Author: Kanayan Tamar

ISRAELI LAWMAKERS DEBATE WHETHER TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Dec 26, 2011, 13:26 GMT

Jerusalem – Israeli legislators met Monday to discuss whether they
consider the World War I death of numerous Armenians by Turkish
troops to be genocide, despite concerns that the debate would lead
to a worsening of already dire ties with Ankara.

Although the majority of legislators attending the debate in the
Knesset (parliament) Education Committee called for Israel to recognize
the Armenian genocide, no vote was held at the end of the discussion.

However, the committee chairman promised to hold additional hearings
on the issue.

Ankara denies that Ottoman Turkey carried out genocide against the
Armenians in World War I. Armenia has long lobbied for recognition
that the Ottomans massacred 1.5 million people.

France’s National Assembly on Thursday approved a bill making it
a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of
Ottoman Turks during World War I.

The vote sparked a diplomatic crisis between France and Turkey.

Israeli Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin told Israel Army Radio that
Monday’s discussion was not political, or aimed at Turkey, whose
prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a vocal and frequent critic
of the Jewish state.

‘We have a moral obligation to remember and honour the tragedy which
befell the Armenian people,’ Rivlin said.

However a Foreign Ministry official who attended the meeting read
out a statement, which noted that, while Jews and Israels had ‘a
special sensitivity and even an ethical obligation to recognize human
tragedies, including the massacres against the Armenian population
during World War I,’ any formal recognition would ‘constitute taking
sides along political lines.’

Opposition legislator Othniel Schneller was more blunt, criticizing
the parley as ‘irresponsible’ and saying Israel had to do everything
in its power to improve relations with Turkey.

Relations between Israel and Turkey, once close allies, have been on
a downward spiral for years, and reached their nadir in May 2010,
when Israeli commandos, intercepting a flotilla bound for the Gaza
Strip, killed nine people on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara.

Earlier this year Turkey downgraded its ties with Jerusalem, after
Israel refused to apologize for the flotilla incident.

The downgrade, and Israel’s refusal to apologize, came after a UN
report found that Israel used ‘excessive and unreasonable force’ in
taking over the ships, albeit after facing ‘significant, organized
and violent resistance’ from passengers on board the Mavi Marmara.

AZERBAIJAN STRONGLY FOR STATUS QUO – ARMENIAN EXPERT

Tert.am
26.12.11

Azerbaijan’s approach has become obvious this year – it is the
staunchest supporter of the status quo, Karen Bekaryan, Head of the
European Integration NGO, told journalists Dec. 26.

In the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Bekaryan said
that the Kazan meeting and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
interview, when his threatened with a war, prove the above-said. This
year, Azerbaijan has acquired “two platforms” for raising the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem – the UN Security Council and Non-Aligned
Movement.

EL PARLAMENTO ISRAELÍ DEBATE POR PRIMERA VEZ EN PABLICO SOBRE EL GENOCIDIO ARMENIO

El Mundo

26 dic 2011
Espaia

Las deterioradas relaciones entre Turquía e Israel viven hoy otro
capítulo que mezcla historia, diplomacia e intereses estrategicos. Si
el primer ministro turco Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aparca por un momento
sus numerosos frentes abiertos en Europa y Oriente Proximo, habra
sido informado de que el Parlamento israelí ha debatido por primera
vez a puertas abiertas (Comision de Educacion y Cultura) sobre el
genocidio armenio. Y se habra enterado que la sesion ha acabado
sin decisiones ni anuncios oficiales lo que quizas evite una de sus
habituales reacciones dialecticas.

De la Knesset de Jerusalen no ha salido esta mañana un proyecto
de Ley como el aprobado en Francia hace unos días y tampoco el
reconocimiento oficial del Holocausto armenio o una fecha para su
conmemoracion oficial pero la tension con Turquía es tan sensible
que el primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, intento sin exito
aplazar la sesion.

De hecho, el viceministro de Exteriores, Danny Ayalon, anulo su
participacion en un debate que ha inaugurado el presidente del
Parlamento, Reuven Rivlin. “Como miembro del pueblo judío que sufrio el
Holocausto, no puedo obviar la discusion sobre el genocidio armenio”.

Una obligacion moral “Nuestro deber moral es permitir hablar al
respecto”, explico Rivlin aclarando: “No tenemos nada contra el
Gobierno turco ni contra Turquía. No queremos realizar este debate
como consecuencia de algún acontecimiento de la actualidad ni para
ajustar cuentas ya que desde hace muchos años intentamos llevar a cabo
esta sesion. Pero cuestiones diplomaticas no justifican la negacion
del Holocausto armenio”.

