Author: Kanayan Tamar

WHAT ARE ARMENIA’S FOREIGN CHALLENGES? – POLITICAL SCIENTIST

news.am
August 28, 2012 | 11:50

YEREVAN. – Every country faces a variety of challenges and perils,
and Armenia is not an exception, Armenian Analytical Centre on
Globalization and Regional Cooperation Director, political analyst
Stepan Grigoryan said during a press conference on Tuesday.

In his words, Armenia’s foreign challenges include ties with Georgia,
the Syrian issue, and the US presidential elections.

“We responded to the challenges very correctly. A new ambassador to
Georgia was appointed, who works actively, successively. He needs to
work with Georgia’s government actively, [and] raise the Armenians’
problems,” the political scientist noted.

With respect to the processes occurring in the Arab world, Grigoryan
argued that Armenia responded very cautiously and properly to the
processes in Syria, and that the Armenian Government manifested a
very moderate and constructive position. In the political analyst’s
words, it is wrong to turn Syrian Armenians into refugees and to
relocate them, because the Armenians in Syria have a great heritage
and position in that country.

Reflecting on the US presidential elections, Stepan Grigoryan expressed
a view that a Republican Party victory is more convenient for Armenia,
since the Republicans deal with world affairs, including Armenia.

In conclusion, Grigoryan stressed that, in terms of security,
protection of national borders, and safeguarding the security of
Nagorno-Karabakh, it would be difficult and dangerous for Armenia if
solely one power ruled in this region. In the political scientist’s
words, Russia, US, and the EU must rule in this region.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN UNION CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF CHURCHES

tert.am
28.08.12

A union of Turkish-Armenians dealing with social assistance and culture
protection issues has applied to the provincial administration of
Batman, calling for measures to take the Armenian churches under
protection.

According to the Turkish new website Haberler, the chief of the union
called special attention to the fact that Armenian churches in the
region have been increasingly facing the threat of destruction over
the recent period.

“The St. Astvatsatsin Church on Mount Marouta, which was destroyed
by vandals, was the last example. And the St Peter church of the
Meseli village in Sasun region has to be taken under protection
too, before it is destroyed. The church in Resmik village, and the
St. Astvatatsin churh of the Kozlol region also need protection,”
Aziz Dagic was quoted as saying.

He was skeptical about the allegations that the churches were destroyed
by treasure hunters.

“We, as a community, have come up with a situation that we can no
longer pray. All these churches are registered. Under Article 42
of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, the Turkish government is obliged to
protect the churches and the religious institutions belonging to the
minorities. The Republic of Turkey has to comply with that clause of
the Lausanne Treaty,” Dagic said.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES OUTGOING LITHUANIAN AMBASSADOR

Vestnik Kavkaza
Aug 28 2012
Russia

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Tuesday received the outgoing
Lithuanian ambassador to Armenia, Giedrius Apuokas, News.am reports.

President Sargsyan noted the ambassador’s contribution to the recent
intensification of political dialogue and the new level of bilateral
economic cooperation.

The sides spoke satisfactorily about the interest and investments of
Lithuanian companies in Armenian economic projects and stated that
growing cooperation in the economic field is gradually reinforcing
bilateral relations in the cultural field, the presidential press
service reports.

President Sargsyan assessed highly Lithuania’s support in assisting
Armenia in the process of European integration, as well as in exchanges
in cooperation with European institutions.

AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO HELP THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN SYRIA

Asbarez
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

The crisis in Syria and as a consequence, the perilous daily lives of
the Syrian Armenians have alarmed and deeply concerned the Armenian
community.

The historical record reminds us the past and present destiny
of nations; making assumptions on past history may lead us to
uncertainty and anxiety; and that is why we should move with practical
considerations, determination and a spirit of service.

The spiritual heads, and the leaders of the political and humanitarian
organizations in the Western U.S.A., as an alert guardians of the
community, came together to collectively bring together the “Syrian
Armenian Relief Fund Executive Committee” with the task of planning
activities and coordinating fundraising, and distributing funds as
needed to save lives, and to provide moral and emotional support for
our sisters and brothers living in difficult conditions across Syria,
and sustenance for their Armenian institutions.

