Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

PHILIP CROWLEY: TIMEFRAME CRITICAL TO IMPLEMENT ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS

armradio.am
14.04.2010 14:42

Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State Philip Crowley said all
parties engaged in the process of normalization of relations between
Armenia and Turkey are in a critical time period to encourage the
implementation of protocols signed last year.

In response to a question on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s
meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday, Mr.

Crowley said that the two discussed the normalization of Turkish and
Armenian relations and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s relations with NATO.

"Clinton-Davutoglu meeting was very positive and lasted 45 minutes," he
said. "They will meet once more either this evening or on Wednesday."

TURKISH, ARMENIAN LEADERS MEET IN WASHINGTON AS NORMALIZATION MOVE STALLS

Xinhua General News Service
April 12, 2010 Monday 11:40 AM EST
China

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan in Washington D.C. on Monday as the two countries’
efforts to normalize relations hit snags, Turkish media reported.

The two leaders got together on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security
Summit, which is scheduled to be held from April 12 to 13, said the
semi-official Anatolia news agency.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Armenian counterpart
Edward Nalbandian as well as other senior officials also attended the
Erdogan-Sargsyan meeting, the agency quoted diplomats as saying. It
did not disclose the topics of the talks.

Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to normalize relations and open
long-sealed borders last October but the move has stalled since then.

It suffered a further blow after a U.S. congressional panel and
the Swedish parliament last month passed resolutions that recognize
killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during the World War I as
"genocide."

A senior Turkish diplomat brought a letter from Erdogan to Sargsyan
last week, in which Erdogan called on Sargsyan to fulfill obligations
in the normalization bid, Turkish media reported.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic ties and are
bogged down in a long-time row over the World War I-era killings of
Armenians, which Armenia brands as a genocide. Turkey strongly denies
that and has argued the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos
and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman Empire collapsed before
modern Turkey was founded in 1923.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan,
which had a territorial conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region. Ankara has said the border could be opened only after the
withdrawal of Armenian troops from the disputed land.

TIGRAN SARGSYAN PAYS WORKING VISIT TO LORI MARZ

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 13, 2010
YEREVAN

On April 13, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan went on a working
visit to Lori marz – to the Sanain Monastery and Alaverdi.

At the Sanain Monastery, the prime minister was informed about its
current state and problems. The monastery is now in a bad state of
repair. In 2000 the Sanain Monastery was put on the UNESCO list of
World Cultural Heritage, in which the monasteries of Geghard and
Haghpat, as well as the Etchmiadzin complex (the Mother Cathedral,
St. Hripsime, St. Gayane and St. Shoghakat Churches and Zvartnots
Cathedral) are also included.

Then the prime minister visited the House-Museum of the Mikoyan
Brothers and school after A. Mikoyan. Anastas and Artyom Mikoyans
played a promiment role in modern history. The 115th anniversary of
Anastas Mikoyan’s birth and the 105th anniversary of Artyom Mikoyan’s
birth are marked in 2010.

T. Sargsyan met with the school’s teaching staff and pupils. A working
consultation on rehabilitation of the Sanain Monastery was conducted
at the school. The prime minister underlined the need for a complex
program on Sanain’s rehabilitation. It is envisaged establishing a
commission consisting of representatives of the relevant departments,
experts, and clerics of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The commission
will examine the problem of the monastery’s rehabilitation and submit
a conclusion to the prime minister.

T. Sargsyan familiarized himself with the problems of Sanain rural
community. He gave instructions to the approriate bodies. The prime
minister presented a computer to the school.

The RA Government Information and PR Department reports that then T.

Sargsyan went to Alaverdi. He visited Armenian Copper Program
CJSC (ACP) where he together with government members and ACP
management toured the company and became acquainted with its
production capacities. At the plant, he held a working discussion
with businessmen engaged in various sectors of the economy. They
discussed the government measures, the current reforms, and business
environment improvement problems.

At the end of the visit to Lori marz, the prime minister answered
questions of reporters.

