Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

AVET ADONTS MAY BE APPOINTED ARMENIA’S AMBASSADOR TO BELGIUM

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.02.2009 12:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Avet Adonts, chairman of the RA parliamentary
committee on European integration, may be appointed as Armenia’s
Ambassador to Belgium, an informed source told PanARMENIAN.Net.

Presently, the post of Armenia’s Ambassador to Benelux states is
occupied by Vigen Chitechian

Some diplomats suppose that the position of RA Deputy Foreign Minister,
which has been vacant since appointment of Gegham Gharibjanian as RA
NA staff head, can be assumed either by Tatoul Manaserian or Vigen
Chitechian.

FOUR CONGRESSMEN PREPARE SO-CALLED "GENOCIDE RESOLUTION"

APA
Feb 6 2009
Azerbaijan

Washington-APA. The largest U.S. Armenian group has asked Armenians
throughout the United States to urge lawmakers in the House of
Representatives to support an upcoming resolution for the country to
recognize the Armenians’ claims of "genocide", a strong sign that
the legislation is due to be introduced soon, APA reports quoting
Haberturk.

"With the Obama-Biden administration and new Congress now in place,
we have the best opportunity in years to end Turkey’s gag rule on
American recognition of the Armenian genocide," The Armenian National
Committee of America, or ANCA, said in a statement released yesterday
for U.S. Armenians.

The ANCA’s Web site included a template letter Armenians could send
to lawmakers. In the letter, lawmakers are encouraged to become early
co-sponsors of the "genocide resolution," likely to be introduced
to the House soon by pro-Armenian representatives Adam Schiff, a
Democrat from California, and George Radanovich, a Republican also
from California. Nearly half of the 1.5-million-strong U.S. Armenian
community lives in California. The ANCA also reiterated a call for
U.S. Armenians to send messages to President Obama to urge him to
keep a pledge made during the election campaign last year to recognize
the claims of genocide if elected.

"We are, of course, looking forward to President Obama honoring his
pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide and are turning to you to
help build support for proper congressional recognition of this crime
against humanity," the ANCA told U.S. Armenians.

Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican and co-chairman of the Armenian
Caucus in the House, said the U.S. Defense and State Departments
would always oppose the resolution, citing strategic aspects of
the relationship with Turkey. "I think we are the strongest at the
beginning of a Congress, at the beginning of a presidency… So it’s
best if we move now," Kirk said.

With Obama as president, Armenians hope this time they will win formal
U.S. recognition for the claims of "genocide".

ARTO TUNCBOYACIYAN, ALIDZ AGBABIAN TO PERFORM AT GLOBAL SOUL 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.02.2009 13:25 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Storyteller Alidz Agbabian and musician Arto
Tuncboyaciyan will join artists from around the world on February
26, when Jewish World Watch (JWW) will host Global Soul, an evening
of music, culture, and genocide awareness at the Skirball Cultural
Center. The event will honor Rabbi M. Schulweis, co-founder of JWW,
for his lifetime of activism and innovation, and will celebrate the
accomplishments of JWW during its first five years.

"I am very happy to be presenting stories and songs from the Armenian
oral tradition at Global Soul 2009," said Ms. Agbabian. "Listening
to the messages of the other performers is very important for
me. . . . What a great opportunity to experience our mutual humanity
through art."

Since its inception, JWW has made great strides in mobilizing the
Jewish community in Los Angeles as well as the public at large to
crusade against genocide and human-rights violations throughout
the world.

In addition, JWW has engaged in significant outreach to interfaith
and ethnic communities in Los Angeles, including the Armenian and
Cambodian communities. In partnership with the Armenian community of
Los Angeles, JWW led the Jewish community to recognize the Armenian
Genocide by hosting a Jewish-Armenian Shabbat Dinner and Service to
observe the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in 2007.

WHAT TURKEY RISKS WHEN IT COURTS THE ‘STREET’
by David A. Harris

New Jersey Jewish News
pedWhatTurkeyRisks.html
Feb 4 2009
NJ

I have long admired Turkey. Yet with the outburst of animosity for
Israel and the anxiety awakened in the Turkish-Jewish community,
I wonder what’s going on and what the future holds.

If this only emanated from the "street" or from an extremist fringe,
it would be worrisome enough. But it starts at the top. Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the loudest, attacking Israel in a
manner both vicious and disconnected from facts.

He has described Israeli policy in Gaza as a "massacre" and a "crime
against humanity" that would bring about Israel’s "self-destruction"
through divine punishment. These words are inflammatory — and wrong.

