FRENCH PRESIDENT TO VISIT ARMENIA SEPTEMBER 29 ACCORDING TO PRELIMINARY DATA
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.09.2006 14:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to preliminary data, French President
Jacques Chirac will pay an official visit to Armenia on September 29,
French Embassy Spokesperson Meri Hakobyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. In her words, the final date of the visit of the French
President usually becomes clear 15 days in advance.
The French President will officially open the Year of Armenia in
France. On September 30 – the first day of the festivities – Charles
Aznavour and famous French singers will perform a concert at the
Republic Square in Yerevan.

ANTI-CRIMINAL MOVEMENT IN ARMENIA STEPPING INTO A NEW STAGE
Lragir.am
09 Sept 06
The Lragir has learned about a call addressed to political parties
and organizations, which are establishing the Anti-Criminal Movement.
We think some extracts of this statement may interest the reader.
… Before using the notion of the criminal, especially the criminal in
power, one should know what it denotes. In speaking about criminalized
politics, this notion should be made clear first. And there is nothing
to invent anew: for over a thousand years the community, which denies
the laws of the state, is called a criminal community. The community
of people who live under their own law and impose their own law on
the rest of the society through violence, coercion and bribe. The
notion of “own law” denotes the rules of behavior accepted within
the given community, the violation of which is punished severely.
The aim of the criminal is to usurp the system of government and take
away the rights of citizens, and guarantee their welfare at the expense
of others. The famous notions of the criminal world, the criminal
moral and punishment are merely a form of existence of the criminal.
Therefore, before making anti-criminal efforts it is worthwhile to
define this phenomenon in Armenia. And the situation is such that
the community of people who deny the law of the state of Armenia have
usurped government offices and the corresponding powers, turning the
system of government into a means of legal pressure on the citizens.
This practice guarantees the welfare of the members of this community
at the expense of others. Along with the government levers coercion,
corruption and violence are applied as well.
Consequently, the group of figures who have usurped the state machine
can be called a criminal community. All the provisions of the law,
which are directed against every representative of the criminal
community in the world, are applicable to them. Moreover, in the
current situation there is an additional accusation, which can be
defined as state crime (for every act of violation of the law by a
government official can be defined as state crime).
The following offenses committed by Armenian government officials
can be considered a state crime: creation and sustenance of the
machine of electoral fraud, misappropriation of the public property,
accruing slush funds, violence against citizens, bribing persons and
organizations (namely the media), etc.
All the abovementioned arguments are sufficient ground for accusing
Armenian high-ranking government officials of criminal activities.
Moreover, their activities corresponding to the definition of state
crime. This evaluation enables figuring out the state criminals,
the members of the criminal community, which has usurped the power.
Currently, the following persons are at the hub of this community
(we have learned some names from the list): Serge Sargsyan, Gagik
Beglaryan, Mher Sedrakyan, Ruben Hairapetyan, Sashik Sargsyan, Karineh
Kirakosyan, Galust Sahakyan, Hovik Abrahamyan, Aghvan Hovsepyan, Flora
Nakshkaryan. The list of the members of this community is being made
clear. The main political shelter of this community is considered to
be the organization called the Republican Party of Armenia.
… All the political forces of Armenia, as well as the active
members of the forming anti-criminal movement should understand the
abovementioned arguments what the criminal in power is. The incorrect
definitions and accusations enable state criminals to deny these
accusations hypocritically. The phrases “where is the criminal here?”,
“we have never been in prison, there are no facts”, etc, which are
very popular with Armenian officials and are upheld by the mass media,
are the result of incorrect definitions and accusations, which give
a chance to the criminal in power.
… The public does not need to offer facts. The duty of the society
is to take the criminal it detects to the court. The law enforcement
agencies must provide facts. The society can see all these crimes,
and knows the criminals in face. If the crime is not proved legally,
it does not mean that there is no crime. It may only mean that the
criminal is at large for the time being.

