Author: Vanyan Gary

People’s Daily, China
March 27 2010

Armenian community leader urges Turkey, Armenia to move beyond genocide dispute

10:39, March 27, 2010

The leader of Armenian community in Turkey on Friday urged Turkey and
Armenia to move beyond the current genocide row to mend relations as
the dispute cast a shadow over the two countries’ normalization
process. "The 1915 incidents sowed the seeds of discords between two
close friends who loved each other … We have to forget it and look
forward," Bedros Sirinoglu, leader of Turkey’s Armenian community,
told reporters after being received by Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

His words came after a U.S. congressional panel and the Swedish
parliament passed nonbinding resolutions that recognize the killings
of Armenians by Ottoman forces during the World War I as genocide
earlier this month, drawing ire from Ankara.

Armenians claim that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a
systematic genocide during the World War I, but the Turkish government
insists the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and
governmental breakdown as the Ottoman empire collapsed before modern
Turkey was created in 1923.

Sirinoglu said both Turks and Armenians suffered from what happened at
that time, noting "we’ll stay in the darkness if we keep digging up
the issue (the killings)."

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and signed protocols to
normalize relations last October. The accords need to be ratified by
the two countries’ parliaments before taking effect.

Turkish authorities have warned the row over the "genocide" claims
could hamper the normalization process. Erdogan was reportedly said
earlier this month Turkey could deport 100,000 Armenians living in
Turkey illegally but later explained he was misquoted by media.

Sirinoglu said there are 20,000 Armenian citizens living in Turkey and
apologized for "misguiding" the prime minister about the number.

He told reporters he was hopeful about the normalization protocols as
he believes Turkey and Armenia would learn lessons from the past.

Source: Xinhua

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I RECEIVES THE MINISTER OF DIASPORA OF ARMENIA

On Friday 26 March 2010 in the morning, His Holiness Aram I received the
Minister of Diaspora of Armenia Mrs. Heranoush Hagopian, accompanied by the
Ambassador of Armenia to Lebanon Ashod Kotcharian.

The Minister discussed with His Holiness Armenia-Diaspora relations and
specific issues connected with her Ministry in the Republic of Armenia.

At the end of the meeting, His Holiness Aram I emphasized the importance
strengthening the relationships between Armenians in Armenia and in the
Diaspora for the sake of keeping the unity of the Armenian people.

##
Photo here:
tos/Photos458.htm#3
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : ANKARA FERA APPEL DEVANT DES INSTANCES JURIDIQUES INTERNATIONALES
Stephane

armenews
jeudi25 mars 2010

TURQUIE

La Turquie contestera devant des instances juridiques internationales
les resolutions sur la reconnaissance du genocide armenien adoptees par
les parlements de plusieurs pays, a annonce mercredi aux journalistes
le porte-parole de la diplomatie turque Burak Ozugergin.

"Nous n’ecartons pas la possibilite de recourir au droit
international", a-t-il indique.

Debut mars, Ankara a rappele pour consultation ses ambassadeurs
a Washington et a Stockholm après que le Congrès americain et le
parlement suedois ont adopte des resolutions reconnaissant le genocide
des Armeniens.

"Les ambassadeurs retourneront lorsque le temps sera venu" et il
est possible que la Turquie conteste ces resolutions devant la Cour
europeenne des droits de l’homme, a explique le porte-parole.

A son avis "les parlements ne sont pas habilites a juger l’histoire".

"Il y a des instances appropriees qui s’en chargent et ce n’est pas aux
parlements de se prononcer sur ce problème", a ajoute Burak Ozugergin.

Ankara officiel a fait entendre a plusieurs reprises que l’adoption
des resolutions reconnaissant le genocide armenien nuirait aux efforts
deployes pour la normalisation des relations armeno-turques. Les
deux Etats ont signe en 2009 des protocoles sur l’etablissement des
relations diplomatiques et l’ouverture des frontières.

