Pan Armenian News

GERMANY REDEEMS ITS FAULT TO ARMENIA

22.04.2005 07:25

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Germany was an ally to Turkey during the First World War
and did not protest against the exiles of Armenians, though being fully
aware of it. Due to this very reason we are obliged to redeem our fault’,
chairman of the Green Party of Germany Fritz Kuhn stated, PAP reports. He
called upon Ankara to establish normal relations with Armenia. After
yesterday’s debates on the resolution social democrats, greens and liberals
assured that Bundestag has no intention to interfere in Turkey’s foreign
policy, but aims at the restoration of the historical justice. CDU
representative Fridber Fluger noted that unwilling to stir up a conflict
with Turkey the authors of the resolution avoided the term `genocide’.

Pan Armenian News

ANKARA HOPES NEW POPE WILL CHANGE POSITION ON TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP

22.04.2005 07:19

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `I hope that newly elected Pope Benedict XVI will
re-consider his position on Turkey’s EU membership’, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated, Yerkir online reports. Leading Turkish editions
recollected Pope’s anti-Turkish statements. For example, in 2004 in an
interview with the newspaper Le Figaro, when asked about Turkey’s effort to
join the European Union Cardinal Ratzinger stated, `Turkey had always been
in permanent contrast to Europe and linking it to Europe would be a
mistake’. As reported by NTV Turkish TV Company, Erdogan noted that at that
time Cardinal Ratzinger expressed `his personal opinion’.

Pan Armenian News

ARMENIANS OF LOS ANGELES TO HOLD PROTEST ACTION AT TURKISH EMBASSY

22.04.2005 06:54

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On the occasion of the Armenian Genocide 90-th anniversary
the Armenians of Los Angeles are to hold mass manifestation in front of the
Turkish Consulate, Yerkir online reports. Numerous event dedicated to the
tragic events of 1915 were held in California during this month. As a token
of solidarity with the Armenian organizations System of a Down rock group
will give a charity concert. A meeting with the son of famous writer William
Saroyan, who will present his father’s recollections about the Genocide,
will take place in Alex Theater.

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

Armenian Genocide

‘EITHER WE WILL ENTER EU AND WILL BECOME A HEALTHY PEOPLE OR WILL REMAIN
ILL’

Turkish Scientist Says

Daily Azg has informed readers about the participation of Turkish scientists
Murat Belge, professor of comparative literature at Bilgi University, and
Baskin Oran, professor at the faculty of political science of Ankara
University, in the “Ultimate Crime, Ultimate Challenge: Human Rights and
Genocide” international conference. Only one of them, Mr. Belge, gave a
report at the conference.

He said that he bears no responsibility for the Genocide nor do the future
generations but still is a citizen of a country where it was carried out and
will feel responsible as long as his state denies the fact. “I am coming
from a country where individuals have no memory, the state tells us what to
remember and what to forget and we specialize in forgetfulness. Events are
no more a secret for anyone. People certainly new about that all but that
generation passed away and connection between the generations blurred”, he
said.

Afterwards Belge spoke of creation of modern Turkey, said that the society
is being shaped from above as in Soviet regime. He noted that the allies did
not remind of nor condemned the year of 1915 as long as Turkey was valuable
for NATO. Therefore the end of the Cold War was beneficial for the Armenians
but not for Turks. He thinks that Turkey still lives with the Cold War
feeling and, having no practice, is unable to establish normal relations
with neighbors. The allies pose painful questions, including ones about the
Genocide. In such situation Armenians turn into traitors for Turkey. He
added at the end: “However, times have changed, Turkish society entered
adulthood, lest there should be no barriers. Either we will enter EU and
will become a healthy people or will remain ill”.

Baskin Oran in his turn drew parallel between the two peoples and said that
their unity is not only limited to geographical location; they both have
painful issues: for Turkey it is Northern Cyprus, for Armenia it is Nagorno
Karabakh. “But they have common Western allies who tell the Armenians vote
for us and we will adopt your resolution and tell us do as we say in order
to get our denial of the resolution”, he said.

Oran expressed appreciation of Richard Hovhannisian’s speech and noted that
it said everything and there is nothing to add, afterwards he urged
Armenians not to allow third parties to intervene because it stirs up
opposition in Turkey and hinders activities of progressive Turkish
intelligentsia who selflessly try to unveil before the Turkish society the
suffering that the Armenian people underwent in early 19th century.

Rounding off Oran added: “Turkey has many sins but it deserves praise as it
has Akcam, Berktay, Belge, Dinq and Mahtchupian. How many Armenians are so
diligently studying Turkey as they studied Armenia? Do not let the third
party to intervene and try to help us”.

