Author: Kanayan Tamar

TURKEY LASHES OUT AT FRENCH TEXTBOOK CHAPTERS FEATURING ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’

Today’s Zaman

Aug 27 2012
Turkey

Turkey’s ambassador in Paris has criticized French move to include
chapters in history and geography textbooks that will allow students
to study mass killings of Armenians at the hands of Ottomans in
1915, claiming that the project is a remnant of the previous French
president.

Tahsin Burcuoglu told private Cihan news agency that Turkey is
disturbed by the fact that the French Education Ministry is including
chapters on the so-called Armenian genocide in textbooks for fourth
graders in secondary schools.

Turkish daily Sabah reported on Sunday that French President Francois
Hollande’s administration included a chapter about the 1915 events in
textbooks — a move that could once again upset relations with Turkey,
which was hopeful about rebuilding strained ties with Paris following
the election of the new president.

The report said French students studying world history since 1910
will also read a chapter called “The Armenian Genocide.”

Hollande said last month that he will stand by a campaign pledge
to make it illegal to deny that the killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks in 1915 was genocide.

Relations between Paris and Ankara had begun to thaw after a decision
in February by France’s constitutional court to strike down the
genocide denial law as contrary to free speech.

Turkey had canceled all economic, political and military meetings
with France in December after the French parliament voted in favor
of the draft law.

Burcuoglu said France’s initiative to include ‘Armenian genocide’
chapters in textbooks has “angered” Turkey, underlining that it is
not the three-month project but a remnant of former French President
Nicolas Sarkozy administration.

Noting that it is not the first time that the issue is included in
French textbooks but this time he said textbooks are featuring full
two-page explanation of the 1915 events along with photos. He added
that the embassy is carefully investigating that developments and
have already notified Ankara over the matter.

At a joint news conference early in July, French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius said the genocide-denial law was unlikely to be
resurrected and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed the
opening of a warmer phase in relations with France.

Armenia, backed by many historians, says about 1.5 million Armenians
were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War I in a
deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

Turkey says there was heavy loss of life on both sides during the
fighting, in which Armenian partisans supported invading Russian
forces. The Ottoman Empire collapsed after the war. Successive Turkish
governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide
is an insult to their nation.

Turkey hoped Hollande’s election might mean France is more open to its
joining the European Union than under his conservative predecessor
Sarkozy, but has so far received no public support for its EU bid
from Paris.

Burcuoglu said Turkey will determine its position on this issue after
further examination and urged Turks living in France not to remain
indifferent to the issue.

Saying that the number of ethnic Turks in France is more than French
Armenians, the ambassador cited problems Turkish students faced in
schools earlier over this matter.

LE CHEF DE L’UNION DES ARMENIENS DE SASUN VEUT POURSUIVRE DEVANT LA JUSTICE LES DESTRUCTEURS D’UNE EGLISE ARMENIENNE
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 28 aout 2012

Le Chef de l’Union des Armeniens de Sasun Aziz Dagci a annonce qu’il
va poursuivre les destructeurs de l’Eglise armenienne Saint Mariam
Astvatsatsin devant le ministère public de Sasun.

Selon le site Haberler.com Aziz Dagci a exprime son degoût quant a la
destruction du toit de l’eglise. Les representants de la communaute
armenienne etaient venus d’Istanbul et de divers autres lieux pour
la celebration d’un sacrifice le 29 juillet. L’eglise etait intact
a cette periode.

Selon Aziz Dagci entre temps le toit de l’eglise a ete entièrement
detruit.

” Je ne sais pas qui a fait cela. Les personnes qui ont commis
cela visaient les ceremonies religieuses genantes de la Communaute
armenienne ” a dit Aziz Dagci.

Le chef de l’Union des Armeniens a aussi dit qu’il avait a sa
disposition des vieilles et des nouvelles photos de l’eglise. ” Nous
exigeons du Bureau du Procureur de Sasun de passer en revue le toit
et toutes les parties detruites de l’eglise ” a declare Aziz Dagci
qui a ajoute que la destruction de l’eglise a eu lieu entre la 29
juillet et le 21 août.

L’Eglise armenienne se trouve sur le lieu le plus eleve de Sasun le
mont Marouta (Maratoug) (2973 m).

La Montagne, France
Mercredi 22 Août 2012
Vichy Edition

Harutyun Yekmalyan à l’espace Rufus

ENCART: Exposition, à la Maison du patrimoine, à Chtel-Montagne.
C’est un réel plaisir pour l’équipe de la vitrine de Chtel-Montagne,
d’accueillir jusqu’au 11 septembre, l’un de ses habitants, Harutyun
Yekmalyan, artiste sculpteur et peintre, à l’espace Rufus de la Maison
du patrimoine.

