Author: Zaminian Bedik

TOP EU OFFICIALS IN TURKEY AMID POLITICAL TENSIONS

Turkish Press
April 10 2008

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso arrived for talks
here Thursday as simmering political tensions pose a new threat to
Turkey’s struggling bid to join the European Union.

Barroso, accompanied by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, is
expected to urge Ankara to re-focus on reforms demanded by the EU
when he meets President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and parliamentary opposition leaders later Thursday.

The visit comes as a pending court case threatens Erdogan’s ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) with closure on charges of
seeking to undermine Turkey’s secular order and replace it with an
Islamist regime.

EU officials have slammed the prospect of a ban on the AKP as
undemocratic, Rehn warning that Turkey’s accession talks could be
derailed.

The AKP, the offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, has disowned
its religious roots and pledged commitment to democracy, launching
a series of reforms that led to the start of Turkey’s EU accession
talks in 2005. It was re-elected to a second term in July with almost
47 percent of the vote.

AKP supporters see the court case as a fresh attack against their
party by hardline secularists, whose prominent members include senior
judges, the military and some academics.

Critics, however, argue that the AKP aims to advance its Islamist
ambitions under the guise of improving religious freedoms in line with
EU norms and point at the abolition of a ban on the Islamic headscarf
in universities and the prohibition of alcohol in restaurants run by
AKP municipalities.

Many Turks are frustrated with what they see as inadequate EU support
for the country’s much-cherished secular system.

EU officials are "expected to emphasise the issue of secularism and
criticise some AKP moves with the same sincerity with which they
emphasise democracy," columnist Semih Idiz wrote Thursday in the
daily Milliyet.

Under fire for slackening its EU reform drive, the AKP moved to mend
its credibility on the eve of Barroso’s visit, submitting to parliament
a proposal to amend a law the EU has denounced as a threat to freedom
of speech in Turkey.

The proposal aims to soften Article 301 of the penal code, which
calls for up to three years in jail for "insulting Turkishness" and
has been used mainly against people contesting Turkey’s official line
on the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.

The provision has landed dozens of intellectuals, among them 2006
Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, in court.

Some — including slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink —
were convicted, but their sentences were suspended and no one has
been jailed so far.

Turkey has so far opened talks on only six of the 35 policy chapters EU
candidates must complete before accession. Brussels froze negotiations
on eight chapters in 2006 over Turkey’s refusal to grant trade
privileges to EU member Cyprus, which Ankara does not recognise.

Opposition to Turkey’s accession by some EU members, including France
and Germany, has also slowed progress of the talks.

April 11, 2008

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRELATE TO CELEBRATE DIVINE LITURGY AND CONSECRATE THE NEW ALTAR AT ST.
GARABED CHURCH

On Sunday, April 13th, H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian,
Prelate, will celebrate Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon at St. Garabed
Church in Hollywood. During the service the Prelate will also consecrate
the newly renovated altar.
Following services the Prelate will preside over the reception at
"Karapetian" Hall.

PRELATE SENDS CONGRATULATORY LETTER TO
CONGRESSWOMAN JACKIE SPEIER

On Tuesday, April 8th, former State Senator Jackie Khanchelian
Speier was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives following a special
election to fill the seat of Congressman Tom Lantos who passed away earlier
this year.
On this occasion the Prelate sent a congratulatory letter to newly
elected Congresswoman Speier, wishing her success in her new position.

PRELATE TO ATTEND
ARMENIAN BONE MARROW DONOR REGISTRY TELETHON

The Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry has organized a telethon to
take place on Sunday April 13, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., to raise funds
for the Pan-Armenian Stem Cell Harvest Center in Armenia.
The Prelate will attend the telethon and convey his blessings and
support.

PRELATE TO PARTICIPATE IN LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

On the morning of Friday, April 18th, the 93rd anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide will be commemorated at Los Angeles City Hall, with the
participation of City Council members and representatives from community
organizations. The commemoration has been organized by the Los Angeles City
Council.
The Prelate, accompanied by clergy members, will participate in the
ceremony during which he will convey his remarks on this solemn occasion.

