Author: Kanayan Tamar

PRESS RELEASE
Glendale Public Library
222 East Harvard Street
Glendale CA 91205
Tel: 818-548-2030
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FB:
The Knock at the Door

“Whoever remains will be shot.” “Move along, yallah, yallah.”

GLENDALE, CA Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, author of The Knock at the Door:
A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide, will speak
about her book on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 at 7pm at the Glendale
Central Library Auditorium, 222 East Harvard Street. The lecture is in
English. Admission is free and the seating is limited. Library visitors
receive 3 hours FREE parking across the street at The Market Place
parking structure with validation at the Loan Desk.

Margaret Ajemian Ahnert, the winner of the 2008 New York Book Fair Award
for Best Historical Memoir was born in New York City. She has an MFA
from Goucher College and a BA from Goddard College. She has pursued a
variety of careers: producing television documentaries, lecturing as a
docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of
Art.

The Knock at the Door, is the story of Ester, Margaret’s mother, and her
terrifying experiences as a young woman during the year of 1915 Armenian
Genocide in Turkey. Ester was separated from her foster family at the
age of 15, during a forced march away from her birth town of Amasia. She
narrowly avoided kidnapping, faced unspeakable horrors at the hands of
soldiers, and was forcibly married to an abusive Turkish wagon-driver.
Throughout her ordeal, she reminded herself that “this, too, will pass,”
a mantra which enabled her to survive these nightmarish experiences.
Eventually, she escaped captivity and was able to make her way to
America. The Knock at the Door is published in several languages
including Spanish, Italian, Polish, Armenian and Turkish. The publisher
of the Turkish edition is in jail for publishing the book because it is
against the law in Turkey to publish anything that is anti-Turkish.

The program is sponsored by the Abril bookstore and the Glendale Public
Library.

###

Contact: Elizabeth Grigorian at [email protected]
or call (818) 548-3288

AZERI POLICE BREAK UP OPPOSITION RALLIES AHEAD OF EUROVISION

ARMENPRESS

11:24, 25 May, 2012

YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS: For Azerbaijan, hosting the glitz and
glamour of the Eurovision Song Contest was part of a charm offensive
to put the ex-Soviet Republic on the map, reports Armenpress citing
Eruonews.

But increased international attention has also led to criticism of
the country’s human rights record.

Earlier, police arrested 35 people protesting outside the state
television station in the capital Baku.

Activists accuse President Ilham Aliyev of stifling dissent and
restricting media freedom.

They say Eurovision lends credibility to an authoritarian regime that
jails political opponents.

Human rights lawyer Lela Yunnus said: “My message to Eurovision is –
Shame on you that you did not support democratisation and freedoms
in Azerbaijan (and) the rule of law.”

Aliyev has ruled Azerbaijan for nine years after inheriting power
from his father.

At the last parliamentary election in 2010, the main opposition party
failed to win a single seat.

POLITICAL SCIENTIST CONSIDERS MILITARY PARADE IN STEPANAKERT TO BE A VIVID FACT IN THE NEGOTIATING PROCESS

ARMENPRESS
25 May, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS: More substantial and important “words”
about settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were said during the
military parades, especially during the one in Stepanakert.

Armenpress reports that in the framework of international conference
“Caucasus 2011” on May 25 such an opinion expressed Director of
“Caucasus” institution Alexander Iskandaryan.

“Nothing substantial has changed in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh
issue neither in Sochi nor in Kazan. They did not give significant
results and it was expected. At the same time it was not
dissatisfaction or surprise” said the political scientist adding that
more essential was military potential shown in Stepanakert.

“The presented weapons put everything in their places. And statements
that Armenia and Artsakh are hungry, don’t have opportunity to
contradict powerful Azerbaijan are ungrounded” highlighted Iskandaryan
adding that an important point in the issue is the construction of
road from Zodk to Qarvatchar.

“There can not be a word about giving back the territories when such
construction works are implemented” summarized Iskandaryan.

