Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Large protest “1915-2015: 100 Years of Denial: It’s Enough” to be held in Bern

13:05, 4 April, 2015

BERN, 4 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. On April 24, the Swiss city of Bern will
hold a large protest against denial of the Armenian Genocide. As
“Armenpress” reports, citing Nouvelles d’Armenie, the protest will be
held with the title “1915-2015: 100 Years of Denial: It’s Enough”.

The protest will be dedicated to the recognition of the genocides of
the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks and the commemoration of
the victims.

Agreement over Iran’s nuclear program might lead to serious geopolitical changes

12:16, 4 April, 2015

YEREVAN, 4 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The agreement over Iran’s nuclear
program might serve as ground for serious changes in the region. This
is what Iranologist Rubik Danielian said during an April 4 press
conference. “It’s not just about changes in the region, but
geopolitical changes in general. A very important factor here is that
the agreement over Iran’s nuclear program became the point on which
Russia and the West reached mutual understanding in this tense
atmosphere,” Danielian mentioned, as “Armenpress” reports.

Danielian emphasized that the agreement over Iran’s nuclear program
goes to show that the West, Russia and China are ready to adapt to
Iran’s new role in the region. “We can’t say the same for certain
countries in the Near East, particularly Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the
Persian Gulf countries. Brilliant evidence of that is the fact that
two days ago, Turkey’s President made a very coarse anti-Iranian
statement that was like a message to the “six countries” that Turkey
isn’t ready to see Iran play a more active role in the region,” the
Iranologist mentioned.

Armenian Authorities Want to Adopt the Russian Model of Governorates: Press

04.04.2015 13:29 epress.am

The system of territorial administration of Armenia needs reforms,
ruling Republican Party MP Vahram Baghdasaryan said in an interview
with ArmenianHraparak daily.

The reporter of the daily asked Baghdasaryan whether there was any
truth to the rumors that after completing the community enlargement
initiative, the Armenian Government plans to enlarge the country’s
provinces, according to which, Vayots Dzor is to be merged into Syunik
province; Ararat – into Armavir; Lori – into Tavush; Aragatsotn – into
Shirak.

“It is still unclear [which provinces will merge into each other], it
hasn’t been discussed yet. I do agree, however, that the territorial
structure needs changes. Take the Russian governorates (structural
subdivisions of the Russian Federation – Epress.am), they hold broad
autonomy. Our administrative divisions, as such, are not endowed with
special autonomy. For a small country like ours, to tell the truth,
the number of provinces is rather large. Moreover, there are several
models; there is the one of going back to the previous regional
system, there is the model of enlargement…” Baghdasaryan said.

When asked about the timeframe during which these changes would be
made, Baghdasaryan said it would become clear before the
implementation of the constitutional reforms.

Aravot: ARFD to nominate its candidate in Abovyan mayoral elections

12:04 04/04/2015 >> DAILY PRESS

ARF Dashnaktsutyun intends to nominate its candidate in the mayoral
elections in Abovyan city (Kotayk province), Aravot reports citing
sources.

Abovyan mayor Karapet Guloyan was appointed as governor of Kotayk on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, ARFD’s candidate is a participant of
Karabakh war, and a well-known public and political figure.

Source: Panorama.am

MOD: Armenia runs confident and proactive military policy (PHOTOS)

17:03, 04.04.2015
Region:Armenia
Theme: Politics

YEREVAN. – The Defense Minister of Armenia, Seyran Ohanyan, on
Saturday met with the students and alumni of the Yerevan School of
Political Studies (YSPS).

Ohanyan presented Armenia’s defense policy and strategy as an
important component of the country’s foreign policy.

He also talked with the YSPS students and alumni about the ongoing key
reforms in army-building.

And speaking about the geopolitical developments in the region, and
the current internal and external challenges, the minister stated that
Armenia’s military leadership runs a confident and proactive policy.

Seyran Ohanyan also responded to the questions posed by those in attendance.

TURKEY REJECTS CYPRIOT BAN ON DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

13:19, 03 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic has said Cypriot law
on banning denial of Armenian Genocide is “not worth of commenting,”
Anadolu Agency reports.

