Author: Kajoyan Gevork

SECOND PRESIDENT JOINS ARMENIA’S INCUMBENT PRESIDENT AND PARLIAMENT HEAD – NEWSPAPER

news.am
November 16, 2012 | 08:44

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan had left for France
on November 11 for a three-day official visit and, subsequently,
he was to go on a one-week vacation abroad, Zhamanak daily recalls.

“It became apparent much later that Armenia’s [National Assembly] NA
Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan likewise will go on vacation, on [Wednesday,]
November 14, which will last until November 21.

According to Zhamanak’s information, Serzh Sargsyan and Hovik
Abrahamyan are spending their one-week rest together in the same
European city. What is more, according to our source, [Armenia’s
second President] Robert Kocharyan, too, has joined them to discuss
Armenia’s domestic political matters,” Zhamanak writes.

THE TURKISH JOURNALIST HASAN CEMAL AND HIS COURAGEOUS BOOK ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Tagesspiegel
15 nov 2012
Deutschland

Tote und Tabu
00:00 Uhrvon Thomas Seibert

Gegen die Kraft der Luge: Der turkische Journalist Hasan Cemal und
sein mutiges Buch uber den Volkermord an den Armeniern.

Hasan Cemal hat das Ende eines langen, schmerzlichen Weges erreicht,
als er im Marz 2011 in Los Angeles am Rednerpult steht. Im Saal
sitzen viele Vertreter der armenischen Diaspora. Cemal, einer der
prominentesten Journalisten der Turkei, ringt mit sich. Soll er jetzt
~DVolkermord” sagen, ein Wort, das von der offiziellen Turkei bis
heute strikt abgelehnt wird?

Lange, viel zu lange hat Cemal selbst die offizielle Linie seines
Landes befolgt. Nun geht er sein Manuskript durch und fragt sich:
~DWarum ist meine Zunge so schwer? Habe ich immer noch Tabus, an die
ich nicht ruhren kann? Bin ich immer noch nicht frei? Ist das nicht
eine Schande, Hasan Cemal?” Deshalb beginnt er seine Rede vor den
Armeniern so: ~DIch kenne und verstehe Ihren Schmerz, ich bin hier,
um den Schmerz des Volkermordes mit Ihnen zu teilen.

Das ist die Schlusselszene von Cemals kurzlich in der Turkei
erschienenem Buch ~D1915: Armenischer Volkermord”, in dem er sehr
personlich mit dem turkischen Umgang mit der Vergangenheit abrechnet.

Der 68-jahrige Kolumnist der Tageszeitung ~DMilliyet” ist der Enkel von
Cemal Pascha, einem Mitglied jener osmanischen Regierung, die 1915 den
Volkermord anordnete. Cemal Pascha wurde 1922 von Armeniern ermordet,
auch einer der engsten Freunde des jungen Cemal, der turkische Diplomat
Bahadir Demir, wurde 1973 von armenischen Extremisten erschossen.

Umso schwerer ist es fur ihn, dem ~DLeben mit der Luge” zu entfliehen.

Er wachst in einer Familie auf, in der die Rolle des Großvaters bei
den Massakern und der Volkermord so beschrieben werden, wie die Turkei
es bis heute tut. Die Armenier hatten sich im Ersten Weltkrieg mit den
Russen zusammengetan und gegen das Osmanische Reich gekampft, deshalb
hatten sie deportiert werden mussen. Dass dabei viele Menschen starben,
sei betrublich, aber allein den Kriegsbedingungen zuzuschreiben.

Selbst Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, der bis heute verehrte Vater der
modernen Turkei, steht fur diese Lesart. Aber Cemal berichtet von
einer schier unglaublichen Manipulation. In einer Rede vor dem ersten
nach-osmanischen Parlament im April 1920 habe Ataturk den Massenmord
an den Armeniern als ~Dschandliche Tat” bezeichnet, als ~Deine
Niedertracht”. Dieser Satz sei spater aus den Parlamentsprotokollen
gestrichen worden: ~DSie zensieren sogar Ataturk!”, schreibt Cemal.

