Author: nina hovnanian

LEADERS PAN NAGORNO-KARABAKH ELECTIONS

United Press International UPI

July 24 2012

Presidential “elections” in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
have added fuel the long-simmering conflict there, world leaders say.

YEREVAN, Armenia, July 24 (UPI) — Presidential elections in
the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have added fuel the
long-simmering conflict there, world leaders say.

Bako Sahakyan last week was declared the winner of last Thursday’s
vote in the disputed predominantly Armenian-Christian enclave, which
broke away from Muslim Azerbaijan in a bloody 2-year conflict starting
in 1992 and voted to become a sovereign state in 2006.

Azerbaijan considers Nagorno-Karabakh part of its territory and has
threatened to retake it by force if necessary if negotiations over
returning it to the fold aren’t successful.

Violence continues to flare along the “line of contact” between the
enclave and Azerbaijan, with Baku claiming to have lost six soldiers
and Armenia four last month.

Sahakyan, the incumbent president in the self-proclaimed nation,
garnered more than 66 percent of the vote, defeating retired Gen.

Vitaly Balasanian, separatist authorities said.

He was congratulated Friday by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
but the vote was roundly condemned by other leaders from around the
world, including the Russian, U.S. and French members of the Minsk
Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
which is seeking a political solution to the conflict.

They largely agreed the unsanctioned elections have added to the
intractability of the two sides.

Georgia, for instance, declared its “unequivocal support for the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and does
not recognize so-called ‘presidential elections’ conducted in
Nagorno-Karabakh.”

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton also condemned the vote,
saying the European Union “does not recognize the constitutional and
legal framework” in which the elections were conducted and instead
urged a resolution to the conflict through the Minsk Group.

That group’s co-chairmen — Ambassadors Robert Bradtke of the United
States, Igor Popov of Russia and Jacques Faure of France — declared
the vote will have no bearing on their long-standing efforts to
negotiate a settlement.

“The co-chairs acknowledge the need for the de facto authorities in
(Nagorno-Karabakh) to try to organize democratically the public life
of their population with such a procedure,” they said. “However,
the co-chairs note that none of their three countries, nor any other
country, recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent and sovereign
state.”

They declared the “procedures” of last Thursday should in no way
“prejudge the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome
of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

Turkey, a staunch supporter of Azerbaijan, declared the
Nagorno-Karabakh vote to be illegitimate, calling it “a total
contravention of international law and contrary to the expectations
of the international community.

“These elections which constitute a clear breach of the U.N. Security
Council resolutions and OSCE principles present a new example of the
unilateral efforts to legitimize the present unlawful situation in
Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The Minsk Group mediators decried the lack of progress in settlement
talks during the Group of 20 meeting last month in Mexico declaring
their disappointment that Armenia and Azerbaijan “did not take the
decisive steps that our countries called for” last year at the G8
meeting in France.

Those steps included recognition by both sides of the “basic
principles” of the return of the territories surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control, the establishment of a
corridor linking Armenia to the enclave and the introduction of a
peacekeeping force, among other measures.

ARMENIA EXPECTS 8-10% MORE TOURISTS – DEPUTY ECONOMY MINISTER

news.am
July 23, 2012 | 14:42

YEREVAN. – Around 8-10-percent more tourists are expected to visit
Armenia in 2012, Deputy Economy Minister Ara Petrosyan stated during
a press conference on Monday.

He informed, however, that close to 10,000 less Iranian tourists
visited the country in the first three months of this year, as compared
with the same time period last year. And the reason was because the
Iranian authorities allowed those Iranians, who were heading abroad,
to exchange solely up to US$ 400 at the official exchange rate, and
therefore the remaining amounts had to be exchanged at the market rate,
which is several times higher than the official rate.

But Petrosyan assured that those Iranian citizens, who did not visit
Armenia during their Nowruz (New Year) holiday, definitely visit the
country over the course of the year, and therefore there will not be
a reduction in tourists to the country on a yearly basis.

