Author: Toneyan Mark

ILHAM ALIYEV: KARABAKH ISSUE SHOULD BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY

armradio.am
13.02.2009 13:20

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh can and should be settled peacefully with Armenia.

"We believe the resources of the negotiating process have not been
exhausted and our adherence to the peaceful process is the main
argument that confirms our constructive approach," he said in an
exclusive interview with ITAR-ASS.

He recalled the latest joint declaration with Armenia, which says
that international guarantees should encourage all stages of conflict
settlement.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
February 13, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

PALLONE CHALLENGES TURKEY’S GENOCIDE HYPOCRISY

"If Turkey wants to move closer to the West it should
practice some self-reflection on its own history regarding
the Armenian Genocide and help to end the Genocide in
Darfur." — Rep. Frank Pallone, February 13, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC ? Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today sharply
criticized Turkey’s hypocrisy in leveling human rights charges
against Israel even as it continues to deny the Armenian Genocide
and strengthen its ties to the genocidal Sudanese regime, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a speech on the House floor, the Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman,
called the attention of his colleagues to increasingly strident
Turkish attacks on Israel, including menacing, even threatening,
remarks by Prime Minister Erdogan, as well as a recent Washington
Post report that a Turkey-based non-governmental organization has
initiated a probe to investigate if war crimes and genocide were
committed by Israel during the recent Gaza Conflict. Commenting on
these developments, he noted that, "For a nation that for 94 years
has practiced wide-spread genocide denial of the killing of one and
half million Armenians, hypocrisy runs deep today in Ankara."

The New Jersey legislator stressed that, "the Turkish people need
to step back and question their skewed understanding of genocide.
Look in the mirror, look at your own history, come to terms with
the fact that 1.5 million Armenians died and when contemporary
genocides, like Darfur, take place it must be denounced." He added
that Turkey, rather than denouncing the Darfur Genocide, has
actually strengthened its ties to Khartoum: "Last year, Turkish
President Abdullah Gul warmly welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-
Bashir to Ankara. Yet, Al-Bashir continues to preside over a
genocidal regime responsible for the deaths of 300,000 Sudanese
people in the Darfur region of the country."

The full text of Congressman Pallone’s statement is provided below.

To view his remarks on YouTube, visit:
leases.php?prid=1660

#####

CONGRESSMAN FRANK PALLONE, JR.
FLOOR STATEMENT – FIVE MINUTE
TURKEY’S GENOCIDE HYPOCRACY

February 13, 2009

On Saturday, February 7th, the Washington Post reported that a
Turkish Islamist-oriented human rights group, the Association of
Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples, known as Mazlum-
Der, initiated a probe to investigate if war crimes and genocide
were committed by Israel during the recent Gaza Conflict.

I was startled to read that Mazlum-Der plans to investigate 19
Israelis including Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, President Shimon
Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini, and Defense Minister Ehud
Barak for orchestrating genocide.

For a nation that for 94 years has practiced wide-spread genocide
denial of the killing of one and half million Armenians, hypocrisy
runs deep today in Ankara. Last week I expressed my concerns
regarding Turkey’s recent rash of anti-Semitism, but this probe is
going too far. Israel did not commit Genocide, but this has not
stopped Ankara’s Chief Prosecutor from launching this war crimes
probe.

The probe out of Turkey will investigate Israel’s actions in the
Gaza conflict to see if they amount to "genocide, torture, and
crimes against humanity." If the prosecutor finds evidence against
the Israeli leaders, under Turkish law, they can be detained if
they enter Turkey.

The absurdity of this probe and the fact that Turkey is issuing it
must be exposed. Israel did not commit Genocide. Israel was not
attempting to eliminate the Palestinian people. Israel was
protecting itself from the hundreds of bombs Hamas has been
shooting into its cities.

Mazlum-Der has no ground to stand on. Turkey has no ground to
stand on. Neither this NGO nor the Turkish government has ever
attempted to discuss the truth of the Armenian Genocide. Nor has
Turkey or Mazlum-Der taken action against the present genocide that
continues to rage in Darfur.

