Author: Vasilian Manouk

ACKNOWLEDGING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Youssef Ibrahim

New York Sun, NY

Oc t 15 2007

America has moral and strategic purposes in denouncing the massacre
of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as a horrendous genocide perpetrated
by Turks.

The facts are not in dispute. Ample documentation shows that for
two years, hundreds of thousands of Armenian Christians were forcibly
marched out of their towns and villages, killed, starved, and crucified
until death as part of a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign by the
Young Turks government of the dying Ottoman Empire.

Twenty-two countries, including those of the European Union – which
Turkey aspires to join – have marked those events as genocide.

For Americans, the moral imperative is intuitive. Which Greek, Jewish,
Italian, Irish, Hispanic, or black American in this kaleidoscopically
diverse nation of immigrants – all touched in one way or another by
discrimination – can look in the mirror and say, "It’s okay with me
to kill people because of their religion, ethnicity, or origin"?

In that sense, the American Congress, which occasionally rises above
its partisan instincts, was right to draft the resolution condemning
the Turkish massacre nine decades after the fact. The Congress should
now vote it in.

The American government’s strategic imperative to do so is even more
compelling, regardless of the protests by Turkey and the Arab world.

Turkey lives in a region where many governments and terrorist groups
are actively engaged in a variety of ethnic cleansings. These are
directed especially but not exclusively at the 20 million Arab
Christian minorities. Another 50 million people, including some 20
million Kurds living in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey are sitting ducks; not
to mention the Druze, Yazidis, Bahais, Maronites, Christian Palestinian
Arabs, and Sudanese Africans, all of whom are in the process of being
killed or evicted from their places of origin right now.

WHITE HOUSE ATTEMPTS TO BLOCK HOUSE VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.10.2007 14:52 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The White House expressed regret over the intention
of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, H.Res.106, to the full House floor.

It will not improve the American-Turkish relations.

Neither will it promote the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, the Bush
administration said.

"We regret over the intention of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring
the resolution to the full House floor despite concerns expressed
by our foreign policy and defense experts and a bipartisan group of
former Secretaries of State as well as our Turkish allies," White House
Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto told reporters in Crawford, Texas.

"We oppose the resolution which can badly damage the American-Turkish
relations and U.S. interests in Europe and Middle East," he said.

Yesterday evening, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
the third-highest elected official in the United States, announced
intention to bring to the House floor the non-binding resolution
approved by the Committee on Foreign Affairs last Wednesday despite
Bush administration’s opposition.

"I said if the resolution passed the Committee that we would bring
it to the floor," Pelosi said on ABC’s This Week program. "Genocide
still exists. We saw it in Rwanda and we see it in Darfur today."

Presently, the Bush administration attempts to block the anti-Turkish
resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged to take
action during phone conversations with the Turkish Prime Minister,
President and Foreign Minister. She also called on the Turkish
government to refrain from military operations in Northern Iraq,
ITAR-TASS reports.

Pontifical Visit Media Advisory

His Holiness Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians

Pontifical Visit of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)

630 Second Avenue New York, New York 10016

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate

Pontifical Visit
Media Relations Office

Michael O’Hurley-Pitts, Ph.D.
Director
Telephone: 212.686.0710 ext. 154
[email protected]
Facsimile: 212.689.1934
Cellular: 212.533.0335

Sylvie Keshishian
Public Relations Director
Telephone: 212.686.0710 ext. 160
[email protected]
Facsimile: 212.689.1934

EMBARGOED FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
13 October 2007

His Holiness Karekin II Meets Ecumenical Leaders – Celebrates with
Children at St. Sarkis Armenian Church

Charlotte, North Carolina – His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of all Armenians began his two day Pontifical Visit to Charlotte,
North Carolina by being recieved by a delegation of the Armenian Christian
faithful who gathered at the Charlotte Airport to greet him upon his
arrival. The pastor, Father Daniel Karadjian, along with the North Carolina
Pontifical Visit Committee Co-Chairs Diane Gulkasian Tudor and Naomi
Davitian, welcomed the Catholicos and his retinue on Thursday evening,
October 11th. Upon arrival, the Catholicos was presented with the
fundamental elements of life, bread and salt, by Armenian Christian children
clothed in their native dress. Partaking of both, His Holiness Karekin II
thanked the children and blessed each one.