El debate estaba previsto desde hace meses y se debe a la colaboracion
puntual y sin precedentes de la diputada izquierdista Zehava Gal-On
y Arie Eldad, de la derecha radical. “Como hija de supervivientes
del Holocausto perpetrado por los nazis, tengo la obligacion moral e
historica de reconocer el genocidio armenio”, afirmo Gal-On. Según
ella,”el recordatorio de las matanzas contra el pueblo armenio no
tiene como objetivo atacar a Turquía, con el que debemos reconstruir
las relaciones diplomaticas”.

“Las relaciones con Turquía son tan sensibles que es muy problematico
en estos momentos hacer un reconocimiento oficial. Estamos sentados
en la línea roja y debemos actuar con inteligencia para no provocar
un daño estrategico”, comento la representante enviada por Exteriores
antes de ser interrumpida por el diputado Eldad:”¿Cuando cree usted
que sera el momento adecuado? ¿De verdad cree que Erdogan mejorara
sus relaciones con Israel si no reconocemos oficialmente el genocidio
armenio?”.

El reconocimiento del genocidio Pese a las reiteradas peticiones
armenias, ningún Gobierno israelí ha reconocido oficialmente el
genocidio padecido en 1915. Basicamente por la presion de Ankara y
no poner en peligro la estrategica alianza con Turquía. Una alianza
deteriorada desde el 2008 y hundida tras el asalto israelí al barco
Mavi Marmara en la Flotilla que acabo en el 2010 con la muerte de
nueve civiles turcos.

Tras no recibir la excusa oficial del Gobierno israelí-satisfecho con
las conclusiones del Informe Palmer (ONU)- Erdogan ordeno devolver
a su embajador en Tel Aviv y suspender las relaciones comerciales
y militares. Desde entonces, el primer ministro islamista se ha
convertido en uno de los principales críticos de Israel.

Hace unos días, el ministerio israelí de Defensa anulo la venta
de equipamiento tecnologico a Turquía, valorado en 141 millones de
dolares. El temor de Israel era que el material militar de moderno
espionaje aereo acabara en manos de Iran.

MICHELINE CALMY-REY EN TURQUIE POUR SON DERNIER VOYAGE OFFICIEL

Romandie.com

26 dec 2011
France

La presidente de la Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey a evoque lundi
a Ankara la question des evenements de 1915-1917 contre la population
armenienne lors de sa dernière visite officielle. Elle a rappele
que, contrairement a la France, la Suisse ne disposait pas d’une loi
specifique contre la negation des genocides.

Devant la Conference annuelle des ambassadeurs turcs, elle a reaffirme
la politique de la Suisse sur les evenements de 1915-1917 contre la
population armenienne, a dit a l’ats un porte-parole du Departement
federal des affaires etrangères, Raphaël Saborit. Le Conseil federal,
qui parle de “tragiques deportations et massacres”, est d’avis que
les historiens doivent faire la lumière sur ces evenements.

Mais Mme Calmy-Rey a egalement signale les petitions refusees
la semaine dernière au Conseil national. Elles demandaient la
reconnaissance de genocides dont ceux perpetres en 1915 contre
les populations assyro-chaldeo-syriaques, armeniennes et grecques
pontiques.

Gul et Davutoglu rencontres

Le discours de Mme Calmy-Rey devant les ambassadeurs turcs a par
ailleurs porte sur les grands axes de la politique etrangère de la
Suisse, notamment la mediation, et sur les elements communs avec la
Turquie, autre pays qui n’est pas membre de l’UE.

La presidente de la Confederation, en Turquie jusqu’a mardi matin,
a egalement ete recue par son homologue Abdullah Gul et le chef de la
diplomatie Ahmed Davutoglu. En dehors de la polemique liee a la France,
ils ont notamment discute de la mediation suisse entre la Turquie et
l’Armenie, qui avait abouti en 2009 a deux protocoles signes a Zurich
par Ankara et Erevan et visant a normaliser leurs relations.

Dernière visite

Le processus a ete gele au printemps 2010 par Erevan, le president
armenien Serge Sarkissian accusant Ankara de poser des “conditions
inacceptables” pour sa ratification. Les deux pays s’achoppent sur
les evenements de 1915-1917, qualifies par les historiens de genocide,
et que la Turquie refuse de voir qualifies comme tels.

Cette visite officielle etait la dernière de Mme Calmy-Rey avant de
quitter le Conseil federal.