According to official statistics, about 105,000 tourists visited
Armenia in January-March 2012, which is 9 percent less than the same
time period in the year past.

BATTLE TO ‘LIBERATE’ ALEPPO HAS BEGUN: REBELS

Agence France Presse
July 22, 2012 Sunday 1:38 PM GMT

The rebel Free Syrian Army announced on Sunday the start of the battle
to “liberate” the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s commercial hub
and a traditional bastion of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The site of violent weekend clashes, several areas of Aleppo reportedly
fell to rebel hands as the FSA pledged to protect religious and ethnic
minorities, notably Christians, Alawites and Kurds.

In a video posted on YouTube, the FSA military council’s Colonel
Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi announced “the start of an operation aimed at
liberating Aleppo from the blood-stained hands of Assad’s gangs.”

Oqaidi said the FSA would protect civilians, including “the minorities
— Christians, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Alawites, Shiites and
Druze,” among others.

The ancient city of Aleppo is home to several religious and ethnic
minorities, most notably Christians and Armenians.

The FSA colonel told the Alawites that they need not fear even as
fears of revenge attacks against the community to which Assad’s family
belongs rose.

“To our brothers in the Alawite sect, we tell you that our war is
not with you, but with the Assad family gang, that God has destined
to be of your blessed sect,” said Oqaidi.

Aleppo is one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities and
its Old City is listed among UNESCO’s world heritage sites.

Sunday’s statement of Oqaidi on Aleppo said rebel forces were being
mobilised to move towards the city from the neighbouring countryside.

“The FSA has succeeded so far to liberate most areas of northern
Aleppo province, and the road for us to liberate the city of Aleppo
is now open,” Oqaidi said.

“We announce a general mobilisation by all rebel brigades in the
province of Aleppo,” he added.

Clashes broke out in Aleppo days after violence engulfed several
districts of the Syrian capital Damascus.

The FSA’s military council announced the start of the “battle for
the liberation of Damascus” last Sunday, and fighting ratcheted up
after a Wednesday bombing that killed four senior regime members.

The FSA’s Supreme Military Council head General Mustafa al-Sheikh told
AFP on Sunday that “a real war of attrition” was underway in Damascus.

“The regime is collapsing, the speed at which it is falling has
increased. That means it will use greater violence in order to try
and save itself.”

Sheikh said rebels were capturing weapons from the army as defections
multiplied and neighbourhoods were seized.

“As the regime resorts to all means at its disposal, the FSA still
only has light and medium weapons,” Sheikh said.

“But it is gaining new weapons as more and more defections take place
and more arms are captured from defeated troops.”

OPRAH.COM PICKS ‘THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS’ AS BOOK OF THE WEEK

asbarez
Monday, July 23rd, 2012

WASHINGTON-Oprah Winfrey’s Blog Monday declared New York Times
best-selling author Chris Bohjalian’s novel on the Armenian Genocide,
“The Sandcastle Girls,” as the must-read Book of the Week, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America.

The announcement was first posted on Oprah.com, where the editors
of O and Oprah.com informed their fans about “the newest releases
that they couldn’t stop reading.” This week, “The Sandcastle Girls”
was at the top of their list.

Oprah.com’s Nathalie Gorman explained “Best known for his thrillers
like Midwives, Chris Bohjalian has come out with a different kind
of page turner-a searing, tautly woven tale of war and the legacy
it leaves behind.” She goes on to note, “This rendering of one
of history’s greatest (and least known) tragedies is a nuanced,
sophisticated portrayal of what it means not only to endure, but to
insist on hope.”

“The overwhelming and well-deserved praise for Bohjalian’s masterful
literary piece about the Armenian Genocide in prominent mainstream
American media outlets, such as Oprah’s Blog, highlights the powerful
role that his novel is playing in educating readers about this crime,
and Turkey’s ongoing denial of both truth and justice,” said ANCA
Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The Sandcastle Girls” represents –
in addition to a great literary work – a great contribution to the
American and global public awareness that will be required to end,
forever, the cycle of genocide and denial.”