EN TURQUIE, LA FRONDE DES ISLAMISTES ANTICAPITALISTES
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 25 mai 2012

Par RAGIP DURAN (a Istanbul) Ils se revendiquent Jeunes Musulmans
anticapitalistes (Jmac). Pour la plupart, ce sont des etudiants,
certains barbus, d’autres bien rases, des filles avec ou sans foulard
islamique. ” Nous voulons mettre en avant la dimension sociale et
“solidariste” de l’islam “, explique Ihsan Eliacik, ideologue de
ce mouvement qui defraie la chronique en Turquie. Ils sont sur le
devant de la scène de tous les medias depuis leur participation a la
marche du 1er Mai avec une banderole clamant en turc, kurde, arabe et
armenien : ” La propriete appartient a Allah. ” Ils scandaient ” Dieu,
pain et liberte ” ou ” Nous ne voulons pas de musulmans voleurs “,
tout en appelant a la lutte ” contre Pharaon “. Autant de references
visant très clairement l’AKP du Premier ministre Erdogan, le parti
islamiste au pouvoir depuis 2002, qui a remporte pour la troisième
fois consecutive les legislative, en juin, avec 50% des voix.

Reunis devant une des grandes mosquees d’Istanbul, ils avaient d’abord
prie pour ” l’ensemble des personnes tuees lors des accidents de
travail “, avant de rejoindre la grande place de Taksim, où se tenaient
les manifestations du 1er Mai. ” Ces musulmans anticapitalistes
lancent un avertissement serieux a Erdogan, qui se reclame de
l’islam mais ne se soucie plus des problèmes economiques et sociaux
des millions de citoyens qui avaient vote pour son parti “, estime
Fehmi Koru, chroniqueur du quotidien Star, proche du gouvernement. ”
Quelques anciens pauvres sont devenus super-riches grâce au soutien
du gouvernement alors que la majorite des electeurs de l’AKP sont
encore et toujours pauvres “, rencherit Meral Tamer dans les colonnes
du quotidien Milliyet (liberal).

Personne au sein du gouvernement n’a encore reagi au succès de
ce mouvement, mais l’embarras est palpable. Pour la première fois
depuis dix ans, l’AKP commence a reculer dans les sondages – tout
en recueillant 47% des intentions de vote. Le miracle economique
turc commence a avoir du plomb dans l’aile. L’agence de notation
Standard & Poor’s a annonce, pour la première fois depuis dix ans,
qu’elle abaissait de ” positive ” a ” stable ” la perspective de
la note de la dette a long terme du pays. A cela s’ajoutent les
inquietudes sur l’etat de sante de Recep Tayyip Erdogan, opere deux
fois du colon. Le black-out officiel ne fait que nourrir les rumeurs
sur un possible cancer.

Le succès des Jmac ” n’a rien d’etonnant “, selon Ali Vahit Turhan,
specialiste de philosophie politique a l’universite de Marmara. Il
souligne avec ironie : ” Les islamistes se servent du discours de la
gauche. Alors que leurs ideologues pretendent la fin de la gauche. ”

REPRESSION CONTRE LES FEMMES KURDES
Stephane

armenews.com
vendredi 25 mai 2012

Loin du regard des médias internationaux, la répression du
gouvernement turc contre les organisations kurdes se poursuit. Chaque
semaine des dizaines de personnes se font arrêter par le régime de
l’AKP, le parti au pouvoir du premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Sont visésâ~@~I : syndicalistes, étudiants, femmes, élus,
avocats, journalistes, intellectuels, enfants et défenseurs des
droits de l’homme. Le 4â~@¯mai, les forces de sécurité turques
ont fait irruption, a Van, dans les locaux du Parti de la paix
et de la démocratie (BDP) pour arrêter les militantes qui s’y
trouvaient. Quinze d’entre elles ont été placées en garde a vue,
dont Ceyhan Timur, présidente de l’association Vakasum qui travaille
notamment sur les problèmes des femmes kurdes. Elle a été libérée
depuis, mais placée sous contrôle judiciaire alors que sept autres
sont toujours incarcérées.

Nous avions rencontré Ceyhan Timur a Van, en février dernier. Elle
expliquait alors a l’Humanité que ” â~@¯les femmes sont confrontées
a la violence politique. Dès que nous créons une association,
nous subissons des perquisitions et des arrestations. C’est un
harcèlement continuel, nous sommes placées sur écoute et suivies
dans la rueâ~@¯ ”.

