DEMONSTRATION ORGANIZED IN FRONT OF TURKISH EMBASSY IN GERMANY FOR HRANT AND JUSTICE (PHOTOS)
January 20, 2012 | 18:20
BERLIN. – Several events were held to commemorate Agos Armenian
newspaper former chief editor Hrant Dink’s fifth year of death
in Berlin.
During the demonstration citizens held posters condemning Dink’s
murder in front of the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.
SARKOZY ASKS ERDOGAN NOT TO HAMPER GENOCIDE DENIAL CRIMINALIZATION EFFORTS
Tert.am
20.01.12
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sent a letter to Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, asking him to refrain from excessive
steps towards hampering the Senate~Rs efforts to debate the Armenian
Genocide denial criminalization bill.
“We perfectly realize what grief Turkey suffered as a result of
World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. I know it is
hard to admit what happened in the course of history,” Sarkozy said,
noting that his country had come to terms with such bitter truths as
complicity in the slave trade and expulsion of Jews to concentration
camps.
Sarkozy further referred to his 2007 speech in Algeria, where he
confessed to France~Rs colonial policies in the country.
“Turkey is a big country and an important partner for France. I wish
us both – as two partners and allies – to rely on friendship. I would
like you to know that any excessive step in connection with this
law would harm the two countries’ multilateral relations, laying the
entire burden of responsibility on them both, ” reads the statement.
GERMANY TOO IS LIKELY TO PASS A BILL CRIMINALIZING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL
ARMENPRESS
JANUARY 20, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS: Erika Steinbach, the spokesperson for
Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Parliamentary Group,
has stated that alike France Germany, too, is likely to pass a bill
criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial.
According to Erika Steinbach, the members of the coalition government
find that no matter how much Turkey denies the reality, it is obvious
that genocide has been committed, Armenpress reports citing CNNTurk.
“The topic of the Armenian Genocide is always kept in our agenda.
Turkey confronts that responsibility,” she said.
The spokesperson for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid said Turkish
authorities can acknowledge that fact with ease if they state that
the genocide has been committed not by the current leaders of Turkey.
BLACK ANNIVERSARY FOR ARMENIANS OF BAKU: SOVIET TROOPS QUASHED POGROMS 22 YEARS AGO TODAY
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
News | 20.01.12 | 13:17
University students laying a wreath at the memorial to the victims
of Sumgait
Twenty two years have passed since the Baku pogroms and the
perpetrators are still unpunished. No legal proceeding ever took place
calling to account all those political forces and individuals guilty
of mass murder. Violently displaced Armenian refugees never received
any compensation for the moral and/or material damage they’d suffered.
The 5-day mass pogroms (January 13-19, 1990) of the Armenian population
of Baku stopped right before the Soviet troops entered the city on
January 20.
“For the first time in all of the history of the Soviet Union, openly,
in the daylight and in front of everyone, uncontrolled massacres were
perpetrated and no one prevented or interfered. And although Soviet
Russia wasn’t the initiator, both the soviet government and Azerbaijani
Popular Front party board were well informed about it,” says Grigory
Ayvazyan, president of the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians.
No investigation has been conducted to tell the exact death toll.
Various sources claim it exceeded 400.
Lida Harutyunova, who escaped from Baku in 1990 and settled in Armenia,
says that in 1988 after the Sumgait tragedy they moved to Armenia
but in 1989 returned to Baku together with her husband to collect
their belongings.
“Six people with knives attacked our house, told us that if we gave
them the certificate of ownership for the house and 5,000 rubles,
they wouldn’t hurt us. So we were unable to bring anything with us,
only managed to stay alive,” Harutyunova recalls.
Pogoms in Baku started in October-November of 1988, they stopped for
a while and resumed in August-September of 1989; the third and final
stage happened in 1990.
On January 17, 1990 the European Parliamentary passed a resolution
calling upon the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers and the
European Council to protect Armenians and demand from the Soviet
government to show immediate help to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. On
January 18 a group of American senators address a letter to Mikhail
Gorbachev, expressing their concern over the Baku pogroms and calling
for unification of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia.
Heritage party MP Larisa Alaverdyan says that while after the Sumgait
massacre a Soviet court held judicial procedures – even if fictional,
but in case with Baku pogroms only protocols were drawn up for a few
cases stating assault, looting or beatings, that’s all.
“We have to understand that before it’s too late all the cases have
to be legally processed and presented to the international community
with both political and moral aspects,” says Alaverdyan.
For three years now the statement drafted by Alaverdyan, defining
Azerbaijan’s criminal actions of 1988-1994 against Armenians as
genocide, has been submitted to the parliament but the majority of
law-makers treat it negatively.
“Unfortunately, up until today the Armenian side has not investigated
the pogroms perpetrated by Azerbaijan against Armenians neither has
it ever properly addressed the issue in legal or historical terms,”
she says.