Die Luge war machtig. Erst in den 80er Jahren wurde Cemal bewusst,
dass mit der offiziellen Darstellung der Ereignisse von 1915 etwas
nicht stimmt. In den Neunzigern liest er die Bucher von Taner Akcam,
einem nach Amerika emigrierten turkischen Volkermordexperten, der fur
turkische Nationalisten zur Hassfigur wurde. Doch obwohl dessen Thesen
ihn aufrutteln, erwahnt er die Bucher in seinen Zeitungskolumnen nicht,
wie er schreibt. Moglicherweise hatte er ~Dimmer noch das Tabu von
1915 im Kopf”.

Cemal begegnet dem armenischstammigen Journalisten Hrant Dink. Dink
wird 2007 ermordet, ein Wendepunkt, auch fur Cemal. Ein Jahr nach
dessen Tod besucht er das Volkermord-Mahnmal in der armenischen
Hauptstadt Eriwan. Langsam distanziert er sich von der Geschichtsluge
– und stoßt auf weitere: Nicht nur die Massaker an den Armeniern
werden beschonigt oder verschwiegen, auch Pogrome gegen Kurden,
Griechen, Alewiten und Juden werden von der Geschichtsschreibung
unter den Teppich gekehrt. Die Turkei hat Angst, schreibt Cemal. ~DIn
unserem Staat regiert die Angst vor der Geschichte.” Aus Archiven
werden Dokumente uber die dunklen Seiten der Vergangenheit entfernt,
Schulbucher prasentieren eine ~Dsaubere” Nation. Wer dem widerspricht,
der wird als Vaterlandsverrater beschimpft wie der Historiker Akcam,
vor Gericht gestellt wie Literaturnobelpreistrager Orhan Pamuk –
oder ermordet wie Hrant Dink.

Die Lugen verhindern eine demokratische Befreiung der turkischen
Gesellschaft, ist Cemal uberzeugt. Die Staatsideologen wussten,
~Ddass die Wahrheit die Menschen befreit” und wollten deshalb an den
Tabus festhalten. Auch heute noch ruhmen Regierungspolitiker die
Vertreibung der Griechen aus Kleinasien in den 1920er Jahren, und
das Bildungssystem nahrt nach wie vor einen ~Dblinden Nationalismus
und Rassismus”.

Doch ganz so duster, wie Cemal es beschreibt, ist die Lage vielleicht
doch nicht. Noch vor wenigen Jahren hatte ein Buchladen mit Cemals
Titel in den Regalen einen Angriff militanter Nationalisten riskiert,
und Cemal ware wegen ~DBeleidigung des Turkentums” angezeigt worden.

Außer einigen wutenden Beitragen in Internetforen ist bisher
jedoch nichts geschehen. Cemals mutiges Buch taucht sogar in der
Bestsellerliste einer großen Buchladenkette auf. Vielleicht lasst
die Kraft der Luge ja tatsachlich nach.Thomas Seibert

“HISTORICAL LOOK AT AZERBAIJAN’S RICH PEARLS” EXHIBITION OPENS IN VATICAN

Trend
Nov 15 2012
Azerbaijan

An exhibition “Historical look at Azerbaijan`s rich pearls” opened
Wednesday in Vatican.

The exhibition, initiated and supported by the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation, marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic ties between Azerbaijan and Vatican.

Azerbaijan is a first Muslim state that demonstrates its cultural
values in Vatican.

Before the exhibition`s opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister
of Azerbaijan Elchin Afandiyev met cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,
Vatican`s culture minister, chairman of Pontifical Commission of
Sacred Archaeology.

They discussed relationship between Azerbaijan and Vatican, stressing
the role of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in developing the bilateral
cooperation.

The sides noted that cultural events held in Vatican at the initiative
of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation had already become a good tradition.

The sides also praised the cooperative relations established between
Azerbaijan and Vatican over the past 20 years.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition Gianfranco Ravasi said
relations between Azerbaijan and Vatican had been developing
particularly in cultural and humanitarian spheres.

According to cardinal Ravasi, projects initiated by the Heydar
Aliyev Foundation play special role in developing Azerbaijan-Vatican
cooperation.