Il vit et travaille en France depuis 1999, et s’est installé avec sa
famille depuis huit ans dans le village qui lui rappelle son Arménie
natale. Pays de montagne où il retrouve, entre autres, le granit, la
pierre volcanique de l’Allier, et des souches de séquoia qu’il aime
sculpter. C’est la première exposition à la Maison du patrimoine pour
cet artiste professionnel.

Sa vocation lui est venue dans l’atelier de son père, sculpteur. Il
lui a fallu vingt ans de formation, d’études et de travail de
perfectionnement. Une formation à l’École nationale supérieure de
l’État de thétre et des Beaux-arts à Erevan (Arménie), de 1983 à
1989, et un diplôme national des Beaux-Arts (Arménie) en 1989. Membre
de l’association de la Maison des artistes à Paris et de l’Union des
artistes d’Arménie, cet artiste plasticien participe à de nombreux
symposium au Brésil, Portugal, Canada, Espagne, Italie et en France.

Il a obtenu de nombreuses distinctions et récompenses : 3e prix de
peinture du salon d’Ile-de-France (septembre 2001), 3e prix de
symposium international de sculpture sur granite (Italie) en juillet
2001, prix de la ville d’Avon en mai 2000, prix artistique de la
gendarmerie de Paris Hôtel des Invalides en juin 2000, prix du conseil
général de Seine-et-Marne en mars 2000, etc.

« Des tableaux comme des fenêtres » : des fenêtres percées dans les
murs de nos maisons, de nos appartements, de nos chambres. Mais aussi
dans les murs d’incompréhension Des vitraux comme des rideaux. Des
rideaux transparents pour voir le monde, mais aussi translucides pour
protéger notre monde à nous. Des peintures pleines de couleurs
chaudes, sur Chtel-Montagne, Venise, Paris, etc. Et sur la femme.

Jusqu’en septembre, le public peut admirer aussi les sculptures
d’Harunt, à Autun, sur le thème « Sculptures dans la ville ».

è Contact. Maison du patrimoine, Tél. 04.70.59.37.89.

Exposition, à la Maison du patrimoine, à Chtel-Montagne.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 27 2012

Armenia fosters ‘genocide’ campaigns in France, Israel

by Sevim Songün Demirezen
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Armenia pushes for its genocide claims of 1915 killings in a recent
move as the genocide museum in Yerevan will cooperate with Jerusalem’s
Holocaust museum. France adds Armenian ‘genocide’ in history books.

Armenia has sped up its efforts to promote its genocide claims ahead
of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 killings of Armenians, with
actions in two countries – France and Israel – whose relations with
Turkey have deteriorated over the past few years.

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan and the Yad Vashem
Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem will establish cooperation in many
areas, according to an Israeli minister. Reports from France also
claim that newly issued history textbooks contain Armenian genocide
claims, a move likely to further strain already tense relations with
Ankara.

“I offered the Genocide Museum-Institute administration to cooperate
with Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem,” Israeli Minister of
Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein was quoted as saying by the
Panarmenian news website. “Both our nations have been victims of
horrible crimes against humanity. I think the two institutions would
cooperate quite effectively in terms of the selection of exhibits and
the organization of pavilions,” Edelstein said Aug. 24 during a visit
to Yerevan.

Although Israel does not officially recognize the alleged Armenian
genocide, Edelstein wrote the following in the visitor’s book at the
genocide museum in Yerevan: “Nobody in Israel denies the fact of
Armenian Genocide.”

Turkey’s relations with Israel are tense, since Israeli commandos
killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists on May 2010 in a raid on
the Mavi Marmara flotilla, which aimed to stop the embargo on Gaza.

Cultural cooperation between Armenia and Israel is not surprising at a
time when Turkey’s relations with Israel have come to the zero point,
Turkish columnist Semih Ýdiz told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.

France, where a recent bill penalizing the denial of Armenian
“genocide” was annulled by the French Constitutional Council, will
start to teach Armenian genocide allegations to secondary students.

‘Redundant’ details in French textbooks

History-Geography Teachers Council Secretary General Hubert Tison said
the chapter in the new French textbooks gives “redundant” detailed
information on the issue, according to daily Hürriyet. Turkish
Education Ministry officials say they will respond in line with
international law through diplomatic channels. Ýdiz, a columnist for
Turkish daily Milliyet and also for the Daily News, said the concept
of that the Armenians suffered a genocide was part of French society,
and also said further campaigns would continue until 2015. French
President François Hollande has vowed to introduce a new bill
penalizing denial of the Armenian genocide.

Süha Umar, a retired Turkish ambassador, told the Daily News that the
two developments were a sign of the failures of Turkish foreign
policy, caused by perceived Turkish weaknesses on the issue.

