Author: Kalantarian Kevo

RAFFI HOVHANNISYAN TO BE IN LIBERTY SQUARE ON FEBRUARY 20 DESPITE RALLY CANCELLATION BY PROSPEROUS ARMENIA

YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. Raffi Hovhannisyan, leader of Heritage
opposition party, said Wednesday that he will be in the Liberty Square
in Yerevan on February 20 and will answer journalists’ questions
despite Prosperous Armenia Party’s decision to cancel the rally
scheduled for that day, Novosti-Armenia reports.

Prosperous Armenia released a statement on Wednesday cancelling the
rally Gagik Tsarukyan, Raffi Hovhannisyan and Levon Ter-Petrosyan
(the first Armenian president), leaders of Prosperous Armenia Party,
Heritage Party and the Armenian National Congress, decided to stage
on the mentioned day to outline their further steps amid the tense
political situation in the country.

However, the Yerevan municipality said the rally of these opposition
parties contradicts the assembly freedom law.

Hovhannisyan refrained from commenting on the rally cancellation. He
read out a statement criticizing social and economic things in the
country as well as Armenia’s geopolitical situation.

“This is already two years Armenia stands isolated on the international
arena and an unprecedented regress is seen in the process of Karabakh
conflict settlement with many fatal incidents on the border,” he said.

Hovhannisyan called on President Sargsyan to resign and order early
presidential and parliamentary elections.

One week ago tension between Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
and Gagik Tsarukyan escalated after the president, speaking at a
meeting of the executive board of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia President Sargsyan lashed out at his former coalition partner
describing him as ‘a scourge for the country who lacks intelligence,
skills and education to govern Armenia.’

Sargsyan told Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan to instruct corresponding
bodies to thoroughly investigate the veracity of “unverified reports”
implicating Tsarukyan in large-scale tax evasion.

He also stripped Tsarukyan from his membership in the National Security
Council for unjustified absence from the council’s sessions.

In retaliation to Sargsyan’s crackdown, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party said the following day that the current situation in
the country requires solution and ‘the only solution is a complete
change of power through extraordinary presidential elections.’

Gagik Tsarukyan said also he was offered the post of president of the
country but only after constitutional reforms that would turn Armenia
into a parliamentary republic. He claimed that the reform is aimed
at enabling Sargsyan to stay in power after the end of his second
and final presidential term in 2018. Tsarukyan said he declined the
offer causing Sargsyan’s anger.

Prosperous Armenia is the second largest force in the parliament
controlling 36 seats. It was part of coalition governments from 2007
to 2012. According to some estimates, Tsarukyan is the third-richest
person of Armenia. On February 20, the party and its key allies,
the Armenian National Congress and Heritage, plan to hold a joint
rally in Yerevan to press for Sargsyan’s ouster. —0—-

POLITICAL EXPERT: AUTHORITIES OF ARMENIA FEAR POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF OPPOSITION RALLY

by Marianna Lazarian

Tuesday, February 17, 15:08

Yerevan Municipality’s refusal to provide area for the upcoming
rally of the opposition three parties shows that the Authorities of
Armenia fear the possible consequences of the rally, Deputy Head of
the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan told reporters, Tuesday.

The expert believes that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia fears
consolidation the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
Leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan, and Leader
of Heritage Party Raffi Hovannisian in one square.

Yerevan Municipality did not consider the above opposition parties’
notification about their upcoming rally in the Liberty Square, as
it did not meet the Law On Freedom of Assemblies. “This request is
contrary to the law on freedom of assembly – this rally cannot be
classified as urgent, so, it cannot be held earlier than stipulated by
the law: no earlier than eight days after a request,” the Municipality
said.

The parliamentary opposition expressed wish to hold an urgent rally
after the Armenian President’s order to inquire into the activities
of the leader of Prosperous Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan and to exclude him
from the National Security Council and the Parliament. The opposition
parties submitted a new application to the Municipality today.

