Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

Over 100 foreign observers to monitor polls in Karabakh
Mediamax news agency
18 Jun 05
Yerevan, 18 June: Over 100 international observers will monitor the
19 June parliamentary elections in Nagornyy Karabakh.
Observers from Russia, the United States, France, Britain, Israel,
Iran, the Czech Republic, Greece, Serbia-Montenegro and other countries
have already arrived in Stepanakert [Xankandi], the central electoral
commission of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic has told Mediamax.

HAROUTIUN KHACHATRIAN’S “POET’S RETURN” NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM TO
PARTICIPATE IN ROTTERDAM FILM FESTIVAL
YEREVAN, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Film Director
Haroutiun Khachatrian’s “Poet’s Return” documentary film, the works
on which finished these days will be presented at the annual film
festival to take place in Rotterdam. The world premiere of the film
will take place just there. As Susanna Haroutiunian, the Chairwoman
of the Film Journalists and Film Critics Association of Armenia
informed the Noyan Tapan correspondent, first, the film was called
“Ashugh Jivani”(“Bard Jivani”) but after the finish, the director
renamed it. According to S.Haroutiunian, the famous director’s
this film is on the verge of the art of acting and a documentary
work. Those responsible for the Rotterdam festival saw the film
still unfinished but included it in the main program of the festival
without hesitation. To recap, Haroutiun Khachatrian’s previous film,
“Documentarist”, has been awarded at high-class festivals of the world.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
17. Juni 2005
Bundestag rugt Gedenkpraxis der Turkei;
“Massaker an Armeniern wird immer noch verharmlost”; Ankara reagiert
mit scharfer Kritik
low. BERLIN, 16. Juni. Der Bundestag hat am Donnerstag in einem
gemeinsamen Antrag aller Fraktionen bedauert, daß in der Turkei eine
umfassende Diskussion uber die “fast vollständige Vernichtung der
Armenier in Anatolien” vor 90 Jahren im Osmanischen Reich nicht
moglich sei. “Mit tiefer Sorge” sehe es der Bundestag, “daß die
Armenier-Konferenz international angesehener turkischer
Wissenschaftler, die vom 25. bis 27. Mai 2005 in Istanbul stattfinden
sollte, durch den turkischen Justizminister unterbunden wurde und die
von der turkischen Regierungsmeinung abweichenden Positionen dieser
Wissenschaftler als ,Dolchstoß in den Rucken der turkischen Nation’
diffamiert wurden.”
Ankara hatte schon vor der Verabschiedung scharf auf den Antrag
reagiert und vor seiner Verabschiedung gewarnt. Außenminister Gul
bezeichnete den Text als “verantwortungslos, besturzend und
verletzend”. “Es gab keinen Volkermord an den Armeniern”, sagte er
der “Hannoverschen Allgemeinen Zeitung”. Deutsche und Turken mußten
als wichtigstes Projekt die vollige Integration der Turken in
Deutschland vorantreiben. Diese Aufgabe werde durch die Konfrontation
der deutschen Offentlichkeit mit dem Thema Armenien erschwert.
In der Antragsbegrundung heißt es: “Insgesamt wird das Ausmaß der
Massaker und Deportationen in der Turkei immer noch verharmlost und
weitgehend bestritten.” Diese turkische Haltung stehe im Widerspruch
zu der Idee der Versohnung, welche die Wertegemeinschaft der
Europäischen Union (EU) leite. Die EU will am 3. Oktober
Beitrittsverhandlungen mit der Turkei beginnen. Der Bundestag sei
sich “aus langer eigener Erfahrung” bewußt, “wie schwer es fur jedes
Volk ist, zu den dunklen Seiten seiner Vergangenheit zu stehen”. Eine
ehrliche Aufarbeitung der Geschichte sei aber notwendig, besonders
“im Rahmen einer europäischen Kultur der Erinnerung, zu der die
offene Auseinandersetzung mit den dunklen Seiten der jeweiligen
nationalen Geschichte gehort”.
