Author: Nahapetian Samvel

CHRISTIAN CONVERTS MURDERED IN TURKEY
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul

Irish Times
Published: Apr 19, 2007

TURKEY: Two Turkish Christian converts and a German man were killed
yesterday in a publishing house that prints bibles, in the latest
attack on religious minorities living in mainly Muslim Turkey.

Security officials found the men with their hands and feet tied to
chairs and their throats cut in the office of Zirve Publishing in
the southeastern city of Malatya.

A fourth man was being treated for severe head wounds after he jumped
from a third-floor balcony to escape.

The attack comes two months after a nationalist gunman killed Turkish-
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, a native of Malatya, on an Istanbul
street.

Television pictures showed police leading several young men out of
the building, apparently in handcuffs. Officials said that four men
had been taken into custody.

Turkish media reports claimed that police arrested the attackers
before they left the building, acting on a tip-off from victims’
families, who had been unable to reach the office by phone.

Ahmet Guvener, the pastor of a Protestant church in the nearby city of
Diyarbakir, who was a friend of the victims, said that he had spoken
to them on Tuesday night.

"They were at peace with the world. This news came as a total shock",
he said.

Zirve Publishing’s director, Hamza Ozant, who opened the Malatya
office last year, said that the murdered men had been "on the verge
of asking for police protection", following threats.

Malatya, the home town of Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John Paul II
in 1981, is known as a nationalist city. Nationalists had previously
protested outside the Zirve building following local news reports
accusing the staff of proselytism.

Introduced in 2005, Turkey’s new criminal code made it an offence to
prevent missionaries from working.

But widespread conspiracy theories continue to link missionaries to
international attempts to divide the country, and suspicion of them
is not just limited to Malatya or to nationalists.

The Islamist weekly Aksiyon claimed recently that 35,000 clandestine
Christian congregations were meeting in the country. In fact, Turkish
Protestant congregations number about 40.

In 2005 petrol bombs thrown at the International Protestant Church
in Ankara caused considerable damage.

Last year an American missionary in the southeastern city of Gaziantep
was bound and gagged by two assailants who claimed they were members
of al-Qaeda.

Although the attackers did not follow through on their threats to
kill the man, they promised to return and finish him off unless he
and his family left Turkey immediately.

Employees of Zirve Publishing in Malatya had been "forced by
circumstances to be quite bold, going round from bookshop to bookshop
offering their books for sale", said Jerry Maddix, an American
missionary who knew the murdered men well.

"They paid for their boldness with their life," he added.

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS CONGRATULES POPE BENEDICT XVI, BISHOP OF ROME

Noyan Tapan
Apr 18 2007

ETCHMIADZIN, APRIL 18, NOYAN TAPAN. His Holiness Karekin II Catholicos
of All Armenians sent a message of congratulation to His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, on the occasion of the 80th birthday
anniversary. Noyan Tapan was informed about it by the Information
Services of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

"We are sure that, led by You, the Roman Catholic Church will fix
new successes in the present chronology of its centuries-old mission,
and warm and brotherly relations between the Armenian Apostolic and
Roman Catholic Churches will continue developing. It is our prayer
that cooperation and friendship between our churches more strengthen
in this new era, with making spirit of Christian love and brotherhood
powerful in our believing hearts," is said in the congratulation
message of His Holiness Patriarch.

His Holiness wished 80th-year old Benedict XVI sound health and
effective enthronement.

CHAIRMAN OF ARMENIAN ORGANIZATIONS’ REPRESENTATION IN EUROPE: ARMERNIAN ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL LOBBYISTS SHOULD WORK JOINTLY

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 16 2007

BRATISLAVA, APRIL 16, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Turkish embassies
in several European countries received instructions to work with
Armenian lobbyists of various countries. Ashot Grigorian, Chairman
of the Armenian Organizations’ Representation in Europe, Chairman of
the Armenian community of Slovakia, informed NT about it.

According to him, the subject discussed at such meetings is the issue
of the Armenian Genocide and the necessity to improve relations between
Armenia and Turkey. "As a rule, Turkish ambassadors "approach the issue
of the 1915 massacres with understanding", but they try to persuade
about the "inexpediency" of using the word "genocide". Recently leaders
of Turkey and Azerbaijan have repeatedly expressed the opinion that
there would not be difficulty in solution of problems with Armenia,
if the Armenian Diaspora did not function so actively. In fact,
after making warnings about the danger coming from the Diaspora,
Turkey has begun taking concrete steps," he said.

"I think that Armenian organizations and individual lobbyists need to
begin work on joint and mutually agreed activities," Ashot Grigorian
noted.

TURKS REJECT IDEA OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Angus Reid Global Monitor, Canada
April 17 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A large number of people in Turkey
disagree with an initiative of the United States Congress to recognize
the death of thousands of Armenians as a state-sponsored extermination
campaign, according to a poll by Terror Free Tomorrow.

77.7 per cent of respondents oppose the "Armenian Genocide" resolution.

