Author: Kanayan Tamar

Clark, Worcester State to Host ‘Manufacturing Denial’ Conference

By Contributor on September 25, 2014

WORCESTER, Mass.–From Oct. 24-25, a conference on “Manufacturing
Denial and the Assault on Scholarship and Truth” will take place at
Worcester State University and Clark University in Worcester. The
conference is co-sponsored and organized by the Strassler Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University; the Robert Aram
and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair at the
Strassler Center; the Armenian Genocide Program at the Center for the
Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) at Rutgers University; the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR); and
Worcester State University (Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal
Opportunity, and other departments and offices).

The poster of the conference

The academic conference represents the first time that social
scientists and natural scientists will meet to analyze the analogous
and interrelated, though not always identical, phenomena of genocide
denial–of the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Rwandan, and other
cases–and the denial of scientific truth–from evolution to climate
change.

Since the 1980’s, genocide denial, particularly of the Holocaust and
the Armenian Genocide, has generated a substantial body of literature
analyzing and documenting the methods and rhetoric of those who seek
to negate or obscure documented cases of mass violence. More recently,
an impressive amount of literature has explored the ways in which
various industries and political operatives have used the strategy of
“manufacturing doubt” to undermine the scientific consensus on
smoking, pollution, evolution, and global warming. Nonetheless, the
corruption and co-opting of scholarship for the purposes of fomenting
denial continues.

The conference will open at Worcester State University’s Ghosh
Auditorium on Fri., Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., with a keynote address by
Prof. Brendan J. Nyhan, professor in the department of government at
Dartmouth College, titled, “The Challenge of Denial: Why People Refuse
to Accept Unwelcome Facts,” and a response by Prof. Henry Theriault,
chairman of the department of philosophy at Worcester State
University. Khatchig Mouradian, Ph.D. candidate at Clark’s Strassler
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and coordinator of the
Armenian Genocide Program at the CGHR at Rutgers, will offer welcoming
remarks. This event is open to the general public.

On Sat., Oct. 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m., there will be four two-hour
sessions held at Clark University. These sessions are primarily for
conference participants, but a limited number of seats are available
to the public by reservation only.

Session 1, “Modern Strategies and Rhetoric of Denial,” will be chaired
by Dr. Lou Ann Matossian (independent scholar) and will include
presentations by Marc A. Mamigonian (NAASR), Sara Brown (Clark
University), and Shawn Olson (Utah State University).

Session 2, chaired by Dr. Taner Akcam (Clark University), will examine
“The Political Uses of Denial.” Participating in the session will be
Dr. Jennifer Dixon (Villanova University), Dr. Alex Hinton (Rutgers
University), and Dr. Mark Gottleib (Northeastern University).

Session 3 will take up the question, “Countering Denial: How and
When?”, with Dr. Dikran Kaligian (Worcester State University) as
chairman. The panelists will be Dr. Keith Watenpaugh (University of
California, Davis), Dr. Ken Maclean (Clark University), and Emma
Bloomfield (University of Southern California).

The conference will conclude with a summing-up panel featuring Dr.
Debórah Dwork (Clark University), Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian
(University of California, Los Angeles), and Dr. Massimo Pigliucci
(City University of New York-Lehman College), followed by an open
discussion.

For more information, contact Sarah Cushman, the academic program
liaison officer at the Strassler Center, by calling (508) 793-7764 or
e-mailing [email protected].

Grim Forecasts For 2015

Lragir.am
Country – 27 September 2014, 21:28

The government’s forecast of economic growth for 2015 is grim. A 4.1%
real growth of the GDP is forecast for the next year but at the same
time other estimates make think that the forecast of growth will not
come true.

Note that last year equal growth was estimated for this year but the
government revised the forecast in the middle of the year.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance is already announcing that tax
collections are not satisfactory, and economic growth has slowed down.
Accordingly, the government is now estimating a 3.3% growth for this
year.

The draft budget states that external risks of decrease of economic
growth continue to prevail and may directly or indirectly affect the
economy of Armenia.

It is noted that direct impact will be caused by decrease of exports
in bilateral trade with the EU, decrease of investments from the EU
and decrease of assistance from the EU. Decrease of foreign
investments to Armenia is said likely to continue.

The government forecasts comparatively bigger impact on the Armenian
economy. As such, it is noted that economic activity in Russia has
plummeted. According to the government’s forecasts, Sanctions on
Russia may have a domino effect on countries which have bilateral
trade with the EU, including on Russia which is the biggest source of
flow of capital and remittances to Armenia. Domestic consumption and
the rate of economic growth, as well as the exchange rate will be
impacted accordingly.

The draft budget estimates are: revenues 1,184.5 billion, spending
will be 1,298.6 billion, and deficit will be 114.1 billion drams. The
World Bank is expected to lend 198.7 million USD to cover the deficit.

