Author: Toneyan Mark

TURKEY’S DESIRE TO NORMALIZE TIES WITH ARMENIA AROUSES CONTROVERSIES IN BAKU

PanARMENIAN.Net
29.04.2009 17:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Erdoghan’s visit to Baku may relieve existing
tension, political scientist Rasim Agaev said.

According to Azeri political scientist, the Turkish premier is leaving
for Baku to clarify Ankara and Baku’s current disposition towards
Armenian-Turkish talks.

"While Armenia was blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijan, we maintained
friendly ties, but now, Turkey’s desire to normalize relations
with Armenia has caused serious controversy between us. The thing’s
that Turkey’s initiative to close the border was a manifestation of
unanimity in Turkish world. And Azerbaijan wants official Ankara to
carry through the process, forcing Armenia to change its position on
the Karabakh conflict," Mr. Agaev said.

The political scientist is convinced that "The current initiatives
towards opening borders may deprive Azerbaijan of good chances in
the upcoming Karabakh settlement talks, forcing official Baku to
search extra tools of influence." "If the situation continues, the
current information war in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations may
develop into something more negative. I think the current squabble
in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations is a negative sign fraught with
serious consequences for Turkey," the political scientist noted.

"This is the reason I attach importance to Mr. Erdoghan’s visit aimed
at clarifying details in the current talks with Armenia and explaining
the essence of the so-called Armenian-Turkish ‘route map’. If the US
has committed itself to the Armenian-Turkish ties normalization, we
are required to wait for serious changes, clarifying all the moments
which still remain obscure. Erdoghan’s visit to Baku may relieve the
current tension," 1news.az reports, quoting Agaev.

According to mass media reports, Recep Tayyip Erdoghan is to visit
Baku within the coming few days.

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: ARMENIA AND TURKEY HAVE NO AGREEMENTS REGARDING KARS TREATY

ArmInfo
2009-04-29 16:23:00

Armenia and Turkey have no agreements regarding the Kars Treaty,
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at the Armenian
National Assembly Wednesday in response of the question by Viktor
Dallakyan, an independent parliamentarian.

He said the road-map on normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations
is just a schedule of measures aimed to settle the relations. There are
no other ‘principles’ and ‘provisions’. All this should be developed
via discussions, the minister said.

The road-map was identified on April 23 and a joint statement was
made by the Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministries and Switzerland
as mediator.

LEGENDARY RUSSIAN BALLERINA EKATERINA MAXIMOVA DIES AT 70

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2009 20:28 GMT+04:00

Legendary Russian ballerina Ekaterina Maximova, who graced the stage
of the Bolshoi Theater for 30 years, died Tuesday. She was 70.

The theater said Maximova died at home and no cause of death was
immediately determined. She had been working as a ballet coach and
was not known to be suffering from ill health.

Ballet directors and President Dmitry Medvedev praised Maximova’s
work as an artist and a teacher of young ballerinas, and mourned her
death as a great loss to Russia.

Maximova’s dancing career at the Bolshoi spanned three decades, from
her debut as Masha in "The Nutcracker" in 1958 until 1988. Called
"Ekaterina the Great," or Catherine the Great, for her impeccable
technique and versatility, she danced most of the major female roles
of classical ballet and also experimented with avant-garde dance.

Her partner on the stage and in life was her husband Vladimir Vasiliev,
who following his dancing career served for five years as artistic
director of the Bolshoi.

"This is an irretrievable loss," current artistic director Yuri
Burlaka told reporters in the theater’s atrium. "All Russians will
mourn and remember this great ballerina," hre said, AP reported.

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI CALLS 1915 EVENTS "GENOCIDE"

APA
April 27 2009
Azerbaijan

Washington. Zaur Hasanov -APA. US House of Representative Nancy Pelosi
called the 1915 events as "genocide" in her statement issued on the
94th anniversary of the false "Armenian Genocide".

According to the APA US bureau, the pro-Armenian speaker said: "Today,
we commemorate the 94th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and pay
tribute to the victims and survivors. We know from their testimony
and historical records that the Armenian genocide was conceived and
carried out by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923".

Pelosi, who was elected to the Congress from California, said that
"1.5 million Armenian people were killed and more than two million
others were expelled from their homeland. International observers
and diplomats to the Ottoman Empire, including U.S. Ambassador Henry
Morgenthau, watched a nightmare unfurl and provided detailed accounts
about ‘a campaign of race extermination". "It is long past time for
the U.S. Government to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide. If
we ignore history then we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the
past. The genocides in Rwanda and Darfur remind us that we must do
more to prevent this from ever happening again", said Pelosi.

US President Barack Obama characterized the 1915 events in his
address on April 24 using the Armenian word. President Obama said
"the Meds Yeghern (it means in Armenian as "great catastrophe")
must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in the hearts of
the Armenian people".

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATED IN CAPITOL HILL’S HISTORIC CANNON CAUCUS ROOM

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.04.2009 00:35 GMT+04:00

Dozens of Democratic and Republican Members of Congress joined
Wednesday evening with over five hundred Armenian Americans from
across the United States in Capitol Hill’s historic Cannon Caucus Room
in a solemn remembrance devoted to U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer (D-MD), in their remarks to the standing-room only
audience, both spoke forcefully of their personal commitment to proper
U.S. condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

"It is long past the time for the United States to formally recognize
the Armenian Genocide," noted Speaker Pelosi in her remarks. She
went on to spotlight the importance of grassroots efforts against
Turkey’s multi-million dollar campaign of genocide denial. "How far
we can go with the resolution [H.Res.252] this year depends on the
outreach that each and everyone of us in this room can do to win on
the floor of the House. We can do any amount of inside maneuvering
in the Congress and Washington, but what is important is the outside
mobilization to bring to bear the voices of people across America."

The Congressional Armenian Genocide observance was organized by the
Congressional Armenian Caucus, with Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) serving as Masters of
Ceremony. Opening prayers were offered by his Eminence Oshagan
Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern
United States as well as Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate of the
Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Eastern United States.

Joining Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer in offering remarks at
the Armenian Genocide commemoration were Armenian Genocide Resolution
lead sponsors Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. George Radanovich
(R-CA), House Members of Armenian descent Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and
Jackie Speier (D-CA), as well as Reps. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI),
Jim McGovern (D-MA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV)
and Tim Walz (D-MN).

The evening included powerful remarks about the consequences of
genocide by guest speaker Dr. Henry Theriault of Worcester State
University. Also offering remarks were Armenian Ambasador Tatul
Markarian and Permanent Representative of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic
to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan.

PanARMENIAN.Net

A new book about the Armenian heritage destruction organized by Azerbaijan
26.04.2009 00:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At the European Armenian Federation’s invitation,
Professor Rouben Galichian came to introduce his new book `The
Invention of History’ to representatives of the European Commission,
European Armenian Federation for Justice & Democracy reports.

The book gives a progress report on the cartographic modifications and
the heritage destruction organized by Azerbaijan in order to deny any
anteriority of the Armenian presence in the current territories of
Azerbaijan. Professor Galichian is an expert in cartography and has
carried out investigations on the destructions or `transformations’ of
the Armenian heritage by Azerbaijan.

The Most famous of these operations is the one which put an end in
2004 to the centuries-old existence of the site of Julfa where,
following the example of the Talibans, the Azeri government destroyed
more than 4000 khachkars (cross-stones) typical of Armenian religious
art.

The members of the Commission explained that they are aware of these
problems and also shared their concern. Thus, the meetings turned
around the quarrelsome rhetoric diffused permanently by Baku as well
as the hate based educational programme aimed towards the Azeri youth.

The participants also evoked the question of establishing measures of
confidence building in this hostile context, the possible resumption
of the hostilities by Azerbaijan and the limits imposed by Baku on
European officials’ freedom of movement in the area.

`We are glad to note a certain knowledge from members of the European
Commission about these heritage and historical misappropriations’
declared Hilda Tchoboian, the president of the European Armenian
Federation. `The Commission seems to understand that Armenia accepts
with difficulty the quarrelsome attitude of its neighbor Azerbaijan
which wishes war and which encourages its population with hatred’ she
continued.