The Syrian Armenian Relief Fund Executive Committee includes the
following organizations, their representatives and the roles that
they have accepted within the committee:

Armenian Evangelical Union of North America (AEUNA), Zaven Khanjian,
Chairperson; Armenian Relief Society of Western U.S.A. (ARS), Sona
Madarian, Secretary; Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Harry
Balian, Vice Chairperson; Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America, Meher Der Ohanessian, Treasurer; Catholicosate of
Cilicia, Central Executive Board, Khajag Dikijian; Western Diocese
of the Armenian Church, Barkev Hamalian; Armenian Catholic Church,
Ara Aroyan; Armenian Democratic Liberal (Ramgavar) Party, Khachig
Janoyan; Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Western U.S.A. (ARF),
Vartkes Nalbandian; and Social Democrat Hunchakian Party-Western
U.S.A., Harout Fakjian.

The abovementioned Executive Committee members are committed to
do their outmost to reach out to community at large, to make the
impossible possible and to extend a helping hand for the sake of the
survival of the Syrian-Armenians.

The Executive Committee has also received the blessings of the Armenian
Apostolic Churches, His Eminence Archbishop Mousheg Mardirossian,
Prelate, and Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, as well as the
leaders of the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical churches, and has
already taken effective first steps.

We appeal to the Armenian people, to follow our announcements in the
print and TV media, the web site ,
and Facebook page, and to make the most generous contribution that
you could possibly make.

Please send your check payable to the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund,
P.O. Box 1948, Glendale, CA 91209-1948, or make an online contribution
at

GENOCIDE? WHAT GENOCIDE? TURKISH MINISTER SAYS ‘TURKEY DOESN’T KNOW WHAT GENOCIDE IS’

Asbarez
Tuesday, August 28th, 2012

Turkey EU-Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis is a notorious Genocide denier

ANKARA–Notorious Genocide-denying Turkish Minister of EU Affairs
said Tuesday that Turkey doesn’t know what Genocide is, claiming,
once again, that there was never a Genocide in Turkey’s history.

Egemen Bagis comments came during the opening ceremony of an
educational facility, where he also expressed his opposition to a
decision in France to include the Armenian Genocide as part of French
public school curriculum.

“If only all countries’ past had been simple and transparent just like
Turkey’s past. No genocides have occurred in Turkey’s history. What’s
genocide? Turkey doesn’t know what genocide is,” Bagis told the
Milliyet daily.

Bagis claimed that Turks are proud of their history and forebears.

France announced that it has included a chapter about the Armenian
Genocide in secondary school textbooks, which will be used across
the country.

Bagis was quick to voice Turkey’s “strong protest” over this decision
urging Paris to not test bilateral relations “once again,” reported
the Hurriyet newspaper.

“I call on the French authorities to intensify efforts to resolve
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the framework of OSCE Minsk Group
rather than distort the historical facts,” Bagis said.

Turkish Education Ministry officials said they will first need to
examine the book and see if it “includes phrases that incriminate
Turkey and they will respond in line with international law through
diplomatic channels.”

Today’s Zaman reported that the chairman of the Turkish Parliament’s
powerful education committee accused the French government of planting
the seeds of hate with its move to include the Armenian Genocide in
history and geography books.

Nabi Avcı, chairman of the National Education, Culture, Youth and
Sports Commission, told Today’s Zaman in a phone interview on Monday
that “the erosion of French culture and moving to the radical right in
French politics that started with [former president Nicolas] Sarkozy
continues to have a negative impact on the French education system.”

“I just hope that sensible French intellectuals will raise their
voices against this kind of provocative move that will plant seeds
of hate into minds of young people in France,” he added.

THREE ARMENIANS KILLED IN SYRIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
August 29, 2012 – 00:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to the Armenian Diocese in Damascus,
Syria, three Armenian nationals were killed in one of the city’s
districts Tuesday, Aug 28.

As spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan told
PanARMENIAN.Net the killed Armenians were identified as Petros
Matosian, born in 1963, Gevork Matosian, born in 1966 and Levon
Matosian, born in 1990.

Currently, the Diocese representatives are trying to get bodies out
of the battle zone.

WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD-2012: ARMENIA’S WOMEN TEAM DEFEATS JORDAN

NEWS.am
August 28, 2012

Performances of the Armenian women’s chess team in the first round
are over at the World Chess Olympiad, which is held in Istanbul,
Turkey. Armenian women’s chess team defeated its opponent team in the
Olympiad. The Armenian chess players defeated the Jordan team by 3:1.

Lilit Lazarian, Maria Kursova and a newcomer Anna Hayrapetyan
defeated their opponents. Only Armenia’s Lilit Galoyan lost to her
Jordan opponent. To note, the Armenian men’s chess team defeated
Bolivia’s team by 3:1. Only Armenia’s Sergey Movsisyan was defeated
by his opponent.

NE TOUCHEZ PAS AUX ARMENIENS DE SYRIE

La Regle du Jeu
Lundi 27 aout 2012
France

Ara Toranian, Directeur de Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine

Dans un Moyen-Orient où la presence armenienne, a l’image de celle
des autres chretiens, se reduit comme peau de chagrin, toute flambee
de violence est vecue avec apprehension par cette communaute. Plus
ou moins bien tolerees, en particulier en ces temps qui voient helas
les tensions politiques se polariser autour du facteur religieux,
les ultra-minorites non musulmanes sont les premières fragilisees
par les situations de conflit. La plupart des bouleversements qui
ont secoue la region depuis la fin de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale
ont systematiquement fini par se retourner contre elles. Le coup
d’Etat nasserien s’est traduit par une dissolution de la communaute
armenienne d’Egypte ; les putschs successifs en Syrie au debut des
annees 60 l’ont terriblement affaiblie ; la guerre civile au Liban
a fait perdre a ce bastion de l’identite politique et culturelle
armenienne une grande partie de sa superbe ; la revolution en Iran et
les conflits qui s’en sont suivi ont entraîne une forte emigration
des Armeniens de ce pays ; l’intervention americaine en Irak s’est
soldee par la quasi-disparition de leur presence.

Pourtant, il est difficile de ne pas s’interroger sur l’avenir des
Armeniens en Syrie, dont plusieurs milliers ont deja fui. Cette
inquietude est d’autant plus de mise, qu’ils ont ete victimes
d’attaques durant le mois d’août a Kessab et a Alep, et que leur
sort a fait l’objet de diverses manipulations d’origine douteuse
(communique menacant attribue a l’Armee Syrienne Libre le 24 août et
aussitôt dementi par son commandement comme une provocation du pouvoir
en place). De plus, l’ombre d’une Turquie hostile qui plane derrière
ces evenements n’a rien de rasserenant pour cette communaute formee
en très grande majorite par les rescapes du genocide de 1915. Se
pose donc la question legitime de son devenir, sachant qu’au-dela
de l’enjeu qu’elles constituent pour les Armeniens eux-memes, les
assurances a leur egard representent une pierre de touche eloquente
pour mesurer le degre d’ouverture des parties en presence.

Le regime dictatorial, mais laïque, du parti Baas se pretend en effet
garant de leur protection comme de celle des autres chretiens. Et
force est de constater que les 80 000 Armeniens de cette nation
y jouissaient de tous les attributs d’une vie civilisationnelle
epanouie. Avec toutefois les reserves d’usage en pays totalitaire :
toute revendication leur etait interdite et le pouvoir ne laissait
rien passer qui puisse contrarier Ankara, l’allie d’alors. Ainsi
les Armeniens ne pouvaient pas commemorer publiquement le genocide de
1915. Mais l’environnement autoritaire qui pèse sur les particularismes
identitaires dans la region, y compris parfois musulmans (cf le
sort des Kurdes de Turquie), ne permettait pas a ce groupe, tolere
culturellement, mais bâillonne politiquement, de jouer les difficiles.

