Author: Kalantarian Kevo

ME DELEGATION VISITS URUGUAY, ARGENTINE ARMENIANS

Reporter, Beirut, 9 April 2014

Famed Turkish author-publisher Ragip Zarakolu of Turkey and a
Lebanese-Armenian journalistic delegation will join Armenians of
Uruguay and Argentina this year to commemorate the 99th anniversary
of the Genocide of Armenians.

Argentina and Uruguay are two Latin American states, along with Brazil,
which opened their welcoming arms to the survivors of the Genocide
of Armenians and the Assyrians and their offspring. Uruguay also has
the proud distinction of being the first state to recognize (1965)
the Genocide.

The Lebanese delegation will include Hamo Moskofian, the international
correspondent of Keghart.com, Tidag Magazine and Dr. Eddie Racoubian,
photographer and son of Tidag’s founding publisher Dr. Sam Racoubian.

They were invited by journalist and Social Democrat Hunchakian
Party (SDHP) representative Diego Karamoungian (Arax Radio in
Montevideo), Sergio Nahabedian (AGBU and RAG) and Diana Der Garabedian
(editor-in-chief, Sardarabad weekly).

The delegation will hold meetings with political, cultural and
religious figures and conduct interviews with the media. Among the
prominent people they meet will be Uruguay’s Minister of Tourism
Liliam Keshishian and Johana Riva Garabedian, Miss Uruguay.

On April 24 a commemorative march will head to the Armenian Genocide
Memorial in Montevideo. Speeches by Mr. Zarakolu and Hamo Moskofian
will follow.

The Lebanese-Armenian journalists will then head to Buenos Aires for
a another busy schedule of gatherings and interviews.

Ragip Zarakoglu at Capitol Hill For Armenian Genocide April 9, 2014

Buenos Aires City Legislature approved two projects on Armenian
Genocide

3.4.14 Internacionales

The Buenos Aires City Legislature issued on April 3 a statement
written by legislatorsVirginia Gonzalez Gass and Maria Raquel Herrero
to commemorate April 24 as the “Day of the First Genocide of the 20th
Century”, on the “99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.”

The Legislature also approved a project submitted by the legislator
Pablo Ferreyra to ask the Ministry of Education to perform “the
necessary arrangements for individual school districts and schools in
the City to carry out curricular activities alluding to the ‘Day of
action for tolerance and respect between people'”, referring to the
Law 26.199 that commemorates the genocide suffered by the armenian
people every April 24.

“Educating on memory is to educate on the respect and protection of
human rights. In this sense, it is essential to promote the inclusion
of the issue of genocide in education, not only to remember but also
to consider the conditions that made possible such aberrant and savage
events”, said Ferreyra in a press statement.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Heritage Foundation, to:
Charles P. Guleserian, Vice President
Armenian Heritage Foundation
25 Flanders Road
Belmont, MA 02478
Email: [email protected]

Armenian Heritage Park
on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Boston

IN THE NEWS!

Marching for Rwandan genocide victims

About 40 discuss, condemn killings

By Zachary T. Sampson | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT APRIL 14, 2014

Marie Carine Boggis, who survived the Rwandan genocide, addressed the
crowd at Armenian Heritage Park.
Lane Turner/Globe Staff

During a recent moment of introspection, Marie Carine Boggis searched
the Web for a definition of the word “survivor.” For most of her 27
years, she had been characterized as such.

She was a young girl when an estimated 800,000 people, including her
parents and siblings, died in the Rwandan genocide. On Sunday, she
discussed her experience with about 40 people who gathered for a walk
in downtown Boston to discuss and condemn genocide on the 20th
anniversary of the killings in Rwanda.

“Remaining alive after an event in which other people died,” Boggis
recalled as the official definition of the word survivor, which has
described her for so long.
“And that was the most underwhelming definition that I have ever come
across.”

The term, she said, did not fit her identity.It did not account for
the years immediately after the killings when she fantasized about her
parents picking her up at school.
It failed to acknowledge the extreme guilt she felt a few years
later. She had settled in with a new family and said she wondered if
she would even want to live with her birth parents if they were still
alive. It did not answer the questions she has now about how she will
one day explain genocide to her own children. “There’s no proper way
to be a survivor,” Boggis said. Each person, she continued, is left to
navigate the world in his or her own way.

The marchers in Boston on Sunday represented several communities that
have experienced genocide in the past century, including Armenians,
Bosnians, and Jews. Their prevailing message was that survivors should
unite through shared suffering to ensure genocide is never forgotten
or denied.