AZERBAIJANI MEMBER OF GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT: THE "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE" WILL NOT BE RECOGNIZED IN GEORGIA – EXCLUSIVE

APA
April 13 2010
Azerbaijan

Tbilisi. Nizami Mammadzadeh – APA. Armenian community in Georgia
appealed to President and parliament and asked to recognize the
happenings of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Member of the Georgian parliament Ramin Bayramov told APA’s Georgia
bureau that the Armenians’ appeal was a ridiculous step.

"Armenians raise this issue all over the world. Now the Armenians
living in Georgia have started it. But it is useless. Georgia will not
pass such a decision, because Turkey is Georgia’s friend and strategic
partner. The Turkish government has offered Armenia several times to
review the issue with the participation of the historians and open
archives. Armenians do not agree to this proposal. I think first of
all historians, not politicians should solve this dispute. Politicians
may express their opinion after archives are opened and some obscure
issues are clarified," he said.

Advisor of the Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia Shovgi Mehdizadeh called
Armenians’ appeal "provocative propaganda".

"Everybody knows it. They are trying to realize their intention. The
issue on "Armenian genocide" is used by many countries as a pressure
on Turkey. Historians have not expressed their opinion on the issue.

Archives have not been opened. In this case, interference of any
parliament in this issue and political decision mean yielding to
provocation," he said.

Chairperson of the Association of Azerbaijani Students in Georgia
Samira Ismayilova said they were preparing an appeal to Georgian
parliament.

"We have noted in the appeal to the speaker of the parliament that this
issue is not worth considering, because it contradicts the interests
of Turkey and Azerbaijan, friends of Georgia. Before the parliaments,
"Armenian genocide" claims should be considered by the historians of
the related countries," she said.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Church of Rochester
Contacts:
Max Boudakian, Ph.D.
1-585-381-0195
Stephen Roomian
1-585-756-9702

Community in Rochester, N.Y., Prepares to Mark 95th Anniversary of
Armenian Genocide

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Vincent Lima, until recently the editor of the
"Armenian Reporter," will be the featured speaker at the
95th-anniversary remembrance of the Armenian Genocide organized by the
Armenian Church of Rochester, New York, the parish council announced.
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra violinist Tigran Vardanyan will
perform selections from Armenian composers.

The event is scheduled for April 25 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Thomas
Episcopal Church, 2000 Highland Avenue, in Rochester.

In a talk titled, "Power, Information, and the Acknowledgment of the
Armenian Genocide," Mr. Lima will discuss how the acknowledgement of
the Armenian Genocide has become an issue in international relations,
and changes in public and academic discussions of the Genocide.

Mr. Vardanyan will perform Azat Shishyan’s "Husher" (Memories), Aram
Khachaturian’s "Oror" (Lullaby), and "Ach Maral Jan" by Gomidas
(Komitas). Also on the program is vocalist Barkev Guizirian, who will
perform "Abrilian Yegherne" (The April catastrophe).

Azniv Zeitounzian will read a classic Armenian poem, "Karoon" by
Mgrdich Beshigtashlian, and Z. Boyajian’s translation of the poem,
titled "Spring." Eight-year-old Noor Lima Boudakian will recite
"Ashnan Arev" by Ara Atayan.

At the conclusion of the program, participants will hold memorial
candles and sing "I Verin Yerusaghem" (In the supernal Jerusalem) and
the Lord’s Prayer.

Stephen Roomian, vice-chair of the parish council will serve as master
of ceremonies.

Admission is free and open to the public.

NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVES ARMENIA’S GOVERNMENTAL DELEGATION

ArmInfo
2010-04-12 09:52:00

ArmInfo. On 10 April President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
met governmental delegation of the Republic of Armenia headed by
prime- minister Tigran Sargsyan. The delegation arrived in Artsakh
on the previous day. As Central Information Department of the NKR
presidential office told ArmInfo, a wide range of issues related to
the cooperation between the two Armenian states were discussed during
the meeting. Bako Sahakyan expressed satisfaction with the cooperation
between the Armenian and Artsakh governments considering it among
key preconditions for the successful realization of the stipulated
programs. At the same time the significance of continuous deepening
of cooperation and widening economic ties etween Armenian and Artsakh
regions was mutually underlined. Premier of the Artsakh Republic Ara
Haroutyunyan partook at the meeting.

