Author: Tvankchian Parkev

Voice of America
April 26 2005

Armenia Gives Cautious Reply to Turkish Offer for Study of Genocide
Claims

Armenia says it could take part in a commission with Turkey to study
decades-old allegations of Turkish genocide against Armenians during
World War I and other issues, but first calls for improved ties.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian said the proposal would only work
if the two countries improve bilateral relations. The neighbors share
a border, but have no diplomatic ties.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul earlier this month said Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the offer in a letter to the
Armenian president.

Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia because
of Armenia’s campaign to gain international recognition of the World
War One massacres as genocide.

Armenia says 1.5 million of its nationals were slaughtered by the
Turks during the final years of the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.
Turkey says 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were killed
during a Russia-backed Armenian uprising against Ottoman rule.

El Mundo
Lunes 25 Abril 2005

Los armenios recuerdan el genocidio de hace 90 anos.

ANA MKRTSCHAN. Efe / EL MUNDO

Armenia recuerda el genocidio de hace 90 anos

EREVAN.- Centenares de miles de armenios acudieron ayer al monte de
Tsitsernakaberd para recordar al millon y medio de compatriotas que
hace 90 anos cayeron victimas del genocidio de 1915 y pedir la
condena universal del primer holocausto del siglo XX. Las autoridades
llamaron a todos los armenios a rendir su homenaje ascendiendo al
Tsitsernakaberd millon y medio de personas, numero igual al de las
victimas de la matanza de 1915, cuyo reconocimiento reclaman los
armenios desde el fin de la I Guerra Mundial.

Quince Estados, incluido el Vaticano, reconocieron el genocidio de
1915 contra el pueblo armenio, asi como varias comisiones de la ONU,
la Asamblea Parlamentaria del Consejo de Europa (PACE), el Parlamento
Europeo y 32 de los 50 estados de Estados Unidos.

El presidente armenio destaco que “los armenios no sienten odio” y
que “Armenia declara su disposicion a desarrollar relaciones normales
con Turquia”. Turquia reconocio en 1991 la independencia de Armenia,
pero hasta el dia de hoy entre los dos paises vecinos no existen
relaciones diplomaticas.

Incertidumbre

La negativa de Ankara de reconocer el genocidio de hace 90 anos
“provoca incertidumbre no solo en Armenia, sino tambien en la
comunidad internacional”, subrayo el presidente armenio. Los tragicos
sucesos de hace 90 anos fueron, segun Kocharian, un “crimen que no
tuvo analogia en la historia del pueblo armenio y de la Humanidad, y
que ni siquiera tuvo nombre”.

“Sufrimos millones de victimas, perdidas incalculables en nuestro
legado cultural, espiritual y material”, dijo Kocharian, quien
aseguro que “las graves consecuencias del genocidio se dejan sentir
hasta el dia de hoy en la vida del pueblo de Armenia y de toda la
diaspora”. Tambien el presidente del Congreso Armenio Mundial, Ara
Abramian, pidio ayer “una valoracion sensata” del reconocimiento de
la responsabilidad de Turquia en el genocidio.

“El genocidio de los armenios sigue siendo un problema de la politica
y la legalidad internacionales”, recalco Abramian en un mensaje en
ocasion del aniversario. Hoy en dia, dijo, se trata de “la
responsabilidad politica del Estado turco por el crimen cometido de
acuerdo al derecho internacional”.

Armenpress

RUSSIAN FM INDICATES SOONEST RESUMPTION OF RUSSIA-GEORGIA RAILWAY

MOSCOW, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov
indicated today that the railway between Russian city of Sochi and Georgian
capital Tbilisi may resume soon across Georgia’s breakaway region of
Abkhazia.
Lavrov said today that he had discussed the issue on Monday with Georgian
foreign minister Salome Zurabichvili in Moscow.
“There is apparently progress in resolving this problem,” Lavrov said,
adding that the progress was also due to flexibility displayed by the
leadership of Abkhazia. He said Abkhaz leaders had presented their position
on this issue to so-called Group of Georgia’s Friend Countries in Geneva.
“Resumption of Sochi-Tbilisi railway would be of paramount importance for
expansion of regional cooperation in the South Caucasus and with Russia,’ he
said.

Strong Views on French Vote, Armenia

Deutsche Welle
26 April 05

The ‘non’ camp in France is gaining ground

Readers particularly those from the U.S. had a lot to say about the
upcoming French referendum on the European Union Constitution. Some
also chimed in on whether Turkey should apologize for the Armenian
genocide.

