PRESS RELEASE
ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY OF STOCKHOLM, Sweden (HOM)
Contact: Mr. Hagop Khatcherian
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: +46707461495

Swedish Armenians pledge never to forget
the missionary Alma Johansson
`24 April – 90th Anniversary Committee’

RED CARNATION FOR OUR LOVING ALMA `
Stockholm- 17/04/2005

It is a beautiful spring day, the sky is blue and the birds are
singing… spring is finally here in Stockholm.

Anna Mahdessian is on her way to the cemetery which is in the centre
of the city. For the Armenian community of Sweden this is an annual
pilgrimage. You see parents with their children, young people, old
people, heading towards Alma Johanssons grave.

“Who is Alma Johansson”, asks Daron, the little boy holding her mom’s
hand, somehow terrified to be in a cemetery. “This is the first time
he is in a cemetery. Death is abstraction for him.

Anna calms him down and whispers a few comforting words in his ear.

On the 17th of April, in response to the initiative of the April 24
-90th anniversary committee, Anna and many other Armenians paid a
tribute the Swedish missionary Alma Johansson.

This was an extraordinary woman, who back in 1915, did her outmost to
help Armenians during the massacres, by awakening the public opinion
on the matter. It was thanks to her efforts that Hjalmar Brantning,
the first Swedish Social Democratic prime minister , then the finance
minister, argued for the Armenian cause, and described the massacres
as genocide, by using the Swedish word for that “folkmord”, long
before R. Lemkin did.

` We shall always remember her, we are always going to be there to
show our gratitude. This is a sacred place for us, Swedish Armenians,
explains the chairman of the committee representing Stockholms
Armenian Relief Society(HOM) Mr. Hagop Khatcherian, arranging the
flowers by the grave.

“I have some carnations, which is for eternal love,’ Says Anna with a
smile and then sinks her gaze to the candle burning in her hands.

The Armenian priest , Father Norayr together with the people prayed
for her soul and everybody came to the grave with their ointments.

Haig Hagopian,…….played ` Sourp Sourp’ on duduk

Glendale News-Press
April 4, 2005

A web of remembrances for genocide
20-year-old started a website where events commemorating the genocide all
over the world can be listed.

By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader

Armen Vartanian wanted to do his part in honoring those killed in the 1915
Armenian genocide.

So three years ago, Vartanian set up a website that lists events around the
world for people to commemorate the genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks are
said to have killed more than 1.5-million Armenians.

“I saw that the public needed a service like this,” the 20-year-old
Crescenta Valley High School graduate said. “This also shows everyone — not
just Armenians — how to commemorate the genocide, and that the past is not
forgotten.”

This year is especially important since April 24 will mark the 90th
anniversary of the genocide, Vartanian said.

The website, , was activated March 24 and will
run through the end of the month. The listings will then be removed by May
and replaced by hundreds of photos taken at the events and submitted to
Vartanian.

The website also features video clips about the genocide from broadcast news
sources.

“It’s like a central hub,” Vartanian said. “It brings all the events
together to a central place so people can find what’s happening in a fast
and easy way.”

Although Vartanian started and designed the website and posts all the
listings, his brother Aram Vartanian makes sure it is online at all times.
The two own and operate Fast Web Design on Broadway.

Aram Vartanian mainly works to keep hackers from disrupting the website.

“They would hack into the system and redirect it to Turkish websites that
say false information like the genocide never happened,” Aram Vartanian
said.

The ultimate mission of the website is to dispel that belief, Armen
Vartanian said, adding that he also wants the United States to acknowledge
the genocide.

“We want recognition not only from Turkey but the United States,” he said.

Spiegel, Germany
April 17 2005

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR EDGAR HILSENRATH

“I Felt Guilty Because I Survived the Holocaust”

Jewish author Edgar Hilsenrath survived the Holocaust in a Ukrainian
ghetto and then went on to become a best-selling author. He spoke
with SPIEGEL about his life in the ghetto, about writing satirical
Holocaust novels and about the Turkish massacre of the Armenians.

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR EDGAR HILSENRATH

“I Felt Guilty Because I Survived the Holocaust”

Jewish author Edgar Hilsenrath survived the Holocaust in a Ukrainian
ghetto and then went on to become a best-selling author. He spoke
with SPIEGEL about his life in the ghetto, about writing satirical
Holocaust novels and about the Turkish massacre of the Armenians.

