President chides grave desecration claims
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has called Armenia’s claims
concerning the alleged desecration of ancient graves in the Azeri
exclave of Nakhchivan as completely false.
“All cultural and historical monuments in Azerbaijan are under
state protection,” Aliyev said during his visit to the country’s
western regions last week. “As you know, some Armenian circles and
hypocritical politicians under the Armenian lobby’s influence have
claimed that Armenian tombstone crosses are allegedly being destroyed
in Nakhchivan. This information is an absolute lie and slander.”
The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the alleged
desecration of the ancient gravestones in February, sparking public
outrage in the country. Aliyev said that all mosques, cemeteries
and monuments have been destroyed in the occupied Azeri land, which
was confirmed by a relevant fact-finding OSCE mission. The president
said there is religious tolerance and representatives of different
ethnicities peacefully co-exist in Azerbaijan. There is an Orthodox
church and a Jewish Synagogue in the country, while a Catholic church
is expected to be set up soon.

Montebello remembers Armenian genocide
By Pam Wight Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News, CA
Whittier Daily News, CA
April 20 2006
MONTEBELLO – Talking about the 1915 Armenian genocide is not just an
abstract history lesson for Montebello resident Jack Hadjinian.
Thirty members of his family were murdered under the rule of the Young
Turks between the years of 1915 and 1917, when the Turkish government
killed 1.5 million Armenians. The Young Turks government was part of
Turkey’s multi-century Ottoman Empire, which fell in 1922.
Hadjinian’s grandfather – who was 13 at the time – escaped after
watching Turkish soldiers murder his father and uncle. His family
later made their way to Detroit and eventually to Montebello, home
to one of the largest populations of Armenians outside of Armenia.
This weekend, Hadjinian will join hundreds of other members of
Montebello’s Armenian diaspora to commemorate the 91st anniversary
of the genocide. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to appear at
Sunday’s event, although his office had not confirmed the appearance
as of Wednesday, event organizers said.
State Sen. Chuck Poochigian will be the keynote speaker, and Sen.
Jackie Speier will act as master of ceremonies.
” means so much to me,” Hadjinian said. “My grandfather cried every
year at it. He witnessed the murder of his father and uncle.
“The Turkish soldiers pulled him out of his house, had him stand on
his knees and then made him look the other way while they shot his
father and uncle. My grandfather was 13.”

Turks & Azerbaijanis to protest Armenian demonstration in USA
Hurriyet, Turkey
April 20 2006
Turks and Azerbaijanis living in the USA will protest the
demonstration the Armenians are planning to stage in Washington D.C.
on April 24th, the anniversary of the so-called genocide. Around 600
Armenians, who will gather in front of Turkish Embassy in Washington
D.C. between April 21st and 25th, will carry banners and stage
demonstrations protesting the so-called genocide.
On the other hand, Turkish and Azerbaijani communities in the USA
will stage a counter demonstration to support Turkey’s theses.
Turkish diplomats have warned the two communities to stay calm and
~Snot to be provoked.~T
Security measures will be tightened in front of the embassy building
during the demonstrations. The secret service and Washington police
will be responsible for ensuring the security.
USA’S STANCE
On the other hand U.S. President George Bush is not expected to use
the term ~Sgenocide~T in the speech he will make on April 24th.
There are actually three drafts, acknowledging the so-called genocide
allegations, at the Senate and House of Representatives. Two of them
were passed by the congressional committees. According to diplomatic
sources, the drafts may be adopted in case they are broughtto the
full House of Representatives and Senate.
White House and State Department executives have assured Turkey that
the drafts will not be taken up. However, one of them may be annexed
to any regulation debated at the Senate, and be passed by a ‘fait
accompli’. Therefore, Turkish diplomats are closely monitoring the
developments at the U.S. Senate.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Always remember
By Joe Piasecki
Pasadena Weekly, CA
April 20 2006
On Monday, Armenian Americans throughout the Southland and around the
world will commemorate the genocide committed against their people
91 years ago in the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman government began the systematic arrest,
deportation and wholesale slaughter of Armenian men, women and children
by seizing hundreds of community leaders under cover of a news blackout
imposed during World War I.