The following comments reflect the views of our readers. If you would
like to have your say, click on the feedback button below. Not all
reader comments will be published. DW-WORLD reserves the right to edit
for length and appropriateness of content.

It is really stupid to assume that the French cannot decide for
themselves how to vote on this matter. As an American I find it
interesting that the US is being made a pawn in this political tug of
war. Most of us in America could care less how the French vote. What I
would like to see is for Schroeder to stop cozying up to
Chirac. Between the two of them they would sell their souls to the
devil for a couple of euros. The French people are much smarter than
they are given credit for. If they vote “non” it is because they think
the constitution will do nothing for them or France. — Dale Peck,
United States

It is not my privilege to vote on the constitution of the EU but if I
could, I definitely would vote for it. Nothing is perfect, and time
will test its value, but we need courage to embrace the new. —
Elisabeth Heptner

I hope the French (and others) will reject the EU constitution. Power
should be diffused, not concentrated. Creating one power over all the
peoples of Europe invites tyranny that is frightfully like that
attempted by Hitler. The world has already seen this play and we
should remember how the plot unfolded. Germany should never be allowed
to assert its hegemony over its neighbors. — John Martinez Pavliga,
United States

For me this vote is not about simply tidying up the EU parliament to
make room for the newer members. Tony Blair’s government … flatly
denies that this constitution is the start of a European Federation. I
disagree with this strongly. I’ve read numerous reports which say that
many of the mainland European politicians do believe that this
constitution is an important stage in federalization. I do not want to
be part of a European Federation. The government within Britain
already has too many levels of government. The EU Parliament is
already unnecessary, so why do we need to give it more power? I
believe that the people of Britain must be free to decide their own
destiny without the influence of mainland Europe and the EU is not
compatible to the vision. — James Phillips, Great Britain

The Armenian tragedy during WWI has been recognized by most
international experts and even some Turkish intellectuals such as
Orhan Pamuk and Taner Akcam as a mass-slaugher by Turkish
soliders. However, it was not a Holocaust-like genocide, but rather a
civil war similar to strife within the Ottoman territory when the
Russian forces invaded eastern Anatolia with the help of the
Armenians. Turkey should apologize for any excesses in the historical
context, but the EU should forget pressuring Ankara into admitting
something which is inequitable. — Atilla A. Iftikhar

Compiled by DW staff (dre)

Orange County Register, California
April 25 2005

Tran objects to welcome for communists
Garden Grove assemblyman fled Saigon 30 years ago.

By JOHN GITTELSOHN
The Orange County Register

The Legislature honored visitors from Armenia and Hungary on
Thursday, but Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, was outraged when
a delegation from Vietnam received a courtesy introduction on the
floor of the Assembly.

“I find it personally offensive,” said Tran, who fled Saigon 30 years
ago this month when South Vietnam fell to the communist North. “I
find it offensive that the majority (Democrats) would honor the same
folks who chased out me and my family and who stand for nothing we
do.”

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez posed for photos with the guests, but
under floor rules barred Tran from voicing his outrage until after
the Vietnamese left.

“Today you honored – you personally applauded – a representative of a
regime that enslaved and murdered countless thousands of my former
countrymen,” Tran, the first Vietnamese-American elected to
California’s Legislature, wrote to the speaker.

Tran called for a review of Assembly rules that allow recognition
ofvisitors from communist states or totalitarian dictatorships. As a
member of the Garden Grove City Council last year, he sponsored an
ordinance that required visitors from the Vietnamese government to
give two weeks notice before coming to town.

1,500 torches lit in Yerevan

24.04.2005 14:45

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – 1,500 torches were lit late on April 23 on the
Republican Square in central Yerevan in commemoration of the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The fire for the first torch was brought on a white armored personnel
carrier, and the torchlight procession, organized by the Armenian
Youth Federation and the ARF’s Nikol Aghbalian Student Union, began
its annual march to the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

Armenian clerics, with a huge cross above their heads, were in the
front of the procession that was accompanied by drums beating. Tens of
thousands of young people carried hundreds of national flags alongside
a 30-meter long Armenian tricolor, sang patriotic songs and chanted
“recognition.”

After their arrival at the Memorial, a group of singers, including
American Daniel Decker, German Kye Augaten, Bulgarian Tsvetan
Tsvetkov, Finnish Inkaand Moldavian Vitali Dani, sang the song
“Adana,” written by Decker, in 8 languages.

