Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire over 350 times in the past week

14:47 03.05.2014

According to the data of the NKR Defense Army, about 350 cases of
ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the
line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabaakh and
Azerbaijan from April 27 to May 3.

The rival fired more than 2,000 shots from weapons of different
caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army remained committed to the
maintenance of the ceasefire regime and confidently continued with
their military duty all along the line of contact.

Le Niçois, France
2 mai 2014

Commémoration du génocide d’Arménie

La ville de Cannes a rendu hommage aux victimes du génocide arménien
lors d’une cérémonie publique et solennelle.

Arméniens, Français, jeunes et séniors, ils étaient tous au square
Verdun de Cannes pour commémorer le 99e anniversaire du génocide
arménien. Une cérémonie solennelle présidée par David Lisnard, maire
de Cannes, et de l’Union des Arméniens de Cannes et des environs
représentée par Suzy Parakian.

Plus qu’une simple date, il s’agit là de rendre hommages aux 1,5
millions de morts tués en 1915. >.

Le 1er magistrat a également parlé des excuses publiques du
gouvernement turc, énonçant une évolution, mais sans pour autant
oublier que la Turquie n’a toujours pas accepté officiellement ce
génocide. Avant de finir son discours, David Lisnard a tenu à soutenir
tous les chrétiens persécutés dans le monde entier.

Des gerbes ont été posées sur le monument par la ville de Cannes et la
ville de Cannes et de ses environs. Le khatchar du jardin d’Arménie a
ensuite été recouvert de fleurs, plus particulièrement des roses
rouges, déposées par un public ému et silencieux.

L’Indro, Italia
29 aprile 2014

L’Armenia, il genocidio e le condoglianze

Gli effetti delle parole del primo ministro turco analizzate da De
Waal e Lorusso

Paolo Sorbello

Almaty – Il 23 aprile scorso, il primo ministro turco Tayyip Erdogan
ha letto un messaggio di condoglianze indirizzato a , facendo riferimento
agli ultimi anni dell’Impero ottomano. A guardare bene, la
dichiarazione ha anticipato di qualche giorno il 99° anniversario del
genocidio armeno, conclusosi nel 1915. Le parole di Erdogan non sono
bastate a placare la rabbia degli armeni che continuano a pretendere
che la leadership turca cominci a usare la parola ‘genocidio’ e che
riconosca le atrocità dirette in particolare contro la popolazione
armena. Appena entrati nell’anno del centenario, abbiamo chiesto un
parere sulla questione armena a due eminenti esperti di affari
caucasici. Thomas De Waal è un ricercatore presso il ‘Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace’, che sta completando un libro sulle
relazioni tra Turchia e Armenia. Marilisa Lorusso è assistente alla
ricerca presso l’Università El Manar (ISSHT) di Tunisi e si occupa di
Caucaso.

La reazione armena ha bollato la dichiarazione come un “cinico
stratagemma”, per quale motivo?
De Waal: La prima cosa da dire è che non esiste un singolo soggetto
che parli per ‘gli armeni’. L’ANCA [che ha reagito con più forza
contro le parole di Erdogan, ndr] è un’organizzazione per la diaspora,
affiliata con il partito nazionalista Dashnaktsutiun, e che ha una
politica diversa rispetto al governo armeno. Per esempio, ha rigettato
il protocollo turco-armeno del 2009. In generale, direi che la
popolazione comune armena in diaspora e il governo di Yerevan sono più
pragmatici rispetto a queste organizzazioni per la diaspora e si
occupano di problemi reali come l’apertura del confine turco-armeno,
piuttosto che del riconoscimento del genocidio.