More Praise for “The Sandcastle Girls” in Newspapers Across the U.S.
In addition to captivating the interest of Oprah Winfrey’s editors,
“The Sandcastle Girls” and the Armenian Genocide issue has caught the
attention of many notable American newspapers and online publications,
including -“The Miami Herald,” “The Florida Times Union,” “The
Minneapolis Star Tribune,” Ohio’s “The Columbus Dispatch,” “The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,” South Carolina’s “The Hilton Head Island
Packet,” Boston.com and MyCentralJersey.com.

Amy Driscoll, in her review for The Miami Herald, wrote about the real
potential impact the novel has on educating American civil society
about the Armenian Genocide. “Bohjalian’s book is about the ways the
past informs the present, about the pain but also the richness of
heritage. If his goal is to educate us, make us see what has been
almost left behind in the dust of history, he succeeds. And after
reading this book, we aren’t likely to forget,” noted Driscoll.

The complete Miami Herald review is available online and was published
in the Friday, July 20 issue of the print edition.

Brandy Hilboldt Allport of The Florida Times Union wrote, “Bohjalian
deftly widens a telescopic lens to encompass the ‘Meds Yeghern,’ or
‘Great Calamity’ of the Armenian genocide and then narrows it so that
readers focus on the characters and join them in their passage through
the story. The well-researched history that forms the background
informs, intrigues and enchants – even as recollections of horror
mount.”

The complete Florida Times Union review is available online and was
published in the Sunday, July 22 issue of the print edition.

Margaret Quamme of The Columbus Dispatch claimed, “For a historical
novel, ‘The Sandcastle Girls’ is remarkably supple, employing only
the most telling of details.” Quamme further wrote about the novel’s
potential of galvanizing a growing movement to help raise awareness
about the cycle of genocide. “Laura and Bohjalian keep their eyes
on the personal, the little moments that illuminate broader social
movements. But moment-by-moment, and passage by passage, the novel
lights up a disturbing period of history.”

The complete Columbus Dispatch review is available online and was
published in the Sunday, July 22 issue of the print edition.

Additionally, last week, “The Sandcastle Girls” received stellar
appraisals from the Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe,
Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine. These follow powerhouse
literary reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library
Journal, and Booklist, collectively offering exceptional praise for
both the author and the book, with excerpts posted on his Web site.

Hours before his novel hit book stores, Bohjalian launched his
book tour in Los Angeles and continued traveling to events in
San Francisco, California and Watertown, Massachusetts. Bohjalian
will be having a Capitol Hill Debut of the book in Washington D.C.,
co-hosted by Congressional Armenian Genocide Resolution lead sponsors,
Representatives Robert Dold (R-IL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). Bohjalian
will be meeting with Congressional members throughout the day on
August 1, 2012 and then offering remarks and signing books beginning
at 6 p.m. at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-369.

Bohjalian will also be in New Milford, New Jersey at 7:30pm on August
2 at the Hovnanian School for an event sponsored by the ANC of New
Jersey, as well as and event organized by the ANC of New York and
hosted by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) at 7:00pm on
August 3, 2012.

Read the complete roster of events across the country.

In his 15th book, “The Sandcastle Girls,” Bohjalian brings us on a
very different kind of journey. The spellbinding tale travels between
Aleppo, Syria in 1915 and Bronxville, New York in 2012 – a sweeping
historical love story steeped in the author’s Armenian heritage,
making it his most personal novel to date.

Armenian Americans and interested readers are encouraged to pre-order
‘The Sandcastle Girls’ online at discounted prices from Amazon.com,
Barnes and Noble and Indibound or from their local book sellers.

To join the ANCA in helping put “The Sandcastle Girls” on the
Congressional summer reading list through a contribution to the ANCA
Endowment donate-a-book program.

