Author: Kalantarian Kevo

HISTORIC AKDAMAR CHURCH REOPENED AS MUSEUM

Turkish Press
Cumhuriyet
March 30 2007

Van’s Akdamar Armenian church, restored at a cost of $1.5 million,
was reopened yesterday as a museum in a ceremony with the attendance
of Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koc and Armenia’s Culture
Minister Gagik Gyurjan. Addressing a crowd, including leading
Armenian figures from the US, Koc said that Turkey has always
respected different cultures and their artwork, pointing to the
need for their protection for future generations. Also speaking,
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II thanked Turkish officials on behalf of
the Armenian community.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
March 28, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

U.S.-TURKISH BUSINESS COALITION FALSELY CLAIMS CORPORATE
OPPOSITION TO RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

— Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Cargill Distance
themselves from the Turkish Government’s Opposition
to the Congressional Armenian Genocide Resolution

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Business Forum in Turkey (ABFT), an
Istanbul-based group, is falsely claiming that its members –
including a broad range of major American corporations – are
opposed to the Armenian Genocide Resolution, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).

The controversy over these false claims, which erupted during the
annual meeting of the American Turkish Council in Washington, D.C.
was covered in today’s issue of Roll Call, the Capitol Hill
newspaper (see text below).

In a February 15, 2007 press release, the ABFT announced that it
had sent letters urging Members of Congress to oppose H.Res.106,
legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The ABFT, which was
founded in 2004, describes itself as an American Chamber of
Commerce in Turkey representing approximately 70 prestigious U.S.
firms.

In response to the ABFT’s campaign against the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, the ANCA sent formal letters of inquiry to each of its
member corporations. In these letters, the ANCA asked the
following four questions:

1) Was your corporation involved in the ABFT’s decision to oppose
the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.106?

2) Was your corporation informed before the ABFT publicly
announced its campaign against the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
H.Res.106?

3) Does the public position taken by the ABFT against the Armenian
Genocide Resolution, H.Res.106, reflect the views of your
corporation?

4) Is your corporation opposed to the adoption of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution?

In response to these written inquiries, a number of these
corporations indicated that they do not support and, in many
instances, were not even aware of the ABFT’s use of their names to
oppose U.S. recognition of the first genocide of the 20th Century.
Among those responding were the following:

* Clement R. Gagne III, Microsoft Central and Eastern Europe’s
Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs, in a letter addressed to
ANCA, wrote that: "Microsoft has not participated in any
discussions or decisions of ABFT, and was not involved with the
communication to which you referred in your letter." Microsoft is
ranked 48th on the 2006 Fortune 500 and had annual revenue last
year of $44.28 billion.

* Thomas M. Gorrie, Ph.D., Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Vice
President for Government Affairs and Policy, wrote to the ANCA
that: "Johnson and Johnson in Turkey is not a board member and has
not been engaged in any role in the ABFT communication you have
mentioned in your letter. As [the] world’s largest and most
comprehensive and broadly based health care company, we would not
engage in political issues of this nature." Johnson & Johnson is
ranked 32nd on the Fortune 500 and had annual revenue last year of
$53.32 billion.

* Van Yeutter, Cargill’s Director of International Business
Development and Washington Operations, explained in writing that:
"We are a commercial enterprise focused on business matters rather
than on political or foreign policy matters. As such the company
does not have a position on the issue of your enquiry." Cargill, a
multinational corporation based in Minnesota, is the world’s second
largest privately held corporation. In 2006, it had revenue of
$75.2 billion.

Copies of these letters can be obtained by writing to the ANCA at
[email protected].

The full text of the Roll Call article is provided below.

#####

Companies Line Up With Turkey

Many Fear Impact of Resolution on 1915 Killing of Armenians

By Kate Ackley
Roll Call Staff

March 28, 2007

A broad cross-section of corporate America quietly is supporting
efforts to thwart a Congressional resolution that would label as
"genocide" the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire nearly
100 years ago. Blue-chip companies from the defense, financial
services, pharmaceutical, energy and other sectors fear the
resolution could hurt their business in modern-day Turkey.

But just as these corporate representatives have focused on
stopping the nonbinding resolution on Capitol Hill, an Armenian
lobbying group, the Armenian National Committee of America, has
launched its own effort. The Armenian committee is not just putting
pressure on Members to support the genocide resolution, but is
trying to chip away at the corporate interests standing in the way.