By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

Armenian Genocide

90TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MARKED IN GERMANY

The Central Board of Germany’s Armenians and the Armenian diocese of Germany
will hold the main commemorative ceremony dedicated to the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide at Paulskirche in Frankfurt, April 24.
Representatives of Germany’s politics, culture and science are invited to
the ceremony. Writer and publicist Ralf Giordano is the main reporter of the
day. RA ambassador to Berlin, Karine Ghazinian, president of the Central
Board of Germany’s Armenians, Shavarsh Hovasapian, and few others will make
reports as well. The speech of Archbishop Karekin Bekjanian will close the
ceremony. Actress Anita Iseli, violinist Sergey Khachatrian and pianist
Irina Hovhannisian will perform at the ceremony.

The Central Board together with the Armenian clergy of Germany and Armenian
community representatives will keep a vigil at downtown Berlin from 12 a.m.
to 2.40 p.m., April 23. Another commemorative arrangement will be held in
German capital at 6 a.m. Dr Michael Jeismann will deliver a speech at the
sitting’s hall of Berlin Chamber of Deputies, the chairman of the Chamber as
well as Walter Momper from SPD and the representative of the Armenian
community of Berlin, Vardges Aljanaq. At 4 p.m. April 24, Grigor Pehlivan, a
Cologne Armenian, will stage his “Axis of Memories: Flowers and Names”
performance in front of the Cologne Cathedral. He will throw 90 tulips into
the Rhine River.

Wolfgang Huber, president of the Council of Evangelical Church of Germany,
will serve a requiem mass at the Berlin Cathedral at 3 p.m. April 23 and a
Brandenburg deputy Stefan Reische will make a speech at the St. Sahak Mesrop
Armenian church of Cologne.

Turks’ resentment this year is visibly rampant this year. One example: the
April 20 issue of Die Welt informed that the Initiative of Turkish
Organizations made an appeal to compatriots to express their complaint via
emails for the commemoration of the 90th anniversary at the Chamber of
Deputies on April 23. Such provocations breach the peace of the city and
spur polarization, speaker of the Initiative, Jatkin, said and labeled
tragic the readiness of Walter Momper to hold forth at the arrangement of
the Armenians.

By Anahit Hovsepian in Germany

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

World Press

FACING HORRIBLE PAST

International printed media, including Turkish press, continues addressing
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The correspondent of
influential English The Economist wrote an article from Turkish town of
Diarbeqir about Zekai Yilmaz, a Kurdish health worker, who was 12 when he
found out that his grandmother was Armenian. “She was speaking in a funny
language with our Armenian neighbor”, he recalled. “When they saw me they
immediately switched to Kurdish”. The mother explained that she was wounded
by a bayonet while 13-year-old and she accidentally remained alive lying
among the dead. Yilmaz’s father found her, healed, cared for her and then
converted into Islam and married. “But she remained Armenian at the bottom
of her heart”, Yilmaz said.

Such stories are especially widespread in western regions of Turkey where
once (before the WW I) a well-off Armenian community used to live. Traces of
their culture are seen today inside beautiful stone churches that are either
razed or turned into mosques.

The journalist goes on telling that the Kurds explained their participation
saying that Turks promised to give them the Armenians’ lands and a “corner
in heaven” for killing non-believers.

The journalist sees “hopeful signs” in Turkey where it was banned to talk
about the Genocide. He makes an example of Halil Berktay who wrote in
Milliet that the Armenians underwent “ethnic cleansing” and lawyer Fethiye
Cetin who wrote about her Armenian grandmother in a book that awaits its 5th
publication and finally about “the new platform of Armenian-born women”.

The next article belongs to Elif Safaq, correspondent of Turkish daily News,
who wrote that she first heard the word “Armenian” while eavesdrop on
conversation of old Muslim women. She recalled her childhood in Istanbul
where women praised bread — “yufkas” — that Armenian bakers baked. Her
questions remained unanswered then. The women fall silent suddenly. “I
understood later that I posed wrong questions. Silence is more telling while
the word ‘Armenian’ is mentioned. The present generation can utter that word
without fearing problems but they have nothing to tell because they know
nothing. The history is not only what is written. Those women, our old
grandmothers know things that the chauvinistic Turkish historians would
prefer never uttered. But we need to listen to these grannies as they
remember and have much to say”, she wrote. “How to bring their experience
out, how to decipher the silence?”, Safaq asks at the end of the article and
states confidently that “we have to pay attention” to the oral speech of
these oppressed women.