Lorusso: Per gli armeni in Armenia, il genocidio è una pietra miliare
della memoria, il suo riconoscimento e’ un degli scopi della nazione
armena, si veda la Dichiarazione d’Indipendenza, cui si dà riferimento
nel Preambolo della Costituzione, insomma, il riconoscimento del
genocidio è quasi un obbligo di forza costituzionale. C’è un trend
‘macro’, di lungo termine e costitutivo dell’identità armena che non
conosce attenuazioni. Questo è prima di tutto radicato nella coscienza
collettiva, per cui non si può ipotizzare un’opinione pubblica più
indulgente della propria leadership in merito. Anzi, al contrario,
anche a causa di una comunicazione politica che in generale negli
ultimi vent’anni è stata impostata su una certa intransigenza nei
termini di vari temi relativi all’identità armena, è facile che la
leadership anche se – magari per calcolo politico – dovesse mai
trovare più vantaggioso fare un passo indietro su anche solo uno dei
corollari del genocidio. saprebbe di dover affrontare un’ondata di
sdegno contro la quale anche il più solido dei governi vacillerebbe.

Oltre al trend ‘macro’, quali sono le dinamiche domestiche che hanno
portato alla fredda reazione di Yerevan alle parole di Erdogan?
Lorusso: Oltre al trend macro, c’è la situazione contingente. E qui
direi che le questioni sono due, la prima legata alle situazioni del
governo – con i due ruoli chiave del primo ministro e del capo del
consigli di sicurezza che lasciano – e del rapporto governo –
cittadini, con la tensione indotta dalla questione delle pensioni. Non
mi dilungo su questo, perché so che ve ne siete occupati, ma è chiaro
che non è il momento di mettere benzina sul fuoco mostrando il ventre
molle. Nulla di meglio di una bella reazione assertiva in linea con
gli spiriti popolari, per intenderci.
L’altra questione è relativa a chi è la controparte e la tempistica:
non è detto che un primo ministro turco che apra sul 1915 non sia
credibile per gli armeni. Ma deve essersi costruito una buona
credibilità e coerenza in merito, con credenziali di democraticità e
apertura sulle minoranze, spirito critico sulla storia tardo-ottomana
e repubblicana, a livello di politica nazionale prima ancora che nelle
relazioni internazionali. Gli armeni seguono cosa succede in Turchia,
ci vanno, ci sono, hanno parenti… insomma, sanno bene che questo
profilo non è quello di Erdogan, soprattutto l’Erdogan di questo
mandato. Infine, la tempistica: questa apertura un anno prima del
centenario pare come il titolo del libro che si scriverà durante i
prossimi 12 mesi, e il soggetto del libro potrebbe essere una
rilettura che gli armeni hanno già bocciato in partenza.

Cosa cambierebbe se gli USA ammettessero che ciò che è accaduto nel
1915 è un ‘genocidio’?
Lorusso: Inevitabilmente, il riconoscimento è legato ai rapporti fra i
USA e Turchia. Finché non si crea questo specifica congiuntura, il
riconoscimento è improbabile. Anche se ovviamente i prossimi 12 mesi
di campagna per il centenario si faranno sentire nei termini del
potere di pressione della diaspora armena.

De Waal: Gli USA difficilmente arriveranno a utilizzare la parola
‘genocidio’ per caratterizzare le morti del 1915 – anche se sempre più
storici e accademici cominciano a farlo. Il motivo è che la Turchia
minaccia rappresaglie sia nella cooperazione economica, sia in quella
militare con Washington. Questo, gli USA non possono permetterselo. La
paura turca è che l’uso della parola ‘genocidio’ porti alla richiesta
di riparazioni e financo della restituzione di porzioni di territorio,
contro lo stato turco. Nonostante non sia uno scenario probabile,
entrambe le parti sono trincerate nelle loro posizioni così fermamente
che non sembra esserci la possibilità di un passo indietro.

