TURKEY THREATENS TO BAN OUTSPOKEN POLITICIANS FROM THE ANZAC COMMEMORATION IN 2015
ABC Online, Australia
Aug 21 2013
Updated Wed 21 Aug 2013, 9:44pm AEST
The Turkish government uses the centenary celebrations at Gallipoli
to try to shut down criticism of the Armenian genocide.
Michael Brissenden
Watch the program at
DEATHS IN EGYPT ARE OVERSHADOWING THIS OTHER BIG EVENT
PolicyMic
Aug 21 2013
Haykaram Nahapetyan
Adly Mansour, Egypt’s interim president, tweeted on Saturday,
“Egypt decided to sign onto the international document recognizing
the Armenian Genocide.” Raymond Ibrahim, a prominent Middle East and
Islam expert reported about this on his personal web page.
He tweeted in Arabic, “Our representatives at the UN will sign the
international document that acknowledges the Armenian Genocide,
which was committed by the Turkish military, leading to the deaths
of one million.”
Many Turkish human rights activists and intellectuals – including
the writer and Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk – recognize the
Ottoman-Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915. But the government
of Turkey continues to deny it; recognition of the Armenian genocide
difficult for Ankara officials.
If Cairo accomplishes what Adly Mansour allegedly has tweeted about,
Egypt will become the first country on the African continent and the
second predominantly Muslim state, after Lebanon, to condemn the
Armenian genocide. At this point, about 20 countries have adopted
decisions labeling the organized massacres of the Armenian people as
genocide, including Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada, Slovakia,
and others.
Ibrahim said that Cairo’s leaders were angry at Turkey for dooming
the interim authorities for recent violations. On Monday, Ankara even
moved further by criticizing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and the group’s Secretary-General for not taking an active
stance against Egypt, The Associated Press reported. The Turkish
citizenship of the OIC’s secretary general didn’t stop Ankara’s deputy
Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag from calling for his resignation. Irbahim
qualifies the tweet as a response to Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan’s
recent condemnation of Egypt. Erdogan even used the g-word, saying
the Egyptian forces committed genocide against its own people. The
two countries withdrew their Ambassadors respectively from Ankara
and Cairo.
According to Levent Gumrukcu, the spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry, Turkey’s diplomatic channels found no evidence that the
above-mentioned tweet was authentic. On Monday, Egypt’s mission to the
United Nations in New York City confirmed in telephone conversation
that the Twitter account in reality didn’t belong to Mansour. Nabil
Fahmy, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, said, “As far as I know, Egypt did not
sign anything in the UN over the past two days.” He also described the
Turkish stance toward Egypt as “unacceptable”. According to the State
Information Service in Cairo, “The decision to scrap the planned naval
exercise with Turkey was made in protest at the unacceptable Turkish
statements and a clear interference in Egypt’s domestic affairs.”
In social media, both Armenians and Turks extensively reacted to the
latest news. Some Turkish users on timeturk.com claimed, “Mansour is
Christian,” similar to the Muslim Brotherhood’s statements regarding
the Christian affiliation of the interim leader. Turkish users saw his
religious profile as something, which shouldn’t make the recognition
of the Armenian genocide in current day Cairo unexpected.
In Armenia, Gevorg Altunyan, the director of First Channel’s news
service, referred to these developments on his Facebook page.
“Although Cairo rejects the genocide recognition rumors at this point,
the importance of possible acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide by
a predominantly Muslim country shouldn’t certainly be underestimated.
And it doesn’t really matter what is the reason behind recognition,”
he said. An Armenian scholar Gevorg Poghosyan appeared on the ArmNews
TV channel, saying, “The Armenian genocide condemnation normally comes
to the international agenda when some countries experience problems
with Turkey.”
However, some users describe the scandalous tweet as an attempt to
alarm Ankara about possible developments if Erdogan doesn’t revise
his anti-Mansour attitude. Interestingly, the Egyptian press recently
has published several articles on the Armenian genocide. Cairo’s Sata
Balad newspaper reported Turkey’s interference with Egypt’s internal
affairs is reminiscent of atrocities of the early 20th century. Essam
Kamel, the editor-in-chief of Veto, an Egyptian independent daily,
also reported on the same topic.