Gianfranco Ravasi recalled restoration of sacred catacombs by
the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, describing this as an example of
intercultural and inter-civilizational platform.

Azerbaijan`s Deputy Prime Minister Elchin Afandiyev conveyed greetings
of president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva to the
event’s participants.

Afandiyev spoke of Azerbaijan’s ancient history and rich culture. He
said Azerbaijan had always been recognized across the world as a
place of religious tolerance.

Touching upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Deputy Prime Minister
said Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territories and more
than one million Azerbaijanis were driven out from their original
lands by force. Afandiyev said the exhibition in Vatican was a vivid
evidence of the importance given to Azerbaijan.

The Deputy Prime Minister also recalled the visit of Pope John Paul
II to Azerbaijan. He added that reciprocal visits give impetus to
strengthening cooperation between Azerbaijan and Vatican.

The “Historical look at Azerbaijan’s rich pearls” exhibition features
all periods of the country`s history and culture.

One of peculiarities of the exhibition, consisting of 6 sections, is
that Azerbaijan is presented as an intersection of various cultures
and civilizations.

Various books and booklets published by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation
are demonstrated at the exhibition, which will last till December 5.

LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT MUST BE PEACEFULLY RESOLVED

Trend
Nov 15 2012
Azerbaijan

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved peacefully, Latvian
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said at a joint press conference with
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan on November 15,
news.am reported.

The Latvian Foreign Minister emphasized the need to respect the
declaration of OSCE and Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group.

According to him, there is some frustration at the lack of tangible
progress in the conflict settlement process, but one must hope that
the issue will be at the center of international attention.

Answering a question on whether Latvia can recognize the independence
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Rinkevics said that the OSCE
Minsk Group deals with this issue, and that there are principles of
the Helsinki Final Act, principles of territorial integrity and the
right of nations to self-determination and non-use of force or threat
of force.

Latvia does not intend to interfere in this process, the minister
said, adding that now is not the time to talk about recognizing the
independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In his words, it will
not help to resolve the difficult situation.

“At present we need to focus on negotiations,” Edgars Rinkevics said.

ISRAEL RANKED AS MOST MILITARIZED NATION
By Jim Lobe

Asia Times
Nov 14 2012
HongKong

WASHINGTON – Israel tops the list of the world’s most militarized
nations, according to the latest Global Militarisation Index released
by the Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC).

Israel’s main regional rival, Iran is far behind at number 34. Indeed,
every other Near Eastern country, with the exceptions of Yemen (37)
and Qatar (43), is more heavily militarized than the Islamic Republic,
according to the Index, whose research is funded by the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Singapore ranks second, followed by Syria, Russia, Jordan, and
Cyprus, according to the Index, which is based on a number of weighted
variables, such as the comparison of a country’s military budget with
its gross domestic product (GDP), and the%age of the GDP it spends
on health care.

Six of the top 10 states, including Israel (1), Syria (4), Jordan
(5), Kuwait (7), Bahrain (9), and Saudi Arabia (10) are located in
the Middle East, while yet another of Iran’s neighbors, Azerbaijan,
made its first entry into the militarized elite at number 8.

The former Soviet Caucasian state has used its vast oil wealth, which
has placed it among the fastest growing economies in the world, to
buy expensive weapons systems in recent years, apparently as leverage
to press Armenia (23) into returning the disputed Nagorno-Kharabovsk
enclave which Baku lost in a brief but bloody war after the Soviet
Union’s collapse.

Bahrain’s placement in the top 10 was also a first for the
Sunni-dominated kingdom which has been backed by Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an increasingly violent effort to
suppress demands by the Shi’ite majority for democratic reform.

While the Middle East is far more militarized than any other region –
all of its countries rank within the top 40 – Southeast Asia, led by
Singapore, appears ascendant, according to Jan Grebe, the Index’s head
researcher who directs BICC’s work in the field of arms export control.

In addition to Singapore, China (82) and India (71) are increasing
their defense budgets at a relatively rapid rate, while the recent
flaring of territorial conflicts between Beijing and its neighbors
across the South and East China Seas will likely amplify voices within
those countries for defense build-ups.

