ARMENIE
Nous nous souvenons tous de Sumgait a tweeté le co-président américain
du Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE
James Warlick, le co-président américain du Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE,
chargé d’aider l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan a trouver une formule de
paix pour le conflit du Karabagh, a évoqué sur son microblog de
Twitter les pogroms arméniens de Soumgaït en Azerbaidjan à la fin de
Février 1988.
UKRAINE
Les membres de la diaspora arménienne réticents à prendre parti en Ukraine
Sergei Nigoyan, 20 ans d’origine arménienne né en Ukraine, a été le
premier militant Euromaidan à tomber. Sa mort fin janvier a créé un
défi pour les dirigeants de l’importante communauté arménienne en
Ukraine : la révolution se déroule et les Arméniens sont généralement
désireux d’être considéré comme fidèles et neutres.
Dans des déclarations publiées le mois dernier, l’Union des Arméniens
en Ukraine (UAU), la principale organisation civique représentant la
diaspora arménienne dans le pays, a soigneusement évité de prendre
parti, et à la place a exprimé son soutien pour le maintien de l’ordre
constitutionnel.
Tacitement, les dirigeants du groupe civique semblent préférer que les
Arméniens restent en dehors de la lutte entre les partisans Eurimaidan
et les loyalistes du président déchu Viktor Ianoukovitch.
Au lendemain de la mort de Nigoyan le 22 Janvier, l’UAU a exhorté >.
La prudence manifestée par les dirigeants arméniens est compréhensible
étant donné que près de la moitié des quelque 100 000 Arméniens en
Ukraine aujourd’hui est arrivé dans le pays après 1989. Certains, y
compris les parents de Sergei Nigoyan, ont été forcés de migrer et de
fuir les pogroms anti-arméniens en Azerbaïdjan et la guerre dans et
autour du Haut-Karabagh à la fin des années 1980 et au début des
années 1990. Ayant été impliqué dans un conflit récent, ces Arméniens
ne sont pas désireux de se laisser prendre dans un autre.
Au cours des deux dernières décennies, les Arméniens ont travaillé dur
pour trouver une place dans la société ukrainienne. Ces immigrés
relativement récents ont tendance à s’installer dans les zones
russophones de l’est de l’Ukraine et de gagner leur vie principalement
dans l’agriculture. Certains ont prospéré a souligné le chef de l’UAU,
Vilen Shatvoryan qui est également membre du parlement ukrainien.
Shatvoryan est affilié au Parti des régions, une force politique qui a
soutenu Ianoukovitch.
Les dirigeants de l’UAU ont clairement en tête que les incertitudes
actuelles en Ukraine pourraient conduire à la persécution des
minorités ethniques. Dans leur attitude de jouer la montre les
dirigeants de l’UAU ont déclaré qu’il est de leur devoir de travailler
, a
déclaré Arsen de son fils. dit-elle. >.
Note de la rédaction :
Jacob Balzani Loov a fourni cet article via Transterra Media.
Eurasianet.org
samedi 1er mars 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com
– 694
THE ORPHANED RUG
Reason.com
March 2014
Matt Welch from the March 2014 issue
In 1925, a group of orphans who had lost their parents to Turkey’s
genocide of Armenians presented this ceremonial rug to President Calvin
Coolidge. Despite the exertions of many activists and historians,
the rug has been kept away from public view since the mid-1990s.
Armenian Americans have long suspected that the rug was warehoused
because the government of NATO ally Turkey does not want to see
or read any official-sounding communication that even broaches the
g-word. So when the publishers of a slim new volume titled President
Calvin Coolidge and the Armenian Orphan Rug asked the White House to
release the Ghazir artifact for a private book party in December,
the terse response was, “We regret that it is not possible to loan
it out at this time.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) responded by planning a historically
appropriate event that he hoped even the White House couldn’t refuse.
But Schiff’s initiative probably will end up in the same place as
the annual congressional drive to get the president to use the word
genocide on Armenian Remembrance Day (April 24): nowhere. As long
as Washington feels it has foreign policy needs that only Turkey can
supply, the orphan rug is likely to remain orphaned.