While Israelis are defending themselves against constant attacks
from Hamas, Mazlum-Der insists this is genocide. How can this
organization accuse Israel of committing genocide when it has yet
to categorize the thousands of killings in Darfur as a genocide?
The Turkish people need to step back and question their skewed
understanding of genocide. Look in the mirror, look at your own
history, come to terms with the fact that 1.5 million Armenians
died and when contemporary genocides, like Darfur, take place it
must be denounced.

But instead of denouncing it, Turkey’s relationship with Sudan is
strong. Last year, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warmly welcomed
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to Ankara. Yet, Al-Bashir
continues to preside over a genocidal regime responsible for the
deaths of 300,000 Sudanese people in the Darfur region of the
country. Today, 2.7 million Darfuris have lost their homes since
the conflict and now live in internally displaced persons camps.
While all of this happens, President Gul of Turkey has said that
the situation in Darfur adds up to a "humanitarian tragedy" caused
by economic difficulties.

This watering down of state sponsored government killing is an
affront to the thousands who have perished in Darfur. And yet a
Turkish organization is investigating genocide in Israel?

President Gul greeted the Sudanese leader with a military guard of
honor only bestowed on Turkey’s closest allies. While the
international community fiercely works to contain al-Bashir’s
government, Turkey embraces it. Both governments have a long
history of genocide denial.

The Republic of Turkey has had 94 years to recognize the Armenian
Genocide perpetrated on their soil in 1915. Like the Sudanese
government, the Turkish government’s state-sponsored ethnic
cleansing of the Armenians in the early twentieth century left one
and half million Armenians tortured, murdered, and displaced. Yet
to this day the Republic of Turkey continues to deny the slaughter
of the Armenians ? instead launching an absurd investigation into
Israel.

If Turkey and its NGOs want to take a stand against Genocide they
should not be pointing at Israel, nor should Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan be threatening Israel with comments like, "Allah will
sooner or later punish those who transgress the rights of
innocents." If Turkey wants to move closer to the West it should
practice some self-reflection on its own history regarding the
Armenian Genocide and help to end the Genocide in Darfur.

ZIYAFET ASGAROV: "IF RUSSIA’S INVESTIGATION DOES NOT SATISFY US, ARM-SHIPMENT TO ARMENIA WILL BE DISCUSSED IN NATO PA"

APA
Feb 10 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Ramil Mammadli-APA. "Azerbaijan’s relations with NATO are at the
level of normal cooperation", Ziyafet Asgarov, First Deputy Chairman
of Milli Majlis told journalists, APA reports. Asgarov said he had no
information about the agenda of spring session of NATO Parliamentary
Assembly, but added that Azerbaijani delegation would traditionally
bring up a point about Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Touching upon the issue on Russia’s selling weapons to Armenia, the
First Deputy Chairman of Milli Majlis stated that certain discussions
had been conducted at the Parliament in this respect. "It was decided
to discuss the issue within the framework of intergovernmental
friendship groups and to send a delegation consisting of Azerbaijani
parliamentarians to Russian Duma. We will take our stance only after
the discussions and Russia’s investigations. If Russia’s investigation
does not satisfy us, arm-shipment to Armenia will be discussed in
NATO Parliamentary Assembly. We are very concerned about this issue,
because Russia is a mediator in regulation to Nagorno Karabagh
conflict. Russia has undertaken commitment not to sell weapons to
none of these conflict parties until the solution of problem".

Speaking about Azerbaijani Army’s coordination to NATO standards,
Asgarov emphasized that the initial phase of works carried out in
this direction had already been concluded. The works on the second
phase will commence soon.

Some heads of OYP spent winter holidays in Dubai at their own expense

4

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The party delegation led by Arthur
Baghdasarian – the chairman of Orinats Yerkir party (OYP), secretary of
the National Security Council recently visited Dubai to meet with the
local Armenian community. As the head of the "OY" parliamentary faction
Heghine Bisharian said at the February 6 briefing, it was a regular
trip to a foreign country at their own expense: in 2008 the
representatives of the party traveled to Germany and France.