CHESS IS A WONDERFUL GAME, BUT IT’S NO LIFE COACH

Stephen Moss
Spain is making chess compulsory in schools but even as an avid player,
I can’t quite endorse the lofty claims made for it Eight-year-old
David Ayrapetyan plays a game of chess at school in Yerevan, Armenia,
after the country made chess mandatory in schools.

Photograph: Tigran Mehrabyan/AP

Contact author

@StephenMossGdn

Tuesday 17 February 2015 11.27 GMT Last modified on Tuesday 17 February
2015 11.50 GMT

Chess is to be made a compulsory subject in Spanish schools. There is
cross-party agreement that the move is a good one, with the Socialist
party MP who proposed it claiming the game “improves memory and
strategic capacity, teaches students to make decisions under high
pressure and develops concentration”.

Spain will not be the first country to build chess into the
curriculum. Armenia long ago made it a core subject, with startling
results for its national chess strength – they have won three of the
past five Olympiads, an amazing result for so small a nation pitted
against the might of chess superpowers such as Russia, China and
the US.

Former world champion Garry Kasparov wrote a book, How Life Imitates
Chess, arguing that chess is an “ideal instrument” for developing
effective decision-making. “What am I lacking? What are my strengths?

What types of challenges do I tend to avoid and why?” These are the
questions you have to answer in life, as in chess, he insisted. We
will for the moment ignore the fact that Kasparov has largely failed
to transfer his chess genius to the greater (and far more dangerous)
game of Russian politics.

Jonathan Rowson, the former British champion and an immensely
thoughtful writer on chess (and much else besides), has gone even
further than Kasparov, describing chess as the rock on which he
founded his early life. “I don’t want to pour out too much of my soul,”
he wrote in his column (now sadly defunct) in the Herald newspaper,
“but things happened in my childhood that I was too young to make
sense of at the time, and recently it has become clear to me just
how essential chess was to my survival. Sublimation is the technical
psychological term. Chess gave me a way to channel difficult emotions
into something creative and constructive.”

The forerunner of all this chess-for-life thinking was the 18th-century
American writer, inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin, a keen
(though by all accounts not very capable) player, who in his essay The
Morals of Chess argued that the game was good for the soul. “Chess
is not merely an idle amusement,” he wrote. “Several very valuable
qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to
be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on
all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we have often
points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and
in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events that are,
in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anatoly Karpov, left, defending world chess
champion, and challenger Garry Kasparov, both of the Soviet Union,
at the World Chess finals in Moscow, 1984. Photograph: Anonymous/AP

Plenty of distinguished observers have, however, reached the opposite
conclusion, contending that chess, a quietly vicious game in which you
are trying to obliterate your opponent, can produce monsters. Mostly,
they were thinking about Bobby Fischer, the American genius who quit
school at 16 to concentrate on chess and became world champion at 29.

“Chess is war over the board,” said Fischer. “The object is to crush
the opponent’s mind. I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.”

These are not pleasant lessons, yet they created a player who has
claims to be called the greatest of all time.

Arthur Koestler, who admitted he was a “passionate duffer” where
chess was concerned, reported for the Sunday Times on the great match
between Fischer and the then reigning world champion Boris Spassky
in Reykjavik in 1972. He was struck by the double-sidedness of chess,
calling it the “perfect paradigm for both the glory and the bloodiness
of the human mind”.

George Steiner was in Reykjavik, too, covering the match for the
New Yorker. His verdict was even less generous than Koestler’s. Not
content merely to conclude that chess was ultimately pointless, he
argued that devoting one’s formidable mental attributes to a pastime
was almost guaranteed to lead to insanity. “A chess genius is a human
being who focuses vast, little-understood mental gifts and labours on
an ultimately trivial human enterprise,” he wrote. “Almost inevitably,
this focus produces pathological symptoms of nervous stress and
unreality.” The irascible, unpredictable, at times out-of-control
Fischer was of course uppermost in his mind.

