The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 12 2006
AKP discusses recognition of Algerian ‘genocide’
A ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy on Wednesday
opened a draft bill for signatures that aims at Turkey’s recognition
of a French massacre of 200,000 Algerians between 1954 and 1962 as
“genocide.”
The move mirrors the French Parliament’s current discussions on a
bill that aims to punish those who question Armenian genocide claims
with prison time.
“The rationale of the Algerian draft bill underlines the French
double standards in denying crimes in Algeria and Rwanda and closing
its archives on the one hand, and not hesitating to move on a law
dictating imprisonment for those who question Armenian genocide
claims,” a source from the AK Party told The New Anatolian yesterday.
Although the draft bill succeeded in winning some support from AK
Party deputies, other members of the ruling party opposed bringing
such a bill to Parliament’s discussion floor, saying that
controversial historic issues should be discussed by historians not
parliaments. Opponents of the draft bill also say this contradicts
the Turkish position on the Armenian genocide claims.
The Algerian draft bill is expected to be discussed at an AK Party
group meeting on Tuesday and if approved will be brought to
Parliament.
Turkey has always opposed the debates that have taken place in many
European parliaments on the Armenian genocide claims, some of which
voted for recognition, saying that history should be left to studies
and interpretation by scholars.
In line with the Turkish thesis, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
suggested to Armenian President Robert Kocharian the establishment of
committees composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to study the
controversial events of 1915. Kocharian refused the suggestion,
saying that historian committees could only be established within the
process of a normalization of relations between the two countries.
French massacre of Algerians
The 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence cost the lives of 1.5
million Algerians, according to the Algerian government, but French
figures for the same period show that just 200,000 were killed.
According to Algerian sources, Muslims were systematically killed at
the time. Senior French officers who fought in Algeria recently
confessed that torture and summary executions were routine grisly
instruments of French warfare. President Jacques Chirac, however,
fiercely opposed a parliamentary inquiry into the killings and said
it is a subject best left for historians to explore.
The Algerian archives were taken to France, and the French archives
for that period are off-limits to historians carrying out genocide
research.
Although the Algerian government has been seeking an apology from
France for its massacre of Algerians and other crimes committed while
the French were the country’s colonial rulers, besides not
apologizing, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy last month
warned Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika not to overuse the
term “genocide.”
Algeria and France were last year preparing to sign a friendship
treaty, similar to the 1963 Franco-German reconciliation treaty, as
part of efforts to normalize their relations. It was blocked,
however, by the French Parliament’s approval of a law that included a
reference to the “positive role of the French presence overseas,
especially in North Africa,” which provoked a strong reaction from
Algeria.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian General Benevolent Union
Viken L. Attarian
Chairman
805 Manoogian street
Ville St-Laurent, Qc H4N 1Z5
Tel; 514-748-2428
Fax: 514-748-6307
E-mail; [email protected]
Website:
Montreal, May 9, 2006
AGBU CHAIRMAN’S LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA
The Right Honorable Stephen Harper, P.C. M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Dear Prime Minister,
As chairman of one of the largest Armenian organizations in Canada, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union, Montreal chapter, I would like to express
my full support for your statement of recognition of the Armenian Genocide
on April 19th, 2006.
Please accept on our behalf the enclosed documentary, the DVD of The
Armenian Genocide, by the Emmy award winning American filmmaker, Mr. Andrew
Goldberg. This is a uniquely scholarly film which was recently broadcast on
the PBS network in the US, as well as on TVOntario. Apart from its
documentary content of the events of 1915, the film contains very important
footage of Mr. Rafael Lemkin, the Polish jurist who defined the term
“genocide” for the UN and spearheaded the signing of the UN Covnention on
Genocide, where he clearly and unequivocally says in his own words how he
was inspired by these horrendous crimes perpetrated against the Armenians
and against the Jews when he embarked on his great initiative.
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), founded exactly a century ago,
dedicated the first 15-20 years of its existence to collecting orphans,
providing food and shelter, education and work skills to the desperate
survivors of the massacres of Armenians predating 1915, and eventually to
the surviving victims of the horrendous crime of the first documented
genocide of the twentieth century. As such, our organization worked closely
with the first ever international institution established in 1921 by the
League of Nations, the High Commission for Refugees, under the direction of
Fridtjof Nansen. The HCR was one of the core institutions which formed the
nucleus of organizations that eventually was reshaped into the UN and into
the UNHCR of today. It should be noted that the initial founding of the HCR
by the League of Nations was for the explicit reason to come to the aid of
Armenian refugees who were the surviving victims of the genocide. The HCR
was awarded the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize for its humanitarian work. Thus, as
documented in this film, not only the Armenian Genocide was one of the two
initial models (with the Jewish Holocaust) for the definition of the word
genocide, but this crime against humanity can be traced directly to the
roots of the founding of the UN itself.
The AGBU today fulfills the mission of preserving Armenian heritage around
the globe with humanitarian and educational means. The AGBU is an
officially recognized NGO by the UN. In Canada, AGBU is one of the largest
Armenian organizations with thousands of members, volunteers and
sympathizers. The largest AGBU chapter is in Montreal and we have an
important chapter and school in Toronto as well. On behalf of all of these
individuals I would like to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for acknowledging
this greatest of all crimes for what it is, a carefully planned and executed
genocide. Your courageous act will ensure that this crime against humanity
is not forgotten and that modern day deniers and perpetrators of genocide
around the world are brought to justice. The lives of millions of innocent
victims of the past cry out to us to stop forever this inhumanity of man
towards his fellow human beings.
Your courageous position, not only serves to advance the cause of human
rights, it also lends direct support and inspiration to the numerous brave
Turkish souls who over a long period have chosen to confront the dark past
of their ancestors for the sake of the truth and for the sake of democracy
and freedom of speech in Turkey itself.
All Canadians, regardless of their origin, stand proud because of your
action.
Sincerely,
Viken L. Attarian, Ing. MSc. MBA
Chairman, AGBU Montreal