“It remains to be seen how this development will affect the degree of
militarization of individual states and the entire region,” Grebe said.

In contrast, both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America are relatively
low on the Index, which covers statistics for 2011 and ranked 135
countries altogether.

At number 30, Angola was a notable African exception, while Chile
(31), Ecuador (36), and Colombia (38) topped the Latin American list.

By contrast, Brazil, which has by far the largest defense budget in
the region, ranked 76.

Among those excluded from the Index was North Korea, whose defense
budget has proved impervious to independent analysts and which is
widely thought to be one of the world’s most militarized states,
if not the most. Eritrea, another state that has made it into the
top 10 in the past, also was not included this year.

Created in 1996, the GMI, which has been updated each year, tries
to assess the balance between militarization and human development,
particularly related to health.

In addition to BICC’s own research, data published by the Stockholm
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Institute for
Strategic Studies are used to compile the Index, whose rankings go
back to 1990 at the end of the Cold War.

In addition to the comparison of military budgets, GDP, and health
expenditures, the Index uses several other variables, including the
total personnel in the paramilitary and military forces – albeit not
the police – and total number of physicians vis-a-vis the overall
population, and the ratio of the number of heavy weapons to the
total population.

Each variable is given a certain score which is then “weighted”
according to a set formula to determine a total quantitative score.

The more militarized a country, the higher the score. South Korea
which, for many years, ranked in the top 10, fell to 18 this year.

Eritrea, which fought a bitter war with Ethiopia and repeatedly
cracked down hard against internal dissent, gained a “perfect” 1,000
score in 2004, the first of a three-year reign atop the list.

But Israel, which has carried out a 45-year occupation of Palestinian
lands and Syrian territory, has topped the list for almost all of
the last 20 years. On the latest Index, its score came to 877, 70
points ahead of Singapore, which has been number two for every year
this century, except for the three in which Eritrea was number one.

Significantly, Greece ranked 14 on the list, the highest of any NATO
country, far ahead of its regional rival, Turkey, which took the 24th
slot, and Bulgaria (25).

The two countries with the world’s largest defense budgets, the United
States and China, ranked 29 (591) and 82 (414), respectively.

In addition to the six Middle Eastern states in the top, Oman (11), the
UAE (13), Lebanon (17), Iraq (26), and Egypt (28) were all found to be
more militarized than Iran, which is currently subject to unprecedented
economic sanctions imposed primarily by the West which accuses it of
pursuing a nuclear programme that may have military applications.

The concentration of so many Middle Eastern states at the top
underscores the degree to which the region has become a powder keg.

If the Middle East dominates the top ranks, sub-Saharan African states,
with just a few exceptions, lie at the low end of scale. The region’s
biggest economy, South Africa, ranks 98, while its most populous
nation, Nigeria, stands at 117.

Too little militarization carries its own risks, according to Grebe,
because states may not be able to guarantee order or even territorial
integrity.

“This situation points to the seemingly paradoxical phenomenon that
some state security apparatuses are incapable of preventing violence
and conflict simply because the country concerned shows a degree of
militarization which is too low,” he said.

Jim Lobe’s blog on US foreign policy can be read at

(Inter Press Service)

CLOSED BORDERS AND VIOLENT HISTORIES HAUNT SOUTH CAUCASUS
By Alex Whiting

Reuters AlertNet
Nov 15 2012

LONDON (AlertNet) – “I used to film my friends’ weddings, birthday
parties and special occasions. But then the world turned upside
down …

I started to film their funerals instead,” said Rudik Khojabaghyan,
a former soldier living in the town of Goris, southern Armenia.

His next door neighbour and childhood friend, Mihran Mirumyan, recalls
mending people’s home-made guns when war came to Goris in the early
1990s. “It’s a tragedy that we lost such good people. That’s what
peace cost us, all those lives,” Mirumyan said.

Goris is about 20 miles (32 km) from Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed
mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan’s borders that has been
controlled by ethnic Armenians – with Armenia’s support – since a war
with Azerbaijan. The war tore Azerbaijan and Armernia apart during
the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.’