The Armenian group this month sent letters to more than 100
companies, including Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson, that are
members of the American Business Forum in Turkey or the American
Turkish Council, asking them to clarify their position on the
genocide resolution.

"Our thought was that ABFT and ATC were being presumptuous in
speaking for these companies," said Aram Hamparian, executive
director of the Armenian National Committee. In recent days,
Hamparian said Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and Cargill have sent
letters in response distancing their companies from the lobbying
against the genocide resolution. Cargill, for one, said that it
"does not have a position on the issue," while Johnson & Johnson
replied that "we would not engage in political issues of this
nature," according to copies of the letters.

The American Turkish Council, which does not count those three
companies among its member list, said stopping the resolution is a
top priority for the organization, which this week has convened its
members for an annual conference near Capitol Hill, giving the
group’s members an opportunity to lobby.

"Our message essentially is that this is the perfect storm of bad
legislation because it has so many negative dimensions in foreign
policy, national security and then there’s the commercial
dimension," said the council’s president, Jim Holmes. This year is
an election year in Turkey, and Holmes said that if Congress passes
the resolution, Turkish officials would be under pressure to sever
business ties with American companies.

"There is rising nationalism in Turkey, and this is an issue that
nationalists will grab onto to promote their politics and this
could be detrimental to the U.S. relationship," said one Hill
staffer tracking the issue.

Companies such as Citigroup, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer,
Philip Morris International, Raymond James and others are working
through the council to stop the resolution, according to Holmes and
K Street sources. "In the worst case, if it passes, we know there
will be commercial consequences that will be demanded by the
people" of Turkey, Holmes added.

The resolution in the House is sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-
Calif.), while Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is the lead
sponsor in the Senate.

Schiff said that Turkey and its business allies have pulled out all
the stops to scuttle the genocide resolution.
"They have some of the best-paid lobbyists on the Hill," Schiff
said. "They have enlisted non-Turkish organizations to help their
denial efforts and are enlisting people to write op-eds in
newspapers." The Turkish government has on retainer lobbyists
including former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) and the firm DLA
Piper.

But, Schiff noted, this year his resolution has more co-sponsors
than in the past and the political climate is ripe. And lobbyists
agree that although the resolution has been introduced a number of
times – and it has been opposed by the Bush and Clinton
administrations – this time the political environment is different.
The Armenian population in California is large, said a corporate
lobbyist, and it’s something that California Democrats have
promised those voters.

Congress has a "moral imperative" to recognize the killings as
genocide, Schiff said, "and we can’t worry about offending an
ally."

Hamparian of the Armenian committee said that his group wants the
resolution passed by April 24, the date of remembrance for what he
considers the Armenian genocide.

Mark Parris, a former ambassador to Turkey who is now at the
Brookings Institution, said defense contractors and financial
services firms are following the issue most closely. U.S. defense
companies could be barred from government contracts, he said.

Turkey has a booming economy, Parris added, and banks such as
Citigroup have become significant players. "I don’t know that they
are quite as vulnerable as defense, but the concern is that if
there’s turbulence in the U.S.-Turkish relationship, foreign direct
investment will slow down," he said.

Tuluy Tanc, minister counselor at the Turkish embassy, said that
calling what happened in 1915 genocide is very wrong and that label
would have a negative impact for U.S.-Turkish relations. "We fear
to think of the consequences," he said.

One corporate lobbyist for a company that is lobbying on the issue
said he could speak only on background because the company does not
want to publicly discuss its efforts against the genocide
resolution. The resolution "is a terrible idea," said this
lobbyist. "It’s not good for business or for Turkish-American
relations. It’s a country on the precipices, trying to be a
democratic state. The last thing we want to do is hand our enemies
something they can use to beat up that government."

The Messenger, Georgia
March 26 2007

Young people from minority backgrounds see their future in Georgia
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)

Young people aged 12-17 living Tbilisi, in the predominantly ethnic
Azeri Kvemo Kartli province and in the predominantly ethnic Armenian
Samtskhe-Javakheti province were asked the following question, "To
which country do you link your and your family’s future in five
years?"