I have been studying chess (and chess players) for the past three
years, for a book to be published in 2016. I can see both points of
view. The game does force you to think, analyse, rationalise, apply
logic. But it also drives you a little bit crazy. The deeper you go
into it, the more you realise your limitations. The “truth”, as chess
players like to term it, of a position is all too often elusive. After
playing a game (especially if I lose), I will sometimes lie awake in
bed for hours playing through the game in my head. The pain of chess
generally outweighs the pleasure.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bobby Fischer at the US chess championship
tournament in New York in 1965. Photograph: JK/AP

Many claims are made for chess – that it is art, science and sport all
rolled into one. Well, maybe. We players who devote thousands of hours
to it have to believe we are engaged in some higher endeavour. But
again I’m not sure it’s really true. I like it mainly because it’s
a glorious waste of time, a way of cocking a snook at the workaday
world. Some chess professionals in the UK get by on £12,000 a year
– grandmasters earning less for creating beautiful games than they
would make stacking shelves. But they reason that they are beating
the system. Many chess players are loners, outsiders, rebels. The
board is their world; the place they are most at home.

For me the Dutch grandmaster and chess columnist Hein Donner –
the model for the character of Onno Quist in Harry Mulisch’s novel
The Discovery of Heaven – came closest to getting to the essence
(or perhaps non-essence) of chess. He addressed the art v game,
profound endeavour v complete waste of time question in a column
published in 1959. “A chess player produces nothing, creates nothing,”
Donner concluded in his usual emphatic style. “He only has one aim:
the destruction of his opponent.”

Chess, Donner insisted, is a struggle, a fight to the death. “When
one of the two players has imposed his will on the other and can
at last begin to be freely creative, the game is over. That is the
moment when, among masters, the opponent resigns. That is why chess is
not art. No, chess cannot be compared with anything. Many things can
be compared with chess, but chess is only chess.” A wonderful game,
but a most peculiar preparation for life, whatever Benjamin Franklin,
Garry Kasparov and Spanish parliamentarians might tell you.

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA MP DECIDES TO GIVE UP PARLIAMENTARY SEAT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 17 2015

17 February 2015 – 4:27pm

Today Prosperous Armenia party deputy Melik Manukyan filed a petition
to give up his parliamentary seat.

The MP addressed a statement to parliamentary speaker Galust Sahakyan,
according to the head of the press service of the National Assembly,
Arsen Babayan.

Two other deputies from the Prosperous Armenia party, Aragats
Akhoyan and Karo Karapetyan, submitted applications on Monday to
leave the party. They plan to continue their work in the parliament
as independent MPs, News.am writes.

RUSSIA ‘ARMING ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN’ AS HOSTILITIES INCREASE

Newsweek Magazine
Feb 17 2015

By Felicity Capon 2/17/15 at 2:04 PM

Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject of a two-decade long conflict between
Azerbaijan and Armenia REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili (ARMENIA)

A resurgence of fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops over
the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has led to analysts warning
of escalating hostilities and even an “accidental war” between the
two countries. They also indicated that Russia could use the conflict
as a way to consolidate power in the region.

Two Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers and one Armenian civilian have
been killed this month alone, and it is thought that at least a dozen
have been killed in the conflict since the start of the new year.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked mountainous region, and is the
subject of a two-decade long conflict between Azerbaijan, in whose
territory the region lies, and its predominantly Armenian community.

Officially, active hostilities ended in 1994 when a ceasefire was
reached, but skirmishes along the border have been a common feature of
the conflict since then. However, experts are now warning that this
year’s developments have been much worse than usual with increased
casualties, both civilian and military, sustained on both sides. Some
reports estimate ceasefire violations stand at around 5,000 for
January–the highest monthly figure since the truce.

