Author: Khondkarian Raffi

YEREVAN – SALE ZONE
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| 15:17:47 | 29-08-2005 | Social |
New people are added to the group of those shelterless who have been
ousted of their houses. Together with the residents of the North
Avenue, Buzand and Yeznik Koghbaci streets the residents of Kanaker
and Malatia-Sebastia are already participating in marches.
In the Malatia-Sebastia community there are good pieces of land too. In
particular, the lands of the ex collective economy N22, which were
allotted to the workers of the economy, families of dead soldiers
and socially insecure families. These lands are being sold too.
The above mentioned lands form about 50 hectares. 30 of them have been
allotted to the Defense Ministry, which it its turn has resold them,
but the new owner of the lands is unknown.
Although there are families who have rent contracts of the lands,
the contracts are found invalid. As for the compensation for the
lands, it is miserable. 1 square meter usually costs 40 cents, and
the families of the dead soldiers are paid 2 dollars.
It is noteworthy that 20 hectares of the whole territory is not
considered a green zone, therefore no necessary compensation is
given. As for the Yerevan municipality, it has started to sell the
territory in an auction.

TURKS TRY TO INTIMIDATE THIS WRITER BY THREATENING HIM WITH LAWSUIT
By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier
AZG Armenian Daily #150
25/08/2005
Armenian Genocide
While Turkish leaders are desperately trying to convince the world
that their country is civilized enough to join the European Union,
they are actually proving the exact opposite with every passing day.
Despite the fact that the Turkish leaders are supposed be on their best
behavior in order to impress the Europeans, they have yet to grant
equal rights to Turkey~Rs many religious and ethnic minorities. They
also refuse to return to Greek and Armenian charitable foundations
in Turkey their properties confiscated by the Turkish government
decades earlier.
In an attempt to fool the international community, on the one hand
Turkish officials have advocated the setting up of a joint commission
with Armenians ostensibly to study the facts of the Armenian Genocide,
while on the other hand, they have forced the cancellation of a
symposium organized by three leading universities in Turkey, thereby
preventing the discussion of this issue even among Turkish scholars.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has boldly announced that
his government is ready to admit the Armenian Genocide if sufficient
proof is presented, while Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is bragging
that Turkey has inundated journalists, scholars, universities,
libraries and parliamentarians worldwide with revisionist books on
the Armenian Genocide.
As the human rights of millions of Turkish citizens are violated on
a regular basis, it comes as no surprise that the Turkish government
is prosecuting Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist in Turkey, for
allegedly insulting Turks in an article he wrote in his newspaper,
AGOS. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to a 1-6 year jail term.
Turkish officials and their agents are so used to silencing,
intimidating and jailing anyone who disagrees with them that they
dare to bully also their opponents overseas who are beyond their
reach. No dissent is tolerated!
This writer is quite familiar with the Turkish practice of suppressing
free speech. As the author of a weekly column that is very critical of
Turkish denialist and oppressive policies, I receive a lot of abusive
e-mails from Turks from around the world. Most of these Turks forget
that the despotic methods they practice at home to bully people or
force them into silence do not work in Western countries where freedom
of expression is basic right.
Last week, when a young Armenian lady, Maral Der Ohanesian, sent
a couple of e-mails to Dr. Sedat Laciner, editor of the Journal
of Turkish Weekly in Ankara, an on-line Turkish propaganda site,
complaining about the distortions in one of its articles, he
shamelessly accused her of “fabricating” arguments.
The JTW had cleverly edited an Swiss info wire story by including
revisionist statements on the Armenian Genocide and deleting criticism
of the Turkish position, thereby giving the false impression that
Peter Briner, the President of the Senate foreign affairs committee
of Switzerland, had made statements which he had not.
When Maral forwarded to me her exchange of e-mails, I sent a strongly
worded private e-mail to JTW, castigating the staff for accusing
Maral of fabrication when they themselves had distorted the original
news item beyond recognition. Within hours of my letter, the JTW
published on its front page a “press release” with the following
sensational title: “JTW Condemns The California Courier Publisher
Harut Sassounian.” Not happy with my criticism, the JTW resorted to
calling me an extremist Armenian and threatened that “the JTW will
start a legal action in California” against me. The JTW also posted
my e-mail on its web site.
