Author: Karakhanian Suren

Die Welt
Do 26. Mai 2005
“Nie hatte ein Volk reinere Hände als das türkische”
Armenienkonferenz nach Drohungen abgesagt
von Boris Kalnoky
Istanbul – Eigentlich sollte gestern in Istanbul eine
Historiker-Konferenz zur armenischen Tragödie in der Türkei 1915-16
stattfinden. Sie wäre bemerkenswert gewesen. Drei angesehene
staatliche Universitäten (Bogazici, Bilgi und Sabanci) waren die
Organisatoren, und trotz dieser staatlichen Dimension ging es nicht
darum, einmal mehr laut zu rufen, daß es nie einen Genozid gegeben
habe.
Vielmehr war die Konferenz dem Thema “wissenschaftliche Verantwortung
und Demokratie” gewidmet und versuchte damit die Gratwanderung
zwischen den beiden extremen Positionen der türkischen Regierung und
der armenischen Diaspora, um irgendwo in der Mitte der Wahrheit
näherzukommen. Die türkische Position lautet, 300 000 Armenier kamen
bei einer Verkettung unglücklicher Umstände ums Leben, beabsichtigt
war das nicht, und Behauptungen eines Genozids sind
verantwortungslose Attacken gegen den türkischen Staat. Die Armenier
behaupten, 1,5 Millionen ihrer Landsleute wurden absichtlich
massakriert, um das armenische Volk in der Türkei auszulöschen.
Gerne hätte man einmal etwas Vernünftiges zu dem Thema gehört, aber
die Konferenz findet nicht statt. Einer der Organisatoren, Halil
Berktay, nannte dieser Zeitung als Grund eine “schreckliche Rede” von
Justizminister Cicek. Der hatte laut Medienberichten im Vorfeld der
Konferenz vor dem Parlament gesagt, die Teilnehmer seien allesamt
armenisch gesinnt und würden “der Türkei das Messer in den Rücken
stoßen”. Was hat es zu bedeuten, fragte der Minister, wenn das Land,
mit der Regierung und der Opposition, Staat und Volk gemeinsam
versuchen, die Behauptung vom angeblichen Armeniergenozid zu
widerlegen, und dann die Universität Bogayici dann diesen Bemühungen
in den Rücken fällt? “Wie können wir so ein bestimmtes Parlament
überzeugen? Sie werden sagen, geht und überzeugt die Unviversität
Bogazici”, sagte Cicek. Und fügte hinzu, nie habe ein Volk reinere
Hände und ein reineres Gewissen gehabt als das türkische.
Ob es stimmt, daß ein Abgeordneter der Regierungspartei AKP gar das
Volk aufrief, “die Hand zu erheben” gegen solch verräterische
Umtriebe, tut kaum noch etwas zur Sache. Jedenfalls sahen sich die
Organisatoren einer solchen Welle einschüchternder Deklarationen
ausgesetzt, daß das Rektorat der Universität Bogazici folgende
Erklärung veröffentlichte: “Wir sind besorgt darüber, daß die
pauschalen Urteile über eine Konferenz, die noch nicht stattgefunden
hat, der wissenschaftlichen Freiheit einer staatlichen Universität
schaden werden.”

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 25 2005
PROGRESS IN RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN TALKS ON BASES PULLOUT
19:10
MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian and Georgian delegations
negotiating the withdrawal of Russian military bases from Georgia
achieved certain progress, the press and information department of
the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The May 23-24 talks in Tbilisi
focused on the terms, order of functioning and withdrawal of the
Russian military bases from Georgia’s territory and the current
support for Russian servicemen.
Other Russian-Georgian issues were on the agenda.
“The sides managed to draft mutually acceptable versions of a
possible bilateral statement by the Russian and Georgian presidents.