100 young people were polled in Tbilisi, fifty each in Marneuli and
Gardabani districts in Kvemo Kartli and fifty in the Akhaltsikhe and
Akhalkalaki districts of Samtskhe-Javakheti.

The poll was conducted by the Business and Consulting company BCG
Research at the request of the Fund ALPE in February of the present
year and was published in the newspaper 24 Saati.

Results of the poll asking the question, "To which country do you
link your and your family’s future to in five years?"

Armenian delegation off to Turkey

ArmRadio.am
27.03.2007 17:08

This morning the Armenian delegation headed by RA Deputy Minister of Culture
and Youth Affairs Gagik Gyurjyan left for Turkey to participate in the
official opening ceremony of the Church of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island.
Armenpress was told at RA Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs that the
delegation will enter Turkey through Georgian territory.

Let us remind that the delegation comprises Director of the Oriental Studies
Institute of RA Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan, President of RA Union
of Architects Mkrtich Minasyan, Archeology Institute of RA National Academy
of Sciences Pavel Avetisyan, Head of the Culture Ministry Department on
Maintenance of Historic and Cultural Monuments Artyom Grigoryan, PhD in
Architecture Murad Hasratyan.

Human Rights Without Frontiers

Asbl – National Registration Number: 473809960
Associated member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Avenue Winston Churchill 11/33, 1180 Brussels, Belgium – Phone: + 32 2
3456145 – Fax: + 32 2 3437491

Information and Press Service "Religious Intolerance and Discrimination"
Table of contents
Conference about the Assyrian Genocide (SEYFO) at
the European Parliament

Genocide Denial and the Right of Recognition

27 March 2007

Editor-in-chief: Willy Fautré
Website: <;

Email: [email protected]

TURKEY

Conference about the Assyrian Genocide (SEYFO) at the European Parliament

Genocide Denial and the Right of Recognition

HRWF Int. (27.03.2007) – Email: [email protected] – Website:
– On 26 March, MEP Eva-Britt Svensson (European United Left/ Nordic Green
Left) hosted a conference called "Assyrian Genocide (Seyfo)" and organized
at the European Parliament by the Assyrian Federations of Sweden, Holland,
Germany and Firodil Institute. The speakers were MEP Eva-Britt Svensson
(GUE/ NGL), MEP Markus Ferber (EVP-ED), Sabri Atman (Seyfo Center), Prof.
David Gaunt (Sodertorns University College, Sweden), Willy Fautré (Human
Rights Without Frontiers). More than 500 people from Belgium, The
Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, the U.S., etc. had registered to attend the
conference but only half of them could participate in it. Both MEPs
stressed that they had received several phone calls from the Turkish embassy
in Brussels and a letter from the Turkish ambassador – that they showed –
trying to dissuade them to host the conference . See below the presentation
of Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l on negationism in Belgium.

SEYFO, THE GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ASSYRIANS

Revisionism and Negationism of WW I Ottoman Genocide in Belgium

The Ottoman Empire’s widespread persecution of Assyrian civilians during
World War I constituted a form of genocide, the present-day term for an
attempt to destroy a national, ethnic or religious group, in whole or in
part. Ottoman soldiers and their Kurdish and Persian militia partners
subjected hundreds of thousands of Assyrians to a deliberate and systematic
campaign of massacre, torture, abduction, deportation, impoverishment and
cultural and ethnic destruction.

Up to now, the international community has been hesitant to recognize the
Assyrian experience as a form of genocide. However, the Assyrian genocide is
indistinguishable in form from its Armenian counterpart. Both are narrowly
intertwined.

My presentation will deal with the debate about the genocide issue on the
Belgian scene in the form that it has explicitly taken, the Armenian
genocide, and implicitly and indirectly the Assyrian genocide, Seyfo. My
analysis will identify a number of negationist actors in Belgium, highlight
their objectives and their strategies, their links with Belgian political
parties, with the Turkish embassy in Brussels and with not very commendable
organizations in Turkey.

The Belgian State and the Ottoman Genocide

In 1998, the Belgian senate recognized the genocide committed by the
Ottomans against the Armenians during WW I.

On June 6, 2005, the Justice Commission of the Belgian Senate rejected a
draft bill (Ref. 51/ 1284) meant to extend the March 23, 1995 law
criminalizing the negationism of the Nazi genocide against the Jews to all
the genocides and crimes against humanity legally recognized.