Relations between Armenia and Turkey are still tense due to historical
factors. In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire-formed by
members of the Turkish nationalist Committee of Union and Progress
(ITC)-ordered hundreds of thousands of Armenians to relocate from
the Caucasus to Mesopotamia.

The state-sponsored deportation campaign led to a high number of
Armenian fatalities, estimated at anywhere from 200,000 to 1.8
million. While some scholars believe the campaign was a deliberate
attempt to exterminate Armenians, Turkey has never formally accepted
the use of the term "genocide" to describe the event.

In March 2005, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
for an impartial investigation of Armenian claims, saying, "We do not
want future generations to live under the shadow of continued hatred
and resentment."

On Mar. 28, a U.S. Senate panel condemned the murder of a
Turkish-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, who had urged Turks to acknowledge
the mass killings of Armenians. The U.S. Congress is now considering
a resolution that would recognize the events as "genocide."

Following the Senate panel resolution, Foreign Relations Committee
chairman and Delaware senator Joe Biden said he would not back down
under Turkish pressure, saying, "A relationship that rests on a
requirement of a denial of an historical event, is not a sound basis
for a relationship."

In October 2006, France’s National Assembly approved a bill that makes
it a crime to deny that the state-sponsored deportation campaign
undertaken by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1917 actually
constituted a genocide.

Polling Data

The U.S. Congress is considering a resolution, which will recognize-I
will now read to you its exact words: "the Armenian Genocide." Do
you strongly favour, somewhat favour, are neutral, somewhat oppose,
or strongly oppose this resolution?

Strongly favour 4.2%

Somewhat favour 3.2%

Neutral 8.5%

Somewhat oppose 11.4%

Strongly oppose 66.3%

Don’t know / No answer 6.3%

Source: Terror Free Tomorrow Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with
1,021 Turkish adults, conducted from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2007. Margin
of error is 3.1 per cent.

useaction/viewItem/itemID/15415

NEXT IN TURN ANTI-ARMENIAN PROVOCATION OF VAN BAYBURD CALLING HIMSELF AN ARMENIAN

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 17 2007

AKHALKALAK, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The appeal made
by participants of the April 13 meeting organized by the Council of
Armenian NGOs of Samtskhe-Javakhk was misinterpreted in reports of
Georgian mass media.

During his interview to the Georgian television "Mze", deputy of the
Georgian parliament Van Bayburd said that the meeting participants
allegedly demanded that the country’s authorities recognize Armenian
as the second state language in Georgia. Whereas, as was reported,
the participants appealed to Georgia’s authorities with a proposal
to grant Armenian status of regional language in Samtskhe-Javakhk.

According to A-Info news agency, the Council of Armenian NGOs of
Samthkhe-Javakhk called on not to pay attention to "Van Bayburd and
those like him who are ready, for their personal benefit, not only
to mock lawful demands of their own people but may also endanger the
country’s stability."

12 ARMENIANS OF JAVAKHK PARTICIPATED IN ARTSAKH LIBERATION STRUGGLE REWARDED WITH "LIBERATION-EAGLE" GOLD MEDAL

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 17 2007

AKHALKALAK, APRIL 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Representatives
of the "Azatagrum" (Liberation) patriotic charity public organization
functioning in Armenia met on April 14 with citizens of Javakhk
participated in the Artsakh liberation struggle. According to
A-Info, during the meeting the organization co-chairmen awarded
"Azatagrum-Artsiv" (Liberation-Eagle) gold medals to 12 citizens of
Javakhk participated in the Artsakh liberation struggle.

ANCA and Genocide Intervention Network call on UN to override Turkey’s
objections to Rwanda genocide exhibit

ArmRadio.am
16.04.2007 15:28

Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Chairman Ken Hachikian,
in a letter sent to the United Nations, called upon the international
body to reverse its recent decision to close a major exhibit,
organized by the Aegis Trust, on the Rwanda Genocide due to the
Turkish government’s objection over a portion of the display that
referenced the Armenian Genocide.

The ANCA letter, addressed to Kiyotaka Akasaka, Under-Secretary-
General for Communications and Public Information, expressed the
"Armenian American community’s profound disappointment over the
decision to allow the Turkish government to delay – and quite possibly
cancel – a United Nations exhibit intended to help ensure that the
lessons of the Rwanda Genocide are used to help prevent future
genocides."

Hachikian stressed that the dismantling of the exhibit represents "a
troubling retreat from the founding principles of the United Nations,"
and added that, "in allowing Turkey’s protest over the exhibit’s
historically accurate mention of the Armenian Genocide to delay its
opening, you have, very unfortunately, undermined the credibility of
the United Nations on a central issue of our time – ending forever the
cycle of genocide. Rather than rightfully standing up for the
organization’s highest values, you permitted the immoral objections of
one member state, Turkey, to drag the entire institution into
complicity in that nation’s shameless campaign of genocide denial."

Commenting on the UN’s decision, Mark Hanis, Executive Director of the
Genocide Intervention Network, said that, "Hitler felt justified to
carry out the Holocaust when he saw how little resistance there was to
the Armenian genocide of 1915. It is incumbent on the UN to ensure
that the atrocities of Armenia and other past genocides are exposed,
not just for the memory of those dead but for the safety of future
generations."