Khojabaghyan and Mirumyan’s recollections of the conflict are shared
in Memories without Borders, a moving film that portrays the impact of
closed borders and violent histories over the past century on people
living in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey.

The Nagorno-Karabakh war displaced more than 1 million people across
Armenia and Azerbaijan. About 30,000 people died. Nearly 600,000
Azeris remain displaced – it is not known how many people are still
uprooted in Armenia.

A truce was signed in 1994. But peace talks have stalled, tensions
between Armenia and Azerbaijan are rising again, and skirmishes along
the front lines persist. Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey
have been closed for nearly 20 years because of Armenia’s support
of the Nagorno-Karabakh separatists, and its economy is suffering as
a result.

“No one wins, we’re wasting time,” Mirumyan said. “You have to live
next door, so you need to make peace, otherwise you should sell your
home and leave. There should be another way out, some way over the
barrier that we fixed here. We negotiate, we meet and discuss, but
with no result.”

The war deepened tensions between Armenia and Turkey, tensions that
have run deep since World War One. Armenia, backed by many historians
and parliaments, says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were
killed in what is now eastern Turkey in a deliberate policy of genocide
ordered by the Ottoman government.

Successive Turkish governments and most Turks feel the charge of
genocide is an insult. Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on
both sides during fighting in the area.

Sitting on his shaded terrace, Mirumyan points to a beautiful chess
set he carved out of black walnut and light pear wood. Each piece
is a famous character from Armenian or Turkish history – including
Talaat Pasha, one of the senior Ottoman officials during the 1915
massacre of Armenians.

The middle of the board represents the closed border between Armenia
and Turkey, he says.

The set took two years to make and is priced at $10,000. “If it’s a
Turk buying, I’d probably give a discount. I’d like a Turk to buy it,”
he said.

LIVING THE DREAM

A small number of descendants of Armenians who fled Ottoman Turkey
during the World War One killings have moved to Nagorno-Karabakh
since the 1990s.

“I can’t say whether what I’ve done is foolish or heroic. It’s
quite egoistic,” says Armen, a young man who in 2004 moved to
Nagorno-Karabakh from his home in Marseilles, France. His father,
who lives in France, has refused to speak to him about his decision.

Armen’s wife Christina is a quarter Armenian by blood, and she too has
chosen to make this the basis of her identity. “What do you do to feel
Armenian when you live in the diaspora?” asked Christina. “You can go
to events. You can sing Our Father in church. You can sing My Kilikia,
eat basturma (cured beef sausage) and drink cognac. That’s it.”

Armen and Christina live in Shusha, a town surrounded by mountains
and meadows, where they plan to raise their family.

“In the Armenian diaspora they dream of Shushi (Shusha). I’m living
the dream,” Armen said.

Back in Goris, sitting in his workshop, Mirumyan muses on state
borders. They should be respected, he says. “But, you know, the
clock hand drops for everyone one day. No one lives for ever, not
even those who create borders.”

Next door, Khojabaghyan opens a box of film tapes. “These are the
tapes I got left with. People took the films of the weddings and the
parties. But no one took the tapes of the funerals … I’ll have them
for the rest of my life,” he says.

* Memories without Borders was made by Conciliation Resources, an
international peacebuilding non-governmental organisation. It will
be screened in western Europe in 2013. The first public screenings
took place in October 2012 in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Turkey

ARMENIA: IS YEREVAN ROLLING ATOMIC DICE?
by Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet.org
Nov 15 2012
NY

The Armenian government’s recent decision to prolong the lifespan of
the aging Metsamor nuclear power plant- a decision supported by the
United States – is provoking a public outcry. But with no replacement
energy source in sight, the government maintains it has no choice
but to place faith in the facility’s sole functioning reactor.

Metsamor opened in 1976 and sits on earthquake-prone terrain near a
residential area about 30 kilometers away from the Armenian capital,
Yerevan. The nuclear plant generates almost 40 per cent of Armenia’s
electricity. For almost two decades, various international plans
have been circulating to either shut the plant down, or keep it on
life-support until a new power source can be secured.