The issue of the Armenian genocide which was recognized by all the parties
was sneaked in during the debate, especially by the MRAX (Movement against
Racism, Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia), but was excluded from the draft law
because it had not been recognized by an international jurisdiction. The
draft bill extending the criminalization of negationism divided the parties
in power and was finally rejected with twelve `no’ votes to two `yes’ votes.
If it had been approved in Parliament, Belgium would have been the first
country to punish those who deny the Armenian genocide allegations.

Revisionist and Negationist Players in Belgium

Several Turkish nationalist organizations based and operating in Belgium but
linked to sister-organizations based in Turkey are opposed to the
qualification of genocide attributed to the mass-scale massacres of
Armenians during WWI and even deny the very existence of such massacres.

The Association of Ataturk’s Philosophy in Belgium/ Association de la Pensée
d’Ataturk en Belgique (APAB-BADD) is a non-profit association linked to the
Turkish Labor Party, a nationalist maoist party which is hostile to the
United States and to the European Union. It receives public subsidies.

EYAD/ The House of Turkey is a social association. Strange though it may be,
its chairman Metin Edeer is also a member of the municipal council of the
Turkish town Emirdag (22,000 inhabitants) although he lives in Belgium. He
was elected in 2004 on the list of the MHP (Green Wolves), the nationalist
extreme-right party in Turkey.

The Turkish Islamic Religious Foundation of Belgium / Fondation religieuse
islamique turque de Belgique (FRITB-BTIDV), better known under the name
Diyanet whose president is the adviser for social affairs at the Turkish
embassy in Brussels, Omer Faruk Turan.

The Belgian-Turkish Coordination Council (CCBT-BTKK), which was created in
March 1996, is an umbrella organization for more than ninety Turkish
associations. It gathers together nationalist extreme-right movements
depending directly from the Turkish embassy in Brussels. Its leader, Kenan
Daggun, was sentenced to nine days in prison due to the incidents that took
place during the demonstration against the monument erected in memory of the
Armenian genocide in Ixelles.

The Sports Federation of the Turks of Belgium/ Fédération sportive des Turcs
de Belgique is an organization depending from the Turkish embassy in
Brussels.

Yeni Belturk is an association which published a magazine and runs a
nationalist and negationist website bearing the same name.

The symbolic target of the revisionist and negationist actors operating on
the Belgian territory, and especially in Brussels, is an Armenian monument.

In 1995, the Armenian community in Belgium proposed to the municipal council
of Ixelles (Brussels) to erect a monument in memory of the victims of the
Armenian genocide at Square Henri Michaux in Ixelles (Brussels) The proposal
was unanimously adopted.

Revisionist and Negationist Campaign in Belgium

In March 2003, the Association of Ataturk’s Philosophy in Belgium
(APAB-BADD) organized a non-authorized demonstration in front of the
monument dedicated to the Armenian genocide and spattered it with painting.
The police had to intervene and to arrest several demonstrators. Elected
members of Turkish descent belonging to several francophone political
parties in power supported this campaign.

In the same year, during the campaign for the parliamentary elections, the
APAB-BADD and the Belgian-Turkish Coordination Council (BTKK) pressured the
mayor of Ixelles to remove the monument commemorating the Armenian genocide.

On May 29, 2004, during the political campaign for regional elections,
Turkish extremists held a demonstration in Brussels under the slogan `Reject
the assertions of genocide.’ On this occasion, the Committee for the
Coordination of the Turkish Associations claimed the destruction of the
Armenian monument in Ixelles. Emir Kir, who was to become State Secretary of
the Brussels Parliament in charge of Monuments after those elections
participated in the demonstration. It was also the case for a number of
Belgian elected candidates of Turkish descent belonging to the Socialist
Party, the Liberal Party, the Green, the Democrat and Humanist Centre. Among
the participants, it is worth mentioning Afyon Mahmut Koçak, a member of the
Turkish Parliament belonging to the party of the Prime Minister, the
president of the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the mayor of the
Turkish town Emirdag and a number of Brussels municipal councilors of
Turkish descent.

On December 16, 2004, Yves de Jonghe d’Ardoye addressed a question to the
then mayor, Willy Decourty, and the councilors of Ixelles about a
demonstration for the demolition of the Armenian monument. The opponents to
the Armenian monument raised the issue of the legality of that construction
but their attempt was unsuccessful. In his answer, the mayor admitted that
Turkish movements had exerted pressure on him to remove the monument but he
did not yield to it.