PRELATE TO BE REPRESENTED AT
GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION LECTURE

On the evening of Friday, April 18th, the 93rd anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide will be commemorated at the AGBU center in Pasadena. The
event is organized by the Knights of Vartan Pasadena Chapter in coordination
with Pasadena community organizations, and features Rev. Berj Jambazian as
the keynote speaker.
Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian and Rev. Fr. Khoren Babochian will
represent the Prelate.

PHOTO/ART EXHIBIT ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARTSAKH LIBERATION MOVEMENT
AT THE PRELACY HALL

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Artsakh Liberation
Movement, various events have been organized by the coordinating committee,
among them a photo/art exhibit to be held at the Prelacy "Dikran and
Zarouhie Der Ghazarian" Hall.
The Prelate will preside over the opening of the exhibit which will
take place on Friday, April 18th, at 7:00 p.m. The exhibit will continue on
Saturday, April 19th, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

OSCE PRESIDENCY TO CONTINUE ON TRACK, FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS

Earthtimes
April 10 2008
UK

Vienna – Finland’s new foreign minister said Thursday finding solutions
to the frozen conflicts in the region of the former Soviet Union
remained core to his country’s chairmanship of the Organization for
Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). "I came here to convey
a message of continuity," Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said,
stressing the importance Finland placed on its OSCE chairmanship by
making the Vienna-based organization destination of his first trip
since taking office on April 4.

"My aim is to re-energize efforts towards peaceful settlement of
these conflicts. I sincerely hope that the efforts … are met with
constructive engagement by all parties," Stubb added.

He expressed concern over recent events in Nagorno-Karabakh in
Azerbaijan and the Georgian breakaway region South Ossetia and appealed
to all parties to refrain from violence.

"The OSCE needs to focus on the issues where it can make a real
difference," Stubb told delegates from the OSCE’s 57 member states,
urging them to cooperate on the question of Kosovo, despite "diverging
views" by member states, which include Russia, Serbia, as well as
the United States and all members of the European Union.

Finland holds the rotating one-year chairmanship of the OSCE, the
world’s largest regional security body, in 2008.

Stubb’s predecessor Ilkka Kanerva was forced to resign over a scandal
following him sending suggestive text messages to a stripper.

The minister was expected to discuss bilateral issues in a meeting
with his Austrian counterpart Ursula Plassnik later on Thursday.

TURKEY’S PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION DISCUSSES CO-OPERATION WITH CONGRESS OF AZERBAIJANIS IN ISRAEL

Trend News Agency
April 9 2008
Azerbaijan

Israel, Jerusalem, 9 April /corr. Trend News R.Abdullayev / The
Chairman of the International Relations Commission of the National
Assembly of Turkey, Prof. Murat Merjan, who is on visit to Israel,
intends to support the activity of the Congress of the Azerbaijanis in
Israel and provide all kinds of support to the perspective projects of
the organization, Merjan said at the meeting with the representatives
of the Congress at Tel Aviv University.

Touching upon the trilateral Azerbaijani-Israeli-Turkish relations
and highlighting the closeness of the culture and mentality,
Merjan said that these relations are based on the rich heritage and
historical mutual respect of the Azerbaijani, Israeli and Turkish
peoples. "Co-operation and friendship between Azerbaijan, Israel and
Turkey contain deep roots. The Jews have been residing for centuries
and reside in Azerbaijan and Turkey as equal right citizens. They
made significant contributions to the development of the Azerbaijani
and Turkish science, culture, health, economy, industry," the Turkish
MP said.

The President of the Congress of the Azerbaijanis in Israel, Shapiro
Suliman, informed Merjan of the goals, targets and projects of the
organization. "Strong and influential Congress of the Azerbaijanis
in Israel is capable to present, defend and lobby the interests of
co-operation between Turkey, Israel and Azerbaijan," he said, adding
that the Congress is willing to really co-operate with Turkey.