Nicht verschwiegen wird in dem Antrag, der von den Vorsitzenden aller
vier Fraktionen unterzeichnet ist, die “unruhmliche Rolle des
Deutschen Reiches, das angesichts der vielfältigen Informationen uber
die organisierte Vertreibung und Vernichtung von Armeniern nicht
einmal versucht hat, die Greuel zu stoppen”. Auch werden der Turkei
“erste positive Anzeichen” dafur zugute gehalten, daß sie sich “im
Sinne der erwähnten europäischen Kultur der Erinnerung zunehmend mit
der Thematik beschäftigt”. So habe die turkische Nationalversammlung
erstmals turkische Burger armenischer Abstammung zu Gesprächen
eingeladen und Ministerpräsident Erdogan offentlich vorgeschlagen,
eine bilaterale turkisch-armenische Historikerkommission
einzurichten.
–Boundary_(ID_UL0vcQH3X6VNgcp2TwOnlA)–

Le Figaro, France
16 juin 2005
Ils sont tombes en invoquant leur Dieu ;
empire ottoman Jacques Rhetore assiste, en 1915, au massacre des
chretiens armeniens
par STEPHANE BOIRON
Celèbre pour sa vieille ville aux antiques eglises et ses tresors
d’architecture turco-musulmane – de nombreuses voix en reclament
l’inscription au patrimoine mondial de l’humanite -, la citadelle de
Mardin fut aussi, mais cela est plus oublie, un des hauts lieux de la
barbarie humaine. Cette petite cite, situee en Anatolie orientale, au
sud-est de la Turquie, non loin de la frontière syrienne, fut,
effectivement, le theâtre de l’un des principaux massacres perpetres
par l’Empire ottoman contre ses populations chretiennes.
Un ouvrage vient fort a propos nous livrer le temoignage du père
Jacques Rhetore (1841-1921), deporte dans cette localite où il fut
temoin des tragiques evenements pieusement consignes dans quatre
manuscrits echoues a la bibliothèque du Saulchoir, a Paris, avec les
archives des pères dominicains de la mission de Mossoul.
Journaliste et specialiste de la chretiente mesopotamienne, Joseph
Alichoran, qui a dirige la publication de ce long martyrologe, a
aussi signe l’utile commentaire qui eclaire la figure et l’itineraire
du missionnaire. Ne a La Charite-sur-Loire d’un père sabotier,
Jacques Rhetore etait entre en 1859 comme seminariste chez les
sulpiciens, avant de rejoindre l’ordre des Frères precheurs, où il
fut ordonne en 1866.
Le 12 septembre 1874, il gagnait la mission dominicaine de Mossoul,
actuellement en Irak, mais alors situee en territoire ottoman. Envoye
dans le village chaldeen catholique de Mar-Yacoub, où les dominicains
avaient ouvert une ecole, il etudia l’arameen ainsi que le dialecte
parle par les chretiens assyro-chaldeens de cette region, le soureth,
dont il devait publier la première grammaire complète en francais.
Charge, en 1881, de fonder la mission de Van, situee plus au nord, en
territoire armenien, il en profita pour s’initier aux langues
armenienne et turque.
Appele en 1893 par le P. Lagrange a l’Ecole biblique de Jerusalem, il
etait de retour, dès 1897, a Van, où son activite missionnaire auprès
des Armeniens se poursuivit jusqu’en 1908, date de son depart pour
Achitha, un bourg situe un peu plus au sud, a 2 000 mètres
d’altitude, en pleine terre nestorienne. Une grave maladie l’avait
fait rapatrier au couvent de Mar-Yacoub quand eclata la guerre.
Evacue a Mossoul, il fut pris en otage par les soldats turcs et
deporte avec deux de ses frères, les PP. Marie-Dominique Berre et
Hyacinthe Simon, a Mardin. Exile a Konya en novembre 1916, il
rejoignit, a la fin de la guerre, Constantinople, avant de regagner
Mossoul, où il mourut en 1921.
Ce fut donc a Mardin, seconde ville de la province de Diyarbakir, que
Jacques Rhetore assista aux massacres des communautes chretiennes
d’Anatolie orientale, et plus particulièrement au genocide des
assyro-chaldeens, pour reprendre le nom actuellement donne aux
populations syriaques de Mesopotamie heritières du monde arameen
(syriaques orthodoxes dits jacobites, syriaques catholiques,
nestoriens et chaldeens).
A la fin de l’Empire ottoman, ces syriaques se trouvaient
essentiellement rassembles au sud-est du pays, dans les regions du
Tur Abdin, du Hakkâri et de la plaine de Mossoul. Toutes confessions
confondues, ils ne depassaient guère 250 000 individus sur les
quelque 3 millions de chretiens, principalement armeniens, qui
peuplaient les six vilayets (provinces) orientaux de l’Empire. Cela
explique sans doute le relatif silence qui entoure les massacres qui
les frappèrent au meme titre que leurs frères armeniens.
Si les autorites ottomanes avaient reconnu aux millets, c’est-a-dire
aux diverses communautes non musulmanes du pays, un statut juridique
protecteur, d’ailleurs assez largement impose par les puissances
occidentales, elles admettaient de plus en plus difficilement de
telles concessions qui contredisaient la politique nationaliste d’un
empire en plein declin. Le sultan Abdulhamid II ne put qu’assister
impuissant a son morcellement precipite par la defaite de 1878 contre
les Russes. Il crut trouver un remède a la situation en developpant
une ideologie panislamique generatrice des premiers grands massacres
de 1895 et 1896, qui n’epargnèrent aucune communaute chretienne.
Les Jeunes-Turcs, que la revolution de l’ete 1909 avait amenes au
pouvoir, ne tardèrent pas a reprendre cette politique, prônant un
panturquisme illustre par des appels successifs au djihad, a la
guerre sainte. Entre dans la guerre aux côtes de l’Allemagne, sous la
conduite d’Enver Pacha, le pays sombra alors dans une terrible guerre
civile principalement dirigee contre les populations chretiennes,
dont Jacques Rhetore decrit le martyre dans la province de Diyarbakir
qui, ” après avoir ete le tombeau du plus grand nombre de ses
habitants chretiens, eut encore cela de particulier qu’elle fut un
pays de passage pour les nombreux deportes des pays armeniens “.
Il faut avoir le coeur bien accroche pour suivre la litanie des
persecutions commises, durant les annees 1915 et 1916, par les
populations turques, mais aussi les Kurdes et les Tcherkesses,
suivant des methodes qui, mis a part la variete des supplices nes de
l’imagination toujours fertile des bourreaux, etaient assez largement
les memes : ” Tous les hommes devaient d’abord etre emmenes et, après
eux, les femmes avec leurs enfants. Les hommes etaient voues a la
mort ; les femmes etaient, en principe, deportees seulement, mais
elles n’etaient pas moins destinees a perir le long des chemins, de
fatigue, de faim, de misère et puis on avait donne a leurs
conducteurs tout droit de les tuer ou de les livrer aux musulmans
pour leur service. ”
A l’heure où l’opinion se divise sur l’entree de la Turquie,
desormais videe de ses chretiens, dans l’Europe, on ne manquera pas
de s’interroger sur l’opportunite de publier un ouvrage susceptible,
comme le souligne Jean-Pierre Peroncel-Hugoz dans la preface, ” de
jeter de l’huile sur le feu entre Occident et Islam “. Mais il ne
saurait y avoir de dialogue fonde sur un travestissement des verites
historiques. Ce precieux temoignage est aussi l’occasion de
s’interroger sur la survie des dernières communautes chretiennes
d’Orient, victimes de l’indifference de l’Occident, comme l’atteste
le silence qui entoure aujourd’hui le sort des chretiens d’Irak….
A lire aussi : La Politique du sultan. Le massacre des Armeniens :
1894-1896, preface de Martin Melkonian, Le Felin, 17,95 Euro.
Les Chretiens aux betes. Souvenirs de la guerre sainte proclamee par
les Turcs contre les chretiens en 1915
de Jacques Rhetore
Editions du Cerf, 397 p., 29 Euro.
–Boundary_(ID_rG5pv0D68kIPTdS+B38nvw)–

Georgian Orthodox Church Calls on Religious Groups to Cooperate
Civil Georgia, Georgia
June 16 2005
Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II met with the leaders
of the religious communities in Georgia on June 15 and offered them
to set up a cooperation council of religious groups.
Spokesman for the Georgian Orthodox Church Zurab Tskhovrebadze said the
council, which will unite representatives from the Armenian Apostolic
Church, as well as from the Baptist-Evangelist, Catholic, Muslim,
Judaic and Pentecostal groups, will cooperate in tackling different
social problems which Georgia faces.

Kremlin-linked analyst says EU constitution rejections bode well for Russia
PRAVDA, Russia
June 16 2005
16:50 2005-06-16
A Russian political commentator with close links to the Kremlin
assailed the European constitution as a plan for a bureaucratic
super-state, saying Thursday that its rejection by French and Dutch
voters boded well for both Europeans and Russia.
Gleb Pavlovsky, political commentator and consultant, said the European
constitution would have suppressed national sovereignty and put the
European Union on a dangerous path leading to new conflicts.
He said that its rejection will help temper ambitions of the EU
bureaucracy and improve relations between Russia and Europe.
“There was a split between the elites’ game of a unified Europe as
a superpower playing geopolitics, and the Europeans’ desire to live
in a normal, sovereign environment,” Pavlovsky said.
Valery Fadeyev, the editor of Expert, a leading business affairs
magazine, also criticized the European constitution as a bureaucratic
product infringing on sovereignty.
“The unification is dangerous, because it binds people and limits
their freedom,” he said. “It obliges nations to live according to
bureaucrats’ whim.”
Russia has been wary about the eastward expansion of the EU, which
took in the former Soviet Baltic republics last year. The possibility
that other ex-Soviet nations such as Ukraine will eventually join
has fueled its concerns.
Pavlovsky, who was involved in Ukraine’s presidential election last
fall in which pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko defeated a Kremlin-backed
opponent, bristled at what he described as the EU’s ill-considered
interference in ex-Soviet spaces.
“Europe’s intention to unfreeze conflicts in the Black Sea basin,
solve problems of the Trans-Dniester, Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia
.. has led to confusion and new difficulties,” Pavlovsky said. .
Russia has played mediator in the post-Soviet conflicts, deploying
peacekeepers to Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and to Moldova’s separatist Trans-Dniester region. The Kremlin
views the EU’s increasing interest in these regions as an encroachment
on its traditional sphere of influence.
Russia will benefit from the constitutional crisis because it would
slow down the EU’s expansion drive and make its foreign policy more
rational, Pavlovsky said.
“The discussion in Europe about perspectives of the EU’s development
is good for Russia,” he said. “Russia can’t remain indifferent to
the dogma of a unified Europe, because it’s dangerous. The victory
of that ideology would lead to potential conflicts.”

ARMENIA TO TAKE PART IN RESTORATION OF RAILWAY THROUGH ABKHAZIA
Pan Armenian News
16.06.2005 04:37
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The route of the rail communication between
Russia and Georgia through the Abkhazian segment is promising in
many respects, “however, now there are more questions than answers
toward the its launching,” Russian Railways Public Corporation head
Gennadi Fadeev, who was participating in the meeting of the CIS
Council on Rail Transport, told journalists, reported Regnum news
agency. Specifically, he noted the financial aspect of the issue,
pointing out the restoration of the Abkhazian segment of the railway
“will cost 2.5 billion rubbles or some $100 million.” Fadeev supposes
that in case the Abkhazian part is restored, “all interested parties,
including Armenia and event Azerbaijan to some extent” should take
part in rehabilitation works. At that Fadeev stated readiness to
“make every effort toward rehabilitation of the Abkhazian part of the
railway.” “We are ready to send best carriages via Moscow-Tbilisi route
and to arrange daily communication,” he said. In his turn Chairman of
the Department of Railways of Armenia Ararat Khrimyan told journalists
the Armenian party plans to join the project, if Russia and Georgia
pass a final decision on rehabilitation of the rail segment and if
it is the case Armenia will allocate some means for implementation
of the project. “If the project is real, we will really think of it,
as everybody needs this railway,” he underscored. Meanwhile, Georgian
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli emphasized in a conversation with
journalists that he would not like “excessive euphoria in the matter,
as there are many questions that need to be solved.” “This first of
all includes securing refugees, rather Gali region population,” he
said. The Georgian PM refrained from answering the question, whether
a decision on restoration of the Abkhazian rail was passed at the
political level. In his words, “the issue is not a simple one and
relates to the solution of many organizational questions – the topic
has been discussed by the Russian and Georgian parties many times,
including in the course of the Russian PM Mikhail Fradkov’s visit
to Georgia June 3.” Nogaideli noted that the question of restoration
of rail communication via Abkhazia was not considered at the meeting
of the CIS Council on Rail Transport, however it was discussed with
Russian Railway Public Corporation head Gennadi Fadeev.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
06/15/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) ARF Youth Delegation at IUSY Black Sea Area Cooperation Meeting in Istanbul 2) Lebanese Armenians Protest Erdogan Visit 3) Giro Manoyan Meets with Turkish Deputy 4) German Bundestag Set to Adopt Armenian Genocide Resolution 1) ARF Youth Delegation at IUSY Black Sea Area Cooperation Meeting in Istanbul YEREVAN (ARF Youth Office)--An Armenian Youth Federation delegation will be attending an International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) conference in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16-19, along with representatives of IUSY member organizations from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The AYF's Karen Mnatsakanyan and Zinavor Meghryan (Armenia), Talline Tachdjian (France), and Khatchik Mouradian (Lebanon) will participate in the conference that will address Black Sea area cooperation. Topics include minorities in Europe, international agreements on minorities, and past policies on minorities. A seminar on the geopolitics of Central Asia is also scheduled. The IUSY is a fraternal organization of the Socialist International. IUSY membership includes 143 socialist, social-democratic, labor youth and student unions from 100 countries. The AYF is a full-fledged IUSY member. Additional information on IUSY and the Black Sea Area Cooperation conference is available at <; 2) Lebanese Armenians Protest Erdogan Visit BEIRUT--Hundreds of Lebanese Armenians took part in a demonstration Wednesday protesting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the country. Erdogan was expected in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials and to take part in the Arab Economic Forum. Lebanon has passed legislation that recognizes and condemns the genocide of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, and encourages other nations to stop the cycle of such extreme criminal acts. Organized by the Armenian National Committee of Lebanon, the rally took place in the heart of Bourj Hammoud, a shopping district, where stores closed mid-afternoon in protest of Erdogan's visit. 