Author: Karakhanian Suren

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 19 2007

A SINGLE RA CITIZEN ARRESTED

For Violating Visa Regime

Information has been spread recently regarding the massive arrests
of RA citizens in Turkey.
On this occasion Spokesman of Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Vladimir Karapetyan said,’ In response to our question, Turkish
authorities have underscored in their official report that recently
542 people have been arrested in the territory of Turkey for
violating visa regime, from which only one is RA citizen.’

LOCAL ARMENIANS PUT FACE ON POLITICAL DEBATE IN CONGRESS
Sharon Strauss

Idaho Press-Tribune, ID
Oct 18 2007

NAMPA – Local residents of Armenian descent can clearly retell their
family’s stories of survival and draw upon those memories to offer
support to a congressional resolution that would label Turkish-led
mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

Most states, including Idaho, have already passed similar
resolutions. Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne issued a proclamation in 2004
commemorating April 24 as "Idaho Day of Remembrance of the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-1923."

A congressional resolution labeling the killings of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide faces an uncertain fate because many members
of Congress, and President Bush, fear it will worsen tensions with
Turkey. Turkey’s top general has warned of irreversible damage to
U.S. ties if the genocide resolution passes. Turkey is a major cargo
hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. A
conflict could disrupt supply lines to U.S. soldiers fighting abroad.

The U.S. House has previously adopted a number of resolutions
condemning or commemorating a number of global genocides, including
the Holocaust as well as the Cambodian, Darfur, Ukrainian and Bosnian
atrocities.

Jo-Ann Kachigian describes herself as a "proud Armenian" and believes
both governments need to acknowledge the systematic killings that
took so many lives.

Her knowledge of her own ancestry is limited to the horror stories
she heard from her mother, an orphaned survivor of the genocide.

"My mother never spoke of her childhood or her escape and survival.

When I was 41 years old I forced her to share her story on tape. It
was very hard for her. I promised I would share her story with whoever
I met," Kachigian said. "It’s been my cause to educate people about
the genocide because so many people don’t know about it."

Kuna resident John Kazian said he is amazed at how far-reaching the
Armenian genocide was, and added that for Congress not to recognize
it would be "absurd." Kazian’s father survived the massacres and
arrived in the U.S. in 1911, the only surviving member of his family.

"What we look for now is closure," Kazian said. "At least our people
didn’t die for nothing."

Mark Abajian’s aunt was also a survivor of the genocide.

"She eyewitnessed the slaughter of her family," said Abajian, of Boise,
who supports the resolution because of the impact it will have on
the Armenian communities that populate the United States.

"You’ve got to have that closure to satisfy the heart and soul,"
he said. "We are no different from any other ethnic community out
there that has been persecuted. Our job as survivors is to remember
the past and honor our history."

Photo: John Kazian, right, and Jo-Ann Kachigian recall memories of
their family’s struggles during the Armenian genocide.

Greg Kreller/IPT

87

RA MFA: ONLY ONE ARMENIAN CITIZEN DETAINED IN TURKEY RECENTLY

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2007 18:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In response to the inquiry of the Armenian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish authorities said that recently 542
people have been detained over violation of visa regime, RA MFA
Spokesman Vladimir Karapetian said. Only one of them is an Armenian
citizen, the Ministry’s press office said.

According to Armenia’s representative in the BSEC, Karen Mirzoyan,
informal sources confirm arrest of Armenian citizens. "They were
detained for further deportation to Armenia because of violation of
visa regime," Mirzoyan said.

Earlier, Irish Times newspaper reported that some 100 Armenians –
illegal migrants – were detained in Turkey and will be deported
soon. "They exile is eyed as revenge for adoption of the Armenian
Genocide resolution by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs,"
the newspaper said.

CHANCES FADING FOR ARMENIA GENOCIDE VOTE

Congressional Quarterly, DC
Oct 17 2007

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged today that an Armenian
genocide resolution she supports might not make it to the House
floor, as growing opposition spurred by fierce lobbying from the Bush
administration and the Turkish government put its adoption in doubt.