Authorities several years ago set 2016 as the target date for
Metsamor’s retirement. Then, on November 6, officials announced that,
given Metsamor’s favorable results in 2011 stress tests conducted
by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the facility’s lifespan
would be extended to 2026.

The United States, under an October 18 memorandum of understanding on
energy-sector cooperation, is willing to lend a helping hand. American
Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern told RFE/RL that although
Washington would have liked to see Metsamor shut down by 2016,
“it is ready to continue providing the necessary resources to keep
the plant operating safely.”

A copy of the memorandum, made available by US diplomats in Yerevan,
pledges training assistance in a variety of areas, including nuclear
safety, “related energy technology” and emergency preparedness.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian has indicated
that the extra decade for Metsamor will give Armenia a chance to
build a new nuclear power station in a different location. The
government estimates that a new, 1,000-megawatt unit would cost
roughly $5 billion – a project in which Armenia expects its strategic
ally Russia will take part in. This April, President Sargsyan named
2014 as the project’s likely start date, but details have not been
publicly released.

Meanwhile, another option — construction of a new nuclear-reactor
unit at Metsamor (only one of the plant’s original two reactors is
still functioning) — apparently has been quietly dropped. Energy
Minister Movsisian earlier had named 2013 as this project’s start date,
but Armenia’s 2013 budget envisages no such expenditures.

With no immediate progress on either of these fronts, Armenian
environmentalists worry that the country, for sheer lack of
alternatives, has been left strapped to a ticking time bomb. American
support for safety measures is meaningless, they say.

“The longer the reactor works, the more fragile it becomes; it loses
flexibility, and the accident risk increases,” argued Greens Union
of Armenia Chair Hakob Sanasarian, who terms the decision to prolong
Metsamor’s life “sabotage against the nation.”

Metsamor’s remaining unit should, in fact, have closed by 2006,
he added.

Former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratian, who oversaw the start of
government attempts in 1995 to increase Metsamor’s operational
security, shares that view. “Metsamor … can no longer be operated,”
said Bagratian, now an opposition MP for the Armenian National
Congress. “The metal of its reactor has already gotten thin, and
we’ll face a danger worse than Chernobyl one day.”

“[E]verything has its expiration date,” he continued. “I see the
solution in construction of a new unit [with a nuclear reactor]. If
there is none, then there is no solution.” Responding to criticism,
Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Aram Simonian on November
6 told parliament that “if we had the least doubts with regard to
the reactor’s metal, we would not raise the issue” of prolonging
Metsamor’s operating life. He did not elaborate on why construction
of the new nuclear reactor has not begun.

The government insists that concerns about Metsamor are overblown,
citing the tens of millions of dollars it has allocated since the
1990s on making the power station safer to run. “The demands to shut
down the functioning energy block only because it is old are not
grounded,” State Nuclear Safety Regulatory Committее Chairperson
Ashot Martirosian declared.

Such demands carry political implications, he charged, since foreign
specialists test the Metsamor reactor every four years. The latest
check-up occurred “recently,” he said, adding that, as of next May, the
results will be made public. “There are no deviations, everything is
normal,” Martirosian told EurasiaNet.org. “Anyway, it’s good this issue
raises serious concerns; it’s good that people do worry [about this].”

And worry they do. Some voters see the decision about prolonging
Metsamor’s lifespan as symptomatic of the general difficulty that the
government has had in tackling the country’s persistent economic woes,
especially unemployment and inflation. Others stress that, though
“[w]e live in difficult times,” the notion that the government would
“play with nuclear safety” is “unbelievable.”

As Armenia gears up for its February 2013 presidential elections,
look for political attention to all such views only to increase,
local observers say.

Editor’s note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter in Yerevan
and the editor of MediaLab.am.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DIALOGUE AN IMPERATIVE FOR THE HOLY SEE OF CILICIA

In his recent press briefing, His Holiness Aram I emphasized the importance
of Christian-Muslim dialogue in building culture of peace in the Middle
East.