Sembra che il percorso “eurasiatico” intrapreso dall’Armenia sia un
segno di rottura di Yerevan nei confronti degli schemi istituzionali
occidentali?
Lorusso: Mi pare non ci sia una vera scelta. Direi che la svolta è
stata una pure costrizione sotto ricatto, per cui non credo ci sia la
volontà di invertire un quadro istituzionale, o di venir meno a una
politica multivettoriale. Posso venire smentita dai fatti, ma credo
che finché il Cremlino continuerà a essere così minaccioso e
apertamente pericoloso, Yerevan si limiterà a gestire l’emergenza. Ma
questo non risponde agli interessi nazionali armeni, né alle
specifiche esigenze del paese, ben ancorato attraverso le proprie
diaspore all’occidente. Per cui a mio parere si opererà un
allineamento politico ma quanto meno strutturale possibile.

Quanto è importante la dichiarazione di Erdogan? E come si combina con
gli altri conflitti regionali nel Caucaso?
De Waal: Per quanto riguarda Erdogan, la dichiarazione rappresenta
sicuramente un passo importante per lui, ma egli sta anche
ricostruendo la relazione con l’Azerbaigian e difficilmente procederà
alla normalizzazione della relazione tra Armenia e Turchia senza il
benestare del governo di Baku, che vuole prima vedere quale ruolo la
Turchia giocherà nel conflitto del Karabakh.

Lorusso: Questo gesto, anche se liquidato con scetticismo, c’è stato.
Ma ipotizzare una svolta è molto difficile in questo momento. Sargsyan
sarà cauto, per un po’. C’è troppa tempesta in giro. Per lui il
momento propizio potrebbe essere non prima del 2017, l’anno prima
delle elezioni. Ma molto dipende da cosa starà succedendo fra un anno
a quest’ora. Il centenario si farà sentire eccome… Infine, non
sovrastimerei il potere di pressione della Turchia sull’Azerbaijan per
quanto riguarda la questione della sua integrità territoriale. Qui
Baku ha un’agenda ben chiara, e se anche Armenia e Turchia dovessero
arrivare a miti consigli per quanto riguarda il genocidio, questo non
si concreterebbe necessariamente in una disponibilità al compromesso
sul Karabakh.

Daily Sabah, Turkey
May 2 2014

CO-PATRIARCH ATEÅ?YAN APPRECIATES PM ERDOÄ?AN’S 1915 MESSAGE

by Daily Sabah

ANKARA ‘ Turkey’s Orthodox Armenian Co-Patriarch Aram AteÅ?yan
expressed his pleasure with Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an’s unprecedented
condolence message on the incidents of 1915. The two met in the prime
ministry’s official residence for over 1.5 hours. Prior to the meeting
they exchanged gifts in a gesture of goodwill form both sides.

Co-Patriarch AteÅ?yan said, “I believe that this first step our
esteemed Prime Minister took, has been appreciated by the majority of
our community.” AteÅ?yan has accepted the condolences that PM ErdoÄ?an
has sent to the bearers and witnesses of the 1915 incidents. He also
reminded the people that both sides need to make sacrifices and that
it is not a one sided affair.

The Oxford Times, UK
May 2 2014

Tigran: Armenia’s jazz virtuoso returns to Oxford

11:30am Thursday 1st May 2014 in Music By Tim Hughes, Music Editor

Tim Hughes talks to Tigran Hamasyan, a pianist with a haunting, inspiring sound

Dreamlike, mesmerising and emotional, Tigran Hamasyan is a one-man
musical revolution. Fusing the traditional music of his native Armenia
with cool jazz and improvised avant garde forms, this 27-year-old
piano virtuoso is a hypnotic musician with a style which is all his
own.

It’s a haunting, inspiring sound which is practically impossible to
define; even for him. “It is Armenian anti-experimental punk jazz,” he
ventures. “It’s improvised music and 21st-century composition,” he
goes on, before admitting that it’s better just to listen.

“The process of creation is totally abstract and during this process I
have nothing to do with the world outside of music. Everything is
music and the language is musical language. That’s why music will
never be explained by words.

“I don’t ever think about what style of music I am writing because the
styles can change, but the contact is one. The same melody and harmony
can be arranged in the style of heavy metal, contemporary classical,
or modern jazz.”