WAGING A CULTURAL REVOLUTIONARY WAR
By Irfan Yusuf
On Line opinion, Australia
Sept 11 2006
September 11, 2001 is seen as the beginning of a new (and very heated)
Cold War. Writing in The Australian on August 11, Dr Tanveer Ahmed
described politicised Islamic extremism as the new Marxism, an
apparently monolithic force at war with an allegedly monolithic West.
Ahmed’s description of politicised Islamic extremism has been broadened
by more jaundiced commentators. Addressing a dinner hosted by Quadrant
magazine, former “Joh-for-PM” campaigner John Stone referred to
“Australia’s Muslim problem” and “the Islamic cancer in our body
politic”.
Perhaps more subtly, Canadian theatre critic Mark Steyn warned
Sydney-siders in August of the dangers of “resurgent Islam”. He
even suggested that the best antidote to conversion was convincing
potential converts that it’s better to be Australian or American or
British “or even French” than to be Muslim. As if being Western and
Muslim were mutually exclusive categories.
More than September 11, it was last years July 7 London bombings that
brought home the real possibility of terrorist threats from home-grown
sources. Sadly, such security threats are still used as an excuse
to wage a cultural revolutionary war which seeks to replace decades
of liberal democratic multi-cultural consensus with an illiberal,
almost Soviet-style government-enforced mono-cultural experiment.
All this raises a number of questions. Does the existence of multiple
cultures affect national security? If so, to what extent? If
integration is an ideal, how should it be implemented? Should
governments implement culture? Will the complete integration of all
minority groups ensure security risks are minimised?
For the likes of Steyn and Stone, any multiculturalism involving
nominally Muslim migrants necessarily represents a security risk.
Their generally crude analysis seeks to identify common features
allegedly forming an essential part of a monolithic Muslim culture.
Such simplistic formulations are not supported by even anecdotal
evidence. In January I witnessed Indonesian Muslim artists perform
the Ramayana ballet to a largely Muslim audience in an ancient
Hindu temple complex located in the city of Yogyakarta, the cultural
heartland of Javanese Islam. Such a performance by Muslims would be
deemed sacrilegious in the Indian sub-Continent.
To speak of a single monolithic Muslim culture, whether in Australia
or elsewhere, is as absurd as to speak of a single Christian culture.
Brazilian Catholics have more in common with Brazilian Muslims than
with Lithuanian Catholics. Lebanese Muslims have more in common with
Lebanese Maronites than with South African Muslims.
If culture and terror were related, security officials should keep
close watch on a range of communities. Writing in the Canberra Times
on September 9, ANU Researcher Clive Williams provides a litany of
terrorist incidents going back to 1868 when a Victorian Irishman
belonging to a predecessor organisation to the IRA shot the visiting
Duke of Edinburgh.
Recent incidents include the 1980 assassination of the Turkish
Consul-General and his bodyguard by Armenian extremists believed to
be protected by local Armenians. The same group struck again about
six years later in Melbourne.
Other groups believed to be responsible for terrorist attacks include
the Ananda Marga sect and the Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood.
Muslim involvement in terrorist incidents includes deportation of
Mohammad Hassanein in 1996 for attempting to attack local Jewish
community targets.
Terrorism is hardly a mono-cultural affair, either in Australia or
elsewhere. Hence, simplistic remarks by the Prime Minister about
some Muslims refusing to integrate display a profound ignorance of
the history, politics and motivations of terrorist groups.
Howard has rarely shown much sophistication in his understanding
of Australia’s non-Western cultures. One of his former staffers,
conservative columnist Gerard Henderson, commented on this in
the Melbourne Age on May 25, 2004. Henderson wrote of “the one
significant blot on [Howard’s] record in public life … a certain
lack of empathy in dealing with individuals with whom he does not
identify at a personal level: for example, Asian Australians in the
late 1980s and asylum seekers in the early 21st century”.