Shapiro Suliman stated that exactly the Congress of the Azerbaijanis
in Israel firstly appealed to Turkey’s Ambassador, Namik Tan, when the
Israeli Knesset wanted to discuss so-called ‘genocide of the Armenians’
and began to, jointly with Turkey’s embassy, carry out works with the
Israeli MPs who supported this issue. "Our force is in the unity and
large-scale propaganda," Suliman said.

The Vice President of the Congress, Bakhtiyar Yagubov, stated that
Turkey is the key true and strategic partner of Israel in the Middle
East. There is serious and comprehensive co-operation between the
countries. "We, as Azerbaijani diaspora in Israel, try to attach
strategic character to the co-operation between Azerbaijan, Israel and
Turkey in the sphere of economy and policy. We have many concrete joint
projects for realizing our trilateral co-operation," Yagubov said.

TIGRAN TOROSYAN RECEIVED THE VICE-SPEAKER OF THE SENATE OF KAZAKHSTAN

armradio.am
10.04.2008 14:58

On April 10 Speaker of RA National Assembly Tigran Torosyan received
the Vice-Speaker of the Senate of Kazakhstan Mukhambet Kopeev. The
meeting was attended by the Kazakh Ambassador to Armenia Erlan
Kubashev.

Tigran Torosyan appreciated the fact that the representative of
the Parliament of Kazakhstan participated in the inauguration
ceremony of the Armenian President and said the visit is also a
good opportunity for discussing bilateral relations. The Armenian
Parliament Speaker characterized the interparliamentary ties as
passive and noted that those need to be developed. It was noted also
that the delegations of the two parliaments are effectively working
in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, a Deputy Friendship Group
with the Parliament of Kazakhstan has already been established at
the Armenian National Assembly.

The Vice-Speaker of the Senate of Kazakhstan Mukhambet Kopeev thanked
for the invitation to attend the ceremony of great importance for
Armenia and conveyed the message of the Senate President. He expressed
confidence that the establishment of the quadrilateral coalition in
Armenia is a serious step for successfully solving the problems the
country faces.

The interlocutors dwelt on the forthcoming presidency of Kazakhstan
in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: Mr. Kopeev thanked the Armenian
authorities for supporting his country on the matter. NA Speaker
Tigran Torosyan underscored the importance of the fact that one of
the ex-Soviet republics will chair at the international organization
and this period provides good opportunities for productive work.

The parties stressed the importance of reciprocal visits. Tigran
Torosyan asked to convey his greetings to the President of the Senate
of Kazakhstan.

AZERBAIJANI CONSULATE GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES HOLDS EVENT ON 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF KALBAJAR’S OCCUPATION

Azeri Press Agency
April 9 2008
Azerbaijan

Los Angeles. Husniyya Hasanova-APA. Azerbaijani Consulate General in
Los Angeles has organized an event on the 15th anniversary of the
occupation of Kalbajar Region. APA’s US bureau reports that Consul
General Elin Suleymanov made a keynote speech at the event.

Following this, professor of Montana University Thomas Goltz,
the only foreign journalist witnessed the occupation of Kalbajar,
shared his impressions on the events. He said the occupation was
followed by atrocious killing of civilians, plunder and other
Armenian savageries. Spokesman for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
Khazar Ibrahim mentioned that soon after the occupation of Kalbajar
UN adopted resolution demanding withdrawal of the occupying forces
from the territories, but Armenians ignored the resolution. He said
that the world community was informed about the savageries committed
by Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh and supported Azerbaijan’s right
position. He said the recent resolution adopted by the UN General
Assembly proved it.

Mayor of Beverly Hills Jimmy Delshad, Secretary General of
Iranian-American Jewish Federation Sam Kermanian, Editor-in-chief of
Azerbaijan International magazine Betty Blair, Executive Director of
US Azeris Network (USAN) Adil Bagirov, representatives of Los Angeles
Consular Corps and Department of State also attended the event.

