ARF delegation meets with Canadian prime minister

15.04.2005 13:21

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A delegation of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) Canada Central Committee and the Armenian National
Committee of Canada (ANCC) met on April 14 with Canadian Prime
Minister Paul Martin in Ottawa.

Canadian Parliament Members Marlin Jennings and Jim Karijianis were
also present at the meeting. On behalf of the Canadian Armenians, ARF
Canada CC representative Vagharsh Ehramjian thanked the Canadian prime
minister for the M-380 resolution on the Armenian Genocide passed by
the Canadian Parliament on April 21, 2004. ANCC Chairman Jirair
Basmajian presented Martin with a 100-year-old carpet made in Artsakh.

The delegation members have asked the Canadian prime minister to make
a statement on the occasion on the Armenian Genocide’s 90th
anniversary. They also asked him to invite high-ranking Armenian
government officials to Canada and step up work of opening a Canadian
embassy in Armenia.

Interfax
April 14 2005

Armenian students protest Georgian policies

YEREVAN. April 14 (Interfax) – Armenian students held a protest rally
in front of the Georgian Embassy in Yerevan on Thursday against what
they see as Georgia’s policy of assimilation of ethnic Armenians.

Arsen Balian, one of the rally organizers, told Interfax the Georgian
national policy “goes beyond the limits of common sense.”

“We ask the Georgian authorities not to yield to provocation by third
forces, because Armenia and Georgia are countries friendly to each
other,” Balian said.

The protesters said the Georgian authorities should not have used
force to disperse demonstrations held by ethnic Armenians living in
Georgia in protest against the withdrawal of the Russian bases from
Georgian territory.

At the same time, the organizers emphasized that they were not
pursuing any political ends.

The protesters handed over a letter to the Georgian Ambassador to
Armenian Giorgi Saganelidze.

COE (Communiqués de presse), Switzerland
Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (Comunicados de prensa), Switzerland
April 15 2005

Churches worldwide to commemorate the Armenian genocide on 24 April

The member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have been
invited to make Sunday 24 April a day of memory of the Armenian
genocide on its 90th anniversary.

This way of commemorating the tragic massacre of one-and-a-half
million Armenians in Turkey and the deportation of another million
from their homeland was recommended last February by the Council’s
central committee.

In its recommendation to commemorate what was the first genocide of
the 20th century, the governing body stressed “the need for public
recognition of the Armenian genocide and the necessity of Turkey to
deal with this dark part of its history”.

“I am personally in communion with you in prayers and in solidarity
with the cause of your people,” wrote the WCC general secretary Rev.
Dr Samuel Kobia in an 11 April letter addressed to the Catholicos of
All Armenians, Supreme Patriarch Karekin II.

Kobia also expressed his hope that the “intercessory prayers that the
fellowship of churches will offer on Sunday, 24 April, will remind
the world of the words of the gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God”.

In another letter sent to the Council’s member churches on 14 April,
the director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International
Affairs (CCIA) Mr Peter Weiderud voiced his hope that “services held
all over the world on 24 April would encourage churches and
Christians to reflect on truth, justice, repentance, forgiveness,
reconciliation and healing of society”.

The full text of the WCC central committee recommendation is
available at:

Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

April 15 2005

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs voice concern at growing tension between
Armenia and Azerbaijan

VIENNA, 15 April 2005 – The three-Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group,
which deals with the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, have issued a
statement expressing their joint concern at the recent rise in the
number of incidents resulting in more casualties along the front
lines. Their statement reads:

The Minsk-Group Co-Chairs, concerned by the growing tension between
Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of the significant increase,
during recent weeks, of ceasefire violations along the front lines,
resulting in higher numbers of casualties, as well as by public
statements about the possibility of war, deem it appropriate to
recall that:

* these violations are causing needless loss of life and jeopardizing
the cease-fire;
* references to war are complicating current efforts to elaborate a
peaceful settlement of the conflict, are fueling feelings of hate in
the population of both countries, and are not preparing the people to
live as neighbors rather than enemies.

At this sensitive juncture, where a first step towards an agreement
mediated by the Co-Chairs could be at hand in the framework of the
discussions between the parties, the Co-Chairs strongly urge them:

* according to the obligations undertaken by the sides in February
1995, to reinforce the cease-fire on the line of contact and refrain
from any public statements that could lead to escalation of the
conflict;
* to recognize that a renewal of hostilities cannot provide a lasting
solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict but would be disastrous for
the population of both countries, resulting in loss of life, more
destruction, additional refugees and displaced persons, and enormous
financial costs that would undermine the economic development of both
countries;
* to prepare their populations for a balanced negotiated agreement
that will require compromise on both sides.