Hollande’s approval declines

PARIS – Reuters

French President François Hollande’s approval rating fell to 54
percent in August, continuing a steady decline since he came to
office, according to a poll released on Aug. 25. The poll, by Ifop for
Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, marked a slide from 61 percent who
were satisfied or very satisfied with Hollande’s performance in May,
the month he became president, to 59 percent in June and 56 percent in
July. The declining ratings reflect the challenges Hollande faces in
tackling high unemployment and a stagnant economy.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 26 2012

Turkish intelligence announce recruitment of specialists with
knowledge of Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Armenian

Turkey’s National Intelligence Service (MIT) reported that, in
response to the announcement of the recruitment specialists with
knowledge of Arabic, Persian, Armenian and Hebrew, they received a
response from a large number of citizens, according to the portal
NEWS.am. The same news circulated in a number of other Armenian
Internet resources.

The Armenian website refers to a statement issued by the intelligence
service in the Turkish news agency Hurriyet that on July 25 they
announced the need for such specialists. Many who read this posting
applied to the MIT via the internet. The deadline for applications is
September 3.

Applicants must be citizens of Turkey, serving in the Army. Priority
will be given to those who can work in different regions of Turkey and
the world, the report says.

Moreover, those who scored over 70 points in Armenian and Persian
language tests will be exempt from the test of a second foreign
language.

The Times (London)
August 25, 2012 Saturday
Edition 1; National Edition

Music CD Reviews
Staying In
…

Jordi Savall: Armenian Spirit ****

Haunting and tragic, this CD is a double-lament – for Jordi Savall’s
late wife, the singer Montserrat Figueras, who loved Armenian music,
and for Armenia, with its long history of foreign subjugation and
massacre. With meticulous scholarship, Savall and his group, HespÈrion
XXI, bring together an hour of Armenian traditional music: sinuous
tunes and dark timbres (the quivering Armenian duduk, prominent),
winding over drones or lugubrious drum patterns. It is hypnotic and
exquisitely melancholic. An accompanying booklet offers
thought-provoking essays about Armenia’s history and culture.

Lurer.com, Armenia
Aug 25 2012

Around 1500 shots were fired in the direction of Armenian positions

2012-08-25 16:31:50

According to Defense Army’s operative data the adversary violated the
ceasefire, at the line of contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani
opposing forces, more than 300 times from August 19-25, during which
around 1500 shots were fired in the direction of Armenian
positions – and by way of using different-caliber artillery weapons.

Defense Army vanguard units primarily refrained from taking
retaliatory actions, and confidently carried out their military turn
of duty along the entire length of the line of contact.

NKR Defense Army Media and Propaganda Department

Mehr news agency, Iran
Aug 23 2012

Armenian president to attend NAM summit in Iran

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will attend the Non-Aligned Movement
summit to be held in Tehran in late August, Mehr reported on 22
August.

“Armenia is an observer member of the Non-Aligned Movement. The
Armenian president will represent the country at the Non-Aligned
Movement summit to be held in Tehran,” the agency quoted Armenia’s
ambassador to Iran Grigor Arakelyan as saying.

Turkey should not distort essence of Karabakh conflict – deputy FM

tert.am
19:41 – 25.08.12

Turkey should not attempt to distort the essence of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict if it really wishes to assist in the current
conflict settlement efforts, a deputy minister of foreign affairs,
Shavarsh Kocharyan, has told Panorama.am.

Kocharyan particularly said that the country should avoid preventing
the people of Karabakh from exercising their right to
self-determination as it did in the late 1980s and the 1990s,
resorting to ethnic cleansing and large-scale military aggression.

`To achieve an effective settlement, Turkey had better urge Azerbaijan
to negotiate with the real conflicting party, i.e., Nagorno-Karabakh.
The least Turkey can do is to stop supporting Azerbaijan’s
all-or-nothing policy,’ he said, commenting on a recent statement by
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkey’s top diplomat had particularly said that his country has
become a regional leader due to its efforts towards assisting in the
settlement of conflicts.

`We would like the negotiations over Syria to take place in Turkey. We
would also wish the meetings between Armenia and Azerbaijan to be held
in Istanbul,’ the Azerbaijani media quoted Davutoglu as saying.

Statement of Armenian NGOs

On February 19, 2004 in Budapest, Hungary, where the courses were held
in the framework of the NATO program ‘Partnership for Peace’, there
was a horrific event, which flatly denied the essence and meaning of
the program. Late at night Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov
penetrated into the room of classmates and brutally hacked sleeping
Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan with beforehand purchased ax. This
unprecedented crime disturbed not only Armenia and Hungary, but also
the whole Europe.

