Author: Kanayan Tamar

TURKEY SHARES ARMENIANS’ PAIN OVER OTTOMAN-ERA KILLINGS: PM

22:04, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Turkey shares the pain of Armenians whose parents or grandparents were
killed under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday, AFP reports.

“We once again respectfully remember and share the pain of
grandchildren and children of Ottoman Armenians who lost their lives
during deportation in 1915,” Davutoglu said in a statement released
by his office to mark the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.

Davutoglu made clear once more in the statement that Turkey did not
accept the word genocide to describe the killings.

“To reduce everything to a single word, to put responsibility through
generalisations on the Turkish nation alone… is legally and morally
problematic,” he said.

The relatively conciliatory tone of the statement contrasts with the
furious reaction from Ankara early this month when Pope Francis used
the term genocide to describe the killings.

Davutoglu had on April 12 lashed out at Francis for what he described
as “inappropriate” and “one-sided” comments on the issue.

The latest statement said the “Ottoman Armenians” would be remembered
at a service to be held at the Armenian patriarchate in Istanbul on
April 24.

Davutoglu said Turks and Armenians should “heal their wounds from
that century and reestablish their human relations”.

The statement builds on an expression of condolences issued by
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while he was still prime minister in
April 2014.

In that statement, Erdogan described the killings as “our shared pain”
in what was the weightiest statement yet from a Turkish leader on
the issue.

AKHTALA RIVER RESEMBLING A TAILING PIPE BECAUSE OF ACCUMULATION OF AKHTALA ODC DUMPS

15:10 April 17, 2015

EcoLur

Hazardous sources of pollution have appeared in Akhtala town and
its adjacent areas as a result of uncontrollable industrial dumps of
Akhtala ore dressing combine and default of environmental pollution
prevention. It’s Akhtala mine, as the Akhtala River flows through its
galleries collecting a complex of heavy metals. These are numerous
sites of industrial waste accumulation both in Nazik and Nahatak
tailing dumps. Washouts flow into the Akhtala River then getting
spread in the environment. Tails are directly dumped into the Akhtala
River passing by the tailing dump (not to make it full). The river
started resembling a tailing pipe because of the dumps (see the
photo report). Recently Civil Voice organization succeeded to shoot
night dumping from Akhtala ore dressing combine. Watch the video by
Civil Voice.

SERB MP: FOR DECADES LITTLE HAD BEEN KNOWN ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

23:33, 20.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics, Analytics

Serbia’s Parliament ruling coalition MP Aleksandar Cotric wrote an
article on Armenian Genocide in the Serbian newspaperVecernje Novosti.

The article reads, in part:

“In the course of the crimes perpetrated in 1915-23, about two
million Armenians were kicked out of their houses. Hundred thousands
of innocent men, women and children were killed. According to the
Armenian sources, the number of the victims even reached 1.5 million.

This way the presence of Armenians was eliminated from the land where
they used to live over 2.5 thousand years.

The global forum “Against the Crime of Genocide” will be held in
Yerevan. I’m invited to represent the Serbian Skupshtina and speak
on the topic of parliamentarians against the crime of Genocide.

Serb people also fell victim to the genocide perpetrated by the
Ustashe on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia in
1941-45. Hundreds of thousands Serbs were killed on the territory
which was controlled by the Ustashe regime. To everyone’s shame,
post-war authorities of communist Yugoslavia neither recognized that
genocide nor informed the names of the victims.

The Ottoman Empire leadership (ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary)
perpetrated the great crime against the Armenians by the death march
through the Syrian Desert, where many people died from thirst and
exhaustion. Turks also committed a Genocide over the cultural heritage
of Armenian people: according to the Armenian sources, 66 cities,
25 thousand villages, 2350 thousand Christian churches and about 1500
schools had been destroyed.

Because of the systematic suppression of the facts about the deaths of
the Armenians, for decades little had been known about the Armenian
Genocide. This allowed Adolf Hitler to state in 1939, before the
beginning of Jews’ and Polacks’ exterminations: “Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

I think the 100th anniversary of the terrible crime against the
Armenians is also a chance of normalizing the diplomatic relations
of Armenia and Turkey, opening of the border and building a bridge
for the new relations between the Armenians and Turks.”

CHARLES AZNAVOUR: ARMS SUPPLIERS BECAME BEST FRIENDS OF AZERBAIJAN

14:47 | April 20,2015 | Politics

Le Monde, a popular daily newspaper published in Paris, has published
an article by world renowned chansonnier Charles Aznavour, Nouvelles
d’Arménie magazine reports.

In the article entitled “Death continues to rotate around Armenians”
Aznavour expresses his opinion about Turkey’s denial policy and
cowardice.’

He calls on Armenians and Turks to start dialogue. Addressing Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the chansonnier asks why the Turkish
government continues to remain loyal to the denial policy of their
predecessors.