The Co-Chairs encourage the sides to focus their efforts on the
ongoing discussions of the Foreign Ministers with the Co-Chairs
during the meetings planned in London mid-April and in Frankfurt at
the end of April, in preparation for the next meeting between the two
Presidents envisaged in mid-May.

Co-chairs:
Amb. Yuriy Merzlyakov, Amb. Steven Mann, Amb. Bernard Fassier
(Russian Federation , United States of America, France)

90th anniversary of Armenian massacres

AP Worldstream;
Apr 15, 2005

Editors:

Ninety years ago, on April 24, 1915, Ottoman Turkish authorities
ordered the roundup of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople, today
known as Istanbul. It was the beginning of the expulsions and killings
that Armenians say left 1.5 million of their people dead. Today,
Armenians have made some headway in their demand that the world
recognize the deaths as genocide. While some Turks have begun to
confront this dark chapter of their history, the Turkish government
still denies the killings were a genocide.

Shortly, we will move three stories and a brief on the events in
Turkey during World War I for use now or in the coming days before the
anniversary. The stories are accompanied by an AP graphic and AP
photos.

The package includes:

YEREVAN, Armenia _ At 102, Gulinia Musoyan is still horrified when she
thinks of what happened to her as a child in Ottoman Turkey _ rousted
from her home in the middle of the night, forced to trudge shoeless
for days through the desert alongside thousands of others, with the
weak killed or left to die in the blazing, rocky wastelands. Ninety
years later, the suffering endured by Musoyan and hundreds of
thousands of other Armenians is gaining sympathy worldwide, but not
the judgment sought by the victims and their descendants: that the
mass slayings of up to 1.5 million Armenians be declared a genocide
carried out by Turkey, which the Turks vehemently deny. The killing
began on April 24, 1915. BC-EU-FEA-GEN–Armenia-Death in Turkey. By
Mike Eckel.

ANKARA, Turkey _ When one of Turkey’s most respected authors shattered
a deep taboo by saying that 1 million Armenians were murdered in
Turkey during World War I, the reaction was overwhelming. Three
lawsuits were filed against Orhan Pamuk, and one school collected his
books to return them. While intellectuals like Pamuk are starting to
confront this dark chapter in history, many Turks _ and the government
_ still deny the Armenian claim that the killings were
genocide. BC-EU-FEA-GEN-Turkey-Confronting History. By Louis Meixler.

ANJAR, Lebanon _ As the Ottoman Turkish army was driving Armenians
from their homes during World War I, people from six villages along
the Mediterranean coast fled to the Musa Dagh peak and _ with a few
hundred rifles and provisions they dragged up the mountain _ held off
attacks by the Turks for more than 50 days. Then some 4,000 managed to
escape Turkish troops, and today many live in Anjar in eastern
Lebanon, part of a worldwide Armenian diaspora that includes a former
California governor, French singer Charles Aznavour, painter Arshile
Gorky and singer-actress Cherylyn Sarkissian, known to the world as
Cher. BC-FEA-ME-GEN–Lebanon-Armenian Diaspora. By Joseph Panossian.

BC-ME-FEA-GEN–Armenian Diaspora-Helping Hand _ A list of major
contributions to the Republic of Armenia by well-known figures in the
Armenian diaspora.

The AP

Armenia ready to discuss ties with Turkey – speaker

Interfax news agency, Moscow
14 Apr 05

ST PETERSBURG

Armenia is trying to establish normal partnership relations with
Turkey and to discuss jointly and find mutually acceptable solutions
to existing painful issues of bilateral relations, the speaker of the
Armenian National Assembly, Artur Bagdasaryan, has said.

“Today Armenia is in fact blockaded by Turkey. But a country, which is
trying to integrate into the European Union, must give up its policy
of double standards with regard to Armenia,” Artur Bagdasaryan said in
reply to questions from Interfax news agency at a news conference on
14 April on the results of the 25th plenary session of the CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly.

Artur Bagdasaryan recalled that this year marks the 90th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide. “I do not think that additional discussions
are needed. I think that we all must condemn the crimes that were
committed against humanity, because many countries and parliaments of
the world have already done so. We think that Turkey must also
recognize it,” the speaker announced.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan on 13 April offering to set up a joint
commission to investigate the facts of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

[Passage omitted: Turkey is refusing to recognize the genocide]

OSCE mediators urge Armenia, Azerbaijan to refrain from bellicose statements

Mediamax news agency
15 Apr 05

YEREVAN

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group adopted a statement in London
today, in which they expressed concern over frequent truce violations
in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict zone.