Richard Giragosian, the director of the Regional Studies Center
(RSC), an independent thinktank in Armenia, told Newsweek that he is
“increasingly concerned of a war by accident, based on small skirmishes
spiralling out of control” and says that both sides could be “rushing
headlong into a dangerous situation.” He argues that the number of
casualties is very unusual given the topography and the terrain,
with fighting usually confined to the summer. He also expects a much
bigger surge in fighting over the coming months.

Giragosian describes how opposing forces on the frontline have come
much closer to each other in terms of physical proximity than at any
time since the truce, and that the battle space has also expanded, with
Azerbaijan attacking Armenia proper, and not just the Nagorno-Karabakh
border.

Both sides have been much more willing to use arms in the last few
months, and as frustrations about the stalling peace process have
increased, an arms race has escalated, mainly instigated by Azerbaijan,
according to Giragosian. Armenia and Azerbaijan are among the 10
countries with the highest levels of militarisation in the world,
a 2014 study found.

Russia is the main supplier of arms to both sides and, with the ongoing
crisis between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military
as well as Russia’s reportedly aggressive occupational policy against
Georgia, experts are concerned that Putin is considering a bolder
and much riskier move to consolidate power in the region.

Giragosian explains that “The one wildcard in this situation is
Russia. For Russia, the status quo is best: no peace, no war. But
Putin may be tempted by a risky move to provoke fighting to deploy
peacekeepers in order to ensure leverage. Events in Ukraine prove
that Moscow lacks a rational actor.”

At the same time, rumours have been circulating in the Azerbaijani
press that the U.S. is funding the Nagorno-Karabakh regime, fuelled
by a powerful Armenian-American lobby. Newsweek cannot substantiate
these claims but Giragosian says that American funding was provided
in the past and has been suspended for the past two fiscal years
because of an inability to oversee the expenditure.

John Macleod, of the London-based Institute for War and Peace
Reporting, says: “Things are particularly bad and there have been
more incidents at the moment. There is always the danger that one
country will overstep the mark and it will spread like wildfire and
there will be war before you know it.”

“We don’t exactly know what Russia’s interests or the implications of
its involvement are. But the Russians are an increasingly pro active
regional player and harbour territorial interests for sure.” Macleod
believes it is “feasible” that Russia would send “peacekeeping” troops
to the region under the pretence of bolstering its sphere of influence.

Civilians are also increasingly getting caught up in the violence,
with the Armenian press reporting several casualties, including the
case of a young man who last year wandered into Azerbaijani territory
before reportedly committing suicide in Azerbaijani custody. Last
November, Azerbaijan shot down an attack Armenian helicopter as it
flew along the ceasefire line, killing three Armenians on board.

The timing of the conflict is also key as this year marks the 100th
anniversary of the genocide of Armenians in Turkey, which could
aggravate the already tense situation.

SERZH SARGSYAN HAMPERS NIKOL PASHINYAN: GALA (VIDEO)

17:57 | February 17,2015 | Politics

During the program “About the important”, the NA deputy Nikol Pashinyan
expressed his views on the recent developments in the Armenian
inner political field, in particular HHK-BHK tense relations, Serzh
Sargsyan’s famous speech at the HHK Board session and the activities
against BHK. He noted that what is said in Serzh Sargsyan’s speech is
out of political logic and is another manifestation of the dictatorial
government, “As it doesn’t matter who the speech is directed to, but
it is evident that once again Serzh Sargsyan is abusing his powers
and is trying to restore his power in Armenia through use of force,”
said Nikol Pashinyan.

The latter, speaking about the statement by HHK member Armen Ashotyan
that Gagik Tsarukyan hampers Nikol Pashinyan, Zaruhi Postanjyan and
others, he said that Serzh Sargsyan hampers him.

More on the source website

ARMENIA CHANGED THE TURKISH MECHANISM FUNCTIONING FOR FIVE YEARS

Siranuysh Papyan, Interviewer
Interview – 17 February 2015, 16:06

A few months ago Serzh Sargsyan sent the protocols to hell from the
UN floor, and he has now recalled them from the parliament.

