ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE EDUARD NALBANDYAN APPOINTED RA FOREIGN MINISTER
arminfo
2008-04-14 20:30:00
ArmInfo. By Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s decree, Armenian
Ambassador to France Eduard Nalbandyan has been appointed foreign
minister of Armenia, the Public Television of Armenia said, Monday.
HOW TO BLOCK THE FLUNKEYS’ WAY
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 11, 2008
After the inauguration of the President and the appointment of the
Prime Minister, the formation of the new government has become an
agenda issue.
The new government will certainly consist of professionals having many
years’ experience in separate spheres, as well as representatives of
the political parties that have joined the quadrilateral coalition
agreement.
The failure to properly combine the principles of the political parties
with the principles of professionalism was one of the most important
omissions of the human resource policy of the past few years. And as
a result, the executive often came face to face with sad, sometimes
even curious facts.
The fact that the nomination of separate individuals for different
positions within the frameworks of the coalition agreement was not
done in a public manner is not something new either. The issues were
actually resolved by the top figures of the parties and their closest
people who often guided themselves by the principle of personal ties.
Let’s recall at least how the issue of having a literate and competent
Minister of Culture had turned into a specific kind of problem. Based
on the principles of the coalition, the sphere of culture was, during
the past years, entrusted to individuals who acted absolutely in
contravention of the definition of the term "culture".
The reason is that the appointment of human resources by the leaders
of parties was of somewhat "imperative" character, as it was difficult
to even think that the forces which had formed a coalition many times
in the past did not have such human resources that could form the
image of literate and decent officials; let alone professionalism.
During the recent years, the real cause of that phenomenon became
clear. The major part of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed
by party "quotas" were those people who used to act as "flunkeys"
for the top figures of the given parties. And in the present-day
conditions, when there are simultaneously 4 parties some way or
another involved in the process of forming the government, the risk
of repeating the mistakes of the past is increasing as well.
The new President and Prime Minister are again faced with the following
hard dilemma: "party or professionalism?" The necessity of forming a
broad political cooperation requires that the decision of the given
party (which, in this particular case, is the same as the decision of
its leader) be respected in an unreserved manner, but the necessity
of maintaining and strengthening the rating and the reputation of the
new authorities simply necessitates the adoption of double standards in
the process of choosing each particular candidate. That is, to combine
the principles of the parties with the requirements of professionalism
and elementary culture.
Therefore, we believe it’s time for the coalition government to
replace the principle of "sphere distribution" with the principle
of the "general human resource bank". This means it’s possible to
previously draw up a general list of potential leaders nominated by
all the 4 parties, so as the President and the future Prime Minister
will be able select the professional and competent human resources,
based on the principle of the proportionality of the seats allocated
to the parties.
The number of the portfolios belonging to each party will be based upon
the agreement of the parties involved in the coalition; however, the
principle of the "general human resource bank" will make it possible
to carry out a double filtration and rule out the repetition of
the flagrant omissions observed in the human resource policy during
the past years. If, for instance, the given party does not have an
appropriate candidate for the Minister of Culture or Town Building,
it will be offered other spheres for which serious and professional
human resources have been proposed.
Such mechanisms of combining party affiliation with professionalism
will guarantee the solution of the major task of keeping up the
rating and reputation of the whole government and finally contribute
to maintaining and increasing the political rating of separate parties
involved in it.
So, this will be to the benefit of everybody and first of all – the
people who badly need competent, literate and compassionate leaders.
TWO IRANIAN MINISTERS RESIGN
ARMENPRESS
April 10, 2008
TEHRAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS: The official Tehran said economic and
finance minister Davud Daneshjafari and interior minister Mostafa
Pur Mohammad resigned.
Ghollamhossein Elha, a government spokesman, was quoted by official
IRNA news agency as saying that president Ahmadinejad asked the two
ministers to work in new capacities.
He said the president will announce soon who will fill the vacancies
ICG LAYS DEMANDS TO ARMENIA AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.04.2008 20:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The International Crisis Group has issued a report
"Armenia: Picking up Pieces" which mentions that "Armenia’s flawed
presidential election, the subsequent lethal crackdown against a
peaceful protest rally, the introduction of a state of emergency and
extensive arrests of opposition supporters has brought the country
to its deepest crisis since the war against Azerbaijan over Nagorno
Karabakh ended in 1994."
The situation deprives Serzh Sargsyan, scheduled to be inaugurated as
president on 9 April 2008, of badly needed legitimacy and handicaps
prospects for much needed democratic reform and resolution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict alike, according to the ICG.