On Friday morning, The Right Rev. Peter Jugis, Roman Catholic Bishop of the
Diocese of Charlotte extended his hospitality to His Holiness Karekin II by
hosting an ecumenical luncheon in his honor at the Duke Mansion in
Charlotte. He was joined by his predecessor, Bishop Emeritus William
Curlin, Monsignor Mauricio West, Vicar General of the Diocese, Abbot Placid
Solari of Belmont Abbey College (Benedictine) and other Roman Catholic
leaders. Other honored guests at the event included Bishop Leonard Bolick
of the North Carolina Lutheran Synod; Bishop William Gregg of the Episcopal
Church; The Very Reverend John D. Hanic of St. Baptiste de La Salle Church;
Father Steve Dalber of St. Ketarios Greek Orthodox Church; Father Arsenios
Ragheb of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, The Reverend Cecil Donohue of the
United Methodist Church’s AGAPE program (which provides aid to Armenia),
Father Walde-Tsadik Maregn of Holy Trinity Ethiopian Orthodox Church; Sister
Rosland Picot, RSM of the Sisters of Mercy; Sister Mary Michele Boulos of
the Sacred Heart Convent Motherhouse and other ecumenical and interfaith
leaders.

His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, Speaks at Duke Mansion

In his opening remarks, Bishop Jugis welcomed the Catholicos to the South,
the text of his remarks follow:

"We are happy to welcom you, Your Holiness, on your pastoral visit to
Charlotte, North Carolina.

The culture of the southern United States has always been known for its
spirit of hospitality and welcome. Known as ‘Southern Hospitality,’ its
roots are deep in our culture.

We are reminded of the same hospitality which Martha and Mary showed Jesus,
when they welcomed Him as a guest to their home, and we today welcome you as
a brother in Christ into our hom.

As Western society becomes more and more secularized, it needs the witness
of Judaeo-Christian values to keep the society oriented toward God. To
protect and promote the dignity of the huma person created in the image of
God, to help the poor and the homess in material and spiritual ways – all of
this springs from the love of God which has been placed in our hearts from
above. The witness of this love has a powerful transformative effect on our
society.

You have come, Your Holiness, to Charlotte, which is known as the ‘city of
churches.’ The new Saint Sarkis Church is another welcome witness to the
presence of Christ and His love in our community.

As a sign of our welcome, and of our common collaboration in service to God,
we look forward to joining you in the prayer service at Saint Sarkis this
evening.

May Our Lord Jesus Christ bless your visit here during these days, and may
it bear good fruit for the growth of the Kingdom of God among all people of
good will."

The Catholicos, moved by the warm reception of the ecumenical and interfaith
leaders who came to show their respects, spoke of the gathering as a true
sign of God’s work in unifying humanity. "I look around this room and the
people who have come here today," said the Catholicos in English, "from many
different churches and faiths, and look upon the bouquet of flowers placed
in front of me. Individually each is pleasing and fragrant – but together
their beauty is profound and has a sweeter aroma. I don’t know if I am
making myself understood or not in my English." The crowd erupted in
applause giving proof to the power of the words of the leader of the world’s
most ancient Christian nation.

Bishop Peter Jugis Receives Armenian Cross from His Holiness Karekin II

His Holiness Karekin II thanked Bishop Peter Jugis for being such an
exceptional host, not only to himself, but to all of the ecumenical and
interfaith leaders who gathered to pay their respects. The Catholicos took
time to praise Bishop Jugis’ leadership in the Roman Catholic community with
the Eucharistic Congress, "I congratulate my brother Bishop Jugis for
bringing thousands of his faithful to Christ through the Eucharist which is
also the center of our faith and that unity which binds us all here today."

At the close of the luncheon, His Holiness Karekin II presented Bishop Jugis
with a gold, Armenian Cross. Kissing his "very dear brother Bishop
Jugis…," on both cheeks, the Catholicos and Bishop Jugis hugged one
another and exchanged person words of appreciation for the ministry of the
other, especially in uniting the community before the.

"Before my audience with His Holiness Karekin II, the Catholicos," said
Charlotte’s Episcopal Bishop William Gregg "I had not had the opportunity to
meet Bishop Peter Jugis of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. I’m
truly thankful to His Holiness for having come all the way from Armenia to
bring the Christian community of Charlotte closer together."

For more information on the Pontifical Visit of His Holiness Karekin II,
including supplemental media advisories background papers and daily video
updates, please visit:

Les Echos, France
12 octobre 2007 vendredi

Génocide arménien : Ankara rappelle son ambassadeur à Washington

La Turquie a fermement dénoncé hier l’adoption par une commission du
Congrès américain d’un texte qui reconnaît pour la première fois le «
génocide » arménien sous l’Empire ottoman et rappelé son ambassadeur
à Washington pour des consultations. La Turquie rejette
catégoriquement l’étiquette de « génocide » pour la mort de centaines
de milliers d’Arméniens en 1915-1917. Le texte, adopté mercredi par
27 voix contre 21, doit à présent être envoyé à la Chambre des
représentants pour un possible vote en séance plénière, malgré les
efforts de la Maison-Blanche, qui s’est dite hier « déçue » du vote
des élus.