The pianist is talking from Monten-egro, the latest stop on a European
tour which tonight reaches Oxford. The tour comes hot on the heels of
the release of his rapturously-received album Shadow Theater. Part of
its beauty is its unpred-ictability, with electronic loops layered
over traditional material, which twists and turns — the listener never
knowing where it will go next. It references the music of Madlib,
Sigur Rós and Steve Reich in its inventiveness, and has won the
admiration of keyboard giants Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Brad
Mehl-dau, as well as our own Jools Holland, Gilles Peterson and Jamie
Cullum, on whose shows he has appeared.

The show will see him return to the North Wall where he last performed
two years ago. And he is looking forward to coming back. “I like the
venue, and the atmosphere there,” he says.

Tigran’s story began in Armenia’s second city, Gyumri, in a home
which, he says, “was saturated with music”.

“Perhaps, it’s because there was a lot of music at home. My
grandparents were mostly listening to classical music, my father was a
great fan of classic rock, and my uncle loved jazz. I listened to
music and fell under its spell.”

He says that from the age of two he had displayed an aptitude for
music with the family tape recorder and piano soon becoming his
favourite toys.

A year later. the boy, nicknamed Ashough, or “Troubadour” by his
mother, had a repertoire of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep
Purple, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Queen, accompanying himself
on the piano.

“In Armenia there is this good tradition that children have to go to
music school and learn how to play a musical instrument,” he says. “So
there are a lot of families in Armenia that have a piano at home, even
if nobody there is a professional musician. Thanks to this tradition,
and thanks to my family, I grew up with two pianos — one at my
grandma’s place and one at my parents’.

“I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock music and some 1970s
Herbie Hancock from the age of three. And at the age of four I was
playing and singing Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath songs
which I picked up by ear.”

By the time he reached seven, he had discovered jazz and began
improvising on piano.

“I always loved improvising and creating compositions and songs even
before I knew how to read notes or even knew what improvising and
writing was,” he says. “So creating music of my own came to me very
naturally.”

The family moved to America, Tigran taking up a place at the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Building on his love
of jazz, he released two albums exploring what he describes as the
intersections of jazz, classical and rock with sounds from the
Caucasus.

Two years later he was off to the Big Apple, where he released his
third album, featuring self-penned compos-itions and arrangements of
Armenian folk songs. That was followed by his groundbreaking A Fable
and now Shadow Theater, possibly also his most accessible album to
date.

“Shadow Theater is more involved and deeper compositionally,” he says.

“It’s almost like a pop record. I spent the most time I have ever
spent on a recording. The whole process was long, with rehearsals,
week of recording (which is luxury for a ‘jazz’ record), three days of
overdubs, two weeks of mixing, and one week working with the amazing
producer David Kilejian on electronic treatments.

“It was really great to have all this time to go very deep into one
project and feel a little bit of what it feels like to record a pop
album.”

He says: “I am thankful to God and to all the people I have met on my
path who have helped me to try to stay true to myself.

“Recently I was at [Armenian folk musician] Karo Chalikyan’s place,
just outside of Yerevan, and during one of those long conversations,
he said something to me that made everything so clear. He said ‘when
you are playing or singing, don’t ever forget that you are always
singing in front of God’.

“This got me thinking of the foundations — what is it that I love
about music and what is true in my music that comes out naturally and
has feeling, instead of just playing something that is cool or
trendy.”

Last year, Tigran returned to Yerevan, though he admits he found his
homeland a changed place.

“There are positive and negative developments in Armenia,” he says.
“Obviously, thanks to Western propaganda, there are a lot of values
and traditions that are slowly disappearing. “There is a lot of
sellout, artificial, godless and undignified Western culture and a
mentality that is slowly but surely influencing and brainwashing
Armenian youth. In other words, people are separating from themselves
and their inner worlds and connection to nature and values that should
be more important than a brand new Mercedes or $500 tickets to a
Rihanna show.

