Author: Toneyan Mark

TURKEY HASN’T YET SENT ITS AMBASSADOR BACK TO WASHINGTON

Tert.am
17:12 ~U 09.03.10

Since it hasn’t yet received a clear message from the US administration
on House Resolution 252 on the Armenian Genocide, Turkey hasn’t
sent its ambassador back to Washington, said Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan while in Saudi Arabia, report various Turkish
news media.

Immediately after the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee passed H.Res.252 on recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington, Namik Tan.

SERZH SARGSYAN TO BE IN FRANCE ON OFFICIAL VISIT BETWEEN MARCH 9 TO 11

Noyan Tapan
March 9, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN. A delegation led by RA President Serzh
Sargsyan, including Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Minister
of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian, NA deputy, head of the Armenia-France
deputy friendship group Ara Babloyan and other high-ranking officials
will be in France on an official visit between March 9 to 11.

According to RA President’s Press Office, French President Nicolas
Sarkozy will receive S. Sargsyan on March 10 at Champs-Elysees. The
heads of the two countries will discuss the agenda of the
Armenia-France relations, urgent international and regional issues. A
dinner will be served on behalf of the French President in honor of
the Armenian President. The heads of the countries will also hold a
press conference.

Within the framework of the official visit to France S. Sargsyan will
meet with Chairman of the French Senate Gerard Larche and National
Assembly Speaker Bernard Akoie, we well as with prominent figures of
the French Armenian community, will visit the Matignon exhibition hall
where he will watch the collection of Jansem’s pictures accompanied
by the painter.

The delegation led by S. Sargsyan will return to Yerevan on March 11.

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 5 2010

Turkish FM: Country has not yet considers possibility of closing U.S.
military base Incirlik

Although, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
adopted a resolution recognizing the so-called "Armenian genocide",
Ankara has not yet considering closing the U.S. military base Incirlik
in Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

"Every spring we wait the threat of a crisis in the U.S-Turkey
relations with fear," he said. "Yet, we do not consider the closure of
Incirlik military base."

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday adopted 23 votes
to 22 a resolution recognizing the so-called "Armenian genocide".

Armenia claims that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against
Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. Making greater efforts to
promote the issue internationally, Armenians have achieved its
recognition by parliaments of some countries.

Regarding the U.S government’s position on the issue of the "Armenian
genocide", Davutoglu expressed hope that President Barack Obama will
not recognize it Apr.24.

"Recognition of the so-called "Armenian genocide will have a very
strong negative impact on the further establishment of peace in the
Caucasus", he added.

Turkey calls on Armenia to open all archives and not to exert pressure
through the U.S. Congress, and negotiate face to face, Ahmet Davutoglu
said.

The minister considers erroneous view that the adoption of the
resolution could put pressure on Ankara to ratify the Armenian-Turkish
protocols.

"The fact is that Turkey has taken decision on in this issue for ten
days, Armenia has done for four months," he said.

The intervention of a third party, in this case the U.S., in relations
between Armenia and Turkey, complicates the process of reconciliation
between the countries, he said.

The adoption of a resolution recognizing the "Armenian genocide"
indicates that the U.S Congress is very weak in developing a future
political strategy, the Turkish minister said.

Las Vegas Sun, NV
March 6 2010

White House discourages Armenian genocide vote

AP Saturday, March 6, 2010 | 12:28 a.m.

The Obama administration is urging a House panel not to offend Turkey
by declaring that the Ottoman-era killing of Armenians was genocide.
But the committee chairman pressed ahead Thursday.

The administration stepped in despite a campaign promise by President
Barack Obama to brand as genocide the killing of as many as 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman Turks. The vote by the congressional
committee could alienate Turkey, which plays an important role for
U.S. interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement that Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Howard Berman on Wednesday _ the eve of the scheduled vote _
and indicated that "further Congressional action could impede progress
on normalization of relations" between Turkey and Armenia.

Hammer would not specify whether Clinton urged Berman to cancel
Thursday’s hearing or to vote against the resolution.

Still, Berman on Thursday urged fellow members of the committee to
approve the resolution. The committee appeared likely to endorse it,
sending it to the full House, where its prospects are uncertain.

