Sacramento Bee, CA
April 22 2005

A day for Armenians
Remembrance of genocide is signed into law
By Jennifer M. Fitzenberger — Bee Capitol Bureau

They walked 215 miles in the sun, rain and wind to keep alive the
memory of hundreds of thousands of Armenians killed by rulers of the
Ottoman Turkish Empire between 1915 and 1923.

The 20-day journey for 15 Armenian Americans ended Thursday at the
Capitol, where about 1,200 people gathered to thank the Legislature
for supporting a bill to recognize the Armenian genocide on April 24
of each year.

“The younger generation still hasn’t forgotten,” said Vahan Aramian,
20, of Fresno, who took a three-week break from his construction job
to join the March for Humanity from Fresno to Sacramento.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday signed SB 424 by Sen. Chuck
Poochigian, R-Fresno, which cements the remembrance date into state
law. Until now, the Legislature’s recognition had been inconsistent.

“We must recognize crimes against humanity if we are to prevent
them,” Schwarzenegger said in his signing message. “Silence in the
face of genocide effectively encourages those who would commit such
atrocities in the future.”

March organizers said 36 other state legislatures officially
recognize the Armenian genocide. Armenian Americans hope the Bush
administration will follow California, home to about half the
nation’s 900,000 Armenians. The Turkish government – 90 years after
the genocide – doesn’t accept responsibility for the deaths, Armenian
Americans say.

Turkey doesn’t recognize the deaths as genocide and says the toll –
put at 1.5 million by Armenians – was closer to 300,000.

“Justice begins with truth, and truth is being hidden,” said
Poochigian, whose grandparents lost family members during the
genocide. “We stand up to the deniers. We stand up for truth.”

Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, said it’s important not to
forget history: “If we do not learn the lessons of the past, we are
destined to repeat them.”

On April 24, 1915, the Armenian leadership in Constantinople
(modern-day Istanbul) and other Armenian centers was executed. The
surviving women, children and elderly were sent on death marches in
the desert.

Participants in the March for Humanity educated people they met along
the way. Some knew nothing of the genocide or Armenian culture.
Others had a skewed understanding.

Most people were supportive. “We did get a lot of honks and
thumbs-up,” said marcher Chris Torossian, 19, of Fresno.

Hundreds of people joined the full-time marchers on parts of the
route. They walked down country roads and slept in churches and
schools.

At the Capitol on Thursday, a crowd cheered for the marchers.
Supporters waved Armenian and American flags and held signs that
said, “We will never forget” and “Remember the Armenian genocide of
1915 R.I.P. 1.5 million.”

“This is a rally in support of all those who seek the truth and all
those who understand that genocide cannot go by with impunity,” said
Steven Dadaian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of
America’s Western region.

“We believe in our roots,” said Avedis Krikorian, 43, of Fresno, who
helped organize the trip.

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS EXPEDIENT OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. Complying with the international human,
democratic and legal principles and following the example of many
European countries the Romanian parliament considers it expedient to
officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Such a statement was made by Romanian Senator Varujan Voskanyan
during the Apr 18 Genocide related hearing of the Upper Chamber of the
Romanian Parliament, reports Armenia’s state commission for organizing
events to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Voskanyan is member of the coalition National Democratic Party
of Romania.

RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CORNER STONE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. Recognition and condemnation of
the Armenian Genocide is the corner stone of Armenian-Turkish
relations, Armenia’s PM Andranik Margaryan said during today’s
Yerevan international conference on the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide.

Armenia is ready to establish natural relations with Turkey with no
preliminary conditions. But any such initiative ends in Turkey’s making
unacceptable terms. Meanwhile gradual Armenian-Turkish rapprochement
will certainly promote regional security and cooperation as well as
the resolution of the regional conflicts, says Margaryan.

Margaryan shares the opinion of European politicians that as a country
seeking EU membership Turkey should at least critically review its
history. Armenia wants to see Turkey relieved of the heavy burden of
denial and reconciled with its own history.

45 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ASK APPROPRIATORS TO MAINTAIN PARITY
& PROVIDE ARMENIA NO LESS THAN $75 MILLION IN ECONOMIC SUPPORT

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. As House appropriators prepare to write
their funding bills for the 2006 Fiscal Year, 45 Members of Congress
today sent a letter to Foreign Operations Appropriations Chairman
Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and ranking member Nita Lowey (D- NY) requesting
the subcommittee provide Armenia no less than $75 million in economic
support. The lawmakers also requested that the subcommittee maintain
military parity in aid between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The letter was initiated by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ),
co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenia and Armenian Issues,
and U.S. Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), an active member of the Caucus,
reports Pallone’s office.

ON APRIL 24, AT 7.00 P.M. ARMENIA, DIASPORA AND ARTSAKH TO STAND IN
MEMORY TO VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WITH MINUTE OF SILENCE

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. On April 24 at 7.00 p.m. people in Armenia,
Diaspora and Artsakh will stand in memory to victims of Armenian
Genocide with minute of silence. Such a decision was made by state
commission of Armenia for coordination of arrangements dedicated to
the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide.

Oil and gas pipelines spur closer ties among Black Sea countries at regional meeting

AP Worldstream
Apr 22, 2005

Senior diplomats and energy officials from the troubled Caucasus and
Black Sea regions gathered Friday to forge closer cooperation with
Greece and Turkey _ spurred by recent oil pipeline and energy deals.

A declaration to be signed Saturday aims at expanding energy and
trade ties among 12 countries that have often viewed their neighbors
with hostility.

“When markets cooperate more closely and companies form joint
ventures there is pressure on politicians to cooperate too,” Evripidis
Stylianidis, Greece’s overseas trade minister, told The Associated
Press.

The meeting follows an April 12 agreement between Bulgaria, Greece
and Russia to build a 285-kilometer (177-mile) Balkan pipeline _
the latest major venture planned to speed up the transfer of oil and
gas from the former Soviet Union to western markets.

Worth more than Aâ~B¬500 million (US$650 million), the Balkan oil
pipeline will bypass Turkey’s busy Bosphorus strait, linking Bulgaria’s
port of Burgas to Greece’s Alexandroupolis.

“Pipeline development is positive,” Stylianidis said. “It’s good for
the West, which will get cheaper oil, and good for the region because
better relationships grow between the countries on the pipeline route.”

Greece is currently chairing the Organization of Black Sea
Economic Cooperation, a regional trade forum founded in 1992, which
includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova,
Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

–Boundary_(ID_ei/p7v6QiajjHtWz1AwTJQ)–

HYSTERIA, BLACKMAIL AND THREATS TO BREAK ANY CONTACTS – POLICY OF
TURKEY WITH RESPECT TO STATES THAT HAVE RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
IN OTTOMAN TURKEY

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. Hysteria, blackmail and threats to
break any contacts – such is the policy of Turkey with respect to the
states that have recognized the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
1915. NKR President Arkady Ghoukassyan said at a two-day conference
devoted to the 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide completing its
work in Yerevan today.

He says that Armenians wherever they live have a common tragic
date, the Day of commemoration of the victims of the Armenian
Genocide. Those who are familiar with the Armenian history will
never ask why do Armenians living outside their Motherland make up
such a great number. The history answered this question long ago, 90
and more years ago. However, the country that committed the vicious
genocide in the 2-th century and states in public that it adheres
European and all human values, unfortunately, has not confessed so
far. Moreover, it takes cynic attempts to persuade the international
community to withdraw the issue of international recognition of the
Armenian Genocide from the agenda, the president says.

He points out that the countries that have made their duty to humanity
have inevitably faced the response of official Ankara. So they had
an opportunity to made sure in practice what values prevail in the
Turkish society. Unfortunately, Ankara’s efforts often bring desirable
results. One can consider the top of cynicism the position of the
political figures, including in a number of Western states, who, to
avoid aggravation of relations of their states with modern Turkey,
state that the COnvention on prevention of genocide and its punishment
adopted by the UN in 1948 allegedly has no retroactive force and cannot
be applied to the events of 90-year remoteness. Such a position is not
only a typical example of political Pharisaism, but also creates ground
for new crimes, and often by the country that has already committed
Genocide once, Ghoukassyan says. The blockade of Armenia’s transport
communications by Turkey is nothing but a result of impunity. However,
the most striking is that this country keeps ignoring the call of the
civilized world for immediate lifting of the blockade of Armenia and
establishing diplomatic relations with it, at the same time claiming
the role of a mediator in the KArabakh conflict’s settlement, openly
supporting the position of Azerbaijan. Such a peculiar understanding
of the mediatory mission by Turkey proceeds from its attitude to the
issue of Genocide recognition, the NKR president thinks.

AZERBAIJAN’S ATTITUDE TO KARABAKH ARMENIANS WAS POLICY OF PERMANENT GENOCIDE: NKR PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. What was the attitude of Azerbaijan to
the Karabakh Armenians if not a policy of permanent genocide, NKR
President Arkady Goukassyan said during today’s Yerevan international
conference on the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The best evidence is the history of former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous
Region where the Azeri authorities consistenly worked to change
demography to later abolish autonomy.

They discriminated against the NKAR Armenians in economical, social
and cultural life. They banned any economic or cultural links with
Armenia. They destroyed monuments and distorted history. They presented
Armenians as enemies of Azeris and all other Turkic nations. The
same has been done in Nakhichevan where there already was no single
Armenian by mid XX. So the sad fate of Nakhichevan must be presented
to the international community as a vivid example of what Karabakh
would have faced had it remained within Azerbaijan any longer.

The above actions by the Azeri authorities were just preparation for
a large-scale bloody genocide. The Azeri leaders did not even care to
hide that they considered the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey an
example to follow. They proved to be worthy pupils of their teachers
when they started killing and deporting Armenians from Sumqayit, Baku,
Ganca, Shamkhor, Semakha and other districts, shelling Stepanakert,
massacring women, old people and children in Maraga, chocking Karabakh
in a blockade. This all is internationally defined as genocide,
says Goukassyan.

DOCUMENTARY FILM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SHOWN IN ATHENS

YEREVAN, APRIL 21. ARMINFO. A documentary film on the Armenian Genocide
by LBC (Lebanon) was shown in the diocese of the Armenian Catholic
Church of Athens Apr 19.

The movie pictures Armenian massacres in Van, Sis, Ani and Kars as
well as recollections of those surviving them and the present life of
Armenia and the Diaspora. Some Turkish historians and the governor of
Kars tell in the film how the Turkish side has consistenly distorted
the Genocide related facts.

German CDU/CSU calls on Turkey to deal with Armenian “genocide” unconditionally

ddp news agency, Berlin
21 Apr 05

Berlin (ddp): Ninety years after the deportations and massacres of
Armenians had started in Turkey on 24 April 1915, the Bundestag [lower
chamber of the German parliament] on Thursday [21 April] dealt with
the relationship between Turks and Armenians. In this connection,
the CDU/CSU [Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union]
had presented a motion to the parliament, calling on the Federal
Government to urge “Turkey to unconditionally deal with its past and
present role with regard to the Armenian people”.

In its motion, the CDU/CSU points out that, according to independent
calculations, the deportations and mass murders of that time had
claimed between 1.2 and 1.5 million Armenian victims. However, Turkey,
as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, has so far denied that
these crimes were committed systematically, the motion says. The
incidents of that time are regarded as the first genocide of the
20th century.

“Apart from the Ottoman Empire, the state that was most deeply involved
in these incidents was the Ottoman Empire’s main military ally during
World War I, the German Empire,” the motion continues. At the same
time, it calls on Germany to contribute to “a settlement between
Turks and Armenians on the basis of reconciliation and forgiveness
of historical guilt”.

At the beginning of the debate, CDU Deputy Christoph Bergner called
the “almost complete destruction of a century-old culture on Armenian
soil a tragedy at the beginning of the 20th century”. Ninety years
ago, in the Ottoman Empire, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were
“brutally deported” and “killed systematically, often with unrestrained
cruelty”, he said.

The impending 90th anniversary is probably the last major anniversary
where eyewitnesses of the incidents of that time are still alive,
Bergner added. At the same time, he expressed his hope that the
committee consultations on the CDU/CSU motion will lead to a joint
resolution supported by various parliamentary groups.