Author: Kanayan Tamar

LA CONTRIBUTION ARMENIENNE A LA CULTURE OTTOMANE

REVUE DE PRESSE

Le 24 avril approche et avec cette date, les commemorations des
evenements de 1915. Le chroniqueur Gunal Kursun du journal turc Zaman
evoque dans ces lignes un aspect particulier de l’Histoire, celui de
la dissolution de la culture qui a eu lieu pendant les deportations
armeniennes.

lire la suite…

jeudi 23 avril 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ATTENTION, RUSSIAN-TURKISH DEAL ON ARMENIA HAPPENED

Haikazn Ghahriyan, Editor-in-Chief
Comments – 23 April 2015, 12:24

The advisor to the Russian president has announced that Putin has
discussed his visit to Yerevan with the Turkish president Erdogan,
and Erdogan is aware of Putin’s programs. Earlier, the Russian foreign
minister had announced that Putin’s visit cannot be interpreted as
an occasion for spoiling relations with other countries. He said
that Russia will do everything to normalize Armenian-Turkish and
Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and return the Armenian-Turkish
protocols to the agenda.

There happened what Lragir.am has written about so many times. The next
Russian-Turkish deal in Armenia was made. There was a similar attempt
in 2008-2009 but the West prevented it because then Armenia was engaged
in the process of integration with the EU. However, after September
3 the green light went on for the Russian-Turkish arrangements.

Turkey gave Putin an ultimatum on April 24. Apparently, Moscow has
persuaded and convinced Ankara that Putin’s visit stems from Turkey’s
interests because in case of not visiting Yerevan there could be such
problems. Putin’s visit was uncertain for a long time. Apparently,
Moscow was finalizing all the issues with Ankara before making a
final decision.

Turkey and Russia are doomed to be together because they are in a
similar international situation of isolation and blockade.

Incidentally, the policy of the West and the United States was aimed
at placing these two countries in the same “pack” because thus it was
easier to act in a unified front against them and to restrain their
expansion. In the face of these two countries the West creates a new
enemy camp to which other marginal states and terrorist organizations,
such as the Islamic State, will be attached.

Armenia has appeared in this camp, whatever excuses are brought
by the circles acting against the Armenian sovereignty: the
government, political parties, experts etc. Armenia has appeared
in the Russian-Turkish alliance, and the Armenian issues will be
addressed in the context of the interests of this alliance.

What is the essence of the new Russian-Turkish deal around Armenia?

Russia has committed to closing the Armenian issue and preventing the
international recognition of the genocide. Armenia gives up on its
claims, Moscow and Ankara initiate the Armenian-Turkish “normalization”
without premises, Turkey opens the border in return for surrendering
the territories of Karabakh to Azerbaijan and deployment of Russian
troops there.

Although claims are laid down in the Pan-Armenian declaration adopted
on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, Serzh Sargsyan did not
mention them among the four core issues during the global forum in
Yerevan. Besides, yesterday he told CNN Turk “we have not recalled
our signature, if Turkey ratifies [the Armenian-Turkish protocols],
we will ratify too.”

Will the new Russian-Turkish deal succeed, like in 1921-1923? At least,
Armenia is alone in front of this alliance. The West will not intervene
because after September 3 it has no rationale to interfere.

Moreover, it is cleared of responsibility for the Armenian problems,
leaving them up to the discretion of the Russians and Turks. The
Armenian issues are currently an “object” of international politics
opposite the civilization camp.

We congratulate everyone who has pushed Armenia to the mercy of the
Russians and Turks: the Armenian political class, different pro-Russian
political scientists, freeloaders of Gazprom.

ARMENIAN MASS KILLINGS: IRANIAN AUTHOR’S DIARY IN ANIMATION

11 minutes ago
23/04/15

Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh witnessed some of the atrocities committed
by the Ottoman government against the Armenian minority.