Prepared by Hakob Tsulikian

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

Region

SAAKASHVILI TALKS OF WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES FROM GEORGIA

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian President, stated at the congress of the GUUAM
regional organization that Tbilisi and Kishinev should demand the withdrawal
of the Russian military stations from their countries.

“We have stopped being a part of the empire long ago. The forces of other
states can be located in the territory of other states only if the people of
those countries agree. I state that the people of Georgia are against the
military presence of Russia in our country,” Interfax cited the words of
Saakashvili.

The Russian military base 62 is located mainly in Akhalqalaki that is
inhabited by Armenians. While the 12th base is in Batumi. A part of Russian
forces is in Transdniestria that was separated from Moldova in the 90s after
an armed conflict. Recently Saakashvili didn’t exclude that the Russian
forces can be withdrawn from Georgia already in 2005.

Saakashvili voiced an opinion that “the member-states of the organization
should head for the US and EU,” as well as deepen the democratic processes
and make economic reforms.

Vladimir Woronin, President of Moldova, also expressed the hope that the
organization will more actively cooperate with the US and Europe.

The GUUAM was established in 1997. When the pro-western authorities came to
power in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova during the last few years, the
activities of the organization became more actual.

Obviously, the creation of the GUUAM within the framework of the CE aimed to
set it off against the CIS. When in Yerevan Russian President Vladimir Putin
called this organization “a useful club” that was established for “a
civilized divorce,” the presidents of the GUUAM member-states as well as the
West began strengthening the organization and increasing the efficiency of
its activities in the region.

This time the presidents of other, non-member states also participated at
the GUUAM Congress. Thus, the presidents of Lithuania and Romania arrived in
Kishinev. Steven Mann, special representative of the US State Department on
Eurasian Issues, and Jan Kubish, the OSCE Secretary General, were present at
GUUAM congress as well. Ilham Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, didn’t
arrive in Kishinev, while Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Moldova.

The membership of Uzbekistan in GUUAM is rather symbolic. Ilham Karimov is
more concerned about keeping his power than about cooperating with such
organizations, the member-sates of which faced “colorful revolutions”.

The warm relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, observed during the last
years, keeps Ilham Aliyev away from GUUAM, in some respect. Thus, if
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova openly speak of integrating into Europe,
Azerbaijan doesn’t consider GUUAM an opponent for the CIS.

New programs aimed to activization of the organization’s activities will be
represented at the Kishinev Congress. In particular, Givi Targamadze,
chairman of Defence and Security Committee at the Georgian parliament,
stated recently that the armed forces of the GUUAM member states can soon
replace the Russian peacekeepers in the conflict areas. It’s worth reminding
that the Russian peacekeepers are located in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict
territory, as well.

Although Moscow pretends that the activization of GUUAM doesn’t bother them,
it’s obvious that Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, three leading states of this
pro-Western organization, continue their efforts directed to weakening the
political, economic and military influence of Russia in their countries.

By Tatoul Hakobian

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

Student

STUDENTS REPRESENT SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF LAWYERS’ INSTITUTE IN
ARMENIA

On April 21, the completing stage of republican conference of lawyer
students took place at “Yerevan” hotel. The conference was dedicated to the
90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. It was entitled “Law. Current
Situation and Prospects for Development in RA.” The first written stage of
the conference took place 10 days ago. 22 students participated in that and
the best 7 will compete in the second oral stage.

The conference is aimed to increase the level of the knowledge of the
students that study law, to increase the awareness about the lawyers’
institute, to secure their participation in the establishment of the system.
The organizers of the competition are sure that, taking into account the
current situation of the sphere, the lawyer students will try to find
solution to a number of issues and define the prospects for the development
of the Lawyers’ Institute.

RA Lawyers’ Fund, Association of RA Young Lawyers, the initiators of the
contest, state that this stage of the competition will be evaluated by a
jury of well-known lawyers. While the winners will be awarded valuable
prizes.

By Tamar Minasian

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #073, 23/04/2005

Press release

STATEMENT OF CEC ON THE OCCASION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE

The Presidium of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) has issued the
following Public Statement on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide:

“On 24 April 2005 the peoples of Armenia will commemorate the 90th
Anniversary of the Genocide under the Ottoman Empire. At the commemoration
in Armenia, the Conference of European Churches (CEC) will be represented by
its President, Rev Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of the Federation of
Protestant Churches in France.