Agence France Presse — Spanish
miércoles de abril el 20 de 2005

Armenia prepara la conmemoración del 90º aniversario del genocidio

ERIVAN Abr 20

Armenia conmemora este fin de semana los 90 años de las masacres
perpetradas por los turcos otomanos con ceremonias de una amplitud
inédita, al mismo tiempo que trata de que Turquía reconozca este
episodio que frena la normalización de las relaciones entre ambos
países.

El punto culminante de las ceremonias tendrá lugar el domingo 24 de
abril, cuando un millón y medio de armenios (número de muertos en el
genocidio, según Erivan) desfilarán ante el monumento erigido en
memoria de las víctimas.

El 24 de abril de 1915, durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, las
autoridades turcas otomanas detuvieron a 200 líderes de la comunidad
armenia, iniciando así lo que Erivan considera un genocidio
planificado para eliminar a la minoría armenia del Imperio otomano.

“Esperamos la participación de un millón y medio de personas en la
marcha el 24 de abril en memoria de las víctimas de genocidio”, dijo
Aram Simonian, uno de los organizadores.

Aunque la población del país no excede los tres millones de personas,
varios armenios residentes en Francia, Estados Unidos y otros países,
aprovecharán esta ocasión para visitar su patria ancestral, según el
organizador.

“Esta conmemoración tiene una importancia particular a causa del
rechazo constante de Turquía a reconocer ese genocidio”, insistió
Simonian.

“Queremos que el mundo entero sepa la verdad (…). Es necesaria la
presión de la comunidad internacional para que Turquía reconozca todo
el mal que cometió”, añadió.

Ankara niega categóricamente la tesis de un genocidio, estimando que
se trataba de una represión en un contexto de guerra civil, y objeta
que los armenios mataron igualmente a miles de turcos entre 1915 y
1917.

Por su parte, Armenia considera, cuando faltan seis meses para el
inicio de las negociaciones de adhesión de Turquía con la Unión
Europea, que la coyuntura no ha sido jamás tan favorable para que
Ankara reconozca esta masacre.

Un día antes del 24 de abril, un cortejo de miles de jóvenes con
antorchas saldrá del centro de Erivan hacia el monumento a las
víctimas, situado en la vecina colina de Tsitsernakaberda.

Por toda la ciudad se desplegarán banderas tricolores armenias
adornadas con crespones negros, así como un cartel de siete metros de
altura con las fotografías de los 90 supervivientes del genocidio que
aún están vivos.

El domingo se celebrarán servicios religiosos en todas las iglesias
del país y en la catedral San Gregorio de la capital, donde estarán
presentes los representantes de la mayor parte de las comunidades
cristianas de Oriente y Occidente.

El alcance de la celebración de estas ceremonias, a las que esta
previsto que acudan delegaciones de 15 países, ha culminado con la
creación del sitio web , en el que los
internautas pueden encender un cirio virtual.

Creada por el joven informático armenio Haik Assatrian, esta página
web concebida para marcar el genocidio recibe cada día miles de
visitas que dejan su huella activando un cirio y escribiendo un
mensaje.

“Cada día más de 3.000 cirios son encendidos en nuestro sitio, lo que
muestra que la gente no es indiferente a los designios de nuestro
pueblo” dice Haik.

Desde la apertura de esta página, el pasado 17 de marzo, más de
70.000 internautas –la mayoría estadounidenses– han encendido una
vela y han dejado un mensaje a Armenia en la red.

El sitio será mantenido hasta el 25 de abril y su creador proyecta
crear nuevas páginas consagradas a los “crímenes cometidos contra los
pueblos”, sobre todo al genocidio de los judíos durante la Segunda
Guerra Mundial.

–Boundary_(ID_i3+8BVdFq2PDScvLJQX3Kw)–

‘ISRAEL WILL CHANGE ITS POSITION AS SOON AS USA DOES’

AZG Armenian Daily #072, 22/04/2005
Armenian Genocide

Four representatives of Israel, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Yossi Sarid from
Meretz Movement, Yair Auron from the Open University of Israel and
Israel Charny, executive director of the Institute on the Holocaust and
Genocide, made their speeches at “Ultimate Crime, Ultimate Challenge”
on April 20 session.

Prof. Yehuda Bauer shared with daily Azg about the opposite stances
of Israeli government and people.