ARMENIAN POLICE PROBES INTO ALLEGED REPORT OF THREAT

Public TV
April 7 2008
Armenia

[Presenter] The Vagharshapat [Echmiatsin] police department has
received a report from Ara Marutyan that former Deputy Defence Minister
Manvel Grigoryan and his aide Zohrab Galstyan threatened to kill him
[Marutyan] and his family members on the same day [date not specified].

The press secretary of the prosecutor-general has said that the Police
Investigation Department launched a criminal case. An investigation
is under way; the circumstances mentioned in the report are being
clarified.

NEGOTIATIONS BEING CONDUCTED WITH WORLD BANK AROUND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO PROGRAM ON DEVELOPMEMT OF YEREVAN SUBWAY

Noyan Tapan
April 7, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The Yerevan subway development program
envisages repairing moving staircases of the subway stations and
transit vehicles this year with 1.7 billion drams allocated from the
state budget.

Besides, as Yerevan mayor Yervand Zakharian said at the April 7 press
conference, negotiations are currently being conducted with the World
Bank on the issue of funds needed to increase the number of subway
stations in the coming years.

Speaking about the March 1-2 events, Y. Zakharian said that as a result
of these events, damage of 68 mln drams (about 220.8 thousand USD)
was done to buildings and property of state importance in Liberty
Square, the square adjacent to the mayor’s office, the administrative
area of Kentron community, and several other streets.

Global Politician, NY
April 5 2008

The Greek Minority of Turkey

Theodoros Karakostas – 4/6/2008

Last July, Army officers in Turkey were arrested for planning the
assassinations of Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I
and Mesrob II, Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The
targeting of the spiritual heads of these two ancient Christian
communities is symbolic considering the genocide of Armenians and
Greeks in Anatolia by Turkish regimes earlier in the twentieth
century. Human rights abuses against the Christians of Turkey,
harassment, and violations of religious freedom continue unabated in
Turkey. What is just as appalling as the relentless assault on
Christianity in Turkey, is the silence and lack of diplomatic
protests emanating from the international community.

It has become a matter of dogma for the foreign policy establishment
and much of the American media that Turkey is a "secular democracy".
On the basis of strategic considerations and mythical views about the
alleged moderation of Turkey, the Western world has stood by and
tolerated acts of terror and violence against peaceful Christian
communities that would have been denounced and opposed had they
occurred elsewhere. A case in point are the notorious September 6,
1955 pogroms that occurred in the historic Christian City of
Constantinople. For most of the world this tragic date has no
significance, but for Greek Orthodox Christians this date remains
forever locked in our consciousness and represents heartbreak and
mourning over the final stage of the destruction of Greek Orthodox
civilization in what was once the Capital of Christian Byzantium.

Heartbreak also because of the realization of younger generations of
Orthodox Greeks born and raised in America years after these events
that neither the United States, nor Europe, nor the NATO alliance
acted to defend democratic and moral values. On that terrible
September night, the Turkish government actively encouraged its
criminal and extremist elements to attack the Greek community.
Turkish police stood by while mobs of rioters physically assaulted
Greek men, sexually assaulted Greek women, and enthusiastically
destroyed Orthodox Churches while violating their sanctity in the
most appalling manner. A 90 year old Greek Orthodox priest was doused
with gasoline and set on fire. There were dozens of deaths, and in
the aftermath of this evening of terror thousands of Orthodox Greeks
fled from their ancestral homeland in terror.

The purpose of recollecting these horrors emanates from the fact that
the last vestiges of Greek Orthodoxy in Turkey are still under attack
as a result of the policies of the Turkish government. In late 2007,
a Greek Monastery on the island of Heybeliada was demolished, and an
editor of a Greek minority newspaper was beaten by thugs. The
Ecumenical Patriarchate is the victim of State sponsored
discrimination and is unable to operate the only Seminary inside
Turkey that would enable this historic Church to survive. The Western
democracies took no action to protest or condemn the Turkish pogroms
of September 1955, and that has been the active policy of the Western
governments up to the present day. Between 1993 and 2004, there have
been at least five arson attempts or bombings at the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.