The remaining issues will be settled through further political
dialogue,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian and Georgian delegations were headed by Russian Foreign
Ministry Special Envoy for Relations with the CIS Countries and
Ambassador at Large Igor Savolsky and Georgian Deputy Foreign
Minister Merab Antadze.
There are two Russian military bases in Georgia, in Akhalkalaki (near
the Armenian border) and Batumi (Adzharia). A decision on the
withdrawal of these bases was made at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in
1999. The withdrawal terms became a stumbling block in bilateral
relations. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the troops could be
withdrawn no sooner than in 3-4 years. The Georgian side insisted on
the pullout by January 1, 2008.

A1plus
| 21:17:41 | 24-05-2005 | Politics |
PUBLIC TELEVISION NOT TO WORK IN ACADEMIC STYLE
Today chairman of the council of the Armenian Public Television Alexan
Harutyunyan presented the report on the council activities on year 2004. He
noted that the report was submitted to the press in its full version and was
delivered to the deputies 1.5 month ago. The more detailed report was
presented by member of the commission of the issues of culture, science and
education, representative of the Armenian National Movement Ruben Hovsepyan.
The deputies inquired why sarcastic comments addressed to Geghamyan and
Demirchyan are constantly heard on the public television.
Ruben Hovsepyan called to increase the number of military-patriotic programs
while Mekhak Mkhitaryan made a demand to increase the number of programs
dedicated to the villages as the rating of other companies (evidently ALM)
is keeping high due to this reason.
Alexan Harutyunyan stated that the public television will not work in
academic style and he will do his best to make the company correspond to
international standards. «It is hard taking into account the established
traditions», he noted adding that he will take into consideration the
remarks and undertake measures to correct the shortcomings.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
May 24, 2005 Tuesday 9:47 AM Eastern Time
Ukraine doesn’t rule out sending of peacekeepers to Karabakh
Vitali Matarykin
ZHITOMIR, May 24 – Secretary of Ukrainian National Defence and
Security Council Pyotr Poroshenko said in Zhitomir on Tuesday he did
not rule out a possibility of sending Ukrainian peacekeepers to the
zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, provided there are no
objectives from all the parties to the conflict.
According to Poroshenko, the participation of Ukraine’s peacekeepers
in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed
during a recent visit of the Ukrainian foreign minister to
Azerbaijan.
The conflict began in 1988 when the Regional Council of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Region, as a constituent region of the Azerbaijan
Soviet Socialist Republic, made a decision to ask the Supreme
Councils of Azerbaijan and Armenian Soviet Socialist Republics to
join Armenia.
Azerbaijan condemned this decision and an armed conflict broke out.
Russia brokered a ceasefire in the area in May 1994.

ARMENIAN NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION IN GEORGIA AGAIN
DISCUSSES ISSUE OF WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES FROM GEORGIA
YEREVAN, MAY 24. ARMINFO. During Tuesday sitting the board of the
Armenian nongovernmental organization of Samtskhe-Javakheti again
discussed the theme of the withdrawal of the Russian military bases
from Georgia.
As A-INFO informs, the board of the organization calls on the
population of the Javakheti region to treat with understanding
already decided fact of withdrawal of Russian troops from
Akhalkalaki, as to solve this problem depends on the position of the
highest leadership of Russia and Georgia. The resource says that the
military base in Akhalkalaki has solved certain economic problems of
the region, at the same time safeguarding the security of its
residents. “If the government of Georgia is not able to safeguard the
security of the population of the Javakheti region, then its
population will rest hopes upon the international community and
resort to the help of the international legislation”, the resource
mentions.

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
May 24 2005
MOSCOW SIGNALS IT MAY REDEPLOY SOME FORCES FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA
Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Russian General Baluyevsky said that heavy weaponry in Georgia would
be redeployed in Armenia. Meeting with the staff of Komsomolskaya
pravda on May 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, with
reference to the possible closure of Russian bases in Georgia: “We
must create the necessary conditions for the evacuation of our troop
contingent, its accommodation on Russian territory or in some other
place.” He apparently meant the possible relocation of some of those
troops to Armenia. One of Russia’s conditions for closing its bases
in Georgia, Putin went on to say, is transit rights for Russian
forces via Georgia to Armenia (Interfax, May 23).
Four days earlier, the Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s armed
forces, General Yuri Baluyevsky, told the press in Moscow that some
of the heavy weaponry from Russian bases in Georgia would be
redeployed with Russian forces in Armenia, if Georgia insists that
Russia close those bases by 2009 (Georgia actually insists on 2008).
Baluyevsky indicated that Moscow could forgo the redeployment of
combat hardware to Armenia, if Georgia would agree to a 10-year term
for Russian troop withdrawal. In that case, he suggested, there would
be sufficient time and funding for accommodating the troops and
storing the weaponry under proper conditions in Russia (Interfax,
RIA-Novosti, May 19).
In a little-noted move on May 21, Armenia’s Defense Minister Serge
Sarkisian met with Russia’s Minister for Territorial Development
Vladimir Yakovlev in Yerevan for a session of the CIS
Inter-Ministerial Commission for Cooperation in Building Activities.
Yakovlev, whose ministry is in charge of construction projects,
discussed with Sarkisian the resumption of unfinished construction
work at the Russian military base in Gyumry, Armenia (PanArmenian
News, May 21). This move seems to confirm Moscow’s intention to
prepare for relocating part of its force from Georgia to Armenia, if
a troop-withdrawal agreement with Georgia is signed.
Moscow’s apparent intention is disturbing to Azerbaijan. In an
initial public reaction, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Araz
Azimov recalled previous transfers of Russian arms to Armenia, noting
that yet another increase in those arsenals could fuel regional
instability. “We are seriously concerned about this, and would not
want Russia to do this again,” Azimov stated during a NATO seminar in
Baku. A communique from Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, citing
Baluyevsky’s remarks, “condemn[ed] such steps,” and noted that Russia
would be arming a country that is at war with Azerbaijan (ANS, Turan,
May 20).
On May 23, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Elmar
Mamedyarov, summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires ad interim to hand
him a verbal note that the ministry made public. Expressing serious
concern over possible redeployment of Russian arsenals from bases in
Georgia to Armenia, the document notes, “Such a turn of events would
run counter to the interests of peace and security in the region and,
moreover, increase tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan during a
complicated phase of conflict-settlement negotiations.” Azerbaijan
“hopes that Russia would desist from that intention” (Turan, May 23).
Armenia’s authorities are not known to have reacted one way or
another to Moscow’s declared intention. Nor have Putin, Baluyevsky,
or others deemed it necessary to say that they had asked for and
received Armenia’s consent to the possible redeployment. The
assumption all around appears to be, first, that Russia can use
Armenia’s territory for military purposes at will; and, second, that
Armenia would welcome another infusion of Russian combat hardware on
its territory.
Quoting Russian Duma Chairman Boris Gryzlov’s notorious
characterization of Armenia as “Russia’s outpost,” a leading Yerevan
liberal newspaper observes, “Russia is doing to Armenia, in this case
on Armenian territory, what it likes. Nobody from the Armenian elite
says anything. … Putting Armenian territory at Russia’s disposal is
the price that Armenian authorities have to pay for the Kremlin’s
support” (Aravot, May 20).
According to the latest issue of The Military Balance, Russia
currently maintains 3,500 troops, 74 main battle tanks, 238 armored
combat vehicles and personnel carriers, 84 artillery systems, and 18
Mig-29 aircraft in Armenia (International Institute for Strategic
Studies, 2005.) Armenia has yielded part of its own entitlement quota
of CFE Treaty-limited heavy weaponry to Russia for deployment on
Armenian territory. However, verification of compliance with treaty
ceilings is impossible because a large part of that weaponry is
deployed inside territory seized from Azerbaijan, uncounted and out
of bounds to inspection.

YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY INVESTS OVER $1.5 MLN IN NEW LINE OF BOTTLING
AND CHANGE OF PACKING
YEREVAN, MAY 23. ARMINFO. Yerevan Brandy Company (YBC) has invested
over $1.5 mln in new line of bottling and change of packing, President
and Director General of YBC Herve Caroff said at a press conference
Saturday evening.
He said that the production capacity of the new line is 300,000 liters
monthly and exceed the capacity of the current production line 25%.
The packing of the whole range of ArArAt brandies have been
fundamentally changed , including the form and the color of the
bottles and labels, though succession can be observed in the new
line. At present brandy bottles are made in France; they are
translucent in order that the natural color of the product could bee
seen. The president added that the whole range of brandies is divided
into three groups: 3-5 year-old ordinary brandy, premium – 6-10
year-old, and super premium – 15.20 years. The change of the image
pursues a goal of differentiating the production of ArArAt from that
of competitors and strengthening the leading position in the market,
Herve Caroff said.
In his words, the greatest part of the sales volume, some 70%, is the
share of the segment of premium and super premium brandy, which their
sale volumes having increased 14% and 45% respectively. Last year the
total sales volume of YBC was some 4 mln liters, and over 90% of the
production was exported. The company’s president thinks the change of
packing in 2005 will increase the sales volumes of YBC 8-9%. The
activation of the new line coincided with the 30th anniversary of the
YBC owner, the French company Pernod Ricard, Herve Carrof said.
Recently YBC has opened is representation in Kazakhstan. It is the
first representation in Middle Asia, and now the company has its
representatives in all the CIS signatory-states.
To note, YBC was purchased in the May of 1999 by French Pernod Ricard
group for $30 mln. The trademark of YBC is registered in 48 countries,
with its production being sold in 25 countries.

Armenian acts as spokesman for tragedy
Southfield man, 97, survived mass killings of 1915-16, shares story with
Metro area students
The Detroit News
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
By Ellen Piligian / Special to The Detroit News
SOUTHFIELD — Souren Aprahamian, a small man wearing thick spectacles, a
neat gray suit and maroon tie, is enjoying a meal of ham and potatoes at
his weekly senior citizens lunch, held every Tuesday at the recreation
center of St. John’s Armenian Church on Northwestern Highway.
It’s something Aprahamian of Southfield has been doing since his wife of
71 years died in 2002.
It is here that the 97-year-old grandfather of three and
great-grandfather of two, who lives on his own and still drives is among
friends, mostly Armenians, in the crowd of about 100 people.
The oldest parishioner at the church, he is a treasured member of the
Armenian community. But his kind smile and quiet manner belie a tragic past.
Aprahamian is a survivor of what is known as the first genocide of the
20th century, the Armenian genocide of 1915 and 1916.
He is sitting with Simon Tashjian, 92, of Bloomfield Township, another
survivor of the genocide.
“He’s a very nice man. He’s quite intelligent,” said Tashjian, who has
known him since 1921, when his family immigrated to the U.S. “They came
to this country without much and they made a life for themselves.”
Aprahamian has many devout friends. “He amazes me. He’s so alert. He
remembers everything,” said Rosalie Papazian, 77, who often drives
Aprahamian to the lunches.
“He’s proof positive of the Armenian genocide. But he didn’t let it
hinder him. He remembers the past but he’s active in the future.”
The Armenian genocide occurred during World War I in eastern Turkey. The
Armenians say the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire killed 1.5
million Armenians through massacres and mass deportations and forced
death marches into the desert where they succumbed to starvation and
disease.
Armenians, who are Christians, say the nationalistic Muslim Turks wanted
to purge them from the country. Turkey, meanwhile, has never
acknowledged the genocide.
Aprahamian, who was right in the middle of the persecution, has no doubt
what he witnessed was a genocide. Women, children and the elderly were
left behind to fend for themselves, he said.
