Author: Kalantarian Kevo

AZERBAIJAN APPROACHES KARABAKH THROUGH WALL, ARMENIA THROUGH ROAD – EXPERT

news.am
Dec 19 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – Based on Azerbaijani and Armenian approaches, their
position on Karabakh conflict is clear, political scientist Aleksandr
Iskandaryan told the journalists on Monday commenting on the decision
of constructive projects between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

To note, Azerbaijan declared building walls along the conflict line
of Nagorno-Karabakh Armed Forces, whereas, Armenia intends to build
the second, north road in Karabakh.

“Thus, we can account on conflict approaches. The border is temporary
and it cannot be outlined by walls. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan
understand that Karabakh is forever,” Iskandaryan said.

According to the expert, Azerbaijani rhetoric has also changed. The
aggression has significantly reduced, military statements has also
changed. Azerbaijan has understood that military statements will hardly
lead to something, while peace negotiations will not promise something
progressive as well. Thus, the conflict may prolong for a long time,
the expert stated.

H. DEMOYAN: PROCESS FAILED WITH A DOC. WE’VE SIGNED

Panorama
Dec 19 2011
Armenia

“I think Turkey has proved another time its unpredictable nature. A
new similar document with Turkey is unreasonable but the process
cannot move forward with the document we’ve already signed. Thus, our
signature should be called back,” Hayk Demoyan, director of Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, said in a news conference referring to
Armenian-Turkish protocols, which according to him are dead.

He has said Armenian-Turkish protocols are failed because of Turkey.

The international community, according to him, also says Turkey pushes
unacceptable terms.

ARMENIAN GAS SUPPLY THROUGH GEORGIA RESTORED

Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 19 2011
Russia

The Georgian gas transport company has restored the gas supply
to Armenia after maintenance activities on the North Caucasus –
Trans-Caucasus pipeline, Trend cites ArmRosgazprom as saying.

The supply started on December 18 at 11.45 am. It was stopped on
December 16 due to restoration on the 67-68th km section of the
pipeline (diameter 1000 mm).

Gas supplies in Armenia were not restricted.

ArmRosgazprom is the monopolist in supply and distribution of Russian
natural gas in Armenia. Gas arrives through Georgia. The company
was founded in 1997, its shareholders are Gazprom and the Armenian
Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources.

Azg: No room for Turkey in EU
11:09 – 14.12.11

Turkish mass media reported Dec. 13 that, in responding to questions
by Le Monde, French President said his “reservations have not
changed.”

The European Union is primarily for the European continent. “To my
knowledge, our Turkish friends, a great power, a great nation, are
mainly in Asia Minor,” the French leader said.

“I wish we had the best relations with Turkey, of course. It has an
important role to play in the world, a role of bridge between East and
West,” Sarkozy said.

Tert.am

Le Monde, France
18 décembre 2011 dimanche

En Turquie, protestations officielles contre la France avant un vote
au Palais-Bourbon sur le génocide arménien

Guillaume Perrier

L’Assemblée nationale examine la possible pénalisation de la négation
du génocide de 1915

Les relations franco-turques menacent de connaître une nouvelle
période de turbulences. Dans une lettre envoyée vendredi 16 décembre
au président de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy, le premier ministre
turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan a averti Paris des ” graves conséquences ”
pour les relations bilatérales, ” sur le plan politique, économique et
culturel “, qu’impliquerait l’adoption d’une loi pénalisant la
négation du génocide arménien. L’Assemblée nationale française doit
examiner, le 22 décembre, une proposition de loi déposée par la
députée (UMP) Valérie Boyer, fruit du travail d’un avocat de
Marseille, Philippe Kirkorian, selon laquelle toute personne qui
nierait ou contesterait le génocide des Arméniens de l’Empire ottoman
par le gouvernement nationaliste Jeune Turc en 1915 serait passible
d’un an de prison et de 45 000 euros d’amende.

Le ministre turc des affaires étrangères, Ahmet Davutoglu, a dénoncé
cette semaine la ” mentalité moyengeuse ” de la France et les ”
calculs électoralistes du président Sarkozy”.