"On 1 March 2008, police and security troops broke up a peaceful
demonstration that had been going on continuously in Yerevan’s Liberty
Square to protest the announced official result of the 19 February
presidential election. Clashes with demonstrators intensified later
in the day, and the violence, involving firearms, arson and looting,
left seven civilians and one police officer dead. More than 450 people
were reportedly injured, including several dozen police and troops,"
the report says.
"Armenia needs to address the electoral violence as well as more
fundamental questions regarding the country’s governance. If the
incoming presidency takes the right course, the EU and the U.S. need
to help foster reconciliation and deeper institutional reform.
Their reaction to the flawed election and lethal crack-down, however,
has been inadequate. The international community needs to send a
stronger message to ensure that Armenia remains a democratic state,
with a functional opposition that does not live in fear and where
basic human rights, including the right to assembly and expression,
are guaranteed."
"To avoid a crisis of legitimacy and the concomitant political
instability, the Armenian authorities should:
Release persons detained due to their political activity and cease
arrests and threats against the opposition, including against
the runner-up in the 19 February election, former President Levon
Ter-Petrosian;
Authorise an independent investigation, with international
participation, into the 1 March violence and follow through on
the pledge to punish policemen who illegally used weapons against
civilians;
Revoke the amendments to the law on freedom of assembly adopted
during the emergency rule and allow peaceful protests in locations
where they will not cause a threat to public order;
Lift remaining media restrictions and refrain from new restrictions
on the media or access to the internet;
Investigate claims of violence and attacks against political party
vote monitors at polling stations and initiate criminal proceedings
against perpetrators and
Pursue a credible dialogue process with the opposition in an effort
to lower political tensions."
"If the government does not take credible steps to implement the
measures recommended above and if arrests of opposition members
continue, the EU and the U.S. should suspend foreign aid; the
Council of Europe should consider suspending Armenia’s membership;
the U.S., EU and EU member states should consider, especially if
there is more violence, initiating a diplomatic embargo on visits by
President Sargsyan and senior officials of the security services,"
the report says.
GEORGY VANYAN: "ABSENCE OF POLITICAL PROCESSES AND PERSONIFICATION OF POLICY TURNED THE "INAUGURATION-MOURNING" CONTRAPOSITION INTO THE NEXT X-PERIOD FOR ARMENIA"
Today.Az
olitics/44162.html
April 9 2008
Azerbaijan
It is incorrect to hold inauguration of President of Armenia on the
fortieth day of mourning of the victims of tragic events in Yerevan,
said Georgy Vanyan, famous Armenian human rights activist and chairman
of the Caucasus Peacekeeping Initiatives Center.
"Inauguration on the fortieth mourning day of the victims of tragic
events, could have been held in the framework of a special session of
the National Assembly of Armenia, in the atmosphere which would not
humiliate the feelings of people, grieving over the victims. However,
the planned ceremonial arrangement, to be partially held at the
Square of Freedom, the site of dispersal of peaceful demonstration,
goes beyond the frames of moral and ethical norms", said he.
According to him, absence of political processes and personification
of policy turned the "inauguration-mourning" contraposition into the
next x-period for Armenia.
He said there is great tenseness which may explode anytime.
"There is a fear and distrust", said he and added that in case of
new clashes, Serzh Sarkissyan will be to be blamed for everything as
a guarantor of constitution.
The Armenian Weekly On-Line
80 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown MA 02472 USA
(617) 926-3974
[email protected]
http://www.a rmenianweekly.com
The Armenian Weekly; Volume 74, No. 13; April 5, 2008
Features:
1. Kurdish Accounts of the Armenian Genocide (Part II)
2. What one genocide scholar said (and did not say) at Rutgers
3. Four Brief Poems by Vahakn Karakashian
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
***
1. Kurdish Accounts of the Armenian Genocide (Part II)
This is the second part of the interviews conducted undercover with Kurds in
Anatolia for the documentary film "The Armenian Genocide" by Emmy
Award-winning producer Andrew Goldberg of Two Cats Productions
().
Very short segments of some of the interviews appeared in the documentary.
They are published exclusively in the Armenian Weekly for the first time and
in their entirety. The Kurdish producer of the interviews has requested
anonymity.
The Weekly once again thanks Andrew Goldberg and Two Cats TV for this
collaboration.
***
Interview #5: Khani
Question: Would this interview get you in trouble with the government?
The facts are clear whether they like it or not.
Question: What do you think of what Turkey says about the genocide?
Like I said, it isn’t a hidden thing. It is a fact. It cannot be denied. It
has been seen. It was in the open. They have to use their conscience.