Press Trust of India, India
April 10 2010

Harika holds Melkumyan, Ravichandran loses

STAFF WRITER 10:36 HRS IST
By Our Chess Correspondent

Dubai, Apr 10 (PTI) International Master Dronavalli Harika held
Armenian Grandmaster Hrant Melkumyan to a draw, while compatriot Tejas
Ravichandran’s dream run was halted by Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami Ehsan
of Iran in fourth round of the 12th Dubai International Open Chess
tournament here.

Harika played solidly with white pieces to keep the aspirations of
Melkumyan at bay in a King’s Indian defense game and the Armenian
could do no better than holding on to an equal position in a keenly
contested encounter.

Harika now shares the second spot with eight others, including
compatriot Parimarjan Negi, on 3.5 points each in the nine-round
event.

Meanwhile, Maghami emerged as the sole leader in the USD 45,000
tournament after getting the better of Ravichandran, who had beaten
three Grandmasters coming in to the fourth round.

Manvel Yeghiazaryan: Armenian people should prepare for war

April 10, 2010 – 15:13 AMT 10:13 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net –

Manvel Yeghiazaryan, the commander of Arabo detachment, stated that
spreading panic around the Karabakh issue is a wrong deed.

`Karabakh can’t be ceded to Azerbaijan. We stand ready to battle its
independence,’ he told reporters in Yerevan. `We don’t want war but
should prepare for it. We will set off war against those who tell us
to cede the liberated territories before the NKR status is
determined.’

Commander Yeghiazaryan labeled Azerbaijan’s threats to unleash a new
war as a mere diplomatic show.

As to Armenian-Turkish rapprochement process, he said any attempt to
reconcile is senseless unless Turkey acknowledges the Armenian
Genocide. `Those who insist that present-day Turkey is not the same as
the Ottoman Empire, which committed the Genocide are mistaken. After
perpetrating the Armenian Genocide, Turks occupied Cyprus, now they
continue massacring Kurds. Turkey is a murderer country,’ Yeghiazaryan
said.

UTV
April 9 2010

‘You are free to write, others have not been so lucky’

For 50 years PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee has been campaining on
behalf of writers who have been imprisoned for speaking their minds

Friday, 09 April 2010
Tags: International News

"You’re free to write," read the email that stood out from the others
in my inbox. I clicked on the message. Its’ words struck home: "Others
have not been so lucky".

The email was an invitation to participate in a project to mark 50
years of the International PEN Writers in Prison Committee.

Choosing to participate caused me to stop and think, properly for the
first time, about the writing freedom I take for granted every single
day.

Since 1960, the PEN Writers in Prison Committee has been campaigning
for writers who have been threatened, suppressed or imprisoned for
their work. The most famous include Wole Soyinka, Vaclav Havel and
Salman Rushdie, who have all had to weigh their words in fear.

The committee was formed at a PEN meeting in Rio De Janeiro, after
researchers passed round a list of 56 writers imprisoned in Albania,
Czechoslavakia, Hungary and Romania.

PEN centres began to spring up in countries where writers had been
imprisoned because they spoke or wrote their minds. Fifty years on,
there are more than 70 centres worldwide and together they support
around 900 persecuted writers, editors and journalists each year.

To mark 50 years of defending freedom of expression, PEN’s Writers in
Prison Committee is running a year-long campaign ` Because Writers
Speak Their Minds.

One strand of this campaign highlights the cases of 50 writers PEN has
campaigned on behalf of in the 50 years that the committee has
operated. Each of the oppressed writers, who include Mamadali
Makhmudov from Uzbekistan, poet Angel Cuadra from Cuba and Bangladeshi
novelist, poet and journalist Taslima Nasrin, has been paired with a
writer from writing group 26, of which I am now a member.