La diplomatie turque ne veut pas, pour le moment, parler de sanctions,
évoquant seulement un éventuel rappel de l’ambassadeur à Paris pour
consultations, ” une mesure de routine “. S’il était adopté par les
députés, le texte devrait encore passer devant le Sénat, qui avait
rejeté une proposition de loi similaire, en mai, ainsi que le
souhaitait l’Elysée. Comme, depuis, le Sénat a changé de majorité, le
résultat du vote pourrait être différent. Tous les leviers de pression
se mettent en place. L’association patronale Tüsiad et l’Union des
chambres de commerce et d’industrie (TOBB) ont envoyé une délégation à
Paris pour y rencontrer des représentants du Medef. En 2006, après le
vote du texte en première lecture à l’Assemblée nationale, la Turquie
avait exclu les entreprises françaises de marchés publics et écarté
GDF d’une participation au projet de gazoduc Nabucco.

Tabou historique

Depuis l’adoption par la France, en 2001, d’une loi reconnaissant le
génocide arménien de 1915, la question s’invite régulièrement dans les
relations franco-turques. ” Malheureusement, à chaque fois que la
France entre en campagne électorale, ce type d’attitude se manifeste
de nouveau “, déplore Volkan Bozkir, président de la commission des
affaires étrangères au Parlement, qui conduira un groupe de députés
turcs devant arriver lundi 19 décembre à Paris pour deux jours de
consultations. Les intérêts économiques – les échanges se montent à 8
milliards d’euros – et la coopération culturelle pourraient ptir de
cette situation, prévient ce député du parti au pouvoir AKP. ” Ce
sujet doit être laissé aux historiens et ne peut pas être jugé par les
parlements “, estime Yusuf Halaçoglu, élu du parti nationaliste MHP et
ancien directeur de l’Institut d’histoire turque, qui a élaboré la
version officielle de l’Etat turc sur la tragédie de 1915.

La délégation turque représentera ” un Parlement à l’unisson “, selon
Osman Korotürk, député du parti kémaliste CHP et ex-ambassadeur turc
en France. Mais les députés du parti kurde BDP, favorables à une
reconnaissance du génocide arménien, ont affirmé ne pas avoir été
invités à y participer.

Vendredi, une cinquantaine de militants nationalistes du Comité Talaat
Pacha, du nom du ministre de l’intérieur qui organisa à l’époque la
déportation des Arméniens, ont manifesté devant l’ambassade de France
à Ankara.

Plus que l’hostilité, cette initiative provoque l’incompréhension en
Turquie. Et les historiens et les intellectuels qui se sont employés
ces dernières années à déverrouiller timidement le tabou historique du
génocide de 1915 craignent une poussée de fièvre contre-productive.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 18 2011

Turkey toughens stance, tells France to face own `bloody history’

18 December 2011 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ANKARA

Turkey has slammed France for what it calls attempts to judge Turkish
history before coming to terms with its own `dirty, bloody past’ and
repeated warnings of consequences in response to a bill the French
legislature is readying to vote on that would criminalize denial that
the Ottoman-era killings of Armenians in 1915 was genocide.

`Today, nobody talks about the 45,000 Algerian deaths in 1945, or the
role of France in the massacre of 800,000 people in Rwanda in 1994,’
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said of France on Saturday
with a bitter criticism as he urged the country to face its own
history before judging the history of others with strictly political
motives. ErdoÄ?an’s strong reaction came in response to a vote by the
French Senate to criminalize denial in France of the so-called
Armenian genocide of 1915 and make it punishable by a maximum one-year
prison sentence and a 45,000 euro fine — a punishment that would
bring denial of the alleged genocide up to par with denial of the
Holocaust, the Associated Press news agency reported on Sunday.

`Those who do not wish to see genocide should take another peek at
their own dirty and bloody histories,’ ErdoÄ?an said during a joint
press conference with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, chairman of the Libyan
National Transitional Council (NTC). This was a clear message to
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who within the months leading up to
the French presidential elections, has ratcheted up his call on Turkey
to recognize these killings as genocide and face its history. Sarkozy,
previously an opponent of the denial vote, changed his stance in
October, when he announced he would support the denial bill unless
Turkey took immediate steps to recognize the deaths as genocide.

