Author: Toneyan Mark

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.

ASSEMBLY COUNTRY DIRECTOR RESIGNS

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2010 15:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Arpi Vartanian, Armenian Assembly of America Country
Director for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, has sent in resignation.

As a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter came to know from the Assembly’s press
office, Ms. Vartanian has quitted for personal reasons.

TURKEY TO U.S.: YOU WOULDN’T LIKE US WHEN WE’RE ANGRY
By Joshua Keating

Foreign Policy
/02/turkey_to_us_you_wouldnt_like_us_when_were_ang ry
March 1 2010

On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will debate a
resolution to recognize the 1915 killing of Armenian civilians by
Turkish troops as a genocide. A similar resolution failed in 2007. The
Obama administration has not taken a stand on the resolution, which
is largely supported by the Armenian-American community, but it’s
long been supported by House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

A Turkish parliamentary delegation, including members of both the
ruling AKP party and opposition CHP party, is currently visiting
Washington to lobby against the resolution. At a media briefing at the
Turkish embassy this morning, they made very clear that the passage
of the resolution would "seriously affect the relationship between
the two countries."

Foreign relations committee chairman Murat Mercan discussed some
specific U.S. projects that could be affected:

I envision for instance the withdrawal of American troops, which is
a huge logistical operation involving thousands of soldiers moving
away from Iraq [through Turkey.] Thousands of tons of equipment. This
type of thing might require parliamentary approval. It will come to
our committee.

The Turkish military precence in Afghanistan is extended in the Turkish
parliament. Every year year present of Turkish troops needs to be
approved by the parliament This too will come through our committee.

Former U.S. ambassador Sukru Elekdag described Turkey’s importance
to the United States as a back-channel to Iran, interlocutor with
Pakistan, and ally in resolving the frozen conflicts in the South
Caucasus.

The new measure comes up at a time when Turkey and Armenia finally
seem to be moving toward rapproachment, a process the MPs also said
would be jeopardized by the House motion.

It seems a bit contradictory to me that the Turkish government on
the one hand says it sees the Armenian rapproachment as vital to its
own national interest, but on the other hand says the U.S. resolution
will imperil it. I asked Mercan why Turkish-Armenian relations should
be affected by what the U.S. congress says:

The rapprocahment has three pillars: one is opening the borders, one
is diplomatic relations, one is setting up a historical commission
that would explore what happened in the past, in 1915. If other
parliaments decide things like this without merit or investigaiton,
then how would you convince your Armenian counterpart that this kind
of committee is needed?

In realist terms, it’s certainly hard to justify jeopardizing
U.S.-Turkish cooperation today over something that happened almost
a century ago, and it seems unlikely to me that this one will ever
reach President Obama’s desk. On the other hand, Turkey is not doing
a great job making it seem like they care about the rapproachement
for its own sake, rather than as a result of U.S. pressure.

In any event, it’s very interesting to see how a Turkish government
that realizes its crucial role in U.S. policy is learning throw its
weight around a bit.

RUSSIA AND FRANCE TO WORK TOGETHER OVER NAGORNO GARABAGH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

APA
March 2 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Russia and France will keep on close cooperation on
solution Nagorno Garabagh conflict. French president Nicolas Sarkozy
told at the joint press conference after negotiations with his Russian
counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, APA reports quoting "RIA Novosti".

"Russia and France will work together to help both Armenia and
Azerbaijan to work and support each other", – Sarkozy told.

AZERBAIJANI MEDIA URGE TO HACK XOCALI.NET

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.03.2010 15:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Xocali.net () web-site, launched
by Xenophobia Prevention Initiative provoked a reaction both within
Azerbaijan, and in diplomatic circles, Samvel Martirosyan , expert
in information security of the web site told a news conference today.

An event dedicated to the dead in Khojalu was scheduled on February
26 in the Czech town of Lidice. The Minister of Culture of the
Czech Republic, who was expected to attend the meeting after the
intervention of Armenian diplomats refused from participation. In
turn, the Mayor of Lidice said he would not tolerate anti-Armenian
statements at the party.

According to Board member of Xenophobia Prevention Initiative Armine
Adibekyan, Azerbaijan was planning a large scale anti-Armenian campaign
abroad. "But their actions have not received a response anticipated
by Azerbaijani propaganda," she said.

According to experts, revealed falsifications and forgery of events in
Khojalu made Azeris nervous. " Vesti.az news site published an article,
calling on hackers to hack the site. Site hacking, in Azerbaijan,
as throughout the world is a criminal offense, and Azerbaijani mass
media encourage the public to commit a criminal offense, Samvel
Martirosyan said.

Over 10 000 people have visited Xocali.net () within the
past two days, mostly from Europe, Russia and Azerbaijan. Launched on
February 24 by Xenophobia Prevention Initiative, Xocali.net displays
evidence of falsifications and forgeries of Azerbaijani propaganda
in the information war against Armenia.

Experts of Xenophobia Prevention Initiative have revealed and displayed
about 20 photographs of victims of Kurdish riots in Turkey, slaughter
in Srebrenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and others, that represented
by Azerbaijan as died during the Agdam events of February 26, 1992,
when the Khojaly villagers perished.

Russian, English, Azerbaijani and German versions of Xocali.net are
available, and French and Iranian versions will be also launched
in future. According to Xenophobia Prevention Initiative experts,
Xocali.net () prevented numerous hacker attacks over
the past two days.

Center for Public Relations and Information at the RA Presidents
Office and the Openarmenia.com forum contributed to the project.