Less than a century ago, Anatolia was populated with millions of
Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Christians. The genocide of these
Christian peoples has been well documented by foreign diplomats,
missionaries, relief workers, and many others. In September 1922,
while American, British, French, and Italian warships were docked in
the harbors of Smyrna, the Greek and Armenian populations were
slaughtered by the armies of Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal. The future
Turkish dictator Mustafa Kemal is well known in the West and is
falsely represented as a liberal, despite his responsibility for the
mass exterminations of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian Christians
throughout Asia Minor.

There are many heroes and martyrs who deserve to be remembered by
free societies everywhere. Among them is the Greek Orthodox
Archbishop Chrysostom of Smyrna who sacrificed his life for his
flock, and was subsequently murdered in the most horrific fashion on
the orders of a Turkish General named Noureddin Pasha. There are a
great many Americans from this period such as Consul General George
Horton and relief worker Edward Hale Bierstadt who were present in
Asia Minor during this tragedy and have left behind documentary
evidence about the destruction of the Christians in Asia Minor.

Unfortunately, official US policy toward Turkey has taken an
indifferent position toward the Christians, and this remains the case
up to the present day. Greek Orthodox Christians pray and hope for
the security of the Ecumenical Patriarch, and for the last vestiges
of Greek Orthodox faithful in Turkey who continue to live under
excruciatingly difficult conditions even as their numbers dwindle to
the point of near extinction. Furthering the devastating attacks on
Greek Orthodoxy is the Turkish occupation of Cyprus where 200,000
Greeks have been ethnically cleansed by the Turkish Army, and where
over 550 Orthodox Churches have been desecrated or converted into
Mosques.

If democratic principles are to mean anything in reality, Ankara must
begin to receive serious scrutiny from Western media and the
democracies led by the United States must begin imposing serious
sanctions on Turkey for ongoing atrocities.

Theodoros Karakostas has a degree in Political Science and History.
He’s presently working toward a Masters degree in Eastern Orthodox
Theology. He writes extensively on issues pertaining to Eastern
Orthodox and Hellenic affairs, and contributed to the Boston Globe,
Washington Post, Washington Times, Boston Herald, USA Today, the
Financial Times, and the National Review, as well as to Greek
publications and to various Eastern Orthodox News Sources.

ARDSHININVESTBANK NEW HEAD OFFICE OPENS IN YEREVAN

ARKA
April 4, 2008

YEREVAN, April 4. /ARKA/. The opening of the new head office of the
Ardshininvestbank has coincided with the bank’s fifth anniversary.

The head office has been reconstructed since March 2005.

The building is in line with modern standards and has necessary
management and telecommunications systems, including video surveillance
and signalization, Ardshininvestbank President Aram Andreasyan
reported.

For the first time in Armenia, these systems are managed by the
central control console, Andreasyan said.

The bank has created all the necessary conditions for customers and
employees to feel comfortable.

The new building is the reflection of the bank’s dynamic development,
according to the Ardshininvestbank President.

The Ardshininvestbank ranks second for its assets and third for
total capital.

The bank is a principal taxpayer and is among the top three Armenian
taxpayer banks. The Ardshininvestbank paid AMD 922.2mln for the state
budget in 2007.

The bank’s assets and liabilities totaled AMD 105bln and AMD 85bln
in the first quarterly period of 2008. The Ardshininvestbank’s net
profit amounted to AMD 1.3bln in the reporting period – 37% increase
as compared to the same period in 2007. The bank’s capital totaled
AMD 20bln in the first quarterly period.

The Ardshininvestbank has 53 branches (49 in Armenia and four in
Karabakh), as well as a representation in France. The bank has over
1,000 employees.