I received dozens of e-mails and phone calls from around the world,
from both Armenians and non-Armenians alike, among them several
attorneys and judges, who assured me that there was nothing illegal
in what I had written to the JTW. Criticizing a publication is not
against the law in civilized countries. That, apparently, is not the
case in Turkey.
A reader from Canada wrote: “The prospect of a lawsuit against you
by the JTW in California must be extremely encouraging. They silenced
their own in Turkey. They try to silence foreign parliaments and now
they~Rre trying to silence an American journalist. It~Rs wonderful
the way they are keeping the issue alive. A lawsuit would provide
a superb opportunity for a US court to pronounce itself definitely
on the Armenian Genocide.” Another reader from Armenia wrote:
“Congratulations on being vilified by the Turkish press! It~Rs an
achievement, and I consider it a badge of courage. Keep on pissing
them off.” A fellow publisher wrote in his newspaper: “Turks have
unwittingly made [this writer] an even bigger hero.”
The real issue is not these empty Turkish threats. As we do not
live in Turkey, no one in this country is scared or intimidated by
such tactics.
What~Rs more important is that these Turkish propagandists had
apparently started celebrating a little prematurely. The JTW, quoting
Peter Briner, had gleefully reported that the Armenian Genocide
issue would “never” be taken up by the Swiss Senate. Dogu Perincek,
the leader of the Turkish Labor Party, who had been interrogated
by Swiss prosecutors last month for denying the Armenian Genocide,
also claimed credit for this false report. He gave a press conference
to announce that his outspoken statements on this issue as well his
testimony in Switzerland had influenced the Swiss Senate to withdraw
a pending resolution on the Armenian Genocide. Perincek called his
antics “a great success.”
Here is a more accurate report of what really transpired: To begin
with, Perincek~Rs bombastic statements not only got him in legal
trouble in Switzerland, but helped generate great publicity for
the issue of the Armenian Genocide in Switzerland and throughout
Europe on the eve of a decision by the Europeans to consider starting
negotiations for Turkey~Rs membership in the EU. Turkey then decided to
deliver a note of protest to Switzerland and cancelled the scheduled
visit of the Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss to Turkey. These
foolhardy Turkish actions made the genocide issue even more newsworthy
throughout the world.
Erwin Jutzet, the President of the Foreign Affairs Commission of Swiss
Parliament reacted sharply to the Turkish bullying tactics by stating:
“Turkey has to stop reacting so sensitively to such events. It
would be better to recognize once and for all the genocide of the
Armenians.” Jutzet said it was up to Turkey to make a positive move
rather than “always taking offense and resorting to blackmail. If
Switzerland were to turn its back on Turkey, it would be a bad sign
for EU entry.”
More bad news surfaced for the cocky Turkish propagandists, when
Sen. Peter Briner denied having said that the Armenian Genocide would
“never” be debated in the Swiss Senate. He countered that these false
reports were “based on either a misquote or a misunderstanding.” He
added: “I can never be sure what will be on the Senate~Rs agenda, of
course, but right now the postponement of Economics Minister Joseph
Deiss~R invitation to Turkey will certainly be discussed” during the
Foreign Affairs Committee~Rs next meeting on August 23. At that time,
any member of the Committee could raise the issue of the Armenian
Genocide. Should that happen, the self-declared premature Turkish
victory could end up being a defeat, thanks to the boastful behavior
of Mr. Perincek and his band of incompetent propagandists.
Even worse for Turkey, the Swiss government declared that its law
against denial of genocide also applies to the Armenian Genocide. The
Swiss Foreign Ministry (DFA) issued a formal statement following a
meeting between Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel, the head of the
Political Affairs Division of the Foreign Ministry, and the Ambassador
of Turkey in Switzerland, in connection with the proceedings against
Perincek. The Foreign Ministry stated:
“During the meeting, the DFA underlined the applicability of Swiss law
in this matter and recalled that article 261 bis of the Swiss Penal
Code stipulates that any person who denies, minimizes or justifies a
genocide or other crimes against humanity is liable to prosecution. It
is the task of the Swiss judicial instances to decide on the modalities
of the application of the legal provisions of our country.”
Despite the boastful and threatening statements emanating from various
Turkish propagandists, the fact remains that ever fewer countries
are going along with Ankara~Rs denials of the Armenian Genocide. The
Turkish officials have less than six weeks to come to their senses and
realize that they have to make a bold move on the Armenian Genocide
issue if they have any hope of salvaging their sinking prospects for
the start of EU negotiations on October 3.