Accusing France of insincerity due to its `attack against Turkish
history based on unfounded allegations,’ the Turkish prime minister
repeated Turkey’s official stance regarding the Armenian deaths of
1915 as an historical matter that calls for the judgment of historians
and academics rather than as a matter of politics to be voted on in
parliaments. Ankara has also raised doubts regarding Sarkozy’s motives
in changing his stance regarding the Turkish-Armenian conflict,
speculating that the French president might be seeking votes from the
strong Armenian community in France to gain an advantage over his
Socialist Party rival, François Hollande. Hollande is also a known
defender of `Armenian genocide’ and voiced throughout his election
campaign that he would support a law to make genocide denial
punishable in French courts.

`The bill is completely against common sense. The toll [in the case
the bill passes into law] will be on French firms conducting business
in Turkey,’ Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? said on
Saturday, two days after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu
invited executives from French firms in Turkey to his ministry to
discuss the possible results of such a law for French investment in
the country. `The bill is mainly the problem of French businesses that
are trying to work in this region through bases in Turkey,’ BaÄ?ıÅ?
said, warning that the bill is sure to have financial effects that
might reach beyond Turkey.

`It is one of the nonsensical moves Sarkozy has initiated to win back
the support he has lost in France,’ the first Turkish president of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Mevlüt
Ã?avuÅ?oÄ?lu, stated as he joined ErdoÄ?an in his warning that
consequences will not be pleasant for France if it passes the denial
law, Anatolia reported on Sunday.

Ã?avuÅ?oÄ?lu also stressed that he interprets the French move as part of
an election campaign, calling out Sarkozy for `using Turkey as a tool’
towards own his political motives. `It [the law that criminalizes
denial of Armenian genocide] is first and foremost against the
principles of the council [PACE], against the principle of freedom of
thought,’ Ã?avuÅ?oÄ?lu said to highlight the discrepancy between the
French bill and European standards. He added, `You have the right to
recognize the alleged genocide, but I have the right to say it was not
genocide.’

In order to block the passage of the law through the French Senate,
which is now set to vote on it Thursday, Ankara has mobilized various
diplomatic efforts to convince the Senate to reconsider, warning of
dire political and economic consequences should the bill be passed.
ErdoÄ?an personally warned Sarkozy of `irreparable damage’ in a letter
he sent to the French president last week, Anatolia reported. A
Turkish diplomat further alerted Paris that the Turkish ambassador
would be withdrawn for an indefinite period for consultations with
Ankara, but no response has been offered by Paris so far regarding the
ambassador.

Unmoved by Ankara’s warnings, Sarkozy’s ruling party reaffirmed its
faith in the bill, expressing support for its passage. Lawmakers
interviewed by Agence France-presse (AFP) said that they were
`determined at this time’ that the bill not return from the Senate, as
it did back in 2006. France had previously brought the same bill to
the agenda five years ago, but the French Senate refused to discuss it
even though France recognized the Armenian deaths of 1915 as genocide
in 2001.

According to a Cihan news agency report on Sunday, regarding the
Turkish warnings as `blackmail,’ French Senator Philippe Kaltenbach
said, `France should not give up on its values in the face of this
[Turkey’s] attitude.’ Kaltenbach also suggested Turkey is not sincere
in its warnings, since the country issued similar statements back in
2001 when France recognized the alleged Armenian genocide, but none of
its warnings were realized. `Turkey is after the same strategy [of
issuing threats],’ Kaltenbach said.

Although modern Turkey recognizes there were a large number of
casualties during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the onset of
World War I, the country vehemently rejects allegations that there was
a systematic cleansing targeting the Armenian community in the
country, ruling the deaths casualties of civil unrest. Turkey also
claims that the casualties were from both sides, and the death toll —
estimated at more than a million by Armenia — is inflated. Several
other countries recognize the killings as genocide, including Uruguay,
Chile, Argentina, Russia, Canada, Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the
Vatican, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and
Cyprus, according to AP reports.

The Australian
Dec 19 2011

French genocide bill angers Turkey From: The Australian

December 19, 2011 12:00AM

TURKEY’S prime minister yesterday sharply criticised France for a bill
that would make it a crime to deny the World War I-era mass killing of
Armenians was genocide.

Saying France should investigate what he claimed was its own “dirty
and bloody history” in Algeria and Rwanda, Recep Tayyip Erdogan
insisted Turkey would respond “through all kinds of diplomatic means”.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks as their empire collapsed, an event many international
experts regard as genocide and that France recognised as such in 2001.

Turkish leaders reject the term, arguing that the toll is inflated,
that there were deaths on both sides and that those killed were
victims of civil war and unrest.