The non-binding resolution (H Res 106) calls on President Bush to
recognize as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the
former Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago. The administration and
most Republicans oppose a floor vote on the measure, which the House
Foreign Affairs Committee approved Oct. 10.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said she would consult with the remaining sponsors
to see if there is still enough momentum among Democrats to bring the
measure to a floor vote in the coming weeks. "I am working with them
to see what their wish is," she said.

Pelosi has long supported the resolution and in the past has promised
to bring it up for a vote. Thousands of Armenian-Americans make up
a vocal and influential community in her home district in California.

But about a dozen Democrats have withdrawn their sponsorship and
even more have said they won’t vote for it on the floor, prompting
Democratic leaders to reconsider.

"If it came to the floor today it would not pass," said John P. Murtha,
D-Pa.

The measure has angered NATO ally Turkey, and the administration has
warned that its adoption would harm U.S. foreign policy efforts in
the region. It also could touch off a widening of the war in Iraq
by emboldening Turkey to strike at Kurdish separatists hiding there
among their ethnic brethren.

Earlier, the Turkish parliament voted to authorize cross-border
military strikes on the separatists.

ay110-000002607054.html

Turkish army chief says U.S. ties at risk

By Paul de Bendern
Reuters
Sunday, October 14, 2007; 6:59 PM

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s powerful military chief said on Sunday if
the U.S. Congress approved a resolution branding the 1915 killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide ties between the NATO allies would
never be the same again.

Ankara is a crucial ally for Washington which relies on Turkey as a
logistical base for the war in Iraq.

Some analysts believe the vote could weaken Washington’s influence
over Turkey and increase the likelihood of a Turkish incursion into
northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist rebels who use the territory
to stage attacks into Turkey.

"If the resolution that has passed in the U.S. committee is accepted
by the assembly of the House of Representatives our military relations
with the United States can never be the same again," chief of General
Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, told newspaper Milliyet.

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Sunday she
intended to press ahead with the resolution, despite White House
concerns it would damage relations with Turkey.

"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an
interview on ABC television’s "This Week."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto criticised Pelosi for pursuing the
resolution .

"We continue to strongly to oppose this resolution which may do grave
harm to U.S.-Turkish relations and to U.S. interests in Europe and the
Middle East," Fratto said in Crawford, Texas where President George W.
Bush was spending the weekend at his ranch.

RICE URGES RESTRAINT

The Turkish government is to seek approval from parliament this week
for a major operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants
based in the Iraqi mountains.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday she had
urged the Turkish government to refrain from any major military
operation there. U.S. officials fear such a move could destabilize a
relatively peaceful area of Iraq.

Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional
Government, told Al Jazeera television on Sunday the issue of the PKK
could not be solved militarily.

"Our view is that since this issue cannot be solved through war we
should seek a political solution," Barzani said.

Turkish artillery fired shells into a village in northern Iraq late on
Saturday, witnesses said, the latest bout of shelling of the
mountainous border area where separatist guerrillas are believed to
hide out.

Turkey blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since
it began its armed struggle for a homeland in southeastern Turkey in
1984.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from the United States for
consultations after the U.S. congressional committee vote, which was
condemned in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey.

The House of Representatives is due to vote on the symbolic measure,
sponsored by a California lawmaker whose district has a large
Armenian-American constituency, by mid-November.

Potential retaliatory moves by Turkey could include blocking U.S.
access to the Incirlik air base, cancelling procurement contracts,
denying airspace to U.S. aircraft and halting joint military
exercises, diplomats say.

Turkey rejects the Armenian position, backed by many Western
historians and some foreign parliaments, that up to 1.5 million
Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.

Turkey says many Muslim Turks died alongside Christian Armenians in
inter-ethnic conflict in World War One.

(Additional reporting by Gareth Jones in Ankara, Mark Felsenthal in
Washington, Caren Bohan in Crawford, Texas and Lin Noueihed in Dubai)

Source: le/2007/10/14/AR2007101400439.html

Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Lisa Kalustian, Chief Deputy Director
300 South Spring Street, Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)897-0322
FAX (213)897-0319
[email protected]

To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 515 without my signature.
California is fortunate to be home to one of the largest populations
of Armenians outside the Republic of Armenia, and the
Armenian-American community contributes much to our state and
nation. The creation of an Armenia trade office was prudent in 2002
when the Legislature instituted the office.
Since then, the Legislature has closed all other trade offices
throughout the world and last year passed legislation mandating the
creation of a state international trade strategy. The Business,
Transportation, and Housing Agency is required to complete an
International Trade and Investment strategy to recommend priorities
for state activities by February 1, 2008. Also, the state is
prohibited from establishing any new foreign office until the
Legislature receives a strategy to guide the operation and activities
of the office and provides statutory authority for implementing the
strategy. The State’s involvement in foreign trade offices should be
determined by the process set forth by the Legislature last year. This
bill is premature before that process is completed.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

DIE WELT

13. Oktober 2007, 04:00 Uhr
Von Boris Kalnoky

Der Türkei sind gegenüber den USA die Hände gebunden

1261625/Der_Trkei_sind_gegenber_den_USA_die_Hnde_g ebunden.html

Ankara hat keine Druckmittel, um auf die erwartete "Genozid"-Resolution des
US-Kongresses zu reagieren
Istanbul – Als im vergangenen Jahr das französische Parlament den türkischen
"Genozid" an den Armeniern anerkannte, reagierten der türkische Generalstab
mit einem Abbruch der bilateralen militärischen Beziehungen und türkische
Verbraucher mit einem Wirtschaftsboykott, der aber rasch verpuffte – heute
ist das Handelsvolumen zwischen beiden Ländern größer als zuvor.

Die Militärs aber blieben verschnupft: keine gegenseitigen Besuche mehr,
keine Rüstungsaufträge für französische Firmen. Verhandlungen über den
Erwerb von mehreren Dutzend Eurocopter wurden abgebrochen, ab April
verhandelte Ankara stattdessen mit der italienischen Firma AgustaWestland
über den Kauf von 52 Angriffshubschraubern.

Nun will auch der amerikanische Kongress die Türken des Genozids
bezichtigen, und Ankara droht wortgewaltig mit harten Reaktionen. Die Türkei
kann jedoch nicht so reagieren wie gegenüber Frankreich. Ein völliger
Abbruch der militärischen Beziehungen würde vor allem die türkische Armee
treffen, deren Ausrüstung überwiegend amerikanisch ist. Gareth Jenkins, der
für die renommierte Fachzeitschrift "Jane’s Defense Weekly" über das
türkische Militär schreibt, ist skeptisch: "Sicher kann man symbolische
Gesten erwarten, eine Zeit lang weniger offizielle Besuche zum Beispiel,
aber ein komplettes Einfrieren der militärischen Kontakte wäre sehr
problematisch für die Türkei."

Andere denkbare Maßnahmen wären die Schließung des Luftwaffenstützpunktes
Incirlik für die USA, die Sperrung des Luftraumes für US-Flugzeuge und der
Abbruch der Versorgung amerikanischer Truppen im Irak durch Tausende
türkische Lkws. Wenn die Türkei aber so hart reagiert, dass die USA im Irak
in noch größere Bedrängnis geraten, dann wird das auch für Ankara Folgen
haben. Es kann zu verringertem diplomatischem Engagement der Amerikaner für
die Türkei führen, gegenüber der EU beispielsweise, aber auch zu
Bumerangeffekten bei Rüstungsverträgen. Letztlich sind die Türken angewiesen
auf amerikanische Waffensysteme und deren Instandhaltung.

Das grundsätzliche Problem der Türkei ist, dass immer mehr Parlamente sich
mit dem armenischen "Genozid" befassen. Will Ankara all diese Länder
bestrafen, isoliert es sich politisch. Auf der anderen Seite erblickt Ankara
in all diesen Genozid-Resolutionen die reale Gefahr armenischer
Kompensationsforderungen in astronomischer Höhe sowie eine weitere
Gefährdung der eigenen EU-Kandidatur. Auch die öffentliche Meinung in der
Türkei gilt es zu beachten – und die Medien schäumen.

Die türkische Reaktion wird nach allem Abwägen wohl nicht so brutal
ausfallen, dass die jahrzehntealte Allianz mit den USA aufs Spiel gesetzt
wird. Wer von alledem profitieren kann, sind die Israelis – von ihnen kauft
die Türkei auch viele Waffen, und sie sind in der Lage, etwaige Lücken im
türkischen Arsenal zu füllen.

US envoys seek to calm Turkey row

BBC
2007/10/13

Two senior US officials have flown to Turkey hoping to stem a
deterioration in the two Nato allies’ relationship.

Eric Edelman, an ex-US ambassador to Ankara, and Assistant Secretary
of State Dan Fried are to hold talks with top Turkish foreign ministry
officials.

The US has criticised Turkish threats to stage cross-border raids on
Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq.

Ties have also been strained by a US congressional vote branding the
killing of Armenians in 1915-17 as genocide.

The non-binding vote, approved by a House committee on Wednesday,
prompted Turkey to recall its ambassador from Washington for
consultations.

US President George W Bush had argued against the resolution, saying
its passage would do "great harm" to relations with "a key ally".

Cancelled visit

Mr Edelman and Mr Fried had been accompanying US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice to Moscow.

Their diversion to Ankara was unscheduled, the AFP agency reported.

The dispute over the vote comes amid rising anger in Turkey about
attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist
group.

Last Sunday 13 Turkish soldiers were killed in an ambush in Sirnak
province, close to the Iraqi border.

Turkey – which says thousands of PKK fighters are based in Kurdish-run
northern Iraq – has announced preparations for a cross-border attack.
It says it will seek parliamentary approval for a major operation next
week.

The US administration has warned Turkey against launching an incursion
into Iraq, and urged the two neighbours to discuss the problem.

Analysts say the resolution on the Armenian issue may make Turkey less
receptive to US calls for restraint.

Turkish Minister of State Kursad Tuzmen on Saturday cancelled a visit
to Washington.

Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian is due to travel to
the US on Wednesday.

Correspondents say the timing of his visit could cause further
tensions with Turkey.

Ankara accepts there were mass killings of Armenians during World War
I but denies genocide.

Turkey is a regional hub for the US military, and some suggest access
to Incirlik airbase or other supply lines crucial to US forces in Iraq
and Afghanistan could be affected by the row.

Published: 2007/10/13 13:53:36 GMT

(c) BBC MMVII

Source: 70.stm

A1+

SAMVEL BABAYAN WILL NOT RETURN TO KARABAKH
[08:35 pm] 12 October, 2007

Do you intend to return to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic after the
recent elections?

Neither the former nor the acting NKR authorities ban my activity in
the country. I can say one thing for sure. All issues are settled in
Yerevan, therefore I am here.

And what about Karabakh’s political life?

I wouldn’t like to speak of it. I don’t want to dwell on the country’s
interior problems. I am not concerned over their affairs. People
should present their demands to the authorities they have elected. I
don’t want to intervene in their business.

More people lived in Karabakh in 1996-97. Today it is vital to
preserve the population and to populate the liberated
territories. Don’t you see any menace in this context?

I really see a great menace. I have noted it many times. It is the
core issue of my programme. Special attention should be attached to
the librated territories.

How would you assess RA authorities’ stance towards the Karabakh
issue?