By Armenia’s Migration Agency data, some 418,000 Armenians of
Azerbaijan migrated to Armenia 300,000 of whom now live here, the
rest have further moved to other countries.
IFC LOAN HELPS ARMENIA’S ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BOOST LENDING TO SMALL BUSINESSES, FARMERS
Noyan Tapan
2012-01-20
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing Armenia’s
ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank with a $30 million loan to expand lending
to local micro, small, and medium enterprises and agribusinesses,
boosting job creation.
Amid tighter credit and volatility in international financial markets,
IFC’s medium-term funding will support the bank’s lending program
in rural areas through its extensive network of branches throughout
Armenia. This is the second loan IFC has provided to ACBA-Credit
Agricole Bank since March 2011. IFC previously provided the bank with
a $20 million loan, which has already been fully utilized to support
about 3,000 local clients.
“The new loan will further increase our capacity for lending to
micro and small and medium enterprises, including agribusiness,”
said Stepan Gishyan, CEO of ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank. “This is
a new stage in our successful cooperation with IFC. With this new
loan IFC significantly emphasizes its role as one of our largest
lenders. During these challenging economic, times lending to micro
and small businesses is very important for both of our institutions.”
Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Head for the Caucasus, said: “IFC
continues to play an important role in supporting banks in emerging
markets to help expand their lending programs in priority sectors,
like agribusiness. With this second loan to the leading lender to
the agriculture sector in Armenia in a short time span, we aim to
support development of micro and small businesses, the sector that
employs a significant part of Armenian workers.”
IFC partnered with ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank in 2003 to establish
ACBA Leasing, the first leasing company in Armenia. In addition to
debt finance, IFC also signed an International Swaps and Derivatives
Association master agreement, which allows ACBA-Credit Agricole to
better manage its currency and interest-rate risks.
Since Armenia became a member of IFC in 1995, IFC has invested$147
million in 28 projects across the industry spectrum, including
financial markets, manufacturing, and mining. IFC Advisory Services
also provides advice through projects focusing on the financial sector,
sustainable energy, and regulatory simplification.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global
development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We
help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing
investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments,
and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In
fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped
our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance,
and contribute to their local communities-all while driving our
investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more
information, visit
DINK MURDER MASTERMINDED BY ERGENEKON – SUSPECT
PanARMENIAN.Net
January 20, 2012 – 11:46 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – The court hearing the Hrant Dink murder trial
ruled out the involvement of an organized criminal structure in the
assassination, but one of the main suspects – who was also released
on Jan 18 – says the killing was the job of Ergenekon, a clandestine
network whose suspected members – including generals, military officers
and many civilians – are currently in jail for plotting a military
takeover, Today’s Zaman reported.
Erhan Tuncel, the controversial Trabzon police informant who was
sentenced to 10 years for his role in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald’s
in Trabzon but was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder,
including the prosecutors’ claim that he was the one who gave orders
to Yasin Hayal – the man who was given life for soliciting Dink’s
shooter – has spoken to Today’s Zaman, stating that the court’s
verdict pointing to an absence of an organized network behind the
crime was wrong.
Tuncel said that “there is an organized network behind the murder,”
in responding to questions e-mailed to his lawyer on Jan. 12 while he
was still in jail. Tuncel was released one day after the verdict. He
has been in jail for five years, meaning he has already completed the
sentence he was dealt for the McDonald’s murder under provisions of
the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK).
He has been a controversial figure from the start, allegedly having
known the about the plot to assassinate Dink, although the court
ruling found him innocent of involvement in the murder or of being
part of a crime network that planned the assassination.
Tuncel told Today’s Zaman that the murder was masterminded by
Ergenekon. Tuncel said Ergenekon sought to blame the murder on the
segments of society it had as its targets. He said there were many
shady aspects about the role of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command of
the murder. “Of course, there is also the Col. Ali Oz factor,” he
said in a four-page, handwritten letter.
Tuncel said for the murder to be solved in a true sense, “the forces
supporting” Yasin Hayal – who was sentenced to life in prison for
soliciting the shooter, Ogun Samast, to commit the murder – should be
found out. Tuncel firmly believes that the Dink murder was part of
a coup plan devised by Ergenekon. “Their plan was to take over the
intelligence unit of the police force and then eliminate all those
opposing the planned coup d’etat. They wanted to stage this coup,”
he said.
ARCHBISHOP MARDIROSSIAN DELIVERS INVOCATION AT LA COUNTY BOARD MEETING
PanARMENIAN.Net
January 20, 2012 – 13:36 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – At the invitation of Los Angeles County Supervisor
Michael Antonovich, on January 17, Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian delivered the invocation during the weekly County Board
of Supervisors meeting, Asbarez reported.
The Prelate was accompanied by Archpriest Fr. Vicken Vassilian and
ANC-WR Board Member Pattyl Aposhian-Kasparian.