DDP
Edgar Hilsenrath survived the Holocaust and went on to become a
well-known author.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Hilsenrath, in your novels you write about living and
surviving in the Jewish ghetto. Some people find it unsettling that
you talk about your experiences there with a certain amount of humor
and satire. Can you see what they mean?

Hilsenrath: If I could, I wouldn’t write like that. I just have a
rather perverse take on the events of the Holocaust.

SPIEGEL: There are some people who find that attitude offensive.

Hilsenrath: In Germany people want to make up to the Jews for what
happened by idealizing them. The Jews in the ghetto were every bit as
imperfect as human beings anywhere else. There are people who
criticize me for portraying the Jews in my novel “Night a Novel” as
suspicious, miserable and mean. I can only respond by saying that in
“Night a Novel” it is not the Jews that I was describing, but rather
the poverty of the ghetto…

SPIEGEL: …as well as what makes human beings human. “Night a
Novel”, your first novel, describes everything in such horrifying
detail that it is almost a descent into hell. Did you initially set
out to write a literary, rather than a factual, book?

Hilsenrath: Yes, I wanted to write a literary piece of work. At the
age of 14 I had already decided that I wanted to become a novelist.

Edgar Hilsenrath

Edgar Hilsenrath was born in Leipzig in 1926 as the son of a Jewish
merchant family. He survived World War II and the Holocaust in a
ghetto in Ukraine. After the end of the war, he went to Palestine for
a time and then on to the United States where his career as an author
began. His novels “Night a Novel” (1964) and “The Nazi & the Barber a
Tale of Vengeance” (1971) brought him popularity and helped him to
sell millions of books worldwide. In conjunction with the publication
of his annotated complete works by the Dittrich Verlag publishing
house, his 1989 novel “The Story of the Last Thought” has been
re-released. The book deals with the slaughter of the Armenians in
the Ottoman Empire.

SPIEGEL: Was the ghetto which you describe in “Night a Novel” similar
to where you lived in Mogilyov-Podolski in Soviet Ukraine?

Hilsenrath: It is actually the exact same ghetto. Just with a
different name.

SPIEGEL: Really? In your autobiographical novel “The Adventures of
Ruben Jablonski” you get the impression that your family was more
privileged than most of the ghetto.

Hilsenrath: That’s true. My life wasn’t ever really like the lives of
the characters in my novel “Night a Novel”.

SPIEGEL: Why were things different for you?

Hilsenrath: I arrived there with a whole group of Jews from Siret in
Bukovina (in present-day Moldavia). The leader of our group knew the
commander who was in charge of the ghetto. He not only allowed us to
use an old school building, but also gave us papers so that we were
not transported on again. The whole group, about 40 people, lived in
three classrooms. Everyone in the ghetto suffered hunger; there was
absolutely nothing. But we had smuggled jewelry, fur coats, dresses
and other valuables into the ghetto, even though this would have been
punishable by death.

SPIEGEL: Did you trade these goods on the black market?

Hilsenrath: Yes. We would sneak out of the ghetto at night and trade
the goods for food with farmers living in the area. We then sold the
food to the people in the ghetto. This was how the group from Siret
survived.

SPIEGEL: Was your whole family in the ghetto?

Hilsenrath: No. My father went into hiding in France. I actually grew
up in (the eastern German town of) Halle and then, in 1938, I went
with my mother and brother to my grandparents in Bukovina because
Germany had become too dangerous for us. The whole atmosphere was
impossible. My school in Halle was a real Nazi school. Every day I
had to fight with the other pupils, who gave me horrible nicknames.
The teachers bullied me.

SPIEGEL: Was it any better in Siret?

AFP
After World War II, Hilsenrath spent time on a kibbutz in Israel.
Hilsenrath: Yes. I was happy there. It was a miracle. They spoke
German in Bukovina and I felt really at home. I had lots of friends
and loved the Jewish music I heard there. There were also lots of
gypsies and gypsy music. It was an atmosphere which I really fitted
in to. Admittedly it was dirty: the people and the muddy streets. But
there was a real feeling of warmth and comfort. I really liked it
there.

SPIEGEL: Also maybe because your grandparents were somewhat better
off than most of the people in the shtetl?

Hilsenrath: Yes, they were well off.

SPIEGEL: When did you have to leave Siret?

Hilsenrath: In 1941, when the war broke out. All the Jews from our
town were transported to Central Romania. First to Craiova, then back
to the area around Siret, to a town called Radautz. We stayed there
for two months and scraped by living from hand to mouth. Then all of
a sudden posters sprang up all over town, saying that all the Jews
from Bukovina would be deported to the east, on order of (then
Romanian leader) Marshall Antonescu. We had to be at the station at
six the next morning. Anyone who was found still at home would be
shot. We were crowded into cattle trucks and for two days we traveled
through Czernowitz and Bessarabia to a small town called Ataki, which
is on the Dnister River. The ruined Ukrainian city Mogilyov-Podolski
was on the other side of the river. We were brought to the ghetto
there on rafts. We stayed until March 1944, when the Russians came.

SPIEGEL: Ranek, the main figure in your novel “Night a Novel”, has
very different experiences of the ghetto than yours. He is one of the
poorest people in the ghetto and at the end doesn’t survive. Why did
you decide to make him the hero of the story?

Hilsenrath: I wanted to describe the ghetto’s lowest social level.

SPIEGEL: Why?

Hilsenrath: I don’t know. Maybe because I had a guilty conscience.

SPIEGEL: Did you really feel guilty because things weren’t as bad for
you as for others?

Hilsenrath: I felt guilty because I survived.

SPIEGEL: While you were living in the ghetto people were constantly
being deported. Did you ever guess what was happening to these
people?

Hilsenrath: Rumor had it that they were being taken to the river Bug,
further out to the east. The SS were stationed on the other side of
the river and shot the Jews being sent across. The Romanians did that
quite a lot. We knew about all that but we didn’t think that things
might be worse.

SPIEGEL: So you didn’t live in constant fear of death?

Hilsenrath: As far as I was concerned, as a 15 year-old, it was all a
great adventure. We heard about things that were happening in Poland,
but we didn’t know any real details. We lived from day to day.

SPIEGEL: Were you allowed to go back to Siret when the Russians took
the ghetto?

AFP
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were murdered in the Ottoman
Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a chapter that
Turkey prefers to ignore.
Hilsenrath: No. When the Russians came, all men over 18 had to join
the army. It was just before my 18th birthday so I got away as fast
as I could and made my way by foot to Bessarabia.

SPIEGEL: Just as you describe in you novel “The Adventures of Ruben
Jablonski?”

Hilsenrath: Yes. I made it to Czernowitz. But there, the Russians
pulled me out of bed at night and arrested me. Then, we were all to
be sent to a coal-pit in Donbass (in present-day eastern Ukraine). At
roll call I met a cousin of mine from Poland. He was good at Russian
and also quite skilful at forging papers. He made me two years
younger, went to the Russian commandant and said: “The boy is only
16. You cannot deport him.” They let me go. The next day, I went to
Romania, which had been liberated by then. I walked 40 kilometers
from Czernowitz to Siret. Bit by bit, my entire family gathered
there. After six months, a delegation of Zionists from Bucharest
turned up looking for young people to go to Palestine. And I said
“Okay.”

SPIEGEL: Because you were looking for adventure or because you were a
Zionist?

Hilsenrath: Both, for sure. The Zionists had arranged for a train
that was to run from Bucharest via Bulgaria and Turkey to Palestine.
In Bulgaria, however, the Russians arrested us alleging that we were
illegal aliens. We were locked into an internment camp for two months
before Ben Gurion himself came to Sofia and got us out. The trip took
two months.

SPIEGEL: When did you arrive?

Hilsenrath: In January 1945 we received our proper papers, a British
stamp, and we were free. The Zionists then divided us up and sent us
to different kibbutzim. I ended up in a kibbutz in Galilee. It was
quite a good life but I was bored. I didn’t like working in the
fields every day. In the end I went Jerusalem to see the person in
charge of the Youth Aliya (an organization which brought youth from
Europe to Israel) and asked, “Can’t you send me to a place where
there are people from Bukovina?” And he said: “Okay, I know a Kibbutz
where Bukovinians live.”

SPIEGEL: You were homesick in other words?

Hilsenrath: Yes. But they kicked me out of the new Kibbutz after two
months because I didn’t want to go to Hebrew-classes every day after
work. Back then, I already spent all my free time writing novels.

SPIEGEL: In German?

Hilsenrath: Yes, in German.

SPIEGEL: Didn’t you feel any need to learn Hebrew?

Hilsenrath: Not at all. The Kibbutz bought me a bus ticket to Haifa
and I went. I took a variety of different jobs, worked as dishwasher,
and came down with a bad case of Malaria.

SPIEGEL: Obviously, you did not develop any kind of bond with
Palestine?

