CONVOY OF TURKISH MILITARY FORCES ENTERS SYRIAN TOWN OF JARABLOS
press tv
Tue Aug 7, 2012 9:52AM GMT
A convoy of Turkish forces backed by several helicopters has entered
the Syrian town of Jarablos in a Kurdish area.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had warned in late July
that Ankara could strike the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) armed
group inside Syria.
He also stated that the strike is “not even a matter of discussion,
it is a given.”
ARMENIA: DESTINATION KARABAKH FOR ARMENIAN-SYRIAN REFUGEES?
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 6 2012
NY
As reported earlier by EurasiaNet.org, the arrival in Armenia
of Armenian-Syrian refugees is creating some friction. Now, some
politicians from both Armenia proper and Nagorno-Karabakh are floating
a controversial remedy; encouraging those fleeing the Syrian violence
to settle in the breakaway republic.
Since the 1988-1994 conflict that resulted in the expulsion of the
territory’s Azeris, Nagorno-Karabakh has experienced a steady decline
of its Armenian population. To halt the demographic trend, the region
has hosted a mass wedding, and, recently, authorities mulled offering
convicts a fresh start there.
The idea of Armenian-Syrians resettling in Karabakh has irked the
Azerbaijani government, which still is struggling to regain the
territory. Officials in Baku have asked international negotiators
mediating the Karabakh conflict to exert influence on Yerevan to
abandon the idea.
Meanwhile, a large American organization, the Armenian General
Benevolent Union, announced that it had set aside $1 million as an
emergency fund for Syrian-Armenians – for both those who seek to flee
the violence and those who choose to remain in Syria.
Guysen Israel News
Dimanche 5 août 2012
Syrie : après les Palestiniens, les Arméniens mettent la pression
par Jacques Benillouche
La Syrie inquiète ses minorités au point de les voir fuir le pays
après des dizaines d’années ou des siècles de séjour. Comme les
Palestiniens, les Arméniens sont sous la pression des clans qui se
battent en Syrie. Il existe d’ailleurs une communauté de destin et de
malheur entre le peuple juif et le peuple arménien. Ils ont souffert
dans leur chair le drame des minorités persécutées et celui d’un
génocide que certains nient encore. Parce que ces minorités n’avaient
pas de patrie, elles ont subi l’horreur dans toute sa définition.
Minorité protégée
Les arméniens sont restés neutres dans la crise du régime de Damas
mais, comme les autres chrétiens, ils étaient protégés par les
dirigeants de Syrie. La famille Assad, issue de la minorité chiite
alaouite, s’est appuyée sur les minorités pour gouverner. Mais les
arméniens redoutent aujourd’hui de devoir subir le sort des chrétiens
d’Irak, qui ont fui massivement le pays après la chute du régime de
Saddam Hussein.
Ils sont soumis à une pression croissante qui ne peut plus leur
permettre la neutralité. Les jeunes sont inquiets de la conscription
dans une armée syrienne qui tire sur la population. Ils craignent
d’être les boucs émissaires, en cas de victoire des rebelles
majoritairement musulmans sunnites, qui leur feront payer leur
allégeance au régime Assad.
Les persécutions endurées par les arméniens ne semblent pas émouvoir
le premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan qui, après ses
fantaisies de rejoindre l’axe du mal personnifié par l’Iran et la
Syrie, a menacé d’expulser les arméniens de son pays parce qu’il
n’était pas d’accord avec la sémantique qualifiant le crime abominable
turc. Le message a été entendu et les arméniens de Syrie n’ont pas
choisi de traverser la frontière turque.
Influence des parrains
Avec la révolution en Syrie, les lignes ont bougé et les
régimes ont subi l’influence imposée par leurs parrains. Les russes
ont choisi de soutenir les arméniens tandis que les américains
soutiennent la Turquie car ils ont leur regard fixé sur les ressources
en gaz et en pétrole de la région. Mais la Turquie a décidé de geler
les échanges avec l’Arménie et de fermer sa frontière parce qu’Erevan
exige la reconnaissance officielle du génocide arménien de 1915.
Les troubles de Syrie ont poussé les turcs à refuser, par une rancune
tenace, l’entrée en Turquie des arméniens qui sont contraints de fuir
en masse par autocars vers Erevan, la capitale d’Arménie. Par
milliers, ils fuient le chaos et les massacres dans un pays qui les a
vus naitre. L’Arménie se trouve donc confrontée à un afflux de
réfugiés qu’elle a décidé d’intégrer malgré le «besoin d’aide de
l’État, d’assistance sur les questions économiques, sociales et
financières, et des questions d’organisation liées à la citoyenneté».
Leur intégration reste très difficile car ils parlent un dialecte
anachronique qui rend impossible la recherche de travail. Les réfugiés
ne parlent pas la langue d’un pays dans lequel ils ne sont pas nés et
se sentent étrangers dans ce qui devrait être leur patrie. La plupart
des arméniens ont quitté en catastrophe la Syrie en abandonnant leurs
biens.
Fuite nécessaire
Les arméniens fuient la Syrie
Le départ des arméniens, qui ont toujours été bien traités, a été
rendu nécessaire car, en Syrie, les autorités arméniennes sont dans le
collimateur. La pression à la fois des islamistes et de l’opposition
syrienne éloigne toute possibilité d’avenir dans un pays qu’ils ont
rejoint au lendemain du génocide de leur peuple. Un joaillier arménien
a été tué à Damas dans des circonstances non encore élucidées. Alors
les fréquences de la compagnie aérienne nationale de l’Arménie,
Armavia, ont été augmentées pour faire face à la demande.
Mais les problèmes ont contaminé le Liban au point que les autorités
d’Arménie ont été poussés à prendre des mesures qui s’apparente à la
«Loi du retour» israélienne. Les syriens et libanais d’origine
arménienne peuvent obtenir la nationalité arménienne sur simple
demande dans les représentations diplomatiques arméniennes à Beyrouth,
Damas et Alep afin de faciliter leur rapatriement.
Arrivée de syriens à Erevan
Selon les services d’immigration à Erevan, 6.000 Arméniens de Syrie
ont demandé la citoyenneté arménienne depuis mars 2011, date de la
révolution. 80.000 arméniens vivent en Syrie, notamment à Alep, Damas
et Kamichli. La plus importante communauté du Moyen-Orient, 140.000,
est installée au Liban. Bien que les jeunes de Syrie se sentent
étrangers en Arménie, ils préfèrent garantir leur sécurité en obtenant
un passeport arménien pour jouir de la double nationalité.
Intégration difficile
Syriens en Arménie
Mais une grande déception attend les réfugiés syriens car ils
constatent qu’il est difficile de vivre et de travailler dans leur
pays ancestral. Des hommes d’affaires arméniens avaient fait le choix
de déménager leur entreprise en Arménie mais ils ont vite déchanté.
Ils ont été effrayés par les lois et l’iniquité qui y règnent. Les
impôts sont très élevés par rapport à la Syrie et les pots de vin sont
monnaie courante. Ils ne retrouvent pas l’atmosphère des affaires
qu’ils ont connue en Syrie.
Mais ils risquent de ne pas avoir le choix tant l’avenir en Syrie
devient précaire pour eux. La situation à Alep où vit la majorité des
arméniens devient intenable car la ville est sous un feu constant qui
ne permet pas aux habitants de sortir de leurs habitations.
Cependant l’État et les organismes publics arméniens font tout pour
résoudre les problèmes d’intégration et d’emploi des réfugiés qui
représentent une manne exceptionnelle pour le pays qui les encourage à
investir dans la patrie historique. Le président d’Arménie, Serge
Sarkissian a lancé un appel pressant aux arméniens de la diaspora pour
qu’ils prennent la citoyenneté arménienne et investissent dans
l’économie du pays, ce qui contribuera à accroître «la force et la
prospérité de la patrie».
Une page est en train de se tourner pour les arméniens de Syrie et
pour tous les chrétiens du Moyen-Orient qui sont condamnés à priver
les pays arabes de leur présence.
SBS, Australia
Aug 6 2012
Zhou sets record to beat Russian
6 Aug 2012, 3:17 am
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Zhou Lulu won gold and set a world record
in the women’s super heavyweight Olympic weightlifting competition on
Sunday, coming out on top after a record-breaking head-to-head battle
with Russia’s Tatiana Kashirina.
LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Zhou Lulu won gold and set a world record
in the women’s super heavyweight Olympic weightlifting competition on
Sunday, coming out on top after a record-breaking head-to-head battle
with Russia’s Tatiana Kashirina.
In the first of the two lifting rounds Kashirina completed a 151 kg
snatch lift that surpassed her own previous world record for the
over-75 kg category by 3 kg, giving her a 5 kg lead at the halfway
stage.
But Zhou overhauled her with a superior performance in the clean and
jerk, where she lifted an Olympic record 187 kg that also gave her the
world record for the combined total across both styles of lift, with
333 kg.
Kashirina won the silver, just 1 kg behind, while Armenia’s Hripsime
Khurshudyan took the bronze with a total of 294 kg.
(Reporting by William James, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Eurasia Review
Aug 5 2012
The Infuence Of Ethnic Lobbying On US Foreign Policy
By: JTW
August 6, 2012
By Rafiga Gurbanzade
Lobbying is generally defined as the process of seeking to influence a
government and its institutions to execute policies that serve
interests of a group of individuals. The Woodstock Theological Center
defines lobbying as a `deliberate attempt to influence political
decision through various forms of advocacy directed at policymakers on
behalf of another person, organization or group’ (58). The earliest
instances of lobbying date back to ancient Greece and Rome, where
lobbyists sought to influence senators and plebs for or against
specific issues (Zetter, 6). Special interests protected by lobbying
may vary from businesses and politicians to foreign governments and
ethnic groups. Ethnic lobbying may advocate interests of a distinct
group in the host country or may seek to influence foreign policy of
the host country towards the country of origin or third countries.
In the United States, the roots of ethnicity-based competition for
political influence date back to the early 20th century. By 1965, the
elimination of criteria for domination of any one ethnic group in the
U.S. immigration legislation paradoxically added political strength to
ethnic advocacy groups (Jacobson, 66). Currently, ethnic interest
groups spend millions of dollars annually to influence U.S. foreign
policy and to `block the influence of rival ethnic lobbies’ (Ambrosio,
207). Driven by ethno-cultural differences, foreign conflicts and
antagonistic interests of the rival parties, ethnic lobbies manage to
mobilize strength of their constituent communities and to profoundly
impact the U.S. legislative and executive decision-making processes.
United States
The ways of influencing U.S. foreign policy can be classified into two
distinct, yet highly interconnected, categories. The first category
involves, mobilization and maintenance of grassroots lobbying by way
of diaspora, that is, the American citizens of a distinct ethnic
descent. The second category is a direct foreign government
intervention through registered lobbyists regulated by the Foreign
Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938. According to Samuel
Huntington, both categories equally promote `interests of people
outside the United States.’ Huntington also noted that serious
problems could arise when `the cultural communities transform into
diasporas and take control over at least one state’ (Pachon, 4).
Claiming certain liberties under the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, some concentrated grassroots organizations or lobbyists
of a `vocal minority’ manage to bypass the national interest and to
distort legislation or policymaking on the scale of the national
impact (Schultz, 437).
One of the main objectives of ethnic lobbyists is to obtain U.S.
support for the country of ethnicity’s origin over their rivals,
notwithstanding the lack of the U.S. national interests in the region.
Currently, around one hundred foreign governments depend on lobbyists
for promoting their policies in the U.S. (Newhouse). Moreover, the
number of interest group communities significantly increased in recent
years. As stated in the Encyclopedia of Associations, in 2010 there
were 24,000 registered organizations in the U.S., constituting a 64
per cent growth of lobbyist groups since 1980 (Smith, Roberts & Wielen
Ryan, 352). According to the Foreign Affairs magazine among the
strongest lobbies in the U.S. are those advocating the interests of
Armenia, China, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine.
Moreover, one of the many downsides of the lobby penetration in the
U.S. legislature is that `the subculture of law firms that [assist in
these works] reflects a steady decline and privatization of diplomacy
` with an increasing impact on how the United States conducts its own
foreign policy’ (Newhouse).