On February 15, 2007, a number of negationist associations organized a
conference called `A look at the so-called Armenian genocide’ with a
controversial guest-speaker, Mr. Yusuf Halaçoglu, President of the Turkish
History Foundation. This foundation is not an academic institution but has
always served the political agenda of Ataturk and his ideological heirs
since its creation in the 1930s. Mr. Halaçoglu is currently prosecuted by
Swiss justice on the basis of article 261 bis of the Swiss criminal code
pertaining to racial discrimination after he delivered a speech in
Winterthur in 2004. Despite these charges, the Socialist mayor of the
commune of Saint-Josse (Brussels) failed to prohibit this meeting.

Freedom of Expression and Negationism

Another tactic that was used to try to silence anti-negationist activists
was to prosecute them on the grounds of defamation.

In November 2004, State Secretary of the Brussels Regional Parliament Emir
Kir (Socialist Party) sued the persons in charge of the website Suffrage
Universel who had called him `a negationist, a liar and a delinquent’
regarding the issue of the Armenian genocide and his expenses during the
last electoral campaign.

In the part of his complaint related to the genocide issue, Emir Kir
declared : `It is a fact that the Ottoman Empire ordered the massacre of the
Armenian populations and internal displacements (=85). This policy can only be
unconditionally condemned (=85) but I cannot make the next step consisting in
affirming that it is a genocide to be assimilated to the genocide of the
Jews by the Nazis as long as an independent commission of historians has not
qualified these facts.’

The defendants were Pierre-Yves Lambert, an independent researcher, and
Mehmet Koksal, a journalist of Turkish descent. Both are running the website
in their personal capacity.

The trial started on September 14, 2005. Emir Kir was defended by a famous
barrister, Marc Uyttendaele, the husband of Minister of Justice, Laurette
Onkelinx, who belongs to the Socialist Party.

The King’s Procurator Valery de Theux de Meylandt said about the accused
that `the incriminated remarks were not off the acceptable limits.’

The court decision was released on October 28, 2005. It was 100% in favor of
the courageous defendants.

Links Between the Belgian Political Parties and the Revisionist Players

Due to the election system of proportionate representation, the political
parties court the various cultural groups of foreign origin heavily present
in Belgium, and in particular in Brussels, by putting Belgian citizens of
Turkish, Moroccan, Congolese, etc=85 descent on their election lists to garner
as many votes as possible from their respective communities. In the last
local elections in Brussels, more than 50% of the candidates of the same
political party were sometimes of foreign descent.

The problem is not their origin but the fact that the major political
parties have failed to screen them on the basis of a number of legitimate
criteria and that they have put extreme-right and extreme-left nationalist
candidates on their election lists. A number of them have campaigned in
their native language and are said to have held a double language within and
without their communities. They have now been elected at various levels of
the legislative and executive institutions and some are accused of double
allegiance, which is incompatible with the Belgian institutions.

It must also be said that ministers and party leaders have campaigned in the
premises of Turkish associations known to be negationist.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The debate around the terminology `genocide’ or not is outdated. Those who
delay their position on this issue until `an international independent
commission of historians is put in place and publicizes its verdict’ just do
not want to recognize the first genocide of the 20th century. Such a
commission exists: it is the international community of historians who
throughout the last 90 years have amply demonstrated that a genocide was
perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians and the Assyrians
during WW I.

The Ottoman genocide of the Armenians and the Ottoman genocide of the
Assyrians are the two sides of the same coin. They cannot be separated from
each other. They are one and the same genocide.

Our organization `Human
Rights Without Frontiers Int’l’ recommends

to the Belgian political parties

to recognize that genocide unambiguously
to ask their elected members to recognize it
to screen their candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

to the Belgian elected people of Turkish descent

to have one and sole allegiance: the Belgian state

to the MRAX, the Centre for Equal Opportunities, Armenian, Assyrian and
civic organizations

to lodge complaints against negationist statements, conferences and
demonstrations on the basis of the legislation prohibiting racism and
negationism.