Hilsenrath: The Israeli mentality was totally different to mine. They
just didn’t understand people like me. They couldn’t understand why I
had been in a ghetto. We were totally different.

SPIEGEL: And then you grabbed the first chance you had and emigrated
to France?

Hilsenrath: I first had to wait for two years before even getting a
passport …

SPIEGEL: … and then you were reunited with your family?

Hilsenrath: Yes. My mother and brother had already illegally
emigrated from Bulgaria to France via Hungary and Austria.

SPIEGEL: You hadn’t seen your father for nine years. Did he
immediately approve of your goal of becoming a “writer”?

Hilsenrath: No! My father was totally against it. He wanted me to be
a furrier, just like him. But as you can see, I did not listen to
him.

SPIEGEL: It was only on the next leg of your journey, in America,
that you completed your novel “Night a Novel” and the book that would
become your most famous, “The Nazi & the Barber a Tale of Vengeance”.

Hilsenrath: I had already written two-thirds of it in Germany. I told
my American publisher back then “I can only do it in a
German-speaking environment.”

SPIEGEL: “The Nazi & the Barber a Tale of Vengeance” was published in
Germany in 1977 with a six-year delay. Why? The novel had already
been a bestseller in America.

Hilsenrath: The publishing houses here said that the German people
just weren’t ready for it yet. They said that such a serious subject
couldn’t be dealt with satirically. They didn’t like the language,
they didn’t like the open sexuality.

SPIEGEL: It was finally published by a small publishing house and
became a big hit. But even (literary giant) Heinrich Boell, who
reviewed your novel, wrote that he had to overcome a “threshold of
disgust.” Were you hurt by that?

Hilsenrath: No. I was amused. I mean, sensitive readers do have
problems with my books. A friend of mine worked with (German radio
station) Bayerische Rundfunk then. After I sent her “The fairy tale
of the last thought”, she called me a bit later and was totally
horrified. She had just read the part about the 97-year-old man that
sleeps with a Kurdish nine-year old girl and said she could not go on
reading the book. That’s how it is with my books.

SPIEGEL: You have sold around five million copies worldwide. Despite
that, your name has never been as familiar as Boell, Lenz or Grass.
Do you have an explanation?

Hilsenrath: No. Fame and me just don’t go together. It’s not always a
fair process.

SPIEGEL: In the coming days, your novel “The Story of the Last
Thought” is reappearing as part of your annotated complete works. In
it, you deal with the genocide against the Armenians, a topic that is
now, 90 years after it occurred, suddenly attracting attention again.
Would you write the book today just as you did in 1989?

Hilsenrath: Yes I would. I even think it’s my best novel. The “Story”
is pure poetry. The entire book is poetry filled with black humor.

SPIEGEL: Did the distance help — in that this time you weren’t
writing about your own history?

Hilsenrath: The Armenian genocide was also a Holocaust, but it wasn’t
my Holocaust. To be honest, when I began the book, I didn’t want to
write yet another Holocaust book. But then I stumbled across the
Armenians. I found original sources and even traveled to San
Francisco for research purposes. I’ve even been made a member —
honorary of course — of the Armenian Writers Association.

SPIEGEL: The Armenian genocide is not nearly as present in the
popular conscience as the Holocaust…

Hilsenrath: One could say not at all.

SPIEGEL: Can one risk a comparison between the two slaughters?

Hilsenrath: The Armenians were the Jews of the Ottoman Empire,
although there were also Jews living there — but the Armenians were
considered a cursed race and were seen as businesspeople and as
greedy. Which wasn’t true; most of the Armenians were farmers.

SPIEGEL: For a genocide to take place, both victims and perpetrators
are required.

Hilsenrath: But the Turks have completely repressed this chapter of
their history. It is forbidden; they aren’t even allowed to mention
it — probably out of fear that the Armenians would then demand
reparations.

SPIEGEL: Under these conditions, can you imagine Turkey becoming part
of the European Union?

Hilsenrath: I have to admit that I’m kind of afraid of Islam. On the
other hand though, maybe it would also be a chance for Turkey to
exert a positive influence on the rest of the Islamic world.

SPIEGEL: Thank you very much for this interview.

,1518,351472,00.html

Iranian TV praises Jewish MP’s stance condemning “Zionist regime’s” behaviour

Fars News Agency web site
17 Apr 05

TEHRAN

IRIB [Iranian state radio and TV] in response to the deputy of the
Jewish community in the Majlis [Morris Mo’tamed] has announced: In the
beginning of his statements, while referring to the inappropriate
behaviour of the Zionist regime, he condemns such a behaviour by
Iranian Jews. He and our Jewish fellow countrymen should therefore be
praised for believing in the fight against Zionism and defending
Iran’s stance in this respect.