“WHY GENOCIDE? THE FATE OF THE ARMENIANS AND ASSYRIANS AT THE END OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE” SUNY IN BERLIN
AGA Online
Feb 27 2014
Berlin-Wannsee, 6. Marz 2014, 19:30 Uhr: “Why Genocide? The Fate
of the Armenians and Assyrians at the End of the Ottoman Empire”
– Vortrag von Prof. Ronald Suny an der American Academy in Berlin
(Am Sandwerder 17-19)
27.02.2014 17:33 PDF Version
Understanding why the Young Turk government decided in early
1915 to deport – and eventually massacre – its Armenian subjects
requires attention both to strategic calculations of a government
perceiving immediate dangers and to the emotional environment in
which construction of enemies and allies were made. Rather than
propose that the genocide was the planned first step in creating a
Turkish nation-state (Kemalism avant la lettre), Ronald Suny proposes
that the Young Turks were more empire-preservers than nation-makers,
and that the genocide was a pathological response to a perceived
existential threat. Distinct from earlier massacres (1894-1896,
1909), which had different etiologies, the mass murders of 1915 were
a radical ethno-religious cleansing to reshape Anatolia and render
the Armenians politically and culturally impotent. To explain why
the Young Turks committed genocide, Suny investigates what he calls
their “affective disposition:” the emotional environment and world
view that led them to construct the Armenians as subversive to the
empire and nation’s continued existence.
This event will be livestreamed.
BIOGRAPHY
Ronald Suny is the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and
Political History at the University of Michigan, where he directed the
Eisenberg Institute of Historical Studies. He is also a professor
emeritus of political science and history at the University of
Chicago. Suny’s work has centered on the non-Russian nationalities
of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, imperialism, and social
and cultural history. From 1981 to 1995, Suny held the first Alex
Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of
Michigan, where he founded and directed the Armenian Studies Program.
His many accolades include election to presidency of the American
Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, two fellowships at
the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford,
a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, and a Guggenheim
Fellowship. Together with his Michigan colleague Fatma Muge Gocek he
was awarded the Academic Freedom Prize by the Middle East Studies
Association for their success in bringing together Armenian and
Turkish scholars to investigate the Armenian genocide.
Suny is the author of several books, including Looking Toward Ararat:
Armenia in Modern History (Indiana, 1993), and the co-editor of A
State of Nations: Empire and Nation-making in the Age of Lenin and
Stalin (Oxford, 2001), and A Question off Genocide: Armenians and
Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire (Oxford, 2011). He has served
on the editorial boards of Slavic Review, International Labor and
Working-Class History, International Journal of Middle East Studies,
The Armenian Review, Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies,
Armenian Forum, and Ab Imperio. A frequent guest on news broadcasts
such as the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, Voice of America, and National
Public Radio, Suny also writes for The New York Times, The Washington
Post, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, New Left Review, Dissent, and
other publications.
AMERICAN ACADEMY PROJECT
Why Genocide? The Fate of the Armenians and Assyrians at the End of
the Ottoman Empire
At the Academy, Suny will complete Why Genocide? The Fate of the
Armenians and Assyrians at the End of the Ottoman Empire, under
contract with Princeton University Press. Instead of looking at the
deportations and massacres of Armenians and Assyrians in 1915 as the
outcome of nationalist or religious conflict, Suny argues that the
Armenian genocide occurred when state authorities decided to remove
the Armenians from eastern Anatolia in order to realize a number
of strategic goals. He employs the concept “affective disposition”
to explain an environment in which the Armenians were seen as an
existential threat to the Empire and the Turkish people, thus rendering
genocide, in the minds of the perpetrators, rational. Rather than a
long-planned and orchestrated program of extermination, the Armenian
genocide appears as more a vengeful and determined act of suppression
that turned into an opportunistic policy to rid Anatolia of Armenians
in a racialist vision of a Turanian empire.
ARMENIAN, GEORGIAN PRESIDENTS MEET IN YEREVAN
Civil, Georgia
Feb 28 2014
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 28 Feb.’14 / 19:49
After meeting in Yerevan on February 27, Georgian and Armenian
Presidents, Giorgi Margvelashvili and Serzh Sargsyan, respectively,
praised “brotherly” relations between the two countries.