The task? Write 50 words, no more, no less, inspired by the life and
work of the writer.

These pieces are being posted each day online in the run up to, and
during, the Free the Word! Festival, held 14-18 April.

Not all of the campaigned-for writers are still alive. The writer I
wrote about was Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant d****. d**** was
shot dead in January 2007 outside his newspaper Agos, a bilingual
Armenian-Turkish newspaper.

He was among a number of high profile writers charged under Article
301 of the Penal Code, accused of "insulting Turkishness" in his
writings. He had received numerous death threats.

What can you say in 50 words? Not much. But hopefully 50 words a day
for 50 days, will highlight freedom taken for granted, and freedom
lost.

¢ Some of the writers that the committee has supported over the years
will be celebrated at the 50th anniversary of PEN’s Writers in Prison
Committee at the London School of Economics on Friday, 16 April

¢ Follow 26:50 at 26-50.tumblr.com

¢ Free The Word festival blog: freetheblog.typepad.com

are-free-to-write-others-have-not-been-so-lucky/75 ae0c52-1843-4596-bf66-dce53dd060f0

Today, Azerbaijan
April 9 2010

Ukrainian analyst: Compromise in a sensitive matter like so-called
"Armenian genocide" is unacceptable for Turkey

09 April 2010 [19:43] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with well-known Ukrainian political analyst Sergey Taran.

Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States as soon as the
U.S. Congress committee adopted a resolution recognizing the so-called
`Armenian genocide.’ However, after relatively short time, Turkish
ambassador returned to the U.S. and Turkish PM Erdogan will soon trip
to Washington to attend the nuclear safety summit. What is your
assessment of the current situation? Does it mean that the crisis in
the Turkey-U.S. relations is in the past?

Let’s start with the fact that Turkey is now playing the role of
strategically very important player, claiming to be a regional leader.
Therefore, all its policies are aimed at demonstrating this leadership
and the ability to make significant, independent decisions concerning
the situation in the region. This applies, for example, Turkey’s
position on the Iranian issue. In the meantime, Turkey also holds
political debates with other strategically important players in the
region. The United States is one of these players.

Disputed issues may emerge during these consultations just like the
"Armenian genocide." It is unacceptable for Turkey, which claims to
regional leadership, to make a compromise in so important and
sensitive issue. The United States leadership also understands this
and therefore it is not going to deteriorate relations with Turkey,
its strategic partner.

In general, both sides are aware of importance of Turkish-American
cooperation and willingness to resolve the crisis in their
relationship, caused by the resolution adopted by the U.S. Congress
Committee on Foreign Relations.

In your opinion, in what way unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may
hinder Turkey’s claims to regional leadership?

Precisely Turkey’s claims to regional leadership explain its position
on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As is known,
the Turkish-Armenian border was closed due to Armenia’s occupation of
Azerbaijani territories.

Therefore, it is logical to expect that the Turkish-Armenian border
may open once the Azerbaijan’s territories are liberated. Displaying
weakness in this matter and ignoring Azerbaijan’s interests may
deprive Turkey of its claims to geo-political leadership in the
region.

In your opinion, what is the architecture of the process of resolving
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

In my opinion, the architecture of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
resolution is that there is some common understanding and consent of
the United States, Turkey and Yerevan and Baku to the fact that
Nagorno Karabakh is de jure a part of Azerbaijan but may have a very
broad autonomous status.

May Armenia accept such resolution of the conflict?

I do not think that the leading geopolitical players in the region are
set to repartition of territories. It is very risky. The main point is
not the position of Armenia or Azerbaijan, but understanding of key
regional players of importance of geopolitical stability in the region
which cannot be ensured without resolution to Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This factor, in my opinion, is the most
important in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

And when may the scenario of resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict you
said above happen?

Of course, it is extremely difficult to give an exact answer to this
question. But, in my opinion, we can expect the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be settled in the coming years.

/Day.Az/

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