Author: Kanayan Tamar

EU URGES TURKEY, ARMENIA TO NORMALIZE TIES AMID MASSACRE ROW

Associated Press International
April 13, 2015 Monday 1:22 PM GMT

BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union is urging Turkey and Armenia to
normalize ties after remarks by Pope Francis fueled their long-running
row over the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 100 years ago.

EU foreign affairs spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said Monday that the
EU encourages the countries “to consider additional, meaningful steps
that would pave the way toward full reconciliation.”

Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the massacres
by calling them “the first genocide of the 20th century.”

Turkey denies the killings were genocide. Ankara recalled its
ambassador and accused Francis of spreading hatred.

Turkey and Armenia signed an agreement in 2009 to open their borders
and establish diplomatic ties but it has not been implemented.

The European Parliament will mark the massacre centenary in Brussels
on Wednesday.

TURKEY: MINISTER BLAMES POPE’S NATIONALITY IN ARMENIA ROW

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
April 13 2015

13 April 2015 14:30 (Last updated 13 April 2015 14:35)

EU Minister Volkan Bozkir says Armenian diaspora ‘dominates’
Argentina’s press and business worlds.

ISTANBUL

A Turkish cabinet minister has suggested that Pope Francis’ Sunday
statement on what he called the “Armenian genocide” may have been
because the pontiff is from Argentina which “welcomed Nazis, who were
the lead performers of the Jewish Holocaust.”

Turkey’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkir also went on to say that the
Armenian diaspora was “dominant” in the South American country’s
press and business sectors.

Bozkir’s remarks came during a visit to Istanbul’s Bayrampasa district
on Monday, where he spoke to journalists.

The minister said the pontiff’s statement was “unacceptable” and
“controversial” and was not based on any historical document.

During Sunday’s Mass at the St. Peter’s Basilica, which Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan also attended, Pope Francis said: “In the
past century, our human family has lived through three massive and
unprecedented tragedies.

“The first, which is widely considered the first genocide of the 20th
century, struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian nation,
as well as Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and
Greeks and, more recently, there have been other mass killings,
like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.”

Bozkir said Argentina, the current Pope’s homeland, had “welcomed
Nazis, who were the lead performers of the Jewish Holocaust.”

“Instead of his supra-identity position, I think Pope Francis made this
statement because he is an Argentine. Unfortunately, in Argentina,
the Armenian diaspora is dominant in the press and business world,”
Bozkir added.

1915 incidents

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of
the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation
process.

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that,
although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

The Turkish government has repeatedly called on historians to study
Ottoman archives pertaining to the era to uncover what actually
happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian citizens.

The debate on “genocide” and the differing opinions between the
present-day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.

Turkey’s official position against allegations of “genocide” is that
it acknowledges the past experiences were a great tragedy and that both
parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of Muslim Turks.

Ankara agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties during
World War I, but says that it is impossible to define these incidents
as “genocide.”

In 2014, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences
for the first time to all Ottoman citizens who lost their lives in
the events of 1915.

“May Armenians who lost their lives in the events in the early
twentieth century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to
their grandchildren,” Erdogan had said.

VIVACELL-MTS GENERAL MANAGER RALPH YIRIKIAN DELIVERS LECTURE AT SCHOOL WITH SPECIAL PROFILE IN PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

14:37 16/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian was hosted as a
guest lecturer at the school with a special profile in physics and
mathematics after Artashes Shahinyan. In the course of the interactive
lecture the schoolchildren of 9th to 12th grades got acquainted
with the history of VivaCell-MTS, its creation, its challenging path
and success.

Sharing the example of VivaCell-MTS, Ralph Yirikian encouraged the
children not to give up on the way to success, to keep learning,
to work hard, to be honest and fair, and to have a respectful and
responsible attitude towards the environment, the press service of
VivaCell-MTS reports.

“Rely on yourselves, build your future with your own hands, overcome
the hardships, and use the accumulated experience for moving forward
and achieving your goal. Nothing happens at once. One needs patience
and hard work to succeed,” Ralph Yirikian noted.

As part of the “Business with a Mission” project Ralph Yirikian has
already delivered a number of lectures at educational institutions
in both Yerevan and the regions.

Source: Panorama.am

TURKEY CALLS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S RESOLUTION ‘PREPOSTEROUS’

Yeni Safak, Turkey
April 16 2015

Turkish Foreign Ministry says the ‘preposterous text’ of the resolution
repeats the anti-Turkish cliches of the Armenian propaganda

AA | 16 April 2015, 10:16

Turkey has strongly rejected a European Parliament resolution that
recognizes the 1915 events affecting Armenians as “genocide.”

Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the
European Parliament, “which is known for contriving obstacles to the
development of Turkey-EU relations aspired once again to rewrite
history regarding the 1915 events, as it has attempted to do so
previously.

