ACTING RA NA COMMITTEE FOR MARCH EVENT’S INVESTIGATION CALLS FOR COLLABORATION
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
08.06.2009 19:29 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Acting RA NA Committee for March event’s
investigation once again calls parties and NGOs for collaboration. The
Committee requests Parties and NGOs for facts, evidences and video
materials on March 1-2 events to be provided till July 1 2009, so as
to be included in Committee’s final report.
Selling off Glendale as a way to "get rid of all the Armenians"?
07.06.2009 01:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Council of America was the latest
critic to voice displeasure over comments made on Bill Handel’s KFI
morning radio show in which he and his co-hosts, in a sarcastic bite
at curing a stressed health-care system, suggested selling off
Glendale as a way to "get rid of all the Armenians," Glendale News
Press reports.
Italian and Irish immigrants were also roped into what KFI AM 460
Program Director Robin Bertolucci called a "crazy over-the-top
parody."
In the May 13 segment, Handel suggested shoring up the nation’s
borders and banishing immigrant groups as a way to cure an
over-burdened health-care system.
After broaching the Armenian population, a producer on the show said,
"What the Turks started, Bill will finish."
The segment has invited a growing chorus of critics who have called or
e-mailed the show to complain.
The recording has since been removed from the radio station’s website,
but it was recorded by the Armenian National Committee Burbank Chapter
and since been circulating in e-mail action alerts.
Representatives from neither of the local chapters, nor the Western
Region offices, could be reached for comment.
Peter Darakjian, director of the Armenian Council of America, said in
a statement that if similar comments had been made about Jews or
blacks, "they would turn the world upside down until they got
justice."
Bertolucci defended the segment as a political commentary that was
misinterpreted, pointing out that Handel has publicly supported the
efforts of Armenians to have the Genocide of 1915 officially
recognized in the U.S.
"I’m deeply sorry that anyone was offended," she said. "People who
know Bill Handel know his history and know what he stands for."
Had the on-air dialogue been anything but hyperbole, she added, "trust
me, this would be a very different conversation."
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sunday’s Zaman
June 7 2009
What does the CHP stand for?
IHSAN YILMAZ [email protected] Columnists
It has become a common cliché to state that Turkey desperately
needs a proper opposition party. Based on observations of the
performance of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP),
even several staunch CHP voters repeatedly declared that the party has
to transform itself. It seems that many people vote for the party not
because they like it, but because they hate the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party). It is obvious that this is not healthy
for the Turkish political system. Public opinion is not sure about the
party’s proposed policies on several key issues, such as Turkey’s EU
accession process. The last straw, in my opinion, that broke the
camel’s back was the CHP’s stance toward the issue of land mine
removal on the Turkish-Syrian border. The party tried to create havoc
by strongly claiming that the AK Party secretly agreed with the
Israelis so that an Israeli company would remove the mines and would
start using the vast land, more
than 500 kilometers along the Syrian border, for 44 years for farming
purposes. In the domestic political arena, the CHP may be trying to
score a few points against the AK Party, but they must be thinking
that the international public sphere is full of idiots.
The CHP members of Parliament were so adamant in their claims about
the alleged AK Party-Israel conspiracy on the Syrian border that one
of the deputies — Mr. Ahmet Ersin, a lawyer by profession — stood by
the Israeli ambassador to Ankara’s car, which was parked in
Parliament’s car park, and harshly criticized those who were in talks
with the Israeli ambassador in the Parliament. Apparently, in his
conspiratorial mind, the ambassador was talking to the AK Party
deputies and possibly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an. He
was so sure about this that he said the ambassador’s visit to
Parliament was a shame to Turkey, and so on. To his astonishment, he
later learned that the ambassador was not paying a visit to AK Party
members, but to one of Ersin’s friends, another CHP deputy,
Å?ahin Mengü. As far as I can see from the media, no one
has seen Mr. Ersin after the incident so that they could ask him how
he felt. Who knows, he could try to explain away
the shameful incident with another Jewish conspiracy.
This funny but real episode is an excellent summary of what the CHP
has been trying to do with regard especially to Turkish foreign
policy. They were trembling in fear after ErdoÄ?an’s Davos
incident, and one of the party’s leading figures, Onur Ã-ymen,
harshly criticized ErdoÄ?an. But now, they seem very happy to
fabricate conspiracy theories in which Erdogan and the AK Party give
in to `monster’ Israel. They must be thinking that the Israelis, who
they feared most when ErdoÄ?an criticized them just because they
were butchering innocent civilians and babies in Gaza, are not
watching them. Or else, they are not as afraid of Israel as they seem
to claim. I am confused. Anyhow, last week another CHP deputy who once
implied that Abdullah Gül was of Armenian origin was in the
United States and was trying to convince her Jewish interlocutors that
the AK Party is anti-Semitic.
On the other hand, we also know that one of the suspects of Ergenekon
trial, Ergün Poyraz — who was reportedly paid by the Turkish
gendarmerie for his services — wrote two separate books about
Mr. Gül and ErdoÄ?an. (And we all know that CHP’s leader
Deniz Baykal repeatedly stated that he was fully supporting the
Ergenekon suspects.) Poyraz’s book on ErdoÄ?an and his wife,
Emine ErdoÄ?an, is titled `Moses’ Children,’ and he implies in
the book that the ErdoÄ?ans are secret Jews. The book on
President Gül is named `Moses’ Rose.’ Rose is the English
equivalent of the word `gül,’ and Mr. Poyraz is similarly
implying that Mr. Gül is also a secret Jew. These are all
confusing. We should ask the CHP, its leader and its deputies: Why do
you seem to portray Jews and Israeli companies as `monsters’ while
simultaneously remaining silent in the face of the Zionist massacres
in Palestine, of which not every Jew supports?
It is obvious that the CHP is not clear, unequivocal and principled on
these issues. They have an archaic mindset that orders them to oppose
whatever the government does. No one knows what their opinions about
the EU, Middle East, US, Central Asia, Alevis, Turkish non-Muslim
minorities, human rights, privatization and so on are. Its sister
parties in Europe were closed down after World War II, and its
continued existence may be the only negative side effect of Turkey’s
non-participation of this disastrous war. Unlike Germans and Italians,
Turkish people are still — at least mentally — suffering.
07.06.2009
Foreign Policy
June 6 2009
Obama’s Speech:
Right where he wants them
Fri, 06/05/2009 – 12:37pm
The only people denouncing President Obama’s Cairo speech seem to be
right-wing nuts at home and Islamic extremists abroad. This is a good
set of opponents to have.
Meanwhile, I like Obama’s summary this morning in Germany of what he
is thinking about the Middle East:
And as the Chancellor mentioned, we discussed my recent trip to the
Middle East and the need for all of us to redouble our efforts to
bring about two states, Israel and a Palestinian state, that are
living side by side in peace and security. I think the moment is now
for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which is that each
side is going to have to make some difficult compromises; we have to
reject violence.
The Palestinians have to get serious about creating the security
environment that is required for Israel to feel confident. Israelis
are going to have to take some difficult steps. I discussed some of
those in the speech."
"Difficult steps and hard compromises" would be a good name for
Obama’s emerging Middle East policy.
In reference to the denial by Iranian president Ahmadinejad that
holocaust ever happened, President Obama said in Germany that ‘he does
NOT have patience with people who would deny history’. Here is some
history that President should know and NOT deny either.
The political arm of Islam has been waging terroristic holy war on the
rest of the world for centuries. It has waged this war against
civilizations that have nothing to do with the West, let alone
America. This is why the case of Muslim aggression against India
proves so much.
Medieval India, before the Muslim invasions, was a richly imaginative
culture, one of the half-dozen most advanced civilizations of all
time. Muslim invaders began entering India in the early 8th century,
on the orders of Hajjaj, the governor of what is now Iraq. In the
aftermath of the Muslim invasions of India from 8th to 11th centuries,
in the ancient cities of Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain, Maheshwar,
Jwalamukhi, and Dwarka, not one temple survived whole and intact. This
is the equivalent of an army marching into Paris and Rome, Florence
and Oxford, and razing their architectural treasures to the ground.
In his book The Story of Civilization, famous historian Will Durant
lamented the results of what he termed "probably the bloodiest story
in history." He called it "a discouraging tale, for its evident moral
is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex order
and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading
from without and multiplying from within. Muslim invaders "broke and
burned everything beautiful they came across in Hindustan," displaying
the resentment of the less developed warriors who felt intimidated in
the encounter with "a more refined culture." The Muslim Sultans built
mosques at the sites of torn down temples, and many Hindus were sold
into slavery. As far as they were concerned, Hindus were kafirs,
heathens, par excellence. They, and to a lesser extent the peaceful
Buddhists, were, unlike Christians and Jews, not "of the book" but at
the receiving end of Muhammad’s injunction against pagans: "Kill those
who join other gods wherever you may find them."
The massacres perpetrated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in
history. In sheer numbers, they are bigger than the Jewish Holocaust,
the Soviet Terror, the Japanese massacres of the Chinese during WWII,
Mao’s devastations of the Chinese peasantry, the massacres of the
Armenians by the Turks, or any of the other famous crimes against
humanity of the 20th Century. But sadly, they are almost unknown
outside India. The perpetrators of these massacres were not military
thugs disobeying the ethical teachings of their religion, as the
European crusaders in the Holy Land were, but were actually doing
precisely what their religion taught. As has been well-documented,
jihad has been preached from the official centers of Islam, not just
the lunatic fringe.
/06/05/right_where_he_wants_them
WORLD BANK ISSUES $25 MILLION EDUCATION CREDIT TO ARMENIA
2009/06 /05 | 16:37
Finances
A new $25 million credit agreement was signed today between the RoA
Ministry of Finance and the World Bank Office in Yerevan. The loan
will be allocated to improving the educational sector in Armenia.
Director of the World Bank Yerevan Office Aristomene Varoudakis praised
the initiative of the Armenian government to render support to the
field of education even under the conditions of the global crisis.
Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan told gathered reporters that the
external debt of Armenia was at normal levels and there were no
grounds for concern.
The finance minister said that the $500 million allocated by Russia
was expected to reach Armenia next week.
AZERBAIJAN DISAPPOINTED FOR FAILURE OF HISTORICAL FACTS
HULIQ
June 5 2009
The regular falsification of the historic facts in regard to neighbor
Armenia has failed. The book "Conflicts and wars after the collapse of
USSR" has been republished thanks to efforts of the Armenian community
of Ukraine, particularly ANALITIKA.at.ua information-analytical centre.
In the new edition of the book no falsification of Armenian history
is fixed. As PanARMENIAN.net reports, in the preliminary version
of the book its authors, being Ukrainian experts in literature and
historians, have published an article where false information about
Armenia has been presented.
T Y. Bogdanovich, and A. Ya. Manachinsky, the authors of the edition,
have edited the article and then republished the book. "The fact of
the falsification of Armenian history drew a wide response becoming
a subject for deeper attention and researches.
The first operative measures gave results. According to the expert
of ANALITIKA. At.ua information-analytical centre, Davit Davtyan,
the cases of history falsifications in the new edition are removed
and the material is written on the basis of objectivity. Anyway,
such a circumstance does not justify the experts, allowed of such a
nonsense", – panarmenian.net reports.
Our neighbors naturally accepted the fact with a sorrow and began
raising hysteria over the occurred in the network. Particularly, the
correspondent of 1news.az hurried to write that the book introduces
information about the Armenian aggression towards Azerbaijani people,
referring to alleged historical fact, that Karabakh has supposedly
belonged to Turkish Azeris and the Azeris have supposedly been the
owner and the host of Karabakh with its mountainous regions.
But is there a limit between the gossip and the lie, dream and
imagination? Let’s accept, there are true facts, realities which can
not be cancelled or erased! When some time ago you, Azeris settled
in Armenian historical lands, tried to eliminate Armenian khachkars
(cross-stones), using the material in constructing your pigsties (the
mentioned facts are registered in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh),
the history is not denied due to your deeds. After a little delay
the authors of the book have finally understood this.
By the way many libraries of the country have not got the republished
version of the book yet. And according to experts from ANALITIKA.at.ua
Information-Analytical Centre the right decision of the matter is the
retaking the first edition of the book by the authors request. Expert
Davit Davtyan has underlined that ANALITIKA.at.ua IAC will afterwards
follow the cases of the falsification of Armenian history in order
to prevent fact distortion and provide objective scientific research
of the history.
Visiting the website of ANALITIKA.at.ua one van makes sure that the
center is really counteracting the anti-Armenian propaganda.
PARLIAMENTARY INTERIM COMMISSION FOR MARCH INCIDENTS TO APPLY TO PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA FOR AMNESTY ANNOUNCEMENT
ArmInfo
2009-06-04 14:08:00
ArmInfo. Parliamentary Interim Commission to study the incidents
of March 1-2 in Yerevan is going to submit an application to the
President of Armenia for amnesty announcement, Artsvik Minasyan,
parliamentarian from ARFD, a member of the Interim Commission, said
at the meeting of the Interim Commission on Thursday.
‘Representatives of the Interim Commission have repeatedly come out for
softening of the domestic political situation. In addition, amnesty
is among the recommendations of PACE resolution’, Minasyan said. He
highlighted the necessity of announcing amnesty not only for the
arrestees after the March incidents, but also in general. ‘Since the
circumstances of the death of 10 people are still unknown, we propose
that amnesty is not applied to those charged with the death of those
10 people’, A. Minasyan said. For his part, another representative of
the Interim Commission Naira Zohrabyan proposed that the statement
lays stress on the March incidents since the current tense domestic
political situation is the result of the very incidents.
Another representative of the Interim Commission, Leader of New Times
Party Aram Karapetyan said: ‘I am against this political document
since the Interim Commission comprises representatives of political
forces that could independently present the stands of their parties
regarding the amnesty announcement. In addition, I am surprised at the
fact that a person empowered to announce amnesty proposes political
forces to make a relevant statement’.
Earlier on May 28 President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan called on
political figures, parties and the Public Council for applying to
the presidential residence for amnesty announcement.
DAVUTOGLU EXPECTS OBAMA MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS TO CHANGE ‘ATMOSPHERE’
Today’s Zaman
June 3 2009
Turkey
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu voiced expectations on Monday that
US President Barack Obama’s upcoming message to the Muslim world,
which he will deliver later this week, is likely to build on the
remarks he made to the Turkish Parliament in April.
Obama is set to deliver a speech on Thursday in Cairo as part of a
push to improve US relations with Muslims. Davutoglu, in an interview
held with Dow Jones Newswires in Washington, said he predicted Obama’s
speech will expand upon his April 6 remarks in Turkey, in which Obama
said the US "is not at war with Islam."
"You are changing the psychological atmosphere, which is a must,"
Davutoglu was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires, which noted
that the interview was held between meetings with US officials.
"One small but meaningful change for Turkey: Obama has called the
US relationship with Turkey a ‘model’ partnership, moving away from
the usual description of a strategic partnership between the US and
the secular, Muslim country that straddles Asia and Europe," the Dow
Jones report highlighted.
During his two-day landmark visit to Turkey, Obama refrained
from employing the frequently used "strategic partnership" term to
define the relations between Turkey and the United States, but rather
suggested building a ‘model partnership’ between Turkey and the United
States with a unity based on ideals and values.
"Before, it was seen as a military relationship," Davutoglu was quoted
as saying, while he also said that now he hoped the relationship with
the US will be a fuller one that encompasses cultural and economic
issues, as well as military and diplomatic matters.