3) Giro Manoyan Meets with Turkish Deputy YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Giro Manoyan, Director of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau's Armenian National Committee and Political Affairs Office, met on Sunday with a member of the Turkish Parliament. Manoyan's one-hour long meeting with Turkish ruling party's Turhan Comez, took place in the lobby of the Marriott Armenia hotel. Samson Ozararat, Armenia's representative in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, and Comez's colleauges also attended. Armenian-Turkish relations highlighted conversations, with Manoyan pointing out that dialogue is possible only when it is genuine. He said that by all indications, however, no such environment within Turkey exists for such internal discussions. Manoyan later stressed to journalists accompanying the Turkish politician their role in the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, and emphasized the need for responsible reporting. Zaman Daily reported that Comez, who also met with French Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuny, told reporters that people sharing the same geography could meet at a common ground. "The meeting was held to share our intentions and ideas. I thank Armenia for their hospitability. We, as two nations sharing the same geography, can take steps forward in harmony and [with] mutual understanding, and open the channels of communication with warm dialogue. Dialogue is a must. " Comez, who was on an unofficial visit to Yerevan, also spoke to students and lecturers at Yerevan State University, and insisted that--as a first step--the two countries should stop setting conditions for establishing relations. 4) German Bundestag Set to Adopt Armenian Genocide Resolution (RFE/RL)--According to journalist Ashot Manucharian, who lives and works in Germany, the German Bundestag will discuss and vote on a resolution on the Armenian genocide, on June 16. Preliminary discussions concerning the adoption of a special resolution on the Armenian genocide took place at the Bundestag on April 21. Despite pressure from the Turkish Government, the Turkish Embassy in Germany and lobbyist groups, all parties represented in the Bundestag, nevertheless, decided to adopt before September a special document related to the Armenian genocide. However, with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's announcement of pre-term parliamentary elections, the Bundestag has decided to complete the process before the original September deadline. According to Manucharian, the word "genocide" will be used in the resolution, which stresses that "numerous independent historians, parliaments and international organizations call the massacre of Armenians 'a genocide.'" All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

EU WILL FURTHER WORK FOR OPENING ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER
Pan Armenian News
14.06.2005 03:17
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanyan
yesterday met with UK special envoy to South Caucasus Brian Fall
and head of the Foreign Office Department of Eastern countries of
the Simon Smith. British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbott-Watt
was also present at the meeting, reported the Press Service of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry. In the course of the meeting G. Gharibjanyan
briefed B. Fall on the content of Armenia’s proposals within the EU
Wider Europe: New Neighbors Program. He also said that in a few days
Armenian FM V. Oskanian will officially hand the document to the EU
Council. In his turn B. Fall underscored that UK will assume the EU
Presidency starting on July 1 and he said he was sure his country will
further actively involve in implementation of economic and political
programs in the South Caucasus. Besides, the interlocutors discussed
UK’s possible assistance to the countries of the region working
out a program of actions within the Wider Europe: New Neighbors
program. The parties discussed the issue of the Armenian-Turkish
relations and the talks over Turkey’s accession to the EU, scheduled
this October. It was noted that the question of the soonest opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border is important to the EU, which will
continue actively working for the final solution of the problem.

CSTO chief to meet Armenian president
ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 14, 2005 Tuesday
MOSCOW, June 14
Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
(CSTO) Nikolai Bordyuzha will fly to the Armenian capital Yerevan on
Tuesday on a working visit.
He will hold talks on the state of affairs in the Collective Security
Treaty Organisation, as well as on issues to be put on the agenda of
the forthcoming CSTO session.
The press service of the CSTO Secretariat told Itar-Tass, “In the
course of his trip to the Republic of Armenia CSTO Secretary General
Nikolai Bordyuzha will inform Armenian President Robert Kocharyan of
the state of affairs in the organisation.” According to the Secretariat
official, Bordyuzha “also plans to meet the defence minister –
secretary of the Security Council under the Armenian president.”
“The main purpose of the trip is to inform President Kocharyan
and other top-ranking officials of the state of affairs in the
organisation, consider issues to be put on the agenda of the CSTO
session – the supreme CSTO body, due in the second half of June,
as well as meetings of charter bodies – the Council of Foreign and
Defence Ministers and the Committee of Security Council Secretaries,”
Bordyuzha said on Monday. “Armenia is one of the most active CSTO
participants,” he stressed.
In the view of Bordyuzha, Armenia’s activity is effective in all CSTO
spheres. The Caucasian (Russian-Armenian) coalition troops (forces)
group of the CSTO is a considerable component of the organisation’s
force. Armenia takes an active part in combating new challenges
and threats.
The working trip of the CSTO chief will last for three days. The
session of the Collective Security Council and a meeting of charter
bodies of the CSTO are planned to be held in Moscow on June 22-23.
CSTO participants are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia and Tajikistan.