While mentioning some of the initiative of the Catholicosate, he referred to
a recent meeting organized by the World Council of Churches and the Centre
for Interreligious Dialogue (CID) of Iran, where Archbishop Sebouh
Sarkissian, Prelate of Tehran represented the Holy See of Cilicia. He then
added that, while Moderator of the World Council of Churches, he had
strongly encouraged such a dialogue.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI AND CATHOLICOS ARAM I EXCHANGE LETTERS

After his trip to Lebanon, Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal letter to
Catholicos Aram I, expressing his high regard for the Armenian Church and
particularly for the Catholicosate of Cilicia, and expressing his regret for
not meeting with him at the Catholicosate of Cilica to discuss ecumenical
issues with him.

In his response, His Holiness Aram I reminded His Holiness the Pope of the
long-standing relationship between the two churches founded on theological
discussions and ecumenical relations since the Kingdom of Cilicia. The
Catholicos then shared with Pope Benedict XVI his concern for the Christian
presence in the Middle East and the need for all churches in the region to
work together in order to affirm the rights of Christians in the region.

At the end of the letter, Catholicos Aram I welcomed the recent Catholic
Bishops’ Synod on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the
Christian Faith and then added, “The Church cannot remain indifferent to
what is happening in the World. Fifty years ago Vatican II responded to the
world events of that time. Therefore, I would propose you to begin
preparations for a Vatican III that would impact all churches.

Trust.org referred to `Memories without borders’ unique
Turkish-Armenian- Azerbaijani documentary film

21:07, 16 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS: `Memories without borders’ unique
Turkish-Armenian-Azerbaijani documentary film presents how the
conflicts between the nations influence the lives of individuals. The
joint work of Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani filmmakers starts from
the mass slaughter in Ottoman Turkey and ends up with the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As reports Armenpress the Trust.org created
by Thomson Reuters has referred to the documentary film and to the
story of its creation. The author of the article is Alex Whiting.

`I used to film my friends’ weddings, birthday parties and special
occasions. But then the world turned upside down … I started to film
their funerals instead,’ said Rudik Khojabaghyan, a former soldier
living in the town of Goris, southern Armenia.

His next door neighbor and childhood friend, Mihran Mirumyan, recalls
mending people’s home-made guns when war came to Goris in the early
1990s. `It’s a tragedy that we lost such good people. That’s what
peace cost us, all those lives,’ Mirumyan said.

Khojabaghyan and Mirumyan’s recollections of the conflict are shared
in Memories without Borders, a moving film that portrays the impact of
closed borders and violent histories over the past century on people
living in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey.

The Nagorno-Karabakh war displaced more than 1 million people across
Armenia and Azerbaijan. About 30,000 people died. Nearly 600,000
Azeris remain displaced – it is not known how many people are still
uprooted in Armenia.

The war deepened tensions between Armenia and Turkey, tensions that
have run deep since World War One. Armenia, backed by many historians
and parliaments, says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were
killed in what is now eastern Turkey in a deliberate policy of
genocide ordered by the Ottoman government. Successive Turkish
governments and most Turks feel the charge of genocide is an insult.
Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both sides during
fighting in the area.

A small number of descendants of Armenians who fled Ottoman Turkey
during the World War One killings have moved to Nagorno-Karabakh since
the 1990s.

`I can’t say whether what I’ve done is foolish or heroic. It’s quite
egoistic,’ says Armen, a young man who in 2004 moved to
Nagorno-Karabakh from his home in Marseilles, France. His father, who
lives in France, has refused to speak to him about his decision.

Armen’s wife Christina is a quarter Armenian by blood, and she too has
chosen to make this the basis of her identity. `What do you do to feel
Armenian when you live in the diaspora?’ asked Christina. `You can go
to events. You can sing Our Father in church. You can sing My Kilikia,
eat basturma and drink cognac. That’s it.’

Armen and Christina live in Shushi, a town surrounded by mountains and
meadows, where they plan to raise their family. `In the Armenian
diaspora they dream of Shushi. I’m living the dream,’ Armen said.

`Memories without Borders’ was made by Conciliation Resources, an
international peace building non-governmental organization. It will be
screened in Western Europe in 2013. The first public screenings took
place in October 2012 in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Turkey.