Tuesday, February 27, 2007

U.S. ENTREPRENEURS CALL ON GEORGE BUSH NOT TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.02.2007 17:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
100 American leading entrepreneurs including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett addressed a letter to President Bush calling on him not to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The letter says, in part, that recognition of the Armenian Genocide may turn out a calamity for the United States and trade relations with Turkey will be damaged badly. Besides, the authors of the letter are convinced that the Genocide recognition will hamper reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, Turkish media reports.

The Armenian Genocide resolution was introduced in the U.S. Congress in January 2007. Its adoption is quite real due to democratic majority. It's worth mentioning that if passed by the Congress, the resolution cannot be vetoed by the President.

###

Wow, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett? Could this be for real?

Yes, there will be damage to U.S. and Turkey relations. So these leading "entrepreneurs" instead of going after justice for all, as America claims in their pledge, think more about their pockets and good relations a big-time human-rights offender, Turkey.

If Bill and Warren really signed the letter to Bush, all I can tell them and the other 98 leading "entrepreneurs" is I feel sorry for you and your backwards way of thinking. You are no longer living in the days of public blindness. We now have the internet and see what is really going on.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP LAW PASSED

Yerkir
26.02.2007 15:36

YEREVAN (YERKIR)
- With 66 pro, 5 con votes and 1 abstention, Armenian National Assembly adopted the amendments to the Law on dual citizenship at second reading. The United Labor party voted against. The opposition did not participate in the voting.

Let us remind that this amendment establishes the institute of dual citizenship in the republic and our compatriots residing in different sites of the world gain the right to elect and be elected.

Dual citizens cannot run for president and parliament, they will not be allowed to be members of the Constitutional Court.

According to Justice Minister David Harutyunyan, political agreement has been reached on the following issue: "Dual citizens who have no place of registration in Armenia will not participate in elections. Correspondingly, dual citizens having a place of registration in Armenia attain franchise. In fact, no additional precincts will be opened for citizens not registered in Armenia.

AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN URGED GEORGE BUSH NOT TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Arminfo
2007-02-26 11:41:00


A hundred leading American businessmen have sent a letter to the US President George Bush urging not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

As the Turkish Daily News reports, the letter underlines that the "recognition of the Genocide may become a disaster for the United States". The message notes that "in case of the Armenian Genocide recognition, the USA-Turkey commercial relations will suffer much". In view of this, the businessmen consider a possibility of recognizing the Armenian Genocide dangerous. Moreover, the businessmen are sure that the Genocide recognition may become an obstacle for reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey.

###

I always thought the lack of recognizing the Genocide was an obsticle for true reconciliation? And if they don't recognize the Genocide, how will that be of help for reconciliation? I guess my business mind does not think the way leading businessmen think. And why were there no letters from businesswomen?

Monday, February 26, 2007

DOORS OF HERITAGE STILL CLOSED

Panorama.am

19:11 23/02/2007


The parties are obliged to submit their charters to the Central Electoral Committee in order to get registered and participate in elections. `Heritage' (Jarangutiun) party cannot do that because the doors of the party office have been closed for already a year and the charter is in the office.

`We have applied to the minister of justice, Judicial Acts Compulsory Execution service head many times but did not receive any reply. The prime minister promised to solve the problem of the office but the problem is that he cannot solve a problem of even one office,' Raffi Hovannisian, chairman of Heritage party said.

`Everybody is talking about free and fair elections. You decide if the election process is free and transparent,' the speaker addressed the reporters and answered himself, `Of coarse, not.'

Indicators of Competence

The following story is an indicator of the level of competence of the government and also the Armenia Fund.