There may be an impression that the decision made on February 16
stemmed from the declaration made on January 29. In reality, Turkey’s
steps did not let us alternatives. On the other hand, the anniversary
of the genocide accelerated some processes or produced the impression
that any step is automatically linked to April 24. Now let us have
a retrospective look and try to understand whether this step was
inevitable or not. I think national security and dignity are at stake.

In April 2010 it was clear that insurmountable obstacles have occurred
which forced the Armenian president to announce about suspending
the process of ratification of the protocols. During the next five
years Turkey did not take any essential step. Moreover, since Armenia
needed opening of the border, it used every pertinent and impertinent
occasion to remind about its pre-conditions. Turkey led the process
into an impasse, stereotypes were even more crystallized, lack of
understanding deepened, and lack of confidence aggravated.

How will the world react to this step?

The reaction depends on how its presentation to the world will look
like. In reality, this is one of the cases when Armenia has no reason
to worry. Moreover, if the “world” that you mentioned is surprised or
startled, it should recall the steps that it took to prevent this. The
impression was that everybody was fine with the suspended situation
except Armenia. This perceived satisfaction created a misunderstanding
that some process was going on between Armenia and Turkey, and the
sides should not have been disturbed. In reality, Turkey was using
the process to create an impression, and for Armenia the processes
moved not in the best direction. The passive role of the international
community and the tendency to tolerate Turkey’s willfulness resulted
in a complicated process. This was the mistake and shortcoming of the
international centers of power. One of the illustrations was September
3 when “choice of civilization” and flexibility was expected from
Armenia in blockade and at war. It is difficult to tell what lessons
the “world” you mentioned has learned from all this and whether it
has learned anything or not.

When did the representatives of the countries and political
organizations standing behind Nalbandyan and Davutoghlu on 10 October
2009 last urge Turkey to fulfill its commitments? How often does the
EU bring up the issue of blockade of Armenia by a country aspiring
to the EU membership? When did the OSCE, the PACE, the CoE and other
organizations last condemn the blockade of Armenia by Turkey?

Unfortunately, all the answers to these questions have negative
answers. The international community left Armenia alone in
normalization of its relations with Turkey, and the bilateral format
failed because the relations between Turkey and Armenia had become
so bad that they needed a third party. Indeed, the United States was
trying to help but the issue of the Armenian-Turkish relations was
deemed secondary to other geopolitical developments, namely the Arab
spring, the civil war in Syria, the Iran-West relations, the rise
of the Islamic State, the Turkey-West controversies etc. Obviously,
there was no room for the problems of Armenia in this line.

How may Turkey react and what should our response be?

Turkey will try to blame the Armenian government indeed, describing it
as a step made in the context of the centenary of the genocide. There
may be an impression that Turkey was happy that Armenia took the lead
and suspended the process. I think it is the contrary. Turkey has a
reason for concerns because Armenia has changed the mechanism of the
Turkish denialism designed and functioning for over five years.

Now that the protocols actually do not exist, Turkey has frozen them,
and we have recalled them, what should the new model of normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations be? What new projects can be proposed
by us or by them?

At this stage, it is hard to tell what form and content these
initiatives will acquire. One thing is clear – it is necessary to
learn lessons from the past process. It is advisable to refrain from
large-scale commitments in the future initiatives. The previous process
demonstrated that the Armenian-Turkish relations are complicated and
multifaceted. It is difficult to normalize relations with vows and
protocols. Turkey should mature for normalization, the government of
that country must have political will.

CONSUMER COMMODITIES RISE 2.5% IN ARMENIA OVER JANUARY

YEREVAN, February 17. /ARKA/. Prices for consumer commodities rose 2.5%
in Armenia in January 2015, compared with December 2014, and 4.3%,
compared with January 2014, Gurgen Martirosyan, chief of the National
Statistical Service’s price statistics and international comparison
division, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

he said. In his words, prices for
foods leapt 4.5% in January 2015, compared with December 2014, and
prices for nonfoods and services went 0.5%.