“This aspiration has resulted in a preposterous text of resolution
dated April 15, 2015 which literally repeats the anti-Turkish cliches
of the Armenian propaganda,” the statement said.

The ministry accused the European Parliament of repeating “exactly
a mistake it has made in the past in an incompatible way with
international law and exceeding its competence.”

The European Parliament first recognized the 1915 events as “genocide”
in a 1987 resolution, which the parliament recalled in a vote –
the centenary of the 1915 events.

“We do not take seriously those who adopted this resolution by
mutilating history and law,” the statement said. “The participation of
the EU citizens with a rate of 42% in 2014 elections already implies
the place that this parliament occupies in the political culture of
the EU.”

The ministry also said: “Those adopting this text may perhaps recall
that the EU was established on the pillars of reconciliation and
peace culture, and on the basis of principles such as democracy,
human rights and free market economy.

“We wish success to the politicians who supported the adoption of
the resolution today in the European Parliament, in their entrenched
partnership with those who have nothing to do with European values
and feeding on hatred, revenge and the culture of conflict.

“As a matter of fact, contrary to the values constituting the essential
reason for the existence of the European Parliament, this selective
and one-sided approach of the European Parliament with regards to the
1915 events has the potential to harm relations between Turkey and
the EU, and falls far behind from bringing a solution to the issue
between Turkey and Armenia.

“Naturally, this resolution cannot merely be explained away by either
lack of knowledge or ignorance.

“Unfortunately, what lays behind is a religious and cultural fanaticism
and indifference towards others regarded as different.

“If the European Parliament wishes to contribute to building a common
future for European peoples, it should realize that this cannot be
achieved by excluding different religions and cultures.

“As for 1915 events, it is evident that Turkey has assiduously
fulfilled its duty with regards to memory. We hope that Armenia also
achieves such a level of maturity as soon as possible.

“Members of the European Parliament may better encounter their own
past and remember especially their roles and responsibilities in the
most abhorrent calamities of humanity such as World War I and World
War II, well before dealing with the 1915 issue,” the statement added.

The European Parliament resolution said that the importance of keeping
alive the memories of the past was paramount, since there could be
no reconciliation without truth and remembrance.

Wednesday’s vote comes a day after the European Union urged Turkey
and Armenia to normalize their relations following a spat prompted
by remarks made by Pope Francis over the 1915 events.

1915 incidents

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of
the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following
the revolts and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation
process.

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey has
officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents saying that,
although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

The Turkish government has repeatedly called on historians to study
Ottoman archives pertaining to the era to uncover what actually
happened.

The debate on “genocide” and the differing opinions between the
present-day Turkish government and the Armenian diaspora, along with
the current administration in Yerevan, still generates political
tension between Turks and Armenians.

Turkey’s official position against allegations of “genocide” is that
it acknowledges the past experiences were a great tragedy and that both
parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of Muslim Turks.

Ankara agrees that there were Armenian casualties during World War I,
but says that it is impossible to define these incidents as “genocide.”

In 2014, then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed
his condolences for the first time to all Ottoman citizens who lost
their lives in the events of 1915.

“May Armenians who lost their lives in the events in the early
20th century rest in peace, and we convey our condolences to their
grandchildren,” Erdogan said.

DAVUTOGLU: POPE FRANCIS WAS CAUGHT IN A TRAP OF PLOTTERS

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
April 15 2015

15 April 2015 – 8:12pm

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Pope Francis was
caught in a trap of conspirators plotting against the ruling Justice
and Development Party. The PM called the conspirators a front of evil
of which the Pope was part, together with the Republican People’s
Party and the Democratic People’s Party, RIA Novosti reports.

Davutoglu reminded that the Ottoman Empire had given asylum to Jewish
refugees fleeing from the Catholic inquisition in Spain.

Pope Francis said at a liturgy on Sunday that the Armenian genocide,
Nazism and Stalinism were the three biggest tragedies of the 20th
century.

MEPS DEBATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DISPUTE

16 April 2015 Last updated at 12:43

MEPs continued their “mini plenary” sitting in Brussels on 15 April
2015 by debating a resolution repeating a call on Turkey to recognise
the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as an act
of genocide.

There is general agreement that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were
killed or died of starvation when the Ottoman Turks deported them en
masse from eastern Anatolia to the Syrian desert and elsewhere during
World War I.

The European Parliament, like a number of EU countries, has recognised
the events as an act of genocide since a 1987 resolution on the
same subject.

However, this is rejected by Turkey – an official EU candidate country
since 1999 – which denies that a systematic attempt to destroy the
Christian Armenian people took place, arguing that it was a civil
war in which there were casualties on both sides.

The resolution, intended to mark upcoming events commemorating the
100th anniversary of the killings, was later passed during the evening
voting session.