In the article, Charles Aznavour also refers to the situation in
Karabakh and in Syria and reminds of the struggle of Missak Manouchian,
a French-Armenian poet and militant communist, a survivor of the
Armenian Genocide, who went to France where he took up arms and fought
for that country.

“How often the Armenian nation has been betrayed and abandoned by
fate,” the singer said adding, “Those who supplied arms have now
become the best friends of Azerbaijan.”

Charles Aznavour ends the article with the hope in today’s Turkish
people. “The crime was not committed by them,” he writes.

EURASIANET.ORG: EUROPEAN GAMES VISITORS TO AZERBAIJAN TO HAVE WHAT GOVERNMENT ORDERS FOR BREAKFAST

19:01 20/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

Known for its penchant for curbing civil liberties, the government
of Azerbaijan is now moving to limit gastronomic freedom as well. To
popularize the country’s national cuisine, tourism officials have
decided to make a traditional breakfast mandatory for all of the
country’s hotels to serve. But first, they decided to “patent” an
Azerbaijani breakfast, the American outlet EurasiaNet.org reads.

According to the article, the prospect of thousands of athletes and
spectators descending on Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, for the European
Games, prompted the decision.

“But what exactly goes into a trademarked “Azerbaijan Breakfast”?

Despite its enthusiasm for the idea, the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, as yet, has not gotten around to elaborating. Nor has the
state patent office. It might be difficult to make the claim that an
Azerbaijani breakfast is so unusual as to be patent-worthy, however.

Generally, the meal can include sheep-cheese, honey, yogurt, a
variety of fruit, scrambled eggs with tomato, bread, and tea, tea,
tea,” the author writes.

As the article reads, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Abulfas Garayev,
explained earlier this month that the decision was made since tourists
allegedly prefer to leave the hotel for other meals. To get guests
hooked, several hotels — as yet unnamed — will serve only the
“Azerbaijan Breakfast” for breakfast when the European Games kick off.

Later on, it will become compulsory in all hotels of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, the author of the article warns that hotel guests are likely
to discover that they face not only limited breakfast options. The TV
sets in hotel rooms already display local news designed to promote
only the government’s point of view. Many local reporters have left
the country, censor themselves or are locked away in prison, like
jailed investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

Besides, as the article has it, few are inclined to voice
government-criticism loudly, either. Most recently, a leading rights
defender and government sceptic Rasul Jafarov was sentenced to 6.5
years in jail on charges ranging from tax evasion to embezzlement.

As they have for scores of other activists, journalists and lawyers
now doing time in Azerbaijan’s prisons, international human rights
organizations have described the convictions as politically motivated.

But, apparently, the government does not believe this will impede
the flow of visitors for the European Games or customers for an
“Azerbaijan Breakfast,” the author writes.

Related:

The Washington Post: Olympic flame must illuminate terrible stain
ruling regime is inflicting on Azerbaijan

Human rights groups appeal to U.S. Secretary of State to boycott
European games in Baku

THE TSARUKYANS LOVE THEIR JEWELRY: WIFE BUYS USD 1 MILLION IN A YEAR

Grisha Balasanyan

11:15, April 20, 2015

The diamond encrusted watch on Gaık Tsarukyan’s wrist costs USD
300,000.

But this pales in comparison to the USD 500,000 diamond watch on a
goldchain he owns…and he has two of them.

Last, but not least, are his three rings with a combined value of
USD 4.7 million.

The Armenian businessman and former head of the Prosperous Armenia
Party can afford such baubles.

And his love of expensive items extends to furniture as well. He
owns bedroom furniture costing 641,000 Euros and kitchen fixtures
costing 126,820.

Mr. Tsarukyan’s wife Javahir has her fair share of bling as well.

Take her USD 490,000 pendant, her USD 470,000 necklace, the USD 35,000
bracelet, or the USD 25,000 earrings.

Tsarukyan’s annual salary as a member of parliament amounts to a mere
4.5 million AMD. The rest of his income is in the form of dividends
from various companies and interest on loans.

Las year Tsarukyan declared cash deposits of USD 30.373 million and
26.352 million Euros.

Tsarukyan also lavishes his wealth on his wife. In 2011, for example,
he gifted her close to 12 billion AMD.

Last year Mrs. Tsarukyan decarled USD 25,700 ad 30,400 Euros in
cash holdings.

In addition to Mr. Tsarukyan’sholdings in several companies based
in Armenia, he owns 90% in the Bulgarian Gorna Banya mineral water
bottling plant and 100% in the Riga Hotel located in the Latvian
capital.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION SUBMITTED TO SERBIAN PARLIAMENT

21:47, 20 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

MPs of the opposition New Party (NS) submitted to the Serbian
parliament Monday a draft resolution on the recognition and
condemnation of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against
the Armenian people in the period from 1915 to 1922, according to
Tanjug Exactly.