***
Interview #6: Latif
Question: How did you feel when your parents would describe the genocide,
and how do you feel now?
It makes a person angry. When an acquaintance used to tell us about the
atrocities he had witnessed, they were so horrible that we couldn’t sleep at
night. I mean, the mass killing of children and women is heavy on the
emotions.
I have also heard Grabat Khacho [an Armenian who is apparently known in the
area] talk about it, about how at that time he was in Kharza region, and
when they [the Turkish soldiers] came they killed his parents and older
brother, but he was spared because he was too young. He said he later made
it to Syria and then to Armenia.
Many of them were protected by the Kurds. The wealthy Kurds saved as many as
they could. It was easier for the wealthy because they had to hide them. As
I mentioned, in our village only one person was saved and had become a
Muslim.
Question: Thank You. Is there any thing else you would like to add?
Genocide is an atrocious inhumane act, and that is agreed upon universally.
I don’t put the blame of the genocide on the current government, but I do
think that they need to correct their history by admitting to the facts. I
don’t think Turkey will suffer from it [admitting]. The genocides of the
world, not just this one, for instance the most recent ones such as Halabja
and the others, must be admitted if humanity has to give value to life.
***
Interview #7: Mehmet
All the orchids and gardens in Dairike, the marble homes, all belonged to
the Armenians. The orchids, the olive farms, etc. They left and now it is in
our hands.
It is their land and their property. They are now out in Istanbul, in Europe
or Damascus and we are feeding on their property. I am sure they will find
proof of ownership in the old records.
There is a village, I forgot the name, Khanoke, the land there all belongs
to them but now other villagers are using it.
They weren’t harming anyone, but the government started killing them. There
is a gorge called "Christian Gorge." It is a deep gorge, where part of the
genocide took place. They killed the people and threw them in the gorge.
Right on those mountains, they would grab small kids, 6 months old, 1
year-olds, they would grab their arm and throw them into the gorge.
Meanwhile they [the Turks] deny doing that.
Question: Throwing people like that to their death is barbaric. Tell us more
about their monstrosity.
The monstrosity was committed by the government. When the republic was
established they began doing it. They were also committing it during the
Ottoman times. The genocide wasn’t only here. It was all over the country,
or wherever there were Armenians.
Question: What does the Turkish government say about the genocide, and are
they telling the truth?
It says it’s a lie and there is no such a thing. How could they deny such a
fact, I don’t know. The whole world is aware of it. To deny it is viscous in
itself. They killed the Kurds and the Yezidis, too, not just the Armenians.
They are barbarians.
Question: It has been nearly 100 years since the genocide. How do you feel
about it or when you remember it now?
[He cries.] I am still under the grievance. The stuff our grandfather told
us, I am still hurt by it. Where is humanity? When you ask me these
questions my inside is shaking.
We were like brothers. Our parents and grandparents were the same. We had no
differences and we had the same enemy. What else can I say?
***
Interview #8: Esma
Question: We have been told there are wells where the bodies were thrown in.
Yes, they killed them all. The area was mostly Christian. There were very
few Muslims. Later they [Muslims] took over.
We say we are Muslims but we do all the crimes in the world. We kill and we
destroy. We’re nothing. God is a witness.
They [my mother, grandmother] said the Muslims killed and completely
annihilated the Christians. They said they had no heart. Otherwise, how
could one swing a toddler in the air and throw it? They [Christians] were
also God’s children. The same way they [the Turks] killed the Kurds. My
grandmother said we used to live together like family. They had their sacred
places, we had ours.
***
Interview #9
Question: Did your grandfather participate in the genocide?
Everybody here did. There is a saying, Muslims are always hungry, they
always want more.
Everybody was ready to kill to gain something, a wife, land, property.
The army gave them the orders and they did it. My grandfather killed too,
and then married one, killed two of her baby boys, then bore three children
>From her. He ended up in the Diyarbekir prison until he died. Now no one
knows where his grave is. Anyone who hurts others will eventually get it
himself.
They say 70 percent of these graves are theirs. There weren’t many Muslims
here. They came later. Someone told my grandmother Aysha: I will show you
where I will hide the gold, but will not tell anyone else. I trust you. You
will keep an eye on it until we return. If we don’t return it’s for you to
keep.
A few days after they left, the villagers looked everywhere for the gold but
didn’t find any. Their jewelry is still around. When the archaeologists come
here and make surveys, they feel that there is something.