Scholars believe that as many as 1.5 million Armenians perished during
the genocide, which one American ambassador there at the time described
as ~Sa campaign of race extermination.~T
Despite these and other messages to the American government, federal
lawmakers have yet to officially recognize the genocide. For a number
of years, some in Congress ~W including Pasadena Democrat Adam Schiff
~W have pushed for genocide recognition, but such bills have failed
to gain majority support.
Throughout the week, a number of local events will commemorate the
genocide.
On Friday evening, speakers and artists will perform at Glendale
High School. Mass gatherings will take place in LA~Rs Little Armenia
throughout the weekend, and protesters are expected to gather at the
Turkish Consulate in Westwood on Monday.

Today, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Adil Ismayilov dissatisfied with Hungarian lawyer for Ramil Safarov
20 April 2006 [10:35] – Today.Az
“I do not want to leave for Hungary with my current responsibilities
next time. They demand much from me but I do not have a right as a
lawyer. I only represent Ramil Safarov’s family in Hungary,” legal
representative of Azerbaijani army officer Ramil Safarov’s family,
lawyer Adil Ismayilov said.
The lawyer told APA that one person should be charged with the case
on Safarov, and that person should have wide responsibilities.
Ismayilov also said that it is not enough attending only trials in
Hungary. Some issues are needed to be done before the trial. And all
these can be done by a responsible person.
Adil Ismayilov expressed his dissatisfaction with the speech
delivered by the Hungarian lawyer for Ramil Safarov in the trial. He
said there are enough professional lawyers in Azerbaijan who can
defend Ramil’s rights.
Spokesman of Azerbaijani Defense Ministry Ilgar Verdiyev told APA
that Hungarian laws do not let an Azerbaijani lawyer defend Safarov’s
rights. Safarov’s father Sahib Safarov told APA that it is early to
say whether Adil Ismayilov will be charged with additional
responsibilities. He said the issue will be cleared after meeting and
discussing it with Ismayilov.
The Budapest court has recently jailed Azerbaijani army officer Ramil
Safarov to life in prison for murdering Armenian army officer Gurgen
Markarian in Hungary.
URL:

Commentary: Remember the Armenian Genocide
By Carolann S. Najarian/ Guest commentary
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Lincoln Journal, MA
April 20 2006
April 24, 1915 is the day the leaders of the Ottoman Turkish Empire
began what they hoped would be the complete eradication of their
largest minority, the Armenians. In Istanbul, on that day, they began
the round up of Armenians, starting with intellectuals, writers, poets,
musicians, professors, teachers – many of whom were never again heard
from. Before it was over, the entire Armenian population of Ottoman
Turkey, was uprooted from their historic lands. Those who were not
murdered in their homes were forcibly deported, village by village,
on foot or transported by railroad, to the deserts of Syria.
They suffered death by starvation or beastly slaying by those herding
them onward. More than 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in what
was the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey to this day continues to deny and works very hard to prevent
the facts of the Armenian Genocide from being known.
According to their version, Armenians and Turks died in equal numbers
in a civil war. Supported by the Association of Turkish-American
Assemblies, a teacher and student at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional
High School have brought a lawsuit in the First District Court of
Massachusetts against the state Board of Education claiming First
Amendment rights under our Constitution for the Turkish version of
what happened to the Armenians to also be taught in Massachusetts
schools. For those of us living in Massachusetts who are the children
of genocide survivors, the long arm of Turkish denial has indeed
reached very close to home.
Scholars have carefully documented the details of what happened to
the Armenians using eye-witness accounts of foreign diplomats and
missionaries and of survivors, and most importantly, by systematic
research into the archives of the governments of Germany, the United
States, France, Armenia, and of Turkey. Based on the accumulated
evidence presented in countless books, journals, and at genocide
conferences, the Armenian Genocide is accepted as historical fact
by the following organizations: the International Association of
Genocide Scholars (the definitive group of scholars on the subject);
the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem; and the
Institute for the Study of Genocide.
