Author: Kanayan Tamar

ABSURD TO SPEAK OF ARMENIAN ARMY’S COMBAT READINESS: WAR VETERAN

epress.am
01.27.2012

It’s absurd to speak of the combat readiness of today’s Armenian army,
said commander of the Shushi battalion during the Nagorno-Karabakh
War and one of the founders of the Sardarapat civic movement Jirair
Sefilian, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.

Speaking a day before the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s Armed Forces,
Sefilian said the hopes he had pinned on the army during the years
of the Nagorno-Karabakh War haven’t been justified.

“The army was to have served our country’s foreign and domestic
policies. Now the army has become a tool in the hands of the
authorities. The example is that they immersed the army in pressuring
internal unrest, which can’t be without consequences. I am against
the view that the army is society’s mirror. We could’ve created an
army that would’ve had only a positive impact on forming society. If
heros, and not usurpers, held the high-ranking positions in the army,
we would’ve had not only another army, but also a completely different
society,” he said.

As for recent incidents in the army and the increase in public
attention toward them, Sefilian said he was against both harassment
against the army and crimes in the army.

“We have to differentiate the wet from the dry. There’s criticism
that’s done to discredit [the army] and there’s criticism that is
for improving the army,” he said.

THE DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIANS IN CILICIA, APRIL 1909
by Hratchik Simonyan

Noyan Tapan
2012-01-26

One of the greatest massacres in late Ottoman history took place
in April 1909, when Armenians were the target of two massive waves
of violence organized by Ottoman authorities. These massacres took
place in Cilicia (i.e. Adana province and surrounding areas) with an
estimated 30,000 victims plus huge material losses. Most Armenian
historians consider these massacres to have been a prelude to the
Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Hrachik Simonyan~Rs The Destruction of Armenians in Cilicia, April
1909 is a detailed account of the 1909 massacres based mainly on a
range of Armenian primary and secondary sources. His work helps us to
better understand the victimization of Armenians and the polarization
of Ottoman society along ethno-religious lines barely a year after
the Ottoman constitutional revolution of 1908.

CONSEIL CONSTITUTIONNEL : NE RAJOUTEZ PAS L’INSULTE A VOTRE OPPOSITION
Ara

armenews.com
vendredi 27 janvier 2012

Senateurs, deputes, ne rajoutez pas l’insulte a votre opposition :
pas de recours au Conseil constitutionnel

Le Conseil de coordination des organisations armeniennes de France
(CCAF) appelle solennellement les Senateurs et les Deputes qui seraient
tentes par un recours au Conseil constitutionnel après le vote de
la loi sanctionnant le negationnisme, a renoncer a cette surenchère
procedurière. La representation nationale s’est prononcee, dans un
vote hautement symbolique du point de vue des droits de l’homme et
du respect de la dignite humaine.

Après presque cent ans de deni de justice, enfin la memoire des
victimes du genocide de 1915 est appelee a etre pleinement respectee
dans notre Republique. Chercher a renverser cette decision a la faveur
d’un troisième round, ne relève plus du debat d’idee raisonnable ou
de l’opposition democratique, mais d’une obstination qui confine a
l’insulte et a la provocation pour la memoire de ces morts qui n’ont
que la conscience humaine pour seule sepulture.

Nous reaffirmons que la Loi de la republique symbolise la souverainete
de notre Etat, la France, qui ne peut agir sous la pression de
puissances exterieures. A cet effet, nous denoncons les dernières
manoeuvres de la Turquie, dont l’ambassadeur en France a envoye une
lettre, que nous nous sommes procuree, a tous les senateurs qui ont
vote contre la loi. Ankara exerce ce type de pression insupportable sur
nos institutions, notre Etat et nos elus et les appelle ouvertement
“a bloquer la loi” pour”contribuer a la sauvegarde des relations
franco-turques”. Messieurs les elus, ne vous engagez pas dans une
action irresponsable qui ne fera qu’attiser les blessures, jeter de
l’huile sur le feu et encourager les pires turpitudes du negationnisme.

Le Conseil national du CCAF Paris, le 26 janvier 2012

AZERBAIJANI ISLAMIC PARTY: “FRANCE WANTS TO CREATE ENEMY IMAGE FROM DIFFERENT MUSLIM COUNTRIES”

APA
Jan 25 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ramil Mammadli – APA. Azerbaijan Islamic Party (AIP) issued
statement condemning the French Senate’s adoption of law criminalizing
the denial of made-up “Armenian genocide”, AIP press service told APA.

The statement says that it was a high time to fight against West,
including France which is trying to show itself as a human rights
defender: “This step of France appears from the desire to create an
enemy image from different Muslim countries. Nowadays every Muslim
country, including Azerbaijan must say its word to the exploiter
countries like France, America, which were founded on the basis of
invasions and plundering. It is important to renounce the mediation
of France in the OSCE Minsk Group, which was entrusted with the
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict”.

The Islamic Party also called the Muslim countries to struggle against
the policy of the Western countries: “We want the Muslim countries
to fight jointly against the crafty policy of the enemy and declare
the impossibility of escaping from the enemy’s crafty policy until
this unity is achieved”.