95.5% of budget revenues will be comprised of taxes and state duties.
Next year tax collections are estimated to increase by 33.4 billion
drams compared with this year. Note that in 2014 tax collections were
estimated at 100 billion drams more compared with 2013 but the deputy
ministers of finance are tolling problems with tax collections.

Interestingly, the Armenian government silences domestic risks in the
draft budget, namely the structure of the economy, the coalescence of
business and government, huge levels of mismanagement of the budget
and kickbacks which are stated in the Audit Chamber’s audit reports,
corruption and monopolies. And these are the causes of economic
failures. This means that the government is unlikely to initiate
change and it may get worse than the government expects.

Note that the government has already approved the 2015 budget which
will be sent to the parliament soon.

Canadian Government condemns destruction of Armenian monument in Syria

15:11 * 27.09.14

A Canadian official has expressed his government’s strong criticism of
ISIL’s recent violent attack, which led to the destruction of an
Armenian monument in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor city.

“The Canadian government deplores ISIL’s destruction of the Armenian
Holy Martyrs church in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, as well as the Museum of
the Holy Martyrs,” Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the
country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human
Rights, has said.

He described the ISIL attacks as indiscriminate violence against
Christians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, and their place of worship.

“Canada continues to condemn this terrorist group, which has a
distorted and warped message of Islam, and has murdere thousands of
innocents,” Obhrai added.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Serzh Sargsyan’s UN address was one of his best speeches – politician

15:19 27/09/2014 >> POLITICS

The Armenian leader’s speech at the UN General Assembly’s 69th session
was one of his best speeches delivered ever, says Hakob Vardivanyan, a
member of the Democratic Liberal Party (Ramkavar).

Speaking to Tert.am, the politician said he finds that Serzh Sargsyan
managed to comprehensively address all the problems and challenges
facing Armenia.

“The president’s speech at the UN General Assembly was really
splendid. He managed to address all the key questions with all their
aspects, including economic, political, security-related, and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I don’t think a more comprehensive speech
would have been possible. It was one of his best speeches,” he said.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN
“Do not go to war and expect that Armenia is emptied of its people,”
said an Azeri Minister Ali Hasanov

After the armament and the threat of a military conflict with Armenia
after the failure of the attacks and attempted incursion into the
territory of Armenia, Azerbaijan has found a new weapon even more
effective: wait Armenia emptied of its inhabitants. One of the leaders
of the service of the Azerbaijani presidency, the pseudo-historian
Ramiz Mekhdiev dared to brandish this “new strategy” in a study
entitled “The history of Karabakh, according to the reading of the
sources.” During the presentation of the document, Ali Hasanov,
Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister in charge of displaced populations
presented some “studies”. “Every year 150 to 170 thousand people left
Armenia. At the same time there is a natural decrease population.
These data lead Armenia to a dead end. If things go well, it is not
essential to the war since Armenia will be empty of its people, ” said
A. Hasanov.

Krikor Amirzayan

Saturday, September 27, 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan © armenews.com

Turkish intellectuals slam textbooks spreading ‘hatred towards Armenians’

September 27, 2014 – 12:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – A group of academics, journalists, artists and
intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest
terms what they define as expressions that include “open hatred and
hostility” towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were
recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf.

The two newspapers recently published reports on hateful remarks
targeting Armenians in the textbooks used in history classes,
according to Today’s Zaman.

A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by
historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson
material to teach children is a disgrace.

“Standing with integrity in the face of history is the prerequisite
for establishing the future on the foundations of friendship and
peace. I do hope that this signature campaign will be taken as a
scream from all of us for the publication of textbooks that we would
like to see,” Akçam noted.

“The revolutions history and history textbooks should be collected
immediately, with an apology issued to everyone and particularly to
Armenian students. This is where the path to Turkish-Armenian peace
lies, at this time when we are approaching 2015,” the statement reads.

John Heffern praises Armenian leader’s UN speech

10:14 * 27.09.14

The US ambassador to Armenia has expressed his positive opinion on
President Serzh Sargsyan’sspeech at the UN General Assembly’s 69th
session.

Speaking to our correspondent in New York (where he was taking part in
the annual ArmTech 2014 conference), John Heffern said he thinks that
the Armenian leader maintains strong positions on regional issues.
Noting that the country is facing serious challenges in the region,
the diplomat said that the president managed to express his position
in a very strong and clear way.

He said it was very pleasant for him to see that President Sargsyan
was able to be present at the event and voice his opinion. The
ambassador added that the president had had several meetings in New
York and was taking part at the annual conference.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Canada Liberal Party deplores destruction of Armenian Genocide
Memorial Church by ISIL

11:03 * 27.09.14

The Liberal Party of Canada has expressed outrage at the news of the
destruction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church by ISIL fighters.

The church, located in Eastern Syria, was dedicated to the victims of
the Armenian Genocide and contained the remains of many its victims,
reads a statement posted on the party’s official website.

“ISIL’s destruction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church is
utterly deplorable,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Marc Garneau.