Howard has repeatedly claimed Muslim migrants to be a new wave of
migration, separate from Asian and European migration waves of the mid
to late 20th centuries. This is historical revisionism at its worst,
and most unbecoming of a leader so intent on our school children
being taught “accurate” history.
One needn’t be a professor of history or demography to know that
Muslims have been represented in all major waves of migration during
the 20th century. For instance, post-war European migration included
significant numbers of Yugoslav, Albanian, Turkish, Cypriot and Middle
Eastern Muslim migrants.
The first book on Islamic theology published in Australia was authored
by Imam Imamovic, a Brisbane-based writer from the former Yugoslavia
who wrote his book in the early part of the 20th century.
The first mosque built in Sydney, known as the Sydney Mosque, was
established by Turks in the Inner-Western suburb of Erskenville during
the 1950’s.
On ABC TV’s Four-Corners aired to coincide with the September 11
attacks, Howard repeats his claim that a small section of Muslim
communities refuses to integrate. He goes further, saying: “And I
would like the rest of the Islamic community to join the rest of the
Australian community in making sure that the views and attitudes of
that small minority do not have adverse consequences.”
Howard’s ambiguous reference to “adverse consequences” is most
unhelpful. His inability to identify precisely what these consequences
are means he cannot identify exactly how “the rest of the Australian
community” have been working.
Presuming adverse consequences means security threats, Howard’s
comments reflect a profound and fundamental ignorance of efforts
made by Muslim communities to combat extremism, including individual
Muslims reporting suspicious behaviour to authorities. Howard’s views
contrast with those expressed by law enforcement officials (including
Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty) that Muslim efforts have
been crucial in catching suspects and averting terrorist attacks.
Perhaps the real problem is that Howard insists putting ordinary
Muslims in a lose-lose situation. He has hand-picked a small number
of Muslims to advise him as part of a “Muslim Community Reference
Group”. His choice of Muslims is dominated by men of his own generation
who are generally as out-of-touch with mainstream Muslims as he is.
Howard’s choice of Muslim advisers is reflective of his choice of
Muslim “leaders” joining him for a summit in August 2005. Howard’s
leaders were dominated by first generation migrant males of Howard’s
age group, men who routinely exclude and alienate women and youth
from community management roles.
It seems Howard wants to have the right to select which Muslims he
talks to, and then reserves the right to criticise all Muslims should
his chosen Muslims say the wrong things. If Howard were genuine
about involving Muslim communities in decision-making on combating
extremism, he might appoint mainstream Muslims who have made their
mark on mainstream Australia, even if it means appointing people who
will effectively challenge his views on culture and security.
If Howard were serious about national security, he might also consider
following the lead of his Deputy. Peter Costello has shown a far more
sophisticated understanding of the relationship between culture and
national security. Costello understands it isn’t the wrong culture
that presents a security threat. Rather, it is the absence of genuinely
Islamic culture which is the problem.
In his February address to the Sydney Institute, Costello spoke of
young Muslims in “a twilight zone where the values of their parents’
old country have been lost but the values of the new country not
fully embraced”.
Further Costello has emphasised on the need for Muslim religious
leaders to provide a greater degree of pastoral care to converts,
saying leaders should “make it clear to would-be converts that when
you join this religion you do not join a radical political ideology”.
Costello’s remarks, though crude and inaccurate in some senses,
display a more sophisticated understanding of how the relative
ignorance and zeal of young people and converts can be trapped by
fringe extremists. Costello doesn’t see Islam itself as a problem,
nor does he make any claims about Muslim cultures. He is more concerned
with ensuring ordinary sincere Australian Muslims are not manipulated
by foreign extremists.
Of course, it is easy for Muslim leaders to blame politicians for
their woes. I believe Muslim leaders should be selective in how they
respond, particularly to Howard’s ill-considered remarks. Muslim
leaders should display more political sophistication, and appreciate
that Howard’s rhetoric is probably more determined by interest rates
and the unpopularity of his industrial relations laws than by any
concern for the nation’s cultural health or security.