The faction member Hovhannes Margarian explained that as a result of
the previous two trips, NGOs sharing OYP’s ideology were formed in
France and Germany, and now it is time to found such a structure in the
UAE as well.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Robert Zebelyan to play for Zhemchuzhina Sochi football club
07.02.2009 16:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian national team forward Robert Zebelyan
signed a contract with Zhemchuzhina Sochi football club, where he
played in 2002-2003.

Several days ago, he terminated his contract with Khimki where he had
played since 2007.

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2009

Armenian, Turkish FMs meet in Munich
07.02.09 13:27

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met his Turkish
counterpart Ali Babacan on Friday in Munich, Armenian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Tigran Balayan told RIA Novosti on Feb. 7.

"The officials discussed ways to improve Armenian-Turkish
relations. The meeting was held at the 45th International Security
Conference," Balayan said.

Balayan added that it was the second meeting between the two ministers
in 2009. The first meeting took place last week in Davos during the
World Economic Forum.

Armenia and Turkey do not maintain diplomatic relations.

The Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 upon the
initiative of official Ankara. Turkey established a number of
preconditions to commence bilateral relations with Yerevan.

A major precondition is for Armenia to end its efforts to have the
`Armenian Genocide’ recognized internationally. Armenia claims the
Ottoman Empire committed genocide during World War I.

Yerevan wants to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without
preconditions.

Armenian-Turkish official contacts have intensified.

On Sept. 6, Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan for the
first time upon the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to
watch the football match between Armenia and Turkey in the qualifying
round of World Cup 2010.

Sargsyan plans to pay a return visit to Istanbul in October 2009.

POLISH DFM KREMER: "POLISH POSITION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH IS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF THE COUNTRIES"

AzerTag
Feb 5 2009
Azerbaijan

"We have discussions with the Azerbaijan Foreign Minister on
cooperation between European Union and Azerbaijan, including the
Eastern Partnership program initiated by Poland and Sweden. The
European Union and the countries involved in the program will gather
in Prague in May", Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer
told during his visit to Azerbaijan. He said bilateral relations
were also focused at the meeting with Elmar Mammadyarov. "We have
very fruitful discuss on bilateral cooperation between Poland and
Azerbaijan, especially economic opportunity and economic cooperation,
next meeting of the commission for the economic cooperation and
naturally the energetic cooperation".

The Deputy Minister also expressed the position of his country on
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. "Our position is stable position to the
territory integrity of Azerbaijan and other countries. It is a stable
position in the EU and in the UN and other international forums.

It is a principle of the international law of sovereign integrity of
the states".

SLAIN EDITOR’S WIFE SPREADS MESSAGE OF PEACE
By Andy Metzger, [email protected]

Arlington Advocate
Jan 3 2009
MA

Arlington, Mass. – Those who stand up against the political majority
are often confronted by others who use violence to silence dissent.

That’s what happened to Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian newspaper
editor, who was gunned down on the streets of Istanbul almost exactly
two years ago, likely because his of writing on the Turkish-disputed
Armenian genocide of 1915.

At the Armenian Cultural Foundation this past Saturday, Hrant’s widow,
Rakel Dink, talked of the sorrow that accompanied her husband’s murder,
and the possible routes to peace.

"Every time I visit places like this, it reminds me of my pain, my
sorrow," said Rakel through her translator Anna Ohanyan, an assistant
professor at Stonehill College. "It’s strange and painful to be in
this place."

Wearing a black suit and white blouse, Rakel spoke in Armenian to
the crowd gathered in Arlington in a room where two windows looked
out over the snow-covered Upper Mystic Lake.

The talk was sponsored by the Watertown-based Armenian International
Women’s Association, and occurred a day before Rakel’s MIT panel
discussion with journalists and scholars, sponsored by the Friends
of Hrant Dink, which is based in Cambridge.

Rakel met her husband years ago at an orphanage in Turkey, 40 years
ago. Though they were both ethnically Armenian, neither learned their
native language until moving to Istanbul.