“In addition to this latest crime, ISIL has destroyed many other
churches, mosques, shrines and culturally significant sites. These are
holy sites that had been protected – in many cases for centuries – by
adherents of many different faiths. ISIL continues to show that they
have no respect for international norms or for cultures and religions
different than their own narrow, twisted ideology.”

“The loss of this site will not only be felt by the Armenian people
but by the entire world,” said Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism
Hon. John McCallum. “It is shameful that ISIL would target a site that
was dedicated to remembrance and reconciliation.”

“The Liberal Party stands in solidarity with the Armenian people and
condemns this horrid attack on this holy site,” said Liberal MP Arnold
Chan. “The world has been shocked by the continuing brutality of ISIL
and this is just the latest in the long list of shocking horrors
committed by this group.”

Armenian News – Tert.am

FUNDAÇÃO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN
Armenian Communities Department РService des Communaut̩s Arm̩niennes
Av. de Berna, 45 A, PT-1067-001, Lisboa, Portugal
Tel: +351 21 782 3658
E-mail: [email protected]

Serviço das Comunidades Arménias
FUNDAÇÃO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN

Armenian Culture Week to be Held at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
12-19 October

The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation is bringing Armenian Culture to Lisbon during a week of
concerts, lectures, exhibitions, film, book presentation and more.

Events include a display of hitherto unseen letters that will shine a
light on the enigmatic early life of Calouste Gulbenkian.

To take a look at what’s on offer, read full programme on

For more information please contact [email protected]

Game is coming to its end, Armenia beating Turkey all ends up – Eduard
Sharmazanov

16:15 * 28.09.14

Vice-Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament and Spokesman for the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov commented on the part
on the Armenian-Turkish relations in Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan’s speech at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.

According to him, the game is coming to its end, with Armenia beating
Turkey all ends up.

“Yes, years ago, the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
the ball was in Turkey’s court. Moreover, later Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan said that the reasonable timeframe had a deadline. And
you could see that by mentioning recall of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols he suggested that the deadline is gradually approaching.”

With respect to the phrase “to hell with your ratification” the
Armenian president used during his speech, Mr Sharmazanov said:

“We do not say ‘to hell with it,’ but we say that if Turkey keeps on
disregarding the positions of not only Armenia, but also the
international community, it shows its disrespect not only for
Armenia’s position, but also for the positions of the mediators at the
signing of the protocols in Zurich. It, first of all, disregards its
own political decision by setting preconditions. Moreover, the
Armenian president clearly stated in New York that any bargaining over
our Homeland was out of the question. The Turkish political elite are
gravely mistaken if they think one fine day may come and we link the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process with the Armenian-Turkish protocols.”

As regard the possibility of Armenia recalling the protocols in the
foreseeable future, Mr Sharmazanov said.

“I think the Armenian president’s speech in New York was a conceptual
speech of a national figure and statesman. He spoke not only as an
Armenian national leader, but also as president if all the citizens of
Armenia because he raised the issues of not only the Armenian Genocide
or Nagorno-Karabakh. He not only called Nagorno-Karabakh free and
independent at that high-level venue, suggesting that there is no
alternative to Artsakh’s freedom and independence, but also raised the
problem of Yezidis in northern Iraq. We remember well that Armenia’s
Yezidi community appealed to the Armenian president a month and a half
ago, and by his step he showed he is ready to listen to each citizen’s
opinion and express the Yezidi minority’s opinion at the high-level UN
venue.”

With respect to the statement on the return of the Sis (modern-day
Kozan) catholicosate to the Armenian Apostolic Church at the
Armenia-Diaspora conference too suggested that an entirely different
policy was being pursued in the Armenia-Turkey relations. Commenting
on the relevant discussions in Armenia, Mr Sharmazanov said:

“Armenia has over recent years been for a peaceful dialogue with
Turkey. Turkey’s political elite and, after being elected Turkey’s
president, Recep Erdogan have shown they have not such a political
will. We once more state any preconditions are unacceptable to us. And
President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement is evidence that Armenia and
Armenia’s authorities are masters of the Homeland and claims.

Armenia has invited Turkey to take part in the commemoration of the
centennial of the Armenian Genocide. As to whether the latest
statements and the invitation are in conflict with each other, Mr
Sharmazanov said:

“No, the invitation has nothing in common with Serzh Sargsyan’s latest
statement. If Turkey’s leaders come and visit the Memorial to Armenian
Genocide victims, Tsitsernakaberd, it means they acknowledge the
heinous crime of Genocide. That is, they do not consider the butchers
and their victims equal. If they do not come, we re-state that Turkey
is continuing its denial policy.”

As to the Armenian side’s further steps if Turkey continues its
policy, Mr Sharmazanov said:

“This is under the Armenian president’s jurisdiction. Armenia’s
president has proved that he is a national figure and statesman. All
his political biography is evidence thereof. He will make a decision
in the interests of Armenians and of the state.”

Armenian News – Tert.am