`But Azerbaijan needs Europe more than the opposite. The Union could
thus be more assertive with Baku taking into consideration the
principles that the EU set up through the European Neighbourhood
Policy and the Eastern Partnership’ continued Hilda Tchoboian.

`While agreeing not to go into Artsakh because that upsets Baku, the
Union ratifies a line of demarcation imposed by Azerbaijan in
contradiction with the principles which she intends to defend’
concluded the President of the European Armenian Federation.

PRESS RELEASE
Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Buiding 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Hasmik Grigoryan
Tel: +(3741) 56 01 06 ext. 105
Fax: +(3741) 52 15 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

27 April, 2009

Hayastan All Armenian Fund builds water-supply system in Dzoramut village

Yerevan, April 27, 2009 – The Hayastan All Armenian Fund began construction
of a new water network in Dzoramut, a border village in Armenia’s northern
Region of Lori. The project is financed by the fund’s French affiliate.

Dzoramut has a population of 310, many of whom are resettled refugees. As in
most communities in the area, animal husbandry and agriculture are the main
occupations of the village. Dzoramut Mayor Ararat Pnjoyan said that while
the village has experienced continued growth in recent years, its crumbling
water system has increasingly fallen short of providing residents with an
adequate supply of water.

The new network will not only meet the present water demand for Dzoramut’s
120 households, but accommodate future growth as well.

Commenting on the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund project, Ara Vardanyan, the
fund’s acting executive director, said, "Providing Dzoramut with a reliable
and adequate supply of water is of vital importance, in terms of easing the
residents’ daily struggles and thereby helping secure the community’s future
development."

# # #

Hayastan All Armenian Fund

Artur Baghdasaryan: Processes of establishment of diplomatic relations
with Turkey and international recognition of Armenian Genocide to go on
in parallel

2009-04-25 18:42:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian National Security Council (NSC) welcomes the
current process on normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and
positively assesses all the steps taken by Armenia in this direction,
NSC Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan told journalists. He pointed out that
during the sitting President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian presented the current process and recent developments in
Armenian-Turkish relations. "Our stance has been published for several
times and remains quite clear ` to establish diplomatic relations and
open the borders without any preconditions",- he stressed. He added
that Armenia thanks all those countries, which have recognized the
Armenian Genocide. "We’ll continue the process of international
recognition of the Genocide, and these two processes ` establishment of
diplomatic relations with Turkey and international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide will go on in parallel",- Baghdasaryan said.

SEMEN BAGDASAROV: TURKEY TO REPENT FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanArmenian News
April 22 2009
Armenia

During the Yerevan-Moscow TV space bridge entitled "Armenia-Turkey:
Progress in bilateral relations or geopolitical games of world
powers?", RF MP Semen Bagdasarov said that Armenia and the Armenian
Diaspora should persist in their efforts towards achieving
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Turkey has
to acknowledge fact of the Armenian Genocide committed in the
Ottoman Empire," the Russian MP said. Semen Bagdasarov ruled out the
possibility of establishing a Genocide study commission. "Turkey must
repent for the Armenian Genocide, as Germany did in case of Holocaust,"
Semen Bagdasarov stressed.

RA NA SPEAKER’S OFFICIAL VISIT TO POLAND STARTS

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 21, 2009
WARSAW

In the evening of April 20 RA National Assembly Speaker Hovik
Abrahamian arrived in Warsaw on an official visit.

On April 21 Hovik Abrahamian visited the parliament of Poland, was
present at the Senate sitting, then had a working meeting with Senate
marshal Bogdan Borusevich. During the talk he expressed Armenia’s
gratitude to the authorities of Poland for putting forward the
European Union Eastern Partnership initiative. The interlocutors
also touched upon issues of Armenia’s and South Caucasian region’s
security and stability.

The same day H. Abrahamian met with marshal of Polish Seijm
Borislav Komarovski. He positively estimated the current level of
Armenian-Polish relations. Mentioning that the political dialogue
has been raised to a high level the RA NA Speaker proposed promoting
cooperation between the two countries’ parliaments. In that context
he considered as practical and efficient bilateral contacts within
the framework of international and European structures.

According to the report of the RA NA Public Relations Department, H.
Abrahamian’s meeting with Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk is
also scheduled for April 21.