Author: Kanayan Tamar

EDWARD NALBANDIAN AND SERGEY LAVROV DISCUSS ISSUES REGARDING FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIA-RUSSIA ALLIED RELATIONS

Noyan Tapan
March 9, 2010

MOSCOW, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. On March 8, RA Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian, who is in Moscow on a working visit, met RF Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press
and Information Department, views over a number of issues of bilateral
and international agenda were exchanged during the meeting.

E. Nalbandian and S. Lavrov also discussed the fulfillment process of
the agreements reached between the two countries, further development
of the Armenia-Russia allied relations, in detail touched upon the
Nagorno Karabakh problem’s settlement negotiations process.

TURKEY MUST TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN PROTOCOLS RATIFICATION PROCESS: ARMENIAN MP

Tert.am
15:29 ~U 09.03.10

Turkey must display specific approaches to ratifying the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols in order to avoid possible future
complications, said Republican Party of Armenia MP Artak Zakaryan at
a press conference today.

Independent deputy Koryun Nahapetyan also expressed hope that H.Res.252
on the Armenian Genocide approved by the US House Foreign Affairs
Committee won’t hinder the development of Armenian-Turkish relations.

"Turkey won’t accept that as grounds for not completing the process
begun in the last one to one-and-a-half years," he said.

According to the parliamentarian, Armenia has already taken steps in
this issue; it’s now Turkey’s turn to take the next step.

SPRING MUST BE IN THE AIR
By Tom Vartabedian

/08/vartabedian-spring-must-be-in-the-air/
March 8, 2010

Sure sign of spring. The crocuses are peeking out over my turf. Or
so it seems.

To be honest about it, I never knew what a crocus was until a reader
called the paper one day in early March to inform me. I hightailed it
out to her house and two little buds were sticking out of the ground.

A photo of the woman pointing to the tiny sprouts wound up in the
next day’s edition.

I am not the most observant fellow when it comes to these matters,
but I have noticed the snow begin to disappear and nature lovers out
in full force, looking at birds and flowers. A cardinal showed up at
my feeder the other morning, no doubt a harbinger of spring. And the
robins are beginning to appear.

If nothing else, it makes me feel good about the whole experience.

After a hard winter’s snow and cold, I was looking for symptoms of
spring. It’s the one season of the year when everything seems to
come alive.

Trees and shrubs begin their blossom. Home-owners begin planting
their grass, only to spend the summer months behind a lawn mower.

My neighbor is big into birds and when he tells me he observed a
scarlet tanager that afternoon, it’s news. With regard to ornithology,
I only know two birds. One is a cardinal-and the other isn’t.

Truth be told, I like New England best for its seasons. There’s
something to be said for each one. Summers are usually ideal when
families get together for cookouts and reunions. Autumn comes alive
with its foliage bursting with color. Winters can offer its sense of
beauty, especially with a snow-capped tree after a fresh fall.

But spring will officially arrive on March 21-and not a moment
too soon.

I saw some teenagers the other day walking home from school in the
cold. They were dressed in short sleeves like it was May. Perhaps
they were celebrating spring’s arrival a bit early.

But that was not the case.

"It’s not cool to bundle up anymore," I was told. "Today’s generation
dresses light. They’d rather freeze to death than be seen in a winter
coat and parka."

Now that I’ve been retired three years, I don’t need to be working to
ask for a day off. Every day is spring in my life. I used to blame
my inertia on spring fever, whenever I got lazy and didn’t want to
heed the call. In school, it was the mating call.

Along with the season comes a list of household chores waiting to
be addressed. Let’s put a fresh coat of paint on our bedroom walls,
clear out the basement, and get the yard in order. Another sure sign
is the papers I receive through the mail for my income tax. It always
sends my head in a tizzy. On the other hand, with Daylight Savings
Time set to begin March 14, an extra hour of daylight is bound to
have a calming effect.

The other day, we started our spring cleaning and the windows were
wide open. It was 50 degrees outside, hardly the comfort zone. My
wife enjoys accelerating the seasons.

"I’m getting rid of all the germs that have accumulated in this house
over the winter," she brought out. "Suck it all in."

I assumed she meant the fresh air and not the bacteria.

With Easter a month away, out came the bunny rabbits and other
artifacts associated with spring. The house was suddenly undergoing
a transformation, designed to make us all feel a bit better.