***
Interview #10: Jamal Akash
We have heard anecdotes about the genocide of the Christians. I don’t
remember too many of them. My grandmother told us this: Your grandfather
saved me and married me. I became Muslim. I had two brothers. They were both
in the village, in Pira Khala. They were children of a priest.
When the genocide began, the two brothers were killed. They each had a
child. My grandmother took the children to take care of them, but because of
an attack, the kids ran and disappeared. My grandmother lived until 1962.
She told us about a lot of events that took place during the genocide. I don’t
remember much about how they were captured and killed. Even the babies were
killed. Some were ordered to convert to Islam. Many of the ones who
converted were still killed.
Question: Where they killed individually or in groups?
They took them all together. Whether it was one person, a small group, or an
entire village, they would round them up and kill them all together.
My grandmother would say that even pregnant women were killed. They pierced
their swords into the women’s stomachs and lifted them in the air. They were
completely inhuman, ungodly acts.
Anyone who knows these tragic facts should tell them. Anyone who has a heart
and a soul needs to let the world know, let their children know about what
happened.
Question: The ones who committed these acts, did they later acknowledge that
what they had done was wrong?
Many of them who committed the crime later condemned themselves. Many
condemned themselves while doing it. I mean, they not only killed men and
women, but even babies.
Even now they experience psychological problems because of what they have
done.
***
Interview #11: Farqin
Many situations like that and a lot of mass killings took place at that
time. The village we visited belonged to Christians. There were 300
Christian households. When I was young, I would go to the village, about 25
years ago. There were brass works done there. They were making pots and pans
>From brass. It used to be the work of the Christians.
There were 300 families. They all moved out and escaped in one night. They
say that they put their valuables in pots and buried them in the ground.
They told the Kurds, We trust you with our homes and property. If we return
give them back to us. If we don’t return then keep everything.
My grandmother Aysha would tell us they didn’t believe the Christians could
move out so swiftly. In the morning, we saw that the village was empty.
She said they sat there and cried. Why did they leave? Why was there a
genocide? Who did it? Did the republic do it? It happened before the
republic was formed. They [the army] told the clerics to tell the masses
that whoever kills the Christians will go to heaven.
Question: But the government policy at that time was to kill the boys and
spare the girls.
It was like that. They had two boys and one girl. There were also rumors
that there was an epidemic that killed them, but in reality, as you said,
the boys were killed and the girls were saved for marriage.
When they would capture them in groups and kill them the way the Nazis
killed the Jews in the concentration camps, they would tie them up with
ropes, take them to Zere and kill them en masse. The attractive women were
spared. The rest were killed.
Question: What does the Turkish government say about the genocide, and are
they telling the truth?
My grandmother is proof. Not only Turkey but if a hundred other nations deny
it, I wouldn’t believe them. Go see Capson Valley. How could I believe the
government? Go ask anyone in our district and they will tell you about the
genocide of the Christians.
————————————– ————————————————– ——-
2. What one genocide scholar said (and did not say) at Rutgers
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (A.W.)-On March 28, the Armenian Club of Rutgers
University hosted a lecture by Hilmar Kaiser at the Student Activities
Center.
Kaiser received his PhD from the European University Institute in Florence,
Italy. He specializes in Ottoman social and economic history as well as the
Armenian genocide. He has done research in more than 60 archives worldwide,
including the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul.
During the lecture, Kaiser presented an overview of the Armenian genocide,
based mainly on his research in the Ottoman archives. In the days following
the lecture, statements were disseminated over the internet about what
Kaiser said at Rutgers, portraying him as a denier of the Armenian genocide.
Kaiser is known in the community for his controversial statements and for
criticizing other genocide scholars, which he did at the Rutgers lecture.
And while many scholars and readers may not agree with some of his analysis
or conclusions on the genocide, at no point did Kaiser deny the genocide. He
consistently used the term "Armenian genocide" when referring to 1915-16,
clearly made the point that the massacres were centrally planned, and put
the number of "losses" at 1-1.5 million. The Turkish members of the audience
were anything but happy with Kaiser’s documentation of the genocide and
threw all kinds of denialist and revisionist arguments at him during the
question and answer session.
Kaiser parts ways with many genocide scholars on the issue of when the
decision to carry out the Armenian genocide was made. While most scholars
talk about a blueprint for the massacres, or a specific date when the
decision was made, Kaiser argues that there were not one but several
decisions for mass murder, all centrally planned and executed.
Below, we provide the transcript of Kaiser’s lecture, with the hope that it
will set the record straight and generate a healthy discussion. Kaiser did
not read from a prepared text. This transcript, shortened due to space
constraints, is from a digital recording taken by Armenian Weekly editor
Khatchig Mouradian.