De son côte, l’Armee syrienne libre, traversee par de multiples
courants, dont les plus extremistes, se montre peu diserte sur
cette question. Et cette discretion n’est pas a porter a son
credit. Car les espoirs democratiques qu’elle se targue d’incarner
passent naturellement par son acceptation de l’alterite voire meme
la defense des minorites. Le flou a cet egard, en cette etape de la
lutte plus propice que toute autre a l’expression des utopies les plus
genereuses, entretient une incertitude du plus mauvais effet quant a
ses intentions. En temoigne, les interpellations sur le sujet de nos
plus brillants intellectuels francais (dont notre ami Bernard-Henri
Levy) qui se sont portes aux avant-postes de la solidarite a leur côte.

La periode dramatique que traverse la Syrie confirme en tout cas que
les minorites de cette region en perpetuelle ebullition n’ont pas
vocation a y jouer les avant-gardes. Pour elles, dans cette situation,
l’essence precède malheureusement l’existence. La precarite averee
de leur condition de base ne les rend pas loisibles d’autre choix
que celui de la neutralite. Est-ce trop esperer des belligerants que
de leur demander de la respecter, en ces temps de guerre totale qui
viole toutes les conventions internationales sur les civils?

Cette necessite se devrait en tout cas de figurer au cahier des
charges des Etats qui ambitionnent de peser sur ces evenements,
dans chaque camp. On attend en particulier beaucoup en l’espèce de la
gauche francaise au pouvoir, en depit du tropisme antichretien propre
au complexe colonial de l’homme blanc, particulièrement present en
ses rangs.

On comprend bien l’interet pour certaines forces proches de la
Turquie de pousser les Armeniens a s’eloigner encore un peu plus
de leur foyer national originel pour se dissoudre dans un occident
aux mains tendues ; mais la n’est pas la voie de la justice. Les
Armeniens ont suffisamment donne et perdu. Et a tous nous disons :
ne touchez plus a notre peuple, que ce soit a travers vos mauvais
pretextes ou au nom de vos bonnes causes.

IRAN, ARMENIA KEEP BARTERING GAS WITH ELECTRICITY

Trend
Aug 27 2012
Azerbaijan

F.Milad, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

Aug. 27–Iran’s imports and exports of natural gas with neighboring
countries are underway, managing director of the National Iranian
Gas Transmission Company Reza Almasi stated.

Reza Almasi told the IRNA News Agency that the swap of gas with
Azerbaijan, the barter of gas and electricity with Armenia, the
exports of gas to Turkey, and the imports of gas from Turkmenistan
are continuing.

Iran and Armenia signed an agreement in February 2011 on supplies of
electricity in exchange for gas. Armenia is expected to supply 2.4
billion kWh in exchange for 801 million cubic meters of Iranian gas.

Iran and Azerbaijan signed an agreement in January 2011 that allows
the former Soviet state to pump at least one billion cubic meters of
natural gas into Iran.

Iran exports an average daily amount of more than 30 million cubic
meters of natural gas to Turkey, indicating a daily growth of 11
million cubic meters compared to 2010.

Iran started importing natural gas from Turkmenistan in 1995 after
the two sides signed a 25-year contract. The contract has bound
Turkmenistan to gradually increase gas exports to Iran to 8 billion
cubic meters per year at a fixed price.

TURKISH MINISTER URGES FRANCE TO DO MORE TO RESOLVE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend
Aug 27 2012
Azerbaijan

As opposed to engaging in a distortion of historical facts, France
should have done more to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in
the framework of co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, Turkish EU Affairs
Minister Egemen Bagis said, the Aksam newspaper reported on Monday.

Commenting on the news, which appeared on Monday in the Turkish media
about the fact that French secondary school textbooks will include a
section of the fictional “Armenian genocide” by the Ottoman Empire,
Bagis noted that Turkey hopes France will not allow such a mistake.

“France should have looked at its own history and make greater efforts
to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, rather than distort the
facts,” he said.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that the predecessor of the
Turkey – Ottoman Empire had committed the 1915 genocide against
the Armenians living in Anatolia, and achieved recognition of the
“Armenian Genocide” by the parliaments of several countries.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.