SHALL WE CONTINUE WITH WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN STARTED?

Karabakh-open.info
Monday, 23 July 2012 15:20

Bako Sahakyan who was re-elected NKR President by the provisional
results of July 19 NKR presidential elections already receives
congratulations on the event mostly from the high-ranking officials
of the Republic of Armenia.

The groups which realized election-observation mission have already
given their estimates of the elections and emphasized that on the
whole the elections were conducted in democratic conditions marked by
serious competition between the candidates and an active participation
of the electors.

Of the other two candidates only Arkadi Soghomonyan who got 0.8 percent
of votes congratulated Bako Sahakyan in connection with being elected
NKR President, Vitali Balasanyan who got 32.5 percent of votes did
not congratulate the elected president mentioning that he was ready
to congratulate the winning candidate in case of fair elections yet
now he confines himself to admitting the results of the elections
with certain reservations.

Nevertheless, the elections took place and now the re-elected President
should ponder seriously over the mistakes he made during the past five
years that caused 1/3 electors to vote against him. What will change
is not clear yet as on the election day in answer to the question
about his first step in case of being re-elected he said that they
were going to continue what had already been started. In case of going
on with what has already been started it could be inferred that many
more people will follow the example of this 1/3 of our population
that will enable to create a much stronger opposition as announced
by Vitali Balasanyan.

GYUMRI RESIDENTS NOT TO GET APARTMENTS – LOCAL NGO

tert.am
23.07.12

The dreams of those families of Gyumri, which were left without a
permanent shelter after the 1988 earthquake, will not come true 24
years after the big disaster, a local NGO has warned.

Shirak Center has said in a statement that a commission tasked with
apartment distribution has not recognized the hundreds of homeless
families as beneficiaries.

The Tarboshyans, one of the families living in a temporary shelter,
are among those unlucky. Under relevant Govvernment decisions, they
were denied an apartment on the grounds that the family’s mother
has died, and the Police Passport and Visa Departments maintains no
residence records about their son, Ashot.

SERGO KARAPETYAN HOSTED THE IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
23 July, 2012
YEREVAN

Yerevan, July 23, ARMENPRESS: During the meeting with the
newly-appointed Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad
Reisi, the Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan attached
importance to the further expansion of bilateral connections,
especially in the spheres of plant growing and cattle-breeding.

“Armenpress” was informed about this in the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Here there are great unused opportunities. Last year I was in Islamic
Republic of Iran on official visit and signed a memorandum of mutual
understanding on bilateral cooperation. Unfortunately, the required
work on this important document is still not enough. I wish that
with the ambassador’s support we fulfill the obtained agreements,
as a first step creating a slaughterhouse complex with “Halal”
trademark in Armenia”, noted the minister.

Expressing his gratitude for the warm reception, the Ambassador
expressed readiness to continue the consistent implementation of
the agreements reached in the past and contribute to the further
deepening of bilateral cooperation. Minister Sergo Karapetyan reminded
that in the Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission meeting
on trade-economic issues to be held in Yerevan, issues related to
agriculture are included, so the Armenian side suggested to invite
the Minister of Agriculture of the Islamic Republic.

MENSOIAN: LESSONS FROM THE MAY 2012 ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Michael Mensoian

July 23, 2012 in

Given its enviable political history and proven selfless service to the
Armenian people and the nation, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) still remains a marginal political party in Armenia.

In the May 2012 parliamentary elections, the ARF garnered less than 6
percent of the votes cast. From a cadre of 16 parliamentary members,
the party’s representation was reduced to just 6 members. This poor
showing was due in part to a combination of fabricated obstacles and
questionable activities that gave the ruling party a distinct and
unfair advantage.

ARF logo 300×200 Mensoian: Lessons from the May 2012 Armenian
Parliamentary Elections

Our agenda is determined by the enduring value of our core beliefs.