Despite Armenians having lived in Eastern Turkey for more than 3,000
years, on land considered Historic Armenia, before the Ottomans
conquered them, traces of their having lived there are all but wiped
out – another indication of Genocide. Even at the approach to the
ruins of Armenia¡¯s ancient capital, Ani – the city of 1001 churches,
there is no mention that this was an Armenian city.
One has to ask, what happened to the Armenians who lived here for so
many centuries? How could they have disappeared in so short a period
of time leaving no trace of their existence? This is what genocide
does – it is the very aim of genocide.
Unable to answer these questions, the Turkish government prevents
the flow of information to its own citizens. Speaking of the Armenian
events as genocide is a crime in Turkey punishable by up to three years
in prison. Turkey also threatens other governments for recognition of
the Armenian Genocide – France with boycott of goods, and the United
States with expulsion of its airbases.
The judgment in this case, if for the plaintiffs, we embolden Turkish
efforts to rewrite history. In addition, questions about First
Amendment rights could be raised by deniers of the Jewish Holocaust,
or the creationists, or even to those who deny “global warming.” It
sounds absurd, but these days we have come to learn that the absurd
can easily become a new reality.
The Armenian Genocide went unnoticed by the world community.
Thus, in 1939, a confident Hitler had nothing to fear when planning
the Jewish Holocaust. He asked “Who, after all, speaks today of the
annihilation of the Armenians?”
If we allow genocide, past or present, to be forgotten or called
something else or to be debated long after the facts have been
established we will have little hope of eradicating the threat of
genocide against vulnerable peoples. University of Michigan Assistant
Professor of Sociology Fatma M?µ~D, a Turkish citizen and genocide
scholar, has filed a declaration signed by more than 50 genocide
scholars.
The genocide scholars write, “We think that the Armenian case, as well
as similar cases that precede and succeed it prove the destructive
force of prejudice and intolerance which should be taught as such
and not minimized or distorted by denials so that they do not keep
repeating themselves in history and are replaced instead by human
tolerance and understanding.” On April 24 we will again remember the
Armenian Genocide of 1915 with the hope that some day our vigilance
against denial will no longer be needed.
–Boundary_(ID_iRoHwdXGgutM//GJ1APtZg)–

Turkey- Friend or Foe?
By Gene Rossides
Hellenic News of America
April 20 2006
The surfacing last year in Turkey of virulent anti-Americanism and
anti-Semitism raises the question of what should U.S. relations with
Turkey be in the interests of the U.S.?
To answer this question we need to answer the following first
Is Turkey a reliable ally?
What is Turkey’s strategic, political and economic value to the U.S.?
Is Turkey a friend or a foe of the U.S. (or somewhere in-between)?
I submit that Turkey is not a friend of the U.S.; that Turkey’s
interests basically are not compatible with U.S. interests; that
Turkey is of minimal strategic value to the U.S. and that Turkey is
clearly and fundamentally an unreliable ally.
Let’s look at the record.
Is Turkey a reliable ally?
The evidence is overwhelming that Turkey is an unreliable ally whose
actions damaged the U.S. during the Cold War decades and more
recently in the 21st century.
I have written previously regarding Turkey’s traitorous conduct
during the Cold War when Turkey actively aided the Soviet military to
the serious detriment of the U.S. Let me repeat three examples.
1. During the 1973 Mid-East War, Turkey refused the U.S. military
overflight rights to resupply Israel and granted the U.S.S.R.
overland military convoy rights to resupply Syria and Iraq, and
military overflight permission to resupply Egypt. A member of the
Turkish Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara wrote:
During the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, Moscow’s overflights of Turkish
airspace were tolerated. On the other hand, during the same Middle
East conflict, Turkey refused to allow the United States refueling
and reconnaissance facilities during the American airlift to Israel.