“Whether or not we’re a member of the community that was victimized in
the genocide, we should all take it personally because genocide is a
crime against all of humanity,” said Eric Cohen, an organizer of the
march and chairman of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur.

Fred Manasse, who said he was 3½ years old when he fled Germany during
the Holocaust in the late 1930s, told the crowd Boggis’s story touched
him deeply. He said he lost both parents and a sister at Auschwitz,
and he spent several years in denial about their deaths. “My story is
a bit different than hers,” Manasse said. “But it’s not totally
different.” Representatives of the local Armenian community said they
also connected with Boggis’s story.

“Today, as always, the Armenians stand as one with our Rwandan
brothers and sisters,” said James Kalustian, president of the Armenian
Heritage Foundation. Several people in the crowd Sunday pointed to
mass killings in Armenia as evidence of the harm that denial of
genocide causes. Academics and historians estimate that 1 million to
1.5 million Armenians were killed in 1915 by Turkish soldiers, but
Turkish leaders maintain that fewer people died and the violence did
not constitute genocide. Armenian-Americans still push the US Congress
to officially recognize the killings as genocide nearly 100 years
later. Denial or forgetfulness is what allows genocide to continue
happening, the marchers said. In Rwanda, the international community
largely looked on as the mass killings occurred. “Really, nobody
cared,” said Jean Bosco Rutagengwa, Boggis’s adoptive father, who was
30 and living in Kigali when he survived the genocide there. “But if
you have social pressure on organizations and government, I am certain
that things will happen” to stop genocide.

Pressure, he said, begins with remembrance.

“When people forget,” he said. “Things like this genocide happen
again.”

_________________________________________
Walk Against Genocide in observance of the 20th Anniversary
Commemoration of Rwanda is a program of the Friends of Rwandan
Genocide Survivors, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, JCRC of
Greater Boston and the Armenian Assembly of America.

ARMENIAN POW HAKOB INJIGHULYAN’S FAMILY PROTESTED OUTSIDE ICRC YEREVAN OFFICE

04.14.2014 19:58 epress.am

Family, friends, and neighbors of army conscript Hakob Injighulyan,
who has been held captive in Azerbaijan for nearly 9 months, today
demonstrated outside the Yerevan office of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Speaking to Epress.am, those gathered said they came to Yerevan from
the village of Voskevaz in Aragatsotn marz (province) to get a clear
and final answer from relevant bodies: “We have been waiting for so
many months in uncertainty — it’s more than enough. We gave a soldier,
after all, and we’ve come to ask for our child.”

Hakob’s brother, Harutyun Injighulyan, told the Epress.am correspondent
on the scene that waiting patiently for 9 months has yielded no results

Hakob’s father, Gurgen Injighulyan, added that the last letter they
received from their son was on February 22, and they have received
no news since then: “We are expecting a normal answer; otherwise,
we’ll take drastic measures.”

Later, head of the ICRC delegation to Armenia Sarah Epprecht met
with Hakob’s parents and brother and told them that, according to
information from the UN office, the process of searching for a third
country has begun.

“We asked for more details and to keep us informed as soon as
possible. We brought the letter Hakob wrote, but they didn’t accept
it today; they said, ‘leave it till the end of April’,” said Harutyun.

The ICRC representative’s response, however, didn’t satisfy those
gathered, and they decided to cross the street and enter the office:
“Let’s enter the building, request an answer — why are we feeling
pity? They are deceiving us, putting a soft pillow beneath our heads,
making us out to be idiots.”

Upon their request, Epprecht (pictured below, left) got out of her
office and spoke with those gathered.

“Our organization is not a part of the UN, but our joint efforts
continue. We want to make sure that we can continue visiting him
and that he can continue communicating with his family, and that is
the role that we play, and we will continue to play that role. The
ICRC is the only organization that has this role today. I hope that
everyone will agree and understand that it’s important that he receives
visitors. And we know that a lot of people are frustrated and upset
and worried too, and we know that a lot of time has passed already,
and we also hope that this situation can be resolved.

“I know that all of you have come today to ask your questions —
I will convey all these concerns to my colleagues in Baku. Our doors
are always open for members of Hakob’s family; we will do everything
so that we can help in some way. The process will take a long time —
you have to wait,” she said.

After this reply, those gathered rushed to the presidential palace
at Baghramyan 26, to ask for a reply to a letter that was sent to
the Armenian president 9 months ago.

“We delivered my brother to the Armenian army — where is he? Why
isn’t he here? There hasn’t been a single answer or explanation from
our leaders up to today,” said Hakob’s brother.