Martirosyan said.

He said fruits leapt 8.4%, coffee, tea and cocoa 5.9%, eggs 4% and
bread 4.3%. Soft beverages rose just 0.6%, spirits and cigarettes 0.3%
and meat 2% over one month.

Prices for consumer commodities climbed 4.5% in January 2015, compared
with January 2014. Foods went 5.4%, nonfoods 2.4% and services 3.2% up.

Martirosyan said that the 2.5% average rise in consumer prices
recorded in Armenia over one decade brought it the third rank among
the CIS countries.

Russia accounted for a 3.9% month-on-month price rise in January 2015
(the highest indicator), Ukraine for 3.1% and Belarus for 2.4%.

Georgia recorded the lowest price rise – 0.2%, Moldova 0.8% and
Kazakhstan 0.6%.

Martirosyan also said that comparison with January 2014 shows that
prices in Ukraine mounted 28.8%, in Belarus they grew 17.1% and in
Russia 15% over one year with the lowest indicator in Georgia – 1.4%.

Amid the growing commodity prices, petrol and diesel in Armenia shed
2.5% and 0.9% respectively over one year. Martirosyan said. —0—-

KARABAKH: LET AZERBAIJANIS TELL NULAND ABOUT FATE OF ARMENIAN CAPTIVES

15:22, 17.02.2015

STEPANAKERT. – U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland can
travel to Stepanakert and make sure that the conditions of detention of
Askerov and Guliyev are in accordance with the international norms,
spokesperson for Karabakh president Davit Babayan toldArmenian
News-NEWS.am.

According to Azerbaijani media, during her trip to Baku Victoria
Nuland allegedly said that “Azerbaijani hostages kept by Armenia must
be returned”.

Babayan emphasized that Azerbaijani media outlets have developed
a special system of misinformation, tying aspects that are really
important for them with really significant events.

“Even if Victoria Nuland made such a statement, it must be emphasized
that first of all the mention of Armenia in this regard is wrong and
incorrect. We are talking about the citizens of Azerbaijan who were
charged with committing a capital crime by the Nagorno-Karabakh
authorities. They were named guilty as a result of an open,
transparent, impartial trial that was widely reported in the media.

Moreover, the citizens who were found guilty had an opportunity to
appeal the decision. They took advantage of this opportunity, which is
another testimony to the commitment of the NKR to democratic values,”
Babayan emphasized.

Azerbaijan has no moral right to accuse others, Babayan said, reminding
about heroization of murderer Ramil Safarov.

“Let Azerbaijani leadership explain Victoria Nuland why Ramil Safarov
had been called a hero or what usually happens with Armenian captives
in Azerbaijani jail,” he added.

As regards returning the accused Azerbaijani citizens, Babayan said
“we are ready to exchange one of them for Ramil Safarov”.

REVUE DE PRESSE N2 – 16/02/15 – COLLECTIF VAN

Publie le : 16-02-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN [Vigilance
Armenienne contre le Negationnisme] vous propose une revue de presse
des informations parues dans la presse francophone sur les thèmes
concernant le negationnisme, le racisme, l’antisemitisme, le genocide
armenien, la Shoah, le genocide des Tutsi, les crimes perpetres au
Darfour, la Turquie, l’Union europeenne, l’occupation de Chypre,
etc… Nous vous suggerons egalement de prendre le temps de lire ou
de relire les informations et traductions mises en ligne dans notre
rubrique

Par ailleurs, certains articles en anglais, allemand, turc, etc,
ne sont disponibles que dans la newsletter Word que nous generons
chaque jour. Pour la recevoir, abonnez-vous a la Veille-Media : c’est
gratuit ! Vous recevrez le document du lundi au vendredi dans votre
boîte email. Bonne lecture.