NOUVEL INCIDENT DANS UNE UNITE MILITAIRE DU HAUT KARABAGH
Stephane

armenews.com
lundi 26 decembre 2011

L’ensemble des quotidiens fait etat d’un incident survenu le 14
decembre dans l’unite militaire ” Yeghnikner ” deja mise en cause. Un
sous-officier aurait frappe au visage un conscrit avec une chaîne
de fer après que celui-ci a refuse d’executer un ordre. Suite a une
intervention chirurgicale, le soldat a perdu l’~il. Le sous-officier
a ete arrete. Le Ministre de la Defense, Seyran Ohanian, a note que
l’auteur sera puni avec toute la rigueur de la loi. Dans un entretien
avec Haykakan Jamanak le père de la victime reclame la demission
du Ministre de la Defense ” qui ne maîtriserait pas la situation ”
et se dit stupefait que, dans l’armee armenienne, des sous-officiers
de 22 ans dirigent des conscrits de 18 ans.

Ambassade de France en Armenie

Service de presse

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 24 2011

Why France is so illiberal?

by Mustafa Akyol

`I do not think I have ever met a Frenchman who was a liberal,’ the
late French literary critic Émile Faguet once ironically remarked. If
he lived today, he could have preserved his pessimism, especially in
the light of the latest work of the French National Assembly: A new
law which penalizes `the denial of the Armenian Genocide’ with a year
in prison and a heavy fine.

Before getting into the trouble with France, though, let me tell you
what I think about what really happened to the Ottoman Armenians in
1915. I do not go as far as using the G word, but I think that this
tragic episode well deserves being called an `ethnic cleansing’ – and
a very gruesome one which killed at least half a million innocent
souls. I also think that we Turks have made a big mistake for decades
by refusing to see the great suffering of the Armenians, who used to
be our good neighbors for centuries before the venom of ethnic
nationalism befell all of us. I therefore not only believe in, but
also push for, a more honest and compassionate attitude in Turkey to
what is called here `the Armenian issue.’

That is why I would not be offended by any declaration by the French
National Assembly, or any other parliament in the world, that
expresses grief for the Great Catastrophe of 1915. I in fact hold that
parliaments should not legislate history, but if they wish to express
an opinion, that would be their call, and I would not object.

Now let’s come to France. Here, the first thing I would say is that it
is only hypocritical for this county give lessons to others about the
sanctity of human life: the more than 1.7 million innocent souls that
the French colonizers brutally killed in Algeria is enough of a reason
for France to remain shamefully silent when it comes to history and
humanity. But countries do have double standards, and nations tend to
see other’s crimes rather than their own. So, let me be lenient on
that.

What I am not lenient on, though, is the shocking illiberalism that
lies behind the new French law. It not only proclaims that 1915 was
genocide, but it also penalizes all other opinions, launching a clear
attack against freedom of speech.

Needless to say, such laws about `genocide denial’ (including the most
unacceptable of all, Holocaust denial) exist in France and some other
continental European states, but not in the United Kingdom or the
United States. For the latter Anglo-Saxon countries are the beacons of
classical liberalism, while France certainly is not. (For the same
reason, France has recently imposed a ridiculous ban on the burqa,
which would be unthinkable in Britain and America.)

The roots of this illiberalism lie, I believe, in the two main pillars
of French political thought, as it evolved since the bloodbath called
the French Revolution: rationalism and laicite. These two principles
can well curb individual freedom. For rationalism gives the state the
power to figure out and impose `the truth,’ whereas laicite gives it
the power to oppress religion. Hence comes thought-policing and
burqa-policing.

British thinker Tony Judt once expressed this problem well, noting,
`To speak of natural rights, or rights against society, or about
rights against state interference, was never a favorite topic in
France.’ He also observed that the French `displayed a strong
propensity toward a strong executive power that in turn engendered a
particular type of liberalism through the state, not against the state
as in the Anglo-American liberal tradition.’

Unfortunately, we Turks can’t do much to help heal these problems in
French political thought. We just need to de-Frenchize ourselves, by
further expanding freedom of speech and freedom of religion, which
were both tragically shrunk during our past French-wannabe century.
And, of course, we need to reach out to the Armenians to establish a
historic reconciliation in which no arrogant third party can
interfere.

* For all of Mustafa Akyol’s works, including his recent book, `Islam
without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty,’ visit his blog,
TheWhitePath.com. On Twitter, follow him at @AkyolinEnglish.
December/24/2011

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 23 2011

Kamel: France should face its own massacres first

Algerian Deputy Parliament Speaker Bounah Kamel, calling the `yes’
vote on Armenian genocide in France hypocritical, said that France
should accept its own massacres in Algeria first.