Summarizing the controversy around recognition of the Armenian genocide
by Cairo’s interim leadership, Kamel said, “The Egyptian government
has the right to hesitate in acknowledging the massacres of Armenians
by the Turkish forces due to the high incitement of Asitana [today’s
Ankara] as this acknowledgement will have bad repercussions on the
Egyptian-Turkish relations.”
POLICE: NEARLY 60 TONS OF HEMP HAS BEEN LIQUIDATED IN ARMENIA SINCE THE LAUNCH OF “HEMP-POPPY 2013” OPERATIVE AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN EARLY AUGUST
by Ashot Safaryan
ARMINFO
Wednesday, August 21, 12:13
“Hemp-Poppy 2013” operative and preventive measures are held in
Armenia 5-25 August to expose and liquidate illegal hemp and poppy
plants in the country, the Police said.
As of August 19, the police have liquidated nearly 60 tons of hemp.
Nearly 60 cases of illegal drug turnover were exposed with 3kg
of marijuana, over 1.5 kg of desomorphin, 43.5 g of opium, and 25
tablets of psychotropic medicine being confiscated. In addition, 5
guns, 410 shells, 4 grenades, and 5 cold steel arms were exposed and
confiscated since the launch of the operative and preventive measures.
INFORMATION THAT SOME PEOPLE TRIED TO ILLEGALLY INTRUDE RUSSIAN EMBASSY’S TERRITORY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REALITY
by Alexandr Avanesov
ARMINFO
Wednesday, August 21, 18:34
The employees of the Russian Embassy in Armenia have nothing to do
with the August 17 incident in the territory of the Embassy, the
statement of the Embassy says.
The source says that the information that some people were trying to
illegally intrude and/or throw a/some thing/things into the territory
of the Russian Embassy has nothing to do with the reality.
Earlier the press service of the Armenian Police reported that on
August 17, around 10 pm, some people were trying to intrude the
specially protected territory of the Russian Embassy and started
a scuffle with the Embassy’s employees guarding the territory and
disobeyed their legal demands. About an hour later, civil activists
Melik Daveyan, Karen Haroutyunyan and Gor Arakelyan, who were picketing
the Yerevan Municipality building, which is not far from the Russian
Embassy building, were taken to the Central Police Department of
Yerevan.
To note, the protesters demand resignation of a number of officials
engaged in the transport sector. All the three protesters refused to
give any testimony. Ruzanna Grigoryan, activist of the Let’s Pay 100
AMD initiative, has written on her Facebook page that the activists
“were detained groundlessly and released three hours later”.
RUSSIAN EXPERT: UNIFICATION OF AZERBAIJANI AND TURKISH ARMIES THREATENS AZERBAIJAN WITH LOSS OF SOVEREIGNTY
17:48 21/08/2013 ” ANALYSIS
The idea of creating a single Azerbaijani-Turkish army is not real,
said in an interview with the Azerbaijani news agency “Vesti.az”
Russian politician and expert of the Association of Military Political
Scientists of Russia Alexander Perendzhiev.
“Creating a unified army of two states supposes the formation of these
countries as a single state. It should be a confederation, at least.
But are the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey ready to accept
infringement of their power and sovereignty of their state? Perhaps,
it is unlikely, “- said the expert.
He added that the formation of a confederation will already contribute
to the fact that Azerbaijan’s problems become problems of Turkey and
vice versa. In addition to this it is necessary to create a single
economic, legal, cultural and social space. According to the political
scientist, neither Azerbaijani nor Turkish society is not ready for
such developments.
“Besides that, the union of Baku and Ankara may result in the
absorption of Azerbaijan by Turkey, for the latter is a stronger side.
Thus the total loss of sovereignty of Azerbaijan will be at a risk,”
said Alexander Perendzhiev.
According to him, one should not forget about the different political
roles of army in Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as the position of
the servicemen in the society.
“That is to say, in the end it may happen that there will be
no Azerbaijani-Turkish army at all. Instead there will only be a
Turkish army, which will include Azerbaijanis! In that case, there is
also a strong likelihood that there will be more privates among the
Azerbaijanis, and more commanding officers among the Turkish soldiers,”
says the political scientist.