Une double répression due ” â~@¯a un système qui opprime les femmes
en général et celles qui se battent pour l’identité kurdeâ~@¯
”. Selon Ceyhan Timur, depuis qu’Erdogan est au pouvoir (2003) ”
â~@¯les crimes et les assassinats contre les femmes ont augmenté de
1â~@~I400â~@¯%â~@¯ ”. Selon Gultan Kisanak, coprésidente du BDP,
quelque 500 femmes de son parti sont en prison, dont deux députées
sur six et deux mairesses sur trente-deux, faisant de la Turquie la
plus grande prison du monde pour les élus, ainsi que 25 membres du
conseil des femmes au sein du BDP. ” â~@¯La répression contre les
femmes s’est intensifiéeâ~@¯ ”, dénonce-t-elle.

Pierre Barbancey

LE DICTATEUR DE BAKOU, LE PRESIDENT ALIEV INTERDIT LE FILM ” LE DICTATEUR ” EN AZERBAIDJAN
Krikor Amirzayan

armenews.com
vendredi 25 mai 2012

Le president-dictateur d’Azerbaïdjan Ilham Aliev vient d’interdire
la diffusion du film ” Le Dictateur ” personnage incarne par l’acteur
Britannique Sacha Baron Cohen. Après le Tadjikistan et le Belarus où
sevissent d’autres dictateurs c’est au tour du dictateur de Bakou de
censurer sur le territoire azeri le film ” Le Dictateur ” qui vient
d’etre presente au Festival de Cannes. Sacha Baron Cohen incarne le
rôle d’un dirigeant-dictateur d’un riche pays petrolier. Ilham Aliev
s’est senti vise par le personnage de ce film qui sera a n’en pas
douter un succès international.

US HELSINKI COMMISSION HELD A BRIEFING ON DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS IN CAUCASUS REGION

Azeri Report
May 24 2012

WASHINGTON, DC. May 24. Yesterday, the US Commission for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, also known as Helsinki Commission,
held a briefing on “Democratization in the Caucasus: Elections in
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia” in the US Congress. The expert
panelists presenting before the Commission included Tom de Waal of
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Dr. Cory Welt of George
Washington University, Christopher Walker of Freedom House, Stephen
Nix of International Republican Institute, and Anthony Bowyer of
International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

Comparing the countries of the Caucasus region, the panelists
noted that although all three have serious problems with democratic
development, the conditions in Georgia are generally better than in
Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijan having the most authoritarian
regime. Among the facts concerning Azerbaijan, the presenters noted
wholesale falsifications of previous elections, serious violations
of human rights, absence of free speech and free assembly, severe
restrictions and attacks on media and political activists. Specific
cases of blackmail against the Radio Liberty reporter Khadija Ismail
and brutal beating of the journalist Idrak Abbasov by the security
forces of the State Oil Company (SOCAR) were highlighted as recent
examples. Azerbaijan’s ranking among the worst in the world on human
rights and democracy, alongside African countries, was also mentioned.

One of the representatives from Azerbaijani-Americans for Democracy
(AZAD) attending the briefing stated that the ruling Aliyev regime
shows no interest in holding free and fair elections, as evidenced
by the previous electoral cycles in the country, and asked whether
it would make more sense for the US government and Congress to
exert pressure on the Azerbaijani government well in advance of
the upcoming elections in 2013. AZAD has also sent a letter to the
Helsinki Commission recommending that such pressure needs to be
applied for creating necessary conditions during the pre-elections
period and the legitimacy of elections failing to meet at least
the minimal international standards should not be recognized by the
international community.

A representative from Azerbaijani Embassy in the US disagreed with
everyone else on the subject of Azerbaijan and said that the current
government provides all the freedoms and the country is making a
great progress (Azerireport).

AZERI RIGHTS ROW DROWNS OUT EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
By Margarita Antidze

WXEL
May 24 2012

Sar of Bosnia & Herzegovina performs during a rehearsal for the finals
of the Eurovision song contest in Baku

BAKU (Reuters) – Tens of millions of television viewers will tune
into Europe’s annual pop music contest in the former Soviet republic
of Azerbaijan this weekend, but a war of words over human rights may
drown out the singing, self-promotion and kitschy costumes.