Kamel, attending a conference organized with the assistance of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Ä°stanbul on Friday, on
the topic of `Change in Muslim Societies and the Role of Women’ said,
`Algeria’s population was eight million in 1830 before the French
occupation started. When France left the country in 1962, the
population was six million, as if Algerian people never gave birth in
a century.’

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president since 1999, demanded an
apology from the Sarkozy government in 2006 for France’s bloody
activities in Algeria. Kamel stated, however, that France negatively
responded to Algerian calls.

`The Algerian people always fought against the French colonial system
in their country, which violently exploited their natural, economic
and human resources. The French military response was violent against
the Algerian struggle, killing people or expelling them out of their
own territory. Once, in May 1945, the French army killed more than
45,000 Algerians in two or three days,’ he stated, further emphasizing
French brutality.

`Apart from turning down Algerian calls to face the bloodshed in
Algeria, France issued a bill in 2003 honoring the French occupation
of Algeria, which rewarded killers of Algerian people, especially
French commanders,’ Kamel added.

`They condemn the Turkish activities allegedly organized against
Armenians but don’t discuss their own bloody activities,’ he stated,
claiming that the French initiatives on the Armenian issue are
hypocritical. Another attendee at the conference, Zahra Nouojahida, a
living witness to the Algerian war of independence that lasted from
1954 to 1962, mentioned humiliating crimes committed against woman
during this war, including `rapes of young women in front of their
fathers.’ Nouojahida, sadly remembering these French activities during
the war years, noted that `France should correct its own mistakes
before giving advice to other nations,’ in a criticism of the Armenian
genocide bill voted upon in France on Thursday.

Mayor is chief kazak in Gyumri

06:50 pm | December 24, 2011 | Social

Among those attending today’s assembly held by the “International
Union for the Armenian-Kazak Friendship and Cooperation” were
representative of the RA Ministry of Defense Felix Grigoryan, Deputy
Mayor of Gyumri Rudik Hovhannisyan, guests from the Land Defenders’
Union and the governors of the provinces where the organization is
represented.

Chief ataman of the Shirak province Ashot Simonyan is certain that the
St. Artemis Orthodox Church, spiritual and cultural centers, the
international Kazak Cadet Corpus will soon be built on the 8 ha land
provided by Mayor of Gyumri, chief ataman Vardan Ghukasyan and that
they will serve for the Armenian-Kazak friendship.
The “International Union for the Armenian-Kazak Friendship and
Cooperation” was founded in Gyumri on January 10, 2006.

“Our organization currently has 1,200-1,300 members from the entire
province. We have mainly accepted men who have fought and have served
in the army, and there are only 10 percent Kazak descendants. Our goal
is to protect the nation and defend the borders. We educate our
organization’s members with the spirit of patriotism. Twenty of our
men are currently defending the Armenian-Georgian border,” Ashot
Simonyan told “A1+”.

The Russian Federation will be sponsoring the restoration of the
Orthodox Church and the centers in Gyumri.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
December 23, 2011 Friday

ISESCO denounces French National Assembly’s bill regarding Turkey

Rabat, Muharram 28, 1433, Dec 23, 2011, SPA — The Islamic
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) denounced
the bill passed by France’s National Assembly which would criminalize
any public denial of what the bill calls “the Armenian genocide at the
time of the Ottomans”.

In a communiqué released today, ISESCO called for upholding freedom of
expression and of academic research and not imposing restraints on
intellectuals and researchers via such unjust laws as this one which
is incompatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ISESCO expressed its support to the Republic of Turkey against this
selective and racist position and its attending repercussions.

ISESCO also called on OIC Member States to condemn this decision and
stand by the Republic of Turkey, in support of the principles of
Islamic solidarity.

Global Insight
December 23, 2011

French Law Criminalising Genocide Denial Prompts Turkish Retaliation

BY: James Goundry

French legislators in the lower house of parliament passed a law
yesterday (22 December) criminalising the denial of genocide. The vote
prompted an angry backlash from Turkey and increases the risk of
significantly damaged relations between the two countries.

IHS Global Insight Perspective

Significance- French members of the National Assembly, the lower house
of parliament, passed a bill yesterday (22 December) criminalising the
denial of genocides recognised by the state. France recognises the
Nazi genocide during the Second World War and the Armenian genocide of
1915-17.

Implications- The vote prompted an angry response from Turkey, which
denies the genocide claim. Turkey recalled its ambassador from Paris,
suspended military co-operation, and withdrew from a Franco-Turkish
economic committee meeting scheduled for January 2012.