Le président turc, Abdullah Gul, a qualifié d’« inacceptable » ce
texte qui fait fi des avertissements d’Ankara. Ce vote tombe à un
très mauvais moment, alors que les Turcs font des plans pour
intervenir militairement en Irak contre les rebelles séparatistes
kurdes de Turquie (PKK), qui utilisent le nord de ce pays pour mener
des attaques contre les forces turques. Le secrétaire américain à la
Défense, Robert Gates, a reconnu hier craindre des « représailles »
d’Ankara, qui a menacé de ne plus mettre à la disposition des
Etats-Unis la base aérienne d’Incirlik, dans le Sud. Parallèlement,
une cour d’Istanbul a condamné hier à un an de prison avec sursis le
fils du journaliste assassiné d’origine arménienne Hrant Dink pour «
insulte à l’identité turque ». Il avait reproduit dans un journal un
entretien accordé jadis par son père, dans lequel celui-ci prononçait
le mot « génocide ».

Investor’s Business Daily
Oct 13 2007

When Amateurs Make Foreign Policy
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 10/12/2007

Justice: Of course, it’s right to recognize the wrong that the former
Ottoman Empire did to the millions of Armenians it slaughtered and
deported from 1915 and 1922. That said, does Congress have to
recognize it now?

The answer is no. The country that was formed following the Ottoman
Empire’s collapse in 1922, Turkey, is today a stable, democratic and
secular country – and an ally of the U.S. and Europe. Believe it or
not, after ours its army is the second-largest in the NATO alliance –
bigger than Britain’s, France’s or Germany’s.

More importantly, it straddles a swath of what may be the most
strategically important piece of land in the world.

Turkey is situated in both Europe and Asia Minor, guards the oil-
rich and strategically vital Black Sea, dominates the back end of the
Mediterranean, and shares borders and geography with some of the most
troubled spots in the world. These include Iraq, Syria, Iran, the
former Soviet Union and parts of Eastern Europe.

How puzzling, then, that the Democrat-led House Foreign Affairs
Committee would choose this time to push through a resolution
recognizing as genocide the murder of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians at the end of the first World War. We hope the rest of
Congress – House and Senate alike – pass on the chance to vote on it.

Today’s Turkey, founded on the ashes of the Ottomans, didn’t commit
these crimes. We wonder: Will Congress now also condemn our own
government for genocide against the American Indians?

We fail to see what good comes of this. But it’s easy to see the bad.

To repeat: Turkey is an ally – though an imperfect one. Recently, it
has been angered by hit-and-run attacks staged from Kurdistan in
northern Iraq (a fifth of Turkey’s population is Kurdish, and it
adamantly opposes the creation of an independent Kurdistan on its
border). It has threatened to invade Iraq repeatedly, only to be
talked out of it by the U.S.

Now, after it recalled its ambassador following the committee’s
action, will Turkey continue to show patience? Maybe not. We hope
Democrat Tom Lantos, who heads the foreign affairs panel and who
pushed H.R. 106, remembers this. The blood’s on his hands.

Don’t get us wrong. We think Turkey should have recognized its acts a
long time ago. And the U.S. is only one of a number of democracies
that have already recognized the killings as genocide. Others include
Argentina, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, France, Greece, the European
Parliament, Lithuania, Slovakia and Switzerland.

But the timing of this resolution simply stinks, and we’re made to
wonder if this isn’t some Democrats’ way of making President Bush’s
Middle East policy even harder to implement.

Americans might not realize it, but Turkey is strategically
indispensable. About 70% of our flights into Iraq come from our
Turkish base at Incirlik. About 30% of our fuel comes from there.

Our ability to base in Turkey gives the U.S. and NATO reach far
beyond our borders. A carelessly delivered diplomatic slap to the
face of a key American ally – the Turks see the resolution as
undermining the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
elected to a second term only in July – can hardly be helpful.

(By the way, this isn’t the first time Congress has done this. It
voted on similar resolutions in 1975 and in 1984. We’re already on
the record.)

Turkey struggled to create a modern identity for much of the 20th
century, and continues to do so today. At great political cost, it
has turned itself toward the West – building a modern, secular and
democratic state in a region not known for any of those things. It
has undergone wrenching but necessary change over the last decade in
an effort to join the European Union.