Aprahamian, the youngest of four children, recalls heroic battles in
Van, near Lezk in 1915. Despite being heavily outnumbered and with few
weapons, the Armenians, including his father, held off their Turkish
attackers for a month.
Eventually, the Armenians were forced to leave their homes for Soviet
Armenia. Though his family later returned to their village, they would
leave three more times until they left for good in 1918. Over the years,
they endured marches of hundreds of miles, at times under enemy attack,
to live in camps, finally ending up in Iraq under the protection of the
British military before coming to the U.S.
Aprahamian recalls a march in 1918 with his mother and sister-in-law. He
was so ill he was strapped to their donkey’s back. When they came upon
an uncle, Aprahamian said his mother was scolded for carrying this “dead
body” when others were abandoning healthy children.
His mother replied that her sick son was her only hope: “What else is
there for me to live for?”
On July 4, 1921, Aprahamian, then 14, arrived in Detroit with his
mother, an uncle, an aunt and a nephew. Aprahamian said that night the
fireworks alarmed his mother, who at first thought the Turks had
followed them to the United States.
“Of our family of 50, only 15 survived,” said Aprahamian, whose father
and one sister died during the deportations. Today, he is the sole
survivor of those 15 and indeed one of the few living witnesses to the
genocide.
Dyana Kezelian, assistant principal of the elementary and middle schools
of the AGBU Alex and Marie Manoogian School, which is attached to the
recreation center in Southfield, understands the value of having
Aprahamian speak with her students. It’s something he has done often
over the years.
“He’s a person they can see and relate to,” she said. “We’re losing that
generation (of survivors).”
After the senior citizens lunch, she escorts Aprahamian, who walks
slowly but needs no assistance, to a seventh-grade classroom, where he
recounts stories he’s told many times before.
“It’s interesting that you can talk about all these things in school and
then see someone who saw it all in front of him,” said Vartan Kurjian,
12, who said his grandfather survived the genocide.
Another student, Haigan Tcholakian, 12, of Farmington Hills, said, “I
give him credit for going through something like that and being able to
talk about it. I find it very interesting to hear about (the genocide)
from someone who went through it.
“He keeps a straight face about it but I think on the inside he’s
breaking down.”
According to Aprahamian’s daughter, Elizabeth, 66, of Farmington Hills,
a retired administrator with Detroit Public Schools who spends most days
now with her father, growing up she and her two older brothers did not
hear much about the genocide from their father or mother, Arminuhe, who
was also a survivor from Lezk.
“We had a sense of it,” she said, adding that it wasn’t until 1965, when
the 50th year was commemorated, that they began to talk about it.
Still, said Elizabeth, she learned many details about her father’s early
life from his autobiography, “From Van to Detroit: Surviving the
Armenian Genocide,” self-published in 1993.
“I think some of the stuff is too painful,” she said, tearing up. “It’s
in the book but it’s never been verbalized.”
Despite a horrific past, Aprahamian created a good life in Detroit and
found something to be thankful for.
“From every evil some good would come,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the
genocide, I wouldn’t be (in the U.S.). I wouldn’t have this education. I
was the first person from that village to have a college degree.”
In 1931, Aprahamian finished school with two bachelor’s degrees in
chemical and mechanical engineering from what is now Wayne State
University. That same year, he married Arminuhe, then 18, whom his
mother had introduced him to two years earlier.
While she raised their children, he ran a couple of grocery stores with
his brother between jobs as an engineer with the U.S. Department of
Defense, first during World War II and again from 1958 until his
retirement in 1974.
“He was a hard worker. We didn’t see him until Sunday,” said Elizabeth,
who said her father taught her to “be the best you can be because it
reflects on your heritage.”
Perhaps Aprahamian’s most important role now is as a spokesman for the
genocide. The Rev. Garabed Kochakian, pastor at St. John’s Armenian
Church, calls him courageous and an important thread of history for the
community.
“He fears not to speak the historical truth of the Armenian people and
the genocide,” he said. “He’s kind of a living example and reference to
that truth.”
Ellen Piligian is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.
PHOTO CAPTION (Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News):
Students Samantha Hart, Arev Tossounian and Alex Kurdian listen to
Souren Aprahamian. He is a survivor of what is known as the first
genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian genocide of 1915 and 1916.
PHOTO CAPTION (Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News):
Aprahamian speaks with Simon Tashjian, 92, another Armenian genocide
survivor, during lunch at the Armenian American Veteran’s building.
Profile of Souren Aprahamian
Age: 97
Born: June 15, 1907
Hometown: Lezk, village in Turkey
U.S. home: Southfield, since 1964
Education: Bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and chemical engineering
from Wayne State University
Church: Founding member of St. John’s Armenian Church in 1931
Occupations: Owned Henry’s Market in Detroit and Telegraph Shopping
Center in Taylor; engineer with the U.S. Department of Defense
Source: Detroit News research

Philippe de Villiers : “Le non sauvera l’Europe”
Agence France Presse
21 mai 2005 samedi 3:49 PM GMT
PARIS 21 mai 2005 — Le president du Mouvement pour la France (MPF)
Philippe de Villiers a estime samedi que “le non sauvera l’Europe
parce que c’est le non qui permettra de faire l’Europe europeenne,
independante et protectrice”, lors d’un grand meeting au Palais des
Sports de Paris devant quelque 5.000 personnes.
“Le non rendra du tonus a la France qui en a tant besoin” et permettra
“de la restituer a elle-meme, a sa mission singulière, a sa vocation
a la profondeur”, a ajoute M. de Villliers devant une salle comble,
dopee par les sondages donnant le non gagnant.
“C’est a la France qu’il revient de sonner le reveil” de l’Europe.
“L’enjeu c’est la survie de la France en tant que nation et l’identite
de l’Europe en tant que civilisation, que vive la France dans l’Europe
des peuples libres”, a-t-il proclame en soulignant que le Francais est
“la langue du non alignement sur la mondialisation marchande”.
“Notre non ce n’est pas le non des elites, c’est le non du peuple
francais, de ceux qui resistent, c’est aussi le non de l’honneur des
Armeniens de France”, a-t-il declare en s’adressant a une delegation
armenienne presente au meeting qui criait “justice pour le peuple
Armenien”. “Nous n’accepterons jamais que la Turquie entre dans
l’Europe a cause de vous”, leur a declare M. de Villiers.
–Boundary_(ID_E0xLQZqpsHPc/SOx2yWo5Q)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KONSTANTIN ZATULIN: SELF-DETERMINATION OF NAGORNY KARABAKH IS
EXISTENT FACT
YEREVAN, MAY 20. ARMINFO. The self-determination of Nagorny Karabakh
is the existent fact, stated by phone a deputy of Russia’s State Duma
Konstantin Zatulin (being in Yerevan) in an interview to “Echo”. In his
words, the independence of NKR is also the fact, though the relative
fact as it has not been recognized on the international level yet. As
regards self-determination, it cannot been recognized or unrecognized,
it is an inhere right of either NKR or any other people, Zatulin added.
At the same time he stressed that there are no real chances nowadays
that Karabakh may restore its property of an integral part of
Azerbaijan. “Certainly, one can suppose that military operations may
recommence and Azerbaijan may win, however, I myself would not like
such an way out of the problem’s solution”, deputy noted and added
that “the process of step-by-step recognition or formation of the
existing status-quo is proceeding at present”.
He also noted that he does not believe in the readiness of Armenian
party to transfer the territories in exchange for any autonomy of
Nagorny Karabakh. Speaking about Russia’s position in issue of NKR
conflict settlement Zatulin noted that it lies in that the parties
should agree themselves. Russia acknowledges any agreement of parties
on Karabakh issue, he added. -r-