“The positive aspect is that, with all these influences, there is
still so much soul and unexplainable beauty and human love in Armenia.
When you land there you can feel it right away. As we say in Armenian:
‘Hamberutyune Kyanq e – Patience is life’.”

Tigran
North Wall, Summertown, Oxford
Tonight (Thurs)
Tickets: from thenorthwall.org

Al-Ahram, Egypt
May 2 2014

Condolences, what condolences?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed his
“condolences” to Armenians for those who lost their lives in World War
I, a gesture that falls well short of recognising the genocide, writes
Nora Koloyan-Keuhnelian

“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of Armenians?” asked
Adolf Hitler in 1939 in a speech to his commanders a week before his
invasion of Poland

In the first action of its kind from a Turkish leader over the past 99
years, and a day before the annual commemoration of the 1915 Armenian
Genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks, Armenians around the world
shared the news of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
statement of condolences to the grandchildren of those who lost their
lives, with mixed reactions.

Erdogan’s statement, issued in nine languages, said “we wish the
Armenians who lost their lives in the context of the early 20th
century to rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their
grandchildren.”

The Turkish opposition and most Armenian communities worldwide
criticised Erdogan’s statement as “opportunistic.”

In response to Erdogan’s condolences, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos
of the Holy See of Cilicia based in Beirut, said in a service in
memory of the massacred that “history cannot overcome the undeniable
truth. What happened in 1915 did not occur as result of the War. It
was a genocide against the Armenian people in the legal and political
understanding of the term, a genocide organised by the Turks’
ancestors Talaat and Enver Pasha. Therefore, the Armenians demand the
recognition of the genocide and reparations.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said that Erdogan had “shared
the pains of the past” and hoped that the action Turkey had taken
would be reciprocated.

Columnist for the Turkish Sabah newspaper and political commentator
Rasim Ozan Kutahyali, known for his liberal political views, said that
Erdogan’s statement had removed “a taboo”.

“We, the Turkish nation, must indeed convey our condolences to the
grandchildren of our Armenian brothers and sisters massacred by the
Talaat Pasha government in 1915. In this, Erdogan has once again
proven to the world that he is not a leader from the usual mold,”
Kutahyali wrote on April 24.

Ayse Gunaysu, a Turkish human rights activist based in Istanbul, was
sure that Erdogan had “changed his communications consultant because
this is new language.” In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Gunaysu
said that although Erdogan’s statement was the first of its kind “we
in Turkey are so used to the worst that a little bit less worse
surprises us and almost give us hope.”

The Turkish History Society, a government agency attached to the prime
minister’s office, organised a symposium in the Anatolian city of Van
entitled “Armenians in World War I” on April 24 and 25, which Gunaysu
found ironic.

“In this symposium all the well-known Turkish denialist theses were
reiterated. The programme of the symposium speaks for itself: Armenian
uprisings, Armenian [Revolutionary] Committees and their activities,
and so on. The head of the ‘Armenian Desk’ of the Turkish Historical
Society, Recep Karacakaya, also argued that ‘the real genocide’ was
committed by the Armenians,” Gunaysu said.

“Erdogan has realised that extreme denialism, the language of mass
murderers, the shameless lies can get him nowhere. So the government
of Turkey is in search of a more refined version of denialism. What
has made him realise this is the decades-long struggle against
denialism waged by Armenians, the grandchildren of the Genocide
victims worldwide, and to some extent a handful of people in Turkey,”
Gunaysu told the Weekly.

Hassan Djemal, a Turkish journalist and writer who had believed the
Genocide did not occur, travelled to Armenia in 2008, visited the
Genocide Monument and laid three carnations in memory of his Armenian
friend, journalist Hrant Dink who was assassinated in 2007 in
Istanbul.

He then published a book entitled 1915: The Armenian Genocide, and is
today best known for acknowledging and apologising for the genocide.
Djemal is the grandson of Ahmed Djemal Pasha, one of the “Three
Pashas” (Enver, Talaat, Djemal) who ruled the Ottoman Empire during
World War I and thus one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.