The letter continues: The policies of the national media [IRIB], as Mr
Mo’tamed is aware, is based on the constitution, as well as the
supreme leader’s guidelines and the approved legal frameworks.
Concerning religious minorities, it should be reminded that the main
policy of the national media is to observe minorities’ rights and
respecting their beliefs. The programme made on the life of Martyr
Araglian, which was praised by the Armenian community in Iran, is an
example in this regard.

The letter then explains: The objective behind preparation and
broadcast of televised programmes, which are based on research and
documents, are to enlighten people on different phenomena and
problems; So that the audience can have a sound evaluation of
issues. In such televised programmes, there is no intention to insult
any social group or individual. Therefore, positive and negative
figures may be portrayed next to each other. Undoubtedly, the final
objective is to express the realities and not to highlight certain
individuals.

In the film entitled “Conspiracy and great escape” the positive and
negative Jewish characters were both involved. If we have a realistic
assessment, we will see that positive characters were highlighted
further. Undoubtedly, such an outlook by IRIB to deal with realities
will be true for all religions with positive and negative
personalities.

In continuation, the letter indicates that some active IRIB artists
and programme-makers are religious minorities themselves. [Passage
omitted: on artists creativity]

As a conclusion, the letter refers to the meeting of the Jewish
religious figures with the head of IRIB which was held in an
atmosphere of friendship and respect at the presence of the Jewish
Majlis deputy, which led to a satisfactory result. It reminded: In the
year of national solidarity [this Iranian calendar year starting from
21 March] we are attempting to align the national media policies with
desires of all our fellow countrymen including religious
minorities. We therefore hope to benefit from their advice in this
respect.

Armenian opposition party elects new chairman

Noyan Tapan news agency
16 Apr 05

YEREVAN

Aram Sarkisyan, former prime minister of Armenia and brother of
Armenian ex-Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisyan, who was killed in the 27
October 1999 terrorist act, was elected chairman of the political
council of the Republic Party during its 4th congress on 15 April.

[Passage omitted: details]

Speaking to his companions, Sarkisyan said that being chairman of the
Republic Party is a greater honour for him than being Armenian
president. He thanked Albert Bazeyan [member of the party], noting
that he is a friend and companion of his brother.

Hinting that his party is initiating a national movement, Sarkisyan
said that “the revolution will be a surprise”. He also said that he
knows more but cannot say anything.

[Passage omitted: About changes in the regulations of the party]

Live debate on Azeri TV focuses on foreign policy priorities

Space TV, Baku
28 Mar 05

The 28 March edition of a live TV debate sponsored by the British NGO
Links and broadcast on Azerbaijani Space TV discussed conceptual
aspects of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy.

The participants in the debate were members of Azerbaijan’s permanent
delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, MP
Asim Mollazada and MP Gultakin Haciyeva, the head of the Foreign
Ministry department for human rights, democratization and humanitarian
problems, Alimirzamin Asgarov, and political scientist Leyla Aliyeva.

Asim Mollazada said that the priorities of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy
should be defined by the will of the people. He said the country’s
foreign policy was influenced by the Armenian “aggression” against the
country and its consequences, as well as Azerbaijan’s aspiration to
find its place in the international arena.

Asim Mollazada went on to say that as a young state Azerbaijan cannot
conduct a “balanced” or “complementary” foreign policy, and should
pursue a specific line. At the same time, Azerbaijan should conduct a
“normal” foreign policy with regard to its neighbours and “certain
forces” in the region, he said.

Mollazada noted that Azerbaijan has to shape its cooperation with
other forces in a way that will ensure its national security. He
stressed that cooperation with Armenia in the sphere of security could
be harmful for Azerbaijan. The MP also opposed Armenia’s description
of its own foreign policy as “complementary”, meaning that Armenia is
cooperating with all countries and organizations, and therefore, is
successful in its foreign policy.

Mollazada also said that the West was not yet worried about the
rapprochement between Azerbaijan and Russia, as Russia is not yet seen
by the West as dangerous. He added that Azerbaijan was a secular, not
Islamic state, which should be reflected in its policy. Touching on
the Prague talks on the Karabakh conflict, he said he expects nothing
from them as “it is clear to us that the current Armenian leadership
will not agree to peace”.