However, that being said, whether the ARF is engaged in a parliamentary
or a presidential election, it never rises above its marginal
political status. This raises the question why. The obvious answer
may be that the party’s message of hope and change does not resonate
with the voter. One of several reasons may be that the Armenian voter
has survived for some 20 years under a political system that easily
bred skepticism and cynicism. This, in turn, tends to induce a degree
of resignation and acceptance of conditions as they are.

The compendium of shortcomings that formed the election platform of
the ARF for the recent parliamentary elections essentially promised
to correct almost everything that was wrong with the present system.

The proverbial man-in-the-street who has suffered the consequences
of this debilitating system could have compiled this platform for the
ARF. The party must have realized that it could not deliver on such an
extensive range of issues even if it had doubled its representation
in parliament from 16 to 32 members. Obviously, the voters must have
understood as much.

I don’t know at what point we will accept the fact that something
is seriously amiss. Each year that passes and each election where
we join the other five percent-ers (parties that just meet the five
percent vote threshold) diminishes our influence, our prestige,
and our credibility. It is an intolerable situation that must be
corrected if the ARF is to continue in a manner that does justice to
our political heritage.

The Dashnaktsutiun is unlike any of the political parties that
clutter the Armenian political landscape. Vahan Hovannessian put it
succinctly in a recent interview when he stated that the enduring
strength of the Dashnaktsutiun is based on a foundation of ideas,
ideology, and vision for the future.

Hovannessian added that the present political parties in Armenia have
formed around either a charismatic figure such as a military leader;
a center of power; or simply a source of wealth. Such political
parties have no ideological moorings and are free to pursue courses
of action that may or may not reflect the needs of the electorate or
the interests of the Armenian state.

Our agenda is determined by the enduring value of our core beliefs.

We are a revolutionary party, or at least that is the defining term
in our name. We cannot be the fedayees of 100 years ago, but that
does not prevent us from being the political fedayees of the here
and now. The role of the revolutionary in society is a difficult
one to fulfill as he constantly challenges the status quo to improve
the quality of life of the worker or to protect the interests of the
nation. It is a challenge that carries the serious risk of retribution
from an administration that may feel threatened, or from entrenched
interest groups such as the Armenian oligarchs who are concerned
that their power and wealth are at stake. No one can force a man to
be a revolutionary, but neither can a man be one simply by donning
the cloak of a revolutionary.

Maybe it is just me, but I see the Dashnaktsutiun as a crusade,
not as a mundane political party. It hurts when we take timid steps
instead of the bold, imaginative, and persistent action required to
address the vital issues that affect our brothers and sisters not
only in Armenia, but in Artsakh and Javakhk, as well. Sometimes it
seems that we are obsessed with recognizing the dead at the cost of
sacrificing the living.

The situation in Armenia cannot be allowed to deteriorate further.

Each year, contrary to the favorable but meaningless statistic trotted
out by the administration, the economy contracts, unemployment rises,
population decreases, emigration increases, and justice is blinded
by power and wealth. At what point in time will the ARF realize that
voter apathy and indifference cannot be overcome by election platforms
or anointing a candidate to run in presidential elections.

Let’s give some thought to who we are and how that determines
what it is that we must do. Hai Tahd is strictly a Dashnaktsutiun
Manifesto. It was enunciated by the ARF, nurtured by the ARF, and
has been a compelling objective of its political agenda since the
takeover of the first free and independent Republic of Armenia by
the Russian Bolsheviks. Hai Tahd and the Dashnaktsutiun have become
inseparable in the minds of most if not all Armenians. However,
changes have occurred that have significantly affected the scope and
the priorities of Hai Tahd and the ARF.