(Karaosmanoglu, “Turkey’s Security and the Middle East,” 52 Foreign
Affairs 157, 163, Fall 1983.)
2. In the 1977-78 conflict in Ethiopia, Turkey granted the Soviets
military overflight rights to support the pro-Soviet minority of
Ethiopian communist insurgents, led by Colonel Mengistu, who
eventually prevailed and established a Marxist dictatorship directly
dependent upon the Soviet Union. Giant Soviet Antonov-22 transport
aircraft ferried Cuban troops, Soviet weapons and other assorted
needs to Ethiopia through Turkish airspace. By late December 1977,
17,000 Cuban troops were in Ethiopia. The Cuban troops were
immediately moved to the fighting front against Somali and
anti-communist Ethiopian forces. They effectively turned the tide in
favor of the communists. (C. Meyer, Facing Reality- From World
Federalism to the CIA 276-80, 1980.)
3. Over NATO objections, Turkey allowed three Soviet aircraft
carriers, the Kiev on July 18, 1976, the Minsk on February 25, 1979
and the Novorosiisk on May 16, 1983, passage rights through the
Bosphorous and Dardanelles Straits into the Mediterranean in
violation of the Montreux Convention of 1936. The Soviet ships posed
a formidable threat to the U.S. Sixth Fleet.
Most readers I assume are aware of Turkey’s unreliability as an ally
on March 1, 2003, when the Turkish Parliament voted not to allow U.S.
troops to use bases in Turkey to open a northern front against Saddam
Hussein’s dictatorship.
That negative vote was maneuvered by the Erdogan government and the
Turkish military and was aimed at extracting another $6 billion over
the $26 billion irresponsibly offered to Turkey by then Deputy
Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz for use of bases in Turkey.
A U.S. administration official involved in the negotiations called
Turkey’s negotiating tactics “extortion in the name of alliance.”
What is Turkey’s strategic, political and economic value to the U.S.?
The U.S. defeat of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in 2003 without
Turkey’s help demonstrated conclusively that Turkey is of minimal
strategic value to the U.S. in the region.
The Turks did not allow the U.S. to use Incirlik airforce base in
southeastern Turkey in the Iraq war. It is not needed by the U.S.
today and should be shut down and U.S. taxpayer money saved. Its
primary use was to patrol the Iraqi Kurd no-fly zone against Saddam
Hussein’s government.
In the early years of the Cold War, the U.S. placed nuclear warheads
on Turkish soil. In 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis with the
Soviet Union, President John F. Kennedy secretly removed the U.S.
nuclear missiles from Turkey as part of the deal in which the Soviet
Union removed its nuclear missiles from Cuba.
>>From the time of the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey in 1962 to
the end of the Cold War in 1990, Turkey was of minimal strategic
value to the U.S. And as stated above, Turkey actually aided the
Soviet military to the detriment of U.S. interests.
After the end of the Cold War, Turkey’s proponents in the State and
Defense Departments and its paid U.S. foreign agents, came up with
the argument that Turkey, a 99.9% Muslim country, is a democracy and
can be a model for other Muslim nations in the Middle East and a
bridge between the East and West, particularly in Central Asia. That
allegation was false then and is false today. And Turkey’s alleged
value to the U.S. in Central Asia was a complete failure. That
argument did prolong military and economic aid to Turkey for several
years at U.S. taxpayer expense.
The U.S. has minor trade and commercial relations with Turkey.
Whatever they are now or in the future they should not interfere with
U.S. support of the rule of law and democratic values in our
relations with Turkey.
Freedom House in its annual report does not list Turkey as a
democracy! It is listed as a partial democracy. It lacks freedom of
speech; it lacks religious freedom and is openly against Eastern
Orthodox Christians and Jews; it regularly conducts ethnic cleansing,
crimes against humanity and genocide against its 20% Kurdish
minority; and its human rights violations against its citizens in
general is extensive.