Collectif VAN : l’ephemeride du 16 fevrier Info Collectif VAN –
– La rubrique Ephemeride est a retrouver
quotidiennement sur le site du Collectif VAN. Elle recense la
liste d’evenements survenus a une date donnee, a differentes
epoques de l’Histoire, sur les thematiques que l’association suit au
quotidien. L’ephemeride du Collectif VAN repose sur des informations en
ligne sur de nombreux sites (les sources sont specifiees sous chaque
entree). “16 fevrier 1943 — Pologne : Maïdanek (ou Majdanek) fut
ouvert en octobre 1941 en tant que camp de prisonnier de guerre sous
contrôle SS et fut transforme en camp de concentration le 16 fevrier
1943. Maïdanek etait divise en differents camps: camp de prisonnier
de guerre; camp d’extermination; camp d’enfants. A l’origine, deux
chambres a gaz utilisant du Ziklon-BI avaient ete installees dans des
baraques en bois. Ces chambres a gaz furent remplacees par après par
d’autres, ces dernières etant construites en briques. Les operations
d’extermination commencèrent en avril 1942 et se terminèrent en juillet
1944. On estime que plus de 360.000 personnes sont mortes a Maïdanek,
ce chiffre comprenant une majorite de juifs ainsi que des polonais
et des prisonniers de guerre russes.”

Le Conseil mondial evangelique armenien appelle les chretiens a prier
pour une reconnaissance du genocide Le 24 avril 2015, les Armeniens
du monde commemoreront les cent ans du genocide de leur peuple. A
cette occasion, le Conseil mondial evangelique armenien appelle
les chretiens a prier pour que la Turquie reconnaisse le genocide
armenien, qu’elle demande pardon a leur peuple, qu’elle fasse acte
de reparation au prejudice commis et qu’il y ait une reconciliation
entre Turcs et Armeniens.

Journee de boycott dans les ecoles turques pour reclamer la laïcite
Des ecoles publiques ont ete boycottees vendredi dans de nombreuses
villes en Turquie pour reclamer un “enseignement laïque”, après la
recente decision de rendre obligatoire les cours d’islam sunnite. De
nombreux elèves ne sont pas alles en cours ce vendredi en Turquie
pour reclamer un “enseignement laïque”.

2015, centenaire de la negation du genocide des Armeniens 1915-2015,
c’est le siècle de la negation du genocide des Armeniens par les
gouvernements successifs de la Turquie. C’est le sens que l’on doit
donner aux commemorations du centenaire qui debutent. Le XXème siècle
est aussi celui des promesses non tenues par les responsables des
Etats de ce monde. Mais ce n’est pas nouveau, car deja en son temps
Nicolas Machiavel disait “Le Prince ne doit tenir sa parole donnee
hier que si elle peut lui apporter des avantages”.

Darfour: l’expert Jerôme Tubiana revient sur une crise oubliee Lors du
dernier sommet de l’Union africaine a Addis-Abeba, une crise majeure
a ete totalement absente des discussions entre chefs d’Etats, c’est
le Darfour. Or un recent rapport d’un groupe d’experts onusien sur
le Soudan reconnaît que la crise au Darfour a atteint des sommets de
violence jamais vus depuis 2006. Pour en parler, Christine Muratet
a rencontre Jerôme Tubiana, specialiste du Soudan a l’International
Crisis Group.

Afrique – Turquie : Erdogan fait ses emplettes en Somalie Le president
turc a inaugure un nouvel aeroport a Mogadiscio fin janvier. Avec
ses nombreux investissements, la Turquie pose une strategie de long
terme. Sur le sable, la foule agglutinee ouvre ses bagages pour la
fouille, au soleil brûlant. Plus bas, sous le preau de l’entree,
hommes et femmes attendent dans deux files separees, tries par des
gardes armes de bâton.