“Traditionally we pay a huge significance to good neighborly relations
with Georgia,” President Sargsyan said after the meeting. “Warm,
friendly relations between the Armenian and Georgian peoples represent
a guarantee for mutually beneficial cooperation and the best way for
maintaining the stability in the region. Consistent strengthening of
the Armenian-Georgian partnership is one of the major components of
Armenia’s foreign policy agenda.”
He described talks with President Margvelashvili as “business-like
and fruitful.”
President Sargsyan said that he and his Georgian counterpart are of the
same opinion that “the choice of our countries in respect of economic
development should never be an obstacle to our economic cooperation.”
“We believe that Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union and
Georgia’s decision to sign free trade agreement with the European
Union will not hinder our [bilateral] economic relations,” the
Armenian President said. “On the contrary, these decisions open up
new opportunities for our businessmen. In this context, I would like
to stress the importance of formation of a joint working group on
trade issues, which will hold its first meeting on March 21.”
President Margvelashvili said on this issue: “Although Armenia’s
political, or to be more precise, economic vector and Georgia’s future
economic development are being carried out in different directions,
we have similar visions in terms of our [bilateral] relations.”
The Armenian President said without specifying that during the meeting
he discussed infrastructural projects in the South Caucasus region as
“a major component for ensuring security and stability in the region.”
“We are of the same opinion that complete resolution of all the
conflicts is possible only through peaceful means,” Sargsyan said.
He also stressed that the Armenian and Georgian peoples are tied by
traditions, spiritual and cultural values. “It is the wealth that we
are obliged to cherish and preserve,” the Armenian President said.
President Margvelashvili noted “a special role” played by ethnic
Armenian citizens of Georgia “in economic, cultural and even political
development of our country.”
Margvelashvili visit to Armenia came after his trips to Turkey and
Azerbaijan. He said that these three neighboring countries of Georgia
are willing to further deepen ties with Tbilisi.
“Georgia has a similar attitude – we are oriented towards deepening
relations and stable future,” Margvelashvili said.
On the first day of his visit to Armenia, President Margvelashvili
also met with Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Speaker of Parliament
Ovik Abramyan. On February 28 the Georgian President met with head
of the Armenian Church, Garegin II.
9TH CIRCUIT BREATHES LIFE INTO BID TO STAY IN U.S.
Courthouse News Service
Feb 28 2014
By CAMERON LANGFORD
(CN) – The 9th Circuit threw a lifeline to a man facing deportation to
Armenia and ordered U.S. immigration officials to reconsider removing
him now that he’s married to a U.S. citizen.
Masis Tadevosyan is a native of Iran and Armenian citizen who came
to the United States in May 2002, but overstayed his visa so an
immigration judge ordered his removal to Armenia.
Tadevosyan appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and while it
was pending he married U.S. citizen Lyubov Smolyanyuk, who promptly
filed an I-130 visa petition for him.
After the BIA affirmed his removal, Tadevosyan filed a motion to reopen
his removal proceedings, to which he attached his I-130 petition and
two affidavits of support, one from his wife and the other from his
joint sponsor, Norik Abrahamian.
To qualify for U.S. citizenship a visa applicant has to prove they
are not a “public charge.”
Therefore, a relative must submit evidence they make enough money to
support the immigrant. If the relative’s income is insufficient the
immigrant can submit an affidavit of support from another person who
agrees to assist them.
Because Tadevosyan and his wife had no reported income for 2006 they
turned to Abrahamian to serve as Tadevosyan’s joint sponsor.
Abrahamian testified that he made $22,211 in 2006, attached copies
of his federal and state tax returns from that year and swore to his
2006 income under penalty of perjury in an affidavit.
This was not enough to convince the Department of Homeland Security,
however, which opposed Tadevosyan’s motion to reopen his case.
The agency argued that Tadevosyan had not submitted evidence to prove
he was not a public charge because Abrahamian had not provided W-2
forms, paycheck stubs or bank statements to confirm the income on
his 2006 tax returns.