Soon the golf courses will be agog with activity and the kids will
be playing their baseball in the fields. Oysters will be disappearing
from restaurant menus and the first timid appearance of the asparagus
will be digested with melted butter.

It won’t be long before I’ll be out on the lake fishing to my
heart’s content and playing a little b-ball with the boys. It used
to be one-on-one, but is now reduced to a less vigorous game of
foul-shooting.

The greenhouses will open and spring planting will ensue.

Tell me, is there anything better than that springtime stroll along
the beach or perhaps that short hike in the mountains where the air
is still cool but refreshing.

I’m as sensitive to the first call of spring as any of my nature
fellows. But for the kind of spring that needs a biology textbook to
interpret it, I have little use.

About the best thing we can all say about spring is that the season
comes along when it is most needed.

THE OSCE STANDS READY TO ASSIST THE ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES IN FURTHER ADVANCING JUSTICE REFORM

armradio.am
08.03.2010 16:02

The conduct of the trials that took place in the aftermath of the
March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan reveals shortcomings in
Armenia’s justice system, concludes a report published today by the
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The 114-page report, based on the monitoring of 93 criminal cases
during a 16-month period, offers detailed recommendations on how to
address the identified shortcomings.

"The trials took place amid high tensions, which made the work of
courts extraordinarily difficult and at the same time raised the
bar for their professional performance to the highest levels," said
Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, ODIHR’s director.

"We hope that this report can give new impetus to the ongoing efforts
by the Armenian authorities to reform the country’s justice system
in line with international standards and OSCE commitments."

"The OSCE stands ready to assist the Armenian authorities in further
advancing justice reform in Armenia," said Lenarcic.

"We are encouraged by the open attitude we have encountered during
the trial monitoring project and value the authorities’ input in the
process of preparing the final report. It appears that some steps
are already being taken to address the identified shortcomings."

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
March 5 2010

THURSDAY’S VOTING ON INCIDENTS OF 1915 NOTHING BUT GREAT COMEDY, MERCAN

WASHINGTON, D.C. (A.A) -05.03.2010 -Chairman of the Turkish
Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Murat Mercan, said Friday the
voting that took place in the US House of Representatives’ Foreign
Relations Committee on the incidents of 1915 on Thursday was nothing
but a great comedy ever witnessed in the world.

In a press conference held at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.,
Mercan thanked all Turkish deputies from both the ruling and
opposition parties, Ambassador Namik Tan, distinguished members of the
Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. and all lobbyists who all worked
to convey Turkish position on the incidents of 1915 prior to
Thursday’s voting on a resolution at the Foreign Relations Committee
of the US House of Representatives.

I had a phone conversation with the Turkish Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, and our minister told me to convey his
thanks and appreciation to all that worked against the resolution on
the incidents of 1915, Mercan stressed.

As we have witnessed here, regardless of political backgrounds, the
Turkish nation is one that comes together and unites during tough
times, Mercan underlined.

No matter how the resolution ends in the near future, Turkey will
definitely not be a loser and there will be no winners, Mercan said.

The only entity that won due to Thursday’s voting was a handful of
Armenian diaspora members who have undermined the good will and
stability in the (Caucasus) region, Mercan underlined.

The result at the US committee has neither increased nor decreased the
number of things we must do, Mercan reminded.

Meanwhile, a Turkish deputy from the north-western province of
Istanbul, Sukru Elekdag, said that, if the protocols signed by Turkey
and Armenia come to the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Turkish
Parliament, the protocols may not be approved or the committee may
behave in a similar fashion as of the Armenian Constitutional Court.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations
approved the resolution on Armenian allegations on Thursday.

The committee approved the resolution on incidents of 1915 – which
took place shortly before the fall of the Ottoman Empire – with 23
votes against 22.

The resolution was proposed by Democrats Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone
and Republicans George Radanovich and Mark Kirk, all important figures
for the Armenian lobby in the US.

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the
events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks
and Armenians.

Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations
between Turkey and US, two close allies for decades.

The Armenian lobbies in the US pressure the US legislators to pass a
resolution urging the President to recognise the events as genocide.

Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to US House and hold
meetings with senior US officials and businessmen to prevent the
resolution from being adopted.

A similar resolution was adopted with 27 votes against 21 in 2007 but
as a result of former President George W. Bush’s intervention, the
resolution was not brought to the House floor.