However, it does not mean that Azerbaijan should start a war now, he
added. Azerbaijan should work to prove to the world that its position
is correct.

He noted that Azerbaijan was lagging behind Europe, the Baltic states,
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova because of “the serious blow” that
Azerbaijani officials dealt to the country’s international image with
their “arbitrariness” during the elections.

In turn, Gultakin Haciyeva also said that national interests should
define foreign policy priorities. Stressing that Azerbaijan orients
itself to the West in its foreign and domestic policy, she said that
the country had chosen “very correctly” the “progressive” direction in
its foreign policy. She said that besides Armenia and Azerbaijan, the
interests of many parties were involved in the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict, including Russia and the USA. Although the USA realizes that
the talk here is about the integrity of Azerbaijan, it is now more
interested in forming a South Caucasus security system, and it would
be “naive” to think that the Karabakh conflict will be resolved before
this system is formed, she stressed. As for the Prague talks, she said
she had no “serious hopes” in this connection.

At the same time, Alimirzamin Asgarov said the priority of
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy is to defend the interests of the state
and society in the international arena. He said that the resolution of
the Karabakh problem and cooperation within the framework of
international organizations are one of the country’s foreign policy
priorities. There was hope that the Prague talks would yield a result,
but Armenia is still taking a non-constructive position, he noted.
Commenting on President Ilham Aliyev’s foreign trips, Asgarov said
that the president’s visits to eastern countries, including Iran and
Saudi Arabia, were normal.

For her part, Leyla Aliyeva singled out the security and political
factors in the country’s foreign policy. She said that the security
factor and Azerbaijan’s geopolitical location compel it to conduct a
balanced foreign policy, but in terms of “national dignity” a
Western-oriented foreign policy is “closer” to Azerbaijan.

Aliyeva said that Armenia was still seeing itself as a non-independent
country, otherwise “it would definitely hold serious talks with
Azerbaijan”. She added that there is more an “imitation” of talks
between the two sides because both, especially Armenia, are trying to
exert pressure on each other with the help of a third side. Yerevan is
trying to put pressure on Azerbaijan with the help of a third party in
order to make Azerbaijan establish economic ties with Armenia.

Leyla Aliyeva said that the West was worried about Moscow’s “political
influence” on Azerbaijan because there are some “authoritarian and
totalitarian tendencies” in Russia. She said Azerbaijan should be
playing a leading role in brining the region closer to Europe.

Armenia says OSCE report on Nagorno-Karabakh won’t reduce tensions

AP Worldstream
Apr 17, 2005

Armenia reacted negatively to an OSCE report on the tense situation in
the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying didn’t take enough
notice of cease-fire violations by Azerbaijan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Gamlet Gasparyan on Saturday repeated his
country’s assertions that Azerbaijan was responsible for continued
violations along the enclave’s front lines. He said the OSCE report,
released Friday by the organization’s so-called Minsk Group, should
have done more to underscore that.

The OSCE report voiced concerns about growing tensions and cease-fire
violations and called on all sides to refrain from inflammatory public
statements.

“The noticeable caution by the co-chairmen (in the report) … will
not promote the preservation of the cease-fire regime,” Gasparyan
said. “We expect that the co-chairmen and those interested in
preserving stability in the region will take more decisive steps.”

Azerbaijan, which has not reacted publicly to the report, blames
Armenia and Karabakh Armenians for stoking tensions.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region inside Azerbaijan that has
been under the control of ethnic Armenians since the early 1990s,
following fighting that killed an estimated 30,000 people. A
cease-fire was signed in 1994, but the enclave’s final political
status has not been determined and shooting breaks out frequently
between the two sides, which face off across a demilitarized buffer
zone.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Journal News, NY
April 17 2005

Armenians to mark genocide
By SULAIMAN BEG

Thousands of Armenians from the Northeast will gather in Times Square
on April 24 to mark the 90th anniversary of the massacre of 1.5
million Armenians in the first genocide of the 20th century.

“If you ignore these events and allow them to be forgotten than you
encourage them to be repeated,” said Richard Sarajian of Chestnut
Ridge, a member of the Joint Committee to Commemorate the 90th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which organized the event.

“If people acted with respect to the Armenian genocide, there might
not have been a Jewish Holocaust,” he said.