But its 71 million people, let’s not forget, are still mostly
Islamic, and the same forces at work in the rest of the Middle East,
namely Islamic fundamentalism, are at work there. The committee’s
vote didn’t help that one bit, and will only give the extremists more
fodder.

No wonder Turkey is furious – talking even of shutting down Incirlik,
which would cost the U.S. war effort in Iraq dearly and could even
delay what appears to be a likely victory there.

This is where the Democrats’ foreign-policy meddling and incompetence
will get us: echoes of Jimmy Carter, who embarked on a
badly-thought-out human rights campaign as the Soviet Union gobbled
up more territory around the world.

Democrats style themselves as highly intellectual, nuanced global
thinkers. But both in Congress and on the campaign trail they’ve
shown themselves to be a bunch of bumbling, foreign-policy-challenged
amateurs. Is this the best they can do?

content.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=2 77080878934600

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 12 2007

Turkey recalls ambassador to Washington for talks

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to be
reconsidering his forthcoming trip to the US next month.

ANKARA – Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Washington for
consultations in the wake of the potentially damaging vote by the
House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations on the
so-called Armenian genocide.

It was announced Thursday that Ambassador Nabi Sensoy had been
recalled to Ankara for consultations after the committee on Tuesday
passed a resolution declaring that the Ottoman Empire had commited an
act of genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War One.

Turkey has always rejected allegations that thee was any planned
massacres of Armenians during the war, though acknowledges that many
thousands of civilians, both Turkish and Armenian, lost their lives
in the unrest brought on by the war.

In another response to the committee’s vote, Turkish Naval Forces
Commander Admiral Metin Atac cancelled a forthcoming to the United
States.

ABC Transcripts (Australia)
October 11, 2007 Thursday 8:16 AM AEST
SHOW: AM 8:16 AM AEST ABC

Rift between US and Turkey over Armenian massacre

Michael Rowland

TONY EASTLEY: A massacre more than 90 years ago is emerging as the
latest challenge to American efforts to win the war in Iraq.

The US Congress plans to pass a resolution declaring Turkey’s mass
killings of Armenians, between 1915 and 1917, was genocide.

That has incensed Turkey, an important strategic ally in the Iraq
war, and so now the Bush administration is furiously trying to get
the Democrat controlled Congress to drop the resolution.

Washington Correspondent Michael Rowland reports.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: What exactly happened during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire, 90 years ago, has long been the subject of bitter
dispute.

Armenia claims that up to 1.5 million of its countrymen were murdered
as part of an organised campaign to force them out of what is now
eastern Turkey.

Turkey maintains there were no systematic killings and says many
Muslim Turks as well as Christian Armenians died in fierce sectarian
conflict.

Many Democrats in the US House of Representatives are siding with the
Armenians and are poised to pass a resolution calling the massacres
genocide.

Turkey is now making dark warnings to the US about the consequences
if the resolution goes through.

US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, says US commanders in Iraq are
getting very nervous for obvious reasons.

ROBERT GATES: About 70 per cent of all air cargo going into Iraq goes
through Turkey. About a third of the fuel that they consume goes
through Turkey, or comes from Turkey. They believe clearly that
access to airfields, and to the roads and so on, in Turkey would be
very much put at risk if this resolution passes, and the Turks react
as strongly as we believe they will.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Turkish officials are in Washington, vigorously
lobbying law makers to drop the resolution but even Republicans, like
Congressman Chris Smith, are determined to push ahead.

CHRIS SMITH: The sad truth is that the modern government of Turkey
refuses to come to terms with this genocide. The Turkish Government
consistently and aggressively refuses to acknowledge the Armenian
genocide. For Armenians everywhere, the Turkish Government’s denial
is yet another slap in the face.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Turkey itself is about to cause big headaches for
the US in Iraq, if it goes ahead with a planned incursion into
northern Iraq to pursue the Kurdish separatist group, PKK.

The PKK has been mounting increasingly deadly attacks in Turkey and
the Turkish Government appears determined to respond through a
cross-border raid, much to the horror of the US and its allies, such
as Australia.

Any such move would throw one of the few calm areas of Iraq into
turmoil.

VOX POP (translated): "We don’t want war", says this Kurd, "all the
people here are suffering because of that".

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Passage of the Armenian genocide resolution in
Washington is unlikely to make the Turks any more receptive to US
calls for restraint.

In Washington, this is Michael Rowland, reporting for AM.

LEADER OF ARMENIAN CHURCH TO VISIT BOCA RATON OCT. 15
by By Dale M. King

Boca Raton News, USA
Oct 11 2007

The leader of the world’s seven million Armenian Apostolic Christians
will visit Boca Raton Oct. 15.