Turkey’s military is not under civilian rule and Turkey is an
aggressor in Cyprus and continues to illegally occupy 37.7 of Cyprus,
now in its 32nd year.
Turkey continues to blockade Armenia over U.S. objections. And Turkey
refuses to acknowledge its genocide against the Armenians in
1915-1916 and the massacres against the Armenians in 1894-1896.
Turkey is hardly a model for Muslim nations or anyone.
Is Turkey a friend or a foe of the U.S. (or somewhere in-between)?
Based on the record of the past several decades, there is no
substantial evidence to
justify calling Turkey a friend of the U.S. Turkey’s interests and
aims are in most cases not in accord with or compatible with those of
the U.S.
While I believe the evidence makes it clear that Turkey is not a
friend of the U.S., I do not believe the evidence is adequate to call
Turkey an outright foe of the U.S. Turkey’s actions have done
substantial damage to the U.S. over the past 50 years from its
support of the Soviet military; its invasion of Cyprus and continuing
occupation of 37.3 % of Cyprus; its blockade of Armenia; its crimes
against its 20% Kurdish minority; its actions against the Iraqi
Kurds; its substantial drug trafficking and its “No” vote of March 1,
2003.
These actions and others by Turkey bring Turkey close to the line of
being a foe but not over that line yet.
However, Turkey’s conduct and history are such that the U.S. in its
relations with Turkey should treat Turkey at arms length and should
apply forceful pressure to achieve U.S. aims.
Words are definitely not enough in dealing with Turkey to achieve
U.S. goals. For example, the U.S. seeks a Cyprus settlement based on
a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in a state with a single
sovereignty and international personality, incorporating norms of a
constitutional democracy embracing key American principles, the EU
acquis communautaire, UN resolutions on Cyprus and the pertinent
decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the other
European Courts.
If the U.S. acted forcefully with Turkey using the full range of
diplomatic weapons, including economic sanctions, the withdrawal of
trade benefits, and pressure from international financial
institutions, the Cyprus problem could be solved in short order.
I reject the British argument that the Cyprus question is a difficult
problem to solve. It is a problem of aggression and occupation. The
British started the problem during their colonial rule by pitting an
18% minority against an 80% majority for Britain’s selfish interests.
The two communities have proven they can live and work together
peacefully.
The U.S. could go a long ways to solving the problem by publicly
calling for the demilitarization of the island, the removal of the
Turkish barbed wire fence separating the communities and the return
of Turkey’s 120,000 illegal Turkish settlers/colonists to Turkey and
stating that if Turkey does not cooperate the full range of
diplomatic actions will be utilized.
In taking such action the U.S. should move multilaterally with other
nations through the UN Security Council.
Similar action should be taken against Turkey regarding full
political and human rights for the 20% Kurdish minority and for full
religious freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the return of
church properties taken by the Turkish government and the reopening
of the Halki Patriarchal School of Theology.
Talking to Turkey has not and will not resolve these problems. State
Department officials misled the Greek American community for years by
saying they will speak to the Turkish government on our issues
knowing that their comments would have no impact on Turkey.
Turkey will only respond to forceful action. Turkey paid the several
hundred thousand dollars court judgment in the Loizidou case after
several years only when the Council of Europe threatened expulsion on
a specific date if the judgment was not paid.
Write to President Bush and Secretary Rice and urge them to apply
forceful pressure on Turkey to solve the above problems in which
Turkey is the cause:
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Tel. 202-456-1111 (Comments)
202-456-1414 (Main Switchboard)
Fax: 202-456-2461
E-mail: [email protected]
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
The State Department
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Phone: 202-647-4000 (Main Switchboard)
Fax: 202-647-2283
Gene Rossides is President
of the American Hellenic Institute and
former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Literary Armenia: Harout Yeretzian
By SIRAN BABAYAN
Wednesday, April 19, 2006 – 3:00 pm
LA Weekly, CA
April 20 2006
Instead of the musty smell of old novels, one is more likely to
get a whiff of cigarette smoke rising from the back of Abril Books,
where owner Harout Yeretzian sits flicking his ashes into a coffee
cup, surrounded by “No Smoking” signs. A bespectacled man with
salt-and-pepper hair and a walrus mustache, Yeretzian mans Abril’s vast
collection of Armenian literature – an avocation that began when he
moved from Beirut to a pre-Little Armenia East Hollywood in the late
’70s and started publishing a magazine of the same name (meaning “to
live” as well as the month of April). “There were only two political
newspapers here,” Yeretzian says. “I did all the interviews with
artists, musicians and historians. I thought I was filling a void.”