TURKEY NOT IN HURRY WITH ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST FRANCE

Trend
Jan 26 2012
Azerbaijan

Turkey is not in a hurry with economic sanctions against France,
as the law criminalising denial of the so called “Armenian genocide”
adopted by the country’s Senate is not the final decision of Paris on
this issue, TRT Haber TV Channel quotes Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Ali Babacan as saying on Thursday.

“Turkey has taken wait-and-see attitude toward issue of economic
sanctions against France,” he said.

Mr Babacan said Turkey keeps watch on developments over “Armenian
genocide” law and the country’s further steps will depend on the
decision of Paris on this issue.

After eight hours of discussion, the Senate (upper chamber of the
French parliament) voted for adoption of the law criminalising denial
of the so called “Armenian genocide”. Some 127 senators voted for,
while 86 against.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was preparing
new sanctions against France.

The Lower House of the French Parliament adopted a bill criminalising
the denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide” on Dec.22, 2011

The bill demands about a year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000
euros for denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

MPs from the French President’s Union for Popular Movement (UMP)
party which has the parliamentary majority, proposed the bill which
aims at criminalising denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide” to
the legislative committee of the National Assembly in early December.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the Turkey
– Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against the Armenians
living in Anadolu, and achieved recognition of the “Armenian Genocide”
by the parliaments of several countries.

APA, Azerbaijan
Jan 25 2012

“WE DON’T WANT THE WAR BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA OVER NAGORNO KARBAKH PROBLEM START AGAIN

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli-APA. “We will never want the war between
Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno Karbakh problem start again. We
support OSCE Minsk Group efforts on peaceful solution of the conflict
and I guess, Azerbaijan also supports the peace process in this
direction,” said David Cameron PM of UK answering Armenian delegate
Naira Zohrabyan’s question on “huge investment of UK to Azerbaijan
and Baku’s intentions to start war over Nagorno Karbakh.

ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISIT THREE ARMENIAN SERVICEMEN AND FIVE CIVILIANS HELD CAPTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN

Milaz.info
Jan 26 2012
Azerbaijan

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
visited three Armenian servicemen and five civilians held captive in
Azerbaijan, spokesperson for the ICRC Delegation in Azerbaijan Shahla
Gahramanova told APA.

ICRC representatives delivered four “Red Cross” letters to the captives
and received three “Red Cross” letters and three “safe and well”
messages from them.

Currently there are three Armenian prisoners of war and five civilians
in Azerbaijan.

The civilians are the members of one family – Yegishe, Ruzanna, Alfred,
Gayane and Petros Gevorkian. They crossed the Azerbaijani borders in
January, 2010.

Two the captives – Ohan Arutunyan and Gevorg Tovmasyan passed into
Azerbaijani side in May, 2009, another one – Karen Arutunyan passed
into Azerbaijani side in July, 2009. All of three soldiers wish to
be sent to a third country.

Press Release: Jan. 28, 2012 |
Online:

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The Genocide Education Project (GenEd)
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 264-4203
[email protected]

Contact: Raffi Momjian – [email protected]

GenEd-HigherEd Launches with Armenian Christmas Party

Hackensack, NJ – A diverse mix of students and community leaders,
celebrated the establishment of GenEd-HigherEd on the evening of January
7, 2012 at Sayat Nova Restaurant in Hackensack, NJ. GenEd-HigherEd is a
new division of The Genocide Education Project which endeavors to
facilitate lectures, exhibits and courses on the subject of genocide,
particularly the Armenian Genocide, on college campuses.

“It is such a pleasure to see such an outpouring of support from so many
committed people for the GenEd-HigherEd “launch” event,” said
GenEd-HigherEd director James Sahagian.

The first course to be sponsored by GenEd-HigherEd is planned for fall,
2012 at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.The Center for
Genocide Studies, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CGHR) at Rutgers
is led by the current president of the International Association of
Genocide Scholars (IAGS), Professor Alex Hinton. Hinton and two
associate directors of the center, Nela Navarro and Tom LaPointe, were
in attendance for the GenEd-HigherEd kick-off celebration.The center has
already sponsored several lectures, films and other programs on the
Armenian Genocide. Khatchig Mouradian was recently named Project
Coordinator of the center’s Armenian Genocide Program. Mouradian is the
editor of the Armenian Weekly newspaper and a doctoral student at Clark
University.

“I am happy to be part of the CGHR family and I look forward to leading
the Armenian Genocide Program here at Rutgers,” said Mouradian. “Our
goal is to help develop further Armenian Genocide studies in the U.S.
through research, courses, conferences, and public lectures.”

More than 100 attendees celebrated at the Christmas party, dancing to
thelive entertainment by Jaq Hagopian and Garo Gomidas, and enjoying
traditional Armenian food.Sahagian gave the audience a background of
Armenian studies at Rutgers University.He discussed the goal of having
the Armenian Genocide taught every semester on Rutgers’ Newark and New
Brunswick campuses as an “essential chapter of human history which
cannot be forgotten.If one is to study human rights and genocide in
modern times, one must study the Armenian Genocide.”He said, “The
Armenian Genocide Program at the Rutgers’ Center for Genocide Studies,
Human Rights and Conflict Resolution has already educated hundreds on
the Armenian Genocide.With a successful capital campaign and development
of the GenEd-HigherEd division, thousands more will be educated in the
future at Rutgers and elsewhere.”