According to the website of that party, the draft resolution also calls
on other countries, including Turkey, and international organizations
to recognize and condemn the genocide against the Armenian people
and in that way help prevent such crimes from happening in the future.

New Party is calling on the Serbian government and citizens to observe
April 24 as a day of remembrance of the victims of the Armenian
Genocide, stressing that the day will mark one hundred years since
the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, recognized and condemned by
more than 20 countries.

The party said that the deliberate and systematic extermination of the
Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, a persecution on a truly
horrifying scale, had been one of the most serious crimes against
humanity ever made, and it was therefore a moral obligation of all to
honor the victims by recognizing and strongly condemning the genocide.

Albany Times Union
April 18 2015

Kimye’s trip yields a call to conscience

Posted on April 18, 2015 |
By Rex Smith

Truth be told, I am one of those clueless people who can’t keep
celebrities straight. This is not something for a journalist to brag
about, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that as
I started to write this piece, I confused two huge celebrity couples.

It was Beyonce, not Kim Kardashian, whose pregnancy announcement, at
the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, set what was then a Twitter record,
of 8,868 tweets per second. That’s way more than Osama bin Laden’s
death and the tsunami in Japan recorded.

Beyonce is married to hip-hop musician and entrepreneur Jay Z, not to
hip-hop musician and entrepreneur Kanye West. She is a superstar
singer, not a – um, whatever it is that you might call Kim Kardashian.
What does she do, anyway?

And it was Kimye – the cute mash-up name for the couple whose toddler
is named North West, not Blue Ivy – who stepped boldly into
international politics last week. In fact, Kardashian emerged as voice
of conscience, a description rarely applied to a reality TV star,
which I guess is her occupation.

Neon Tommy
April 18 2015

Genocide Awareness Heats Up As Armenian Genocide Centennial Approaches

Tanya Mardirossian, TV Editor

Participation around the world has caused political tension in lieu of
commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide. All of the
following events will eventually (and not relatedly) lead up to the
LA2DC bike race, a race to recognize past genocides and to prevent
future genocides.

1. Vatican mass

Pope Francis held a mass at the Vatican to honor Armenians. The
Turkish government wasn’t pleased about the event.

2. The Kardashians

Who can forget about the Kardashians getting in touch with their
roots? The family has been posting pictures in front of famous
monuments in Armenia along with history-filled captions.

3. E! News

The entertainment site has been keeping close tabs with the
Kardashians in Armenia. In honor of their trip, they posted ten facts
about Armenians/Armenia. Other celebs like George Clooney have
endorsed genocide awareness as well.

4. Burbank glass box strike

A man began a 55-day fast to bring awareness to the Armenian Genocide
in a Burbank church. He has nothing but water, clothes and a chair.

5. USC museum agreement in Yerevan, Armenia

Stephen Smith, director of the USC Shoah Foundation, and Hayk Demoyan,
director of the Armenian Genocide Museum and Institute in Armenia,
signed a memorandum that will collaborate the two organizations. The
USC Shoah Foundation’s Armenia Genocide Collection can be seen on
Friday, April 24.

6. System of a Down

The well-known band (not just with Armenians) began touring for their
“Wake Up the Souls” album on April 10 and will end in Yerevan,
Armenia. The band is big with promoting recognition for the Armenian
Genocide.

Armenian Genocide Coverage in the International Press
Thursday, April 16th, 2015 | Posted by Asbarez Staff

A screen capture of the home page of the New York Times on Thursday
featuring a piece about the Armenian Genocide

On the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, the international press is
opening its archives or reporting on the Genocide. From articles in the New
York Times, to editorials urging President Obama to recognize the Genocide
in USA Today and commentary in the Los Angeles Times and a timeline in the
London-based The Guardian, the international press is advancing the history
and the current discourse on the Armenian Genocide.

Below is a sampling of headlines linked to the original source material.

*The New York Times*: “Turkey’s Century of Denial About an Armenian
Genocide”

*NYT Cartoon*: “Armenians and Ottoman Turks”

*NYT Book Review*: ‘Operation Nemesis,’ by Eric Bogosian

*USA Today* Op-Ed: “Obama, Make Good on Armenia”

By Gregory J. Wallance

*Los Angeles Times* Editorial: “U.S. Should Call Armenian Genocide by
its Name”

*LA Times* Op-Ed: “On Armenian Genocide, Go Ahead and Offend Turkey”

by Peter Balakian

*Washington Pos*t Commentary: Why the Armenian Genocide Holds a Lesson for
Jews

By By Jeffrey Salkin

*Boston Globe* Op-Ed: “Armenian Genocide was Also a Jihad”

by Jeff Jacoby

*The Guradian*: “The Armenian Genocide- The Guardian Briefing”

*Jerusalem Post* Editorial: “Israel Should Recognize the Armenian Genocide”