"The Turks say passing this resolution could have terrible
consequences for our bilateral relationship, and indeed perhaps there
will be some consequences," Berman said. "But I believe that Turkey
values its relations with the United States at least as much as we
value our relations with Turkey."

The United States relies on Turkey as a key supply route for U.S.
troops in Iraq and Turkey’s troops serve in the U.S.-led coalition
forces in Afghanistan. The United States also is pressing Turkey,
which holds a rotating seat in the U.N. Security Council, to support
sanctions against Iran, Turkey’s neighbor.

Hammer said Obama called President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday to
express his appreciation for Turkey’s efforts to normalize relations
with Armenia.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested the administration was
trying to buy time for Turkey’s parliament to act. In October, Turkey
and Armenia signed an agreement to normalize relations, but Turkey has
yet to ratify it.

"Our focus is on continuing to make progress on an issue that has, for
almost 100 years, divided two countries," Gibbs said. "Through some
very tough diplomatic work by Secretary Clinton, we’ve made progress.
We’re on the cusp of normalization."

The Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar genocide measure in
2007, but it was not brought to the House floor for a vote following
intensive pressure by then President George W. Bush.

Following the 2007 committee vote, Turkey promptly recalled its
ambassador, and U.S. officials feared the Turks might cut off American
access to a Turkish air base essential to operations in Iraq. After
intensive lobbying by top Bush administration officials, the
resolution was not considered by the full House.

On Thursday, a Turkish official suggested his country could again
recall its ambassador if the congressional panel approves the
resolution.

"All options are on the table," the government official said, speaking
on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will wait to see the result of
the committee vote before deciding whether to bring the resolution
before the full House.

Armenian American groups have for decades sought congressional
affirmation of the killings as genocide. Historians estimate that up
to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time
of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first
genocide of the 20th century. Turkey says the toll has been inflated
and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide.

In April, Obama broke a campaign promise to brand the killings
genocide in an annual White House statement on the day marking
Armenian remembrance, although he said his personal views had not
changed. (AP)

white-house-discourages-armenian-genocide-vote/

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted Genocide Resolution

10:09 am | March 05, 2010 | Politics
nocide

US House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted Armenian Genocide
Resolution (H.Res.252) with a difference of one vote.

During a 1,5-hour discussion 23 congressmen voted for the Resolution
and 22 against it.

Recall that U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted
resolutions with similar contents in 2000, 2005 and 2007 but they were
not pushed for a final vote in the House of Representatives due to the
painstaking efforts of the White House.

Ahead of the discussion of the Resolution, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton urged the Committee’s Chairman, Democratic Rep. Howard
Berman to suppress the vote arguing that it would jeopardize the
normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

323 New Armenian Citizens in 2009; A New Record
2010/03/05 | 15:18

s ociety
Kristine Aghalaryan

Norayr Mouradkhanyan, head of the Police Department’s Division of
Passports and Visas, stated today that 4,323 individuals received RoA
citizenship in 2009, 2.5 times more than during the past eleven years.

When asked how many of these had received dual citizenship, Mr.
Mouradkhanyan answered that the law regarding this status only came
into effect at the end of 2007 and that citizenship status only
started to be granted as of 1997. He said that during the ten years
since 1997, 1,735 received citizenship and this number shot up to
1,554 during 2008 alone, the first year that dual citizenship was
granted. Mr. Mouradkhanyan said that most of the 1,554 involved dual
citizenship status.

PAID TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS OF "27" AS WELL

ia
06:02 pm | March 04, 2010

Official

The delegation led by Vice-chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of
the Czech parliament Voytsek Filip is in Armenia on a two-day visit.

On the morning of March 4, representatives of the Czech parliament
laid wreaths in front of the memorial dedicated to the victims of the
Armenian Genocide, visited the Genocide Museum and laid wreaths near
the memorial dedicated to the victims of October 27, 1999.