Israel yearns for a secure and lasting peace. No one has more fully
embodied that vision, or worked more tirelessly to achieve a new
start for the Middle East, than Shimon Peres, Israel’s president,
a Nobel Peace Prize winner and Erdogan’s fellow panelist at the World
Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

Yet Erdogan essentially called Peres a child killer before storming off
the stage at Davos last week. Maybe he gained popularity in the Turkish
street, where anger against Israel and Jews has been stoked in recent
weeks, but Erdogan’s unstatesmanlike behavior did Turkey no service.

What would Turkey do if its population were targeted, day after day,
by merciless enemies? Actually, we know the answer. When Turkey has
deemed its national interests in jeopardy, it has acted, irrespective
of the views of the international community.

Fearing union between Greece and Cyprus, Turkey rushed troops to
the northern part of the island in 1974, where much of the Turkish
community lived. A new breakaway government was declared. The United
Nations Security Council deplored the move. Only Turkey recognized
the new state. Then came, observers insisted, a deliberate policy of
settlement from Turkey to create facts on the ground.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has targeted Turkey for years,
initially seeking an independent Kurdish state that included part of
Turkey. Now it claims to seek greater autonomy for the millions of
Kurds in Turkey. As the PKK has apparently lowered its demands, has
Turkey pursued talks with that murderous group? Absolutely not! And
it has urged other nations to avoid any contact, either.

Indeed, in the late 1990s, Ankara threatened to send its army
into neighboring Syria if the PKK continued to receive protection
there. Luckily for Turkey, Syria was smarter than Hamas. Damascus
got the message loud and clear.

Since 1993, Turkey has sealed its border with landlocked Armenia
because it objects to Armenian policy toward Azerbaijan. But, Erdogan
now accuses Israel of creating "an open-air prison" by sealing its own
frontier with a hostile territory, even while humanitarian assistance
continues to cross from Israel to Gaza.

Erdogan even contends that Hamas is a reasonable negotiating
partner. He invited its leaders to Ankara, though Hamas had not met the
Quartet’s demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide
by previous agreements. It still has not and repeatedly declares its
goal of Israel’s destruction, assisted by weapons from Iran.

It’s so easy to tell another country what it should or shouldn’t do
in the face of threats, especially when one’s own country is 10 times
more populous and 38 times larger in size. But ultimately, Israel, like
its friend Turkey, must make tough choices to protect its citizens.

The Turkey I know and admire would recoil from partners like Iran
and Hamas. Their central beliefs are antithetical to everything that
modern, democratic Turkey ought to stand for.

I have long valued Turkey’s increasingly important role in regional and
global affairs. Turkey’s growing link to Europe, its long-standing NATO
membership, its strong ties with the United States, its historic place
as a haven for Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, its contributions
to UN peacekeeping operations — including in southern Lebanon —
and its mutually beneficial ties with Israel have all served it well.

In that spirit, I have acted on the assumption that friends help
friends. When Ankara needed assistance in Washington, or in European
capitals, Turkish officials often turned to Jewish groups, the American
Jewish Committee among them, and whenever we could, we have helped. And
when a major earthquake devastated Adapazari in 1999, the AJC built
a school for 400 children as a gesture of solidarity and friendship.

Only Erdogan knows how far he wants to take his increasingly
belligerent posture. It certainly has resulted in joy in Iran and
Hamas’ radical circles. Iranian leaders now talk of him as a Nobel
Peace Prize candidate. But with friends like that, who needs enemies?

Without an ounce of hyperbole, Turkey’s future direction has enormous
geopolitical consequences for its neighborhood and beyond. It bears
very close watching.

POLAND DOESN’T PROTEST TURKEY’S EU BID

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.02.2009 22:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Poland doesn’t protest Turkey’s accession to the
European Union, according to Poland’s Ambassador to Armenia.

"The talks are underway and they seem to last long. Nevertheless,
economic interaction between Turkey and the EU member states is
developing," Tomasz Knothe said.

"Turkey experiences serious problems, resolution of which is essential
for its accession to the Union. It took Poland 6 years to be granted
the EU membership. Official Ankara should understand that everything
is in its hands," the Ambassador said.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 1 2009

Turkey’s heart is with Gaza but its mind looks westward

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s show of power and honor
at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has sparked a discussion in
Turkey over whether the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government is turning its back on Israel, and by extension, the
Western world.

ErdoÄ?an’s harsh response to Israeli President Shimon Peres’
rebuking and loud tone was perceived by certain diplomats and media
organs as a sign of a complete halt in Turkey’s friendly relations
with Israel. But the phone call that came from Peres, allegedly
apologizing for his tone and reiterating the importance of Turkey’s
friendship to Israel, and a statement by the Turkish General Staff
that there is no problem in Turkey’s military equipment deals with
Israel have suggested the opposite.

Why, then, were critics of ErdoÄ?an’s Davos protest so
aggressive in claiming that the AK Party government was isolating
Turkey from the West? Deputy Prime Minister Cemil �içek
thinks their claims are actually wishful thinking. Turkish and foreign
diplomats and academicians underline the fact that Turkey is as
indispensable for the West as the West is for Turkey. The same applies
to Israel, Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomats told Sunday’s Zaman on
Friday.

Speaking to Sunday’s Zaman, Ã?içek said Turkey’s position
is not against the Israeli nation or Jews worldwide, but against the
leadership that ordered the attacks on Gaza. �içek is
aware that certain retired diplomats and a Turkish media group have
criticized Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an for losing Israel’s
friendship and the support of Jewish lobbies in the US, especially as
they have previously countered a looming Armenian "genocide" bill.

"To some extent this is the wishful thinking of those who say these
things. The prime minister does not target Israelis or Jews. Such an
attitude is not acceptable in our religion or in our culture. What
Turkey is criticizing is also criticized by certain Jewish writers,"
he said. �içek believes that Turkey will continue to be
the sole country that can speak to all sides of the Middle East
conflict. "Foreign policy should be an area of calm. If
ErdoÄ?an’s words are taken out of their context and are used to
harm Turkey’s relations with Israel and other countries, this amounts
to an injustice done to Turkey," he told Sunday’s Zaman.

The deputy prime minister does not believe that the Jewish lobby in
the US will influence Washington’s position vis-à-vis Turkey.

He reiterates that friendly Turkish-American relations are more than
50 years old and that they serve the interests of both sides. `The US
has experience in governance. It does not give its decisions on the
basis of one or two declarations. It looks to the past and the
future. This is what all serious states should do. I don’t believe
Turkey’s stance on Gaza will create a radical shift in the perception
of Turkey in the US,’ he said. But he does not downplay the
possibility that the Armenian diaspora will use this opportunity to
harm Turkey’s image in the US capital. `We cannot say what will happen
in April. That is a decision another country [the US] should
make. They shouldn’t make their decision looking only to the angle
they are presented with by the Armenians,’ he explained.

A senior French parliamentarian and the Danish ambassador to Turkey
ruled out suggestions that the incident in Davos was a sign that
Turkey has been moving toward the Iran-Syria axis rather than
gravitating toward Western society.

Pierre Lellouche, a member of the French Parliament from the ruling
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), formerly led by current French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, was in Antalya on Friday to participate in
an international meeting of the Turkish-Atlantic Council.

`Turkey is becoming just itself, nothing else; it is a bridge between
Europe and the Middle East and it’s conducting a very active policy in
the Middle East, in the Gulf region and in the Caucasus,’ Lellouche
said, noting that the Turkish government has most recently displayed
its commitment to joining the EU by appointing State Minister Egemen
BaÄ?ıÅ? as a full-time chief EU negotiator for the
accession process. `There is no need to dramatize the situation. I’m
sure Turkey will continue playing its EU cards,’ he added.

Danish Ambassador to Turkey Jesper Vahr said he didn’t believe that
Turkey has been moving away from the West.

`We have been expressing our pleasure over Turkey’s balanced
relationship with the Arab world and Europe. This balance matters for
us. There is no such thing as moving away from the West,’ Vahr said.

Professor Ä°hsan DaÄ?ı, a political scientist,
wrote an article in the Zaman daily on Friday about whether the AK
Party would turn its back to the West. He claimed in his article,
penned before the Davos incident, that among the antagonists of the AK
Party were those who hoped that the party would abandon its
pro-Western, pro-EU stance and turn into a government cut off from the
rest of the world.

`Don’t struggle in vain!’ he said to those who want to see the AK
Party isolated. `For the first time in history the demands and
position of the `conservative democrat circles’ overlap with the
global dynamics and the flow of history,’ he wrote.

Sunday’s Zaman spoke to DaÄ?ı about whether the Davos
incident changed his mind or not. He said he thinks the AK Party
cannot turn its back on the West and the West cannot abandon the AK
Party.

`There is a natural alliance between the Western powers that want to
see Turkey in the West and the AK Party. This is not something either
side can give up so easily. There is no actor in Turkey, other than
the AK Party, that can shoulder Turkey’s vision of the West. This, in
fact, is the major advantage of the AK Party. For the last six or
seven years there has been no opposition that has stationed itself in
the West. Those who want to see Turkey in the West do not have any
alternative but to work with the AK Party,’ he
said. DaÄ?ı does not foresee a push from the Western
capitals that would force Turkey to turn its face to the East. He is
rather worried about the pull of the Arab streets.