On April 24, 1915, the massacre began when about 200 Armenian
religious, political and intellectual leaders were rounded up and
killed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Turkey never has accepted responsibility for the genocide or tried to
make reparations, said Sarajian, a New City-based lawyer whose
great-grandfather was one of the 2.5 million Armenians living in the
Ottoman Empire. The man was taken from his home in the middle of the
night and later killed.

Politicians from around the country, Armenian clergy, genocide
survivors, scholars, civil rights leaders and author Dr. Peter
Balakian will address the crowd at various points in the day.

Before the noon rally in Times Square, two church services will be
held at Manhattan’s two Armenian cathedrals. After the rally, an
ecumenical requiem service will be held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

“We’ll also talk about genocides going on now,” said Sarajian,
chairman of the National Executive Council of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America, one of the sponsoring organizations. “Like the
situation in Darfur. There is genocide going on and we remain silent.
We can’t remain silent on genocide – in the past or the present.”

Even though it happened nearly a century ago, most Armenians still
bear the psychological scars, said Karekin Kasparian, pastor of St.
Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church in White Plains. The day of
remembrance, he said, was a chance to heal emotional scars.

“Directly or indirectly, someone from their family was a victim of
the genocide,” he said of the nearly 1,900 people of Armenian descent
living in Rockland and Westchester counties.

Kasparian said that 37 American states have issued proclamations
recognizing the murder of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 and that
recently 142 members of Congress signed a letter to President Bush
asking him to appropriately recognize the tragedy.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, a member of the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues, signed the letter and sent a commemoration letter to
the Armenian National Committee of America and St. Gregory in White
Plains, pledging her support to the Armenian nation.

“Blind hatred and senseless prejudice tear at the very fabric of our
society even today,” Lowey wrote. “The victims of the Armenian
genocide, the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Rwanda and
Sudan, and acts of vicious terrorism remind us of the human cost of
hate, and implore us to prevent these tragedies from happening again.
…. Building a strong, prosperous Armenia is the best way to honor the
memory of the Genocide victims.”

If you go

What: 90th anniversary of Armenian genocide

Where and when: The April 24 event begins with 9 a.m. church services
at St. Vartan Cathedral (Second Avenue at 34th Street) and St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral (27th Street between Second and Third
avenues). A noon memorial gathering will be held in Times Square
(Broadway at 43rd Street) and a 2:30 p.m. ecumenical requiem service
will be held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Fifth Avenue at 50th Street).

Zaman, Turkey
April 17 2005

Russian Bases Obstacle for Velvet Revolutionists NATO Membership
By Mirza Cetinkaya
Published: Sunday 17, 2005
zaman.com

Russian bases in two former Soviet Republics Ukraine and Georgia,
both of which were recently marked by the ‘velvet revolutions’, are
reportedly seen as an obstacle for these countries becoming NATO
members.

Within the scope of the newly approved “open doors policy” by the
organization, an official invitation for the membership of Ukraine on
April 21 was expected. The Lithuania Foreign Affairs Minister Antanas
Valionis assigned by the organization said that the Ukraine- NATO
Commission will deal with the issues of the official invitation for
Ukraine and cooperation points. Valionis noted that any country that
wishes to enter the organization would join it within the scope of
the organization’s new policies. The greatest obstacles, however, are
the Russian bases in these countries preventing them from entering
NATO. As an unclear treaty was obtained between Moscow and Tiflis on
the subject to quit the Batum and Ahalkalaki military bases, the
Russian military fleet in the Crimean seems to hamper Ukraine’s NATO
membership for some time. According to the treaties between the two
sides, the center of the Russian Black Sea fleet will be positioned
in the Crimean until the year 2017. Those countries who want to
attend NATO must not host military bases from another country.

Ukraine Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Vladimir Ogrizko revealed that
they would allow Russia time to leave the Crimean under its own
free-will before their time is up. Observers, however, are stating
comments that Russia would do anything to hamper the Ukraine joining
NATO in order to be an obstacle to NATO settling in such a
strategically important place like the Black Sea. If they fail to
convince Russia, either the Ukraine will need to wait another year or
another solution must be found. Some argue that one solution would be
for Russia and Ukraine to become joint member of the alliance. Moscow
had voiced opinions in some not very important decisions of the
alliance through the NATO-Russia Council, which was formed in 2002.
But this situation appears difficult to develop into full membership.

