Author: Kalantarian Kevo

IS THE US FINALLY CONFRONTING GENOCIDE?

September 10, 2014

The Obama administration has refused to recognize the Armenian
genocide, despite repeated promises by candidate Obama to do so.

President Obama’s plan to increase military action against ISIS is
based on the fact that ISIS is a “genocidal, territorial-grabbing,
caliphate-desiring quasi state,” according to Secretary of State John
Kerry, speaking at the September 5 NATO summit talks.

If genocidal intention hasindeed become a central criteria for the
Obama administration in deciding whether to launch military strikes
abroad, it represents a significant new direction in U.S. foreign
policy–and a sharp break from the legacy of the president whom Mr.

Obama has always said he admires most.

At the time of his first election in 2008, Obama spoke of his desire
to govern in the spirit of his favorite predecessor, Franklin D.

Roosevelt. A Time magazine cover depicted Obama as an FDR look-alike,
and spokesmen for the president-elect said he was currently engrossed
in two new Roosevelt biographies. One of the authors commented to
reporters: “It’s just nice that we’re going to have a president that
has a strong sense of history.”

Having a strong sense of history should include recognizing the flaws
of historical figures whom we otherwise admire. Although President
Obama has not explicitly criticized FDR’s abandonment of the Jews
during the Holocaust, the policies of the Obama administration
increasingly suggest a repudiation of Roosevelt’s view that human
rights crises abroad are none of America’s business.

In 1933, President Roosevelt told his new ambassador to Nazi Germany,
William Dodd, that the persecution of Jews there “is not a [U.S.]
governmental affairs.” He instructed Dodd to refrain from making any
official protests regarding the Jews except in the tiny handful of
cases involving German Jews who happened to be American citizens.

That attitude continued throughout the Holocaust years, to the point
of refusing to drop even a few bombs on Auschwitz or the railway lines
leading to it, even when U.S. planes were bombing German oil factories
adjacent to the camp in 1944. Roosevelt administration officials said
they could not “divert” military resources for non-military purposes.

Yet a few months later, they diverted American troops to rescue the
famous Lipizzaner dancing horses near the German-Czech border.

Until recently, President Obama’s policy concerning genocide was
something of a roller-coaster.

On the one hand, he used military force to bring down the Muammar
Qaddafi regime in Libya, in 2011, on the grounds that Qaddafi was
preparing the mass murder of his opponents. “Some nations may be able
to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries,” he said. “The
United States of America is different.” He cited “preventing genocide”
as a legitimate basis for American intervention in Libya.

On the other hand, President Obama has never taken any steps to
bring about the arrest of Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
who was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for
sponsoring the Darfur genocide. In fact, the administration has not
even criticized governments that have hosted visits by Bashir.

Moreover, the Obama administration has refused to recognize the
Armenian genocide, despite repeated promises by candidate Obama to
do so. Turkey, which denies that the genocide took place, would be
offended if the United States told the truth. In deference to the
Turks, the administration has even refused to publicly display a
rug woven by Armenian orphans and given to the White House as a gift
in 1925.

A major change of U.S. policy on genocide appeared imminent last
September, when President Obama was poised to take military action
against Syrian dictator Bashar Assad for using poison gas. Secretary of
State John Kerry, explaining to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
the importance of not abandoning the persecuted, cited the voyage of
the St. Louis, “a ship that was turned away from the coast of Florida”
(by President Roosevelt), with many of its passengers subsequently
murdered in the Holocaust. “That’s what’s at stake here,” he said.

Although that military action did not take place, the principle
of intervention which Kerry articulated regarding Syria may have
helped pave the way for the U.S. air strikes in Iraq last month,
which helped save thousands of members of the Yazidi religious group
who were threatened by ISIS.

The U.S. shift from ignoring genocide to pre-emptive action against
those who are planning genocide is far from complete. It remains to
be seen, for example, whether the administration will act against
others who have threatened genocide, such as Iran and Hamas.

Still, the new American stance regarding ISIS appears to be a step
in the right direction–and a welcome repudiation of that aspect of
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legacy.

Israel National News

GREEK PARLIAMENT ADOPTS BILL CRIMINALIZING GENOCIDE DENIAL

September 10, 2014 – 12:19 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Parliament of Greece on Tuesday, September 10
adopted a bill that criminalizes the denial of theArmenian Genocide
and other crimes against humanity, Asbarez reported.

Greece becomes the third European country after Switzerland and
Slovakia to adopt such a measure.