The Injighulyan family presented an appeal letter to the Desk
for Reception of Citizens, Proposals, Appeals and Claims of the
Presidential Oversight Service, where they were informed that the
letter will be delivered to the president within two days’ time.

RUSSIAN OFFICIAL: ARMENIA SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTS ROAD MAP ON CUSTOMS UNION ACCESSION

April 14, 2014 | 14:34

Armenia is extremely successful in implementing road map on joining
Customs Union and Common Economic Space, Russian Deputy Minister
Vasily Nebenzya said.

Completion of the road map will serve as the basis for drafting a
treaty on Armenia’s joining Customs Union and the Common Economic
Space, and then to join the Eurasian Economic Union.

EurAsEC will cease to exist approximately from January 2015 and will
be replaced by the Eurasian Economic Union.

“We are finalizing preparation for the agreement on the Eurasian
Economic Union. A meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council
with the participation of the presidents of Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan will take place on April 29. They have a task to finalize
the agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union by May,” Nebenzya said.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Judge is Biased, Claims Lawyer Defending Young Murder Suspect

04.08.2014 13:10 epress.am

The term of the pre-trial detention of murder suspect Karen Kungortsev
was once againextended. The court yet again did not take into account
the defense motion.

The Lori District Court of First Instance presided over by Judge
Varduhi Hovnanyan (pictured) began examining the motion to extend
Kungortsev’s detention by two months on April 4 and ended on April 7.
The court session began with Kungortsev’s attorney, Helsinki
Association for Human Rights lawyer Arayik Papikyan submitting a
petition for the judge’s recusal. Papikyan explained that the
investigator submitted 4 petitions for Kungortsev’s arrest and
continued imprisonment, which were examined by the same judge,
Hovnanyan. The previous 3 requests were granted, even when the
investigator presented no substantiated facts or evidence, being
limited solely to legislative wording.

The attorney mentioned in his petition that the court justifies the
judicial act merely by legislative wording, which is not only
insufficient, but also unacceptable for extending a person’s term of
imprisonment. Furthermore, Papikyan said, there is reasonable doubt
that judge is not impartial specifically toward Kungortsev and has a
biased attitude. This is the fourth time, the defense said, the judge
has considered the investigator’s petition on arrest, three of which
contain practically the same content, not paying attention to this
fact and sustaining the previous 3 petitions.

Nevertheless, on April 7, the judge denied the petition for recusal,
claiming that the judge has no bias or prejudice against the accused.

Then the court considered the investigator’s petition, heard the
objections of the defense and the accused, and decided to grant the
application. Thus, Kungortsev’s term of imprisonment was extended by
two month.

Recall, Kungortsev, 22, is accused of murdering David Hovakimyan, 15.
Kungortsev says he is innocent, while human rights defenders and his
attorney point to violations during the preliminary investigation.
While behind bars, the accused resorted to self harm, as well as
beginning a hunger strike. His mother, Anahit Harutyunyan, said that
her son was beaten by police while under police custody and forced to
confess to the crime.

World Bulletin, Turkey
April 11 2014

Turkey’s FM warns of ‘domino effect’ of Ukraine crisis

Turkey does not want Ukraine instability to start a domino effect in
and around the Black Sea, Ahmet Davutoglu said.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey’s foreign minister has warned that Russia’s unilateral
annexation of Crimea may lead to a domino effect in and around the
Black Sea and neighboring regions of Turkey.

Speaking on a visit to Japan, Ahmet Davutoglu said: “Our concern is
not only Ukraine. If this trend starts, which acts against territorial
integrity, there are many other frozen conflicts like Trans-Dniester,
Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Speaking to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, Davutoglu said Turkey respects
the territorial integrity of Ukraine, internationally recognized and
endorsed by the U.N. and does not recognize the annexation of Crimea
by Russia.

Asked about his views on Russia demanding a federal state in Ukraine,
he said: “Any administrative issue should be discussed within Ukraine
by the Ukrainians.”

Russia has said Ukraine should reform itself into a federation, but
the Kiev government has refused.

On speculations that Russia might stop its gas flow to Ukraine and
whether it would effect Turkey, Davutoglu said Turkey’s energy
agreements with Russia are clear and have been continuing for many
years without any problems.

>From April 1, Russia increased the price of gas for Ukraine to US$485
per barrel from US$268.59, an act Ukraine’s government called ‘a
declaration of economic war.’

During the 2009 Ukrainian gas crisis, the flow of Russian gas via
Ukraine to Turkey had stopped.

