Author: nina hovnanian

SOLEMN EVENTS IN NAGORNO KARABAKH

ARMRADIO.AM
08.05.2012 14:51

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan attended the solemn events organized
in Stepanakert and Shoushi dedicated to the Victory Day, the Day of
the NKR Defense Army and the liberation of Shushi.

At the Stepanakert Memorial Complex Presidents of the two Armenian
states laid wreaths and flowers at the monument immortalizing the
memory of martyrs perished in the Second World War and the Artsakh
liberation struggle.

Thereafter the Presidents visited the town of Shushi, where they laid
wreaths at the pedestal of the tank-monument and the statue of Vazgen
Sargsyan. They were present at the public festivity held in Shushi.

His Holiness Karein II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, NKR second President Arkady Ghukasyan, the leadership of
the Artsakh Republic, official delegation from the Republic of Armenia,
representatives of the Diaspora, as well as guests from abroad partook
at the festive events, Central Information Department of the Office
of the NKR President reports.

ARF STATEMENT UNDERLINES RAMPANT ELECTION FRAUD, RENEWED DRIVE FOR REGIME CHANGE

Armenian Weekly
May 8 2012

YEREVAN (A.W.)-The ARF Supreme Council of Armenia issued a statement
on May 8 highlighting the fact that the parliamentary elections in
Armenia “did not reflect the will of the people, nor did it register
a fair representation of the political forces in the country.”

An ARF campaign billboard (photo by Nanore Barsoumian) The party said:
“It became clear that the widespread election fraud was planned
and implemented outside the voting center, on May 6 and before. The
representatives of the ruling coalition secured a large numbers of
votes through the mobilization of the full resources of the state and
administration, as well as through the distribution of unprecedented
amounts of election bribe.”

“Doubtless, bribes played a critical role in shaping the outcome of
the elections,” the party noted.

“Subjected to dire economic circumstances” and “alienated from the
state” the “absolute majority” of Armenian citizens did not perform
their election duties freely according to the ARF. “Through bribes
and intimidation, the ruling elites reproduced themselves.”

These results also mean that the political forces, including the ARF,
have not been capable yet to root in the public at large the political
awareness to elect their leaders with dignity and freedom.

The ARF concluded its statement noting that it considers the election
results as the beginning of a new phase and stressed the continuation
of the struggle until regime change in accomplished.
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From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: ARF Statement Underlines Rampant Election Fraud, Renewed Drive for
Regime Change

ARF Statement Underlines Rampant Election Fraud, Renewed Drive for Regime Change

by Armenian Weekly
May 8 2012

YEREVAN (A.W.)?The ARF Supreme Council of Armenia issued a statement
on May 8 highlighting the fact that the parliamentary elections in
Armenia ?did not reflect the will of the people, nor did it register a
fair representation of the political forces in the country.?

An ARF campaign billboard (photo by Nanore Barsoumian)
The party said: ?It became clear that the widespread election fraud
was planned and implemented outside the voting center, on May 6 and
before. The representatives of the ruling coalition secured a large
numbers of votes through the mobilization of the full resources of the
state and administration, as well as through the distribution of
unprecedented amounts of election bribe.?

?Doubtless, bribes played a critical role in shaping the outcome of
the elections,? the party noted.

?Subjected to dire economic circumstances? and ?alienated from the
state? the ?absolute majority? of Armenian citizens did not perform
their election duties freely according to the ARF. ?Through bribes and
intimidation, the ruling elites reproduced themselves.?

These results also mean that the political forces, including the ARF,
have not been capable yet to root in the public at large the political
awareness to elect their leaders with dignity and freedom.

The ARF concluded its statement noting that it considers the election
results as the beginning of a new phase and stressed the continuation
of the struggle until regime change in accomplished.

LES ARMENIENS D’IRAN CELEBRENT LE 97 AME ANNIVERSAIRE DU GENOCIDE DE 1915
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 8 mai 2012

Des milliers d’armeniens a Teheran ont commemore le genocide des
Armeniens par la Turquie il y a 97 ans.

