Author: Khoyetsian Rose

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Nov 20 2009

Peace processes

Friday, November 20, 2009
CENGÄ°Z AKTAR

Perhaps, it’s better to name all ongoing initiatives under `peace
processes’ without giving any specific ethnic or political status to
them. Because, this is the first time that Turkey is genuinely trying
to pronounce the word `peace.’ It has been either blabbing or failing
to pronounce it correctly or having a hard time to say it or going
back to the only language it knows in view of speaking the language of
peace correctly. Clumsiness is the case everywhere, society, state or
politics. Indeed it is not easy to rid of century-old problems, deep
wounds that are hard to heal and serious heartbreaks. This is a period
when utmost patience, conscience as much as logic are required. But
there is a group refuting the use of the language of peace. That,
languages of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and the
Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, in a way to show which is better
in warmongering during the historical plenary hearing in the
Parliament last week about the `Kurdish opening.’

You all heard CHP deputy Onur Ã-ymen’s chilling remarks indeed during
the first hearing held on Nov. 10:

`Unfortunately, mothers in this country have cried a lot. We have lost
many soldiers throughout history. We lost 200,000 in the Ã?anakkale
[Dardanelles] War. None came forward and said `Don’t let mothers cry.
Let’s forget about this war.’ Did mothers not cry during the War of
Independence? Did mothers not cry in the Sheik Said revolt? Did
mothers not cry in the Dersim revolt? Did mothers not cry in Cyprus?
Did anyone say `Mothers should cry no more? Let’s have a deal with the
Greeks. But unfortunately you are saying this because you don’t have
the guts to fight the terror.’ In a sort of disclaimer Ã-ymen announced
in the aftermath of his `historical’ remarks, probably due to his
referral to the Dersim massacre and due to fears of losing votes as he
implicitly targeted Alevis, the CHP deputy said: `As I said in my
speech, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk disagreed with the method of negotiating
with armed terror organizations as the Justice and Development Party
[or AKP] seems to favor. In the Republican period, indeed, Atatürk had
never negotiated with any armed groups revolting against the state.’

CHP’s `political commissioner’ is right though. Despite important
remarks, Mustafa Kemal made at the Ä°zmir Economy Congress in 1923
regarding the process through which human communities move away from
destructive fights to peaceful and productive activities, a peaceful
mindset has had difficulties to settle in this lands. The same goes
for Atatürk’s famous quote, `Peace at home, peace in the world.’ Just
like for Mustafa Kemal and for almighty elites of the time, all wars
Ã-ymen listed in his speech are weighing equally. It doesn’t make a
difference if you fight against the British or French in the
Dardanelles or Alevis and Kurds in Dersim. You are fighting the enemy,
because these were considered as enemies of that community (Turks)
trying to become a nation. Or as Ziya Gökalp said once, `This state
needs a nation,’ every other entity going against the description of
that nation was and is an `enemy.’

War lobby’s stakes

The problem is that the CHP-MHP duo is doing politics today with a
mindset of those years. In fact, they are doing politics as the
representatives of a `war lobby.’ In that sense, they are extremist
political parties. When it comes to peace processes, we have plenty of
signs that they will do everything in their power to prevent steps to
be taken, let alone providing support. We haven’t heard anything new
during parliamentary sessions other than a command like `The PKK must
lay down arms’ and a recommendation other than the CHP’s 20-year-old
Kurdish report, which has been sent to the paper basket long time ago
by the CHP itself. The empire of fear built by the parliamentary
opposition in this country has any place neither in Turkey nor in its
new posture as a regional power, neither in the world conjuncture
today nor in Turkish society’s expectations of peace and calm.

However, attitude of the CHP-MHP duo sets ongoing initiatives to an
extremely sensitive ground and makes public support vital. The AKP’s
move to explain the initiatives to the public is crucially important.
The Interior Minister, during his presentation to Parliament on Nov.12
qualified the ongoing initiative as part of an overall democratic move
intending to bring more freedom to everyone. This new paradigm is
indeed essential to convince citizens who are against the singling out
of Kurds only when the government utters the words `democracy’ and
`freedom.’