***
The ARF and the Ottoman government
The Armenian community is a democratic, complex and politically competitive
community. And when I now say that the leading political party was the ARF,
some in the community might be offended. I just reflect the views of the
Ottoman Ministry of Interior and Ottoman Intelligence. The only political
group that was seen as politically of any relevance was the ARF.
The Ottoman government approached the ARF and proposed an alliance, because
the ARF was also present behind the Russian lines as a Russian political
party in Trans-Caucasia. The offer was that the ARF should start attacking
and sabotaging Russian lines of supply and communication, thereby
facilitating the Ottoman victory and, in return, the Ottoman government
would then grant them the political concession they denied the Armenian
community for years.
Basically, the offer was, "You join the war on our side, take the risk, and
then we promise you what we have denied you for years." So it wasn’t really
a good offer. What would happen to the Armenian community in Russia?
The ARF declined the offer and assured the Ottoman government that the
Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire would faithfully serve the common
Ottoman war cause, and the Armenians in Russia would serve the country they
were citizens of. This was the decision. But there was a minority opinion
[in the ARF] that was voted down. The minority opinion was a group of more
radical ARF members who said, "OK, the Russians are coming. We support the
advance and get the benefits." But this minority opinion was overvoted, and
the party line was at every single time upheld, with even strong measures by
the ARF leadership to assert the party line.
However, the internal communications of the meetings of the ARF had been
compromised and the details of the minority opinion were within days
available to Minister of Interior Talat. And the Ottoman government decided
to take the minority opinion that had been voted down as the real policy of
the ARF and began acting on it. They did this despite repeated intelligence
reports from the Eastern provinces, from Erzerum, Van, Bitlis, and Kharpert,
that the ARF and the Armenian community supported the war effort by
answering to the draft much more faithfully to the Muslim population. They
were supporting the draft more than the Muslims and they were absolutely
reliable.
Campaign of repression
>From October 1914 right into May 1915, the Ottoman government began a
campaign of repression. Before the start of the war, the ARF had reactivated
an earlier, secret, semi-clandestine armed wing of the party, the
Self-Defense Organization. This was an organization that was created to
protect Armenian villages in remote areas especially from attacks by tribal
Kurdish groups, bandits, and other outrages that occurred regularly. Now
this sounds like a huge organization, but per village, it was maybe 6-10
armed men, plus, regionally, some so-called "mobile units," another 10-12
people who would be rushed to this or that village. This was a defensive
body that lacked heavy weapons and automatic weapons like machine guns, and
was not capable to really strike.
The Ottoman government knew who the militants were, they began taking out
local party leaders one by one and also tracking down the members of the
organization, thereby trying to destroy it. This was very easy because in
those days the winters in Armenia and Kurdistan were very severe in 1914-15,
high snow, so there was no way for the militants to escape to the mountains
and hide; and even if they were to leave the villages, there’s a trace. The
ARF leadership, based in Van, decided that it had to put up with the
situation.
And now comes a very important document, dated March 25, 1915. The document
has been used by Justin McCarthy in the book The Van Rebellion, but it seems
Professor McCarthy was so overworked that he could only use half the
document. I use the other half. In the second part of the report by Cevdet,
the governor, to Talat (there is not a single decision at Van that was not
supervised and approved by the central authorities), it says, The Armenian
population is entirely peaceful, calm, doing nothing; however, in reality
they are rebels, they are only waiting for the Russians to come and then
they will kill every Muslim.
Van
At this point, the Ottoman government decided that it does not make a
difference at all if an Armenian would be fulfilling his civic duties,
obeying the law, or would be in open rebellion. He would be killed anyhow.
On March 25, the Ottoman forces decided to attack the Armenian community in
Van and wipe them out. It didn’t work.
Several Armenian leaders sacrificed their life (Ishkhan and Arshag Vramian).
Knowing that they would be murdered, they went to the other side to
negotiate, to win time. They knew that they were on a suicide mission going
to the other side to negotiate. Basically, the negotiator was going to his
own executioner in order to win a day, or in Vramian’s case, even a couple
of hours. And then the defense started. It was a defense, not a rebellion.
The defense was successful by accident.
The letter the Central Committee of ARF Van sent to the other Central
Committees says, We have done everything to avoid a clash. The last moment
has come, we will be killed, we will make our last stand. There was nothing
we could do.
The party line was to hold out until the last moment. They said, The last
moment has passed, we cannot hold out anymore. They explain to the rest of
the party why they are doing this. Basically, what they said was, Farewell,
there is no chance. We will just make a stand.