Turkey has rejected the Cypriot law on banning the denial of Armenian
Genocide.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a statement
late Thursday that “the decision is null and void for Turkey and not
worthy of comment.”

“It is without doubt that those who try to exploit the 1915 incidents
at every opportunity by using simple political ambitions cannot get
any result,” Bilgic added.

Earlier Thursday, the Cypriot Parliament unanimously adopted a law,
making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide.

The bill, which was jointly submitted by all political parties to
the Greek Cypriot parliament, can impose a five-year imprisonment
and fine of EURO 10,000 to those who deny the Genocide.

ARF-D NOT TO BACK CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS UNLESS PARLIAMENTARY MODEL APPROVED – LAWMAKER

17:30 * 03.04.15

In an interview with Tert.am, Artsvik Minasyan, a lawmaker of
opposition the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun
(ARF-D), commented on the possibility of a second draft of
constitutional amendments.

The ARF-D is concerned over the reasons for a second draft.

“If the concept of a semi-presidential system or of reforms has
to be discussed once again, we are not for such an approach,” Mr
Minasyan said.

The second draft has not been distributed among the MPs because
Armenia’s president has approved one concept – parliamentary
government.

Commenting on the security concerns expressed by President Serzh
Sargsyan in a recent speech, Minasyan said he doesn’t think that the
parliamentary model in any way undermines national security.

“We insist on parliamentary government and share all the concerns
addressed by the president. We have international experience; in many
countries, there are systems ensuring government security, reducing
instability as well as guaranteeing internal and external security.

The parliamentary government does not in any way diminish [the
importance] of those problems. On the contrary, we see that developed
countries prefer the parliamentary model.”

Asked whether the president’s refusal to accept the system would mean
that he will lose the ARF-D as a partner in the implementation of the
reforms, Minasyan said the party will not back the amendments in case
the proposed model isn’t included in the package.

“Definitely, if the parliamentary form [of government isn’t approved],
we will not back such a reform. Our proposals are not restricted to the
government model; we have more large-scale proposals in terms of both
human rights protection and independence of the judiciary, as well as
direct participatory democracy, local government and corporate systems;
there are so many proposals. Yes, that’s the central question, but the
rest are important for us too; even if they are accepted, that doesn’t
mean we will be fully content with the proposed scenario, because it
is important to address the other questions as well,” he noted

Minasyan said he doesn’t expect the rest of the problems fully resolved
without the adoption of the parliamentary model. “If that one is
adopted without the other, we may formally have a parliamentary
[government], but the system will be super-personified in essence,”
he added.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL IMPACTS LOCAL RESIDENT: THE PLAINVILLE CITIZEN

14:13, 3 April, 2015

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS: The American electronic weekly The
Plainville Citizen published an article on the Armenian Genocide,
presenting how this crime against the humanity of the 20th century
impacted the plain citizens. The 100th year anniversary of the Armenian
genocide, which took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire between 1915 and 1923, is being celebrated this month with a
ceremony at the state capitol on April 25. One of the attendees will
be Harry Terdjanian, a New Britain resident whose family survived
the genocide and immigrated to the area in 1975.

Terdjanian, who owns AutoMaster in Southington, spoke with the Citizen
about the genocide and his family’s experience. Armenpress presents
the interview as follows: Citizen: Give us a history lesson on the
Armenian genocide.

Terdjanian: It’s a tragic story that most people are unfamiliar with,
although there are large Armenian communities that teach it in their
school systems and four Armenian churches in Connecticut and two in
New Britain, including the Armenian Apostolic Church where I worship.

In 1915-1923 the Turkish government decided to eliminate Armenians.

Half of Armenia was controlled by communist Russia and half by the
Turkish Ottoman Empire. The Turks were losing their grip and through
genocide tried to eliminate the Armenians. It was the first genocide
of the 20th century and the Holocaust was a blueprint of the Armenian
genocide. 1.5 million Armenians were killed over an eight year period.

The genocide was sponsored by the Turkish government. The Turkish
Army slaughtered women, children, the elderly and innocent unarmed
citizens. Victims were drowned and marched into the Syrian desert
without food and water. Their property was confiscated and they were
stripped of their rights. The government renamed towns and villages
with Turkish names.