Along the same line, steps to be taken abroad are equally critical. We
should read relations newly established with the Regional Kurdish
Administration in northern Iraq in this direction because these
problems are external and cross-border as much as they are domestic.
Since the early days of the Republican period these problems were
usually tried to be solved by war and law enforcement solely. In other
words, if the `Kurdish initiative’ and opening towards Armenia are not
supported by the Greek/Cypriot-Greek initiative, one of three legs of
the trivet will be missing. And there, the imbalance may encourage
those who are eager to block other initiatives. At this point, the
importance of a full fledge initiative, of which we have heard just
rumors so far, to tackle all existing discords between Turkey and
Greece, starting with the Cyprus question, is obviously crucial.

news.am, Armenia
Nov 21 2009

Europeans have two reasons to be concerned about Turkish democracy

10:07 / 11/21/2009`When Nicolas Sarkozy rejects accession for Turkey
on the grounds of Europe’s `natural borders,’ everybody know that he
is speaking of `cultural borders”, reads the article by Jean-Francois
Bayart, the director of National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
published in French Libération. The article is titled `An Islam
Compatible with the Republic’. NEWS.am posts the full text.

`And Turkey’s culture is Islam: It would be incompatible with Europe,
and even with the Republic [France].

Yet Turkey has been a republic since 1924. Islam has democratized in
Turkey. It has appropriated the idea of the nation, republican
institutions, the civil code (introduced in 1926 and modelled on Swiss
legislation), the market economy, education, the mass media and
scientific knowledge. It has adopted the political party as method of
political participation and, because it is as theologically and
ideologically varied as in the rest of the Muslim world, it has given
rise to a pluralist education, the one rivaling the other to a greater
or lesser degree. The believers have also themselves divided up their
votes across the political checkerboard, while non-believers have
voted for Muslim parties.

More than that, Islam has made a decisive contribution to the
democratization of the Kemalist republic. By virtue of the
parliamentary system, successive Muslim parties or conservative
parties with a religious sensibility, close to brotherhoods, have
incorporated within the republican institutions the religious masses
that do not identify with the aggressive secularism of Kemalism and
filled the space that could have fallen to the jidahist groups. They
supported the move of the peasant farmers to the cities during the
rural exodus. They lent a voice to those of the Kurds who sought to
express their defiance of a centralizing state but without joining the
armed struggle of the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party]. They also
permitted the rise of the Anatolian elites that the Kemalist
establishment was confining to the periphery.

On the other hand, Kemalist nationalism is less secular than it
claims. It is ethno-confessional, like its counterparts in the Balkans
and Caucasus. In the Kemalist republic nationals of Turkish origin or
Sunnis of the Hanefite rite are implicitly more citizens than the
Kurdish, Alevi, and Christian and Jewish inhabitants. But the origin
of this implicit discrimination does not have much to do with Islam as
a religion. It is political and is part of the unleashing of a
cultural nationalism from the latter half of the 19th century as well
as of the crossed operations of ethnic cleansing that followed, the
genocide of the Armenians being its culmination. The same logic is
found at work for the benefit of Orthodox, Catholics or Jews, or
Shi’is or even Sunnis, depending on the Balkan, Caucasian, or Middle
Eastern country in question. After all, an Arab Israeli is a little
less Israeli than a Jewish Israeli and it is not so long ago that that
religion ceased to be indicated on the identity cards of the Greeks.

The paradox of Turkey is due to the fact that the secular nationalists
are the ones that hold this ethno-confessional conception of
citizenship and the ruling Islamic party, the AKP [Justice
andDevelopment Party], with the support of the conservatives, is
questioning it. Closing the door to Europe on Turkey by claiming it is
a Muslim country is clearly to play the game of this conception. There
is, moreover, a certain coherence in hearing Nicolas Sarkozy, a man so
concerned about &`national identity,’ inadvertently assume the slogan
of the Turkish far right: &`France, you must like it or leave it!’ On
the other hand, many Turks who are not necessarily believers but who
vote for the AKP to oppose nationalist authoritarianism, say to
Europe, along with the left-wing intellectual Murat Belge: &`Do not
allow us to become fascist!’