And indeed, the ARF, together with (this is one of the few moments of unity
in Armenian history) Hnchagians and Ramgavars fought together and they
survived. But had the Russian and Armenian volunteers arrived 24 hours late,
it would have meant total disaster. The Ottomans did not know that they had
overwhelmed the defenders.
Deportations
At this point, the Ottoman government realized that it had failed to take
out the auto-defense unit in the area and probably in other areas.
Therefore, my conclusion (I don’t have a document that says this…) is that
the only way to avoid the potential threat of Armenians aiding the Russians
was to deport them. So in the last phase of the defense of Van, the Ottoman
government decides the deportation of Armenians in the area of the Van
province, adjacent to the Bitlis province and then in the northern Erzerum
province, exactly on the front line.
In the middle of June, the head of the Third Army (that’s the eastern front)
decreed the deportation of all Armenians within the Third Army area. This
adds Kharpert, Sivas, Dikranagert and Trebizond to the deportation. It’s the
bulk of the Armenian population.
At the end of July, the Ottoman government orders an immediate count of all
Armenians empire-wide and at the same time orders the deportation of
Armenians from the remaining provinces.
So what you have here is the successive waves of deportation that resulted,
by the end of September, in the total uprooting of Armenians, with the
exception of parts of Constantinople, Smyrna, Aleppo, and very small groups
of Armenians in Antaloya.
How were these deportation organized? Basically, they weren’t organized at
all in the beginning. They were just decreed. They said the local
administration takes care of the welfare of the Armenians. There were no
precise orders on how to secure the welfare of Armenians.
However, in a process that I would describe as "learning by doing," the
ideal size of an Armenian deportation caravan was established. One thousand
Armenians per deportation caravan was the best economy in the use of
accompanying gendarme forces. If the deportation caravan shrinks
considerably, the convoy is stopped and parked until a second convoy arrives
that has shrunk as well. Then they merge to the 1,000 number. So what you
have here is a filter, and the system of economy shows you that the
deportation was already a form of destruction, extermination. The concern
was about the economy, the best efficient use of the gendarmes or the
militia who accompanied the deportees. And they didn’t try to stop the
shrinking, by the way.
You have to understand that these were Ottoman citizens, protected by
Ottoman law. At no point in the entire time was the Ottoman penal code
cancelled. The government was breaking Ottoman law in the process.
These people were then sent to Der Zor, which, as a desert district, had
very weak infrastructure. What we see here is that in August/September, the
Ottoman central government established a deportation administration in the
Der Zor, Ras ul Ain, and along the Euphrates.
Andonian was not lying
One of these officials was Naim Bey, the famous Naim Bey of Aram Andonian.
We have identified him. He existed, the name was right, Andonian’s
description of him as corrupt was right, and also his workplace at Meskene
was right. Andonian was not lying.
The Der Zor massacre
In 1916, the Der Zor massacre. Possibly the worst massacre of the Armenian
genocide. Why did it happen? Why in 1916? And why do I say that it was not
planned in 1915?
Der Zor had such a weak administrative infrastructure that it was
overwhelmed. And because Der Zor was directly linked to the central
government and not first to a provincial governor, it reported directly to
Talat.
In early 1916, Talat ordered an acceleration of deportation of Armenians
into Der Zor. He was really urging regional authorities to speed up and not
to let the Armenians stray. Then Talat ordered the authorities in Der Zor to
stop sending the Armenians to another settlement region, Kirkuk-which was in
the Mosul province-because the commander of the Sixth Army had complained
that these Armenians would be a security risk as the British were advancing
in Iraq. So what you see here, the overflow area of Der Zor, Kirkuk, was
closed-off because the army in Iraq said we don’t want to have them there.
So Der Zor became a cul de sac, a dead end. And even the one caravan that
made it to Mosul was sent back to Der Zor on the orders of Talat. Mind you,
we have survivor memoirs of people who were in the caravan. Then, the
central authorities say, No more Armenians into Homs, Hama. Only Der Zor.
Cannot go south, cannot go east.
Next order: The deportees in Ras ul Ain were sent into Der Zor.
Then comes the order that Armenians should not be employed by the government
anymore. It means the Armenians don’t get paid for their work anymore. If
you don’t get paid but you have to pay for food, who feeds you? The
government. You see the problem that’s building up? A lot of Armenians, very
expensive, very few resources, and then comes the big thing. The presence of
Armenians threatens the supply lines of the Iraqi army along the Euphrates.