He was among a group of Iranian nationalists working in Ottoman-ruled
Baghdad during World War One.

As British forces approached Baghdad, Jamalzadeh, together with two
Swedish officers of the Persian gendarmerie force and a few fellow
Iranians left the city for Istanbul.

On their travels, Jamalzadeh described what he saw as “brutal and
shocking”. Later he wrote a diary about what he saw as “the mass
murder and looting of Armenians”.

100 years on from this historic event, Jamalzadeh’s writings are
important as he is seen as a relatively objective witness. Most
memoirs of those times were written by people involved in the conflict.

Jamalzadeh was a famous contemporary Persian author and is known as
the father of short stories in Iran. He later settled in Switzerland
where he lived until his death at the age of 105.

Jamalzadeh’s writings were found by the BBC’s Rengin Arslan and
Khashayar Joneidi, in Istanbul.

Animation by Morteza Rakhtaala.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LES TURCS EN ALLEMAGNE PROJETTENT DE MANIFESTER A BERLIN

ALLEMAGNE

Des milliers d’immigrants turcs devraient rallier Berlin samedi pour
protester contre les decisions et declarations “qui affirment qu’un
genocide armenien a ete commis en 1915”.

L’association Communaute turque de Berlin (TGB), qui organise la
manifestation, a annonce mardi que 10 000 personnes sont attendues pour
se joindre a la manifestation dans la capitale allemande ; un jour
après que le gouvernement allemand devrait qualifier les massacres
des Armeniens dans l’Empire ottoman comme exemple “de massacres,
de deportations forcees et de genocides du 20ème siècle”.

La plus grande association des immigres turcs en Allemagne – l’Union
Turco-Islamique pour les Affaires religieuses (DITIB) ; l’Union
des democrates turcs conservateurs europeens (UETD), l’Association
de l’ideologie laïque Ataturkt (ADD) et l’aile droite des Alperen
Ocaklari de Berlin (extreme-droite) ont tous soutenu l’appel.

Le TGB et 14 autres ONG ont exprime “leur sympathie pour les
souffrances des Armeniens ottomans dans des conditions en temps de
guerre” dans une declaration commune, mais ont declare que “les
revendications de genocide n’etaient pas etayees par des faits
historiques”.

“Sur une telle question en litige, en lisant les incidents de 1915
unilateralement avec la thèse des Armeniens cela n’apportera pas de
contribution positive aux relations entre la Turquie et l’Allemagne,
ou les relations entre la Turquie et l’Armenie” ont dit les ONG.

Ils ont souligne que non seulement les Armeniens, mais des centaines
de milliers de citoyens ottomans de differentes origines ethniques
et religieuses ont souffert lors de la Première Guerre mondiale

jeudi 23 avril 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

U.S STATE DEPT SPOKESPERSON APPEARS IN AWKWARD SITUATION DUE TO QUESTIONS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

11:49, 23 April, 2015

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. At the course of the Daily Press
Briefing held at the U.S. Department of State on April 22, the
journalists asked a number of questions on the April 24 address of the
U.S. President Barak Obama on the Armenian Genocide and his failure to
fulfill his promise again, due to which, the Acting Spokesperson Marie
Harf appeared in an awkward situation. As reports “Armenrpess”, first
the journalists asked: “So as is well known, when he was a candidate,
the President made it a point to say that he would, while he was
President, recognize that what happened in 1915 to the Armenians was,
in fact – was a genocide. I realize he has one more year left in order
to fulfill that pledge, but why this year, on the 100th anniversary,
did he decide to once again not fulfill his pledge?

Ms Harf stated: “We know there are some who I think were hoping
to hear some different language this year. We certainly understand
their perspective. Even as we believe that the approach we have taken
in previous years remains the right one – and again, the approach
we’re taking this year – both for acknowledging the past and also
for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the
future. So this is something that we feel is important. The President
has consistently stated his views about what happened in 1915 and,
again, we know people wanted to hear – some people wanted to hear
different language this year, and we are certainly aware of that.”