Le genocide du peuple armenien a ete reconnu par de nombreux pays,
dont l’Uruguay, la Russie, la France, l’Italie, l’Allemagne, les
Pays-Bas, la Belgique, la Pologne, la Lituanie, la Slovaquie, la
Suède, la Suisse, la Grèce, Chypre, le Liban, le Canada, le Venezuela,
l’Argentine et 42 Etats des Etats-Unis.

Le massacre a egalement ete reconnu par le Vatican, le Parlement
europeen et le Conseil ~cumenique mondial.

NOUVEAU VOTE DU PARLEMENT SUEDOIS EN 2011
Jean Eckian

armenews
jeudi25 mars 2010

GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

Selon une declaration du Ministre suedois des Affaires etrangères,
Carl Bildt, a la NTV, un second vote sur la Resolution du genocide
des Armeniens aura lieu en 2011.

"Il n’est pas bon d’adopter des decisions politiques sur des evenements
qui ont eu lieu il y a 100 ans.

Il devrait etre maintenant question de 2015 dans la perspective
de l’adhesion de la Turquie a l’Union Europeenne", a-t-il dit en
substance, "plutôt que de parler de 1915".

Par ailleurs, le ministre a exprime l’espoir que les relations
Turco-suedoises soient bientôt normalisees. Que "la Suède est l’amie
de la Turquie."

Le 11 mars le Parlement suedois a approuve une resolutionsur le
Genocide armenien. Une semaine auparavant, la Commission des Affaires
etrangères de la Chambre des Representants a approuve une resolution
similaire. La Turquie avait rappele ses Ambassadeurs aux USA et en
Suède en signe de protestation.

Gautaman Bhaskaran, Hindustan Times
Author Chennai
March 25, 2010
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Flashback: Flury’s glorious daysStephen Court on Calcutta’s famed Park
Street that turned into a towering inferno last Tuesday has been a
historic symbol, and the tea-room, Flury’s, that adorned the
99-year-old heritage building, was even more iconic. Stephen Court,
built by penniless Armenian refugee-turned-millionaire Stephen
Arathoon, was among the innumerable stately mansions that along with
magnificent churches and expansive garden houses made up the Calcutta
(as it was then called) of the 1960s and 1970s.

On the one hand, the city was a picture of languidness. Tramcars
rambled along what seemed like cobbled streets, the driver shooing
away men and animals from the tracks with his foot-bell. Weather-worn
buildings stared down at hand-pulled rickshaws as they struggled to
move through smoke-belching motorised traffic. Calcutta’s football
fanatics gorged on spongy `rosogulla’ and triangular `singada’ after
they had argued silly over their Mohan Bagan and East Bengal heroes,
while the babus of the Writers’ Building, the State Secretariat,
debated American atrocities in Vietnam over small mud cups of syrupy
tea.

Away from this cacophony of babus culture and streetcars lay another
Calcutta, the swinging city, whose focal point was the posh Park
Street. Its ritzy night spots like Moulin Rouge, Macomb, Blue Fox and
Trances offered live music and sizzling cabaret. Pam Crain crooned,
and so did a 20-something silk sari-clad Tam Bram, Usha Uthup, who
became a rage at Trincas with her sexy voice and sensational songs. A
few yards from Trincas across Park Street lay Flury’s, Calcutta’s only
tea-room. Founded by J. Flurys and his wife in 1927, it served
traditional European confection. It soon became the rendezvous of the
young and the old, who savoured its exotic cakes, creamy pastries,
rich puddings and the world’s finest chocolates. Its tastefully
enriched interior recalled the romance of the Raj, and this sense of
timelessness lingered when I began frequenting Flury’s in the early
1970s.

Gautaman Bhaskaran

The haunt of girls and boys from the nearby Loreto and St. Xavier’s
colleges, Flury’s played the perfect Cupid to longing love and racing
hearts, perhaps scandalizing the morals of the institutions. For
decades, when St. Xavier’s refused to turn co-educational, the Loreto
girls remained the Xavierians’ most important link with the opposite
sex. Over Flury’s aromatic beverages and tea-cakes many love stories
were written – and erased.