Chairman of the Board Zev Yaroslavsky invited the Prelate to deliver
the invocation.
The Prelate first thanked the Board of Supervisors for the invitation
to participate in their weekly meeting. In the invocation, he thanked
the Board of Supervisors for their friendship and support and prayed
for God to bless them and guide them in their leadership of the
County of Los Angeles and its residents. The Prelate also prayed for
the safety and peace of this nation, and especially for the men and
women of our armed forces who serve in defense of our nation.
Supervisor Michael Antonovich thanked the Prelate for accepting their
invitation and presented him with a certificate of appreciation on
this occasion.
ARMENIA MUST CHANGE TO PROPORTIONAL ELECTION SYSTEM FORTHWITH – ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN
NEWS.am
January 20, 2012 | 13:28
YEREVAN. – Armenia must change to a 100-percent proportional election
system forthwith, parliamentary opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party’s
Supreme Body member, MP Armen Rustamyan stated during Friday’s
conference jointly held by ARF Dashnaktsutyun and parliamentary
opposition Heritage Party. He added that this is why the two parties
introduced a bill to that effect.
“If the [parliamentary] majority wishes, the electoral system can
change completely,” Rustamyan noted, and added: “It can change
fully, [and] without getting in the way of holding the upcoming
[parliamentary] elections.”
“There are no fundamental disagreements with respect to the electoral
systems. All agree, but one says ‘we will pass to it later,’ whereas
the others demand that the change be adopted immediately,” Armen
Rustamyan maintained.
In his words, Armenia’s authorities need to prove whether they truly
want democratic elections in the country. “If the authorities do not
adopt the change, they will exclude themselves from the political
processes,” Rustamyan argued.
DUNJA MIJATOVIG: FIVE YEARS AFTER DINK’S MURDER JUSTICE HAS STILL NOT BEEN DONE
armradio.am
20.01.2012 14:10
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja MijatoviÄ~G,
said on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the murder
of prominent Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink that OSCE
participating States must do more to protect journalists and punish
their assailants.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly
Agos, was shot dead on January 19, 2007 in front of its Istanbul
offices. Two days ago a criminal court in Istanbul sentenced one man
for involvement but acquitted 18 other defendants of charges of acting
on the orders of a terrorist organization.
“As the recent court verdict shows, even five years after Dink’s
murder justice has still not been done. If the instigators of violence
against journalists are not punished it sends a chilling message to
society that such crimes are tolerated,” said MijatoviÄ~G.
“Governments have a duty not only to condemn violence against
journalists loudly and resolutely, but also to ensure that these crimes
are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Journalists must feel
protected when they report on issues that affect all our lives.”
MijatoviÄ~G also noted the statements by the Turkish political
leadership on this issue, including President Abdullah Gul and
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc, who said that the decision was
unsatisfactory to the people and that the ruling could be appealed.
“During my visit last December, the authorities assured me that the
media freedom situation in Turkey will improve soon. I look forward to
continuing working with them on all issues related to media freedom,”
the Representative said.
“I continue to monitor the case of Hrant Dink and I also continue to
follow all cases in OSCE countries where journalists were killed in
relation to their work,” she said. “In too many cases justice has still
not been delivered after many years of investigation. The families,
friends and colleagues of these journalists, as well as the societies
as a whole, deserve to know the truth.”
LE COLLECTIF MEMOIRE ET AVENIR ” COURAGE, MESSIEURS LES SENATEURS ! ”
Stephane
armenews.com
vendredi 20 janvier 2012
Par la voix de son porte-parole et coordinateur Krikor Amirzayan, le
Collectif Memoire et Avenir qui lutte contre tous les negationnismes
demande au Senat francais ” de faire le dernier pas en toute serenite
pour que la loi de la Republique de 2001 puisse vivre. Car les actes
negationnistes en France ont minimise la portee de cette loi en
bafouant les règles de la Republique. Les citoyens Francais d’origine
armenienne mais egalement tous les citoyens epris de Justice et de
Liberte demandent l’application de la loi francaise. Cette loi de 2001
etant incomplète, il est salutaire de la completer par le volet penal.
Aussi, la Loi de penalisation des genocides -dont le genocide armenien-
obeit a cette logique. Elle n’est ni liberticide et ni memorielle. Elle
emane tout simplement de citoyens d’origine armenienne qui sont chaque
jour victimes d’attaques negationnistes et cela en France meme. Les
recents editoriaux du Nouvel Observateur ou de Paris Match ne sont
que l’illustration d’une partie de ces agressions negationnistes
qui visent a bafouer la memoire humaine et discrediter le combat
des Armeniens pour la Justice. Aussi, messieurs les Senateurs, ayez
le courage de rendre cette Justice, au nom de la France et de ses
valeurs fondees sur la justice, l’egalite et les droits de l’homme “.
Valence, le 18 Janvier 2012