In his book Djemal remarked that “to deny the genocide would mean to
be an accomplice in a crime against humanity.” Ahmed Djemal Pasha was
executed in July 1922 in Tbilisi as part of Operation Nemesis in
retribution for his role in the genocide.

The Armenian community in Turkey, Turkish civil society and human
rights groups commemorated the anniversary of the genocide in Istanbul
and Diyarbekir. At the Haidar Pasha station in Istanbul, from where 50
Armenian intellectuals were deported at the time, nearly 1,000 people
gathered to light candles and hold up pictures of those 50 poets and
writers who lost their lives.

Photographs of Dink were also raised in an event that took place in
Istanbul for the first time in 2010. Members of the Committee for the
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide held banners in Turkish and
Armenian that read “We are commemorating the victims of the Armenian
Genocide.” Later in the afternoon, a sit-in took place in Taksim
Square.

In Armenia, April 24 is a day of national mourning, and this year a
group of activists from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Party burned the Turkish flag and led a 15,000 torch-lit march in the
capital Yerevan. The banners read “Turkey still hides behind lies” and
“Recognition, Condemnation, Compensation.”

Armenian President Serge Sarkissian together with officials and
ministers laid flowers at the Genocide Monument. In a statement,
Sarkissian said that “the denial of a crime constitutes the direct
continuation of that very crime. Only recognition and condemnation can
prevent the repetition of such crimes in the future.”

He also stressed that the events of 1915 “should not prevent Turks
and Armenians from establishing compassionate and mutually humane
attitudes towards one another.”

Hundreds of Armenian-American families held a silent demonstration in
front of the Turkish embassy in Washington on 24 April, protesting
against the Turkish government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide and
calling for justice.

For the sixth year in a row, US President Barack Obama broke his
promise and failed to use the word “genocide” as a description of the
massacres in a speech. Instead, he described it as “one of the worst
atrocities of the 20th century.” Obama had made a promise to the
Armenian-Americans, while seeking their votes as a presidential
candidate in 2008, that he would describe the 1915 massacres as
“genocide.”

“President Obama, since taking office, has, under pressure from
Turkey, totally reversed course, abandoning his clearly stated pledge
to recognise the Armenian Genocide, and resorting over the past six
years to the very same euphemisms and evasions that he once so
vigourously criticised as a senator and candidate for the White
House,” Aram Hamparian, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Washington DC director, told the Weekly.

“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
my view has not changed. A full, frank and just acknowledgement of the
facts is in all of our interests. Peoples and nations grow stronger,
and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by
acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past,” Obama
said.

Hamparian said that the Obama administration had pressured Armenia
into downgrading the Armenian Genocide from an unpunished
international crime into an unresolved bilateral conflict. “His White
House has pressured Congress to block legislation commemorating this
crime and even prohibited members of his administration from attending
Capitol Hill remembrances,” the ANCA director said.

As the centenary of the genocide is a year away, the Republic of
Armenia and Armenians living in the Diaspora have increased their
demands that Turkey recognise the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as
a ‘genocide’.

Uruguay was the first country to officially recognise the Armenian
Genocide in 1965. Other countries that have recognised it include
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden,
Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lebanon,
Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada, the Vatican and Australia.

“We are in no need of Erdogan’s condolences. We want him to apologise
for the crime that was committed by his ancestors in 1915. We request
genocide recognition from Turkey and compensation,” the representative
of the Armenian Cause Bureau in Egypt Armen Mazloumian told Al-Ahram
Weekly.

“When I say compensation, I mean moral and financial recompense. Moral
compensation comes with Turkey’s recognition of the genocide, while
the financial one becomes reality when Turkey gives us back our
rights, our endowments, our churches, schools and lands that were
looted.”

In a seminar organised in Cairo by the Free Egyptians Party on the day
of the commemoration, professor of International Law Ayman Salama
explained how the term ‘genocide’ applied to the massacres committed
by the Turks, stressing the responsibility Turkey must bear as the
inheritor of the former Ottoman Empire.