Text coverage of the debate can be found on the European Parliament
live page.

ALELIERS LUDIQUES DESTINES AUX ENFANTS A LA MAISON DE LA CULTURE ARMENIENNE DE VALENCE POUR LES VACANCES DE PÂQUES

COMMUNAUTE-VALENCE

La Maison de la Culture Armenienne (MCA) de Valence organisait cette
semaine pour la 4ème fois, ses Ateliers ludiques pour les vacances
de Pâques destines aux enfants et adolescents.

Une semaine au cours de laquelle la MCA proposait des seances de
decouvertes ou perfectionnement de la peinture, du piano, un atelier
vocal, des travaux manuels, des chants et danses armeniennes, des
visites (Centre du Patrimoine Armenien), un > avec le
groupe Sheram. Aujourd’hui, Raffy proposera aux enfants des devinettes
armeniennes avec la participation des scouts et badanis (adolescents).

Demain, vendredi 17 avril la semaine d’Ateliers ludiques etant clôturee
par la projection d’un film, des travaux manuels, les repetitions
de danses et chants armeniens et une exposition des travaux avec un
mini-spectacle. Un verre de l’amitie clôturant la manifestation a la
MCA de Valence (18h).

En parallèle des manifestations dans le cadre du centenaire du
genocide, l’equipe de la Maison de la Culture Armenienne de Valence
prepare diverses activites depuis deux mois avec les animatrices Araz
Krikorian, Lucy Hamamdjian et Marina Bedrossian ainsi que d’autres
intervenants specialises dans leurs domaines artistiques comme Jerôme
Boyadjian pour l’art de la peinture, Lilit Sargsyan professeur de piano
pour l’eveil musical au piano, Tamar Avedian (Lady Pirate) chanteuse
du groupe The Swindlers de Lyon pour un atelier d’eveil vocal,
Georges Rastklan pour l’atelier d’eveil musical avec les instruments
traditionnels armeniens, Sara Jinbachian pour les ateliers de danse,
et Nathalie Bonnaud professionnelle de l’animations des enfants
pour la fabrication des badges symbole du centenaire du genocide le
Myosotis. Ces groupes sont renforces par des membres de la FRA badanis
et de l’encadrement des scouts de Homenetmen pour les deux sorties
au Parc St Ruff pour les jeux et chants et le Parc Jouvet pour un
Rally. Ces deux dernières activites etant utilisees pour apprendre
aux enfants de nouveaux mots armeniens. Photos MCA Valence

Krikor Amirzayan

jeudi 16 avril 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

TURKEY SAYS THE POPE IS PART OF AN ‘EVIL FRONT’ BECAUSE HE USED THE WORD ‘GENOCIDE’

Washington Post
April 15 2015

By Ishaan Tharoor

Turkey’s outrage over comments made by Pope Francis this past weekend,
deeming the massacre of Armenians a century ago a “genocide,” continues
to smolder. Next week marks the centennial of the beginning of what
the pope called “the first genocide of the 20th century” at Sunday
Mass in commemoration of the killings.

Ankara reacted furiously, recalling its ambassador to the Vatican and
issuing a barrage of strong condemnations. On Wednesday, Turkish Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made some even tougher remarks: “Currently,
an evil front is being formed against us,” he said. “Now the pope
has joined this conspiracy.”

Davutoglu was speaking at an event announcing the manifesto of Turkey’s
ruling Justice and Development Party, ahead of general elections in
June. The spat with the pope most likely offered good nationalistic
fodder for local consumption. The prime minister went on, hailing
the Ottoman Empire’s long history of providing sanctuary to the Jews
expelled by Spain in the 15th century:

I am addressing the pope: Those who escaped from the Catholic
inquisition in Spain found peace in our just order in Istanbul and
Ä°zmir. We are ready to discuss historical issues, but we will not
let people insult our nation through history.

The issue of the Armenian genocide is one of profound sensitivity in
Turkey — and awkwardness for Turkey’s NATO allies, including the
United States. The traumas and upheavals triggered by these events
directly shaped the far-flung Armenian diaspora, which plays a leading
role in global advocacy around how to remember and commemorate the
slaughters.

On Wednesday, the European parliament in Brussels called on Turkey to
recognize what happened as a “genocide.” The motion was dismissed by
Davutoglu’s boss, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the appeal
“went in one ear and out from the other.”

The massacres took place amid the wider conflict of World War I, which
led to the unraveling and demise of the Ottoman Empire. Successive
Turkish governments have insisted the scale of the slaughter has been
distorted, and that many Turks were killed amid the chaos. As many as
1.5 million Armenians, by some accounts, were systematically killed
or disappeared.