NEWS JUNKIE POST
March 5 2010

House Foreign Affairs Committee Recognizes Armenian Genocide

By Ole Ole Olson
NEWS JUNKIE POST
Mar 5, 2010 at 12:20 am

In a razor thing vote of 23-22, the US House House Foreign Affairs
Committee formally recognized the genocide of ethnic Armenians at the
hands of the Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago. Turkey recalled it’s
ambassador for consultation. The measure may be brought before the
full House floor in a matter of weeks.

This issue has been highly contentious for decades, with swift
condemnations from the Turkish government every time is has been
brought up in the past. The Foreign Affairs Committee approved another
genocide measure in 2007 with the new Democratic Congress, prompting
Turkey to recall its ambassador as well. Worried that diplomatic
reprisals such as denying US access to Turkish air bases used in Iraqi
operations could follow, President Bush put immense pressure on House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who capitulated and refused to bring the measure
for a full vote on the House floor.

Despite pledging to recognize the Armenian deaths as a genocide during
the campaign, President Obama has discouraged the resolution as well,
claiming that it has the potential to hurt relations not only between
the US and Turkey, but between Turkey and Armenia itself. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton was also against the measure, instead supporting
a Swiss effort to resolve the historical dispute.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) agreed, `I do not minimize the horror that took
place, [but] now is not the time for this committee of the American
Congress to take up the measure that is now before us.’

Edward Nalbandian , Armenia’s foreign minister, disagreed. `This is
another proof of the devotion of the American people to universal
human values and is an important step toward the prevention of the
crimes against humanity.’

The Armenian National Committee of America added `Turkey doesn’t get a
vote or a veto in the U.S. Congress.’

Wikipedia states: [the Armenian Genocide] was the deliberate and
systematic destruction (genocide) of the Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized
by the use of massacres, and the use of deportations involving forced
marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the
deportees, with the total number of Armenian deaths generally held to
have been between one and one-and-a-half million. Other ethnic groups
were similarly attacked by the Empire during this period, including
Assyrians and Greeks, and some scholars consider those events to be
part of the same policy of extermination.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1915-1923.

Many historians contend that the lack of world outrage at the actions
of the Ottoman Turks in and after WWI towards ethnic minorities,
particularly the Armenians paved the way for the Jewish Holocaust in
WWII.

`Who remembers the Armenian genocide today?’
-Adolf Hitler

The Armenians remember. Every April 24, Armenians worldwide observe a
day for those killed.

The House vote took place in front of several Armenian Genocide
Survivors, including Charlotte Kechejian (98 years old), Yeretzgeen
Sirarpi Khoyan (105), and Onorik Eminian (97), as well as leaders in
the Armenian international community.

HOUSE RESOLUTION 252

The full text of the resolution of HR252 as read by House Foreign
Affairs committee chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) is:

Turkey is a vital and, in most respects, a loyal ally of the United
States in a volatile region. We have also been a loyal ally to Turkey,
and should continue to be so. Be that as it may, nothing justifies
Turkey’s turning a blind eye to the reality of the Armenian Genocide.
It is regrettable, for example, that Turkey’s Nobel-Prize-winning
novelist, Orhan Pamuk, was essentially hounded out of his native
country for speaking out on this subject. Now I don’t pretend to be a
professional historian. I haven’t scoured the archives in Istanbul
looking for original documents.

But the vast majority of experts ` the vast majority ` academics,
authorities in international law, and others who have looked at this
issue for years, agree that the tragic massacres of the Armenians
constitute genocide.

In a letter to members of congress two years ago, the International
Association of Genocide Scholars stated the following, and I quote:

`The historical record on the Armenian Genocide is unambiguous and
documented by overwhelming evidence. It is proven by foreign office
records of the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia, and
perhaps most importantly, of Turkey’s World War I allies, Germany and
Austria-Hungary, as well as by the records of the Ottoman
Courts-Martial of 1918-1920, and by decades of scholarship.’

`As crimes of genocide continue to plague the world, Turkey’s policy
of denying the Armenian Genocide gives license to those who perpetrate
genocide everywhere.’

The Genocide Scholars urged the House to pass a resolution
acknowledging the Armenian Genocide because, they said, it would
constitute ` and I quote again ‘ `recognition of a historical turning
point in the twentieth century, the event that inaugurated the era of
modern genocide. In spite of its importance, the Armenian Genocide has
gone unrecognized until recently, and warrants a symbolic act of moral
commemoration.’

Professor Yehuda Bauer, a highly respected scholar at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, has written that the Armenian Genocide is, in
his words, `the closest parallel to the Holocaust.’

In a 1985 report, a subcommission of the UN Commission on Human Rights
found that the massacres of the Armenians qualified as genocide.

And Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who coined the word `genocide’
and drafted the international genocide convention, told an interviewer
that, quote `I became interested in genocide because it happened to
the Armenians.’

Nearly two dozen other countries ` including France, Canada, Russia,
Switzerland and Chile ` have formally recognized the Armenian
Genocide. So has the European Parliament.

As the world leader in promoting human rights, the United States has a
moral responsibility to join them.

The Turks say passing this resolution could have terrible consequences
for our bilateral relationship, and indeed perhaps there will be some
consequences. But I believe that Turkey values its relations with the
United States at least as much as we value our relations with Turkey.

And I believe the Turks, however deep their dismay today,
fundamentally agree that the U.S.-Turkish alliance is simply too
important to get sidetracked by a non-binding resolution passed by the
House of Representatives.

At some point, every nation must come to terms with its own history.
And that is all we ask of Turkey.

Germany has accepted responsibility for the Holocaust. South Africa
set up a Truth Commission to look at Apartheid. And here at home, we
continue to grapple with the legacies of slavery and our horrendous
treatment of Native Americans.

It is now time for Turkey to accept the reality of the Armenian Genocide.

This will most likely be a difficult and painful process for the
Turkish people, but at the end of the day, it will strengthen Turkish
democracy and put the U.S.-Turkey relationship on a better footing.

I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

house-foreign-affairs-committee-recognizes-armenia n-genocide/

Armenia’s Nature Protection Ministry Staff Arrested on Bribery Charges

15:30 – 05.03.10

Arsen Petrosyan, the Deputy Chief of the Armenian State Inspectorate
on Nature Protection, has recently been caught in a case on corruption
and arrested together with his chief Tigran Grigoryan.

In a reference to this case, head of the General Department of Fight
against Organized Crime of RA Police Hunan Poghosyan said at a press
conference today that he had not, in recent months, come across
stronger evidence for cases of corruption than this one.

`I don’t think I have recently seen a more well-founded case on
corruption than this one,’ said Poghosyan.

According to him, preliminary interrogation of Arsen Petrosyan has
revealed that he had been involved in another corruption in the same
case.

Poghosyan also confirmed the rumors that Tigran Grigoryan, the former
Chief of Armenian State Inspectorate on Nature Protection, used to be
a police officer.

Both Tigran Grigoryan’s and Arsen Petrosyan’s cases have already been
brought to court.

In 2009, Petrosyan inspected basalt and gypsiferous clay subsoil
operated by `Delta-Fragment’ Ltd. in Yerevan on assignment for the
Minister of Nature Protection, reports Arka news agency.

For not including the detected violations in the protocol and
reduction of penalty size, Petrosyan required 400,000 AMD from Vardan
Aslanyan, director of `Delta-Fragment’ Ltd., and received the bribe on
December 16, 2009.

Tert.am

Gulf News, UAE
March 5 2010

Turks pay price for supporting Palestinians

Timing of US resolution dubbing massacre of Armenians ‘genocide’ is suspicious

Gulf News
Published: 00:00 March 6, 2010

Ankara must have known its new positioning in Middle East politics,
which angered Israel, will have some sort of consequences. After all,
the Israelis never expected that their supposedly close Turkish allies
would lobby international public opinion to condemn Israeli war crimes
in Gaza. The highlight of the new Turkish attitude was when Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a panel discussion, in
Davos World Economic Forum last year, to protest Israeli President
Shimon Peres’ defence of Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza.

But Turkey apparently never anticipated that the consequences of its
new Middle East policy would come in a politically-motivated
resolution passed on Thursday by a US House committee calling the
Ottoman-era massacre of Armenians "genocide."

The US has been against the label for years, even as some European
nations passed such resolutions few years ago. The move by the US
House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has understandably
angered Ankara, which recalled its ambassador. Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on President Barack Obama to block the
resolution.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during First World
War by their Ottoman rulers as the empire was falling apart. Turkey
argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in
what was a civil strife when Armenians rose up for independence and
sided with invading Russian troops.