During the seminar, in which Mazloumian also took part, he called on
the next Egyptian parliament to recognise the Armenian Genocide and
establish a special monument dedicated to it.

Egypt’s Armenian community also commemorated the 99th anniversary of
the genocide. Scouts from the Homenetmen Ararat Sporting Club erected
a replica of the Genocide Memorial, originally found in Yerevan, and
community members along with the ambassador of Armenia in Egypt and
the bishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church marched to lay carnations
and candles around the Monument out of respect for the 1.5 million who
lost their lives.

A tree was planted in memory of the victims and a film, “Orphans of
The Genocide,” was screened. The following day, a special mass took
place in the St Gregory the Illuminator Church, followed by a requiem
service in which members of the community and Ararat scouts paid
tribute to the martyrs.

,-what-condolences-.aspx

POLITICAL ANALYST: ARMENIA WILL NOT JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION AS LONG AS THE ACTING REGIME STAYS IN POWER (VIDEO)

20:31 | April 30,2014 | Politics

Armenia did not participate in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council
summit held in Minsk on April 29 as Armenia is not a member of this
organization, says political analyst Edgar Vardanyan.

“But Armenia should have been invited as well, considering the fact
that it is joining the Customs Union,” he said.

The political analyst says Armenia should be interested in joining
the CU and having a voice in the decision-making process.

Armenia is the only country in the Soviet space that has not opposed
Russia and its imposed policy. Armenia is the only country that has
never complained of Russia,” he said.

Edgar Vardanyan expressed hope that Armenia will eventually join the
European Union.

“But this will not happen only as long as the acting regime stays in
power in Armenia,” he concluded.

ARMENIAN FM: TURKEY SHOULD FOLLOW GERMANY’S EXAMPLE AND RECOGNIZE THE GENOCIDE

14:26 01.05.2014

“Today a large number of Jews live in Germany, but no one would
dare to put under question the reality of the Holocaust. Turkey had
better follow Germany’s example through recognition, condemnation
and apology,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at
the National Assembly.

“In 1915 Talaat told Germany’s Consul General that there is no Armenian
question, because there are no more Armenians. 99 years later Armenians
together with the international community struggle for the exclusion
of new genocides, new crimes against humanity and wait for civilized
steps from Turkey,” he said.

The comments come after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
declared that the fact of Armenians living in Turkey today proves
there was no genocide.

Referring to Azerbaijan’s forthcoming presidency of the Council
of Europe, Minister Nalbandian said: “The Council of Europe senior
officials have already raised that issue. Last week CoE Commissioner
for Human Rights made two statements, according to which the situation
with the fundamental freedoms, particularly freedom of speech and
human rights, in general, is deteriorating in Azerbaijan.”

“We are well aware that expressions of Armenophobia, intolerance,
hate-speech have become usual phenomena in Azerbaijan. I think that
not only a CoE chairmanship by such a country, but also its membership
is not to the honor of the Organization,” the Minister said.

Edward Nalbandian said Armenia raises the issue of the expressions
of Armenophobia in Azerbaijan. “Those expressions are so gross,
that are obvious and apparent.”

“For instance, what means yesterday’s statement by the Azerbaijani
head of police that the inhumane treatment of Leyla Yunus is justified
by her supposed Armenian origin. A number of such expressions are
well-known in the Council of Europe and in other organizations.”

LES ” DERNIERS ARENIENS ” DE DIYARBAKIR SE MARIENT APES 60 ANS D’ATTENTE

TURQUIE

Récemment restaurée l’église arménienne Surp Giragos de Diyarbakır
a été le témoin d’un mariage très spécial , le ” oui , je le
veux ” de deux octogénaires , prononcé après une longue attente
de 60 ans.