Muslim leaders should seize upon Howard’s admission that at least 99
per cent of Muslim Australians are fully integrated. It is difficult
to fund similar endorsement of any other ethnic or faith community
in Australia. It certainly flies in the face of infantile commentary
often found in metropolitan tabloids.
Muslim leaders of Mr Howard’s generation should heed the lesson that
Mr Howard refuses to heed. They should step down when alternative
and effective leadership is available. Muslim organisations are in
desperate need of generational change. Younger Muslims, including
and especially women, must form part of this change.
Articulate Muslim women are far more capable of effecting positive
change for Muslim women than neurotic feminists and cultural
chauvinists that congregate on the op-ed pages of allegedly Australian
newspapers. Muslim women need to come forward and take their rightful
place as leaders of Muslim Australia. Their voices need to be heard,
and they need to take control of decision making on issues affecting
them and all women.
Further, Muslims need to ensure that a diversity of Muslim voices
are heard from across the cultural, sectarian, gender and political
divide. There is no reason why debates within the Muslim community
cannot be discussed in the public arena where followers of other
traditions can share their experiences.
In this respect, Muslim leaders must continue to strengthen their ties
with their Jewish brethren. Australian Jews share profound cultural
and religious similarities with Australian Muslims, who can learn
much from Jewish experience in terms of community structure and
infrastructure development.
Finally, Muslims need to invest a good amount of time and money
in decent PR. They need to ensure that Australians are made aware
of Muslim values to the extent that irrelevant middle-aged male
politicians are no longer able to claim that Muslims should ensure
their women are treated with as much disdain as Mr Howard’s faction
of the NSW Liberal Party treats female preselection candidates.
Ordinary Australians do have legitimate fears about security. They have
even greater fears about rising home loan interest rates, conservative
opposition to life-saving scientific research and workplace relations
policies that remove job security. One way we can address these real
issues is if Muslims allay Australian fears about Islam. In doing
so, we can ensure governments cannot shirk their responsibilities by
hiding behind the sound of dog whistles.

EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS SET OFF IN ARMENIA
Yerevan, September 9. ArmInfo. One can deeply feel the heart of
Armenia and Europe only through familiarizing oneself with cultural
heritage. That’s why it is very much important to preserve own culture
and history for the generations to come, Special Representative of
CE Secretary General Bojana Urumova said, while opening the European
Heritage Day in the territory of Zvartnots Cathedral museum-reserve
(VII).
Urumova pointed out that such inter-state cooperation plays a big role
not only for preserving cultural-historical monuments but also for
involving youths from around the world in this work. Last year alone
over 20 mln people from 49 European states took part in this action
symbolizing the unity and deversity of common cultural heritage,
Urumova said.
During the days, on Sept 9-10 people will enjoy free access to all
Armenian museums. Besides, the Armenian Culture and Youth Ministry
will organize tours all over Armenia.

NKR GOVERNMENT TO REIMBURSE THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY NATURAL DISASTERS
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 14:03
NKR Government has taken the decision to provide assistance to
those who suffered in the result of natural disasters, particularly
fires, ArmInfo reports. This year the heavy spring rains in Karabakh
were followed by summer drought and fires. According NKR Minister
of Agriculture Vahram Baghdasaryan, the amount o the damage was
concerning, and after detailed investigation the Government decided to
provide necessary assistance to farmers. In his words, it is envisaged
to provide 29 711 500 drams from the reserve fund of the Government.

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO: UKRAINE STANDS FOR NAGORNO KARABAKH AUTONOMY WITHIN AZERBAIJAN
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 14:19
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko declared at the Slavonic
University of Baku that official Kiev considers that the Karabakh
conflict should be resolved with “the indisputable maintenance of
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”
Yushchnko noted that the conflict could be settled only based on
the withdra wal of Armenian troops from the “occupied territories,
return of refugees and provision of autonomy to Nagorno Karabakh
derived from the results of the referendum.” The President noted that
“the main principle to be taken into consideration is the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan.”

DERBYSHIRE TOWN NAMED ‘MOST ENGLISH’ PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
Brussels Journal, Belgium
Sept 10 2006
Grey Wolves in Politics: The Immigrant Far-Right Joins the European Left
>From the desk of Paul Belien on Sun, 2006-09-10 21:21
The immigrant vote is becoming ever more important in Europe. In
many countries foreigners are allowed to vote in local elections
(in addition to thousands of immigrants who have been granted
citizenship). In last spring’s municipal elections in the Netherlands
the immigrant vote tipped the balance clearly in favour of the Left.
Indeed, immigrants in Western Europe, who often migrated in order to
enjoy generous welfare benefits, are rentseekers who vote in favour
of maintaining the welfare systems of the states that invited them in.
Pim Fortuyn tilted Dutch politics to the Right, but I think this was
only a temporary phenomenon, and would have been temporary even if
Fortuyn had not been assassinated. Pieter Dorsman pointed out that,
contrary to what the mainstream media write, Dutch politics has not
turned Right, but I doubt whether the main causes are the divisions
among the Right following Fortuyn’s assassination and the disastrous
handling of the Hirsi Ali case. I suspect that European politics will
swing dramatically to the Left in the coming decades, owing to the
growing influence of an immigrant vote eager to retain and expand
the welfare benefits.
Of course, the immigrants will not be able to remedy the economic
flaws of the welfare state. Hence, there is no doubt that the welfare
systems will collapse. Moreover, the immigrant electorate will thwart
any attempts to gradually remedy Europe’s economic catastrophe through
abandoning the self-defeating welfare politics. This makes it even
more likely that the system will collapse in chaos, possibly even
(as Fjordman fears) in violence when the rentseekers will use force
instead of the vote to grab what they feel they are entitled to. Many
indigenous Europeans are considering emigration. Partly because they
no longer feel secure and at home in their own country, and partly
because the welfare state claims most of their income, while they
have little hope that this will change in the future.
In last Spring’s municipal elections in the Netherlands, 92% of the
non-indigenous electorate voted for parties of the Left. Moreover,
they voted almost exclusively for candidates of their own ethnic
groups on the parties’ electoral lists, driving out indigenous
candidates. Instead of starting their own parties immigrants have
begun to take over existing ones.
Belgium is holding municipal elections on October 8th. It is striking
that in immigrant neighbourhoods, such as the Turkish Antwerp district
of Old Berchem, one only sees posters of candidates from the ethnic
background specific to the neighbourhood. As the immigrants voters
constitute a growing segment of the population, especially in large
and middle-sized cities, all parties, except the “islamophobe”
Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest), have begun to put forward
foreign candidates. Filip Dewinter, the VB leader in Antwerp, told
the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws this weekend that his party (which
is currently the largest in town with 33% of the vote) might win
the elections again this year, but cannot continue to do so. “I am
a realist. The number of potential voters for our party is declining
year by year. Currently a quarter of the population are immigrants.
These people do not vote for us. Every year 4,000 indigenous
Antwerpians move out and 5,000 immigrants move in,” he said.
“In ten years’ time the number of new [naturalized] Belgians in
Antwerp has doubled to 55,000 [Antwerp has 460,000 inhabitants] –
half of whom are Moroccans. […] If the number of foreigners in
Antwerp continues to grow by 1.5% a year, as it currently does, then
in twenty years from now there will be more people of foreign than
of indigenous extraction in this city. […] Our party has foreign
members, but I do not want to be a hypocrite. At present we do no
put forward ‘alibi Ali’ candidates. But I know that it is bound to
happen some day. We extend our hands to welcome every foreign-born
person who wants to become a Fleming among the Flemings.”