“We have already decided to diversify both energy resources and
different routes, and the nuclear plants we are building with Japan
and Russia are an alternative source of energy…Concerning this
particular issue, we do not expect a crisis, as there are clear
agreements between Turkey and Russia.”

Syria crisis

Responding to a question about whether stepping up military aid to the
Syrian opposition was an option he said: “Of course, as the regime is
opting to increase military pressure; these are the people of Syria
and they need to be supported.”

He also warned that in case of any threat to the Suleyman Shah Tomb in
Syria – Turkey’s only exclave – Turkey would take all measures.

Protected by Turkish troops, the tomb and the surrounding area are
located in Aleppo’s Manbij district, approximately 30km from the
Turkish border.

Hovik Abrahamyan appointed Prime Minister

20:27 13.04.2014

President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a degree, appointing Hovik
Abrahamyan as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

Hovik Abrahamyan was born on January 24, 1958 in Mkhchyan village in
Ararat province.

Graduated from the Yerevan Institute of National Economy.

Served in the Soviet Army.

1990 -1991 – Head of the division of the Burastan brandy factory.

1991 – 1995 – Director of the Artashat wine and brandy factory.

1995 – 1999 – Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia of the first convocation.

1995 – 1996 – Chairman of the Artashat city council executive committee.

1996 – 1998 – Mayor of Artashat.

1998 – 2000 – Regional Governor of the Ararat province of Armenia.

2000 – 2001 – Minister, coordinating the activity of territorial
administration and urban development of the Republic of Armenia.

2001 – 2002 – Minister of the Territorial Administration of the
Republic of Armenia.

2002 – 2005 – Minister, coordinating the activity of the territorial
administration and infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia.

2005 – 2007 – Minister of the Territorial Administration of the
Republic of Armenia; endowed with functions of coordinating minister.

2007 – 2008 – Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia,
Minister of the Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia.

April 21, 2008 – Appointed Secretary General of the presidential staff
of the Republic of Armenia.

August 24, 2008 – Elected Deputy of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia of the fourth convocation.

September 5, 2008 – Dismissed from the position of the Secretary
General of the presidential staff of the Republic of Armenia by the
decree of the President.

September 29, 2008 – Elected President of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia of the fourth convocation.

November 21, 2011 – Upon his letter of resignation, the President’s
authority with the National Assembly ceased.

May 6, 2012 – Elected Deputy of the National Assembly by the
proportional electoral system from the Republican Party of Armenian.

May 31, 2012 – Elected President of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia of the fifth convocation.

Since 2005 – Member of the Security Council of the Republic of Armenia.

President of the Council of the Armenian State University of
Economics. Honorable Doctor of the same University. Council Member of
the Yerevan State University.

Deputy Chair of the Republican Party of Armenia. Member of the
Executive Body and the Council.

By the December 28, 2012 decree of the President of the Republic of
Armenia, awarded the First Grade Medal “For Services Contributed to
the Motherland.” Awarded the “Anania Shirakatsi” Medal, the RA Prime
Minister’s commemorative Medal, the “Marshall Baghramyan” Medal, the
“Fridtjof Nansen” commemorative Gold Medal, the Golden Medal of the
Parliament of Greece, and for rendering invaluable services to
Theatrical Art and on the occasion of International Theatre Day, Mr.
Abrahamyan was awarded the Golden Medal of the Theatrical Figures,
awarded the Order of “Mesrop Mashtots” for services to the Republic of
Artsakh, and also awarded the IPA CIS Gold Medal for making an
important contribution to strengthening of inter-parliamentary
cooperation. Awarded the Commemorative Medal of “Russian SFS Border
Guard Department in the Republic of Armenia.”

Married, with three children and seven grandchildren.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 13 2014

TAA refutes claim tying US genocide resolution to Hizmet

13 April 2014, Sunday /ANKARA, TODAY’S ZAMAN

The Turkic American Alliance (TAA) has refuted the pro-government
daily Sabah’s and Yeni Å?afak’s claims of `treachery,’ linking the
Hizmet movement, a faith-based group inspired by Turkish Islamic
scholar Fethullah Gülen, with the passing of an `Armenian genocide’
resolution at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a senate resolution
on Thursday commemorating the `Armenian Genocide’ and clearing the way
for the resolution to be voted in the Senate. US Senator Robert
Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey), chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, and US Senator Mark Kirk introduced the US Senate
resolution on April 3.

Pro-government Sabah daily claimed on Sunday that the `parallel
structure’ (in reference to the Hizmet movement) has funded Senator
Menendez’s election campaign. Yeni Å?afak daily wrote on Saturday that
Menendez attended a gala meeting of TAA, which has ties with Hizmet,
only one day before the resolution was adopted at the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee in April 10, suggesting that Hizmet was behind the
preparation of this resolution against Turkey’s interests and using an
American senator to that end.