The monthly publication evolved into a printing company, then a
bookstore off Santa Monica Boulevard. Changing demographics and a
few robberies, one of which Yeretzian remembers happening on Labor
Day weekend, led the bookstore in 1998 to its current digs on a
quaint Glendale block adjacent to City Hall. “Thirty percent of the
population in Glendale is Armenian,” says Yeretzian. “But, of course,
not all Armenians read.”
As with any mom-and-pop shop, Abril is a family operation: Wife and
artist Seeroon Yeretzian runs the nearby Roslin Gallery, and her
calligraphic posters and post cards of the Armenian alphabet are
found not only here but in many local establishments and beyond. And
son Arno Yeretzian’s documentary on the late artist Jirayr Zorthian,
Planet Zorthian, was screened at the ArcLight two years ago.
Abril stocks the essential classics by poets, novelists and satirists,
including Hagop Baronian, Yeghishe Charents, Hovhannes Toumanian,
Baruyr Sevag, Avetik Isahakian and Siamanto; children’s folktales,
like David of Sassoun and Nazar the Brave; works by Armenian-American
authors Peter Balakian (Black Dog of Fate), Michael J. Arlen (Passage
to Ararat) and Micheline Aharonian Marcom (Three Apples Fell From
Heaven); and just about every book on distinct Armenian art, from
tapestries to embroidery to the religious stone crosses known as
khatchkars.
There’s also an increasing number of English translations – including
one of the most beloved novels in Armenian literature, Raffi’s The
Fool, first published in 1881. Yeretzian says these translations will
soon encompass half the store, partly due to the always curious stream
of odars (gringos) “coming in to see what Armenian culture is, what
Armenian music is, what Armenian art is.” Another factor: “It’s very
difficult here in the States to get young people to read in Armenian.”
/literary-armenia/13244/

Azeri minister urges Iranian aid in fair solution on Garabagh
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar
Abiyev receiving his Iranian counterpart Mostafa Muhammad Najjar
on Wednesday called on Iran to assist in the fair settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
Abiyev emphasized that Armenia’s policy is the main obstacle for
security in the region.
Muhammad Najjar, in turn, said his country is ready to provide
such assistance, adding that Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity.
The ministers also discussed issues of defense and security cooperation
between the two countries and the Caspian legal status.*

Turkey reaffirms support on Garabagh conflict
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 20 2006
Baku, April 19, AssA-Irada — Turkey has reaffirmed its support for
Azerbaijan on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
“We will always stand by Azerbaijan. Official Ankara considers the
Armenian occupation of 20% of Azeri territories unacceptable and backs
a settlement to the dispute through peace and within the country’s
territorial integrity,” the visiting Turkish Interior Minister
Abdulkadir Aksu said in a meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ramil
Usubov on Wednesday.
Aksu said the secret services of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey should
step up their efforts in fighting terror, recalling a joint statement
signed by the three countries’ ministers in Trabzon. “It is time to
outline future plans by holding serious discussions.”
The two ministers discussed a number of issues relating to
Turkish-Azeri relations, the current status and prospects for
cooperation in joint combat against crime. They said the two countries
support each other’s sovereignty and concur of ways of fighting terror,
drug trafficking, illegal proliferation of weapons and other forms
of trans-national organized crime.
The ministers signed a protocol on cooperation in conclusion of
the meeting.*