It is doubtful, however, that many rentseeking immigrants, even those
who are situated ideologically on the far-right, would want to join
a party that is generally perceived as being opposed to the European
welfare system. Belgian parties had to submit their electoral lists
this week. Ironically, Belgian establishment parties such as the
Socialist Party and the Christian-Democrat Party, who both claim to
abhor the far-right, have put forward Turkish candidates who belong
to far-right, islamist and anti-Socialist groups.
This is ironic in two respects. Firstly because these same parties
solemnly announced that, even if the VB wins on 8 October, they will
refuse to form local coalitions with the VB because they consider the
VB to be… far-right. And secondly, because far-right immigrants,
who belong to groups that hate Socialists and Christians at home, are
joining Socialist and Christian parties in their European host country.
Mehmet Ozcelik, a member of the Socialist Party caucus in Berchem,
is close to the Grey Wolves, an extremist group which denies the
1915 Turkish genocide of 1.5 million Armenians and which is accused
of assassinating political adversaries. The Grey Wolves are also said
to have organised the anti-Kurdish riots and raids on Kurdish shops in
Brussels in 1994 and 1998. Last April 8th, Mr Ozcelik was present at a
Brussels meeting of the Turkish far-right Nationalist Movement Party
(Milliyetci Hareket Partisi, MHP) in honour of the late Alparslan
Turkes, a Turkish Fascist and racist who founded the MHP.
Mesut Yucel is another Antwerp Socialist candidate for the October
elections. Mr Yucel is a party hopper, who entered politics six years
ago on the list of the far-left Green Party. Like Mr Ozcelik, he is a
member of the Belcika Turk Federasyonu (BTF, Association of Turkish
Organisations in Belgium), a group which links various Grey Wolves’
cells in Belgium.
In Ghent, another city with a large concentration of Turks, one of
the Christian-Democrat candidates is Fuat Korkmazer. Mr. Korkmazer
was the chairman of Turk Ocagi (TO), a cultural organisation of the
Grey Wolves. He only resigned from his function as TO chairman last
Friday, after having been exposed in the Flemish press. According
to the papers he had been appointed TO chairman at a BTF meeting
attended by Devlet Bahceli, the current party president of the
far-right MHP. On April 8th. Mr Korkmazer, too, attended the BTF
meeting in Brussels in honour of the late Alparslan Turkes.
Pierre-Yves Lambert, a Brussels police officer, told the Belgian
newspaper De Morgen last week that political parties must be careful
whom they recruit. “The Parti Socialiste in [the Brussels borough
of] Schaarbeek also has a Grey Wolf within its ranks,” he said,
“while the second candidate of the MR [Francophone Liberal Party] in
[the Brussels borough of] Sint-Joost-ten-Node withdrew his candidature
after it was revealed that he had told a Turkish paper that he would
make his party revise its position on the [Armenian] genocide.”
The leading Turkish politician in Brussels is Emir Kir, a Socialist
member of the Brussels regional government. Mr Kir is the Brussels
secretary for public monuments and is campaigning for the demolition of
the Brussels monument commemorating the 1915 genocide of the Armenians.
20
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HEADS OF NKR PERMANENT REPRESENTATIONS HELD CONSULTATIONS IN THE MFA
ArmRadio.am
09.09.2006 15:08
One of these days consultations of Heads of NKR Permanent
Representations were held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Nagorno Karabakh.
NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs told “Armenpress” that the
problems Karabakh diplomacy faces were clarified during the
consultations. Participants of the meeting discussed current issues,
which, particularly, refer to the cooperation of the MFA Central
Apparatus and NKR Permanent Representations, dissemination of precise
information on Nagorno Karabakh in the world and prospects of further
development of collaboration between Permanent Representations of
the Republic.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES WORKS CARRIED OUT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Sep 06
A council on the fight against corruption led by Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan has discussed a process of strategic
measures to combat corruption. Reform programmes have already been
carried out in the main. The prime minister instructed the council
to issue a full report on the work carried out so that the public
will be able to familiarize itself with these measures.