The Presidium of the Conference of European Churches, meeting in Västerås
(Sweden), 6-10 April 2005, subscribes to the words, which the Catholicos of
All Armenians, Karekin II and Catholicos Aram I have repeatedly expressed:
the horrific crimes in connection with the Armenian genocide should never be
forgotten. Guilt must be admitted and the truth must be told. Reviewing
one’s own history opens the path to forgiveness, to healing bitter memories
and to gaining a common future.

The CEC Presidium joins the World Council of Churches in inviting all its
member churches “to make April 24 a Day of Memory of the Armenian Genocide
and to consider further appropriate actions related to the 90 years
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide”. Churches all over the European
continent and beyond can play an important role in offering a platform for
encounter and in supporting projects towards reconciliation.

The Presidium urges the Turkish government to initiate a process of
reconciliation between the Turkish and the Armenian peoples, in which the
recognition of guilt and the proclamation of the truth need to be integral
elements. In this regard, the Conference of European Churches welcomes the
announcement of Prime Minister Erdogan to open Turkish archives. It is
important that Armenian and Turkish as well as independent researchers have
full access to the documentation.

We also urge the Turkish government to establish the conditions, which allow
for a free and honest debate in public as well as in educational
institutions about atrocities, deportations and massacres committed against
the Armenian peoples.

Atrocities on the territory of today’s Turkey, however, were not only
committed against the Armenian peoples, but also against other Christian and
ethnic minorities.

On 1 October 2005, negotiations will begin between the European Union and
Turkey with the aim of Turkey becoming a member state of the European Union.
As already stated on 3 October 2004 by the Conference of European Churches,
the Copenhagen criteria for accession must be fulfilled and the accession
negotiations need to be accompanied by an honest elaboration of history,
particularly that part of it which concerns the relationship of Turkey with
its neighbouring states and which includes recognition of wounds and
offences inflicted. This is a pre-condition to healing of memories and to
true reconciliation in society, which has not yet been reached in Turkey.
The relationship with the Armenian peoples as well as with other Christian
and ethnic minorities is, in this respect, of special importance.

The Conference of European Churches will continue to monitor the
negotiations between the European Union and the government of Turkey very
closely. The EU is a community of States, which is built on human rights,
democracy and the rule of law and in which values of justice and peace,
solidarity and pluralism, reconciliation and tolerance, freedom of speech
and mutual respect are declared by the documents the EU committed itself to;
effort are underway to make them an integral part of everyday life. The
commitment to implementing these values in Turkey, not at least with regard
to its minorities and the relations to its neighbouring countries, will be a
pre-condition for Turkey’s accession to the European Union”.

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125
Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries
of Europe, plus 40 associated organizations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has
offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 23, 2005

His Holiness Karekin II Receives Lech Walesa

On April 21, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians, received Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and Nobel
Laureate for Peace. President Walesa was accompanied by Tomasz Knothe,
Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Armenia.

His Holiness welcomed the former president to the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin and spoke of the long history of friendship between the Armenian
and Polish peoples, referring specifically to the establishment of Armenian
communities in Poland nearly 800 years ago. “Our two peoples share more
than a common history of persecution and tribulations. More importantly,
what links us together is the strong faith in Christ which distinguishes
both of our nations, and the immense treasury of culture, art, literature
and unique identity which that steadfast faith has inherited to us in the
present day,” noted the Catholicos.

Through the former president, the Pontiff of All Armenians also thanked the
Polish government, authorities and people, for their recent act of
solidarity on the eve of commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. Last week, the Polish Sejm (Parliament) officially recognized and
condemned the Genocide of the Armenians during the First World War. His
Holiness stated, “Today, your presence here confirms once again the fact
that genocide is not limited to geography, ethnicity or time. It is the
worst of crimes which, when attempted or perpetrated, affects all of
mankind, wherever they live and whenever it occurs. As a result, every case
of genocide must always be condemned to prevent further acts of mass terror
and violence.”

Mr. Walesa, a famous Soviet dissident until his election as president of
Poland, thanked His Holiness for the reception and discussed the reasons for
his trip to Armenia, including his participation in the international
conference regarding the Armenian Genocide, which convened in Yerevan this
week. The former Polish president also spoke of his deep respect for the
Armenian Church and his strong belief that faith is the most important
element in creating desired changes in society and humanity.

The Catholicos of All Armenians and the former Polish president ended their
meeting with happy recollections of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, each
sharing a few memories of the former pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
His Holiness Karekin II specifically reflected on the historic visit of the
Roman Pontiff to Armenia in 2001, and the joint communique they issued in
the Vatican, condemning the Armenian Genocide.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress