Author: Kanayan Tamar

Rally in Istanbul on the 8th anniversary of Hrant Dink assassination

13:04, 19 Jan 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Ã…?iÃ…?li District Organization
commemorated Hrant Dink with a rally on the 8th anniversary of his
assassination. HDP also released a press statement underlining Cizre
Police Chief Ercan Demir’s connection with the Dink murder. Several
recent murders and disappearances in Cizre have been linked to the
police.

At the action organized by the HDP Ã…?iÃ…?li District Organization, a
petition was launched for the name of Ergenekon Street to be changed
to Hrant Dink Street. As in previous years, a `Hrant Dink Street’
sticker was placed on the `Ergenekon Street’ sign. The campaign for
the name change will remain open to signatures until April 24, the
date commemorated as the beginning of the Genocide, the Istanbul-based
Armenian-Turkish Agos daily reports.

A group of around fifty people unfurled a banner stating `Hrant’la,
soykırımla yüzleÃ…?in (Time to face Hrant, time to face the Genocide)’,
and chanted the slogans, `Kurd, Turk, Armenian / Long live the
fraternity of peoples’, `We are all Hrant / We are all Armenian’,
marching from KurtuluÃ…? Street to Ergenekon Street.

During the rally, the group replaced the names of street signs by
placing stickers, changing KurtuluÃ…? Street as Tatavla Street,
Baysungur Street as Konstantin Street, and Ergenekon Street as Hrant
Dink Street.

Xunav Altun, District Co-President of the HDP Ã…?iÃ…?li District
Organization, reading out the press statement, reminded that the 8th
anniversary of Hrant Dink’s passing also corresponded to the 100th
anniversary of the Genocide, adding, `For eight years, those who made
Hrant Dink into a target, those who prevented a proper investigation
and trial, those who turned a blind eye to the murder have remained in
power, public officials have been promoted, they have become
governors, members of parliament and ministers. This murder was
carried out in collaboration by all structures within the state,
including the AKP and the Ergenekon organization; and now they are
rushing to lay the blame on each other’.

Altun stated that they would not remain silent in the face of this
case being used as a trump card in struggles for power, adding that
every massacre that was not brought to justice prepared the ground for
new massacres: `Cizre Police Chief Ercan Demir, responsible of the
murder of 5 children in the Cizre district, is a suspect in the Hrant
Dink case due to his position at the Trabzon Intelligence Branch
Directorate at the time of the murder.’

`The Genocide continues¦ Those who claimed that Sevag Balıkçı, who was
murdered for being an Armenian while fulfilling his military duty,
died because of a joke that went wrong; those who claim that Maritsa
Küçük, who was taken from us at her home in Samatya, was killed during
a crime of petty larceny, in fact want to murder the truth itself. Our
response to those who perceive Armenians as `remnants of the sword’ is
to broaden our sisterhood and brotherhood, and to cry out the truth.
We demand true justice for Hrant, Sevag and Maritsa, the most recent
rings in the chain of the Armenian Genocide. We hold light to this
darkness that transforms babies into murderers.’

Following the rally and the press statement, the HDP Ã…?iÃ…?li District
Organization made a call to attend the rally on January 19, at 13:30,
from Taksim to Agos.

ARMENIE
Attentat contre l’église arménienne catholique d’Alep

Les agences de presse font état de la destruction, par des groupes
terroristes, le 9 janvier, de l’église arménienne catholique St. Rita
d’Alep. Le porte-parole du MAE arménien a fermement condamné cet
attentat et jugé inacceptables les atteintes contre les sites sacrés :
>.

ARMENIE
46 soldats sont morts au sein des forces armées arméniennes en 2014

Selon le Comité Helsinki de Vanadzor, au cours de l’année écoulée, les
forces armées arméniennes auraient perdu 46 soldats, dont 26 sont
morts des tirs azerbaïdjanais, 4 d’accidents, 4 d’assassinats, 3
d’accidents de manipulation d’armes, 3 pour des fautes ou non-respect
de la sécurité lors des gardes, 3 de problèmes de santé et 3 de
suicide. Les morts suite aux violations du cessez-le-feu sont en
croissance de 57% en quatre ans.

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Arménie en
date du 12 janvier 2015

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

FRANCE
Produit du mois : Made in Armenia

SAVONS & SHAMPOINGS NATURELS PRODUITS EN ARMÉNIE

beautyproducts.am

LES BIENFAITS DE LA NATURE POUR VOTRE PEAU. Cette entreprise a été
créée il y a un an par un arménien d’Alep, Shant Khayalian, installé Ã
Erevan et qui a créé une entreprise de savon aux produits naturels
(Camomille sauvage, Carotte,Origan, Concombre,..)…

blog ARMENBLOG “ ().

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

TV 5 Monde
Centenaire du génocide arménien : Mémoire et Cinéma

TV 5 monde : Entretien avec Simon Abkarian, comédien et metteur en
scène français, d’origine arménienne. Ali Kazandjiguil, journaliste,
politologue et directeur de la revue Anatoli publiée par le CNRS. Et
Jean-Baptiste Urbain, chroniqueur culture.

2015. C’est l’année du centième anniversaire du génocide arménien. Un
génocide trop souvent oublié. Mais la sortie du film “The Cut” du
réalisateur allemand d’origine turque Fatih Akin nous donne l’occasion
d’en parler…Ce film, qui raconte l’histoire d’un Arménien rescapé du
génocide et qui part à la recherche de ses deux filles. Tout le reste
de sa famille a été décimé. Ce film nous a donné l’idée de fusionner
le Grand Angle et la rubrique culture. Suite à une interview du
réalisateur du film, Fatih Akin, nos invités nous font un point
historique sur ce génocide, sur les raisons, les responsables, et nous
explique l’évolution aujourd’hui de la relation avec la Turquie.

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

“Breath of Syrian-Armenian Culture in Yerevan” New Year Charity Bazaar opens

16:32, 17.12.2014

YEREVAN. – The New Year charity bazaar, entitled “The Breath of
Syrian-Armenian Culture in Yerevan,” officially opened on Wednesday in
the Armenian capital city.

Syrian-Armenian handicraft masters and confectioners are participating
in this fair, which is held for the eighth time.

In addition, Syrian Armenians, who have founded respective businesses
in Armenia, also are introducing their products at the charity event.

The Minister of Diaspora of Armenia, Hranush Hakopyan, delivered
opening remarks at the bazaar. She wished success to the participants
in the fair, and also congratulated them on the coming New Year.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Jan 17 2015

Ankara, Baku to show off strong bilateral ties with grand gestures in 2015

17 January 2015

The year 2015 will provide more than one occasion for Turkey and
neighboring Azerbaijan to show off the strength of their bilateral
cooperation, not only in the global political arena but also in the
global economic field.

Ankara, which assumed the rotating presidency of the G-20 on Dec. 1,
2014, didn’t waste time by using its position to have Baku represented
at a G-20 summit as its `guest.’

While listing some key joint economic projects during a press
conference in Ankara with Azerbaijan’s visiting President Ilham Aliyev
on Jan. 15, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an recalled that
Turkey will host a G-20 summit later this year.

`As host of the G-20, we have used our mandate to favor Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan will take part in the G-20 this year as our guest,’ ErdoÄ?an
said. `From preliminary preparations to G-20 negotiations, Azerbaijan
will be with us,’ he added.

Later at the press conference, during which both the guest and the
host head of the state made statements but did not field questions,
ErdoÄ?an made another striking announcement, as he said he had extended
an invitation to Aliyev to attend the ceremony marking the centennial
of the Battle of Çanakkale, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli, in
Çanakkale province in late April.

In an apparent response to a campaign by Armenians to attain greater
recognition on the 100th anniversary of what many in the world term
the Armenian Genocide, Turkey will commemorate the centennial of the
Çanakkale campaign from April 23-25 this year, in a bid to counter the
adverse effects of Armenian efforts.

Traditionally, Turkey marks the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli
on March 18, which is declared Martyrs’ Day. Armenians, meanwhile,
commemorate their killed ancestors on April 24.

For his part, Aliyev welcomed the invitation extended by Ankara, while
complaining of `provocative’ moves by Armenia which torpedoed last
year’s progress in talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Recalling that April 24 is remembrance day for the Armenian people,
Aliyev also hailed Turkey’s decision to mark the Battle of Gallipoli
on April 24 and said, `I thank you very much, both on behalf of myself
and of the Azerbaijan people, for choosing this date. The choosing of
this date is very meaningful.’

17 January 2015

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 17 2015

Turkey looking into 1915 incidents, FM says

ANADOLU AGENCY
ANKARA

Turkey’s Foreign Minister has said Friday that the government was
currently looking into Armenia’s “genocide” allegations about the 1915
incidents.

Following the ceremony for the launch of the Turkish Foreign
Ministry’s e-archive project in Ankara, Mevlüt ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu said Turkey
had invited heads of state from 102 countries, including Armenia’s
president Serzh Sargsyan, for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of
Gallipoli this coming April.

“There were Armenian soldiers in Ottoman army as well. In 1915, there
were uprisings in the Eastern regions of the empire, at the same time
there was a struggle against occupation forces,” ÇavuÃ…?oÄ?lu said.

The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of both what Armenia calls a
genocide and the battle in the Dardanelles strait in Çanakkale
province’s district of Gallipoli, which marked a turnaround in favor
of the Turks during World War I against the Allied Forces.

Relations between Turkey and Armenia have historically been poor,
rooted in incidents which took place during World War I. The Armenian
diaspora and government describe the 1915 events as “genocide” and
have asked for compensation.

Turkey says that although Armenians died during relocations, many
Turks also lost their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs
in Anatolia.

In April 2014, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an -then Prime Minister- offered
condolences for the Armenian deaths that occurred in 1915-a first for
a Turkish statesman.

Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey
January 16, 2015 Friday

Dink murder: arrest warrant for Turkish police chief

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was murdered in Istanbul in 2007

ISTANBUL

A Turkish court has issued Friday an arrest warrant for a senior
police officer, suspected of negligence with regards to the murder of
a Turkish-Armenian journalist in 2007.

An Istanbul night court, on the appeal of the prosecutor, decided
Friday to issue an arrest warrant for Ercan Demir, who is police chief
in the town of Cizre in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sirnak.

Demir was on duty as chief at the police department in the Black Sea
province of Trabzon when Hrant Dink was killed in Istanbul. Dink’s
murderer Ogun Samast had come from Trabzon.

Demir was previously questioned by an Istanbul prosecutor on Monday
and detained for two days. He was released on conditional probation by
an Istanbul court on Wednesday.

Two other police officers, also from Trabzon, were arrested Tuesday in
the negligence probe related to Dink’s murder.

Ozkan Mumcu and Muhittin Zenit are accused of “causing death due to
negligence” and “professional misconduct.”

Nine officials in total have been questioned in the investigation.

High-profile figures questioned last month include former Istanbul
vice governor Ergun Gungor, former Istanbul police chief Celalettin
Cerrah and former Istanbul police intelligence unit chief Ahmet Ilhan
Guler.

Dink’s murderer, Samast, who was 17 years old at the time, has been
tried and convicted in 2011.

Dink was the editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos, and was considered to
be one of the most prominent Armenian voices in Turkey.

Samast, who is serving a sentence of 23 years in prison, said that he
had killed Dink for insulting “Turkishness.”

Experts: To prevent spread of pan-Turkism, Europe should “put a
straitjacket” on Turkey

by Nana Martirosyan

Saturday, January 17, 16:54

To prevent the spread of pan-Turkism on the threshold of the
centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Europe should put a
straitjacket on Turkey, political expert Levon Shirinyan said at a
press conference on Saturday.

He said that Turkey sponsors the Islamists, who seriously endanger
Europe and the whole world. In this light, he calls on the
international community to start supporting Armenia, which was the
first to suffer from Turkey’s actions. “On the threshold of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, it is necessary to put a
straitjacket on Turkey the way it was done with Germany in the context
of Holocaust”, he said. Shirinyan also urges the international
community to recognize the independence of the NKR and support its
sustainable development so that Artsakh and Armenia, together with the
whole world, could fight pan- Turkism.

For his part, theologian Vardan Khachatryan thinks that one should ask
nobody for anything, because history shows that only strong countries
are respected. “Armenia should consolidate the old and the new
Diasporas and launch a serious campaign on Genocide recognition,
otherwise, the international community will keep ignoring the
country”, he said.

Both experts believe that only the leaders of Ankara’s close partners
will accept Turkey’s invitation to attend the events dedicated to the
centennial anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.

To note, Armenia has set up a special committee to handle issues
related to the events dedicated to the 100th mourning anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide. Leaders of different countries are invited to
attend these events in 2015. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has invited his Armenian counterpart to attend the events on
the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli.
Sargsyan has rejected the invitation. He has reminded Erdogan that a
few months ago he invited him to attend the 24 April 2015 events in
Yerevan to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims.