Author: nina hovnanian

ARE NETWORK WIRETAPPINGS POSSIBLE? (VIDEO)

November 4 2013

“Wiretapping in Armenia is not news, we all have heard about the
wiretapping of March 1, 2008, which were published by an unknown
person. Armenia has always had that opportunity, when there is a
court decision, mobile operators provide these recordings”,- so
replied the information security expert Samvel Martirosyan to the
question of Aravot.am whether he is aware about wiretapping devices
sent from Russia to Armenia. He noted that there might be a word on
network wiretapping, for example, about wiretapping of Skype. Then,
he continued, “Skype has officially announced that it is cooperating
with the police in all countries, if there is a justified decision by
the court, it will provide the recording of wiretapping. Therefore,
it should be always kept in mind that at least the American services:
Facebook and Gmail are wiretapped by the U.S. government.” Mr.

Martirosyan stated that “it is clear that if there is a cooperation
within the CSTO, there might be a cooperation in this field, too.” To
our question whether he agrees that almost everything is wiretapped
in Armenia, Mr. Martirosyan responded the following, “If a person
thinks that he is doing something that is subject to wiretapping, he
should always take into account that he can be wiretapped, regardless
of where he is living: in Armenia or Mozambique.”

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

Read more at:

DEPOPULATION CRISIS IN ARMENIA

The Kololian Foundation of Toronto, in cooperation with the
International Center for Human Development (Armenia, Yerevan),
announced the completion of a one year research project in Armenia
aimed at identifying the root causes of emigration from Armenia. The
research also resulted in the making of recommendations to reverse the
de-population tide. The research report was presented on October 8,
in Yerevan, at a United Nations conference.

The research was conducted by four distinct academic groups: the
Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, the Research and Business
Center of the Faculty of Economics at Yerevan State University, the
Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation and an independent group of academics
who present the case of repopulating Kashatagh and Shahumyan.

Armenia’s demographic and emigration trends have reached crisis
proportions. This acutely threatens the very existence of Armenia.

Drawing on statistical data, other research sources, media reports,
focus groups and original surveys, the researchers in Yerevan
assembled various analyses to show common patterns. Together, these
sources have produced a set of policy recommendations through which
the Armenian government and other stakeholders can take action to
reverse population decline.

This appears to be a first class piece of work and addresses the
painful issues which we are all familiar with. But, the most important
thing is that the research was done by young people on the ground in
Yerevan. Three of these young people are going on a speaking tour in
the Diaspora, Europe and the Americas.

In addressing the issue of declining population, The Report examines
the following areas:

Employment and educational systems Corruption and the lack of
Rule of law Economic and judicial reforms The need for Government
accountability Business environment Lack of a cohesive parliamentary
opposition Tax and customs policies The need for civic activism and
legal consciousness.

Open Letter From the Sponsor of the Research Project, Vahan Kololian

October, 2013

Dear Compatriots:

Re: The Study on the depopulation crisis in Armenia

The shrinking population of Armenia is a very serious issue. “One day
we shall have a free and independent Armenia” had become the battle
cry of all Armenians for 70 years, following the genocide and the
Bolshevik revolution. At the time of Armenian independence in 1991,
the population of Armenia stood at 4.0 million. Today it is below 3.0
million. A free, independent Armenia was achieved, and yet today we are
witnessing the dissipation of Armenia, resulting from unprecedented
levels of emigration. This exodus is now at crisis proportions. It
represents an existential threat to the country.

Armenia’s adversaries are watching. They continue their blockade,
and watch with satisfaction as Armenia empties itself.

Background of this Research Project

While it would be easy to lodge criticism at current government policy,
particularly from the diaspora, we felt that a more constructive and
researched based approach was called for. It was felt that a research
project should be launched from within Armenia on the demographic
trends and the de-population of Armenia.

In co-operation with the International Centre for Human Development
(“ICHD”) in Yerevan, a selection process was conducted, resulting in
four research institutions or groups being selected:

Russian-Armenian (Slavonic University) Research Team Research and
Business Center of the Faculty of Economics of Yerevan State University
Research Group of Arshak Balayan, Armen Gakavian and Avetik Mejlumyan
Researchers from Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation

The role of the Kololian Foundation has been to fund the research
and its related costs. The independence of the researchers has been
maintained throughout the project.

Objective

It was felt that an academic and disciplined approach needed to be
taken, to search for the root causes of population decline.

Limitations of the Study

The real desire of those supporting this study, and of the researchers
themselves, is for this paper to be a catalyst for a robust national
dialogue, not resulting in finger pointing, but consisting of real
self-examination of what needs to be done by all state and non-state
actors in Armenia and the Diaspora. Only when the taboos come down
and we bare our souls to one another, can we begin the process of
addressing the fundamental issues which are driving citizens out
of Armenia.

Some Positive Developments

There are some initiatives being taken by the current government
that are commendable. One such initiative is the Ministry of the
Diaspora’s Syrian-Armenian resettlement project. It is early days,
but one hopes that Syrian Armenians will stay in Armenia, long after
Syria returns to a post-war calm.

There are also some positive signs where the private sector is
participating in nation building activities. Micro Lending is being
developed by certain banks as an active way to make loans to job
creating enterprises and projects. Artsakh Bank is a good example
of Micro Lending where micro loans are increasingly a part of its
commercial activities. Artsakh Bank reports good take up of its
micro lending program, in agriculture, processing and small scale
manufacturing. And most importantly it reports a very low failure rate,
where their portfolio has performed above expectations.

Follow on Work Required

This paper does not pretend to address all issues or offer all
solutions. The issues not addressed in depth in the current paper,
which need to be examined are:

the need for organized and effective parliamentary opposition; a
study of citizens’ purchasing power, where basic goods and services
in Armenia are 3 to 4 times more expensive than neighbouring
countries. Blockades and other trade barriers such as tariffs need
to be studied. The question must be asked, “is there a section of
Armenian society that benefits from such restricted trade by driving
and maintaining higher prices?”

the need to review Armenia’s post high school education where more
emphasis could be put on trades and less on the arts and humanities;
the need for private ownership of land, in combination with expansion
of an agricultural policy, where land grants are made (similar to
“Homesteading” in North America, 1800 – 1900), to families who
show capability to farm such lands. Such a program can be supported
financially by the Diaspora.

better co-ordination of diaspora support. Since independence,
diaspora organizations such as The All Armenia Fund, The Armenian
Relief Society and AGBU have donated money to bricks and mortar
projects, schools, clinics, and hospitals. Is it time for the state
to take over funding infrastructure and the diaspora to fund programs
in health, housing, job creation, relocation, and most importantly,
enticing and integrating of immigrants?

The sponsor and the researchers of the current paper, invite others
to take up these issues and join us in bringing forward ideas for
the betterment of Armenia.

Let’s be Positive

It is important that we approach the issues afflicting Armenia with
a sense of optimism. Negative tone and negative attitude produce
negative results. Let’s remember the words of William Saroyan:

“Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into
the desert without bread or water. Then see if they will not laugh,
sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world,
see if they will not create a new Armenia.”

The resilience and determination of Armenians is legendary. Let’s
turn these attributes to addressing and conquering the social issues
of Armenia.

Respectfully,

Vahan Kololian The Kololian Foundation Toronto, Canada
[email protected] [email protected]

GUL AGAIN HINTS AT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT TO RIVAL ERDOGAN

November 4, 2013 – 14:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, has again
hinted he is prepared to challenge the country’s authoritarian Prime
Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in presidential elections next summer
that could decide the increasingly vexed question of who runs Turkey.

Asked during an exclusive weekend interview with the Guardian
whether he would seek a second term, Gul said it was too early to
make a decision. When pressed, he declined to rule out his candidacy,
saying he was keeping “all options open”.

Erdogan has served three consecutive terms as prime minister since
2003, during which time he transformed Turkey’s economy and its
international standing but has been heavily criticized for perceived
dictatorial tendencies.

Under rules adopted by his neo-Islamist Justice and Development party
(AK), Erdogan is barred from seeking a fourth term as an MP. But
he has done little to discourage speculation that he may seek the
presidency next year, when the winner will be elected for the first
time by popular vote.

Speaking in a television interview last month, Erdogan indicated he
would stand for president if nominated. “Whatever duty my party burdens
me with, whatever it wishes of me, I will Endeavour to do it,” he said.

Yet for Erdogan to achieve his aim, the popular Gul, a former foreign
minister and political moderate who became president in 2007, would
have to agree to voluntarily make way – and it is increasingly unclear
whether he will. A job swap has also been floated, with Gul moving to
the prime minister’s office while Erdogan takes on a presidency with
enhanced powers, following the model created last year by Russia’s
Vladimir Putin and the former president, Dmitri Medvedev, the Guardian
says. But a growing divergence of views over the government’s handling
of last summer’s violent street protests, and over what Gul calls
Turkey’s “democratic deficit” and the “normalization” of Islamic
values within Turkey’s secular constitutional framework, has prompted
suggestions that the two men, who together have dominated the Turkish
political scene for more than a decade, may soon turn on each other.

Speaking to the Guardian, Gul insisted Erdogan was a friend, not a
rival, and dismissed talk of policy rifts over his more inclusive
stance on issues such as alcohol use and when Muslim women may wear
the headscarf.

“We established the ruling party together with Tayyip Erdogan,
we’re the founders of the party. We took the party to government
together and we changed Turkey together. Erdogan is a friend and we
have worked shoulder to shoulder with him in the course of all these
years,” Gul said.

But he reiterated his support for peaceful protests, for official
investigations into police conduct, and for his view that Turkish
society needed greater openness.

“There is a democratic deficit in Turkey, in other words we have a
way to go in taking our standards and criteria further,” Gul said.

Much had been achieved, but there was still more to do, he said,
referring to his recent speech in Izmir when he called for a second
generation of social and legal reforms.

Opinion is divided over whether Gul will launch a serious challenge
to Erdogan’s dominance. Some observers say that he is carefully
positioning himself for a run at a second term, but others disagree.

“Gul talks a lot but he does not do anything,” a leading Istanbul
businesswoman and political insider said. “They are playing good
cop, bad cop like they always do. This is a winning team. Why change
the team?”

AZERBAIJANI ARMY HAS LOST 76 SERVICEMEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

Today – 11:38

Azerbaijani Army has lost 76 soldiers since the beginning of 2013. As
Armenpress informs, “Doctrine” journalistic military research school
informs about this. The information is taken from the publications in
Azerbaijani media. Head of the non-governmental organization Jasur
Sumerenli underlined that more 86 soldiers have been wounded since
the beginning of the year. 10 people died in military conditions and
66 of them died in non-military conditions. Besides this, student of
the military college died in unknown conditions.

9 people died because of the accidents, 14 servicemen died because
of road accidents, 11 of them died because of illnesses, 16 of them
committed suicides and 16 of them died in various situations

CONSTRUCTING CONTROVERSY: BUILDING CONTINUES AT DISPUTED SITE WHILE WAITING ON COURT RULING

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

NEWS | 04.11.13 | 15:22

Photolure

By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Despite an administrative court ban, the controversial construction
at 5 Komitas street resumed on Monday, with all its might and noise.

Head foreman Rafik Khachatryan told ArmeniaNow that the construction
has never stopped and that the company in charge has all the legal
grounds to carry it on.

Meanwhile, the administrative court of Yerevan has prohibited Liber
company to implement construction at the address of 5 Komitas street,
“until the legal act solving the issue comes into effect.”

Since summer there have been repeated acts of protest by civil
activists and the residents against construction at this address.

Residents of the neighbor buildings claim that the block-of-flats would
compromise the seismic resistance of their buildings and will block
the light. A seven-storey building is planned to be erected there
(or even higher, as speculation goes), while the neighbor buildings
are four-storey ones. In August and September, there were several
incidents involving protestors and the police.

The residents who received the administrtaive court notices turned to
the police on Saturday demanding to make them stop the construction,
however the head foreman made reference to the provision of the law
by which the administrative court decision “is subject to immediate
implementation in accordance with the order provided for by the law
on Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts” and insisted that only
the Compulsory Enforcement Service of Judicial Acts (CESJA) has the
power of stopping the construction. Police officers accepted this
argumentation as grounded and left the site.

Khachatryan said today that nobody from CESJA visited the construction
site to demand to stop the construction. ArmeniaNow has not been
successful in obtaining any comment from the service.

The ruling of the administrative court is unprecedented for densely
populated Yerevan, where residents of several more buildings (in
Hrachya Kochar, Sayat-Nova and Amiryan streets) have now joined the
protest agaist those in charge of the construction, claiming that
it’s being done with violations of seismic resistance norms and by
occupying their courtyard areas.

TANER AKCAM: ISLAMIZATION OF ARMENIANS THE PRODUCT OF SYSTEMATIC POLITICAL STRATEGY OF ASSIMILATION

14:50 04.11.2013

Armenians, Turkey

The Islamization of Armenians in Turkey is the product of a long-term
and systematic political strategy of assimilating and Turkifying the
Armenian community, according to documents from the late Ottoman era,
said Taner Akcam, a Turkish-German historian and sociologist, at the
Conference on Islamized Armenians held in Istanbul over the weekend,
Today’s Zaman reports.

“The term ‘genocide’ has always been defined in relation to the
Holocaust. The genocide of European Jews has always been at the center
of discussions. Whether a mass killing should be called genocide or
not has always been decided by comparison with the Holocaust. If
the case resembles the Holocaust it is a genocide; if not, it
cannot be a genocide,” said Akcam on Saturday, adding that the same
applies to the mass killing of Armenians that some call the Armenian
genocide. The Conference on Islamized Armenians was held by the Hrant
Dink Foundation, which is named after a Turkish-Armenian journalist
who was fatally shot outside his office by an extremist in 2007.

Many academics and analysts came together at Istanbul’s Bogazici
University for a three-day conference organized by the Hrant Dink
Foundation, which addressed the overlooked and unknown stories of
Armenians who converted to Islam since 1915.

Speaking at the conference’s opening ceremony, Rakel Dink, the widow of
Hrant Dink, illuminated the conference’s purpose, saying, “We are going
to open the pages of history that have so far never been questioned
and hear and witness the riddles that have never been put into words.”

“We never want to hear what they have done. We never talk about
what has happened to them and how it occurred. Our conscience was
only able to deny the genocide,” Dink said in her opening speech,
adding that the facts should not be kept hidden in the dark

Dink’s widow emphasized that Dink was paying special attention to
the issue of Islamized Armenians, saying, “Hrant wanted this issue
to be discussed, not only for the ones who passed away but for the
ones who are alive.” There is a claim that Dink was killed because
he began to research Islamized Armenians across the Ottoman Empire.

Addressing the conference, Akcam said that as the Armenian genocide
had for a long time been researched and defined in connection with the
Holocaust, the very important issue of assimilation was disregarded
and the events were understood only in terms of the number of dead and
exiled Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Akcam, who is the first Turkish academic to acknowledge and openly
discuss the topic, said that the Armenian community has been crushed
by the denial of the “genocide” by the Turkish government, and that
for quite a while Armenian academics have studied the issue by drawing
parallels between the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. “And thus
they have ignored and separated some parts of the genocide such as
forcible conversions to Islam, forced relocation of Armenian kids into
the orphanages and accommodation of Armenians in certain regions of
the country, as they did not fit into the framework of the Holocaust,”
Akcam said.

He also added that the Turkish policies of assimilation for Armenians
were not considered systematic for a long time, as Armenians who
converted from Christianity to Islam were even moved from modern
Turkey to other parts of the empire. “However, assimilation was an
integral part of the genocide since its start,” he underlined.

Saying that the history of Armenians has been a “history of
victimization,” Sergey Vardanian, an Armenian scholar from Yerevan,
told the audience about the Islamized Armenians of Hamshen, a town in
Rize province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. He said that Hamshen
Armenians were forcibly converted to Islam, and that they converted
“in order to survive.” However, “they have never forgotten that
they are Armenian, and they never married with other Muslim groups,”
according to Vardanian.

MEETING THE ARMENIAN MP OF IRAQI KURDISTAN

By Hamo Moskofian, Dhok, Iraqi Kurdistan, 3 November 2013

In late October we met, at the St. Nerses Shnorhali Church of Dhok*,
Iraqi Kurdistan, Yervant Aminian, the newly-elected Iraqi Kurdistan
member of parliament. We were introduced to this talented, highly
cultured, kind and young architect during our first journalistic
mission to Kurdistan. Mr Aminian had not only constructed the Armenian
church, but also the “Ararat” wedding hall, the pastor’s residence,
the Armenian club, a series of building complexes for the United
Nations and the Municipality of Dhok.

Dhok (Duhok, Dohuk) Dam & Surrounding

Dhok is considered the most beautiful modern city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

It is one of the bustling modern cities of the region. Most of the
Armenians in this part of Iraqi Kurdistan are from Zakho, Hawrez and
Awzrouk. They are descendants of the 1915 Armenian Genocide survivors
who were protected by Kurdish tribal leaders Shandin Beg, Hmo Shro,
Jahangiz Agha and others.

Armenians such as Mr. Aminian and his predecessor Kurdistan MP Aram
Shahin Bakoyan have lived and prospered here since 1919. Many of them
had emigrated through the help of Levon Pasha, after the fall of
the first Armenian Republic. Many villagers re-emigrated to Soviet
Armenia in 1947, while others recently received the new Republic of
Armenia passports which they proudly carry in an area which was once
Western Armenia, Kurdistan, Assyria.

On Oct. 26, our drivers took us on a three-hour drive from
Ankawa-Erbil to Dhok to meet Mr. Aminian. We were warmly welcomed by
the parliamentarian and Mr. Vartkes Sarkisian, a scholar, lecturer
at several institutions of Kurdish language and literature.

Hovsep Ashjian, the Lebanese-Armenian tourist company founder who
was in the group, could not believe that in such a remote part of
the Middle East another Armenia exists, with such proud, friendly,
hospitable, patriotic compatriots, who can speak only Kurdish and
Arabic, understand very little of their mother tongue, but have been
the defenders of our “fortress” for decades.

Our hosts took us on a sightseeing tour of Dhok, including the old
Armenian quarter, Assyrian and Syriac churches, to mosques, Yezidi
shrines, and to the Dhok Dam and waterfall. It was noticeable that
our hosts are well known and respected by the Kurdish elite and the
military “peshmerga”. They consider the Armenians their brothers
and allies.

“We always had a very strong presence in Dhok and in the region. We
are considered a talented and hard-working people, trustworthy and
courageous who played a great role in developing Kurdistan,” said
Aminian over the lunch. “It’s true that Kurdish-Armenian relations
during history were not always easy, but today the Democratic Party
of Kurdistan and President Masoud Barzani are doing everything to
make Armenians feel as if they are in their homeland!”

Now that he is an MP, Mr. Aminian’s life will be complicated. In
addition to his duties at the parliament in Erbil, he along with
his fellow MPs from Dhok, will try to solve the problems of his
constituency and that of Armenians of Kurdistan. We wish him success
in his commitment for a better society, and in building bridges with
Armenia and the Diaspora, as he promised.

* Dhok – other variations are Duhok & Dohuk.

DISCUSSIONS ENTRE ANKARA ET WASHINGTON

ACHAT DE MISSILES CHINOIS PAR LA TURQUIE

La Turquie et les Etats-Unis, allies de l’Otan, ont entame des
discussions après que Washington a exprime de “graves preoccupations”
au sujet de l’intention affichee par Ankara d’acquerir des missiles
de longue portee auprès de la Chine.

Le sous-secretaire americain a la Defense Jim Miller a tenu des
discussions a huis clos avec des responsables turcs a Ankara, a
annonce un porte-parole de l’ambassade des Etats-Unis en Turquie.

“Le sous-secretaire a la Defense Jim Miller est venu en Turquie pour
des consultations bilaterales sur des questions de securite regionale,
notamment la Syrie, la relation turco-americaine en matière de defense
et notre partenariat au sein de l’OTAN”, a declare le porte-parole,
T.J. Grubisha, a l’AFP. Le mois dernier, les autorites turques avaient
annonce l’ouverture de negociations avec China Precision Machinery
Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) pour l’acquisition de missiles
sol-air Hongqi, un contrat estime a 4 milliards de dollars.

La preference accordee par les Turcs a cette entreprise nationale
chinoise, qui fait l’objet de sanctions americaines pour avoir livre
des armes a l’Iran et a la Syrie en depit d’un embargo, a irrite
ses allies de l’OTAN. Les Etats-Unis notamment avaient exprime leur
“graves preoccupations”.

L’ambassadeur des Etats-Unis en Turquie, Francis Ricciardone,
avait ainsi tire la sonnette d’alarme le mois dernier, evoquant une
“question strategique de defense mutuelle”, alors que “la cooperation
industrielle de defense americano-turque est intense”.

Ankara a justifie son choix de retenir la Chine plutôt que ses
concurrents americain Raytheon, russe Rosoboronexport et franco-italien
Eurosam par des raisons de prix et de transfert de technologie. Le
Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a balaye mercredi dernier
les critiques en soulignant que “personne n’a le droit d’intervenir
dans les decisions independantes” de la Turquie. Il a neanmoins
precise qu’aucune decision n’avait encore ete prise.

ANKARA, 02 nov 2013 (AFP) –

lundi 4 novembre 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

L’ARMENIE CONSACRE 0,25 PERCEPT DU PIB POUR FINANCER LA SCIENCE ET LA RECHERCHE

ARMENIE

Arthur Iskhanian, membre de l’Academie Nationale des Sciences
d’Armenie, s’en est pris aujourd’hui au gouvernement pour son
incapacite a tenir sa promesse d’augmenter le financement graduellement
pour la science et la recherche.

S’exprimant lors d’une conference de presse il a declare que le
financement du gouvernement pour la science ne represente que 0,25%
du PIB alors que le gouvernement a promis en 2010 d’augmenter cette
somme progressivement a la moyenne europeenne qui est de 2 pour cent
du PIB, en 2020. Il a declare que trois annees se sont ecoulees, mais
aucune percee a ete faite pour augmenter le financement de la science.

Selon lui, ce qui est a blâmer est l’inaction du gouvernement et de
hauts responsables. Il a dit de 300 millions de drams ont ete liberes
par le gouvernement au cours des deux dernières annees pour 600 jeunes
scientifiques, mais cela est très petite somme.

Un groupe Facebook a ete mis en place pour exiger l’augmentation du
financement de la science.

lundi 4 novembre 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

LA TURQUIE RETROUVE LES LETTRES Q, W ET X, ET CE N’EST PAS UNE BONNE NOUVELLE POUR TOUT LE MONDE

MEDIAS

Par Ariane Bonzon –

” Je suis Turc, droit et travailleur. Je dois proteger les très
jeunes, respecter les anciens, aimer ma patrie et ma nation plus que
moi-meme. ”

D’Ankara, la capitale, jusqu’au moindre village d’Anatolie, les
ecoliers entonnaient a l’unisson presque mot pour mot le meme serment.

Alignes et en uniforme, ils s’adressaient au ” Grand Ataturk “, dont
le buste impassible et moule dans le bronze leur faisait face, pour
promettre au general-fondateur de la Republique de ” poursuivre sans
repit ” les ” buts ” qu’il leur a ” fixes “. Avant de s’exclamer dans
un dernier elan : ” Comme il est heureux celui qui peut se dire turc !

”

Que les ecoliers soient lazes de la Mer noire, arabes a la frontière
syrienne, grecs orthodoxes d’Istanbul ou Kurdes de Diyarbakir,
des plaines de l’ouest aux montagnes de l’est du pays, leur petite
ceremonie, suivait chaque lundi matin, voire quotidiennement parfois,
le meme rite quasi-immuable depuis 80 ans. Jusqu’au 8 octobre, date
de sa suppression officielle.

Nee dans une famille turque-musulmane -son grand-père fut l’un des
cadres du parti Union et progrès, au fondement du kemalisme- Maya
Arakon etait ecolière juste après le coup d’Etat de 1980. Elle se
souvient :

” Chaque matin, c’etait une etape obligatoire, une chose dont je
voulais me debarrasser le plus vite possible pour ne pas me tenir
debout en pleine cour de l’ecole pendant des heures ! Je n’y trouvais
aucun sens, je recitais ce serment juste comme un poème appris par
coeur, sans vraiment comprendre le contenu nationaliste. ”

” J’ai meme dû le reciter dès la maternelle “, decrit a son tour
Igal Aciman la trentaine, qui appartient, lui, a une famille turque
et juive d’Istanbul :

” Ca n’avait pas grand sens pour moi. Je n’ai jamais trouve ce serment
adapte a un pays qui veut devenir democratique. Sans parler du fait
que la loi le rendait obligatoire pour les enfants. ”

Tandis que Maral, Armenienne d’Istanbul, pointe l’absurdite :

Lire la suite, voir lien plus bas

lundi 4 novembre 2013, Jean Eckian ©armenews.com