Sabah claims that Menendez has received $9,500 in total from two
schools, one law firm and one computer company that have allegedly
close ties to Gülen.

TAA President Faruk Taban and TAA’s member organization Turkic
American Association Council (CTAA) President Furkan KoÅ?ar made a
joint statement on Saturday that Yeni Å?afak’s story is erroneous, only
based on a photo taken at the gala meeting of TAA. In a photo that
appeared in Yeni Å?afak on Saturday, CTAA President Furkan KoÅ?ar and
Menendez are seen talking to each other.

TAA, the largest national Turkic organization in the US, held its
third annual Turkic American Convention in Washington, D.C., on April
12-13 in cooperation with the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and
Industrialists (TUSKON).

Calling the story a lie, TAA and CTAA said that they have always
expressed their displeasure to Menendez over resolutions that upset
Turks and Azerbaijanis. The statement said that linking TAA and CTAA
with the Armenian resolution at the US Congress is part of an
operation to manipulate people’s perceptions — the Turkish public
have witnessed plenty of examples of this recently. Taban and KoÅ?ar
said the journalist and Yeni Å?afak will be sued for linking their
organizations with the passing of the Armenian resolution.

`It is out of the question to support an Armenian resolution which TAA
and CTAA worked against over the years. Whenever we had a chance we
have expressed our displeasure to Senator Menendez that Turks and
Azerbaijani people are disturbed by these resolutions that have been
brought to US Congress many times over the years. Despite the efforts
of other nongovernmental organizations and the Turkish Embassy in
Washington, the passing of the resolution shows that the Republic of
Turkey and nongovernmental organizations need to maybe exert more
effort,’ said the TAA and CTAA presidents in their statement.

The 12 senators voted for the resolution in the 18-member committee at
the Senate, while five senators voted against it and one senator
abstained. It will be up to Senate majority leader Harry Reid to bring
the resolution to the Senate floor.

TAA President Taban also made a written statement on Friday in which
he expressed the sadness of the resolution passing the US Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, before Yeni Å?afak’s claims appeared on
the paper on Saturday. Taban also pointed out in his statement that
during this time it is regretful that Turkey did not have an
ambassador in Washington, D.C., to defend Turkey’s interests. He also
stressed that TAA members have expressed their concerns to many
congressmen and senators, including Menendez, about the resolution’s
possible harm for Turkish-American relations, but their efforts were
not enough to change the outcome.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry appointed a new ambassador to Washington
early this year, but Ambassador Serdar Kılıç arrived in the US capital
at about the time the resolution was passed at the Senate committee.
Former Turkish ambassador to Washington Namık Tan returned to Turkey
mid-March.

The resolution was not on the agenda of the last working day of US
Senate on Friday before the Easter recess. The Senate will reconvene
on April 28.

The resolution (H. Res. 410) is `expressing the sense’ of the Senate
on April 24, the day on which Armenians remember the events they
describe as a genocide. Ankara denies claims that the 1915 events
amount to genocide, arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed
when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire during World War I
in collaboration with the Russian army, which was then invading
eastern Anatolia.

The resolution calls on the Senate `to remember and observe the
anniversary of the Armenian genocide on April 24, 2014′ and says the
US president `should work toward an equitable, constructive, stable,
and durable Armenian-Turkish relationship that includes the full
acknowledgement by Turkey of the facts about the Armenian genocide.’

Turks will focus on the statement to come from the US President Barack
Obama on April 24 and see whether Obama will use the `G’ (genocide)
word. Obama has so far refrained from naming the events of 1915 as
genocide.

Vardan Oskanyan: Tigran Sargsyan’s four mistakes (video)

19:03 | April 12,2014 | Politics

During “New economic policy” economic conference initiated by four
non-governmental powers in Tsaghkadzor, Vardan Oskanyan indicated the
mistakes of Tigran Sargsyan’s government. Former Foreign Minister
separated four main mistakes, because of which, according to him,
during those six years the Government wasn’t able to provide stable
and high economic increase in Armenia.

Details in the video

AZERBAÏDJAN
La société française EADS Astrium devrait vendre deux satellites à l’Azerbaïdjan

La société française EADS Astrium s’apprête à vendre deux satellites à
l’Azerbaïdjan. Mais selon le site azéri haqqin.az, ces satellites de
fabrication française sont équipés de technologies dépassées et
pourraient être classés selon ce site au rang des