On the same day, the delegates led by Vice-chairman of the Chamber
of Deputies of the Czech parliament Voytsek Filip had a number of
meetings at the RA National Assembly.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION URGES CONGRESS TO WAIT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Asbarez
-urges-congress-to-wait-on-armenian-genocide-resol ution/
Mar 4th, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP)- The Obama administration is urging Congress to
hold off on voting to approve a resolution recognizing the Armenian
Genocide.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee was scheduled
to vote on the resolution Thursday, and appeared likely to endorse it.

During remarks in the debate, White House spokesman Mike Hammer
said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with the
committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, Wednesday evening
and indicated that such a vote would jeopardize reconciliation talks
between Turkey and Armenia.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer also said
President Barack Obama called Turkish President Abdullah Gul on
Wednesday to urge quick ratification of a protocol signed last year
to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations.

"Secretary Clinton called Chairman Berman yesterday and in that
conversation the secretary indicated that further Congressional action
could impede progress on normalization of relations," Hammer said.

Despite Clinton’s appeal, Berman went ahead with a hearing on Thursday
on the issue, calling Turkey a "vital" ally but saying "Be that as
it may, nothing justifies Turkey’s turning a blind eye to the reality
of the Armenian genocide."

NATO-member Turkey has said its ties with the United States would
be damaged and Ankara’s efforts to normalize relations with Armenia
could be endangered if the resolution is passed when U.S. lawmakers
vote on Thursday.

"We are open to all options," said a government official when asked
if Turkey would be willing to recall its ambassador to the United
States should the bill be passed.

Ankara recalled its ambassador in 2007 for consultations after a U.S.

panel approved a similar bill.

"But nobody should forget that the situation is different now than it
was in 2007. We are in the process of normalizing ties with Armenia,
so the stakes are higher," he said.

Turkey and Armenia signed a protocol last year to normalize relations
but the papers are yet to pass through the parliament of either
country.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish President Abdullah Gul held
a phone conversation on Wednesday to discuss Turkey’s position on
the Armenia bill.

Muslim Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by
Ottoman forces but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it
amounted to genocide – a term employed by many Western historians
and some foreign parliaments.

Obama visited Turkey last April. His administration sees Turkey as
a key ally whose help it needs in solving confrontations from Iran
to Afghanistan.

"We are at a stage when U.S.-Turkish ties need maximum cooperation.

Everybody should consider the importance of U.S.-Turkish relations
for regional and global stability," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu told a news conference on Thursday.

The non-binding resolution, to be voted by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, would call on Obama to ensure U.S. policy formally refers
to the massacre as "genocide" and to use that term when he delivers
his annual message on the issue in April – something Obama avoided
doing last year.

THOUSANDS OPPOSITION PROTESTERS RALLY IN ARMENIA

Associated Press Worldstream
March 1, 2010 Monday 5:56 PM GMT

Several thousand opposition supporters have rallied in the Armenian
capital to honor victims of postelection violence two years ago.

On March 1, 2008, police broke up a protest challenging the outcome
of the ex-Soviet nation’s presidential election. The clashes left
10 people dead and more than 250 wounded. Authorities claimed the
protesters shot at police. The opposition denied the claim.

The organizers of Monday’s rally said about 6,000 people participated.

Police put the number at 3,000.

Levon Zurabian of the Armenian National Congress and other opposition
activists predicted that political tensions will rise as an increasing
number of Armenians protest the government’s economic course, as well
as an agreement with neighboring Turkey.

CONGRESS: GAS PRICE SHOULD NOT BE RAISED

17004.html
11:06:12 – 02/03/2010

The Armenian National Congress issued another statement in connection
with the gas price enhancement. The HAK statement runs that the gas
price increase has always been ungrounded, which was aimed at robbing
people. According to HAK the author of the gas price increase is not
HayRusGazArd Company but the RA government which is one of the major
shareholders of the company. HAK affirms that the gas price increase
does not have any economic or logic grounds.

Raising the price by Russia only by 10 drams per cubic meter could
be easily offset by the excess profits that the company receives for
many years.

HAK believes that it is necessary to verify the cost justification of
HayRusGazArd, in particular, the value of bonuses paid to managers,
hospitality, real loss, procurement and financial management.