Hundreds of excited Eurovision Song Contest fans have already arrived
in the oil-rich Azeri capital of Baku, which has undergone a $60
million facelift in preparation for the event with a shiny new
23,000-seat rectangular Crystal Hall on the shores of the Caspian
Sea at the centre of the celebrations.

“People are very friendly in Azerbaijan and food is fantastic. We
enjoy being here and we love Eurovision,” said Dmitry, a 19-year-old
flag-draped fan from Moldova, accompanied by new Azeri friends.

The multi-purpose Crystal Hall arena was built by a German firm in
eight months for an undisclosed sum of money.

But human rights groups say some buildings in the centre of Baku were
specifically torn down with the song contest in mind and that the
forced eviction of residents, especially in areas around the Crystal
Hall, casts a shadow over the event.

Azerbaijan won the right to host the annual contest last year in
Germany with the victory of its entry, the love song “Running Scared”,
from Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, better known as Ell/Nikki.

It is the fifth former Soviet republic after Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine
and Russia and the second Muslim country after Turkey to host the
event.

DECORATIONS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

In preparation, Azerbaijan has trained thousands of police, temporary
staff and volunteers in basic foreign language skills to welcome
contest participants and cope with the thousands of fans arriving
from around Europe.

“I have been trained for a few months and can speak basic English
now,” said Elchin Guluzade, a 43-year-old taxi driver, who drives
one of the dozens of cabs bought ahead of the event.

Taxis as well as buses and streets of the capital Baku are decorated
with Eurovision emblems and the slogan “Light your fire!” Locals and
guests stroll around in Azeri national colors of red and green as
well as blue Eurovision t-shirts and caps.

“I think that many more people will learn about our beautiful country
after Eurovision and many more will come to see it,” 19-year-old
student Sabina Mehdiyeva said, adding her voice to many Baku residents
who welcomed the contest.

Despite the effort to highlight progress that the oil-producing nation
of nine million people has made since independence in 1991, critics
of President Ilham Aliyev’s government have taken the opportunity to
air allegations of human rights abuses.

Critics accuse Aliyev, who in 2003 succeeded his father to the
presidency of the Caspian Sea country north of Iran, of clamping down
on dissent, but Baku says the country enjoys full freedom of speech
and a vibrant opposition press.

Dozens of peaceful protesters were arrested this month in central Baku
during rallies and marches demanding democracy and the resignation
of the government.

“A stern crackdown of freedom of expression, dissent, NGOs, critical
journalists, in fact anyone who criticizes the Aliyev regime too
strongly, and we’ve seen this continue right up until the Eurovision
Song Contest,” Amnesty International Europe and Central Asia director
John Dalhuisen told Reuters.

But senior Azeri officials responded to allegations by calling them
“anti-Azeri propaganda.”

“Their conclusions do not correspond with reality”, said Ali Hasanov,
head of the public and political issues department at the presidential
administration.

The government is also under fire from Islamic figures as well who
object to the Eurovision pageant. Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah
Sobhani has issued a statement urging Muslims in the region to protest
what he described as “anti-Islamic behavior”.

The song contest, which is a major showbusiness event in many
participating countries, has also been marred by the decision of
Armenia to pull out of the contest this month.

The move underscored tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly
Armenian-populated enclave inside Azerbaijan which Armenian forces
seized control of after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

STOMPING GRANNIES

In the contest itself, 10 countries out of 18 have already qualified
in the first Eurovision semi-final this week, while 10 more will be
selected on Thursday to participate in the grand final on Saturday
night.

Six more participants, including Azerbaijan, are already included in
the final without participating in semi-finals.

Eurovision, which draws more than 100 million viewers almost every
year, parades a wide array of musical styles in original songs,
mostly from relatively unknown artists.

List of participants this year includes Russian rural folk group
“Buranovskiye Babushki” (Grannies from Buranovo), septuagenarian
British crooner Engelbert Humperdinck and eccentric pop duo Jedward –
twins from Ireland, much beloved by teenagers in Europe.

Russian grannies and 28-year-old Swedish diva Loreen are regarded by
bookmakers as top rivals ahead in the final.

Buranovskiye Babushki, clad in the traditional red headscarfs and
long dresses of their Russian northern region of Udmurtia, stomping
feet shod in tree bark shoes and urging the audience to dance, were
a hit at this week’s semi-finals.