Mr. Harf’s answer didn’t satisfy the journalists, and he reformulated
the question: “The issue is that when you make a specific pledge like
this as a candidate and then not – then you don’t follow through
on it when you are, in fact – when you are elected, it calls into
question to some the commitment of other things that the President,
as a candidate or even as President, has said. We’ve seen a couple
times where redlines have been crossed and there hasn’t been –
the response has not been what was promised. can you understand why
people who – people would look at this issue on Armenia when there was
a specific pledge, and then use it – use the situation to call into
question when the President says that, say, Iran won’t get a bomb –
won’t get the nuclear bomb – a nuclear weapon on his watch?”

In response to the question, Marie Harf noted: “Well, I certainly don’t
believe that people should equate the two in any way. The President –
and look, we all understand there are some who wanted to hear different
language this year, and I do think we can expect that the President
will issue a statement this year that marks the historical significance
of the centennial, and as in past years, mourns the senseless loss of
1.5 million Armenian lives. So he will speak about this in some way,
but I don’t think you should compare any of these issues.”

This answer was followed by another question saying: “So you would
reject the idea that has been put out by some – the Armenian American
community that the Administration is basically submitting itself to
a gag order from the Turks? You would reject that?”

“I hadn’t seen that. But we make decisions on our own about what
we say and how we talk about things. And I think you will hear
the President speak very strongly about the historical fact that
1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in
the final days of the Ottoman Empire. He has said that consistently
and repeatedly, and I think you’ll hear that being said as well. We
understand there are people who would like to hear some different
language. We are certainly aware of that and are sensitive to it,
but we think this is the best course,” Harf concluded.

“L’ECLISSE”: UN MELOLOGO DI SONYA ORFALIAN A RADIOTRE-RAI

RAI-Radiotre – A cento anni dal Genocidio degli Armeni: “L’Eclisse”,
un melologo di Sonya Orfalian

VENERDI’ 24 APRILE 2015 – h. 21.00

Nel giorno della commemorazione internazionale del centenario
del Genocidio degli Armeni, RAI-Radiotre mandera in onda, in
prima assoluta e in diretta dalla Sala A di via Asiago a Roma, un
melologo di Sonya Orfalian, scrittrice e figlia della diaspora armena,
nell’interpretazione di Maria Paiato e dell’Anahit Ensemble. A seguire,
riflessioni e testimonianze con la partecipazione di Sargis Ghazaryan,
Gianni Bonvicini e Manuela Fraire. Conduce Annamaria Giordano.

diretta in streaming:

Ho scritto L’Eclisse avendo in mente e nel cuore la ricorrenza del
centenario del genocidio del mio popolo.

E’ un testo pensato per una voce sola – quella dell’attrice Maria
Paiato – ma che al tempo stesso evoca e sovrappone una moltitudine di
voci: sono le voci dimenticate, quelle di chi è dovuto soccombere, e le
voci della testimonianza, i sussurri di chi è riuscito a sopravvivere
all’orrore senza fine e ha cercato di opporsi al silenzio crudele
della Storia.

L’Eclisse ripercorre, assieme alla storia degli Armeni e del loro
olocausto, le intermittenze espressive di una tradizione antica e
i miti di creazione del cosmo culturale armeno, componendo in un
affresco comune la storia e la mitologia, la memoria e il sogno,
il linguaggio della fiaba e quello della realta più cruda.

Le musiche che attraversano il testo – eseguite dall’Anahit Ensemble –
sono opera del compositore e musicologo armeno più venerato in patria e
nella diaspora, Soghomon Soghomonian, più conosciuto come Komitas. E
la storia stessa di Komitas si identifica con il genocidio degli
Armeni: era il 24 aprile del 1915 quando il governo dei Giovani
Turchi diede ordine di arrestare e in seguito eliminare tutti i
circa duecentocinquanta intellettuali e notabili armeni di Istanbul,
cancellando in tal modo i referenti civili e religiosi degli armeni
della citta e dando così il segnale d’avvio dello sterminio di massa.

