage the Israeli government to undertake a
public service educational campaign, condemning all attacks against
other religions in Israel, as being, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared
today, against ‘the Jewish values according to which we were raised
and according to which we raise our children.’

Over the past few years, extremist Israeli Jews have engaged in the
so-called “price tag” campaign, in which Muslim and Christian sites
have been vandalized with extremist and pro-settler graffiti, and in
some cases, committed arson. The perpetrators claim these acts of
violence are retribution for government policies they construe as
anti-settler.

Not paying the debt on promised time is not seen as an immoral behavior

Thu, 12/13/2012 – 17:15

In April 2009 Khachik Ghazaryan gave Karen Hovsepyan leather for
producing shoes with the cost of AMD 1,120,000.

According to the oral agreement K. Hovsepyan was obliged to pay Kh.
Ghazaryan the indicated amount of money by the end of May 2009.
However, by that time he could only pay AMD 600,000. In the light of
not having means to pay the rest AMD 520,000, K. Hovsepyan proposed
Kh. Ghazaryan to return the remaining unused leather or pay its cost
part by part. The latter did not agree.

On August 4, 2009 another conversation between K. Hovsepyan and Kh.
Ghazaryan over the indicated debt ended by K. Hovsepyan being injured
in the area of his neck and then receiving serious body injuries
threatening his life.

On October 14, 2009 a criminal case was initiated at the Erebuni
Investigation department of the General Investigation Department of
the RA Police on the grounds of Article 112 Section 1, i.e.
intentionally causing a bodily injury or any other serious damage to
the health of another person. Afterwards Kh. Ghazaryan was brought in
an indictment on the grounds of the indicated article of the RA
Criminal Code.

On December 23, 2009 the case was sent to the Court of General
Jurisdiction of First Instance of Erebuni and Nubarashen
administrative districts of Yerevan with an accusation conclusion. On
February 16 the defendant was found guilty on the grounds of Article
112 Section 1 of the RA Criminal Code (causing damage of average
degree to the health of another person by negligence) and the sentence
against Kh. Ghazaryuan was conditionally not enforced, providing for 3
years of probation period on the grounds of Article 70 of the RA
Criminal Code (conditional non-enforcement of the penalty).

However later the Court of Appeal overruled the sentence of the Court
of First Instance from February 16 and found him guilty on the grounds
of Article 112 Section 1 of the RA Criminal Code (causing damage of
average degree to the health of another person by negligence) and
sentenced him to 3 years of imprisonment.

The defendant Kh. Ghazaryan’s lawyer submitted a cassation complaint
against the decision of the Court of Appeal from April 7, 2010.

The author of the complaint noted that the penalty appointed against
Kh. Ghazaryan is not fair and doesn’t corresponds neither to the
gravity of the crime nor to the circumstances of the crime, moreover,
is not necessary and sufficient to correct him and prevent new crimes.
Particularly, the circumstances of the crime and the personality of
the criminal were not taken into consideration.

It is indicated in the complaint that the action of the defendant was
the result of the immoral behavior of the victim, who had violated the
oral agreement previously reached between them.

The plaintiff also noted that there are certain mitigating
circumstances in the case, such as the fact that Kh. Ghazaryan doesn’t
have previous convictions, positive description, 3 dependent people,
one new-born child, the socially vulnerable status of the family and
him being the only wage-earner of the family.

However, the Court of Cassation decided to reject to complaint, noting
that according to Article 10 of the RA Criminal Code (the
individualization of the principle of justice and responsibility), the
penalty against the person who had committed a crime is fair if it
corresponds to the gravity of the crime, to the circumstances of the
crime, the personality of the criminal, is necessary and sufficient to
correct the person and prevent a new crime.

The CC also reports that the circumstances of the grave crime
committed by the defendant Kh. Ghazaryan `certify to the high degree
of danger that his personality can carry for the society and exclude
the possibility of conditional non-enforcement of the penalty against
him’.

The Court notes that `the facts of having no previous convictions,
positive description, 3 dependent people, one new-born child, the
socially vulnerable status of the family and him being the only
wage-earner of the family, do not certify in these conditions to the
absence of public hazard, which is typical for the crime committed by
Kh. Ghazaryan’.

Thus the CC agreed with the type and size of the penalty brought
against the defendant by the Court of Appeal and stated that they
correspond to the factual circumstances of the case and qualified the
conclusion of the Court of Appeal on not enforcing the conditional
non-enforcement of the penalty as reasoned and argumentative.

The Court also touched the qualification of `immoral actions’ brought
against the victim, saying that `…not paying the debt on promised time
cannot be seen as an immoral behavior’.

Based in these and many other arguments, the CC finds that `The
decision of the Court of Appeal from April 7, 2009 must stay in force’
and makes a relevant decision to reject the cassation complaint and
leave the sentence of the RA Court of Appeal against the defendant Kh.
Ghazaryan from April 7, 2010 in accordance with Article 112 Section 1
of the RA Criminal Code in force.

14:18 12/12/2012 » LAW

The exhumed body of Turkey’s late President Turgut Ozal, who led the
country out of military rule in the 1980s, contained poison but the
cause of death was unclear, local media reported an autopsy as showing
on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

There have long been rumors that Ozal, who died of heart failure in
1993 aged 65, was murdered by militants of the “deep state” – a
shadowy group within the Turkish establishment of the day. Ozal had
angered some with his efforts to end a Kurdish insurgency and survived
an assassination bid in 1988.

Turkey’s forensic institute completed the autopsy on Tuesday and the
results will be sent to prosecutors investigating suspicions of foul
play, state-run Anatolian news agency said.

“Poison was detected in Ozal’s body during the analysis but experts
could not agree on whether the cause of death was this poison,”
broadcaster NTV reported.

Previous media reports have said Ozal’s body, dug up in October on the
orders of prosecutors, revealed traces of insecticides, pesticides and
radioactive elements.

“Toxic materials were found in Ozal’s body but these poisons were
present in a form which could be found in any person’s body,” one
official who had seen the autopsy report was quoted as saying by
Hurriyet newspaper on its website.

Forensic institute officials were not available to comment.