The reforms were mainly carried out in three areas – the state
administration, the civil service and financial management. The prime
minister instructed the monitoring commission on fighting corruption
to discuss problems relating to civic societies with representatives
of public organizations with aim of involving them in the programme
as well.
The Armenian president’s aide, Gevork Mgeryan, was elected chairman
of the monitoring commission to combat corruption.

RIGHTS & CONCERNS OF THE LEBANESE-ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Elias Bejjani
Global Politician, NY
Sept 10 2006
The LCCC (Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council) strongly denounces
the Lebanese Government’s unjust refusal to call off the Turkish Army’s
participation in the UN Peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) mandated by
the UN Security Council to deploy in South Lebanon in the aftermath
of the devastating 34-day long Israeli-Hezbollah war. The denied
request was made officially by Lebanon’s Armenian community in all its
denominational, political and social sectors and representatives. The
same appeal was made to the UN General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Annan.
The government’s refusal of the request is not merely a harsh
response of indifference and an act of condescendence in dealing
with one of Lebanon’s basic eighteen communities that make up the
multicultural and multiethnic Lebanese society, but it is in fact a
blatant infringement on a central article of the Lebanese constitution
that states: “No authority violating the common co-existence character
shall be legitimate”.
Alienating the Armenian community, ignoring its genuine concerns and
keeping a blind eye on its painful history hinders Lebanon’s national
unity, indicates plainly and sadly that the Saniora government is
ruling with the same oppressive strategies of marginalization and
discrimination inflicted by the Baathist Syrian regime on numerous
Lebanese communities during Syria’s 29-year long horrible occupation
that came to an end 16 months ago.
The Lebanese Armenian’s community cry for justice is well understood
and well supported by the majority of the Lebanese people. This
well-respected community does not believe that the Turks should be
allowed under any given circumstances to be a part in any peacekeeping
mission before their state admits publicly the genocidal massacres
the Turkish Ottoman rulers committed in 1915 against the Armenian
people. 1.5 million Armenians were brutally murdered in cold blood
by the Ottoman Turkish Army in 1915 and many territories of their
country were confiscated and still are.
This is besides the fact that the Turkish Army is not qualified to play
a neutral role between the parties involved in the current conflict
unfolding on the Lebanese soil. The Turkish Parliament has made the
participation of its troops in UNFIL conditional on not taking part
in any assignment aiming to disarm Hezbollah.
Meanwhile the Lebanese people did not yet forget the hardships,
oppression, starvation, displacement, torture and humiliation
committed by the Ottomans during their 400 years of bloody and criminal
occupation of Lebanon and neighboring countries that ended with World
War I.
The LCCC appeals to both the Lebanese Government and the United Nations
to call off immediately the participation of the Turkish Army in the
peacekeeping mission of UNIFIL in Lebanon, and to block any other
UN similar task involving the Turks before the Turkish Government
publicly and officially admits the Genocide Massacres the Ottomans
committed in 1915 against the Armenian people and accepts all ethical,
moral and legal responsibilities.
The LCCC affirms the fact that any marginalization of any of Lebanon’s
eighteen distinct cultural, ethnic and religious communities is in
effect a flagrant infringement on the Lebanese constitution, the
principle of shared living, consensual democracy, national unity and
the UN Human Rights Charter.
We salute the Lebanese Armenian community in its longing for justice
and fully support its legitimate request submitted for both the
Lebanese government and the UN.
Elias Bejjani is a human rights activist, journalist & political
commentator. He is the Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human
Rights Federation (CLHRF) and the Media Chairman for the Canadian
Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC) E-Mail: [email protected]
LCCC Web Site: com/articledes.asp?ID=2129&cid=2&sid=5
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress