Author: Kanayan Tamar

Die Welt, Deutschland
15 / 1 / 2015

Armenien und das Menschheitsgedächtnis

Geschähe dieser Völkermord heute, generierte er eine kilometerlange
Laufzeile aus Breaking News. Das ist gut so. Massenmörder kommen heute
nicht mehr so leicht aus der Erinnerung davon.

Von Wolfgang Büscher
WELT-Gruppe

Bald ist es wieder so weit, dann beginnt in Berlin die ITB, die
Internationale Tourismusbörse; 11.000 Aussteller aus 180 Ländern
werden erwartet – das Reisen ist eine Riesenindustrie geworden. Nie
waren wir so weltläufig wie heute. Zur selben Zeit reisen andere ganz
anders. Steigen in Nordafrika in halb lecke Boote und rostzerfressene
Frachter, die Schlepper ihnen für teures Geld bieten, um an Europas
goldene Küsten zu gelangen.

Wir leben im Zwielicht, das ist nicht neu, es war immer so. Aber die
technischen Hebel unserer Zeit machen daraus ein grelles Ereignis. Als
Kind hörte ich die Geschichte vom Großvater. Nach dem ersten Weltkrieg
aus britischer Gefangenschaft entlassen, wurde er auf ein halb leckes
Schiff mit Kurs auf die Heimat gesetzt.

Zur Person: Wolfgang Büscher

Biografie

Wolfgang Büscher ist Autor der “Welt”-Gruppe. Für seine Reportagen und
Bücher hat er zahlreiche Auszeichnungen erhalten, u. a. den
Ludwig-Börne-Preis. Über seine Wanderung nach Moskau im Jahre 2001
schrieb er seinen ersten Bestseller (“Berlin – Moskau, eine Reise zu
Fuß”). Zuletzt erschien “Hartland. Zu Fuß durch Amerika”.

Es muss ihm auf der Nordsee ungefähr so zumute gewesen sein wie jenen,
die heute übers Mittelmeer irrlichtern. Er hoffte, die Fahrt zu
überleben. Hörte ich diese Geschichte zehnmal erzählen oder nur
einmal? Egal, meine für solche Bilder empfängliche Fantasie griff sie
willig auf. Abertausende solcher Geschichten geisterten durch die
Familien.

Ungeheure Katastrophen blieben öffentlich unerzählt, blieben private
Erinnerung. Wie der Völkermord an den Armeniern im Jahre 1915, der in
diesem Jahr ein volles Jahrhundert zurückliegt.

Erinnerung an das Grausame lebt meist in den Familien

Armenische Familien sind voller Erinnerungen an die unvorstellbarsten,
grausamsten Schicksale. Es sprach sich zwar in der Welt herum, was den
Armeniern geschah, aber die große Erzählung vom Mord an diesem Volk –
wo ist sie?

Gut, damals erschien Franz Werfels Buch darüber. Aber steht die
Ungeheuerlichkeit der armenischen Tragödie in einem Verhältnis zum
Interesse, das die Welt daran nahm?

Geschähe dieser Völkermord heute, generierte er eine kilometerlange
Laufzeile aus Breaking News. Das ist gut so. Massenmörder kommen heute
nicht mehr so leicht aus der Erinnerung davon. Dennoch, das Zwielicht
bleibt. Die Beleuchter haben gewechselt, es sind Profis, sie arbeiten
mit modernstem Gerät.

Auch wenn die lebensgefährliche Heimfahrt meines Großvaters und seiner
Kameraden 1918 auf diesem englischen Schiff eine Fernsehnachricht
geworden wäre – es wäre nur ein kurzer Blitz am Nachthimmel des
Menschheitsgedächtnisses gewesen. Es wäre eine Geschichte, die in der
Familie bewahrt wird, geblieben.

Tageszeitung, Deutschland
23 / 1/ 2015

Erdogan will Gegengedenken zum Armenier-Völkermord

Ankara (APA) – Der türkische Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan hat 2015
zum Gedenkjahr des “Sieges von Canakkale” (Gallipoli) an den
Dardanellen 1915/16 ausgerufen. Er will damit nach Einschätzung von
Beobachtern das Gedenken an den Beginn des Genozids an den türkischen
Armeniern am 24. April 1915 und der Massenmorde an Syrisch- und
Griechisch-Orthodoxen in den Hintergrund drängen, wie Kathpress
meldet.

So sollen die Feiern der Dardanellen-Schlachten am 23. und 24. April
ihren Höhepunkt erreichen, wenn die Armenier und mit ihnen die ganze
christliche Welt des Genozids gedenken. Erdogan versucht die
Erinnerung an diese Gräuel auch dadurch abzuschwächen, dass die Türkei
auch jene armenischen Soldaten und Offiziere ehren wird, die in
Canakkale Seite an Seite mit ihren türkischen Kameraden gekämpft
haben.

Tatsache sei jedoch, dass schon seit Anfang 1915 Armenier in der
türkischen Armee nur noch unbewaffnet in sogenannten
“Arbeitsregimentern” dienen durften, an Erschöpfung starben oder
ermordet wurden, schreibt Kathpress. Die einzige Ausnahme blieb
allerdings die Dardanellenfront. Das sei jedoch nicht türkischem
Großmut, sondern allein der mutigen Haltung des dort kommandierenden
deutschen Marschalls Otto Liman von Sanders (1855-1929) zu verdanken
gewesen. Der “Löwe von Gallipoli” drohte den Türken, ihnen mit der
Waffe entgegenzutreten, falls sie “seine” Armenier – und Griechen –
abzutransportieren wagten.

Die armenische Tageszeitung in Istanbul, “Agos”, hat das von Erdogan
verfügte “Gegengedenkjahr” zum Genozid als “üblen Scherz”,
“Rüpelhaftigkeit” und “politischen Winkelzug” bezeichnet, um von dem
tatsächlichen Anlass zum Nachdenken über die nach wie vor unbewältigte
Vergangenheit der Türkei abzulenken.

La Depeche, France
24 janv 2015

Deux papas arméniens menacés d’expulsion

Publié le 24/01/2015 à 03:52, Mis à jour le 24/01/2015 à 08:32

Faits divers – Albi (81) – Demandeurs d’asile

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 25 2015

Turkey’s attempt to distract from Armenian centennial commemorations falls short

Serzh Sarksyan

January 24, 2015, Saturday/ 17:00:00/ DENÄ°Z ARSLAN / ANKARA

The Turkish government’s move this year to invite more than 100
leaders around the world for the centennial commemorations of the
Gallipoli Campaign of World War I to be held on the same day as the
Armenians’ centennial commemoration of what they call the `Armenian
genocide’ has been perceived as a crude attempt to distract attention
from the Armenian commemorations.

In an attempt to reduce the impact of the centennial commemoration
ceremonies of the Armenian `genocide’ this year on April 24 in
Armenia, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has come
up with the idea of celebrating the 100th anniversary of World War I’s
Gallipoli Campaign on two-day-long ceremonies on April 23-24.

Turkey traditionally commemorates its fallen soldiers in the Battle of
Gallipoli — also known as Çanakkale on March 18 every year. But just
two years ago, then-president-Abdullah Gül marked the 98th anniversary
of the Çanakkale Battle on March 18 in 2013.
No one in Turkey at the time suggested that the Çanakkale Battle
should be remembered on April 24. March 18 is the day the British
started its bombardment of the Dardanelles peninsula.

The Gallipoli commemorations will take place on April 23-24 this year
for the first time and the Turkish government has sent invitations to
more than 100 leaders around the world, whose soldiers fought in World
War I, including Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu had to explain last week that other
ethnic groups, including Arabs and Armenians also fought at Gallipoli.
`We [Turks and Armenians] fought together at Gallipoli. That’s why we
have extended the invitation to President Sarksyan as well,’ he said.

Speaking to Agos daily after President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s
invitation to Sarksyan, many Turkish citizens of Armenian descent
reacted strongly to ErdoÄ?an’s invitation to Sarksyan, calling it a
`joke’ and an `ill-mannered’ act, and further criticizing it as a
`political maneuver.’

In an open letter addressed to President ErdoÄ?an, Sarksyan immediately
rejected the invitation to the Gallipoli commemoration ceremonies,
adding that the invitation itself shows that Turkey continues to
pursue its `denial policy’ of the Armenian `genocide.’

Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), an
independent think tank in Yerevan, said the timing of the Gallipoli
invitation could not have been worse.

`In fact, in what seems to be a rather selective reinterpretation of
history, the Turkish government has set the two-day Gallipoli
commemoration for April 23-24, in a blatant disregard for the
traditional April 24 commemoration of the Armenian genocide,’ said
Giragosian in an email reply to Today’s Zaman.

Giragosian stated that ErdoÄ?an’s move only triggered an intense
negative reaction in Armenia and tended to confirm the perception of
Turkey as an `insincere and unreliable interlocutor,’ as the timing of
the Turkish state commemoration of Gallipoli is viewed as `a crude
attempt to distract from and deny the Armenian genocide
commemoration.’

Armenia is preparing a wide-scale anniversary ceremony for the 1915
events on April 24 and invited a number of leaders around the world.
French President François Hollande and US President Barack Obama are
among those invited to Yerevan for the ceremonies in Armenia.

Yerevan commemorates the mass killings of Armenians every April 24 and
often use the anniversary as an opportunity to lobby Western countries
to brand the killings as genocide. Ankara denies claims that the
events of 1915 amounted to genocide, arguing that both Turks and
Armenians were killed when Armenians revolted against the Ottoman
Empire during World War I in collaboration with the Russian army,
which was then invading Eastern Anatolia.

Giragosian pointed out that there are concerns over recent
developments in Turkish politics. `For one, the rapid rise of
President ErdoÄ?an as the most powerful, but most polarizing politician
is a cause for worry. And given his rather unpredictable and
inflexible personal posture on many issues, there is concern that he
will have and hold too much personal and political power, without due
deference to the rule of law or democratic institutions within
Turkey,’ he said.

`At the same time, the future of both Turkey’s broader regional policy
and its more specific policy towards Armenian-Turkish normalization
are ever more hostage to the outcome of domestic Turkish politics,’
Giragosian added.

ErdoÄ?an’s invitation could be interpreted as an olive branch to
Armenia, with which Turkey has no diplomatic relations. But Sarksyan
in his letter to ErdoÄ?an last week indicated his doubts about the
sincerity of the invitation and expressed his expectation that Turkey
will reply first to Armenia as to whether it will attend the
ceremonies to commemorate the Armenian `genocide’ in Yerevan.

`For his part, the Armenian president had little choice but to reject
the invitation,’ said Giragosian.

Last year, the Turkish government pulled another trick from its bag,
only one day before April 24 to reduce the impact of the April 24
commemorations by Armenia. In a historic first for the Turkish
Republic last year, ErdoÄ?an, who was prime minister at the time,
extended Turkey’s condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians who
had lost their lives in 1915.
The statement, which doesn’t include the word `genocide,’ was welcomed
by the West and Armenians living in Turkey, but was short of
satisfying Yerevan.

Another `olive branch’ to Armenians came this week from Prime Minister
Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu. The prime minister released a statement on Tuesday to
commemorate slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink eight years
ago and called for a new beginning in Turkish-Armenian relations.

He stated that a relocation policy and the events of 1915 took place
under the harsh conditions of World War l, and Turkey shares the pain
of Armenians.

`Our desire to share pain, heal wounds and re-establish friendships
are sincere. Our prospect is friendship and peace,’ DavutoÄ?lu said.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç also denied on
Wednesday that ErdoÄ?an’s message for Armenians last year and
DavutoÄ?lu’s statement addressed to Armenians are `tactical’ steps to
reduce the effects of centennial commemorative events of 1915.
Speaking at a press conference on Jan. 21, Bilgiç said that both
statements by ErdoÄ?an and DavutoÄ?lu are `sincere.’

Nalbandian: ‘It’s inappropriate’

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, who was visiting Brussels
to attend the Armenia-EU Cooperation Council on Jan. 20, told
journalists that it’s not appropriate to organize the Gallipoli
commemoration events in Turkey on April 24.

`I don’t think it is appropriate to organize such an event in Turkey
on April 24 and I couldn’t believe that anybody could perceive this as
a proper step,’ said Nalbandian.

He also recalled that the Armenian president had invited ErdoÄ?an to
participate in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian `genocide’ in April 2015.

`I conveyed the written invitation to President ErdoÄ?an being in
Ankara in August of last year,’ said Nalbandian.
He had attended President ErdoÄ?an’s inauguration ceremony in Ankara in
late August. `Till now we haven’t received any response,’ he added.

The chief spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Tigran
Lazarian, posted a tweet on Jan. 20, after DavutoÄ?lu’s call for a new
beginning with Armenia saying, `How can we speak of a `new beginning’
if the starting point is an aggressive denial of the Armenian genocide
— a double crime!’

Lazarian also accused ErdoÄ?an of `seeking to keep foreign leaders
away from the Armenian commemorations by creating an impromptu — and
historically inaccurate — anniversary of his own, ` according to an
article by Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty on Jan. 16.

The Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency
Jan 25 2015

Il Giornale newspaper condemns Armenian community for including local
journalist to “black list”

Rome, January 25, AzerTAc

Italian newspaper “Il Giornale” has published an article condemning
Armenian community, who included local journalists to the “black list”
because they delivered Azerbaijani truths to the Italian community. In
the article, author Alessandro Grando spoke of the terror act in
Paris, satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo`s activity, and “black list”
published at the official website of the Armenian diaspora.He noted
the Armenian government through its diaspora has included Italian
journalists to the “black list”, because they demonstrated just
position towards Azerbaijan. The author wrote: “There are journalists,
who have been included to the “black list” because of separate
opinions. The last example of this can be found in the “Akhtamar”
online bulletin, which is being published by the support of Armenian
diaspora ministry. In this bulletin, Armenian community noted they
would include journalists to the “black list”, who would defend just
position of Turks, especially Azerbaijanis. That means those who
highly appreciate Azerbaijan`s policy are “terrible criminals”. The
portal calls those journalists as enemy as they wanted to deliver
Azerbaijani truths to Italian community, as well as prepared various
news about the country.”According to the author, along with names of
journalists, the portal published their phone numbers and e-mails.The
author described the efforts of the “Akhtamar” portal as interference
in the internal affairs of Italy.

Magsud DadashovSpecial correspondent

Sant Egidio, Italia
23 gen 2015

Il vescovo armeno di Damasco: “Non chiudiamoci, noi cristiani possiamo
convivere con l’Islam”

Il vescovo Armash Nalbandian, a Genova con la Comunità di Sant’Egidio
per la settimana di preghiera per l’unità dei cristiani, ha parlato
dei cristiani in Siria e ha ricordato la strage degli armeni

>.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 24 2015

The ever-reinterpreted Hrant Dink murder

by Mustafa Akyol

On Jan. 17, 2007, Hrant Dink, a Turkish Armenian intellectual and the
editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian daily newspaper, Agos,
was assassinated right outside his office in one of the busiest
streets in the country. The assassin, Ogün Samast, was a 17-year-old
ultra-nationalist from Trabzon, a Black Sea town known for its tough
guys and nationalist circles. He was apparently encouraged by his
elder `brothers’ to `punish the Armenian who insulted Turkishness.’ It
seems they were fanatic and vulgar enough to not even realize that
Dink in fact never `insulted’ Turks, but rather tried to reconcile
them with Armenians.

The murder sparked a widespread reaction, as tens of thousands marched
in Istanbul for Dink’s funeral. Moreover, finding the `real culprits’
of the murder, besides the trigger-man Samast and his closest buddy
Yasin Hayal, turned into a major liberal cause.

However, there was also a broader political drama going on in Turkey
at the time. The alliance between the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement was getting ready to take on the
old establishment, which was packed with ultra-nationalists, some of
whom shared the very same ideology that targeted Hrant Dink. That is
why, in subsequent years, the Dink murder became one of the
much-quoted references for the `Ergenekon’ case. Accordingly, there
was a heinous secularist-nationalist cabal called `Ergenekon’ that had
organized almost every evil in recent Turkish history, including
political assassinations. Various spokesmen for both the AKP and the
Gülen movement pushed for this theory, practically using the Dink
murder to demonize the masters of the `Old Turkey.’

However, the co-masters of the `New Turkey’ were destined to clash
soon. As is well known, the AKP and the Gülen movement became the most
bitter of enemies soon after toppling their common enemies. The AKP
proved to be victorious in this battle, and thus initiated a zealous
purge on the `parallel state’ of the Gülen movement. Right now, the
hunt of members of this `parallel state’ is the number one item on the
AKP’s agenda, especially for President Tayyip ErdoÄ?an.

Naturally, this new threat necessitates a new history. There is
therefore no wonder why Turkey’s near history is now being re-written
by pro-ErdoÄ?an commentators with an obsessive focus on the `parallel
state.’ In a strikingly pragmatic way, every evil attributed to
`Ergenekon’ just a few years ago is now being attributed to the
`parallels.’ The same logic works for the Dink murder as well, as the
real culprits of the assassination are now defined as police chiefs
that are allegedly members of the Gülen movement, instead of the
gendarmarie officers who were allegedly members of `Ergenekon.’

If you ask my humble view of this, first I would say that I do not buy
these politically-driven narratives. The Dink murder, like everything
else, should be investigated regardless of the ruling narrative. In
fact, the very fact that there is a `ruling narrative’ should make us
suspicious about the `truth’ that it presents to us with such ardor
and passion. Moreover, I also believe that evil in Turkey (like
elsewhere) is less organized than what people generally believe.
Ultra-nationalist hatred toward non-Muslims is such a widespread evil
in Turkey that it could have targeted Dink (and other victims of that
era) in less of a conspiracy than what many assume. The real culprit,
in other words, may well be neither `Ergenekon’ nor the `parallel
state,’ but rather the mere banality of evil.

January/24/2015

Haykakan Zhamanak: Permyakov questioning video viewed 279,000 times

‘Haykakan Zhamanak’ writes that Armenian Investigative
Committee-released video of Valery Permyakov’s questioning by Armenian
investigators aroused interest of the public.

“The video was viewed over 279,000 times within 24 hours which does
not happen often in the Armenian Internet. Yet it is evident that the
Armenian public was surprised that Permyakov resembles not a monster,
but an ordinary 20-tear-old man who does not differ from many
others,’ the paper writes.

24.01.15, 12:24

Azerbaijan includes fictitious names in military allies’ list

12:52 * 24.01.15

Azerbaijan has included fictitious names in a big list of states with
which it ever concluded military partnership agreements, according to
the coordinator of the Armenian military website Razminfo.am.

Speaking to Tert.am, Karen Vartanesyan said he knows that the list
countries names other than Turkey,
Palestine and Israel, which are known to be Azerbaijan’s allies. “I
am practically sure that those figures are published for creating a
propaganda effect in an attempt to flaunt that so many countries
support Azerbaijan in the fight against Armenia. But the reality is
that Armenia also can have similar agreements with those countries.
What’s even more, agreements and treaties of the kind very often have
no significance at all,” he said, describing such efforts as
diplomatic compliments.

The website earlier reported that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense has
cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding with 34
countries and cited an Azerbaijani source as saying that negotiations
are now underway for signing deals with 26 more states.

Commenting on the report, Vrtanesyan said he thinks that Azerbaijan
may be really cooperating with some of the states mentioned. “Let us
try to make out, for instance, what aid Turkmenistan can offer to
Azerbaijan given that it has a territorial dispute with the latter.
That country is unlikely to render serious assistance to Azerbaijan.
The same goes for Kyrgyzstan and so on and so forth,” the expert said.

He added that such scary figures could be nothing more than an attempt
to show that the world sides with Azerbaijan.

According to Sargis Asatryan, an expert in Azerbaijani studies, other
states’ agreements with Azerbaijan are basically anchored on economic
cooperation stemming from the country’s oil and natural gas resources
and energy carriers.

“As for agreements with other countries’ defense agencies, it applies
to technical military cooperation. And Azerbaijan is trying to more
diversify its arms market, i.e. – to acquire modern weapons of most
different kinds from different countries. Those are the questions that
should trouble us much,” he said, agreeing that the list is intended
for propaganda purposes.

Commenting on the report, the political analyst Robert Mehrabyan sees
nothing strange about the kind of list. “Any state maintains
relations, both diplomatic and technical-military,” he said,
considering the publication of fictitious names a regular practice for
states.

“And in the press releases of our Ministry of Defense too, it is
possible to provide such reports indicating double-digit figures,” he
noted.

As for possible hazards, Mehrabyan said he doesn’t think that
Azerbaijan’s armament policies should be perceived as something new.
He cited Russia as Azerbaijan’s number one ally enriching its arms
supplies.

SPORTS
Les 6ème Jeux Panarméniens en août prochain à Erévan enregistreront un
nombre record de participants

Les 6ème Jeux Panarméniens qui se dérouleront du 2 au 13 août 2015 à
Erévan enregistreront un nombre record de participants, selon les
organisateurs qui préparent actuellement cet évènement sportif. Selon
le secrétaire général des Jeux Panarméniens, Bakrad Bournazian, Erévan
reçoit actuellement les premières demandes d’inscription à ces Jeux
Panarméniens. Le nombre final des participants devant être connu en
avril.