In addition, he thinks, that another situation will occur concerning
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in case of unification. “Azerbaijani
society, which becomes a part of a single state with Turkey and
united army of Turkey and Azerbaijan, may also have other problems;
that is to say tasks which will be defined in the headquarters of
NATO. And in Brussels, they will hardly be concerned about the return
of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan,” he said.
“It may happen also that Azerbaijan itself will not exist as a
sovereign and independent state,” said the expert.
Answering the question of the agency about the “panic of the Armenian
media about the possible support of Russia towards Azerbaijan in
Karabakh conflict” Perendzhiev noted that the skirmish is held not
only on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops,
but also in the information field.
“I don’t know anything regarding the panic in the official Armenian
governmental media. Most likely, if someone spreads such panic rumors,
then he does this only to undermine the Armenian society and set it
against the present power. And also, in order to separate Russia and
Armenia,” he said.
The expert expressed confidence that Russia will remain neutral in
case of resumption of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and will
take every effort to bring both sides to peace.
Speaking about the probability of war resumption, he noted that
“a lot will depend on prudence of the official Baku and Azerbaijani
society at large.”
ARMENIA EXPORTED ENERGY MORE THAN IMPORTED
12:02, 21 August, 2013
YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS: The export of the electric energy
from the Republic of Armenia in the first half of 2013 has exceeded
the import volumes by about ten times. According to the data provided
by the State Revenue Committee at the Government of the Republic of
Armenia, in the first half of 2013 678,5 million kWh of energy was
exported from Armenia (1 kWh for about 24,5 drams) and 65,9 million
kWh was imported. As reported by Armenpress, in 2013 the cost of one
point of electric energy exported from our country exceeded the import
indicator by about 69%.
In 2012 1 billion 551 million 900 thousand kWh of energy was exported
from Armenia in comparison with the 1 billion 587 million 500 thousand
kWh in 2011. In 2012 the total customs value of the electric energy
exported from Armenia exceeded $90 million. At the same time in 2012
96,7 million kWh of energy (85,3 million kWh from Georgia and 11,4
million kWh from Iran) was imported to Armenia in comparison with the
229,1 million kWh (157,3 million kWh from Georgia and 71,6 million
kWh from Iran) in 2011.
In the first half of 2013 the total export volume from the Republic
of Armenia made $710,395,000.
A PARAITRE : L’AUTOBIOGRAPHIE DE RAPHAEL LEMKIN
Publie le : 21-08-2013
Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous invite
a lire la traduction de Gilbert Beguian d’un article en anglais de
Yascha Mounk publie sur le site The Wall Street Journal, mise en ligne
sur le site de NAM (Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine) le 19 août 2013.
NAM
lundi 19 août 2013
Le Père du Genocide – Autobiographie de Raphael Lemkin
Par Yascha MOUNK
Indigne par les massacres des Armeniens par les Ottomans, un jeune
juriste polonais s’est consacre a la reconnaissance par la loi du
crime de genocide.
Au cours de la Première Guerre Mondiale, Soghomon Tehlirian, un citoyen
armenien, vit, impuissant, les troupes ottomanes tuer sa mère, violer
ses s~urs et battre a mort son père. Six ans plus tard, dans une
rue de Berlin, Tehlirian retrouva Talaat Pacha, un grand vizir de
l’Empire ottoman qui avait coordonne le massacre des Armeniens. ”
Pour ma mère “, dit-il au Pacha en l’abattant.
La presse decrivit Tehlirian comme un heros. Mais en droit, son
cas etait un desastre. Pacha n’ayant jamais ete juge, Tehlirian
fut poursuivi comme un meurtrier ordinaire. Il fut libere au bout
du compte, mais seulement parce que le tribunal de Berlin avait
bien voulu considerer qu’il n’avait agi que sous l’effet d’une ”
contrainte psychologique “.
Raphaël Lemkin, alors jeune etudiant en droit a l’Universite de Lwow,
ne se satisfaisait pas de ce moyen detourne. Il etait revolte que
quelqu’un qui ait a ce point defendu le ” respect de l’ordre moral
de l’espèce humaine ” ait dû etre ” juge irresponsable de ses actes
“. Et c’est ainsi que Lemkin s’attacha a persuader le monde d’adopter
une loi contre le type de ” crime racial ou religieux ” qui avait
coûte la vie aux parents de Tehlirian.
En depit de tous les obstacles, il y parvint.
” Totally Unofficial ” [À Titre Officieux], l’autobiographie posthume
de Lemkin, relate l’histoire de ses remarquables realisations. Ne
en 1900 de parents Juifs polonais de revenus modestes, d’une region
isolee de l’ouest de l’Ukraine, ses progrès furent fulgurants. Dans
un intervalle de temps très court, il s’installa comme avocat de
premier ordre a Varsovie, fuit l’invasion nazie de la Pologne, crea
le terme ” genocide “, officia en tant que conseiller du Ministère de
la Guerre des Etats Unis avant d’enseigner le droit comme professeur
a l’Universite de Yale.
Grâce aux efforts de Lemkin, le 9 novembre 1948, jour du dixième
anniversaire de Kristallnacht [la Nuit de Cristal], l’Assemblee
Generale des Nations Unies adopta a l’unanimite une ” Convention
sur le Prevention et la Repression du Crime de Genocide “. D’une
formulation très proche de celle de la version proposee, elle definit
le genocide comme ” les actes commis avec l’intention de detruire,
en tout ou partie, un groupe national, ethnique, racial ou religieux,
en tant que tel “.
Les horreurs de l’Holocauste avaient contribue a preparer l’opinion
mondiale en faveur de la cause defendue par Lemkin. Il insistait alors
– depuis les persecutions de Chretiens de Neron, jusqu’aux massacres
mongols du treizième siècle en Europe orientale – sur le fait que
des genocides avaient ete commis de nombreuses fois au cours de
l’histoire. C’est grâce a son insistance que la definition des Nations
Unies a englobe tous les cas – passes, presents ou futurs – dans
lesquels un groupe ethnique ou religieux est cible pour etre detruit.
La verite est plus compliquee. Lemkin etait clairement un homme pourvu
d’exceptionnels talents et de devouement resolu. Pour poursuivre sa
” tâche salutaire ” pour laquelle, croyait-il, la providence l’avait
choisi pour en etre ” le messager “, il ne se maria pas, abandonna une
activite lucrative d’avocat et se detruisit litteralement. Jusque dans
le detail – comme sa pauvrete et la longue impatience que fut sa vie –
il fait un excellent candidat a la saintete laïque. Et son influence,
cependant, pourrait ne pas avoir ete aussi determinante qu’il ne le
pensait. La convention sur le genocide n’aurait jamais ete adoptee
si elle n’avait pas paru opportune aux superpuissances de cette epoque.
Enfermes dans un combat pour la suprematie ideologique, les USA et
l’Union Sovietique avaient chacun de leur côte des bonnes raisons de
condamner le genocide devant l’opinion internationale. C’est ce qui
explique aussi que l’etoile de Lemkin cessa rapidement de briller
lorsqu’il se declara partisan d’une haute cour internationale pour
poursuivre les hommes d’etat pour crimes de guerre. Tandis que les
grandes puissances lui rendaient hommage pour ses nobles discours
idealistes, elles n’etaient pretes a aucune concession concernant
leur souverainete.
Finalement, Lemkin ne cadre pas très bien avec le rôle d’individu
extraordinaire changeant l’histoire par sa volonte. Sa vie est
interessante d’un point de vue totalement different : elle est
emblematique a la fois de la grande promesse contenue dans le droit
international et de la reelle deception qu’il a suscitee.
D’après ses propres declarations, la convention sur le genocide n’aura
servi qu’a ” l’eveil d’une conscience nouvelle “. Avec le temps,
esperait-il, ” l’effet combine de la repression et de la prevention
” aidera a eviter des atrocites. Aujourd’hui, des ONG convenablement
financees donnent l’alarme dès qu’un genocide menace n’importe où
dans le monde. Sous la presidence d’Obama, la Maison Blanche a meme
instaure un Comite de Prevention des Atrocites (sa première presidente
a ete Samantha Power).