Willy Fautré

Director

[email protected]

http:// <;

Sources:

Ha nnibal Travis, `’Native Christians Massacred’: The Ottoman Genocide of the
Assyrians during World War I.’, Genocide Studies and Prevention 1,3
(December 2006): 327-371.

Suffrage Universel: <;
rage-universel.be <;

Info-Tu rk : <;

HRWF network of experts covers more than 20 countries, including AUSTRIA
(Dr. Reinhard Kohlhofer [email protected] – Univ. Prof. Dr. Christian
Bruenner [email protected]) – BELARUS (Prof. Viktor Adzinochanka
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) – BELGIUM (Attorney Inès Wouters
[email protected] ) – CHINA (Dr Paul Dowaschowski
[email protected]) – FRANCE (Prof. Regis Dericquebourg
[email protected] ) – GERMANY (Prof. Dr Dr Thomas SCHIRRMACHER
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ) – IRAQ: Eden
Naby, Ph D ([email protected]), KAZAKHSTAN (Dr Roman Podoprigora
[email protected]) KOREA, REPUBLIC OF (Prof. Joshua Park
[email protected]) – POLAND (Agnieszka Koscianska / Warsaw
University [email protected] ) – RUSSIA (Prof. Elena Miroschnikova
[email protected] ) – UKRAINE (Prof. Yevgeniya Dodina [email protected] ),
etc.
The experts are not responsible for the material distributed by HRWF Int.
The experts can be contacted to participate in conferences as guest-speakers

Articles that are not written by HRWF staff or correspondents are not
endorsed by the organization.
They are purely distributed for information of parties interested in
religious issues and trends.

Panorama.am

20:01 23/03/2007

NEW PRISON BUILT IN VANADZOR

A new prison facility will be functional in Vanadzor. The
construction started in 2005 with a total cost of 1. 254. 505. 300
Armenian drams. Ashot Martirosyan, prison department head at the
ministry of justice, said `prison conditions are compatible with the
European standards.’ He said this is the best prison in Armenia.

Each prisoner will occupy a space of 4 and more sq/meters. All the
cells are furnished. Utility facilities are separated from the living
space. The prison will have a shop, laundry house, medical clinic,
centralized heating system and a comfortable sports yard.

Today Davit Harutunyan, Armenian justice minister, visited Vanadzor
prison. Speaking to reporters, the minister underscored improvement of
prison conditions.

Source: Panorama.am

Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel. (613) 235-2622 Fax (613) 238-2622

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2007

Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian

Tel. (613) 235-2622

ANCC Condemns Aghtamar Church Restoration as Public Relations Stunt

Ottawa- The official opening of the restored Church of Sourp Khatch (Holy
Cross) on the island of Aghtamar is another demonstration of the Turkish
Government’s dishonesty and crass political opportunism.

The restoration of the church (built in 921 A.D.) should have been an
opportunity for Turkey to express remorse for its 1915 crime of genocide
against its Armenian population, and to initiate a genuine reconciliation
with the Armenian people. Instead, the Turkish Government is involved in
window- dressing and public relations stunts to divert attention from the
international community’s increased pressure and rebuke for its denial of
the Armenian Genocide, the illegal blockade of Armenia, the suppression of
freedom of speech in Turkey, the increased intolerance towards its
minorities, and racist educational system.

To add insult to injury, the Turkish Government conveniently forgot to
mention, in its invitation, the church’s Armenian nature, and disregarded
the request of Turkey’s Armenian community spiritual leader (Patriarch
Mesrob Mutafyan) to add a cross on top of the church, and to make it a
worship place. Instead, the Turkish Government decided to convert the church
to a museum to grab tourist money. It is also changed the name of the church
to Turkish-sounding Akdamar.

It is ironic that at a time when the Turkish Government is engaged in a
massive campaign of public relation to improve its image, over 1,400
Armenian historical monuments and cultural sites (the church of Kayseri
turned to a sports center, the Naregavank to animal shelter, the Gaziantep
church to a restaurant, the church in Kemaliye to a carpet company, the
Armenian Catholic Church of Mush to a garbage dump) have been destroyed by
a deliberate policy to erase any record of 3,000 years of Armenian presence
in the region.

`We call on the Turkish Government to stop such blatant propaganda
campaigns, to seek serious and meaningful dialogue with the Armenians after
accepting its responsibility for the Genocide, and to lift the illegal
blockade of the Armenian Republic,’ stated Aris Babikian, Executive Director
of the Armenian National Committee of Canada.