“In 1913, there were up to 2 million [ethnic Armenians] in the Ottoman
Empire. When World War I broke out, the Ottoman government ordered
their mass deportation. A few years later, there was barely one-tenth
that number in Turkey, the rest having been exiled or killed,” details
Thomas de Waal, in his new book “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and
Turks in the Shadow of Genocide.”

Armenian suffering at the time was well-documented, particularly by
American observers. Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt wrote in
May 1918 that his country’s entrance into World War I against Germany
and its allies was justified “because the Armenian massacre was the
greatest crime of the war, and failure to act against Turkey is to
condone it.”

The very term “genocide,” attributed to the Polish-born Jewish lawyer
Raphael Lemkin, was invoked precisely with what befell the Armenians
in mind. But, as de Waal’s book charts, the question of remembering
it has become a political hot potato in the decades since, shrouded
by Cold War squeamishness and stubborn Turkish nationalism.

In some ways, Erdogan’s government has attempted to soften or reform
the conversation surrounding the massacres. Ankara has invested
significantly in the restoration of old Armenian churches in eastern
Turkey.

Last year, in what was considered an unprecedented act, Erdogan
offered condolences to Armenian victims of the “inhumane” deportations
in 1915. But he stopped short of calling it genocide and condemned
the government of Armenia for using it as “an excuse for hostility”
toward Turkey.

“Millions of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives
in the First World War,” said Erdogan.

Like Davutoglu, Erdogan was less than pleased this week with the Pope’s
intervention into the matter. He warned the pope not to “repeat this
mistake” and reiterated his government’s insistence that its archives
were “open” and that a “joint commission” of historians should be
established to reckon with the past. (The historical consensus,
though, is that the genocide happened.)

“Whenever politicians … assume the duties of historians, then
delirium comes out, not fact,” said Erdogan. It’s a curious statement,
not only in this context but in others.

Erdogan has been known to pronounce repeatedly upon matters of history,
including his somewhat perplexing insistence on the arrival of Muslim
seafarers to the New World ahead of Christopher Columbus, which has
led even to the construction of a proposed mosque in Cuba.

In the case of the events of 1915, history very much remains the
subject of politics.

US URGES ‘FULL’ ADMISSION OF FACTS IN 1915 ARMENIAN KILLINGS

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
April 15 2015

WASHINGTON

The United States April 14 called for a “full, frank” acknowledgement
of the facts surrounding the mass killing of Armenians in World War I,
but shied away from calling it “a genocide.”

Ankara has hit out at Pope Francis for his use of the word in a
weekend address, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying
“I condemn this mistake.”

“The president and other senior administration officials have
repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact, and mourned the fact,
that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths
in the final days of the Ottoman empire,” State Department acting
spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

They had also stated “that a full, frank and just acknowledgement
of the facts is in all our interests, including Turkey’s, Armenia’s
and America’s.”

Harf added that “nations are stronger and they progress by
acknowledging and reckoning with pretty painful elements of their
past.”

Such moves were “essential to building a different, more tolerant
future,” she said.

However, she refused to term the mass killings a genocide, even
though during his 2008 campaign for the White House, then senator
Barack Obama had pledged to “recognize the Armenian genocide.”

Turkey is a key US ally and a fellow member of NATO.

Harf refused to be drawn on what candidate Obama had said, adding
reporters should check with the White House as she spoke for the
State Department.

April/15/2015

ERDOGAN VOWS TO IGNORE EUROPEAN VOTE ON ARMENIAN KILLINGS

Voice of America
April 15 2015

Reuters

April 15, 2015 5:42 AM

ANKARA–President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would disregard
the European Parliament’s vote later on Wednesday on the 1915 mass
killings of Armenians, which the pope this week described as genocide.

The European Parliament is due to debate a resolution to mark the
100th anniversary of the killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians
under Turkish Ottoman rule.

“Whatever decision the European Parliament takes on Armenian genocide
claims, it would go in one ear and out the other,” Erdogan told a
news conference at Ankara airport before departing on an official
visit to Kazakhstan.

“It is out of the question for there to a stain, a shadow called
‘genocide’ on Turkey,” he said.

Pope Francis became the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to
publicly call the killing of Armenians “genocide” on Sunday, prompting
Turkey to summon the Vatican’s ambassador to the Holy See and recall
its own.

Armenia, some Western historians and foreign parliaments refer to
the mass killings as genocide.

Muslim Turkey agrees Christian Armenians were killed in clashes
with Ottoman soldiers that began on April 15, 1915, when Armenians
lived in the empire ruled by Istanbul, but denies that this amounted
to genocide.

Around 100,000 Armenians still reside in Turkey including those who are
Turkish citizens and those who are not and they are never mistreated,
Erdogan said.

“Both citizens and non-citizen Armenians are enjoying the opportunities
of our country. We could have deported them, but we didn’t,”
Erdogan said.