The tea-house was also the den for Calcutta’s artistic brigade.
Satyajit Ray made a rare appearance for his piece of pastry there,
when he chose to miss his regular `adda’ at The Coffee House in
Central Calcutta. Professors from Xavier’s, like Lal and Vishwanathan,
discussed the finer nuances of the English language in the decorous
ambiance of Flury’s, and, perhaps, looked the other way when they saw
courtship between the two rigidly missionary institutions. There was
then Mrinal Sen, the media-made rival of Ray. Sen’s garrulousness
rattled the tea-cups all right.

Stephen Arathoon’s daughter herself must have stepped into Flury’s for
her cup of coffee. She lived in one of the flats in Stephen Court till
her ripe old age as a witness to the bond her father first established
with a street that got its name from a deer park which was once stood
there.

The fire perhaps burnt down the lingering traces of that link.
(Gautaman Bhaskaran grew up in Calcutta’s halcyon days)

ARMENIAN LANGUAGE COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS, BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER 2010

Gibrahayer
March 24, 2010

Gibrahayer e-magazine – Nicosia 24 March – With the initiative of
the Armenian MP Vartkes Mahdessian, the University of Cyprus will
commence part-time Armenian language courses, as of September 2010.

This positive result of prolonged discussions for over two years
will hopefully open the way to the much desired establishment of an
Armenian Chair in the near future.

In the light of the above, the Centre of Scientific Training,
Evaluation and Development (KEPEAA) in collaboration with the Language
Centre of the University of Cyprus invites teachers of Armenian as
a foreign language, who possess an MA in Armenian, to submit their
Curriculum Vitae to be considered for possible part-time employment.

Covering letters should be written in English or Greek and applications
have to be delivered by hand or by post to KEPEAA at the Campus
Development Offices Building, P.O.Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Tel:
22-892909, or at [email protected] by Friday March 26th 2010, 2.00pm
the latest.

ARMENIA-TURKEY, ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS IMPORTANT PARTS OF A BIG PACKAGE: ALI BABACAN

Tert.am
17:47 ~U 24.03.10

Normalization of Armenia-Turkey and Armenia-Azerbaijan relations are
two important parts of a big package, State Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan said at a conference jointly organized
by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists
(TUSKON) and the Center for European Policy Studies, calling on
OSCE co-chairing countries to back the process of normalizing
Armenia-Azerbaijani relations.

Referring to the adoption of genocide resolutions by different
countries, Babacan said that a commission of historians must be
created to study the Genocide issue.

"In that issue our objective is to create a commission of historians
and scientists to study the Genocide issue in accordance with the
Protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey. But any interference in
that issue complicates the [normalization] process," said Babacan.

Among participants delivering their speech at the conference was
Swedish Foreign Minister Karl Bildt’s wife Anna Maria Bildt, who also
referred to the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, saying that Yerevan
and Ankara should solve their problems themselves.

"I am sorry for the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution by
the riksdag. That is not our problem. We support the Armenia-Turkey
rapprochement and want the issue to be discussed between the sides,"
said Anna Maria Bildt.

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

March 24, 2010
Contact: Lerna Kayserian Shirinian

SCHIFF AND HACHIKIAN TO HEADLINE LIVE ANCA
TELE-TOWNHALL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

— Activists Encouraged to Email Questions for Live Interactive Telecast
on Sunday, March 28th 8-9pm PST

HOLLYWOOD, CA – Congressional Armenian Genocide Resolution author Adam
Schiff (D-CA) will join ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian for a nationally
televised Townhall meeting on Sunday March 28th from 8:00 – 9:00 pm
PST to discuss ongoing efforts to secure the adoption of this
genocide-prevention measure by the full U.S. House of Representatives.