The Board of Immigration of Appeals denied Tadevosyan’s motion,
writing “the DHS’ opposition is sufficient to require a denial of
the respondent’s motion.”
Tadevosyan then appealed to the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, Calif.
A three-judge panel from the federal appeals court breathed life into
Tadevosyan’s quest for U.S. citizenship Wednesday, finding that the
BIA had simply rubber stamped the Department of Homeland Security’s
opposition to his case.
“As we read the BIA’s decision here, it is one of those in which
the BIA improperly accorded controlling weight to the fact that
DHS opposed the motion, without regard to whether the basis of that
opposition was correct,” Judge Marsha Berson wrote for the panel.
The panel focused on Abrahamian’s affidavit and found that, contrary
to the government’s claims, it was enough to show he had sufficient
income to support Tadevosyan.
“To the extent the government contends that Abrahamian should have
submitted ‘letters, paycheck stubs or financial statements’ evidencing
his income, such materials may be submitted but are not mandatory,”
Berson noted.
The appellate judges remanded the case to the Board of Immigration
Appeals.
US SEES NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 28 2014
28 February 2014 – 11:44am
Jen Psaki, spokeswoman of the US State Department, has commented
on the Khojaly Massacre, stating that deaths of people in the war
of Armenia and Azerbaijan was a reminder that there was no military
solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports.
Only settlement of the conflict and peace would bring stability and
prosperity to the region, said Psaki. The US, being a co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group, was committed to cooperation with both sides
of the conflict to make peace, added the spokeswoman.
ARMENIA TO SET UP JEWELRY FEZ BY 2015
Interfax, Russia
Feb 27 2014
YEREVAN. Feb 27
The government of Armenia on Thursday approved a decision to organize
a second free economic zone (FEZ), for jewelers and watch makers.
Economy Minister Vagram Avanesyan said the FEZ would be located in
Yerevan on the territory of CJSC AJA Holding, which is organizing
the free economic zone.
“Total investment will be around $10 million. The FEZ will start to
operate before 2015,” the minister said.
FEZ residents will comprise of companies that make jewelry, watches
and cut diamonds. There will be around 150 foreign companies and
around 2,000 new jobs.
Annual exports of $200 million to $250 million are forecast.
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said the initiative for the FEZ came
from the private sector. The idea was first discussed in Yerevan at
a jewelers forum. “We have prepared for this for a long time and we
have serious potential. The program allows Armenians jewelers from
around the world to open their own company in Armenia,” he said.
The free economic zone will have tax preferences so residents will
not be subject to VAT, profit tax or property tax.
The first FEZ in Armenia opened on August 1 2013 at CJSC RAO Mars
and CJSC Yerevan R&D Institute for Mathematical Machines. It is a
hi-tech zone managed by Sitronics.
AJA Holding was established in November 2013 by Garik Gevorkyan,
the chairman of the Armenian Jewellers Association (AJA).
AZERI HACKERS ATTACK AROUND 300 ARMENIAN SITES OVER NIGHT – EXPERT
Interfax, Russia
Feb 27 2014
YEREVAN. Feb 27
Azeri hackers attacked approximately 300 Armenian websites in the
early hours of Wednesday.
“According to preliminary information, Azeri hackers managed to get
into the DNS system of the Armenian Datacom Company and made some
changes there,” information security expert Samvel Martirosyan wrote
on his Facebook page.
“The websites were not fully hacked, their addresses were changed.
Entering one Armenian website you get to another one. As a result
around 300 websites redirect to Azeri propaganda,” Martirosyan said.
ar cm
HERITAGE PARTY LEADER RAFFI HOVANNISIAN TO ATTEND HAK MARCH 1 RALLY
02.28.2014 13:16 epress.am
On March 1, members of the Heritage Party will participate in the
rally organized by the Armenian National Congress (HAK), which will
begin at 3 pm at Liberty Square. Heritage Party MP Ruben Hakobyan
conveyed this news to the media during a briefing in parliament today.
Hakobyan said that Heritage Party leader Raffi Hovannisian (pictured)
also will be present at the rally tomorrow.