The trial of Safarov lasted more than two years, during which the
Azerbaijani side was trying to discredit the memory of the Armenian
officer, pushing against him many accusations, and to achieve for
criminal possible lenient sentence. During the trial have been
convincingly refuted all the accusations against the deceased officer
and proved their inadequacy and artificiality. Judge Andrash Vaskuti
and the prosecution had perfectly conducted the whole process,
strictly adhering to the wording and spirit of the Hungarian and
European legislation. Ramil Safarov was sentenced to the maximum
penalty: life imprisonment without a right filing a petition for a
pardon during the first 30 years. All appeals from the Azerbaijani
side were rejected.

Already in custody, Safarov had conducted an attack towards the prison
security guard
, which was the
basis for initiating against him another criminal case and impose a
second sentence.

Azerbaijani side from the first day has unsuccessfully tried to
extradite Safarov. Representatives of state and public structures
afforded statements justifying heinous crime. Thus, the Azerbaijani
Ombudsman Suleymanova said that ‘Safarov should be an example for
young people.’ Ramil Safarov was declared his country’s national
hero.

All the past 8 years, the Hungarian side has proven its commitment to
the norms of international law, rejecting any possibility of
extradition of criminal to his homeland. However, the Azerbaijani and
Turkish parties persist in their efforts to extradite Safarov. Thus,
the recent report proves the collection of signatures in Turkey, which
require proponents to reconsider the sentence, implementing
unreasonable and unacceptable historical parallels. Similar messages
appear regularly also in the Azerbaijani media.

We believe it is our duty to address the Hungarian public and
government agencies with an appeal to prevent the extradition of
Safarov to Azerbaijan, where it is certainly not expected further
punishment, but nothing more than freedom, honor and even greater
glorification. As evidence, we present only one sentence: a year ago
made by the head of the department of Political Analysis and
Information Support of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan
Elnur Aslanov said that ‘valor of those like Ramil Safarov gave
Azerbaijani society and people a second wind.’

We have no doubts that in Hungary are perfectly aware of the fact that
the hatred towards Armenians and xenophobia raised to the rank of
state policy of Azerbaijan. This was recorded in the report of the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for the year of
2011. We would like to remind that the President of Azerbaijan, in one
of his recent speeches called Armenians as enemy number one for
Azerbaijan. We also would like to remind that during the trial in
Budapest the attorney of Safarov stated that ‘killing an Armenian is
not a crime in Azerbaijan.’

Having said all it is even hard to imagine the consequences that may
result from extradition of Safarov to Azerbaijan. This is unacceptable
in the first place given the gravity of his crime and the attitude
towards that crime in Azerbaijan. But far more serious can be the
consequences in the context of relapse of the crime over the
world. For Azerbaijani youth, brought up to hate the Armenians and
glorify the killer, extradition will be a call to action in the
knowledge that the punishment will inevitably be soft, and the laurels
of hero killer of Armenians on this background will become too
attractive. In this case, the responsibility for the potential crimes
certainly will lie not only on Azerbaijan, but also on Hungary. It
should also be noted that the extradition against the frequent
violations of the ceasefire with Azerbaijan could spark a renewal of
bloody war.

We call upon the corresponding structures of friendly Hungary to think
about the inevitable consequences of such a step. Only in the country
of the crime, in the colony of strict regime Safarov must serve his
sentence, imposed on him by Hungarian court. This requires not only
the memory of Armenian young man brutally murdered, but the
obligations of Hungary, as the country, which has proven its
commitment to human rights norms, morality and humanity.

1. `Foundation Against Violation of Law’ NGO

Mikayel Aramyan – President

2. Gyumri Development Fund

Artush Lazarian – Chairperson

3. `Khoran Ard’ Intelectual Centre NGO

Armen Petrosyan – Executive Director

4. `Our Home Armenia’

Nikolai Babajanyan – Chairperson, Member of Armenian-Russian Union of NGOs

5. `Improve Our Village’ NGO

Anahit Tovmasyan – President

6. `Trtu’ Cultural NGO

Temik Khalapyan

7. Association ‘For Sustainable Human Development’

Karine Danielyan – Chairperson

8. ‘Foundation for Small and Medium Businesses’

Gagik Poghosyan – President

9. `Association of Foreign Investment and Cooperation’

Andranik Aleksanyan – Board President

10. Armenian Assembly of Azerbaijan

Grigory Ayvazyan – President

11. International Center for Human Development

Tevan Poghosyan – Executive Director

12. `Protection of Rights Without Borders’ NGO

Siranush Sahakyan – President

13. Guarantee Center Of Civil Society NGO

Sergey Gabrielyan

15:17:30 – 25/08/2012