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 12 2006
Socialists insist on bringing Armenian bill to French Parliament
French Socialist Party (PS) Secretary-General Francois Hollande
yesterday expressed his party’s insistence on bringing a bill
stipulating prison terms for questioning the Armenian genocide claims
to the French Parliament’s floor.
Hollande’s remarks came in response to a call from French scholars
and intellectuals urging Parliament to remove the Armenian bill from
the Parliament’s agenda at next Thursday’s gathering, underling that
history should be left to historians.
“I understand historians’ criticism but to debate history is also the
duty of parliaments,” said Hollande, stressing that approval of the
bill by Parliament won’t block historians’ debates on the Armenian
genocide claims.
Urging Turkey to recognize the controversial Armenian events,
Hollande also claimed that one of the requirements for Ankara to
become a member of the European Union is recognition of the genocide
claims.
French historians, in a joint statement on Tuesday, expressed strong
opposition to the PS’ move to bring the Armenian bill to French
Parliament for approval, warning that history teachers will become
“prisoners” if the bill is approved.
The same historians in a joint declaration four months ago called on
Parliament to annual its recognition of the Armenian genocide claims
— taken in 2001 — underlining that parliaments cannot write
history.
Turkish ambassadors return to posts
The Turkish ambassadors to France and Canada, who were recalled to
Turkey for consultations, left Turkey yesterday to return to their
posts.
Turkish Ambassador to France Osman Koruturk and Ambassador to Canada
Aydemir Erman were recalled this week for “a short time” for
consultations, announced the Foreign Ministry on Monday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Namik Tan stated that while Ambassador
Koruturk was recalled for consultations concerning the French
Parliament’s possible approval of the Armenian bill, Ambassador Erman
was recalled over Canada’s move to recognize the 1915 events as
“genocide.” “It’s anticipated that the ambassadors will return to
their posts after the consultations,” Tan also said on Monday.
Sezer urges Chirac to block Armenian bill
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer this week sent a letter to his
French counterpart Jacques Chirac urging him to block the possible
approval of the Armenian bill, underling that it would be to the
advantage of neither country.
Calling on his French counterpart not to take any action that would
to ruin or upset cooperation and friendship between Turkey and
France, Sezer also stressed that approval of the controversial bill
would deal a serious blow to freedom of expression and thought, two
aspects of life that reminded Chirac are important to the French way
of life.
Sezer’s letter followed a similar one from Parliament Speaker Bulent
Arinc to his French counterpart in which Arinc warned French
Parliament not to take a decision that would undermine bilateral
relations between the two countries and efforts towards a
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.
In related news, Ankara Chamber of Trade and Commerce (ATO) Chair
Sinan Aygun yesterday sent a letter to its French counterpart calling
on the withdrawal of the Armenian bill, stressing that such a
political move would damage commercial and economic relations between
the two countries as Turkish companies and the Turkish public are
preparing to boycott French goods and services.
Also yesterday Turkish Parliament’s European Union Harmonization
Commission head Yasar Yakis dismissed the consequences of a possible
approval of the Armenian bill, saying that the move won’t affect
Turkey’s EU accession process. “Turkey doesn’t have to do what each
European state wants,” he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Regnum, Russia
May 12 2006
Orinats Yerkir Party started breakdown of Armenian ruling coalition
Orinats Yerkir (OYe) Party leaves the Armenian ruling coalition
(Republican Party, OYe, ARFD); political council of the party decided
later on May 11 at its session. A REGNUM correspondent was informed
at OYe headquarters that OYe Head, Parliament Speaker Artur
Bagdassaryan was going to speak to the press on May 12.
It should be reminded that 9 MPs, including leading entrepreneurs
Arkady Ambartsumyan, Eduard Gabrielyan, Sayad Zaharyan, Tigran
Eganyan, Samwel Shakhgaldyan, as well as businessmen Grigor
Margaryan, Melik Manukyan, and Arshak Mkhitaryan, left the coalition
OYe party and its parliamentary fraction recently.
The ruling coalition was established after on May 25, 2003,
parliamentary elections on the basis of an agreement between Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and representatives of Republican Party,
OYe Party, and Dashnaktsutiun Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARFD). The OYe Party has three representatives at the Armenian
government.