"As a grassroots group devoted to empowering our community, we are
truly excited to offer this opportunity for Armenian Americans to take
part in this Sunday’s live, televised townhall meeting on the Armenian
Genocide Resolution," said ANC-WR Chairwoman Aida Dimejian. We
especially look forward to hearing Representatives Schiff and Sherman
discuss their efforts to pass this legislation and to answering the
questions submitted online by viewers across the United States."

The one-hour townhall forum, which will be televised live from Horizon
studios in Hollywood, California, will feature presentations, followed
by a question and answer session organized around written questions
submitted online beforehand via: [email protected] by Friday, March
26th at 5:00pm PST.

The Tele-Townhall can be viewed on Charter Digital Channel 285 in
Glendale, Burbank & La Crescenta. It will be streamed online on the
ANCA website – , Horizon Armenian Television –
and on the Hairenik News site –
.

Introduced in March of 2009 by lead sponsors Adam Schiff and George
Radanovich (R-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-chairs Frank
Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), H.Res.252 currently has 141
cosponsors. A parallel Senate measure, spearheaded by Senators Bob
Menendez (D- NJ) and John Ensign (R-NV), has 14 cosponsors. The
Armenian Genocide resolution calls upon the President to ensure that
the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate
understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human
rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States
record relating to the Armenian Genocide.

On March 4th, despite an intense campaign of threats by the Turkish
government and last minute opposition from the Obama Administration,
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) brought
H.Res.252 up for a vote before his Committee. The measure was adopted
with a vote of 23-22, opening the way for full House consideration of
the resolution.

The ANCA is spearheading a national "End Turkey’s Gag Rule" campaign,
urging the American government to reject Turkey’s attempts to silence
international affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. For more
information, visit

TURKISH PM PLANNING TO MEET WITH THE HEAD OF THE TURKISH-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

95659/lang/en
2010-03-23

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning to meet with
the head of the Turkish-Armenian community Petros Shirinoghlu.

Armenpress reports citing the Turkish Zaman that it is not clear
yet what issues the agenda of the meeting of Erdogan and head of the
Turkish-Armenian community.

AZERI OPPOSITION URGES PRESIDENT TO CLARIFY DUBAI REAL ESTATE REPORT

Turan News Agency
March 17 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku, 17 March: Representatives of the opposition gathered in the
headquarters of the Musavat Party to discuss the property belonging
to [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev’s family in Dubai worth of
75m dollars.

The participants in the meeting expressed a common view that the
mansions in Dubai were obtained illegally for money stolen from the
people. The opposition representatives demanded that the head of
state give explanations. Otherwise he must resign.

The leader of Musavat, Isa Qambar, said that thousands of families in
Azerbaijan are living in poverty. The obtaining of the multi-million
property confirms that Ilham Aliyev stands on the top of corruption.

Qambar is sure that the revealed mansions is just a drop in the ocean.

"Explanations by officials of the legality of the purchase are
ridiculous and illogical," he said.

Economist Qubad Ibadoglu said that the cost of the Dubai mansions is
50 per cent of pensions paid per year or 90 per cent of spending on
science [in Azerbaijan].

"The head of state violated the election law on the importance
of declaring his income. Ahead of the 2003 and 2008 presidential
elections Ilham Aliyev did not mention his property," he said.

The head of the East-West Centre, Arastun Oruclu, said he did not
agree with the view that the report on the Dubai real estate should
be viewed as pressure on Ilham Aliyev in the [Nagornyy Karabakh] issue.

"This is a corruption problem rather than the Karabakh issue and this
should be explained to public," he said.

The deputy chairman of the People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party,
Fuad Qahramanli, said that Ilham Aliyev’s resignation would be a
reasonable and honest act and urged the opposition to come up with
a single demand.

The discussion was attended by representatives of Musavat, the People’s
Front of Azerbaijan Party, the Classic People’s Front of Azerbaijan
Party, the Azadliq [bloc], opposition MPs, experts and others.