One such change is Artsakh’s de facto independence, which should
have automatically preempted Hai Tahd’s historic agenda. The
importance of Artsakh cannot be overestimated. It is the first time
in modern Armenian history (1900 to the present) that our people have
liberated themselves and historic Armenian lands from their Turkic
adversaries. If the ARF fails to be perceived as a vital force in
Artsakh’s development and its ultimate independence (either de jure
recognition or independence by default) then it is fair for Armenians
to question the ability of the Dashnaktsutiun to be the stewards of
Hai Tahd. Artsakh has become the building block upon which Hai Tahd
now rests. Our long-time emotional involvement with recognition,
or Wilsonian Armenia or Kars-Ardahan should not cloud our judgment
concerning priorities.

The second significant change that has affected the scope and
priorities of the Dashnaktsutiun agenda has been the founding of the
second free and independent Republic of Armenia. Consider that one of
the reasons for the founding of the ARF in 1890 was the determination
to alleviate the oppressive political and economic conditions under
which Armenians lived in the towns and villages of Anatolia. Today,
well over 100 years later, that compelling objective still exists.

Why? Simply because the debilitating conditions that are slowly
destroying our people and our country have been spawned by the
ineffectiveness of all three administrations that have governed
Armenia since its founding. They have allowed an oligarchic system
that places personal power and wealth before the legitimate needs
of their compatriots to become entrenched. If the nation’s vitality
and future potential are to be realized, if the worker is to benefit
properly from his labor, then the ARF must strive to institute a system
of government based on the social democratic principles of freedom,
equality, opportunity, and justice.

Our course was set some 120 years ago. The future of Armenia and Hai
Tahd depends on the Dashnaktsutiun. That is a simple unembellished
statement of fact. If not us, who? Everything that has gone on before
has prepared the party for what must be accomplished today. Let us not
look back a decade or two from now and lament the fact that we failed
because we lacked the passion, or the dedication, or the selflessness
that was the hallmark of our predecessors.

BDP EXPRESSES GRAVE CONCERNS OVER DIYARBAKIR ATTACKS

Armenian Weekly
July 19, 2012

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Representative in the U.S.,
based in Washington, D.C., wrote the following on July 17.

The recent “Democratic Struggle for Freedom” demonstration organized by
the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Democratic Society Congress
(DTK) on July 14 in Diyarbakir (Amed), Turkey, was both banned
and violently suppressed by Turkish security forces. Demonstrators
had gathered to deliver a clear message to the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) that the Kurdish issue can only be solved
through peaceful means and the restarting of negotiations with the
imprisoned leader of the Kurdish political movement, Abdullah Ocalan.

Turkish security forces confronted the peaceful demonstrators,
detaining and injuring many, including Kurdish deputies from the
National Assembly.

The Turkish government must put an end to the use of force if it
sincerely wishes to solve the Kurdish issue.

The Turkish government must put an end to the use of force if it
sincerely wishes to solve the Kurdish issue. The ruling government AKP
should take immediate steps to end the isolation of Ocalan and free
him by initiating sincere peace talks to resolve the Kurdish issue.

Negotiations between Ocalan and state officials stalled one year ago
in the wake of the national elections in July 2011 in Turkey. Since
then, Ocalan has been held under complete isolation without access
to his lawyers. Furthermore, all of his lawyers were arrested, which
is a complete violation of international agreements regarding the
treatment of prisoners. The EU Commission and Council of Europe,
as well as others in the international community, have criticized
such treatment as a violation of fundamental liberties.

The steady rise in violent incidents in Turkey since July 2011 is
a significant reason why peace talks are necessary more than ever
before. Hundreds of soldiers and guerillas have lost their lives in
violent clashes, and thousands of people have been affected adversely.

Furthermore, the Turkish government has arrested over 8,000 Kurdish
political activists, including elected deputies and mayors, human
rights activists, attorneys, doctors, journalists, academics,
students, and unionists. Rather than making most of the changing
mindset in Turkish society with regards to the Kurdish issue by
advancing a meaningful dialogue with the Kurdish political movement,
the AKP government has, since July 2011, implemented a brutal security
doctrine.

Renewed military operations in the Kurdish regions have resulted
in many deaths and continue to threaten the livelihoods of millions
of people. In December 2011, an air attack by the Turkish military
resulted in the killing of 34 Kurdish civilians, most of them children,
in the district of Uludere (Roboski) in Turkey. This attack was carried
out under the auspices of the AKP and was reported in detail by the
American mainstream media because of the use of U.S. drone
intelligence.

The Turkish government has also taken a step backwards with regards
to the Kurdish issue by preventing Kurds from freely expressing their
cultural heritage. While the AKP claims it is making progress on
Kurdish rights in Turkey, Kurdish people are still unable to express
their identity without fear and intimidation. Just this year, the AKP
implemented a ban on the Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, celebrations. In
March 2012, Kurdish celebrators were met with violence by Turkish
security forces and were forced to end their peaceful celebrations.

We, the BDP Representative Office in the U.S., strongly condemn the
Turkish government’s use of disproportional force against the Kurdish
people and their representatives including the co-presidents of our
party, Selahattin Demirtas and Gultan Kisanak. The violent use of
force by Turkish security forces on July 14 is yet another example
of the authoritarian tendencies of the AKP government. We believe
that the Kurdish conflict in Turkey can only be resolved through
inclusive democratic practices that include dialogue and negotiations
with Abdullah Ocalan and the Kurdish political movement. Talks and
negotiations between Turkish state authorities and Abdullah Ocalan
should be restarted in order for a lasting peace to prevail. Peace
talks and negotiations like those between ANC-Mandela and the South
Africa government or IRA-Sinn Fein and the UK government should be
a source of inspiration for Turkish government. These successful
experiences were encouraged by the U.S. administration.

We urge the U.S. president, Congress and Senate, and the American
civil society and media not to remain silent with regards to Turkey’s
gross human rights record against the Kurdish people, and to encourage
a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue that includes sincere peace
talks with the arrested Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Kurdish
political movement.

IT IS TOO EARLY TO SPEAK ABOUT MASS IMMIGRATION OF SYRIAN ARMENIANS: HRANUSH HAKOBYAN

ARMENPRESS
23 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 23, ARMENPRESS: It is too early to speak about
immigration of Syrian Armenians: yet only four families have submitted
their applications to the Ministry of Diaspora for living in their
homeland, who have been provided with appropriate accommodation. As
Minister of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan
told at the briefing with Armenpress, there is no grave information
about the immigration as our compatriots do not want to raise the
issue of immigration, but want to solve the task of education for
children.” I am in touch with our compatriots of Syria, both with the
state structure and diocese representatives. They are really concerned”
the Minister noted.

Syrian Armenians attend the Ministry as soon as they arrive Armenia,
where a special working group is created. Our compatriots mainly
raise the issue of education. In the words of Hakobyan many are
taking their summer vocations here, yet want their children study in
Armenian schools and high educational institutions.” We have applied
to the Ministry of Education and Science in the context of education
issues” the interlocutor told. The second problem Syrian Armenians
are concerned with refers to abating passports from Syria: Armenian
President have commissioned the legislative bodies to regulate the
issue. ” Our Ministry has already prepared Government draft resolution
and has already sent to various head quarters, which will enable a
chance to our compatriots living in Syria to receive their passports
in the place they are located at that particular time .

Other country citizens can not enjoy this right, they have to come
to Armenia and only later get their passports” Minister underscored.

The other not less important issue pertains to visa, so that our
compatriots could receive visas in the border. This problem has already
been envisaged in Ministerial Committee and is scheduled to be touched
upon at the course of coming Executive Body session. Measures are
undertaken concerning the job issues of our compatriots. Diaspora
and Labor and Social Affairs Ministries are collaborating offering
the existing vacancies in employment services.

“More than hundreds of Armenians have turned to the Ministry, and
one could hardly find anybody whose issue was not settled” Minister
assures. ” There is not a state structure which is not ready to
solve the problems of Syrian Armenians. We wish quick resolution,
establishment of peace, as our compatriots are concerned about their
activities, property, business” Hakobyan noted.