His Holiness, Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch & Catholicos of
all Armenians, will be at St. David Armenian Apostolic Church, 2300
Yamato Road. He is scheduled to meet with the youth of the church
at a special "Pizza Party with the Pontiff." It will be held at 5
p.m. in the Marie and Alex Manoogian Sunday and Armenian School.

At 7 p.m., an interfaith service is planned in the church, including
bishops and archbishops traveling with His Holiness from Armenia.

Also participating will be local clergy, community and civic leaders
from the area. A reception will follow in Mardigian Hall.

On this, his first tour of the Eastern Diocese, His Holiness will
meet with generations of Armenian Christians regarding their faith,
traditions and heritage, and experience first hand the life of the
Armenian community in the United States. He will also confer with
ecumenical and interfaith leaders and civic and government officials.

His Holiness presides over the governing college of bishops at
Etchmiadzin, near the capital of Yerevan, Armenia. The title,
"Catholicos," is synonymous with the title of Pope.

The charitable missions he has launched, such as Habitat for Armenia,
have helped his people in the struggle to recover from the physical
ruins of the 1988 earthquake and the spiritual debris of Armenia’s
Soviet period.

His Holiness and his entourage will travel to St. Mary Armenian
Apostolic Church in Hollywood for a special service Oct. 16 at
11:30 a.m.

A third church, St. Hagop Armenian Church in St. Petersburg, will
also be consecrated by His Holiness during his visit.

=news&refno=21273&category=Local%20News

KOCHARIAN: KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL HARDLY BE RESOLVED BEFORE 2008 ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.10.2007 17:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian expressed doubt
that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict can be resolved before the 2008
presidential elections in Armenia.

"I think that the sides will hardly come to an agreement before the
presidential elections," he said in Brussels during a joint news
conference with European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso.

For his part, Mr Barroso stressed the importance of resolving existing
Armenia-Azerbaijan and Armenia-Turkey problems.

NEWS FEATURE: US SEEKS TO CONTAIN FALLOUT WITH TURKEY
Mike McCarthy, dpa

EUX.TV, Netherlands
Oct 12 2007

Washington (dpa) – President George W Bush’s administration scrambled
Thursday to limit diplomatic fallout with Turkey after a congressional
measure declaring as "genocide" the deaths of more than 1 million
Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned phone calls to Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul to
express the Bush administration’s opposition to the bill, and the White
House urged Congress against holding a final vote on the resolution.

But Turkey, which had already warned that the declaration would harm
relations, reacted quickly, sharply criticizing Congress and reportedly
ordering its ambassador to Washington, Nabi Sensoy, to come home.

While acknowledging the tragedy of the mass killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians between 1915 and 1923, Bush argued that the bill
would damage relations with an important NATO ally providing a transit
point for equipment and supplies for the US military in Iraq.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee ignored the warnings and approved
the measure by a 27-21 tally. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to
bring it to the floor for a full vote, but no date has been set.

Lower-level US diplomats have been in regular contact with their
Turkish counterparts to convey the Bush administration’s opposition
to the resolution, US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey
said. Bush telephoned Erdogan Friday with the same message as a vote
in favour of the bill appeared inevitable last week.

Rice intends to tell Erdogan and Gul of "the regret that the
administration has over the passage of this resolution," Casey said.

The dialogue between administration and Turkish officials has not
stopped the heavy criticism coming out of Turkey. Gul in a statement
posted on the embassy’s website accused Congress of using the measure
to score political points with Armenian-Americans at the cost of good
relations with Turkey.

"It’s a pity that some politicians in the United States closed their
ears to calls of common sense," he said.

Pelosi, who represents a district in California, which has a large
community of Armenian descent, shrugged off speculation that the US-
Turkish ties will worsen, saying that the US and Turkey have a "very
strong relationship" based on common interests.

"This isn’t about … the Erdogan government. This is about the
Ottoman Empire," she said.

The State Department said the recalling of the ambassador will not
impair the ability of US officials to convey the Bush administration’s
views on the resolution, but that Ankara’s decision to withdraw Sensoy
did not come as a major surprise.

"The Turkish government has telegraphed for some time, been very vocal
and very public about its concerns about this and has said that they
did intend to react in a fairly forceful way," spokesman Casey said.

The US military is worried that Turkey could take additional steps
such as curtailing the flow of equipment into Iraq. The US is also
reliant on Turkish airspace for operations in Iraq.

"Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would be
very much put at risk if this resolution passes and the Turks react
as strongly as we believe they will," Defence Secretary Robert Gates
said hours before Wednesday’s vote.