The French embassy in Armenia has sent to Mediamax the full text of
the statement signed by the Russian, US and French co-chairmen of the
OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, Steven Mann and Bernard Fassier.

The co-chairmen expressed concern “over heightened tension between
Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of a significant increase in truce
violations along the contact line” and “public statements about the
possibility of war”.

“Reference to war frustrates the current efforts to achieve a peaceful
settlement to the conflict, incites hatred in both countries and does
not prepare people to live as neighbours rather than enemies,” the
statement said.

“At this sensitive moment, when the first step towards an agreement
mediated by the co-chairmen could be at hand as a result of
discussions between the sides, we are urging the sides:

-in line with the obligations undertaken by the sides in February
1995, to reinforce the truce on the contact line and refrain from any
public statements that can lead to escalation of the conflict;

-to understand that resumption of hostilities cannot secure a lasting
settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, but would be disastrous
for the populations of both countries and lead to more human losses
and destruction, more refugees and displaced persons and enormous
spending that would undermine the economic development of both
countries;

-to prepare their populations for a balanced negotiated agreement
which will require compromise on both sides,” Yuriy Merzlyakov,
Steven Mann and Bernard Fassier said.

The co-chairmen called on the sides “to focus their efforts on the
foreign ministers’ discussions with the co-chairmen during the
meetings planned in London in mid-April and in Frankfurt at the end of
April, in order to prepare for the next meeting between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents planned in mid-May”.

Russia supplying howitzers to Armenia – Azeri TV

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
14 Apr 05

[Presenter] Although Russia, a co-chair [of the OSCE Minsk Group],
declares that it is trying to strengthen peace in the region, it is
taking completely opposite steps in reality. Official Moscow has
handed over to Armenian occupiers heavy artillery from its military
bases in Georgia. The occupiers used the opportunity and directed
those weapons against Azerbaijan.

[Correspondent] Russia has taken a further step towards aggravating
the situation in the South Caucasus. “Son Xabar” has learnt that
sixteen 152-mm howitzers have been moved from Russian military bases
in Georgia to Armenia and installed near [Azerbaijan’s] Qazax
District. This increases the danger that Armenia will step up its
aggressive claims against Azerbaijan. Thus, a 152-mm D-20 howitzer,
which uses a fragmentation land mine projectile, can destroy military,
civil and other facilities at a distance of 17 km. This distance will
increase to 24 km if an active jet-propelled projectile is used.

We should note that there are only seven or eight kilometres between
Armenia’s Idzhevan District, which borders on Azerbaijan, and the
Qazax District centre. Experts believe that if the D-20 howitzer is
used in this sector, it may destroy facilities not only in Qazax and
its villages, but also in Agstafa District.

We should note that there are howitzers that destroy targets at a
distance of 27-40 km. But the important thing here is that by placing
these weapons on its territory, Armenia is grossly violating its
commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. On the
other hand, although Russia, which is a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk
Group, has undertaken to broker the peaceful settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem, it is continuing to arm the Armenian
occupiers and as a result, delaying the resolution of the conflict.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GENERAL STAFF OF TURKEY TO PUBLISH FOUR-VOLUME EDITION
TELLING ABOUT ACTIVITY OF ARMENIANS IN OTTOMAN TURKEY IN 1914-1918

YEREVAN, APRIL 14. ARMINFO. Leadership of General Staff of Turkish
military forces is going to publish a four-volume edition with 1000
documents from its archives, as Turkish “Radical” newspaper informs,
stated Head of Center for strategic investigations and military
history of Turkey, general of Air Forces corps Erdogan Karakush.

According to the source, the GS leadership in such a way tries to
refute confirmations that archives of these department are closed for
society. Karakush noted that it took 1,5 years to publish the
4-volume edition. He says that documents telling about “Armenians’
activity” from 1914 to 1918 will be published there. Karakush
informed that the first two volumes are already printed and will go
on sale shortly. The next two volumes will be published within the
nearest six months. -r-

Armenian president to visit France on 20-23 April

Mediamax news agency
15 Apr 05

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will pay a working visit to France
on 20-23 April. During the visit, he will meet his French counterpart
Jacques Chirac, the heads of the French Senate and National Assembly,
the presidential press service told Mediamax new agency today.

Mediamax recalls that the working visit of the Armenian president to
France should have started on 4 April, however, the visit was
cancelled due to the leg injury that Kocharyan received at a ski
resort in Georgia.