Loreen is still to perform her emotional “Euphoria” song in the second
semi-final on Thursday.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; editing by Paul Casciato)

28 PROSPEROUS ARMENIA PARTY MEMBERS PRESENT FORMAL MP-MANDATE-WITHDRAWAL REQUESTS TO CEC

Vestnik Kavkaza
May 24 2012
Russia

A total number of 28 MP candidates, who are included in the Prosperous
Armenia Party’s (PAP) proportional election list, submitted Thursday
to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) petitions for withdrawal
from their parliamentary mandates, which they had received as a result
of the May 6 National Assembly elections, a CEC official told NEWS.am.

But the official did not inform as to which candidates presented such
formal requests, maintaining that the data are still being entered.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, 67 MP candidates, who are
included in the Republican Party of Armenia’s (RPA) proportional
election list, also submitted on the same day such petitions to
the CEC.

These MP candidates include Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan-who
heads the RPA’s proportional list-, PM Tigran Sargsyan, and capital
city Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan.

TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

Khaleej Times

May 24 2012
UAE

There is an old Armenian saying that if you intend to tell the truth
make sure you have one foot in the stirrup. Often, in life, you need
to be fully mounted and ready to gallop away.

Contrary to the happy if now misplaced adage that the truth will out
and will release you, the odds are that by saying it as it is you
trigger a chain reaction in which you are the probably the biggest
casualty.

Since many of us spend lives lying when we do tell the truth it
becomes an occasion.

There are three reasons why in this time of greed and ambition why
telling the truth can be a direct flight into trouble.

The first is obvious. You rock the boat. No one wants to hear it
because that then calls for action and ennui and the status quo have
now become the norm so when you open your mouth, however, sincerely
be prepared for the payback. Your seniors think you are just creating
waves for nothing. Your peers think you are upstaging them with a lot
of grandstanding and your juniors think you are building a career on
their bones.

The second reason is predicated on the first but is in part mutually
exclusive. No one likes bad news and telling the truth usually means
much the same so let’s shoot the messenger, he is the guy who is
bringing the message, things were going fine till he opened his
big mouth.

Third, there is nothing absolute about the truth because we now live
in a time, where values have made truth into plasticine, malleable,
soft, subjective and open to interpretation in that truth is what we
want to make of it. Again, as with a prism truth has many sides to it,
that many more pressures and elements that its intrinsic form is bent,
stapled and broken in a hundred places.

So, rather than set you free the truth can actually get you into
trouble. At home, at work, in public, on the road, in business, in
society, anywhere, with friends and enemies, you name it, you get it
in the neck.

Nonsense, I hear you say, I never lie, I always tell the truth. I
am sure you do. So, perhaps the exceptions to the 89 per cent of the
population who prefaces its comments with a request: can I be honest.

Ergo, you have been constantly dishonest and now it is your desire
to be upfront and candid because the truth is self-serving. It suits
you to tell the truth.

Now, you hear yourself say: I hope you don’t mind if I am frank. How
mealy mouthed and hypocritical can you get? Yet, most of us speak in
this forked-tongued fashion even as we swear by the truth.

The moment it becomes a liability and endangers our comfort zone
truth becomes a casualty and can be put aside.

As such, much as we loudly protest our affection for it, it is more
like a fragmented convenience that we can pull parts of as they fit
rather than an inviolate entity.

Paradoxically, the truth is probably the most upsetting and
unforgiveable transgression of another’s privacy and peace of mind.

The doctor to the patient: I am sorry, I do not have good news,
your tests are back.

The husband to the wife: I am sorry, but I do not love you anymore,
I am having an affair.

The wife to the husband: we just cannot carry on like this, let’s
just divorce.

Children to parents: what I really want is for you to stop interfering
in my life and let me be, I need space, can’t you understand that.

The boss to his subordinate: I have covered for you long enough but
today is your last day because you are incompetent and no amount of
thoughtful gifts is going to change that.

The subordinate to the boss: I have a new job, I am out of here, gee,
have I ever told you what a pain you are.

And so it goes on, a spiral of deceit masquerading as the truth. The
worst thing is that when you are lied to you realise that person
doesn’t think you are worthy of knowing the truth. The jesting Pilate
asked, what is truth and did not wait for an answer.

Neither do we.