Mais les atrocites n’ont pas cesse. Beaucoup de massacres ont lieu
frequemment. Dans les annees recentes, un certain nombre de pays ont
donne leur accord pour que la Cour Penale Internationale poursuive
leurs citoyens pour crimes de guerre, et aussi pour genocide. Mais en
realite, seuls les dirigeants genocidaires de petits pays craignent
les poursuites. Si Tehlirian vivait aujourd’hui, il aurait autant de
raisons d’etre considere comme un meurtrier qu’en 1921.
Le livre de M. Mounk ” Etranger dans Mon Propre Pays : une Famille
Juive dans l’Allemagne Moderne ” sera publie en janvier.
YASCHA MOUNK
Traduction Gilbert Beguian
Source originale
:
Retour a la rubrique
Source/Lien : NAM
LA TURQUIE AFFIRME QUE L’EGYPTE NE RECONNAITRA PAS LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
TURQUIE
Selon une declaration de la representation de l’Egypte a l’ONU reprise
par l’agence de presse turque Anatolie le president egyptien par
interim Adly Mansour n’a pas de compte twitter et il n’existe aucune
initiative de l’Egypte a l’ONU sur la question.
mercredi 21 août 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com
MAKING THE WORLD LAUGH: WHY BAKU’S BLACKLIST IS POINTLESS…
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
August 20, 2013 Tuesday
Washington “has no comment” on Azeri government’s newly released
“blacklist” of more than 35 Americans, who are banned from entering
the country because “they had travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh,” TURAN’s
US correspondent was told by the official sources.
“These individuals, their trips to Nagorno-Karabakh… don’t certainly
represent the US government. Our official policy on the issue is clear:
We’ve urged our citizens to avoid traveling to this region; because of
the existing state of hostilities, we cannot offer consular services
to them on the ground, while such travels without the consent of Azeri
government could make them ineligible to travel to Azerbaijan in the
future”, the source mentioned.
In the meantime, the Baku-prepared blacklist “doesn’t look serious”,
the source added, arguing that it doesn’t describe the details of
the trips and why exactly these certain individuals are being targeted.
The published list overall “sounds more political, and doesn’t
represent any long-term strategy,” according to several Washington
analysts, who mentioned that out of the 335 names on the list, there
are people who have never been to NK.
Most interestingly, some of the blacklisteds’ trips to the region
have been apparently sponsored by the Azerbaijani government.
Californian state Senator Democrat Joe Simitian’s Baku visit in
December 2011, was billed to Azeri taxpayers – albeit he also extended
his trip on personal time, tacked on a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Most recently, the trip of sixteen students of Johns Hopkins
University’s School of Advanced International Studies, who spent
ten days in Baku, Yerevan and part of them in Khankendi, is another
example.
“We went to both Azerbaijan and Armenia to study the Karabakh conflict
and ways to resolve it. The Azerbaijan portion was sponsored by the
Azerbaijani Diplomatic Academy and the Armenian portion was sponsored
by Caucasus Institute. The purpose was to learn about the conflict and
to come up with new ideas to help solve it,” Nicholas Wondra, member of
the trip, who was also blacklisted by the Azeri government, told TURAN.
“I have not visited NK, but am somehow guilty by association…. Who
knew that being a political scientist would be so political?” he added.
As TURAN has learned from the informed sources, the students’ trip
cost Azeri taxpayers more than $50.000. It includes travel and
accomodation costs.
The Azeri Embassy in Washington DC was unreachable for comment.
Speaking to TURAN, Elmar Chakhtakhtinski, chairman of AZAD, a
Virginia-based nonpartisan organization that advocates for democracy
in Azerbaijan, called Baku’s “inviting-blacklisting” policy “not
smart and not serious,” adding that it seems rather counted on Aliyev
government’s domestic and foreign propaganda than real diplomacy.
“This is another example of how Azeri regime spends millions of dollars
abroad, expecting the foreigners to come to the region and speak out
on behalf of their propaganda… It has nothing to do with Azerbaijan’s
problems, especially with solution of the Karabakh problem.”