L’Armenie s’invite toute l’annee a La Goulue Le lieu de concert
situe a Saint-Legier accueillera plusieurs soirees dediees a
l’ancienne republique sovietique. L’enregistrement d’un disque est
en cours. L’Armenie sera sous les projecteurs internationaux le 24
avril prochain, a l’enseigne des commemorations du genocide perpetre
il y a tout juste cent ans.

Turquie – 17 policiers mis en detention dans un affaire d’ecoutes
Dix-sept policiers turcs ont ete places en detention preventive dans
l’attente de leur procès dans le cadre d’une enquete sur la mise sur
ecoute illegale d’hommes politiques, de fonctionnaires et d’hommes
d’affaires, rapporte la presse turque dimanche.

Pinar Selek a presente son livre > paru recemment aux editions
Liana Levy. Parmi le public, de nombreux elus, dont Nicolas Daragon
le maire de Valence et Marlène Mourier la maire de Bourg-Lès-Valence.

Copenhague-Paris-Copenhague, faire face a au terrorisme Les attentats
de Copenhague apparaissent comme une replique de ceux qui ont frappe
Paris il y a un mois. A Paris et a Copenhague, les memes cibles ont
ete visees : defenseurs de la liberte d’expression, libre-penseurs,
caricaturistes, antiracistes, policiers, juifs. La meme ideologie
meurtrière, l’islamisme, a arme les terroristes.

Antisemitisme et fondamentalisme islamiste: la responsabilite de nos
politiques Certains de nos representants ont fait
le lit du terrorisme en abandonnant des quartiers pour acheter la
paix sociale. 17 morts, 66 millions de blesses ou plus, plus de 3,7
millions et demi de Francais dans la rue, 7 millions d’exemplaires
de Charlie Hebdo edites, de nombreuses initiatives prises dont une
centaine de procedures penales ouvertes pour apologie du terrorisme.

Manifestations en Turquie pour un enseignement laïc Une manifestation
a violemment ete dispersee par la police dans la ville turque d’Izmir,
a l’Ouest du pays. La police a procede a quarante interpellations. Deux
mille personnes s’etaient rassemblees pour reclamer un enseignement
laïc a l’ecole. Des manifestations pour un enseignement laïque ont
eu lieu dans de nombreuses villes du pays, dont Ankara et Istanbul.

Cimetière juif profane a Sarre-Union: le maire partage “entre degoût
et incomprehension” Marc Sene, maire de la commune alsacienne, est
stupefait de la violence qui a conduit des personnes a profaner plus
de 200 tombes dans son village, qui n’avait jamais ete touche par
des actes d’antisemitisme.

Turquie : nouveaux heurts dans la ville kurde de Cizre De violents
affrontements ont eu lieu durant tout le weekend entre des partisans
du PKK et les forces de l’ordre dans cette ville situee près de la
frontière de la Turquie avec l’Irak et la Syrie. Ces heurts sont
intervenus en marge de manifestation appelant a la liberation du
chef rebelle kurde Abdullah Ocalan, 16 ans jour pour jour après
son arrestation.

Turquie: indignation generale après le nouveau meurtre d’une femme
En Turquie, l’emotion est très vive depuis qu’une etudiante a ete
retrouvee morte deux jours après avoir disparu alors qu’elle rentrait
chez elle en bus, dans la ville mediterraneenne de Mersin. Trois
suspects, qui ont confirme son viol, ont ete arretes. L’assassinat
de cette jeune fille de 20 ans suscite une indignation sans precedent
dans ce pays où ce genre de drame est loin d’etre isole.

LEAD 2-France-Plus de 200 tombes profanees dans un cimetière juif
Plus de deux cents tombes ont ete profanees dans le cimetière juif de
Sarre-Union, dans le Bas-Rhin, ont annonce dimanche le ministère de
l’Interieur et le maire de la commune. Le president Francois Hollande
a condamne “avec la plus grande fermete”. “Tout sera mis en oeuvre
dans les meilleurs delais pour que les auteurs de cet acte odieux et
barbare soient identifies et punis”, dit-il dans un communique.