Lors de la ceremonie l’Archeveque armenien de Teheran Sebouh Sarkissian
a dit que malgre que presque un siècle se soit ecoule les armeniens
dans le monde n’oublieront jamais le genocide.

Il a dit que les armeniens defendront les droits des martyrs.

L’ambassadeur d’Armenie a Teheran, le representant des armeniens au
Parlement iranien, des dignitaires armeniens etaient presents lors
de la ceremonie et ont rendu hommage a la memoire des victimes.

Ils ont aussi appele a une excuse officielle de la part du gouvernement
turc.

ARCHEVEQUE DE CANTERBURY : L’ARMENIE, CETTE NATION EXTRAORDINAIRE
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
mardi 8 mai 2012

“L’Archeveque de Canterbury : Une nation extraordinaire”. Les
Similitudes entre le Pays de Galles et l’Armenie expliquees dans
un livre.

Les disparitions mysterieuses du Roi Arthur et du plus celèbre rebelle
Owain Glyndwr du Pays de Galles ont des similitudes remarquables
avec celles des plus grands heros d’Armenie, selon un homme d’eglise
gallois.

Le Chanoine Patrick Thomas, vicaire de l’Eglise du Christ Carmarthen
et Chancelier diocesain de la Cathedrale St David, est l’auteur d’un
nouveau livre recu avec enthousiasme ; il y devoile les nombreuses
similitudes entre le Pays de Galles et l’Armenie, qui jusqu’il y a
22 ans, etait une republique integree a l’Union Sovietique.

>From Carmarthen to Karabagh (De Carmarthen au Karabagh) a ete presente
lundi au Temple of Peace and Health a Cardiff.

Dans les annees recentes, des liens ont ete etablis entre les deux
pays, engageant le Chanoine Patrick a visiter l’Armenie pour la
première fois en 2005. Il a ete immediatement seduit par ce pays a
l’est de l’Europe et ne cesse depuis d’y retourner, decouvrant de
plus en plus des parallèles et aussi des contrastes entre l’Armenie
et le Pays de Galles. La structure de son livre est unique : chaque
chapitre comporte une introduction, trois sections chacune sur un
thème propre a l’Armenie et une section de fin qui en relève les
similitudes avec le Pays de Galles.

Dans une section sur les recits sur les heros mythiques tels qu’ils
sont evoques au Pays de Galles et en Armenie, le Chanoine Patrick
ecrit : “Quelques heros sont supposes avoir disparu sans qu’aucune
indication du lieu où ils sont enterres ne soit connue. “Moïse en est
un exemple biblique evident. Dans la tradition galloise, deux de nos
plus grands combattants ont disparu de la meme facon : le roi Arthur
et Owain Glyndwr.

“Un ecclesiastique de l’Eglise d’Angleterre m’a un jour reprimande
parce que dans l’un de mes livres, j’avais dit du roi Arthur qu’il
etait gallois plutôt qu’anglais. “Contre qui pensez-vous qu’il se
battait dans ce cas ?” avais-je demande. “Un silence embarrasse s’en
etait suivi” Le lieu où le Roi Arthur a ete enterre est un mystère,
tout comme celui d’Owain Glyndwr. “La legende qui a hante l’imagination
populaire parle d’une brève rencontre entre Owain et l’abbe de Vale
Crucis,” ecrit le Chanoine Patrick.”Ce dernier s’en etait alle dans
les brumes du petit matin dire ses prières lorsqu’il croisa le heros
fugitif. Owain reprocha a l’ecclesiastique de se lever trop tôt. L’abbe
repliqua qu’Owain lui-meme s’etait reveille trop tôt d’une centaine
d’annees. De la vient la croyance qu’Owain (comme Arthur avant lui)
pourrait revenir un jour. On dit aussi de lui qu’il dormait avec ses
combattants dans une grotte – peut-etre l’une de celles dans laquelle
il s’etait cache dans sa fuite de plusieurs annees. “En Armenie,
un rôle similaire est attribue a Pokr Mehr, le dernier des heros
sauvages de Sassoun, dont les exploits sont repris dans les recits
epiques de la nation. “Pokr Mehr et son cheval ont disparu dans le
rocher de Van et, ainsi le veut la legende, s’y trouvent encore.”

Le Chanoine Patrick ecrit aussi de facon emouvante sur la mort de
plus de un million d’Armeniens dans la Turquie ottomane au temps de la
première guerre mondiale – un evenement officiellement reconnu comme
un genocide par l’Assemblee Nationale, mais pas par le Parlement du
Royaume Uni.

Le livre a recu les eloges de l’Archeveque de Canterbury, le Docteur
Rowan Williams, qui ecrit dans un avant-propos : “La voix distincte
de Patrick Thomas – avisee, profonde, compatissante, et spirituelle –
est de plus en plus largement connue et appreciee a travers ses ecrits
sur le Pays de Galles et sur le legs imaginatif de la foi chretienne
dans le Pays de Galles.

“Il se penche ici sur un autre sujet, sans toutefois rien ceder de
ses caractères enracines dans la realite du Carmarthenshire.

“Son histoire d’amour avec l’Armenie a commence, comme il nous le
dit, il y a six ans ; elle se manifeste, a travers de nombreuses
visites et a travers une profonde immersion dans la culture de cette
nation extraordinaire qu’il defend avec passion . “Il n’y a rien de
surprenant a ce qu’il relève des analogies avec un autre pays petit
et montagneux, jaloux de sa langue et de son heritage. “Et dans ces
pages, il nous ouvre les portes de l’une des plus poignantes et belles
litteratures des Armeniens, forgee comme elle l’est par une histoire
de souffrances indicibles.”

L’Archeveque Vahan Hovhanessian, Primat de l’Eglise Apostolique
Armenienne de Grande Bretagne et d’Irlande, ecrit : “Ceux d’entre
nous qui connaissent bien le Chanoine Patrick connaissent sa passion
pour approfondir sa connaissance de la culture et de l’histoire des
Armeniens, et pour perseverer dans la mise en parallèle des peuples
armenien et gallois ; ils savent qu’il a gagne le droit d’etre un
ambassadeur honoraire du peuple armenien pour le reste du monde.”

Martin Shipton

>From Carmarthen to Karabagh par Patrick Thomas est publie par Gwasg
Carreg Gwalsh – 7.50 £

TANER AKCAM PRESENTE SON DERNIER LIVRE A L’UNIVERSITE DE COLGATE
Stephane

armenews.com
mardi 8 mai 2012

Le professeur Taner Akcam a presente a l’Universite Colgate le 5
avril son nouveau livre intitule ” le Crime des Jeunes Turcs contre
l’Humanite : le Genocide armenien et la Purification ethnique dans
l’Empire Ottoman ” qui a ete publie par Princeton University Press.

Taner Akcam a parle de l’importance des nouveaux documents d’archives
qu’il a deterres dans les archives du ministère de l’Interieur a
Istanbul. Il a explore la politique des Jeunes Turcs de conversions
obligatoires et du projet ” d’absorption des enfants ” orphelins
armeniens comme d’une dimension du processus de genocide par lequel
l’identite armenienne a ete effacee par la planification centrale du
gouvernement Ottoman en 1915.

Taner Akcam a aussi discute de la signification des ordres de Talat
Pasha sur le massacre d’environ 200 000 armeniens a Der Zor, en Syrie,
durant l’ete 1916. La presentation a ete suivie par une session de
questions et reponses et une reception.

Dans son introduction, le professeur Peter Balakian a note : ” le
travail de taner Akcam reste vitalisant et essentiel. Non seulement
il a ouvert l’espace a l’interieur de la Turquie pour une evaluation
honnete du genocide des armeniens, mais il a aussi donne du courage a
une generation de chercheurs turcs pour aborder cette histoire sous le
premisse de la reconnaissance veridique de la definition de genocide
de Lemkin “.

TURKISH PREMIER HOPES FOR BETTER TIES WITH FRANCE AFTER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

Anadolu Agency
May 7 2012
Turkey

GAZIANTEP (AA) -May 7, 2012 -Turkish prime minister expressed hope
on Sunday that Turkey-France relations would be better in the new
era that began after Sunday’s presidential election in France.

Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Nicolas Sarkozy had promised to
quit politics if he lost the election, and noted that Sarkozy would
most probably be on holiday from now on.

“Turkey-France relations should be better, based on peace, solidarity
and sensitivity in this new era in France,” Erdogan held a press
conference in the southeastern province of Gaziantep before he left
for Slovenia.

Erdogan said if populist messages in election campaigns were reflected
on implementations of the new administration in France, it would have
a negative impact on Turkey-France relations.

“I hope that they would just remain as remarks made at squares,”
he said.

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande won the second round of the
French presidential election by gaining 52 per cent of the votes.

Sarkozy’s votes stayed at 48 per cent.

57-year-old Hollande began his political career as the adviser to
Francois Mitterrand, who served as the president of France between
1981 and 1995.

Hollande, who supported the law criminalizing denial of Armenian
allegations regarding the incidents of 1915, has given the message
that he does no more welcome Turkey’s European Union membership saying
that negotiations have prolonged for so long.

The French Constitutional Council has rejected the law criminalizing
denial of Armenian allegations.

15 PEOPLE STILL IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS AFTER BALLOON BLAST IN YEREVAN

Panorama.am
07/05/2012

As of May 7, 15:00, 75 burn victims of Yerevan balloon blast still
undergo treatment in Yerevan’s medical centers, including 15 in
intensive care units.

A total of 154 people were hospitalized with burn injuries after
gas-filled balloons exploded at RPA’s campaign rally in Yerevan’s
Republic Square on May 4.

HHK AND HAK TO HOLD RALLIES AT REPUBLIC SQUARE

02:10 pm | Today | Politics

On May 8, the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) will hold
a post-election rally at Liberty Square in Yerevan to sum up results
of Sunday vote. The meeting, which will last from 4 to 11 p.m.,
will be followed by a march.

The opposition alliance will hold meetings at the square on May 9,
11, 13 and 14, as well.

The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will also hold gatherings at the
square on May 10 and 12. The gatherings will start at 11:00 a.m. and
end at 10 p.m. The party will match through the capital’s central
streets at 5:00 p.m.

HHK and HAK received 44,5% and 7,10% votes respectively in Sunday’s
parliamentary elections.

IGNORING THE GENOCIDE

The Fresno Bee
Sunday, May. 06, 2012

As Allied forces liberated Europe’s concentration camps at the end of
World War II, they rounded up local villagers and rubbed their noses
in the bodies of the Nazis’ murder victims, not for their participation
in these crimes against humanity, but because they stood by, silently,
and watched it all happen.

Last week, President Obama spoke at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum,
on whose walls is inscribed Hitler’s motivational mantra — “who
today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians.” Obama proclaimed
“never again,” as he rattled off a list of subsequent crimes against
humanity, but he consciously and deliberately failed to mention the
archetypal crime, the genocide against the Armenians. Yet, in that
crowd, were survivors and descendants of Hitler’s madness, and they
stood by, silently, and watched Obama engage in the final stage of
genocide — denial.

There is no question that certain victims of such crimes have long
been defenders and supporters of Armenians, especially in their time
of greatest need. That need continues to this day, and unless and
until real, vocal, support is provided, one must wonder on which
ethnic group’s holocaust museum will Hitler’s words next be inscribed.

Never again must mean never again.

Marshall D. Moushigian Fresno

Read more here:

Azerbaijani Embassy probes Uruguayan FM’s statement made in Armenia

armradio.amâ?
05.05.2012 15:13

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is considering Uruguayan Foreign
Minister’s statement, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official
representative Elman Abdullayev told media in Baku today.

Uruguay supports the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
on the basis of the right of nations to self-determination, Uruguayan
Foreign Minister Luis Almagro said this at a joint press conference
with his Armenian counterpart in Yerevan on May 4.

“Nagorno Karabakh is closely related to Armenia,” the Minister said.
“This is Karabakh’s future, which it can choose for itself, using the
right to self-determination.”

“The Azerbaijani Embassy in Argentina has been charged with
considering the position of Uruguayan Foreign Minister and the
reliability of the information,” Abdullaev said.

He added that afterwards, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry will make
an official statement.