The bill known as “Fight against Xenophobia” envisions bringing
criminal charges for denial of the genocides of not only Jews, but
also Armenians and Pontus Greeks. The bill stipulates heavy fines
and imprisonment terms for individuals who publicly deny genocides
and other crimes against humanity that are recognized by the Greek
Parliament and international courts.

The vote passed by 54 to 42 with three abstentions.

In early September, French MP Valerie Boyer introduced a new bill on
criminalization of denial of genocides and crimes against humanity
in the 20th century.

“With the centenary of the Armenian Genocide ahead of us, France has
no laws to punish denial of genocides and crimes against humanity,
with the exception of the Holocaust. Though officially recognizing
both genocides, only the denial of Holocaust was made punishable by
Paris,” the parliamentarian stressed, urging to rectify the situation.

According to the MP, criminalization of the genocide denial is gaining
urgency amid relentless persecution of Christians in Iraq. In this
context, Boyer suggested to introduce a new classification of the
denial of genocide viewing it as a crime against humanity rather than
abuse of free speech, thus protecting the memory of all genocides.

In 2012 and 2013 Boyer also initiated draft laws on criminalizing
the Armenian Genocide denial.

On January 23, 2012, French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged imposing a 45,000 euro fine and
a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against
humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Later, the French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill adopted
by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide
was anti-constitutional.

In July, French President Francois Hollande confirmed plans for a new
law criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide with representatives
of the Armenian community.

French lawmakers visit Nagorno Karabakh

17:40 08.09.2014

On September 8, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic Karen Mirzoyan received the delegation of the Parliament of
France.

Karen Mirzoyan welcomed the members of the delegation, stressing the
importance of such visits for the consistent development and
strengthening of bilateral relations. In this context, the NKR
Foreign Minister touched upon issues related to the activities of the
France-Artsakh Friendship Circle established in 2013. He appreciated
the works carried out by the Circle for strengthening the relations
between Artsakh and France and disseminating truthful information
about Artsakh.

During the meeting, the possibilities and prospects of widening of the
cooperation between Artsakh and France in various spheres were
discussed.

The sides also exchanged opinions on the current stage of the peaceful
settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Karabakh, as well as
a range of issues related to regional developments.

Yahoo Finance UK
Sept 8 2014

Orogen Gold strikes it lucky in Armenia

LONDON (ShareCast) – Shares (Frankfurt: DI6.F – news) in precious
metal explorer Orogen Gold sparkled by a quarter after it made a
“substantial” find in southern Armenia.
The stock jumped 0.03p or 24% to 0.16p at 10:36 in London after Orogen
reported the discovery of wide zones of gold mineralisation at its
Mutsk gold project and said it was continuing to drill.

Chief executive Ed Slowey said: “This new phase of drilling has
confirmed our earlier belief that we have made a substantial gold
discovery at Mutsk. We believe we have only just begun to test the
potential of this discovery and are hopeful of further positive
results over the coming weeks.”

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 8 2014

Minorities: ‘New Turkey’ discourse continuation of Sept. 6-7 incidents

September 07, 2014, Sunday/ 16:25:51/ ARSLAN AYAN / ISTANBUL

Representatives of several minority groups joined a panel discussion
on Saturday to commemorate those who died in massive attacks targeting
Greek, Armenian and Jewish citizens of Turkey on Sept. 6`7, 1955,
agreeing that the `New Turkey’ discourse that has been used by
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an is nothing but a continuation of
earlier policies that have devastated minority groups.

The panel discussion, held at the Ä°smail BeÃ…?ikçi Vakfı in Ä°stanbul’s
BeyoÄ?lu district on Saturday, with the participation of many scholars,
aimed to shed light on the Sept. 6-7 incidents and reveal the current
situation of non-Muslim communities in Turkey. Those present addressed
the notion that a “New Turkey” is only possible if non-Muslim citizens
enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority.

Delivering a speech at the meeting, journalist Rıdvan Akar said the
Sept. 6-7 incidents were a natural outcome of Turkish government
policies such as the Varlık Vergisi [Wealth Tax], by which wealth was
transferred from non-Muslims to Muslims, the `VatandaÃ…? Türkçe KonuÃ…?’
(`Citizen, Speak Turkish’) campaigns, the 1964 deportation [of roughly
12,000 ethnic Greeks without Turkish citizenship], as well as
intimidation of minority groups and violent seizures of property.
Unfortunately, the history of the Turkish Republic is full of
undesirable events that happened to minorities. Thus, the population
of ancient non-Muslim communities of Anatolia, such as Armenians,
Jews, Rums and Assyrians, gradually declined.