Ethnic lobbying is considered to be an effective way of influencing
U.S. foreign aid and defense policy decisions. As ethics of ethnic
lobbying has become a subject of public criticism and scholarly
debates, majority of studies focused on the Jewish-American lobbying
groups that pioneered ethnic lobbying. The consensus among scholars is
generally divided into those who speak of the triumph of
Jewish-American lobbying in formulating U.S. policy towards Israel and
those who speak of the failure of Jewish lobbying due to the lack of
control over the executive branch (Thomas, 230).
Among the various Jewish-American lobbying groups, the most known one
is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC’s major
achievement is the securing of a substantial U.S. economic and
military assistance to Israel. For the past decade, Israel has been
the largest per capita U.S. aid recipient (Ripley & Lindsay, 93-94).
As stated in the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Foreign Aid to
Israel, starting from 2007, the U.S. expanded the military aid by $150
million each year (Sharp). According to the Amendment to H.R. 4310,
section 12, it is in the U.S. interest and it is the sense of Congress
that the U.S. `provides Israel such support as to increase development
of joint missile defense systems that defend the urgent threat posed
to Israel and United States forces in the region’.
The two other powerful ethnic lobbies in the U.S. are those of Greek-
and Armenian-Americans. Both groups seek to influence U.S. foreign
policy in support of Greece and Armenia, respectively, and are united
by their antagonistic agenda against the rival Turkey. Just over the
last year, the two lobbies managed to introduce 10 Congressional
resolutions critical of Turkey in one way or another. During the 2011
hearings on House Resolution 306 that accused Turkey of religious
discrimination, Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) expressed his
frustration that, while Turkey had a better record of religious
tolerance than most majority-Muslim countries, his fellow lawmakers
were exercising a `terrible double standard’ by singling out Turkey to
please constituents of Greek and Armenian heritage (AFP).
Greek-Americans established their first lobbying group, American
Hellenic Institute (AHI), in 1974. The formation of AHI and the
mobilization of Greek-Americans, who currently number an estimated 1.5
million nationwide, were inspired by the Greek-Turkish standoff over
Cyprus (Cameron, 90). Driven by the anti-Turkish policy agenda, AHI
successfully convinced Congress to place an arms embargo against
Turkey from 1975 to 1978, in violation of the Foreign Military Sales
Act. In addition, being actively involved in congressional committees
and obtaining support from grassroots groups, AHI successfully secured
military aid to Greece by 70 per cent higher than to Turkey, and
cancelled economic aid to Turkey in 1995, thus impeding the
U.S.`Turkish trade in the northern sector of Cyprus (Cameron, 90;
McCormick). By 2001, the number of AHI members accumulated up to
25,000 with 20,000 additional members functioning in an auxiliary
organization (Cameron, 90). Greek-American lobby also supports
Greece’s ongoing obstruction to Macedonia’s NATO admission over the
naming dispute. The obstruction is despite the fact that Macedonia
provided critical support and has been a key staging ground to U.S.
and NATO operations in former Yugoslavia.
Armenian-American lobby in the U.S. builds upon a sizeable community
that numbers over half a million in California alone. The largest
grassroots organization, Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA), is a U. S. affiliate of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF), a left-wing nationalist party that dominated Armenian politics
since 1890 (CREW). The other Armenian-American lobbying group is the
Armenian Assembly of America (AAA). Like the Jewish-American special
interest, ANCA and AAA secured U.S. economic assistance to Armenia,
making it the second largest per capita recipient of U.S. aid after
Israel (Mainville). The total amount of U.S. assistance to Armenia
since 1992 topped $2 billion (Nichol).
Apart from aid issues, both ANCA and AAA focus efforts around a strong
anti-Turkish and anti-Azerbaijani agenda, such as the blocking of U.S.
financial and military aid to Turkey and Azerbaijan, pressing
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and
Azerbaijan in favor of the former, and seeking legislative recognition
of the alleged Armenian genocide (Cameron, 91). In 2010-11, under
pressure from ANCA and facing reelection, Senators Barbara Boxer
(D-CA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) effectively blocked the nomination
of Matthew Bryza, a career U.S. diplomat, as the Ambassador to
Azerbaijan. ANCA representatives did not hide their concern over the
ethnic Turkish background of Bryza’s wife (De Waal). Even after the
recess appointment by President Obama and a year of service, Bryza’s
confirmation met obstruction from Senator Menendez, effectively ending
the diplomat’s career.
ANCA advocates were also successful in securing full U.S. economic and
political support for Armenia amidst its ongoing occupation of
Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding seven regions of Azerbaijan since the
early 1990s (CIA). While the United Nations Security Council adopted 4
resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal of
Armenian forces in 1993, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) authored Section
907 of Freedom Support Act, which prohibited any U.S. aid to
Azerbaijani government until it `ceases the illegal blockades of
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh’ (Ambrosio, 156).
One of the factors by which the Armenian-American lobby’s agenda
contradicts U.S. strategic interests is that, while Turkey is a NATO
member and Azerbaijan is a more attractive economic and strategic
partner (Ambrosio, 207), Armenia hosts the only remaining Russian
military base in the South Caucasus and maintains close cooperation
with Iran (Lucas). According to Wikileaks, in 2008 Armenian government
supplied Iran with rockets and machine guns that were later used to
kill at least one U.S. serviceman in Iraq (Lake).
The strength of the Armenian and Greek interest groups is the result
of the weakness of the Turkish and Azerbaijani lobbies in the past
(Ambrosio, 153). As noted in the Turkey at the Crossroads: Ottoman
Legacies and Great Middle East, `Turkey has historically met the joint
opposition of the powerful Armenian- and Greek- American lobbies, and
suffered from the absence of an effective pro-Turkish lobby'(Jung &
Piccoli, 169). In recent years, Turkey and Turkish-Americans, who
number over half a million, have intensified efforts to counter the
two opposing lobbies using similar techniques. As stated in the
Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) reports, in 2012, the Congressional
Turkish Caucus has grown to more than 150 lawmakers, already
surpassing the Armenian Caucus. Additionally, according to the Turk of
America Magazine, Turkish-Americans have joined the top contributors
to political causes on the Hill over the last years.
Historically, the U.S. has been rich in variety of ethnic groups,
cultures, religions and backgrounds. The challenge to the U.S. is not
caused by the abounding and diverse fabric of its nation, but by the
individual interest groups that serve political causes other than
those of in the interests of America. As stated by the former
Secretary of Defense, James Schlesinger in 2001, `the United States
has less of a foreign policy in a traditional sense of a great power
than we have the stapling together of a series of goals put forth by
domestic constituency groups’ (Albert, 41). Consequently, as result of
ethnic lobbying, U.S. foreign policy loses its cohesiveness, weakening
America’s position as a global leader.
Rafiga Gurbanzade is a student at the Department of Criminology, Law &
Society University of California, Irvine
References
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Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002. Print.
Ambrosio, Thomas. Irredentism: Ethnic Conflict and International
Politics. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001. Print.
`Azerbaijan.’ The Central Intelligence Agency. 10 Jul. 2012. Web. 18
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Reaches 150 Members.’ Turk of America. 28 Jun. 2012. Web. 18 Jul.
2012. .
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Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Jul. 2012. .
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Citizenship. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1996. Print.
Jung, Dietrich, and Wolfango Piccoli. Turkey at the Crossroads:
Ottoman Legacies and a Greater Middle East. London: Zed, 2001. Print.
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West. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
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Fight To Get Ahead.’ The Sun. 9 Aug. 2005. Web. 18 Jul. 2012. .
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Achieving Middle East Peace. Austin: University of Texas, 2007. Print.
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IL PASCOLO DELLE CAPRE D’ANGORA
Paolo Martino
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso
venerdi 3 agosto 2012
Italia
[Grazing Angora Goats]
Lande desolate, dove i contrafforti del Caucaso scendono a scaloni
verso l’altopiano anatolico e i nomi, più che dalla storia, vengono
dati dalla politica. La sesta puntata del reportage “Dal Caucaso
a Beirut”
Il doganiere apre controvoglia una fessura nel finestrino della
garitta. A terra, un tappeto di neve fresca inghiotte i passi, mentre
la luce del giorno precipita insieme ai fiocchi. “Your car?” Dove fino
a venti anni fa si erigeva la Cortina di ferro, resta oggi un doganiere
infreddolito. “No car.” Con la punta del dito il soldato traccia sul
vetro la distanza dal valico di frontiera al primo villaggio: POSOF,
14 KM. Quattordici chilometri di marcia. Fa segno di dormire lì, le
mani congiunte sotto la guancia. “No, thank you.” Il timbro batte
sordo su pagina trentaquattro del passaporto: VALE BORDER POINT,
6/11/2011. “Welcome to Turkey, mister.” Gli stringo la mano prima
che la ritiri nel torpore della garitta e resto fino a notte fonda
solo con lo scricchiolio della neve vergine sotto gli scarponi.
E’ il pianto postumo della Cortina di ferro.
Turchia nord-orientale. I contrafforti del Caucaso scendono a
scaloni verso l’altopiano anatolico, lo smisurato pascolo delle
greggi d’angora, regno delle dinastie curde, corridoio e valvola
tra continenti che si fronteggiano. La strada che da Yerevan porta
a Beirut serpeggia tra lande innevate a cui la politica, più delle
storia, è impegnata ad assegnare nomi. Turchia orientale, come
indicata sull’atlante; Kurdistan, come la chiamano gli uomini e le
donne che la abitano; Armenia occidentale, secondo il verbo della
diaspora armena. La scrupolosa toponomastica rivela l’aspirazione di
dominare una terra che appartiene solo al vento.
Kars appare in fondo a un rettifilo d’asfalto, unica fantasia nella
morfologia monotona dell’altopiano. Sotto controllo russo fino al
1917, il Kars Oblast attirò un flusso costante di armeni, molti dei
quali sopravvissuti al genocidio. Quando la rivoluzione d’Ottobre
richiamò i contingenti stazionati nelle periferie dell’Impero, gli
armeni presero il controllo della citta, integrandola nella Repubblica
democratica di Armenia. Fino al 1920, quando l’avanzata turca fagocitò
meta del territorio del neonato Stato armeno, Kars fu capoluogo della
provincia armena di Vanand. Oggi, lo sventolio di un’immensa bandiera
rossa con la mezzaluna e la stella spezza dall’alto della fortezza
il grigio metallico del cielo.
Dal mio diario.
Un binario si lancia deciso nella prateria verso est, senza mai
curvare per una settantina di chilometri fino all’Armenia. Un’ora
di viaggio, se non fosse che il confine tra i due paesi è chiuso
da vent’anni. Il 6 luglio 1993, quando i turchi lo sbarrarono, i
ferrovieri di entrambi i paesi si domandarono cosa avrebbero fatto
delle locomotive rimaste intrappolate dal lato sbagliato del filo
spinato. Costruita nel 1899, questa fu per tutto il secolo successivo
l’unica via ferrata tra NATO e Unione sovietica, arteria pulsante di
uomini e merci tra i due blocchi che si dividevano il mondo. Io, per
arrivare da Yerevan a qui, ho impiegato tre giorni di autobus, taxi,
marce forzate attraverso valichi solitari e gole innevate del Caucaso.
Una frenata inchioda l’autobus alle porte di Kars. Otto militari
guardano i passeggeri fissi negli occhi, i polpastrelli sfiorano
i grilletti dei fucili puntati ad altezza uomo. L’ufficiale che
controlla i documenti urla un nominativo, scandendone ogni sillaba.
L’appello echeggia nell’autobus come una scossa elettrica. Un ragazzo
sfila nel corridoio incrociando sguardi di pieta. Ammanettato dietro
la schiena, sparisce sommesso nel vano del furgone cellulare, tra
altri prigionieri. L’autobus riprende la marcia e l’uomo al mio
fianco scrolla le spalle: “Turkish Jandarma”. Appunto quel nome,
che ancora rimbomba nella testa. I. M. Un nome curdo.