`We were in Brussels with the prime minister and we saw there that the
European Union is not critical of the role Turkey is playing in the
Middle East at all. Turkey is not only a moderator between actors; it
also pulls Hamas and Hezbullah toward more moderate positions. It
pulls Syria and Iran toward the international system. My only worry is
the pull from the Middle Eastern streets. That shouldn’t corrupt the
chemistry of the AK Party,’ he told Sunday’s Zaman.

In fact, the pull of Arab streets doesn’t just worry intellectuals
like DaÄ?ı, but also the Arab regimes. There have already
been sentimental declarations among Arab intellectuals condemning
their own regimes for their pacifism in the face of Israeli
aggressions in Gaza. The Arab streets are referring to the Turkish
prime minister either as the `Grandson of Abdülhamid II’ or a
second `Gamal Abdel Naser,’ a new `Arab hero.’ Keeping this in mind,
one should be worried more about Turkey turning its back to the Arab
leaders, and not European leaders. ErdoÄ?an is certainly winning
the hearts of the Arab streets, but is Turkey losing the Arab
capitals?

One particular reason that Turkey may lose the friendship of certain
Arab regimes is the need for consistency in Turkey’s humanitarian
concerns and search for justice. Having assumed the role of `the
mouthpiece of the deprived and the helper of the weak,’ Turkey will
feel obliged to raise its voice in the face of similar injustices seen
in other parts of the world. The dictatorial regimes of the Arab world
provide enough material for such an obligation. And this is exactly
what retired diplomat Onur Ã-ymen criticizes about the style of the
prime minister. Ã-ymen thinks Turkey should have spoken in the name
of the entire Palestinian people, not of Hamas. `Hamas is listed as a
terrorist organization both by the European and American
administrations. Turkey has accepted Hamas as a terrorist organization
also. This is a contradiction. This is what will harm Turkey’s
relations with the West. What the prime minister criticizes deserves
to be criticized. But you didn’t show this response as hundreds of
thousands of Iraqis were killed. You didn’t show it when 300,000
people were killed in Sudan. If the prime minister didn’t show this
contradiction, we would also applaud him,’ Ã-ymen told Sunday’s
Zaman.

On the other hand, the responses that came from the Arab capitals
didn’t confirm these worries. It seems that the Arab intellectuals
regard Turkey’s new role in the region not as a challenge to the
current regimes, but as a complementary support for the Palestinian
cause. Palestinian Ambassador to Ankara Nabeel Maarouf didn’t, for
example, accept the allegations that ErdoÄ?an was voicing the
pains of Hamas only and not of the Palestinian people as a
whole. `Hamas is a part of the Palestinian nation. We are under
occupation and we have the right to defend ourselves. ErdoÄ?an
is supporting the Palestinian nation and this right cause as a
whole. He didn’t point to a particular group or organization,’ he told
members of the Turkish press recently.

Remarks by senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, a former foreign
minister, are in agreement with what Maarouf said. According to
Shaath, suggesting that Turkey’s policy is particularly in favor of
Hamas is `unacceptable.’ All Palestinian groups have sympathy for
Turkey, Shaath stressed.

`Turkey, welcome back to the region,’ said Mustafa al-Labbad, director
of the Al-Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies, adding that
Turkey is becoming `the star of the region,’ particularly because it
is not pushing any ideological doctrine in its approach to regional
issues.

For Dr. Amr al-Shubki, an expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political
and Strategic Studies, ErdoÄ?an’s latest action in Davos
revealed that a country could be both democratic and moderate, while
at the same time being able to criticize Israel.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey made it clear on
Friday that the postponement of a scheduled visit to Turkey by the new
US envoy for the Middle East, George Mitchell, had nothing to do with
the incident in Davos.

Mitchell was supposed to arrive in Ä°stanbul today for talks
with ErdoÄ?an and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan as part of a
regional tour aimed at shoring up the Gaza cease-fire to promote
Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Jeffrey, who was in Antalya for the TAC meeting on Friday, told
Sunday’s Zaman that the reason behind the postponement was `solely
technical,’ and added that the US side had briefed Ankara about the
postponement before the panel in Davos.

`I do not share them,’ Jeffrey briefly replied when he was asked
whether he shared certain opinions suggesting that Turkey was moving
away from the West.

01 February 2009, Sunday
KERÄ°M BALCI / EMÄ°NE KART ANKARA

Public Television of Armenia
Jan 30 2009

Armenian president says meeting with Turkish premier "useful"

[Presenter] President [of Armenia Serzh] Sargsyan and Turkish Prime
Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan have assessed positively the results
of their first meeting, in Davos on 29 January, and have assigned the
foreign ministers of the two countries to make additional efforts
towards settlement of relations.

[Passage omitted: details of Sargsyan’s meeting with the Russian prime
minister.]

[Correspondent over video of meetings] The press in Davos focused its
attention specially on President Sargsyan’s today’s meetings for the
simple reason that a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan was planned. It [the meeting with Erdogan] was even considered
historic, and it was noted that Turkey managed to settle its relations
with Greece owing to meetings in Davos. Will the success story repeat
itself in Armenia’s case? The Sargsyan-Erdogan meeting lasted about
forty minutes.

[Sargsyan speaking in Armenian to reporters] This was our first
meeting, and I believe it was useful. I saw that the prime minister
also has a wish to settle our relations and this is a good
circumstance.

[Correspondent] Rather constructive – [this is how Armenian] Foreign
Minister Edvard Nalbandyan described the Armenian-Turkish negotiations
in Davos.

[Nalbandyan speaking in Armenian to a reporter] The leaders of the two
countries [Armenia and Turkey] assess positively the general process
towards settlement; and they have assigned the foreign ministers to
make additional efforts towards settlement [of relations].

LEADERSHIP OF BJNI APPLIES TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO HELP SUSPEND AUCTION ON SALE OF THE PLANT’S PROPERTY

ArmInfo
2009-01-29 19:07:00

ArmInfo. The leadership of Bjni Plant of Mineral Waters has applied
to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to help suspend the compulsory
auction on sale of the plant’s property, the statement of Bjni Director
General L.Harutyunyan given to ArmInfo says.

The company’s leadership suggests setting up a working group of
well-known high-ranking officials, Bjni specialists and international
organizations to investigate the circumstances related to the plant
and make an objective conclusion.

L.Harutyunyan thinks that the Service of Compulsory Execution of
Judicial Acts of the Armenian Justice Ministry is trying to illegally
sell the property of CJSC Bjni Plant of Mineral Waters via an e-auction
as the bailiffs keep in secret the information which property is to
be sold and how much it is evaluated.

The deal is illegal, at least, because the managers of the company
have not been informed about the results of the evaluation.

To remind, the starting price of the property of "Bjni" and "Noy"
brands is 4.934bln AMD ($16mln).

The property was put up for sale because of the tax service’s financial
claims worth 4.1bln AMD.

Bjni is part of Sil Concern, which belongs to the Sukiassyan
family. The pressure that is being exerted on the concern by the
government may be due to the political activities of one of its
shareholders, MP Khachatur Sukiassyan who openly supported the first
president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossyan during the Feb presidential
election.

Meanwhile, well-known Armenian businessman, leader of Prosperous
Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan has advised businessmen not to take
part in the auction.

EXPERTS OF CSTO MEMBER-STATES TO DISCUSS INFORMATION SECURITY FORMATION ISSUES

ArmInfo
2009-01-29 10:29:00

ArmInfo. Session of the Working Group under CSTO Security Secretarial
Committee was held on January 29, 2009, in CSTO Secretariat on the
issues of information policy and security.

‘The experts discussed the issues of implementation of the Joint
Actions Programme on formation of the information security system of
CSTO member-states approved by CSTO member-countries’ presidents in
September, 2008. In particular, the problems of the normative legal
base of cooperation of CSTO member-states in the sphere of information
security, creation of a coordinating mechanism of cooperation, the
course of preparation for implementation of joint measures aimed at
counteraction to the crimes committed using the up-to-date information
technologies were discussed’, CSTO deputy Secretary General Valery
Semerikov said. Representatives of all the member- states of CSTO
took part in the session.

30 PER CENT OF ARMENIAN ARMY CONTRACT SOLDIERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2009 19:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Contract soldiers, whose salary fluctuates between 75
000 and 160 000 AMD, make 30 per cent of the Armenian army personnel
and the figure tends to increase, said the chairperson of the Union
of Soldiers’ Mothers.

Greta Mirzoyan also emphasized that draftees do not experience
problems with food and uniform. "We have conducted monitoring and
received encouraging results," she said.

Meanwhile, she pointed out to lack of specialization as the main
problem of ex-servicemen.

In discussing the bill on compulsory call-up, Mrs. Mirzoyan said she
doesn’t support the legislation. "I am a teacher myself and I do know
that majority of my students want to serve after graduation," she said.