Portant un smoking , le marié Bayzo , 87 – ans , s’est révéré
être ” le dernier arménien ” de Diyarbakır et le doyen de ce qui
reste d’une grande communauté de la ville du sud-est de la Turquie
. Avec la robe traditionnelle , de trois ans plus jeune que lui,
la mariée Sarkiz vient de la province de Silvan qui est aussi la
ville natale du patriarche arménien, Aram Atesyan .

Le couple aurait pu célébrer leur anniversaire de mariage de diamant
, au contraire, ils se contenteront de vivre l’excitation des jeunes
mariés après 60 ans de concubinage .

” Je ne veux pas mourir célibataire ” a déclaré Bayzo juste
avant la cérémonie . Il a ensuite expliqué que la plupart de ses
amis arméniens ont choisi de quitter le pays , mais maintenant la
ville est a la recherche après son patrimoine culturel arménien –
un exemple est la restauration de l’église Sourp Guiragos , qui
avait été le lien de la communauté .

” Je voulais tellement ce mariage et je me sens béni . Que Dieu donne
un jour heureux pour tout le monde dans leur vie ” a-t-il ajouté.

Gulten Kisanak , co-président du parti de la paix et de la démocratie
(BDP ) qui a été élu maire de Diyarbakır pendant les élections
du 30 Mars était présent pour mener la cérémonie a rendu hommage
aussi au couple en exprimant son souhait qu’ils puissent être un
exemple pour les jeunes .

” Ce n’est pas un mariage ordinaire. Nous assistons a l’amour immortel
de deux personnes qui n’ont pas consommé leur amour l’un pour l’autre
. Ils ont réussi dans leur lutte pour rester debout sur cette terre
avec la puissance de leur amour ”, a déclaré Kisanak .

Mais le couple n’avait pas l’intention de laisser la solennité
éclipser leur mariage et l’a célébré comme de tous jeunes mariés.

Bayzo monta sur le pied de Sarkiz , un geste destiné a signifier qui
sera le chef de famille . Sarkiz , pour sa part , a jeté son bouquet
a une foule de femmes célibataires un demi-siècle plus jeunes.

Yervant Bostancı , le célèbre maître du oud d’origine arménienne
qui a décidé de revenir a Diyarbakır a la fin de l’année dernière
après 20 ans d’exil auto-imposé , a joué des chansons arméniennes ,
kurdes et turques , en ajoutant plus de symbolisme a un mariage devant
fournir aux Arméniens le sentiment que Diyarbakır peut devenir leur
maison une fois de plus .

Journal Hurriyet

jeudi 1er mai 2014, Stéphane ©armenews.com

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN VEUT UN REVEIL DE LA COOPERATION DES PARTIS DE L’OPPOSITION

Alliance politique

Raffi Hovannisian a appelé les quatre principaux partis d’opposition
a contesté la légitimité du président Serge Sarkissian en proposant
un vote parlementaire de défiance vis a vis du nouveau gouvernement.

Le chef du parti Zharangutyun a déclaré : ” j’espère vraiment que
nous n’aurons pas des exceptions dans et en dehors du Parlement. Ces
forces d’opposition ont promis des manifestations conjointes et du
changement au peuple “.

L’avertissement semble être principalement destiné au BHK, la
deuxième force parlementaire qui a coopéré avec Zharangutyun et
deux autres partis de l’opposition ces derniers mois.

Le BHK a mené une campagne avec force contre le gouvernement jusqu’a
la démission de Tigran Sarkissian au début du mois. Il reste encore
a déterminer si ces députés voteront contre le programme politique
du nouveau cabinet formé par Hovik Abrahamian.

L’approbation du programme par l’Assemblée nationale reviendrait
a un vote de confiance. Tsarukian a des liens personnels étroits
avec Abrahamian.

Les députés du BHK ont soulevé des questions quant a l’avenir de la
coopération quadripartite quand ils ont voté massivement pour Galust
Sahakian comme nouveau président du Parlement arménien. Hovannisian
a indiqué sa déception face a ce vote.

jeudi 1er mai 2014, Claire ©armenews.com