Members of the Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Association (Dur De)
also made a statement regarding the incidents during the meeting. `As
activists affiliated with the Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism
Association, we have gathered here today to commemorate the victims of
the Sept. 6-7- incidents. During the attacks on minority groups, more
than 400 non-Muslim women were raped, 15 people died, and more than
300 people were badly wounded. Four thousand two hundred and twelve
houses, 1,004 offices, 73 churches, one synagogue, one monastery, 26
schools and 5,317 other places, such as hotels and bars, were attacked
across the country. Of these, 59 percent of the destroyed property
belonged to Greeks, 12 percent to Jewish people and 17 percent to
Armenians. Meanwhile, the property of converts and some Muslims from
foreign countries was also destroyed during the riots. The incidents
accelerated the emigration of non-Muslim minorities from Turkey
immensely and Ä°stanbul province in particular. The project of creating
a homogeneous Anatolia by removing different ethnic groups had been
followed by governments since 1913 in order to create a nation state.
Within this framework, assimilation, immigration and population
policies were explicitly performed by the Turkish state. From this
perspective, the Sept. 6-7 incidents were a strong message to minority
groups in Turkey on the way of creating a society that is mostly
composed of people with Turkish identity and Sunni Muslim features,’
activists said.

According to official records, the riot started in Ä°stanbul’s Pangaltı
neighborhood, where there were popular localities such as the Haylayf
pastry shop, mostly patronized by Greek citizens. The Haylayf pastry
shop is where the riot erupted at 7 p.m. on Sept 6. From there, the
riot spread all over Ä°stanbul and the country. The events were
triggered by false news that the house of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the
founder of the Turkish Republic, in Thessaloniki, had been bombed the
day before. According to Turkish records, 11 non-Muslim people died in
the riots, while Greek sources claim that the number was 15.
Officially, 30 people were injured, but unofficial numbers amount to
300.

Also criticizing President ErdoÄ?an for his offensive remarks
concerning people of Georgian and Armenian descent, the activists said
that the president’s insulting attitude towards Armenians is a clear
example of the continuation of earlier governments’ devastating
policies towards minority groups, whose rights are guaranteed by the
1923 Treaty of Lausanne [signed between Turkey and six other states
following the Turkish War of Independence]. Unfortunately, even today,
this genocider perception of the Republic of Turkey still continues
without being subject to any particular change,’ the activist added.

In televised remarks on Aug. 6, ErdoÄ?an said: `Let all Turks in Turkey
say they are Turks and all Kurds say they are Kurds. What is wrong
with that? You wouldn’t believe the things they have said about me.
They have said I am Georgian. …They have said even uglier things —
they have called me — excuse me for saying this — Armenian, but I am
Turkish.’

This statement from the Turkish president, in which he apologized
before using the word `Armenian’ as though asking to be excused before
uttering a swear word, drew the ire of not only Armenians but also
other minority groups in Turkey.

Members of Dur-De commemorate the victims of Sept. 6-7

A ceremony to commemorate the victims of the events of Sept. 6-7,
1955, a large-scale attack on Turkey’s minority populations living in
Ä°stanbul, was held by Dur De on Ä°stanbul’s famed Ä°stiklal Street in
the lively neighborhood of Taksim on Saturday. Speaking at the
meeting, Gonca Ã…?ahin, a member of the association, told the press that
minorities in Turkey have always been under pressure and subject to
discriminatory practices. `The Republic of Turkey must apologize for
the Sept. 6-7 incidents, and all discriminatory practices towards
minority groups must come to a halt,’ Ã…?ahin told the press.

ILLUSIONS ARE A DANGEROUS CATEGORY

Monday, 08 September 2014 17:55

Illusions are distorted perception of the reality, deception of
perception, which is conditioned by a special state of mind, for
example, fear. Such a definition of illusions is provided by the
encyclopedia.

The behavior of the Azerbaijani authorities demonstrated at all
levels, including the President, allows rightfully stating that this
encyclopedic characteristics very accurately formulates the actions of
the Baku regime, especially with respect to everything that is related
to the Karabakh issue.