While in Turkey, Obama said: "I think where there’s the most promise
is in the idea that Turkey and the United States can build a model
partnership, one in which a majority Christian and a majority Muslim
nation, a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents
can come together; we can create a modern international community that
is respectful, secure and prosperous. This is extremely important."
In a message sent to the ongoing 28th Annual Conference on US-Turkish
Relations held in the Washington area, President Abdullah Gul referred
to Obama’s visit to Turkey as "evidence of the vital partnership
between Turkey and the US."
In Washington, Davutoglu had talks with Obama administration officials
to coordinate some of the stickiest foreign policy questions in
his region.
On Monday, Davutoglu met with the Obama administration’s national
security adviser, James Jones, and the US special representative to
Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. He planned to meet Dennis
Ross, the special envoy to Iran, on Tuesday, as well as Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Davutuglu’s visit comes as Turkey takes over the United Nations
Security Council’s rotating presidency, which begins Monday. He is
scheduled to proceed to New York on Wednesday after delivering a
speech at the American-Turkish Council conference on Tuesday evening.
Davutoglu, meanwhile, downplayed potential stumbling blocks such
as prospects for the passage of a US congressional resolution to
officially recognize the killings of Anatolian-Armenians during World
War I as genocide, saying he doesn’t expect it will clear Congress.
OSCE MISSION CARRIES OUT PLAN MONITORING AT NKR AND AZERI ARMED FORCES CONTACT-LINE
Noyan Tapan
June 3, 2009
STEPANAKERT, JUNE 3, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the agreement reached
with the NKR authorities in advance, on June 3, the OSCE mission
carried out a plan monitoring at the NKR and Azeri armed forces
contact-line in the direction of Aghdam, near the populated area
of Marzili.
>From the positions of NKR Defence Army the monitoring was conducted
by OSCE Office Coordinator, Lieutenant-Colonel Imre Palatinus
(Hungary) and Field Assistant of Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Vladimir Chuntulov (Bulgaria).
According to the NKR Foreign Ministry Press Service, the monitoring
was held according to the schedule. No cases of violation of the
cease-fire regime were recorded during the monitoring.
Representatives of the NKR Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry
accompanied the monitoring mission from the Karabakh side.
EAFJD HAS RELEASED A REPORT ON THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S LAST LEGISLATURE
PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.06.2009 16:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the run-up to this week’s European Parliament
elections, The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
(EAFJD) has released a report on the European Parliament’s last
legislature between 2004 and 2009, which, it said, "enlightens
the positions adopted by the various political groups on the
issues relating to foreign affairs, such as Turkey’s accession,
the European Neighborhood Policy, the relations between the European
Union and Armenia [and] the destruction by Azerbaijan of the Armenian
cultural heritage." The 19-page report accused some MEPs of acting as a
"lobbyists" in favor of Turkey, while praising the European United Left
Group (GUE) — known to be close to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) — calling it "the most coherent group," in regards
to Turkey’s EU accession issue. The European Green Party "started
defending the Turkish immigrants from discrimination and progressively
moved to the unconditional support of the Turkish accession by the
dissimulation of the justified obstacles which impedes the accession
process. Consequently, it constitutes today a real [Turkish] lobby
within the European Parliament," the report states.
"The GUE has the most coherent position, which is in favor of Turkish
accession by principle and at the same time it firmly expresses the
preliminary demand of respect for European values, among which is the
recognition of the genocide," it says. The European People’s Party
(EPP) got its share of harsh criticism from the EAFJD, particularly
due to the stance of its member Ria Oomen-Ruijten of the Netherlands
who has acted as the rapporteur for Turkey for the last two years.
"The position of the EPP group got considerably worse, in particular
under the influence of Mrs. Ria Oomen-Ruijten, which showed a singular
leniency towards Ankara in general and was resolutely hostile to
any clear mention of the Armenian issue in particular. Mrs. Ria
Oomen-Ruijten notably said publicly offensive remarks about the
Armenians on several occasions. Her attitude pleased some EPP members
who continuously supported the idea of Turkey’s accession and who
always showed reluctance to mention the Armenian Genocide."