“Israel will change its position as soon as the USA does. The
government fears spoiling relations with Turkey but the society is of
the opposite view and openly speaks of the Armenian Genocide. I do
not think that today’s government will change its position. I have
no doubt that most of the Israelites will immediately recognize the
Genocide if asked”.

What’s the primary step for Armenia in this aspect? “To do everything
to win the USA’s recognition of the Genocide. That’s the most important
thing”, Prof. Bauer said.

Israel Charny’s report was titled “Genocide Denial as Continued
Repression of Human Rights”. “We have marked serious progress in
fight against Turkey’s denialist policy. The number of Turks and
Turkish journalists recognizing the genocide has increased. The
Turks know that they are losing the battle. It’s clear that they
will not immediately give up but negation harms their own society and
stymies the state’s development. The most tiring thing in working with
Turks is that they are always right and the worst thing is that they
never make mistakes”. He added that the Turks have been displaying
meaningless initiatives lately. For instance, they require to hold
another trial over Soghomon Tehlerian for murdering Taleat, or open
an international commission to review the Genocide issue.

“It’s time that we — victimized peoples — go beyond simply
commemorating the genocides; we have to respect the rights of other
genocided peoples. Only then values will be restored”, he said.

Yossi Sarid, member of the Israeli Knesset and chair of Meretz
Movement, spoke of the Jewish people’s responsibility towards
genocide victims. “We, the Jews, who are victims of hatred, have to
be twice more attentive and sensitive for those who passed through
genocide”, Sarid said. As a former education minister he highlighted
the need of stressing the value of human life regardless nationality
in educational programs of Israel. He informed that a new history
textbook is being prepared which will have a separate chapter about
the Armenian Genocide. “Some Jews are fearful that recognition of
the Armenian nation’s sufferings will diminish importance of the
Holocaust. That is certainly a horrific crime against the Jewish people
but my Israeli colleagues here believe that it was a crime against the
mankind as well. Jews are not the only victims as Germany is not the
only criminal. We are not tired yet and are strong enough to lead
the government of Israel and other countries on the way of genocide
recognition and ultimately to reconciliation”.

Yair Auron from the Open University of Israel presented “The Pain of
Knowledge; Reflections o Holocaust and Genocide Issues in Education”
report. “Of course, today’s youth, including the Turks, are not
responsible for the events of the past but are responsible as to
what will be the place of Armenian Genocide in the historic memory
of their nation and country”, he said.

By Ruzan Poghosian

Lennmarker’s report not to be discussed in Copenhagen

21.04.2005 14:06

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – At its Copenhagen meeting due on April 24-25, the
Bureau of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly will not discuss Goran Lennmarker’s
report, since it is not yet ready, Armenian National Assembly vice
speaker said.

As reported by Armenpress, Vahan Hovhannisian, who leads the Armenian
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, indicated that the Armenian
side is patiently waiting until Lennmarker, the rapporteur on Karabakh,
finalizes his report, while the Azeris show nervousness. The report
is included in the agenda of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s summer
session to be held in Washington without Azeri efforts, he added.

Azerbaijani delegation leader Safarov had noted days ago that the
report has not been submitted to the Azerbaijani side thus far. “We
should familiarize ourselves with the details of the report before
the Washington session,” Safarov has said.

STOCKHOLM, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS:

TURKEY´S PROMISES TO OPEN ARCHIVES ARE EMPTY PROMISES, SWEDISH PROFESSOR SAYS

Annelle Enochson , a Christian Democratic Party member elected to
the Swedish Riksdag, has asked foreign minister Leila Freivalds
what she could do in order to make the Turkish government respect
its own promises to open the Ottoman archives for researchers and
individuals, which it said would “prove the falseness of Armenian
genocide allegations,” the Armenian National Committee- Scandinavia
(ANCS), reported.

The ANCS quoted Prof. David Gaunt, from a Swedish university,
as saying that their university shown interest in the archives,
“but after several unfruitful attempts to get out documents from the
Ottoman archives, I turned to the Swedish Committee for Human Rights,
for help.”

This is a support committee working in the frame of the Swedish
Parliament, and they in their turn presented a list of the documents
Gaunt was interested in to the Turkish foreign minister in November
2004. Until March 2005, the Turkish government has given no signs,
not the slightest signal, about the requested documents.

“I have no other choice but see upon the promise of opening the
archives by the Turkish authorities as nothing but empty words, so
I have decided to take up the issue with our foreign minister and
submitted a written application,” Annelle Enochson said.

–Boundary_(ID_Z6TCRskg/c4iiAOQAxH6fw)–