The press has already reported that on August 28, the United States
Senate of California adopted, by the overwhelming majority of votes, a
resolution in support for the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic and the free development of its people. The Senate also
decided to submit the resolution to the Congress and the President of
the United States, so that they contribute to the recognition of the
right of the Artsakh people to self-determination. We should note that
this is the fifth American state, which adopted a resolution in
support of the NKR self-determination and democratic independence. We
do not tend to fall into euphoria and assert that the international
recognition of our Republic is not far off. Surely, no. However,
undisputed remains the fact that the resolution of the Senate of
California is the most important political and legal act, which
confirms the consistency of the NKR as a subject of international law
and which should be considered in the context of the democratic
development of the NKR and its commitment to the values of a civilized
community. And this, in turn, creates a reliable background for the
subsequent international recognition of the NKR. We think that the
time will come when quantity is transformed into quality, and the
sooner it happens the better.

Although the resolution of the Senate of California is advisory in
nature, it has greatly alarmed the Azerbaijani authorities. An
official of the country’s Foreign Ministry called it “just a piece of
paper”. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that simple fear lies behind this
ostentatious disregard. Otherwise, official Baku would not take all
possible measures to prevent the adoption of the resolution and then
to display a very aggressive reaction, accusing the Senators, who
voted for it, of bias. The fact is that those in Azerbaijan cannot
ignore the fact that in the recent years, the tendency to recognize
the rights of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination of
its own political future has become increasingly evident. They cannot
but understand that the actions of foreign structures, including the
acts in support of the NKR independence by the legislatures of
American states, cause a severe blow to Azerbaijan’s policy aimed at
the false and legally unsubstantiated justification of its right to
Artsakh.

Here again appear the notorious illusions of Azerbaijan, which does
not want to see the objective truth and explains the adoption of the
resolution of the Senate of California, like other similar resolutions
of American legislatures, by purely the lobbying activities of the
Armenian Diaspora. Apparently, the fear of the truth does not allow
Baku to admit the obvious fact that there cannot be return to the
realities of the 80s of the Soviet period, that the process of
creating the NKR statehood and its international recognition is
getting progressive and irreversible. As in due time rightly noted by
well-known Russian political analyst Sergei Markedonov, commenting on
the possibility of subjecting Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan, one
cannot enter the same river twice.

But, why only Nagorno Karabakh?! Ilham Aliyev has long and repeatedly
entered the same river, presenting territorial claims not only to
Artsakh, but also to proper Armenia, calling it… Western Azerbaijan.
Having recently visited Horadiz, the Azerbaijani leader said the
following, “Currently, Horadiz is far more developed than their
capital – the ancient Azerbaijani city of Irevan. This is a reality”.
Let us add – this is not a reality, but a political brigandage by a
descendant of the wild nomadic tribes that appeared in the
Transcaucasus only two centuries ago, who, however, allows himself to
claim their “rights” to the historical Armenian lands, including
Yerevan, with its nearly 2,800 year-old history.

It should be noted that during the noted trip, Aliyev uttered so much
blatant nonsense that it would be enough for the whole pre-election
campaign. And again, when familiarizing with his verbal exercises, one
cannot help feeling that he lives frank illusions, feeding his own
people with them. Similarly, there was a feeling that the President is
not of the highest opinion of his loyal subjects, since he allows
himself to feed them with ordinary lie. If we group the theses of
Aliyev’s speech, we can bring their essence to the fact that Armenia
is about to cease existing as a state, that international law supports
Azerbaijan, that no country will ever recognize the NKR, that as a
result of the recent events at the Line of Contact, “the enemy has
been dealt a devastating blow, from which it still cannot get over”,
and that panic and fear reign in Armenia, etc. In short, an endless
chain of lies designed to create an illusion of absolute superiority
over Armenians among ordinary Azerbaijanis. Those Azerbaijanis, who
soberly assess the situation and does not want to believe the fruit of
the sick imagination of their own authorities, honestly and openly
talk about the reality, are usually imprisoned or subjected to severe
persecution. The truth is not inhonor in Azerbaijan.

Does Aliyev realize that illusions are quite a dangerous category?
Does he realize that to base his policy on illusions, or false
calculations, is like building a castle on the sand, which can
collapse any moment, burying its own poor architects under itself?

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

Armenian side dominant in relations with Azerbaijan

18:33 * 08.09.14

The Armenian side continues dominant in Armenian-Azerbaijani
relations, political scientist Hrant Melik Shahnazaryan told reporters
on Monday.

Within the next two or three months Armenia will join the Customs Union.

The geopolitical situation is changing, and all the processes
surrounding Russia seriously hinder the formation of the Customs
Union.

Among the hindrances is the escalation of conflict in the South Caucasus.