The Europeans have two reasons to be concerned about the future of
Turkish democracy. It is not in their interest to see the development
of an ultranationalist Moscow-Ankara axis. And they bear a direct
historical responsibility for the development of these
ethno-confessional nationalisms in the Eastern Mediterranean, which
they fuelled ideologically and supported politically, even militarily,
under cover of &`protection’ ‘ a self-interested one ‘ of Christian
minorities. We are still paying the price in Lebanon, in Palestine, in
Iraq, in the Balkans, of the disastrous way the &`Orient question’ was
handled.The failure of negotiations between Turkey and the European
Union would be a continuation of this disaster.’

November 20, 2009
Press Release
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRELATE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS PARTICIPTED IN MEETINGS AT THE
CATHOLICOSATE

As reported last week, on Sunday, November 15th, 2009, H.E.
Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian departed for Lebanon to participate in
meetings at the Catholicosate presided over by H.H. Catholicos Aram I. The
Prelates of the three North American Prelacies, along with Central Executive
and Executive Council representatives, participated in the meetings which
took place from November 18th to the 20th. The Western Prelacy delegation
included Central Executive Council members Mr. Khajag Dikijian and Mr. Vahe
Yacoubian, and Executive Council Chair and Vice-Chair Dr. Garo Agopian and
Mr. Garo Avakian.
During the three-day meetings, the Prelates reported on the
activities, endeavors, and challenges of their respective Prelacies and
received guidance and suggestions from His Holiness based on their
individual circumstances. The Prelates also participated in a joint meeting
to discuss and examine shared concerns and challenges.
During their stay in Lebanon the Prelacy representatives also had
the opportunity to visit the Aztag Daily offices where they met with the
staff and became familiarized with the workings of the newspaper.

LEBANESE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

In celebration of the 66th anniversary of the independence of
Lebanon, the Lebanese Consulate General of Los Angeles has organized a
reception to take place on the evening of Sunday, November 22nd, at the
Biltmore Hotel.
Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian will represent the Prelate at the
reception.

ARMENIA FUND GALA BANQUET

On Sunday, November 22nd, the Armenia Fund Gala Banquet will take
place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. The guests of honor are
H.E. Archbishop Barkev Mardirossian, Primate of the Diocese of Karabakh, and
NKR Prime Minister Araik Harutyunyan.
H.E. Archbishop Yeprem Tabakian will represent the Prelate at the
banquet. Executive Council members and Prelacy parishes’ representatives
will also be in attendance.

ARMENIA 4 – IRELAND 1 IT’S DON WRONG! U-21 ‘HORROR SHOW’

The Sun
November 18, 2009 Wednesday
England

DON GIVENS’ Ireland side were torn apart in Armenia yesterday in what
the Under-21 boss called ‘a horror show’.

Winless in six games, Ireland are bottom of Group Two of their UEFA
Championships qualifying group.

The Armenians went into the tie having just picked up their first
point at home to Estonia.

But they were comfortable winners, with striker Henrikh Mkhitaryan
bagging a hat-trick.

Givens can point to the absence of experienced players such as Owen
Garvan, Séamus Coleman and James McCarthy, but he acknowledged the
display was woefully inept.

He said: "It was by far the worst performance I can remember given
the ranking of the opposition. It’s as poor as I’ve been involved with.

Words "Disappointing doesn’t put into words how I feel. It was
unbelievably poor. We were down seven of the original squad but I felt
sure we had players who could step in and perform better than that.

"There were very few players who came out of it with any credibility,
which is difficult to understand. It was a poor performance and I
don’t know where it came from.

"Séamus Conneely, Lanre Oyebanjo and Conor Clifford were the few
players to come out with credit.

"I’ll look at the DVD and see where it went wrong. It would do the
players good to look at it too because it was a horror show. It’s a
team game but they have to look at themselves."