According to the Armenian sources, dozens of thousands of tourists
visited our occupied territories during past few years, while Azeri
Foreign Ministry “blacklisted” only 350 individuals, although some
claim they’ve never been in NK.
“Seems like the Aliyev regime is up to using Karabakh visit as
another tool for targeting its international critics in future,”
Chakhtakhtinski emphasized.
The fact is that, the world laughed out loud at the Azeri government
because “it does damage only to the Azerbaijan’s reputation,” said
AZAd Chairman.
In his recent column, Harut Sassounian, the publisher of The California
Courier and the president of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition
of the seven largest Armenian-American organizations, mentioned that
“surprisingly, none of Armenia’s leaders appears on Azerbaijan’s
“Black list” even though they make no secret of their periodic trips
to the region.”
“Could it be that Azeri officials consider Artsakh to be a part of
Armenia, and that’s why they do not blacklist Armenian citizens who
go there?” he questions.
Alakbar Raufoglu Washington, DC
FINALLY, LAUSANNE TREATY APPLIED TO NON-MUSLIMS
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 20 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
On June 18 in Ankara, the 13th Administrative Court delivered quite an
important decision, which unfortunately did not attract the attention
it deserved in our quite polarized and intense political agenda.
Ä°stanbul’s Beyoglu Syriac Church had applied to the Ministry of
Education to enjoy its right to an “education in mother tongue” as
is enjoyed by Greek, Armenian and Jewish minorities in Turkey. The
Ministry of Education did not bother to even answer this request,
which, under Turkish administrative law, means a refusal of the demand.
Then the church applied to Ankara Administrative Court, which would
give an important judgment on the matter. The court says the rights
under the Lausanne Treaty belong to all non-Muslim groups and there is
no specific reference to any particular group in this treaty. The logic
may seem to be quite simple and this may seem to be a declaration of
an apparent truth, but this is an important step forward in Turkey’s
complicated minority policies.
Let me explain why it is so important. First of all, this is maybe the
first court decision in which I have seen a positive application of
the Lausanne treaty. In all other decisions, if there is a reference
to the Lausanne Treaty, it is almost always a negative one. This is
one of those legal tricks that is frequently applied by the courts.
Usually, if a court refers to Lausanne, you should understand that
either it will say the right that is demanded is non-existent
in the treaty or the treaty is not applicable for the group in
question. In this regard, this decision of the administrative court
represents a clear-cut breakaway from this legal tradition. The
Ankara Administrative Court used the Lausanne Treaty as a positive,
rights-based instrument.
The court’s decision also has a strong potential to put an end to
a century-long misapplication of the Lausanne Treaty. Courts, state
agencies and everyone else have always misinterpreted the scope of
the treaty. They would say the Lausanne Treaty was only applicable for
Turkish citizens of Greek, Jewish or Armenian descent. As now rightly
indicated by the Ankara Administrative Court, there is no provision in
the Lausanne Treaty that justifies this kind of narrowing down of who
is applicable since it simply refers to “non-Muslims.” However, this
“non-Muslims” has always been officially interpreted as Jews, Greeks
and Armenians. The court has now rejected this interpretation and said
that the treaty grants the rights it contains to all non-Muslims. I
believe all non-Muslims can now apply to open up their own education
institutions, relying on this judgment.
Finally, the court decision is also important by creating a case law
on the application of supra-national legal instruments when there is
a conflict between them and domestic legal rules. The court’s decision
shows that the Lausanne Treaty takes precedence if there is a conflict
between the treaty and domestic regulations.
Well, this is a hopeful decision with some room for thought. First of
all, it is not a final decision and it needs to be approved by the
Council of State, which is a court of appeals for the decisions of
administrative courts. Another thing is this: As it also happens for
other positive developments, this is a decision made too late. Yes,
it is definitely a step forward but, again, it is too late. After
such a long time we have only just come to applying a 90-year-old
international treaty to include all non-Muslims.
However, I believe we should acknowledge all the positive steps and
hope that this acknowledgement may encourage more positive steps to
be taken in the right direction.