The new administration of the Ukraine where a western supported soft
revolution was experienced wants to attend NATO and the EU as soon as
possible. Moreover, Prime Minister Yulya Timaasenko and President
Victor Yuescehnko who is in hurry to obtain his country’s integration
with the west are allegedly continually in discussions over these
issues. The general view in Moscow is for the idea that Ukraine’s
cooperation with the west will seriously damage the Russian benefits.
Some observers think on the other hand, Kiev’s new administration
will not be so harmful for Russia, it does not act as pro-western as
Poland and Baltic Sea countries.

Kant Military Air Base in Kyrgyzstan where the location of the last
‘velvet revolution’ is under the control of Russia. There is a US’
Manas Base 35 km away from this. The Russians also have Gebele
Observation base in Azerbaijan and the number 102 military base in
Armenia as well. It has also been suggested that Ayni Airport of
Tacikistan (Tajikistan) would be rented out to the Russians. A
top-level official from the Tajikistan Defense Secretary disclosed
that the airport would be presented for the use by the number 201
Russian base.

Salt Lake Tribune, Utah
April 17 2005

Author assailed for acknowledging Armenian massacre

Lifting the veil: Fellow Turks criticize him for bringing up dark
history

By Louis Meixler

Photo: Turkish author Orhan Pamuk caused a controversy when he said
1 million Armenians were murdered in Turkey during World War I. Many
Turks dispute the charge. (Associated Press file photo)

ANKARA, Turkey – When a leading Turkish novelist said earlier this
year that 1 million Armenians were murdered in his country during
World War I, he broke a deep taboo.
Three lawsuits were filed against Orhan Pamuk, accusing him of
damaging the state. ”He shouldn’t be allowed to breathe,” roared
one nationalist group. In Istanbul, a school collected his books from
students to return to him. On a news Web site, the vote ran 4-1
against him.
Turkey’s mass expulsion of Armenians during World War I – which
Armenians say was part of a genocide that claimed 1.5 million lives –
is a dark chapter rarely discussed in Turkey or taught in its
schools.
But slowly the veil is being lifted. One reason is that Turkey is
more open and democratic today, another is its ambition of joining
the European Union; French President Jacques Chirac has said Turkey
must first acknowledge the killings.
Turkey is also eager to counter Armenian diaspora groups that are
pushing European governments and the United States to declare the
killings genocide. And the approach of April 24, the 90th anniversary
of the date Armenians mark as the start of the killings, is focusing
attention on the issue.
”We are mutually deaf to each other,” said Yasar Yakis, head of
parliament’s European Union Affairs Committee, who invited two ethnic
Armenians in Istanbul to address his committee.
”Perhaps if we can create a climate in which we listen to what
the other side has to say, we might meet in the middle,” Yakis said.

Turkey has long denied the genocide claim, saying the death toll
of 1.5 million is wildly inflated and that both Armenians and Turks
were killed in fighting during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Turks who describe it as genocide have on occasion been prosecuted,
and Turkey often gets into diplomatic tussles with governments it
suspects of taking the Armenian side. It’s one of the reasons Turkey
and neighboring Armenia don’t have diplomatic relations.
Turkey also fears that if the genocide claim is recognized,
Armenians will use it to demand compensation – either money or lost
land.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul insists that to call it genocide is
”pure slander,” and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said
that all countries should open their archives to scholars to examine
whether the event was genocide.
A Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Committee, partly funded by the
U.S. State Department, first met in 2001, bringing together leading
Turks and Armenians, while intellectuals such as Pamuk, whose novels
have won critical acclaim in the United States, are playing a key
role in opening up the debate.
For Turkey, the issue goes beyond the killings of Armenians to the
whole trauma of losing its once mighty Ottoman Empire.
As the Muslim empire faltered, minority Armenian Christians began
asserting their identity. During World War I, amid fears of Armenian
collusion with the enemy army of Christian Czarist Russia, Armenians
were forced out of towns and villages throughout the Turkish
heartland of Anatolia and many died.
”The Armenians were relocated because they cooperated with the
enemy, the Russians, and they . . . killed Ottoman soldiers from
behind the lines,” Yakis, the lawmaker, said.
Armenians, however, say the killings were part of a planned
genocide.
Volkan, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of
Virginia, said that after the war, the new Turkish republic ”wanted
to look forward and not backward.”
Pamuk dropped his bombshell in February in an interview with the
Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger, talking of Armenians as well as
Turkey’s modern-day Kurdish minority.
He said that ”30,000 Kurds have been murdered here and 1 million
Armenians and nobody dares to mention that. So I do it. And that’s
why they hate me.”
The reaction to Pamuk was largely hostile, but a few newspaper
columnists defended his freedom of speech.