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is among the oldest
colleges in the United States.Originally founded in 1766 as Queens
College, Rutgers currently maintains 3 campuses in New Brunswick, Newark
and Camden, New Jersey. It has more than 40,000 undergraduate and
approximately 15,000 graduate students enrolled, making it the largest
university in the New York Metropolitan area.

—
/The Genocide Education Project is a nonprofit organization assisting
educators in teaching about human rights and genocide, particularly the
Armenian Genocide.GenEd develops and distributes instructional
materials, provides access to teaching resources and conducts
educational workshops.Information about The Genocide Education Project
can be found at //
/.Further information on the
GenEd-HigherEd can be obtained by e-mailing:
//[email protected]/
/./

—
For story and photo(s):

Photo Caption(s):
– Students at GenEd-HigherEd Christmas Launch Party
– Khatchig Mouradian (left) with James Sahagian, Director of GenEd’s
HigherEd Division

Bulgarian film-maker to present truth about Nagorno-Karabakh

arminfo
Friday, January 27, 18:02

Bulgarian TV presenter, journalist, film- maker and script writer
Tsvetana Paskaleva will go on a world tour with a view to present a
series of documentary films about Nagorno- Karabakh,its people, army
and culture.

The sponsor of the tour is Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.

During a press-conference on Friday Paskaleva said that she is going
to tell the world the truth about Nagorno-Karabakh so that the world
community knows what the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is about and what
the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians experienced during the war.

The tour will start Feb 16 and will cover Bulgaria, Russia, Greece,
Cyprus, Lebanon and many other countries.

The Independent: Erdogan is acting more and more like an autocrat

January 28, 2012 – 23:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey has been one of the world’s great political
and economic success stories of the last decade, an article in The
Independent reads.

`Over 70 million people under quasi-military rule of great brutality
for 80 years appeared at last to be coming under civilian control.
Torture stopped in the prisons. Elections not army coups d’état – four
in Turkey since 1960 – determined who held power in Ankara. The
Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by the Prime Minister, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, first elected in 2002, was just the sort of moderate,
democratic pro-capitalist Islamic party that the West wanted to
encourage. The foreign media boosted Turkey uncritically last year as
a model for the Arab world as police states started tumbling,’ Patrick
Cockburn says in an opinion he titled `Tiger Turkey at the
crossroads.’

`There is more substance to the Turkish “miracle” than there was to
most of the over-hyped booms in Europe, from Ireland to Greece.
Political and economic changes here were real. The AKP outmanoeuvred
the military leadership and its powerful allies in the state
bureaucracy and appeared to break their long tutelage. In 2001 the
economy had been a barely floating wreck as inflation touched 80 per
cent a year and the Turkish lira halved in value. Banks closed and
tens of thousands of enterprises went bankrupt. All these disasters
became a distant memory as Turkey acquired a “tiger” economy. In a
decade Turkey’s GDP and exports both doubled in value. Small and
medium-sized manufacturers became energetic exporters. Foreign
investment, the key to growth in Turkey, poured in and the economy
became the 15th largest in the world. It is these gains that are now
under threat. Political reforms stalled two years ago. One foreign
observer says “Erdogan decided not to use his political capital to
resolve the conflict with the Kurds, the dispute over Cyprus and
relations with Armenia”. Overconfidence in Turkey’s new-found strength
diverted attention from crucial questions, the most important of which
is bringing an end to the Kurdish insurgency. Some Turkish liberals
suspect that, after being in power for almost a decade, the AKP has
found it convenient to adopt the mechanisms of repression used by its
predecessors,’ he says.

`The clamp down has been severe. This month Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) demoted Turkey to 148th place out of 178 countries in its annual
World Press Freedom Index. Its report said: “The judicial system
launched a wave of arrests on journalists without precedent since the
military dictatorship.” Some 99 journalists are in jail, about 60 per
cent of whom are Kurdish. “It is a sort of political cleansing by the
judiciary and the police,” says Erol Onderoglu, the RSF representative
for Turkey,’ Cockburn says.

`Often journalists are held for more than a year without knowing the
charges against them, and an editor can be jailed for any article
appearing in his paper critical of government policy. In one case a
Kurdish editor was sentenced to 166 years in prison, later reduced to
20 years by the High Court, for such a piece. Osman Kovala of Anadolu
Kultur, a human rights organization in Istanbul, says there is “still
no clear distinction between expression of an opinion and membership
of a terrorist organization”. In 2007 the murder of the
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was widely believed to be their
work and became a cause célèbre. Shot in the back by a 17-year-old
student, his murder had all the marks of a well-organized plot. But,
in January, a court in Istanbul appalled a broad swathe of Turkish
opinion by finding the gunman had largely acted alone,’ he says

As to PM Erdogan, Cockburn describes his as `a pious, populist
nationalist of great political skill, who is sounding and acting more
and more like an autocrat.’