` For Turkey to be part of the civilized world and a respected member of
the international community, Ankara should return the Church to its rightful
owners and follow in the footsteps of the post-war German governments which
have unambiguously recognized the Holocaust,’ added Babikian.

-30-

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of
the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.

Regional Chapters
Montréal – Laval – Ottawa – Toronto – Hamilton – Cambridge – St. Catharines
– Windsor – Vancouver

DEAF AND MUTE DEMAND …

A1+
[06:27 pm] 21 March, 2007

On March 21, 2007, RA deaf and mute citizens held a rally of
complaint oppositethe president’s residence with the following posters,
"Mr. Kocharyan, the RA high-ranking officials counterfeit the documents
of our property, we pledge you to see to the matter", "Invalids’
property is not usurped in developed countries," etc. The rally
participants are indignant at the sale of the surdomutiasis clinic.They
claim the bargain was concluded without their knowledge. "We don’t
know who the present owner of the clinic is. We have been struggling
for a long time", surdo-translation Rima claims.

To note, the deaf and mute will continue their rallies unless they
find a solution to the matter.

50 YEARS OF EUROPEAN UNION

ArmRadio.am
21.03.2007 17:52

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the European Union Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and
Neighborhood Policy, issued a message, which says, in part:

"Fifty years ago six European countries came together to create a
unique form of regional organization. The objective was to ensure
war would never again ravage the European continent, and to bring
lasting security to its peoples.

It has undoubtedly been a tremendous success. For fifty years its
members have enjoyed unprecedented levels of peace, prosperity and
stability. And so they have pushed it to go further. Over the years it
has evolved to be much more than a simple trading bloc coordinating
members’ trade policy and setting common tariffs. Now numbering 27
members, the European Union today is a political organization active
in all the areas that pose the greatest challenges to society in the
21st century.

For countries around the world that means we are no longer just a
trading partner. Now we are a strategic partner for issues as varied
as international terrorism, climate change, HIV/AIDS, and resolving
the world’s most entrenched conflicts.

In our relations with our international partners we project the values
we believe have contributed to our own success. Our prosperity has
grown out of a particular form of regional cooperation which has
developed hand in hand with a deeper commitment to democracy, human
rights and the rule of law. It is this experience, the secret of our
own success, which we seek to offer to others.

Around the world the European Union has a dense network of formal
agreements and over 130 delegations, including one in Yerevan, to
cooperate with countries on issues like trade, energy, the environment,
human rights and international organized crime. We have a growing range
of foreign policy instruments available, not just our trade and aid
policies, but also our rapid response to humanitarian emergencies,
and our police and military missions. In strengthening our role in
the world our task is to deploy these instruments as coherently and
effectively as possible, whether that be in Lebanon, the West Balkans
or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We are already making a difference – by playing a part in finding
a solution to conflict in the Middle East and trying to resolve the
international stand-off over Iran’s nuclear intentions. We are leading
by example on questions like climate change and energy security. All
these questions will be at the heart of the international agenda in
the months and years to come.

The EU is not a finished story. Our institutions and powers are
still evolving and nowhere is that more true than in the area of
foreign policy. But it is already clear that our partners see us as
a different kind of partner than the purely trading partner we once
were. They see the strategic value of greater cooperation with us,
just as we see the strategic value of greater cooperation with them.

Similarly, the EU’s citizens expect their leaders to put Europe on
the world map. They want us to create better lives not only for them
and our neighbours but for everyone. So this is our objective for
the next 50 years: using the achievements of the last 50 years – our
wealth, peace and experience – not only to maintain our own standard
of living, but also for the benefit of others."

LEVON ARONIAN CURRENTLY IN SECOND PLACE AT AMBER INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Noyan Tapan
Mar 21 2007

MONTE CARLO, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. March 21 is a rest day in the
Amber speed and blind chess international tournament in Monte Carlo.

In the fourth tour held on March 20 Levon Aronian competed with Magnus
Karlsen (Norway). In blind competition style L. Aronian won and in
quick style was defeated.

After 4 tours L. Aronian takes 2nd place with 6 out of 8 possible
points.

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) taking first place has gained 6.5 points.