Komitas fu tra questi martiri.

US WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE PAST WHILE CONTINUING WORK WITH REGIONAL PARTNERS – STATE DEP. REP. ON GENOCIDE ISSUE

11:56 * 23.04.15

An acting spokesperson for the US Department of State has as reiterated
the country’s official position on the Armenian Genocide, practically
ruling out any language change in President Barack Obama’s annual
address to the Armenians.

Speaking at the daily press briefing on Thursday, Marie Harf said
they find that the policies pursed are the right choice allowing the
country to both acknowledge the past and continue work with regional
partners (i.e. Turkey).

“I’m sure this is what the White House said too, but we know there
are some who I think were hoping to hear some different language
this year. We certainly understand their perspective. Even as we
believe that the approach we have taken in previous years remains
the right one – and again, the approach we’re taking this year –
both for acknowledging the past and also for our ability to work with
regional partners to save lives in the future. So this is something
that we feel is important.

“The President has consistently stated his views about what happened
in 1915 and, again, we know people wanted to hear – some people wanted
to hear different language this year, and we are certainly aware of
that,” she said.

Asked why President Barack Obama failed to fulfill his electoral
pledge to recognize the mass killings of the Armenians in Ottoman
Empire as genocide, Ms Harf refrained from giving any comments.

She also warned against comparing the Jewish Holocaust with the
Armenian Genocide when asked about the differences in the US attitudes
to the two major atrocities (that the US has officially recognized
the Holocaust but it hasn’t affected its relations with Germany).

“I’m just not going to compare those two events. And I think we’ve
said what we’re going to say on this. And I think you’ll hear more
statements from the Administration on the anniversary itself. And I
don’t have much more analysis of it to do for you today,” she said.

THE GUARDIAN WANTS TO MAKE BEST USE OF THE ARMENIAN STORIES

April 23, 2015 12:23
EXCLUSIVE

The Guardian pays special attention to the centenary of the Armenian
Genocide. Recently, The Guardian’s Middle East Editor Ian Black paid
a visit to Yerevan and wrote a series of articles. Besides, the
newspaper suggested its readers that they shared their stories on
genocide. Mediamax decided to learn the details of this initiative
from Maeve Shearlaw from The Guardian’s World Networks as she leads
in the project.

– How the idea of collecting the Armenian Genocide stories arose?

– The idea came from a similar project ran by the Guardian to mark
the centenary of World War One. After the Observer journalist Toby
Helm shared the story of his grandfather’s war time experiences,
based on his diary entries and letters that he had recently found,
we asked our readers to do the same resulting in over 800 stories
from across Europe which we used in our coverage.

– How many stories have you received so far? Do you receive the
stories mainly from Diaspora Armenians, or also from Armenia?

– Over 500. We’ve been overwhelmed at the responses we’ve had, from
first-hand experiences of persecution to how the massacre has shaped
people’s family trajectories 100 years on. In the words of one reader:
“there is almost no Armenian family in the world without a story
about 1915”. Numerous people have got in touch to thank the Guardian
for paying attention to the issue, we even received an invitation to
a wedding in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

– Do you plan to verify the stories in any way? If yes, what will be
the mechanisms?

– Verification integral to all of the Guardian’s user generated
projects. We asked everyone uploading submissions to share email
addresses and have followed up to clarify details. A lot of the
stories we’ve used are based on transcripts recorded by the ancestors
of survivors, some of whom are still alive.

We have also made an effort to map the testimonies to the widely
accepted historical version of events – but recognise that these
are disputed. That being said it is difficult to fully verify all
of the details in people testimonies as many of the people who have
since passed away and the stories have been passed from generation
to generation, so we must, and will, be transparent about that.