Ireland could have stolen the lead in the 23rd minute when Oyebanjo
fired in a right-wing cross that Cillian Sheridan (below) connected
with but he headed wide. Mkhitaryan grabbed the opener on the
half-hour. Hovhannes Goharyan fed him from the left and the striker
waltzed through the Irish defence before slotting past keeper Shane
Redmond.

Redmond made an impressive double-stop to deny Mkhitaryan, after a
slip by Cian Hughton, and then Karlen Lazarian from the rebound.

Things might have been different had James Collins not fired over in
the dying seconds of the half.

Callum Morris came to his keeper’s aid five minutes into the second
half when he cleared off the line after Edgar Malakyan slipped his
shot under Redmond’s body.

Metalurg Donetsk striker Mkhitaryan made it 2-0 in the 61st minute
after playing a clever one-two with Malakyan to fire past Redmond.

Sheridan grabbed a lifeline when he rose above Edvard Hovhannisyan
to score from a Conneely cross.

But hopes of a comeback did not last long as BATE Borisov striker
Goharyan struck to the top corner.

Mkhitaryan made it 4-1 from the spot after Malakyan was taken down
by Oyebanjo in the 81st minute. Bohemians striker Paddy Madden had
an injury-time chance but shot over with just the keeper to beat.

ARMENIA: Hovhannisyan; Yedigaryan (Khachatryan 73), Arakelyan,
Yuspashyan, Hayrapetyan, Manoyan, Voskanyan (Ghazaryan 76), Lazarian,
Malakyan, Goharyan (Badalyan 90), Mkhitaryan.

IRELAND: Redmond; Oyebanjo, Morris, Dennehy, Hughton, Gleeson,
Conneely, Carey (Clifford 46), O’Shea, Collins (Madden 66), Sheridan.

RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSIAN LEAVES FOR YALTA ON WORKING VISIT ON NOVEMBER 20

NOYAN TAPAN
NOVEMBER 19, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian
leaves for Yalta on a working visit on November 20 to take part in
a regular meeting of CIS Prime Ministers’ Council.

According to RA government’s Information and Public Relations
Department, Head of RA government’s staff David Sargsian, RA Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of RA to Belarus Oleg Yesayan, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of RA to the Ukraine Armen Khachatrian, other
high-ranking officials are included in the delegation led by
T. Sargsian.

BAKU EXPECTS CHANGE IN ARMENIA’S POSITION ON KARABAKH

Tert
Nov 19 2009
Armenia

Baku expects "a fundamental and clear discussion on issues related to
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict" to take place during
Armenia and Azerbaijan’s presidents’ upcoming meeting in Munich,
said Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Araz Azimov.

"We anticipate a change in Armenia’s position. If those changes
don’t take place, then we cannot speak about moving forward in the
negotiating process," noted Azimov.

The deputy foreign affairs minister also noted that "there are no
hidden thoughts or intentions in Azerbaijan’s position that are
against the opposite side."

PRESS RELEASE

Armenian Sisters Academy
440 Upper Gulph Road
Radnor, PA 19087

Contact: Susan Pogharian
Tel: 610-757-7090
Fax: 610-687-2450
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

YEPOYAN TO EXHIBIT AT PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
Armenian Cultural Day Celebrated as Part of Gorky Retrospective

In the early 1990s when Armenian artist Armen Yepoyan saw the
masterpieces of his fellow countryman, Vosdanig Manoog Adoian (Arshile
Gorky), on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, for
the first time, he was awe struck and inspired. Immediately he found
himself absorbed by the mixture of forms, inventive lines, intensity and
tenderness of Gorky’s drawings and paintings. Yepoyan experienced an
over-whelming sense of pride as well, based alone on the fact that the
Armenian Genocide survivor and self-taught artist became such an
influential figure in modern art history.

A loyal follower of Gorky’s art ever since, Yepoyan attended every
single museum and gallery exhibition of his works along the East coast.
In Gorky, he found a mentor and powerful source of inspiration, and one
who shared the same background, as Yepoyan’s maternal grandfather was
also from Van. During his ten years of residence in the nation’s
capital, Yepoyan’s visits to the museums were frequent, and he would
often find himself spending hours in front of his favorite Gorky
drawings and paintings. It was at this time that Yepoyan’s own career
as an artist in the US began to take off, with his abstract series in
particular showing a heavy influence of Gorky’s art.

It was this influence that lead to an invitation from the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, asking Yepoyan to exhibit his artwork as part of an event
running alongside the Arshile Gorky: a Retrospective exhibition,
currently running through January 10, 2010. The museum wants to
incorporate Yepoyan in a special `Armenian Cultural Day’ event
taking place on Sunday, December 6, 2009, giving Yepoyan an especially
meaningful opportunity to have his own artwork presented in conjunction
with his master’s show. `When I got the call, I immediately
thought what a wonderful and unique opportunity I’ve been given, to be
associated with my favorite artist’, admits Yepoyan.

These days, Yepoyan is no stranger to the museum or to the Armenian
community of Philadelphia, having moved to the city’s suburbs five
years ago with his family for one major reason – to send his children
to the Armenian Sisters Academy in Radnor, PA. Its reputation for
academic excellence, enriched by Armenian language and culture, made the
relocation an easy decision for the artist and his wife. It also opened
another door for Yepoyan: to mentor and inspire others creatively –
his mentorees now fondly referred to as his 1st – 8th grade students.

When Armen Yepoyan joined the faculty of the Armenian Sisters Academy as
the new art teacher three years ago, very few families and students knew
what they were in store for. But students soon came to enjoy the
soothing music and relaxed atmosphere in his sunny classroom. Expressing
their creativity comes easily thanks to Yepoyan’s style and approach,
which allow his students a small reprieve in their structured day. `I
try to create an environment that will allow our students to be
motivated and excited about art, a place where they are able to express
there feelings, emotions and thoughts through their art’ explains
Yepoyan. `Of course, this past month leading up to the retrospective
exhibition, I’ve done my best to impart the appreciation and pride I
have for Gorky’s work upon my students. The halls of our school are
adorned with their renditions of his masterpieces, as our very own
`Ode to Arshile Gorky’ exhibition’, he adds. Yepoyan’s artwork
can be viewed by visiting To learn more about the
Armenian Sisters Academy, see

# # #

ARMENIANS AND RUSSIANS FRATERNAL NATIONS

news.am
Nov 16 2009
Armenia

19:46 / 11/16/2009November 16, RA President Serzh Sargsyan received
the delegation of Russian TV and radio representatives headed by
RF President special representative on the international cultural
cooperation and Russian TV academy founder director Mikhail Shvydkoy.

RA President welcomed the guests and attached significance to the
event, stating that Armenian-Russian strategic, partner relations
demand permanent focus on all fields, RA Presidential press service
informed NEWS.am. "We draw special attention to the relations’
deepening in humanitarian field. We are fraternal nations, our
forefathers and fathers were making friends that extends to our days,"
Sargsyan said, underlining the role of mass media and TV in particular.

The guests presented Sargsyan the results of the discussion with
their Armenian colleagues. RA President awarded Mikhail Shvydkoy
with Movses Khorenatsi medal for the contribution to Armenian-Russian
cultural cooperation.

YOUNG ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYERS SCORE 11 VICTORIES IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 4TH ROUND

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.11.2009 12:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Young Armenian chess players scored 11 victories in
the 4th round of the World Youth Chess Championship going on in Kemer,
Turkey. Armenian boys scored 8 victories; girls won 3 games.

Armenia is represented by 16 boys and 8 girls.