Is anybody aware of their stance? The negotiations are confidential,
and nobody knows anything.

But the Co-Chairs occasionally refer to certain details.

Afterwards the authorities refute their statements. The authorities
of the two countries say different things in view of the talks. I
cannot say anything unless I get acquainted with the document. Unlike
the Armenian authorities, we have presented the Karabakh conflict
resolution in written form. So far we have found no feedback – neither
positive, nor negative. We shall support the candidate endorsing our
programme.

During Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s office at least seven people were aware
of the negotiations while today only 2-3 know. Don’t you think the
ignorance of the public, political forces and parliament might be
fatal?

I don’t possess any figures. The document is still under
consideration. As soon as Karabakh is engaged into the negotiations,
the country will say the last word. The country may even turn it down
the way it did in 1997.

Diana Markosian

Daily Breeze, CA
Oct 13 2007

Armenian museum’s planners fight donor

Organizers of U.S. genocide memorial say backer interfered. He says
he was forced out.

By Stephen Manning
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON – As diplomatic tensions flare over a House committee’s
approval of a resolution labeling the World War I-era killings of
Armenians in Turkey as genocide, another dispute has roiled plans to
build a museum and memorial to the victims.

In a series of lawsuits, the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial
and its backers are wrestling with a major donor over control and
finances of the long-planned project honoring the hundreds of
thousands of Armenians who died between 1915 and 1917. The memorial
would be the first permanent exhibit dedicated to the subject outside
of Armenia.

Museum organizers say the litigation won’t affect the redevelopment
of a former bank just a few blocks from the White House. First
conceived in the 1990s, the museum recently signed contracts for
design and planning of the 35,000-square-foot facility.

But a major funder, retired Armenian-American publisher Gerard
Cafesjian, has filed several lawsuits that seek to reclaim much of
the $15 million in money and property he donated. Cafesjian claims
the museum has forced him out of the project and significantly scaled
it down.

"Mr. Cafesjian is the museum," said his attorney, Tim Thornton.
"Gerry Cafesjian is 90 percent responsible for everything the museum
has."

The museum has countersued, claiming Cafesjian is meddling with real
estate titles for the bank and other property to be used for the
museum. The museum argues Cafesjian has tried to use the nonprofit
venture for personal gain, and is trying to get his contributions
back to cash in on a big increase in the property’s value.

"He has done everything he can to scuttle the building of the
genocide museum," said Arnold Rosenfeld, an attorney for the
nonprofit group behind the project.

The museum is intended to memorialize and study the killings of
Armenians in the Turkish Ottoman Empire during World War I. Armenians
claim it was a systematic genocide that killed 1.5 million people;
Turkey says the death totals are inflated and that the killings were
largely the result of internal civil strife, not organized mass
murder.

Earlier this week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a
resolution labeling the killings as genocide despite opposition from
President Bush and Turkish-American groups. Turkish officials
condemned the vote and Turkey’s ambassador to the United States
returned to Ankara this week for consultations.

The Bush administration, worried about alienating a strategically
important U.S. ally, is trying to patch up diplomatic relations with
Turkey and has warned against passage of the resolution by the full
House.

Plans for the museum came out of the Armenian Assembly of America, a
Washington-based advocacy group that helped push for the
congressional resolution. According to court papers, assembly leaders
in the 1990s approached Cafesjian, who agreed to use his foundation
to help buy the bank for $7.25 million. Plans initially called for
the museum to open by 2002 at a cost of $40million.

Cafesjian, born to Armenian parents in the United States, came from a
family that lost numerous relatives during the killings, according to
Thornton. He was a top executive for Minnesota-based legal publisher
West Publishing, retiring after it was sold to Thompson Corp. in
1996.

Cafesjian, born to Armenian parents in the United States, came from a
family that lost numerous relatives during the killings, according to
Thornton. He was a top executive for Minnesota-based legal publisher
West Publishing, retiring after it was sold to Thompson Corp. in
1996.