Dalla sommita della fortezza la macchina fotografica fatica a mettere
a fuoco la periferia di Kars, sospesa tra nebbia e prateria. Netta,
ai piedi del castello, è invece l’immagine della cattedrale armena dei
Dodici apostoli. Trasformata in museo negli anni ’60, poi in moschea,
lasciata infine a se stessa, la chiesa è integra, sebbene abbandonata
all’incuria. Tornano alla mente le parole di Rafi, l’amico armeno
figlio della diaspora: “Dappertutto gli armeni costruiscono scuole
e chiese, poi spariscono”. Pronunciata a Beirut, la frase tradiva
ammirazione per la causa curda in Turchia, per il loro non andarsene,
per la tenace rivendicazione autonomista di questo popolo. Prima che
la storia voltasse faccia agli armeni, un secolo fa, le due minoranze
vivevano fianco a fianco in questa regione, parte di un impero
multietnico che si estendeva dai Balcani al Golfo Persico. “Presto
o tardi – aggiungeva Rafi – i curdi avranno un loro Stato in Anatolia.
Noi col tempo stiamo sparendo anche dal Medio Oriente”.
Le giornate scorrono senza conversazioni all’alba dell’inverno curdo.
Tra i banchi di spezie e frutta secca del bazar si attardano pastori,
manovali, mercanti, contadini, anziani in abiti tradizionali: salvar
curdi e gilè scuri su camicie bianche, caffetani persiani, fez di
lana cotta, tarbush venati d’oro. La varieta delle vesti e dei tratti
umani di questo lembo di confine rimanda alla ricchezza linguistica
di un tempo. Armeno, turco, zaza, kurmanji, russo, un pentagramma di
lingue ridotto dalla politica centralizzatrice di Ankara al battente
monolinguismo turco.
Ani. Le mura della più grande capitale armena di tutti i tempi non
circondano più nulla. Il portone a sesto acuto ricavato tra i bastioni,
sagomati dal vento più che dall’uomo, è il trompe l’~il che immette
nel costante ripetersi dell’altopiano. Abbandonata gradualmente
a partire dal sedicesimo secolo, Ani coi suoi centocinquantamila
abitanti competeva per splendore e fama con Baghdad, Istanbul,
Pechino. Carovane persiane e arabe scambiavano merci nelle sue piazze,
pellegrini bizantini, armeni e russi pregavano nei suoi santuari, rotte
caucasiche e asiatiche deviavano pur di varcare i suoi portoni. Oggi,
tra queste gelide macerie, le uniche tracce di vita sono grandi bovini
che pascolano sulla storia armena e un giovane pastore curdo che le
governa col bastone e fantasiosi richiami.
L’apparente continuita del terreno si spezza man mano che avanzo
su ciò che fu l’asse commerciale della citta. Mentre all’orizzonte
sfilano le sagome della moschea di Menucehr, della Cattedrale, delle
chiese del Redentore e di San Gregorio, l’altopiano è improvvisamente
inghiottito da orridi ventosi. In basso, come una gigantesca cicatrice,
il letto del fiume Arax sancisce il limite orientale di Ani. Oltre
il canyon, nuovamente pianeggiante e in quota, l’Armenia osserva le
rovine a cuore aperto della sua antica capitale, da lontano. Dal 1920
il fiume segna il confine tra i due paesi. A nulla valsero, dopo la
guerra turco-armena, le preghiere di lasciare almeno quel chilometro
quadrato al controllo armeno. La sovranita, oggi come allora, non è
un fatto di cortesia.
Dal mio diario.
In questo punto dell’altopiano, dove il cielo non è meno concreto
della terra, è la volta celeste a dar forma alle cose. Ani, battuta
dal vento e dalla solitudine, non concede facilmente le sue spoglie.
Come può essere questa la terra che nutre il mito del ritorno
della diaspora? Ma quando il sole sparisce dietro il profilo basso
dell’orizzonte, lasciando in eredita una secrezione di rosso, l’acciaio
del cielo inizia a fondere e Ani cambia colore, passando dal grigio
alla porpora. I monumenti tornano in qualche modo all’eternita per
cui furono pensati, prima che il secolare lavorio umano venisse
meno. In questo tempo immobile il fantasma del popolo deportato
torna a popolarla, avverando la profezia di Sarop. E la solitudine
si trasforma in privilegio.