Commenting on the exhibit’s postponement, James Smith, the chief
executive of the British-based Aegis Trust, said, "If we can’t get
this right, it undermines all the values of the UN. It undermines
everything the UN is meant to stand for in terms of preventing
(genocide). . . You can’t learn the lessons from history if you’re
going to sweep all of that history under the carpet. And what about
accountability? What about ending impunity if you’re going to hide
part of the truth? It makes a mockery of all of this."

Serj Tankian, songwriter, singer, poet, activist and lead singer of
Grammy Award-winning band System of a Down, and Carla Garapedian, who
directed the award-winning documentary "SCREAMERS" about the band’s
anti-genocide advocacy, issued a statement condemning the UN’s
decision: "We are very shocked by this decision by the Secretary
General to remove mention of a historical event which is
well-documented by thousands of official records of the United States
and nations around the world, including Turkey’s wartime allies,
Germany, Austria and Hungary; by Ottoman court martial records; and by
eyewitness accounts of missionaries, diplomats and survivors; as well
as decades of historical scholarship. In the US, President Bush has
called the events the "forced exile and annihilation of approximately
1.5 million Armenians.’"

Tankian and Garapedian went on to stress that, "The reason why
genocides have continued in the last century – from the Armenian
genocide, to the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, to the
genocide going on now in Darfur – is because the international
community has not intervened to stop them. Sadly, the Secretary
General’s decision to stop any mention of the antecedents to the
Rwanda genocide is a blow to those who want to stop genocide now."

The New York Times, Associated Press, and other major news outlets
have reported extensively about the controversy surrounding Turkey’s
pressure to close down the Rwanda Genocide exhibit. The New York
Times, in an April 9th article, explained that, "the panels of
graphics, photos and statements had been installed in the visitors
lobby on Thursday by the British-based Aegis Trust. The trust
campaigns for the prevention of genocide and runs a center in Kigali,
the Rwandan capital, memorializing the 500,000 victims of the
massacres there 13 years ago. Hours after the show was assembled,
however, a Turkish diplomat spotted offending words in a section
entitled ‘What is genocide?’ and raised objections. The passage said
that, ‘following World War I, during which one million Armenians were
murdered in Turkey,’ Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer credited with
coining the word genocide, ‘urged the League of Nations to recognize
crimes of barbarity as international crimes.’"

Whole Armenia to loose if mass falsifications recur: leader of
`Heritage’ party

Arminfo
2007-04-16 10:35:00

"By our resoluteness during May 12 election, we shall prove that we
are living not in the Ottoman Empire but in sovereign democratic
Armenia where one cannot outrage the people’s declaration of will",
leader of the "Heritage" oppositional party, first Foreign Minister of
independent Armenia Raffi Hovannisian said yesterday when metting
voters of Echmiadzin of Armavir district. He said that it is
impossible to talk about Armenia’s security and the Karabakh conflict
resolution, favorable for the Armenian party, without democracy
development in the country. "Very serious foreign political challenges
of regional and geopolitical character are set to the country and only
the power, elected in a democratic way, can worthily respond to them",
R. Hovannisian said.

The oppositionist urged the voters to make a choice that will allow to
easy look the present children’s eyes who, in their turn, will be
grateful for being born and living in Armenia and being Armenians. He
expressed confidence that little Armenia will be able to finally
overstep the limits of mentality, it is imputed by authorities, and
will become the leading country in the region by the level of
democracy development.

"AIESEC" TO IMPLEMEMT PROGRAM ON TRAINING OF YOUNG SPECIALISTS OF
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian office of the Association
Internationale des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (AIESEC)
organization jointly with the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF)
will implement the program "IT Shapes the Future" from September 2007
to March 2008. The purpose of the program is to assist Armenian
enterprises operating in the IT sector.

The program head Manushak Vahramian presented the program on April 13
at the Armenian Development Agency. In her words, within the program’s
framework, 50 young specialists of Armenian IT companies will be given
the opportunity to receive training abroad. Besides, foreign experts
will share their experience with IT companies in Armenia. The program
envisages holding 10 courses and 3 round tables. It will finish with a
three-day conference.

HUMANITARIAN AID TO NAGORNO KARABAKH DWINDLES

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
13 April 07

We have learned from the head of the department of humanitarian aid of
the NKR Ministry of Social Security that in 2006 NKR received
humanitarian aid of about 66 million 151 thousand drams. Organizations
and individuals from Armenia, the United States, France, Germany and
Russia provided second hand medical equipment and medicine for 13
million 810 thousand drams, food for 46 million 900 thousand drams,
secondhand clothes for 83 060 drams, different appliances for 55
million 355 thousand drams. Humanitarian aid comes through the
programs of the Stepanakert office of the Red Cross, The HALO Trust
(U.K.), Shen (France) the Armenian Evangelical Association and Agape
(U.S.). According to M. Dadayan, in 2006 humanitarian aid to Karabakh
went down by 10 million 727 thousand, which he explains by the social
and economic growth in the country.

SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.
13-04-2007