La Croix, France
22 août 2005
Un été dans La Croix.
Les Arméniens de Turquie (1/7).
Dossier. Sur les routes d’Anatolie, le retour aux racines. Des
Arméniens de la troisième génération reviennent peu à peu en Turquie
tenter de retrouver des traces de leurs ancêtres déportés ou
massacrés sous l’Empire ottoman en 1915-1916. Douloureux, le voyage
est aussi une sorte de revanche sur le passé. DIYARBAKIR, reportage
de notre envoyé spécial.
par PLOQUIN Jean-Christophe
Les trois Russes sont là, plantés derrière la grille. À dix mètres,
protégée des badauds, la porte des Montagnes, l’une des plus belles
de la muraille de Diyarbakir, impose sa masse sombre. Deux puissantes
tours crénelées encadrent un mur percé d’un porche. Des bas-reliefs
arabes et des inscriptions grecques et latines évoquent un passé plus
que millénaire. Les trois hommes, trois solides gaillards dépassant
chacun le quintal, ne regardent pourtant que distraitement les
vestiges. Ils ne sont pas venus voir des pierres, mais entendre
résonner un nom: bab el Ermeni, “la porte des Arméniens”, comme on
l’appelait au Moyen ge.
Tous trois sont d’origine arménienne et ils effectuent pour la
première fois un retour sur la terre de leurs ancêtres. Une
demi-heure auparavant, sur la terrasse de leur hôtel balayée par une
brise fraîche, des larmes coulaient sur leurs joues et aucun son ne
sortait de leurs gorges nouées. Ils essayaient d’expliquer ce qu’ils
avaient vu la veille, lorsqu’ils étaient retournés dans le village
d’un de leurs grands-parents, près de Mus, plus de 300 kilomètres au
nord-est de Diyarbakir. La maison familiale, ils ne l’ont pas
retrouvée. En cette terre inconnue, ils n’ont rencontré pour se
raccrocher au passé que trois Arméniens de Turquie, eux-mêmes
descendus il y a quinze ans des montagnes voisines du Sassoun pour
échapper à une vie de misère aggravée par les affrontements entre la
guérilla kurde et l’armée. Ces trois-là ne parlaient que le turc.
Venus revisiter le passé ancestral, les trois voyageurs de Moscou
n’ont donc trouvé que du vide. Ils ont dû se satisfaire des paysages
et tenter d’y projeter le récit de leurs parents, eux-mêmes
récipiendaires de la mémoire meurtrie de la génération précédente.
“Le village, mon père m’en avait parlé dès mon enfance, parvient à
expliquer l’un d’eux. Mais lui-même ne l’avait jamais vu.” Il
soupire. “On se sent mieux, maintenant que nous y sommes allés.
Quelque chose a changé dans notre me.”
De manière éparse, en petits groupes ou dans l’anonymat de voyages
individuels, des Arméniens de la diaspora circulent ainsi depuis un
an aux confins orientaux de la Turquie. Profitant du cessez-le-feu de
la guérilla kurde du PKK, décrété en 1999, et de la candidature de la
Turquie à l’Union européenne qui oblige les autorités d’Ankara à
étendre peu à peu l’état de droit dans les provinces kurdes de l’Est,
ils tentent un retour sur des racines sectionnées par les massacres
de 1915, mais qui continuent pourtant de les irriguer de leur sève.
Certains profitent de voyages culturels organisés par des agences
spécialisées. Quelques-uns ne partent qu’avec un guide en poche.
D’autres s’organisent au sein d’associations arméniennes. Les
autorités turques laissent faire, essayant d’évaluer les revenus
engendrés par ce tourisme si particulier.
Francis Kézirian est ainsi venu à Van, que les Arméniens considèrent
comme le coeur historique de leur nation et de leur peuple. L’Iran
est à 100 kilomètres. La vieille ville arménienne a été rasée. Au
pied de la citadelle, elle n’est plus signalée que par des monticules
qui cachent autant de vestiges d’édifices publics ou de robustes
maisons de maîtres. Deux mosquées, en revanche, sont restées debout.
“Quand les troupes russes se sont repliées de Van, raconte le
visiteur venu de France, mon arrière-grand-père a fermé la maison et
est parti avec elles. Il n’y est plus jamais retourné.” Miracle de la
technologie, sur l’écran de son téléphone portable apparaît une photo
en noir et blanc de son aïeul posant avec deux de ses frères, à la
façon des notables. Francis Kézirian est arrivé à Diyarbakir
bouleversé. “Sur la route je pouvais voir marcher les convois de
déportés de 1915, lche-t-il. Ce sont des morts sans sépulture et
leur martyre n’est pas reconnu. Tant qu’il n’y aura pas
reconnaissance du génocide, ils marcheront encore.”
Ce quadragénaire déterminé s’est décidé au dernier moment pour ce
premier voyage en Turquie. Il porte en lui la mémoire des massacres
tels qu’ils ont été reconstitués par les témoins de l’époque. Dans
les villages et les villes, on raflait d’abord les hommes. Le
lendemain, ils étaient conduits à quelques heures de marche de là
pour être assassinés. Le surlendemain, les femmes, les enfants et les
vieillards étaient rassemblés en convoi. Une longue déportation
commençait, rythmée par des tueries aux abords des villages kurdes.
Parfois, des fillettes étaient sauvées. Converties à l’islam, elles
étaient destinées à être mariées aux fils de leurs protecteurs. Rares
furent les chefs de clans qui protégèrent les Arméniens.
“Venir ici, c’est une sorte d’exorcisme, un hymne à la vie, affirme
Francis Kézirian. Il s’agit de dire: voilà, on est là, on est vivant,
on est revenu. On veut le dire à ceux qui ont été exterminés, à ceux
qui ont survécu dans des conditions atroces.”
Le retour sur les terres ancestrales a ainsi, pour certains, un goût
de revanche. Pour beaucoup, c’est un pèlerinage entrecoupé de
soupirs. Tous ces noms familiers entretenus en diaspora et qui
apparaissent sur les panneaux indicateurs semblent confirmer comme
par magie un puissant sentiment d’appartenance à cette terre. Ils
valident l’attachement à une histoire bimillénaire que la Turquie
moderne tente d’éradiquer, mais qui survit à Erevan, Istamboul,
Paris, Moscou ou Los Angeles. Les Arméniens de passage se sentent en
même temps chez eux et chez des étrangers qui ne connaissent rien à
leur passé. “Des gens sont là et ils ne connaissent pas l’histoire de
cette terre, la richesse culturelle et spirituelle des monastères et
des églises qu’ils côtoient”, se lamente une femme.
Plus ou moins consciemment, les Arméniens sillonnant la Turquie
viennent aussi reconstituer un puzzle personnel. Le voyage est un
choc entre des rêves et des cauchemars douloureusement subis par ces
descendants d’exilés et de survivants, et une réalité brutale,
marquée par l’absence, le vide, le déni, mais aussi souvent l’accueil
souriant ou gêné des populations nouvelles. “J’avais besoin d’avoir
des images, explique une jeune femme qui s’est rendue en solo
jusqu’au village de sa grand-mère près d’Ankara. Quand je suis
arrivée, j’ai cherché le village, Istanost. Je ne l’ai jamais trouvé.
J’ai suffoqué. J’ai rempli une bouteille de terre et je suis
repartie, triste comme une serpillière. Mais j’ai eu le courage d’y
aller. J’ai assumé mes racines, cette part d’Orient en moi.”
Souvent partie comme en terre ennemie, la troisième génération
revient avec plus de questions que de réponses, mais comme apaisée et
considérant qu’un avenir est peut-être encore possible sur cette
terre anatolienne devenue concrète. “Il faut se tenir prêt à faire
quelque chose ici, peut-être après l’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union
européenne?”, s’interroge Anne-Marie, une Arménienne du Liban. S’il
reste peu de traces de deux mille ans d’histoire arménienne en
Anatolie, l’avenir est à construire.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE PLOQUIN
Demain
À Diyarbakir, la foi des catacombes.
Ce reportage sur les Arméniens de Turquie, qui paraîtra sur sept
jours, est presque exclusivement illustré par Antoine Agoudjian. Ce
photographe d’origine arménienne, gé de 44 ans, se consacre depuis
1996 à retracer l’histoire des Arméniens dans l’empire ottoman.
Son parcours débute à Istamboul, où il a ressenti pour la première
fois le besoin d’aller à la recherche de ses racines.
Sa quête le conduira d’Anatolie orientale en Jordanie, en passant,
entre autres, par la Syrie, et l’Irak, à la rencontre de la diaspora
et de l’histoire de sa famille.

CBA CHAIRMAN: THERE IS QUITE HIGH COMPETITION IN THE BANKING SYSTEM
OF ARMENIA
YEREVAN, August 22. /ARKA/. There is quite high competition in the
banking system of Armenia, as CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsyan stated at
the BTA Investbank presenting ceremony. In his words, new bank’s
entering Armenia and having quite serious ambitions testifies to even
higher competition in this sector. “It’s very important that the
rules adopted in the banking sector of Armenia proof to be stable,
and the new bank could organize in new conditions profitable
business”, he said. He emphasized that in any case strivings of CBA
to canonize banking relations has exactly this goal. “We welcome
toughening of competition, since clients will profit from it”, he
said assuring the Kazakh colleagues that strivings of CBA are to
create equal conditions for all banks in Armenia.
In May 2005 one of the largest banks of Kazakhstan – TuranAlem Bank
purchased 48,9% of shares of International Investment Bank CJSC,
lately renamed into BTA Investbank. The rest shareholders of the bank
are ZRL Austrian company (with 31,1% stock) and Kazakhstan -Armenian
MOBILEX company (20%). Currently 21 banks operate in Armenia. A.H.
-0–

MEETING OF FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN SCHEDULED FOR
AUGUST 24 IN MOSCOW
YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Vartan Oskanian, the RA Foreign
Minister will leave for Moscow on August 22 to participate in the
regular session of the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council starting on
August 23. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s
Press and Information Department, a meeting of the Foreign Ministers
of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen’s
participation is scheduled for August 24.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Aug 22 2005
Saakashvili Visits Armenia
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in Armenia on August
21 for a two day informal visit to hold talks with his Armenian
counterpart Robert Kocharian, Georgian and Armenian media sources
reported.

Saakashvili is reportedly accompanied by Georgian Defense Minister
Irakli Okruashvili.
The Armenian President paid an informal visit to Georgia in April and
held talks with Saakashvili in Georgia’s ski resort Gudauri.

VERY IMPORTANT TO BRING ESSENCE OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS TO EVERY
CITIZEN, TIGRAN TOROSIAN THINKS
YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The August 19 seminar organized on
the initiative of the “Partnership for Open Society” was dedicated to
discussion of the process of the constitutional reforms. According
to Tigran Torosian, the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of
Armenia, though there are only 10 days left before the discussion of
the draft constitutional reforms at the RA NA, the draft still needs
to be completed. So, there are still definite problems connected
with the human rights, independence of the judicial system as well
as activities of the local self-governance bodies in the draft. “If
we can not make amendments in the Costitution during 2-3 years, we’ll
need a very long period of time to overcome problems existing in the
country,” T.Torosian stated. He expressed a confidence that many people
in Armenia realize the importance of the constitutional reforms. If we
can explain, people will understand and vote for the draft of reforms,
and if we cannot, the year of 2003 will repeat when people voted
against the constitutional reforms,” the NA Deputy Chairman mentioned.

PACE President Starts Tour of S Caucasus
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 19 2005
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) Rene van Der Linden started his tour of the South Caucasus
region in Armenia on Thursday.
Linden will hold official and informal meetings in Yerevan to discuss
the political situation in Armenia and this country’s commitments to
the Council of Europe.
The PACE President, who will then leave for Tbilisi, is due in
Baku on August 21. He will meet with President Ilham Aliyev, Prime
Minister Artur Rasizada, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and
representatives of the Azeri delegation at PACE. Linden will also
meet with representatives of human rights organizations.

AZG Armenian Daily #146, 19/08/2005
Neighbors
YUSCHENKO TO ARRIVE IN BAKU ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS
The representative of Ukraine in Azerbaijan said the official visit
of Victor Yuschenko, President of Ukraine, is envisaged on November 6,
on the eve of the parliamentary elections.
Referring to the Azeri Press, Regnum agency informed that the members
of “Pora” organization that played an important part during the days of
“the orange revolution” have already visited Baku.

PRESENTATION OF BTA INVESTBANK TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON AUG 22
ARKA News Agency
Aug 18 2005
YEREVAN, August 18. /ARKA/. A presentation of the BTA Investbank is to
be held in Yerevan on August 22, 2005. BTA Investbank Board Chairman
Rasul Kosanov said that the bank itends to make its contribution to
the development of Armenia’s financial sector, introduce innovation
and banking products, promote Armenian companies and Armenia in
the international investment community, encouraging the inflow of
foreign investments.
In May 2005, one of the largest banks of Kazakhstan, “TuranAlem”
acquired 48.9% of shares of the authorized capital of the Armenian
“International Investment Bank” CJSC, which was later renamed BTA
Investbank. The other shareholders of the bank are the Austrian ZRL
company (31.1%), and the Kazakh-Armenian MOBILEX company (20%).
According to interim financial report, by June 30, 2005, the assets
of the BTA Investbank had amounted to AMD 1,118.9mln, total capital
AMD 878.8mln, and authorized capital AMD 1,105mln. The bank’s credit
investments had totaled AMD 181.7mln. P.T. -0–