On December 22, the lower house of French parliament will debate a
proposal that would make denying that the massacre was genocide
punishable by up to a year in prison and 45,000 ($58,500) in fines,
putting it on par with Holocaust denial, banned in the country in
1990. Mr Erdogan criticised France yesterday, saying there were
reports that France was responsible for the deaths of 45,000 people in
Algeria in 1945 and for the massacre of up to 800,000 people in Rwanda
in 1994.

…”No historian, no politician can see genocide in our history,” Mr
Erdogan said. “Those who do want to see genocide should turn around
and look at their own dirty and bloody history.

“The French National Assembly should shed light on Algeria, it should
shed light on Rwanda,” he said.

France had troops in Rwanda, and Rwandan President Paul Kagame has
accused the country of doing little to stop the country’s genocide.

There was no immediate reaction from France. Ties between the two
countries are already strained by French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s
opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

MEDIAS
« Euronews » sur l’expo de Venise pour le 500e anniversaire de
l’imprimerie arménienne

La chaîne européenne « Euronews » a diffusé un reportage sur
l’inauguration à Venise (Italie) de l’exposition « Arménie, le drapeau
de la civilisation » dédiée au 500e anniversaire de l’imprimerie
arménienne. Dans le reportage, « Euronews » a présenté le président
arménien Serge Sarkissian assistant à l’inauguration de l’exposition
et félicitant toutes les personnes qui ont `uvré à l’organisation de
la manifestation. Rappelons que le 500ème anniversaire de l’édition du
premier livre imprimé -à Venise en 1512, l’Ourpatakirk (le livre de
Vendredi) par Hagop Méghabard- donnera lieu en 2012 à de très
nombreuses manifestations en Arménie et à travers le monde.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 18 décembre 2011,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Armenia, Kuwait to develop trade and economic cooperation

December 17, 2011 – 17:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – From December 11-15, Armenian delegation headed by
General Director of Armenian Development Agency Robert Harutyunyan
visited Kuwait to discuss development opportunities of trade and
economic relations between the two countries.

Armenia’s economic potential, export opportunities of local products,
as well as RA government’s economic strategy regarding boosting
investments was on the agenda of series of meetings.

The parties further agreed on arranging a visit of Kuwait
representatives to Armenia to familiarize themselves with the
country’s economic potential, as well as the launch of preparatory
works on holding an exhibition of Armenian industrial and agricultural
products in the framework of joint Armenian – Kuwait intergovernmental
economic committee 2nd sitting.

Upon the completion of the visit, memorandum on cooperation was signed
between Armenian Development Agency and Kuwait’s investment company.

U.S. Congressman: we want Turkey to acknowledge Armenian Genocide

December 17, 2011 – 09:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A growing number of Members of the House of
Representatives have praised the passage this week of a landmark
resolution calling upon Turkey to return the Christian church
properties it stole through genocide, and to end its repression of the
surviving members of the vast Christian civilizations that once
represented a majority in the territory of the present-day Republic of
Turkey, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Following the December 13 adoption of H.Res.306, Members of Congress
including Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Hahn (D-CA), Michael Grimm
(R-NY), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Robert Dold (R-IL) and Joseph Crowley
have added their voices to the call for expanded religious freedom in
Turkey.

House Members spotlighted Turkey’s decades of repression of the
Christian communities within modern-day Turkey’s borders, with many
urging the Turkish government to recognize the genocide against the
Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, and Syriac communities which served as the
basis for confiscation of the vast majority of Christian churches.

`Religious tolerance has long been a problem for Turkey, which has yet
to remedy the desecration of the religious properties of over 2
million Armenians and Greeks and Assyrians and Syriacs over the last
100 years,’ Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) said.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) commented: `We want Christian communities in
Turkey to enjoy the same rights and privileges that religious
minorities enjoy in this country… We want Turkey to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide. This is not too much to ask.’

`Turkey which has such a profound connection with the birth and growth
of Christianity, has today expropriated church properties, harassed
worshipers, and refused to grant full legal status to some Christian
groups,’ Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) said.

Rep. Janice Hahn (D-CA) noted: `For too long, the U.S. has allowed
Turkey to elude responsibility for the destruction of Armenian
churches. With this resolution, Congress sends a stern message to
Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan – the United States will not
tolerate Turkish assaults on Armenian heritage and religious freedom.’