National Assembly of RA, Armenia
May 12 2006
Meeting in Committee

On May 11 Mher Shahgeldyan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on
Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs received the
delegation headed by Lord Max Rufus Mosley, International Automobile
Federation.
Lord Mosley noted that the goal of the visit to Armenia is to deepen
the cooperation with the National Council of International Automobile
Federation, as well as support Armenia in the sphere’s reforming. It
was noted that the Federation implements programmes of road security
in about 40 countries of the world, cooperating with UN and World
Bank, and in April 2007 the week of UN road security would take
place.
An example of successful cooperation was given France, where last
year as a result of accidents the number of the victims decreased
from 7500 to 5000, and corruption considerably reduced.
Mr. Shahgeldyan highlighted the necessity of reforms of the road
security sphere, noting that Armenia took considerable steps in this
direction. In this context the clarification of the legislative
field, the technical upgrading of the sphere, training of human
resources, rise of public awareness, the role of NGOs was
highlighted.
During the meeting the sides discussed other issues of bilateral
interest.

Globe and Mail, Canada
May 12 2006
The bonds of history
GUNES N. EGE
Toronto — No one denies that Turkish Armenians were tragically
affected by events unfolding during the First World War in which they
were, together with the Russians, undeniably the aggressors. But the
Armenians have yet to admit that the same events killed, brutalized
and displaced hundreds of thousands of Turkish soldiers and
civilians.
It would have been laudable if Prime Minister Stephen Harper could
have taken the lead in creating a non-partisan forum in which both
sides would bring to the table all documents pertaining to the events
that took place within the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. That
would have been constructive and instructive and, ultimately, would
have defused the dispute.

Globe and Mail, Canada
May 12 2006
The bonds of history
PATRICIA MARCHAK
acting director, Liu Institute for Global Issues
University of British Columbia — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan says he wants a bilateral academic inquiry into the mass
killing of Armenians in the early 1900s (Turkey Tried To Head Off
PM’s Verdict On ‘Genocide’ — May 11), but I can save him the
trouble. A few years ago, for a book I was then writing on genocide
and crimes against humanity, I conducted a search of the academic and
journalistic literature on the Armenian deaths of 1915-16 in the
Ottoman Empire. I found many references to the genocide, including
exhaustive histories and analyses of why it occurred, even some
sympathetic accounts of why Turks felt threatened by European
attempts to carve up the empire and Armenian attempts to get
Europeans involved.
Sympathetic accounts by non-Turks, however, did not go so far as to
pretend it was not a genocide. The only accounts that denied the
genocide were by Turks, who claimed variously that the deaths were
caused by the chaos of the First World War and by Armenian political
actions. What seems to be difficult for Turks to understand is that
the motivations (fear of political opponents, for example) do not
constitute an acceptable reason for committing genocide.

Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
May 12 2006
Turks defy labeling of WWI Armenian deaths as genocide
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/MURAD SEZER
Protesters with the Workers’ Party hold posters saying, “The genocide
lie is an American game,” left, and “The Armenian genocide is an
international lie” at the French consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey has pulled out of a military exercise in
Canada and hinted at economic repercussions against France, stepping
up protests of accusations that Turks committed genocide against
Armenians during World War I.
The Turkish government this week briefly recalled ambassadors from
NATO allies France and Canada to protest the Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper’s declaration last month that the killings of
Armenians constituted genocide, and a French bill that would outlaw
denying that Armenians were genocide victims. The ambassadors
returned Thursday after four days in Turkey.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it was pulling out of
an Air Force training exercise in Canada, to which it had been
expected to send officers and several F-16 fighters.
“This decision is Turkey’s and we would not comment on why they have
made this decision,” said Pamela Greenwell, a spokeswoman for
Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a private meeting in
Ankara on Tuesday with representatives of large French firms with
investments in Turkey, where he warned of serious harm to relations
if the genocide measure was allowed to pass.
Armenians say as many as 1.5 million Armenians died or were killed
over several years as part of a genocidal campaign to force them out
of eastern Turkey. Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of
Armenians died, but says that the overall figure is inflated and that
the deaths occurred in the civil unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.
Turkey is facing increasing pressure to fully acknowledge the
killings, particularly as it seeks membership in the European Union.
But many in Turkey feel that, by using the word genocide to describe
the killings, other countries put the Ottoman Turks in the same
category as Nazi Germans.
Turkey has made it government policy to fight genocide assertions
with diplomatic and economic sanctions if necessary. But it is
unclear how far Turks are willing to go, especially if that could
mean harming the bid to join the EU.
“Sometimes you talk, then you have to behave according to the way you
talk, and you get to a place you never wanted to go in the first
place,” Ilter Turan, a political scientist at Istanbul Bilgi
University, said of whether Turkey would carry through on all its
threats.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 12 2006
Belgium follows in French footsteps
The New Anatolian / Brussels

Members of the Belgian Liberal Party (MR) are planning to bring a
bill stipulating prison terms for questioning the Armenian genocide
claims before the Belgian Parliament, a move similar to that of the
French socialists.
The bill, drawn up by MR Senators Francois Roelands du Vivier and
Christine Defraigne, aims to impose prison terms of up to a year and
up to 5,000 euros in fines to those questioning the events of 1915.
Belgian Parliament last June shelved a similar bill after heated
debate and criticism from Turks living in Belgium. The Parliament,
while not approving the Armenian bill last year, decided not to
abandon another decision on the controversial case, such as the
recognition of genocide claims.
The latest bill is the expanded version of a law enacted by Belgian
Parliament in March, 1995 which considers the Jewish Holocaust a
crime.
While the Parliament is expected to begin debates on the bill this
month, sources told The New Anatolian that they might be postponed so
as to avoid sparking criticism from Turks in the country ahead of
local elections set for Oct. 8.
Turkey pulls out military exercise in Canada
Turkey pulled out of a military exercise in Canada, a Foreign
Ministry official said Thursday, further expressing Turkey’s
displeasure with its NATO ally for saying Turks committed “genocide”
against Armenians during World War I.
The refusal to send Turkish F-16s and officers comes in a week of
tense diplomacy for Turkey.
The Foreign Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity, in
keeping with government rules. He said the military exercise in
Canada isn’t a NATO exercise, but was open to other allied countries
and that Turkey had planned to send six or seven F-16s and pilots.

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 12 2006
Russia doubles contingent at airbase in Kyrgyzstan – commander
12:36 | 12/ 05/ 2006
BISHKEK, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has more than doubled
personnel numbers at its airbase in Kyrgyzstan, but will move the
additional personnel in when housing construction is finished, the
head of the Air Force said Friday.
Vladimir Mikhailov, currently visiting the Kant base, located about
20 miles west of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, at the moment said: “A
new staff table has been drawn up already.”
But he added that they would be sent to the Central Asian base when a
new 160-apartment block for their families was completed, along with
a kindergarten and a school also currently under construction.
Mikhailov said the servicemen were ready to depart for the base at
any moment, but added that the base was currently capable of
fulfilling its security obligations to the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO), which comprises the former Soviet republics of
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
The base was established in October 2003 to enable Russian jets to
provide close air support for ground units of CSTO member states.
Russia announced plans to double the base’s personnel and aircraft
numbers in February, saying the objective would be achieved within a
year.
In Bishkek, Mikhailov met with Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov,
confirming that Kyrgyz pilots would undergo training at the Kant
base. Russia plans to airlift four overhauled L-39 training aircraft
for this purpose.
They also discussed Russia’s assistance to Kyrgyzstan in establishing
own air defenses. So far, Russia has provided military equipment
worth 15 million rubles ($554,006) to the Central Asian nation as
part of their cooperation in the military sphere.