A war on Armenians living within the Ottoman Empire almost 100 years
ago nearly obliterated the people and the language. Armenia considers
those actions in 1915 genocide, a claim Turkey denies.

In 2005, two years before his death, Hrant was arrested for insulting
Turkey’s national identity by writing about the genocide, according
to a BBC report.

"He stood for his rights … He tried to challenge the nationalistic
tendencies," said Rakel on Saturday. "It is very difficult to struggle
for justice in Turkey, and also very dangerous."

Rakel said the Armenian church has helped to preserve Armenian
culture in Turkey, but it has faced opposition from the government
and individuals. Rakel said church property has been confiscated,
and that there is rampant murder and persecution of Armenians and
Kurds in Turkey – even today.

"All of our stories are somehow connected to 1915," Rakel
said. Memories of the mass killings have been passed down,
generation-to-generation, just as culture and language is passed down,
said Rakel.

In 1996, Hrant established Agos, a newspaper about Armenians and
Armenian culture that was written in both Armenian and Turkish.

"This was a way to recreate the Armenian identity in Turkey," Rakel
said. Her husband didn’t want to publish solely in Armenian because
he wanted the newspaper to be accessible to Turks who didn’t speak
Armenian.

His writings, however, may have been what inspired his killer or
killers, according to news articles about the murder. The "alleged
gunman and several others have gone on trial," for the Jan. 19,
2007 murder, according to the AP.

"My husband broke many taboos," said Rakel, whose family is still
involved in publishing Agos.

After her husband of 30 years was murdered, Rakel spoke out, urging
for peace and understanding, she said. A deeply religious woman, Rakel
said those words came directly from Jesus. Rakel also said that after
the killing she cautioned her daughter not to equate the murder of
her father with the multitudinous deaths that occurred in 1915, she
said. The family of mourners was lucky to have each other, she said.

Rakel wants to continue her husband’s work promoting Armenian culture
and bringing Turks and Armenians together. Those plans include a Hrant
Dink institute to study Armenian culture, a forthcoming archive of
Hrant’s writing, and possibly a space dedicated to bringing Turkish
and Armenian people together for soulful talks.

VICE CHIEF OF POLICE MURDERED

Panorama.am
22:30 03/02/2009

Two hours ago the Vice Chief of Police, Police Colonel Gevorg Mheryan,
born at 1975, has been murdered just in front of his house.

According to our sources, the Vice Chief took the elevator to get
to the seventh floor where the ambushed criminal was waiting for
him. The criminal shot him and ran away. Panorama.am reporter says
that the Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan is in the accident place.

Police refuses to make any official announcements.

OBJECTIONS RAISED TO RULING IN TURKEY’S ARMENIA APOLOGY CAMPAIGN

Hurriyet
Jan 3 2009
Turkey

A group of Turkish citizens have raised objection to a decision
rejecting a demand for the criminal prosecution of individuals who
initiated an Internet campaign to issue a public apology to Armenians,
Anatolian Agency reported on Tuesday.

The office of the Ankara Public Prosecutor earlier this month launched
an investigation into the issue after six Turkish citizens submitted
a petition calling for the organizers of the apology campaign to be
charged with "insulting the Turkish nation openly" under Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Completing its investigation, the prosecutors’ office in Ankara
last week rejected the demand and no charges were laid against the
individuals who initiated the Internet campaign.

The citizens claimed in their objection submitted to a court in
Ankara’s Sincan district that the prosecutor’s office did not conduct a
detailed investigation into their petition, saying "the organizers were
not even questioned" over the campaign, broadcaster CNNTurk reported.

"It has been decided that there is no need for criminal prosecution
on the legal grounds that opposing opinions are also protected under
freedom of thought in democratic societies," the prosecutors’ office
said in its ruling.

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched a
website issuing an apology to Armenians regarding the 1915 incidents
and called for people to sign on in support.

The efforts of the intellectuals drew fierce reaction in Turkey
and incited counter website campaigns, and exhibitions containing
information and photographs from studies conducted into the events.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.Turkey
rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at least
as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took
up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet on accepting
Turkey’s proposal to form an independent commission to investigate
the claims.