Outlook- The dispute brings relations between Turkey and France to a
new low. Although the vote could improve support for the French
government among the Armenian diaspora in France, it threatens to have
significant negative political and economic consequences for relations
with an important emerging market and diplomatic power in the Middle
East.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdo an, seen here ona visit to
Tripoli, does not accept that genocide occurred

French legislators in the National Assembly, the French lower house of
parliament, yesterday (22 December) passed a bill criminalising the
denial of genocides formally recognised by the French state. France
recognises only two genocides, the holocaust of the Second World War
and the Armenian genocide of 1915-17. Given that separate legislation
introduced in 1990 already criminalised denial of the former, this
latest vote effectively targets the Armenian issue. The law was
proposed by members of the ruling centre-right Union for a Popular
Movement (UMP), but received support from across the political
spectrum and was passed with ease. The bill will now be debated and
voted on in the French upper house, the Senate, before returning to
the lower house for final adoption. Given that parliament will be
dissolved in February 2012 ahead of presidential and legislative
elections in April, May, and June, and given lingering question-marks
over the bill’s constitutionality, it is far from a certainty that it
will become law.

The proposal to criminalise denial of the Armenian genocide does not
come out of the blue. France initially recognised the deaths of over 1
million Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire as genocide
in 2001. Bills seeking to criminalise denial of the genocide were
introduced in 2006 and in May 2011, but both were defeated in the then
UMP-dominated Senate.

The Turkish government reacted angrily to the vote. The Turkish
ambassador to France was called back to Ankara, and Turkish prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suspended political visits and military
co-operation between the two NATO member states. Crowds of ethnic
Turkish protestors gathered outside the French National Assembly for
the vote, and crowds in Ankara were reported to have gathered and
expressed anti-French feelings. Erdogan decried the move as “politics
based on racism, discrimination and xenophobia” and warned of
“irreparable damage” to relations between the two nations. Late
yesterday (22 December), Turkish economy minister Zafer Caglayan
announced that Turkey would withdraw from an economy and trade
committee meeting with France planned for early 2012.

Political Opportunism

The Turkish government, and domestic French political opposition, has
criticised the timing of the bill as a cynical piece of political
opportunism ahead of presidential and legislative elections scheduled
for April, May, and June 2012. France is home to a significant
Armenian minority numbering almost 500,000, and the UMP, and the MPs
proposing the bill, are likely to be aware of the boost such a law
would provide to their poll numbers. Given this, the timing may also
be an attempt by the UMP to steal a march on its Socialist Party (PS)
rivals. PS presidential candidate Francois Hollande suggested at the
end of September that the proposed law might make a reappearance
following a historic victory for the left in Senate elections. Shortly
after this announcement, President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated that he
would consider supporting such a bill in a meeting with the Armenian
president in Yerevan if Turkey did not recognise the events as
genocide. Nonetheless, wider public opinion across France appears to
be more sceptical of the bill, with polls by major newspapers on both
the centre-right and centre-left suggesting majorities against
criminalising genocide denial.

The French vote is a setback for the Turkish government, which had
hoped to contain the issue by launching internationally mediated
normalisation talks with Armenia from 2000 to 2010. Neither party,
however, ratified the protocols that would have seen Turkey lifting a
blockade on its eastern neighbour. At the same time, Turkey hoped that
the contentious issues would be confined to its relations with
Armenia. The strong Turkish reaction was predictable, given the
similar response to recognition of the Armenian genocide by at least
19 other countries, including Canada, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands,
Russia, and Sweden, as well as the European Parliament.

Outlook and Implications

The vote marks a new low for Franco-Turkish relations, already
strained by vocal French objections to Turkish accession to the EU.
However, although undoubtedly damaging for diplomatic relations in the
short term, the longer-term political and economic consequences may
well be less severe. Each French move towards criminalising genocide
denial since 2001 has been met with strong Turkish objections,
including the recall of the Turkish ambassador in 2001 and foreboding
comments of the damage such moves would cause to bilateral relations.
Nonetheless, Franco-Turkish trade has continued to increase, with
trade between the two estimated to be worth EUR12 billion (USD15.6
billion) a year. The two countries have also co-operated on a number
of international diplomatic issues from Afghanistan to Syria and the
Mediterranean. Moreover, the EU and Turkey established a customs union
in 1995, which provides for free trade between them in industrial and
processed agricultural products, and both countries are members of the
WTO. These factors will limit Turkey’s scope for economic retaliation,
although French companies may suffer in public procurement tenders.
The current Turkish government may also up the populist rhetoric in an
attempt to placate growing concerns over the curbing of individual
freedoms within Turkey.