They must not stay along the Euphrates. If you are not allowed to stay at
the Euphrates, if you are not allowed to leave the area, where to put you?
Then in July, Talat says, Move the Armenians away from Der Zor. What was the
direction? Cheddadiyye. What we also see is that Talat coordinated in late
July, in rapid succession, the deployment of additional mounted gendarmerie
or militia forces in Der Zor. There’s a build-up.
Then in August, the Armenians are massacred. And you don’t find much on this
in the archives. The only thing you find in some Turkish military memoirs is
a description of the bone fields.
The Young Turk government did not have one decision for mass murder, they
had several decisions for mass murder, and these various decisions for mass
murder add up to this total wipe out, destruction.
Concentration camps
When we talk about concentration camps, we all think about Auschwitz or
Germany in World War II. In the Armenian genocide, you don’t have that. You
do not need barbed wire. The desert was much more effective. In the Syrian
desert, you don’t have to fence the Armenians. Once you control the exits to
the water, you control the movement of the people because the people have to
go to the water to survive.
Gendered genocide
The Armenian genocide is a highly gendered genocide. The Armenian genocide
is a history of the women and the children, because the men were in the army
or were killed early in the deportation. The historiography of the Armenian
genocide is also highly gendered. It’s written by the males.
Number of victims
The Ottoman Armenian population was approximately 1.8-2.2 million people.
Depending on the estimate, between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were "lost."
When I say "lost," I mean killed, but also taken into Muslim households.
"Lost" to the community, not returned.
It turns out the Armenian Patriarchate figures are surprisingly reliable. I
obtained documents from the Ottoman archives where you find Armenian in
small numbers in villages where, according to the Patriarchate, there were
no Armenians.
————————————— ————————————————– ———
3. Four Brief Poems by Vahakn Karakashian
Twinlives
You submit to the clouds
with a colorless body.
The feeling of eternity
Has lost its way,
as faith crumbles slowly
in your palms.
Faith in death is hard
when-beyond doubt-
given its girth,
it cannot fit in your deathbed.
***
Streetbound
Relics of dead music,
here,
inside the eyes.
I, a depth
flattened at the start.
And-through lost spaces-
extraterrestrial gods
monitoring us.
The black lights shed from limbs
and the passionate parable of gazes.
Here, in the scream of the street.
***
Sunmade
With festering faces
we stoop
to the suffering sunset.
The time of your life expands
>From soil to sky.
You are convinced,
there is no moribund history,
you confess,
that the moon and the sky,
appearing after sunset,
find you friendly.
***
Memento
Days without echoes are here again,
your footsteps fade in memory.
The stars of longing show up late
and drown
in the puddles
formed by your steps
in the ground
after the rain.
Translated by Tatul Sonentz
SPECIAL DISCUSSION ON NA DRAFT STATEMENT ON REGULATION OF NKR PROBLEM TO TAKE PLACE IN NA
Noyan Tapan
April 8, 2008
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The draft statement of the National
Assembly on the regulation of the Nagorno Karabakh problem was put
into circulation in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
on April 8.
It is stipulated, in particular, in the draft statement that the RA
National Assembly "suggests that the President of the Republic and
the government should make more active and expand the efforts and
opportunities on the implementation and development of measures in
the direction of making the international community completely aware
of the Nagorno Karabakh problem, give a more initiating character
to the Armenian policy directed at the regulation of the Nagorno
Karabakh problem, form those legal bases within the frameworks of the
international law, which in case of the use of military aggression or
other measures of violence by Azerbaijan will give an opportunity to
the Republic of Armenia to provide the complete security and protection
of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh."
The suggestion of the National Assembly is grounded by the anxiety
about the recent developments concerning the regulation of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem, the instigating activities of the breach
of armistice by the Azeri army, the blackmail applied towards the
Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group by Azerbaijan accompanied by
threats on expressing inconfidence and moving the discussion on the
regulation of the problem to other organizations, which is qualified
by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia as an unconcealed
and immoral attempt by Azerbaijan to ruin the regulation process.
In addition to other grounds, the self-determination right of the
people of Nagorno Karabakh and the necessity for the unconditioned
use of that principle during the regulation of the problem,
which, according to the draft, is considered as unbargainable and
unimpeachable from the point of view of the international law, is
also mentioned.
It should also be mentioned that according to the NA Regulations-Law,
the draft message presented by the Speaker of the Parliament is
included on the agendas of the regular session and the coming four-day
sittings without vote and has a special discussion.
DELEGATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA IN SAINT PETERSBURG
National Assembly of RA
April 4 2008
Armenia
On April 3 in Saint Petersburg the President of the National Assembly
Mr. Tigran Torosyan had meetings with the Speaker of the State Duma
of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(PA CSTO) Mr. Boris Gryzlov and the Chairman of the Federal Council,
Chairman of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth
Independent States Mr. Sergey Mironov. During the meeting the sides
discussed issues concerning the bilateral inter-parliamentary relations
and the development of cooperation within IPA CIS framework.
Within the framework of IPA CIS Mrs. Arevik Petrosyan, Vice President
of the National Assembly was elected Deputy Chairman of the Standing
Committee for Political Issues and International Cooperation of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization,
and Mrs. Hermine Naghdalyan – Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee
on Social Policy and Human Rights of the Interparliamentary Assembly
of the Commonwealth Independent States.
Mrs. Hermine Naghdalyan also participated in the works of the PA
CSTO Committee on Social-Economic and Legal Issues, in the agenda
of which the issue of unification and harmonization of the state
legislations of CSTO member-states in the direction of fighting
against international terrorism, illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances was included. At the sitting the relevant laws
of the Republic of Armenia against those phenomena, as well as the
amendments to the criminal and administrative codes of the Republic
of Armenia being debated at present in the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia were presented.
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE GLENDALE CHAPTER
104 N. Belmont Ave., Suite 200A, Glendale, CA 91206
818.243.3444
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANC-Glendale Partners with City of Glendale, Commision on the Status
of Women and
YWCA for Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April 4, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Armenian National Committee – Glendale Chapter has partnered with
the City of Glendale, Commission on the Status of Women and the YWCA
of Glendale for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
There will be a variety of events to raise awareness and encourage the
discussion of sexual assault, a traumatic incident that affects many who are
afraid to come forward and speak about it.
By participating, you will ensure that there will be at least
one less victim of sexual assault, and one more person coming forward unafraid.
Please join us!
YWCA Women’s Self Defense Workshops
April 3, 10, 17, 2008
6:00 – 7:30pm
Glendale Police Department -Community Room
Mayor’s Resolution Recognizing Sex Assault Awareness Month and Denim Day
April 15, 2008
6:00pm
City Council Chambers
Denim Day & Dollars for Denim All Day
April 23, 2008
Pay $5, wear your denim to work, and raise awareness about sex assault
myths and realities.
For more information:
Take Back the Night & Clothesline Project Reception
April 25, 2008
4:30* – 6:30pm
From Perkins Plaza (corner of Broadway/Glendale Ave) to Glendale YWCA
(735 E Lexington Dr)
* Fabulous Free Gift to the first 100 participants
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other Upcoming Events
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sourj for the Armenian Vote
Sunday, April 13, 208
1pm-4pm
Urartu Cafe
119 N. Maryland Ave.
Glendale, CA
Come hear Glendale City Clerk Ardashes Kassakhian discuss current
local and federal
election issues and register to vote.
*First 20 people to register get free coffee!
For more information contact Haig at ANC-WR
818.500.1918
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANC-Gl endale Annual Blood Drive
In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
Sunday, April 20, 2008
10am-4pm
St. Mary’s Armenian Church
500 S. Central Ave.
Glendale, CA
To Schedule a Blood Donation Appointment Call 818.243.3444
or
Go to and Enter Sponsor Code: stmaryarmenian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARMENIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY BANS COMMERCIAL FISHING OF LAKE HERRINGS FOR WHOLE YEAR
arminfo
2008-04-03 16:09:00
ArmInfo. The Armenian Environment Ministry again imposes a ban on
commercial fishing of Sevan lake herrings for the whole year, Karen
Jenterejyan, the head of the bioresource department at the Armenian
Environment Ministry said, replying to ArmInfo correspondent’s
question.
He said that the commercial stock of lake herrings has amounted to zero
as a result of uncontrolled fishing over the recent years. Meanwhile,
as early as 1988 the commercial stock of the lake herrings totalled
1800 tons. In 2008 the scientific research on the ecological
state of the lake’s bottom and estimation of the fish stock will
be continued. Jenterejyan stressed that despite the fight against
poaching, cases of illegal fishing in the lake are still registered.
At the same time, Director of the Institute of Hydroecology and
Ichthyology of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Boris
Gabrielyan told ArmInfo correspondent that research to estimate
the fish dtock was held jointly with the "Sevan" National Park. The
scientist said that according to the latest data, the lake herring
stock in the lake has decreased much more than Jenterejyan said,
particularly, the lake herring stock totals not 600 tons, but about
180-200 tons.