Right Vision News
November 12, 2009 Thursday

Turkey: Is the West losing Turkey? Probably not

Pakistan

Pakistan, Nov. 12 — In recent weeks a lot of newspaper space has been
dedicated to questioning whether Turkey is moving away from its
traditional Euro-Atlantic orientation, turning its back on the West,
so to speak, and choosing instead to become chummier with the Middle
East and the Muslim world. In fact these aspersions are not really
anything new.Ever since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
— which most of the Western media describe as "Islamist" — came to
power, this question has been bubbling away, and seven years since
taking over the reins, the "hidden" Islamist agenda of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is still being talked about.Every foreign policy
decision is closely scrutinized by eagle-eyed analysts and journalists
and of course by Turkey’s opposition parties, which are always on the
lookout for any skullduggery or signs that the government is putting
Turkey’s secular roots at risk.

It’s fair to say that the government has given them plenty of fodder
to get their teeth into: Prime Minister Erdo?an’s walkout during a
debate with Shimon Peres at the Davos World Economic Forum, Turkey’s
decision to veto Israel’s participation in a joint air force exercise
(citing the Israeli leadership’s conduct in Gaza) and Erdo?an’s recent
visit to Iran during which he declared Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad as his friend and accused those countries which oppose
Tehran’s atomic program of hypocrisy can serve as a few examples.
Indeed the Iranian visit in particular raised many eyebrows in the
West. Combine this with Turkey’s apparent disillusionment with the EU
given the slow progress of its membership talks, and Turkey’s
commitment to the West is brought into question. But is this enough to
suggest that Turkey is shifting its foreign policy orientation? I
would doubt that very much.Today Turkey’s foreign policy is famously
focused on "zero problems with neighbors" and, given the fact that
many of Turkey’s neighbors are part of the Muslim world, this means
Turkey is bound to deal with them and build stronger relations even
though they are countries (in the case of Syria and Iran, at least)
that the West does not trust. Turkey has spent decades dealing with
difficult neighbors, but to be taken as a serious regional power and
increasing global player, Ankara needs to put its own house in order
and move from acrimonious to positive relationships. This shift does
not mean that Turkey’s historical relationship with the West is at
risk — rather, it should complement it. Turkey’s reaction to Israel
may have shocked many in the West, but these decisions were taken out
of genuine anger and concern, not because of some prefabricated public
relations campaign to win support from the Arab street. Turkey has for
years been encouraging progress on the Arab-Israeli peace process and
will continue to do so.On Iran, the fact is no country has the luxury
of choosing its own neighbors. You have to make the best of what you
have, and it would be unrealistic for the West to expect Turkey to
have no relations with Tehran. Turkey needs cooperation with Iran on a
whole range of issues, and the best way to go about this would hardly
be for Turkey’s leadership to harshly criticize its leadership at
every opportunity. Indeed while many in the West do not agree with the
"friendly" relations between Erdo?an and Ahmadinejad, at the same they
are not Iran’s neighbor and it is not they who risk having their gas
cut off in the winter months or have Tehran refuse to cooperate on
containing Kurdish militants. Furthermore, if Erdo?an manages to have
the ear of the president, it can also be beneficial to the West. For
an isolated, distrustful Iran, a friendly and powerful neighbor like
Turkey is not to be snubbed. At the same time Turkey also has no
interest in a nuclear Iran. Indeed, Turkey recently ordered advanced
Patriot missile batteries from the US, which could be viewed as an
action to defend itself against Iran’s missile program.Furthermore,
the upgrading or relations is not limited to the Muslim world. The
recent thawing of relations with Armenia — at the cost of risking
relations with "Muslim kin" Azerbaijan — is an example. And then, of
course, there is Russia. Such has been the dramatic increase in ties
that some people even talk of a "Putinization" of Turkey. A scary
thought, to say the least. While relations with the EU are difficult,
they are progressing and Turkey still remains a valuable and dedicated
member of NATO and a country that continues to contribute
substantially to numerous peacekeeping and military operations around
the globe.It seems to me that Turkey is not trying to re-establish the
Ottoman Empire but is rather aiming for a smart foreign policy, a
foreign policy that looks to the East and the West at the same time.
There is no need to have a single geopolitical direction, no need to
make a "choice." This would not serve the interests of the country. So
no one should expect Ankara to "resign" from NATO or quit its EU
membership talks any time soon. Published by HT Syndication with
permission from Right Vision News.