“At the NATO summit, Armenian diplomacy succeeded in breaking NATO’s
stereotypes – its approach to the principle of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity,” the expert said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Thomas de Waal sees no objective preconditions for Nagorno Karabakh
peace process progress

Monday 8 September 2014 16:48
Photo: Photolure

Thomas de Waal

Yerevan /Mediamax/. British analyst, senior associate at the Carnegie
Endowment Thomas de Waal presently sees no objective preconditions for
achieving progress in the peace process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

As Mediamax reports, during discussions on “Developments over Karabakh
Conflict and Possible Prospects” topic in Yerevan today the expert
stressed that over the past 20 years much has changed in
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peace process, however, the main issue,
which is the settlement of the conflict, remains unsolved.

“Despite the formal meetings of the Presidents, the parties do not
discuss truly important and strategic issues. Whether a framework
agreement will be signed and whether it will be carried out based on
Madrid principles or not still remains a philosophic issue. I see no
real discussion and dialog between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
Presidents or the societies of the two countries. There is rhetoric
and propaganda but there is no any discussion of strategically
important issues – on compromises”, Thomas de Waal said.

The expert believes that Armenia and Azerbaijan are mutually
interested in working on their common future. “What matters for
Azerbaijan more is to get rid of the influences of Iran and Russia,
while in case of Armenia the opening of borders and economic
development bear strategic importance. The solution of these tasks
depends on the mutually beneficial settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, which is unreal in current situation”, the expert stressed.

Thomas de Waal is convinced that the crisis in Ukraine has also had
its negative impact on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in particular, on
the exacerbation of the situation on the contact line.

“The crisis in Ukraine created a downbeat backdrop. Instead of
resolving the conflicts, new ones emerge and we see that the level of
cynicism and mistrust has increased between the sides”, he added.

The expert urged the parties to establish new communication contacts
and to encourage people’s diplomacy.

“Along with formal negotiations, people’s diplomacy should be
encouraged. Besides that, it is desirable that the Presidents appoint
special advisors on Karabakh. New channels and platforms should be
created for the leaders and societies to communicate and build trust.
The parties should have better comprehension of one another’s
positions”, Thomas de Waal noted.

“The real peace process is very complicated and risky for the
Presidents of both countries. They do not feel any external support.
And under such circumstances, the Presidents will not take any risky
steps. External incentives are required, however, as of now, they are
only negative”, the expert summed up.

Armenian parliamentary minority demands discussion of growing out-emigration

YEREVAN, September 8. / ARKA /. Armenia’s parliamentary minority,
represented by the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Heritage and the Armenian National
Congress (ANC), has demanded today that the legislator discuss the
problem of increasing out-emigration.

The demand was voiced by Aram Manukyan, the secretary of the ANC
faction. He said the parliamentary minority has looked deep into a
series of studies on Armenia’s demography conducted by international
organizations and wants their findings to become available both to
parliamentarians and the public at large.

Citing official statistics, Manukyan said that over 210,000 Armenian
citizens left their country forever from 2008 to 2013. Manukyan asked
parliament speaker Galust Sahakyan to choose a format to discuss the
challenge.

Ruben Hakobyan, the head of the Heritage faction, added that
representatives of the opposition toured the regions of the country to
have a better idea with the out emigration. He stressed that
emigration is not linked solely to the presence of the Diaspora and
the Karabakh conflict.

“There is a whole range of problems that will show up in case of an
honest discussion. The dismal results are obvious: where a school a
few years ago had 30 first-graders, now it has only one,’ he added.

According to official data, the population of Armenia at the beginning
of 2014 decreased by 9,500 compared with the beginning of the previous
year. On January 1, it had a little over 3 million of permanent
population, including 1.9 million of urban and 1.1 million of rural
population. -0-

Emigration problem among ARF-D’s priorities – MP

15:30 * 08.09.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) parliamentary group Armen Rustamyan
commented on Armenian National Congress (ANC) parliamentary group
member Levon Zurabyan’s statement on large-scale emigration from
Armenia.

“Yes, the problem of emigration cannot be of secondary importance for
anyone. I can say we discussed the issue of including the issue among
the 12 point. But we consider it a consequence rather than the cause,
and we focused on priorities that are important in terms of cause and
effect. And struggling against emigration has never been a
controversial issue, and the problem being raised now is not a new
one, and we have our own program, ‘Let us live in our country’, which
is an emigration prevention program. And we are ready for
discussions.”

Armenian News – Tert.am