L’autobus per Igdir punta a meridione. Di notte l’altopiano pulsa
di luce propria, un calor bianco che dal profilo innevato dei monti
cola a valle scaldando la pianura. La strada si snoda in questo prato
di luce. Stanotte Beirut è ancora lontana, ma ne sento sempre meno
la mancanza.
TURKISH EMBASSY IN AZERBAIJAN DENIES NEWS ABOUT MEETING OF TURKISH DIPLOMATS WITH LEADERSHIP OF ARMENIAN HERITAGE PARTY IN YEREVAN
APA
Aug 3 2012
Azerbaijan
Baku – APA. Press Advisory of Turkish embassy in Azerbaijan denied
the news about meeting of two employees of this country’s embassy in
the United Kingdom with secretary general of Armenian Heritage Party
in Yerevan.
The embassy told APA Koray Balkaya and Sera Cetin, who are claimed
that met with Heritage Party’s general secretary Stepan Safaryan,
work in British embassy in Turkey and do not deal with Turkey’s any
official organization. The embassy said the official website of the
Heritage Party reported that Sera Cetin was Chief of the Program Group
at the British Embassy in Turkey, Koray Balkaya was Public Relations
and News Correspondent.
The employees of British embassy held discussions with Safaryan about
the regional processes, normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.
RACHMANINOV: MORCEAUX DE FANTASIE ETC
The Guardian
Aug 2 2012
UK
Nareh Arghamanyan (Pentatone)
Review by Andrew Clements
Armenian born Nareh Arghamanyan is still in her early 20s, but
her first place in the 2008 Montreal piano competition is the most
prestigious in a whole sheaf of awards that she has picked up over
the last decade. This Rachmaninov collection certainly confirms
that Arghamanyan has a remarkable technique, but also suggests
that musically she is not the finished article yet. Her selection
encompasses virtually all of Rachmaninov’s composing career, from
his Op 3 (the Morceaux de Fantasie, which include his best known
solo-piano piece, the C sharp minor Prelude) to the Variations on
a Theme of Corelli Op 42, of 1931. It’s a daunting series of pieces
that she confronts head on, swaddling the pieces in rich, warm tone,
but after a while the sheer unremitting intensity of her playing, and
its rather limited range of colourand dynamics , begin to wear. You
long for some genuinely quiet playing, and for Arghamanyan to ration
her use of the sustaining pedal more carefully. It tries just a bit
too hard to impress.
SYRIAN CLASHES CONTINUE AS CITIZENS FLEE
EuroNews
Aug 3 2012
France
There are reports of intensive fighting continuing across Syria
with opposition forces claiming that at least 80 people were killed
on Friday.
It is claimed 21 of the victims died when mortars hit a Palestinian
refugee camp in the capital Damascus.
The country’s second city Aleppo came under bombardment again by the
Syrian government forces.
As ever video cannot be independently verified but latest images
appear to show a chaotic situation in the ground in the city.
Meanwhile Armenians from a long-established community in Aleppo have
been fleeing back to Armenia.
“Don’t believe what they tell you on TV”, said one man. “Terrorists
are using force against people and the government is cleansing them.”
“Our plight is terrible”, another man added. “If it is God’s will,
everything will be better in a week or two. We’re hopeful that things
will be better in two weeks.”
But judging by the amount of luggage some of the passengers were
bringing with them they could be in Armenia for a lot longer than
two weeks.
AZERBAIJAN VIOLATED CEASEFIRE REGIME 1300 TIMES IN JULY
news.am
August 03, 2012 | 02:56
YEREVAN. – Azerbaijani Armed Forces have violated the ceasefire
regime for 1300 times in the line of contact with the Armenian and
Nagorno-Karabakh Armed Forces in July.
One Armenian serviceman was killed and one civilian resident injured in
July, as a result of the ceasefire violation regime by the Azerbaijani
side, Armenian MOD reports.
As was earlier informed, Gor Parsyan was injured when working in the
field. And the field assistants of the Personal Representatives of
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Antal Herdich and Irjie Aberle have met
with the injured on July 25 within the monitoring conduct.