The US has actually backed last October’s talks between Turkey and
Armenia to end decades of hostility. The two countries also signed a
deal to establish diplomatic relations and open their border.

Thus, the timing is calling into question the motive behind the
committee’s resolution, especially when the sponsors of the bill are
three well-known pro-Israel lawmakers. The Turks should have known
that this was coming. Other countries in the region, despite their
close relations to the US, were faced with similar `political
extortion’ tactics from pro-Israeli members of the US Congress.
Welcome to the Middle East politics.

/turks-pay-price-for-supporting-palestinians-1.592 568

TURKEY VS. ARMENIA AND WHY IT MATTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Fox News
March 4 2010

The White House is asking Congress to drop legislation that labels
a massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces in 1915 as genocide, but
the House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling for a vote, despite
pressure that included a phone call from the United States top diplomat
Secretary of State Clinton to the chairman of the committee.

Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Representative Howard Berman (D-CA)
told the committee that even if the Turks as well as the United States
felt the resolution would have "terrible consequences" for U.S./Turkey
relations, he urged the members to vote in favor of the legislation.

"I believe the Turks, however deep their dismay today, fundamentally
agree that the U.S.-Turkish alliance is simply too important to
get sidetracked by a non-binding resolution passed by the House of
Representatives," Berman said in his opening remarks. "At some point,
every nation must come to terms with its own history. And that is
all we ask of Turkey."

The White House says President Obama, who supported the legislation
when he was a member of the Senate and running for President, has not
changed his position. "The President’s position on the events of 1915
is well known and his view of that history has not changed," National
Security Spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement. "The President
spoke yesterday with President Gul and expressed appreciation for his
and Prime Minister Erdogan’s efforts on normalization of relations
between Turkey and Armenia, and pressed for rapid ratification of
the protocols."

The resolution on the Armenian genocide was also brought up under the
administration of President George W. Bush when the House tried to
pass the non-binding resolution in 2007. At the time, President Bush
ran into the same problem the Obama administration is now facing,
recognizing the genocide, but asking the House not to pass the
resolution so as to maintain good relations between the United States
and Turkey. The United States maintains the Incirlik military base
in Turkey which is used as a main hub for training missions for the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2008, then candidate Obama released a
statement saying he supported the Armenian Genocide Resolution and that
"as President I will recognize the Armenian genocide." However, that
statement may come back to haunt the current President who recently
has used softer language when asked about the use of his wording.

In April 2009 when Obama visited Turkey he was pointedly asked about
his 2008 remarks during a joint statement with Turkish President
Abdullah Gul. Obama danced around his previous comments, choosing
instead to focus on the future. "What I’d like to do is to encourage
President Gul to move forward with what have been some very fruitful
negotiations. And I’m not interested in the United States in any way
tilting these negotiations one way or another while they are having
useful discussions." Obama said.

And on the same trip, the President made sure to mention the genocide,
thought not by name, at an address to the Turkish Parliament, but asked
the two countries to work together going forward. "while there’s been
a good deal of commentary about my views, it’s really about how the
Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past," Obama said. "And the
best way forward for the Turkish and Armenian people is a process that
works through the past in a way that is honest, open and constructive."

Meanwhile, the legislation, even if it were to make it out of
committee, may not be destined for the floor. Nadeam Elshami, the
spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who in the past
has been supportive of the bill, is saying it’s a process. "We’ll
look at this one step at a time," Elshami told Fox News.

/04/turkey-vs-armenia-and-obama/

RA FOREIGN MINISTER EDWARD NALBANDIAN RECEIVES CHAIRMAN OF EUROPEAN PEOPLE’S PARTY WILFRID MARTENS

Noyan Tapan
March 4, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 4, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
met a delegation led by Chairman of the European People’s Party
Wilfrid Martens on March 4. The process of continual development of
Armenia-European Union cooperation, issues related to the Eastern
Partnership program were discussed at the meeting. The sides attached
importance to formation of a parliamentary platform of cooperation
between EU countries and EU Eastern neighbors within the framework
of the program, which can contribute to deepening of relations with
the European Parliament, as well as cooperation between regional
countries by a new format.

According to the RA Foreign Ministry Press and Information Department,
E. Nalbandian and V. Martens also touched upon measures aimed at
normalizing the Armenian-Turkish relations, latest developments in the
Nagorno Karabakh settlement negotiations process, exchanged thoughts
over a number of international and regional issues.