Citizen: Turkey doesn’t admit it was responsible for genocide.

Terdjanian: Not many criminals are willing to admit to their doings,
you have to bring them to justice. There was overwhelming evidence
that genocide had taken place as it was unfolding. Henry Morgenthau,
the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire was an eye witness who wrote
books about the genocide and with his help money was sent for relief
efforts. It was the first large scale relief effort by the U.S.

Citizen: Tell us about your family’s experience during the genocide
period.

Terdjanian: I was born in Turkish occupied Armenia. We lived with the
consequences of the genocide. We were the minority with little rights
and were not allowed to have our own Christian name. Every Armenian
name ends with “ian” and we weren’t allowed to have that. I was born
in 1968 but things hadn’t changed since the genocide with unfair
conditions. We survived the genocide but we were treated as infidels
like they wanted to finish the job. We were clearly a minority and
they made us feel humiliated, the government and the people at the
local and state level. We looked in 20 countries to find a home and
found one in the U.S. with fortune and luck. We settled in Connecticut
in 1975 and became citizens. We’re thankful for the country we can
call home. I came with my parents, brother, sister and grandmother.

All still live in the area except my grandmother. I wanted to secure
justice for her but she didn’t see it. The perpetrators were never
brought to justice although the three leaders of the genocide were
convicted by a world court.

The event at the state capitol begins at 11 a.m. on April 25. The
Armenian flag will be flown outside the capitol on April 24, which is
the 100th anniversary of the genocide which began on April 24, 1915
when the Turkish government placed 200 Armenian community leaders
under arrest in Constantinople. A reception will follow the program
with Chris Bohjalian, the acclaimed author who wrote “The Sandcastle
Girls,” a novel about the Armenian genocide, as the keynote speaker.

ARMEN MARTIROSYAN: ARMENIA CAN BENEFIT FROM IRAN NUKE DEAL IF AUTHORITIES TAKE CORRECT STEPS

13:26 | April 3,2015 | Politics

Armenia can benefit from the extended round of talks on Iranian nuclear
program, if, of course, the country’s authorities take correct steps,
Vice-Chairman of the Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan said on Friday.

He says the framework agreement reached between Iran and the six
world powers can benefit us in terms of security and economic issues.

“Armenia has a good opportunity to be involved in these major economic
programs, even a small participation can ensure bid dividends. We
can pursue multi-vector foreign policy and develop the economy from
the economic, military, social, and cultural points of view,” Mr
Martitrosyan told A1+.

He says the opposition is not entitled to take practical steps and
everything depends on the government. The Heritage representative says
Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran Artashes Tumanyan is an experienced and
competent person but cannot do anything either.

On April 2, Iran and world powers reached a framework agreement on
Thursday on curbing Iran’s nuclear program for at least a decade,
after eight days of marathon talks in Switzerland. Iran will now
work with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany to continue
talks and reach a final agreement by June 30. Under the deal Tehran
is obliged to refrain from creating nuclear weapons. All sanctions
on Iran remain in place until a final deal is reached.

FLASH MOBS IN MEMORY OF ARMENIAN HERO SOGHOMON TEHLIRIAN IN GERMANY

by Marianna Lazarian

Friday, April 3, 13:39

A flash mob timed to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in
Ottoman Turkey was organized in Hamburg on April 2, on the birthday of
Soghomon Tehlirian – an Armenian Genocide survivor who assassinated
the former Ottoman Interior Minister Talaat Pasha in the presence of
many witnesses on March 15, 1921 in Berlin as revenge for his role
in orchestrating the Armenian Genocide during World War I.

The flash mob participants opened a 100-meter-long Armenian tricolor
flag in Hamburg, Tigran Mets Charity Fund told ArmInfo. A similar
action is scheduled also for today in Berlin on the very place where
Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha.

Tehlirian’s family was killed during the Genocide of Armenians. He
survived and escaped to Constantinople and then migrated to the United
States in 1920.

Talaat Pasha had been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in
the Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-1920 for his crimes against the
Armenians of the Empire (among other things). After a two-day trial
Tehlirian was found not guilty by the German court and freed.

Tehlirian is considered a national hero by Armenians.