– How you will be “utilizing” the stories? I guess you can’t publish
all the stories, do you have any plan for those that will not appear
in The Guardian?

– It’s important to me that we use as much of content as we can. I
am in the process of writing a elegiac piece based on the responses
which we’ll publish on the site to mark the anniversary, we’ll also
be pulling a collection of the other stories into an interactive
template, a format we’ve previously used on everything personal
accounts ofracial profiling in the US after Michael Brown was shot
by police Ferguson to the experiences of the LGBT community around
the world. These pieces will run alongside other coverage of the
centenary which can be found here.

– Do you think that the collected material could become a book or
some multimedia project?

– As I said it’s important to us that we use as much as the content
as we can, but there are no immediate plans for a book and whilst
the interactive is a multimedia project of sorts i’m sure more can
be done – we are open to ideas.

Ara Tadevosyan talked to Maeve Shearlaw

BRITISH RESEARCHER: “TURKEY WILL RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WHEN THE TURKISH SOCIETY DEMANDS IT.”

April 23 2015

-“The Armenian Genocide recognition in recent years has not been a
priority matter in the UK, but the 100 Anniversary of the Genocide
increased public interest and awareness”. In response to “Aravot.am”
spoke the researcher of the Oriental Institute affiliated to the
University of London Laurence Broers. He was asked whether there was
a possibility that Britain will recognize the Genocide after the
Pope’s statements and EU adopted resolution. The press conference
was organized by “Region” research center within the framework of
“Modern talks about the Armenian new integration agenda”. To our
observation that many accuse the UK as a silent witness: although the
British archives are full of facts that reveal hidden under the cover
of the First World War crime, but the UK did not recognize it. What
is the reason for this policy and may the Pope’s statements and the EU
adopted resolution make the UK change its position? British researchers
said. – “I cannot speak on behalf of the British government’s policy
priorities, but it is clear that the Britain’s relations with the South
Caucasus and with wider regional allies may contravene the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.” Laurence Broers inquired what the political
weight of Armenia Genocide recognition was and detailed. -“The United
States does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, even if recognized
by many states, but still has good relations with Armenia and gives
tangible assistance to Armenia, Russia recognized the Armenian
Genocide, but has complicated relations with Armenia in all aspects
and this concerns many Armenians. Thus, the question arises, therefore,
whether Genocide is the main criterion by which Armenia can assess its
allies and enemies, the problem is not in the recognition of Armenian
Genocide by Britain, but the problem is with Turkey. It seems to me
that the way to achieve the goal is the consistent work with Turkish
society and the recognition will be possible when the Turkish society
demands it. Of course, the international community should encourage as
the international community pressure might be a signal for Turkey to
recognize the Armenian Genocide “. The British researcher also noted
that Britain recognized Armenian Genocide in the scientific field as a
historical fact. To our next question that PACE is preparing a report
concerning Nagorno-Karabakh and if this does not this mean that the
PACE, contradicting himself: OSCE Minsk Group format, intervened in
the conflict. Mr. Broers responded. -“Both countries are EU member
states, so I do not see any contradiction here.”

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

Read more at:

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL MUST BE CRIMINALIZED ON INTERNATIONAL LEVEL: F. ROCHEBLOINE

14:23, 23 April, 2015

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The French MP Francois Rochebloine is
confident that the best way of preventing the genocides is not merely
condemning them, but defining the denial as a crime. “I see something
irritating in the Armenian Genocide denial, which represents a threat
to the public freedom, as it violates the justice and human dignity,”
Francois Rochebloine noted.

As reports “Armenpress”, among other things, the French MP underscored:
“It’s necessary to define a criminal punishment for such an activity
to prevent the repetition of such genocidal actions. I am sorry that
the Constitutional Council hindered the adoption of such a law in
France. We’ll continue our activities to eliminate those obstacles.”