First I will point out the first part of the story, which talks about a Diaspora owned milk factory, the largest in all of Artsakh. In short, what is documented below is what happens when you keep taking the advice of the Prime Minister, who keeps recommending thieves to run your factory. All I can say is that the people who own the factory have very big hearts and keep having to pump money into the factory to keep it going. One of the problems are too many smaller milk factories, many owned by high-ranking officials or their relatives, and the worst is those same factories intentionally producing bad products and putting them in recycled containers of the Diaspora owners company so that people will think their products are bad and stop buying them.

As for the Armenia Funds project of rebuilding a hospital. The story mentions Martuni, but I can tell you that as of yesterday afternoon, our hospital is not being rebuilt, nor has it been vacated. It is having the heating system changed, which we hope will be done in the next few days, since it's snowing right now.

They probably meant to say the Mardakert hospital, which is in very bad shape and I would say should be demolished and built from the ground up. You have to ask why a project by the Armenia Fund was started for rebuilding instead of replacing, which of course will cost many times more?

It sounds to me that both those in Government today and those at the helm of the Armenia Fund need to get a little bit better organized and think things out before making moves forward. This is one of the major problems today in Armenia and Artsakh and that is incompetent and unqualified people running things.


QUESTIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
24 Feb 07


During the recent meeting of the NKR parliament Member of Parliament Maxim Mirzoyan inquired about the difficult condition the Arvard Company owned by the Anivian family is in, and what steps will be taken to improve it. The minister of territorial administration and development of industrial infrastructures Armo Tsatrian said the owners of the company decide what will be with the company. `As for the processing line Mr. Mirzoyan mentioned, it was worked out for a year and 318 tons of dry starter was produced. This technology is not effective in Karabakh because there is no sufficient raw material and specialists,' said the minister. Member of Parliament Sergey Ohanian expressed worry about the reconstruction of the hospital of Martuni funded by Armenia Foundation. He said the hospital was to be reconstructed by a company based in Kapan, Armenia. The hospital temporality moved into another building. `However, the reconstruction of the hospital has stopped. When will it be resumed?' Sergey Ohanian asked. The minister of urban planning Marat Hakobjanian said the NKR Prime Minister set up a commission. A study showed that the building should be demolished, but considering financial problems, Armenia Foundation decided to make a new project of the hospital building. `The ministry proposes reconstruction of the hospital building or construction of a new building. After the estimations of costs one of these two options will be chosen. Armenia Foundation is supposed to deal with this problem considering its financial capacity,' said Marat Hakobjanian.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
24-02-2007

Turkey attempts to blackmail Armenia again

It seems that Turkey is very concerned about the upcoming vote in U.S. Congress regarding the Armenian Genocide.

At this point they are threatening Armenia with the flights between Turkey and Armenia and the deportation of 70,000 illegal Armenians in Turkey.

First let me say that the Armenian Diaspora is not going to back down with our right to get the Genocide recognized and if that means it going to come at the price that Turkey will once again impose an air-blockade, thus further putting into question Turkey’s anti-European action, so be it.

And as for the illegal Armenian in Turkey, why on earth would they threaten Armenia with this? Are they not there illegally? I would think Genocide resolution or not, those people are breaking the law in Turkey and need to be deported. I guess what this documents that that Turkey is not a state that enforces their own laws, thus further showing that the government supports and sponsors illegal activities that are beneficial to them, such as all the events leading up to and after the assassination of Hrant Dink.

In short here is Turkey once again showing it’s true colors and should be another warning to us Armenians of who we are dealing with.


`Echo': To Stop Air Flights to Armenia and to Evict 70,000 Citizens of Armenia

Nurani

_www.eco-az.com_ (http://www.eco-az.com)
20.02.2007



Deputy of Great National Assembly of Turkey, Shukru Elekdar, made such proposal To stop air flights between Turkey and Armenia, to stop `indirect trade' and to evict 70,000 illegal Armenians from Turkey ` Shukru Elekdar, deputy of Turkish parliament from Popular Republican party, former Ambassador of Turkey to USA and former head of executive administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, called
on.

Deputy called to take these response measures in return to ongoing attempts to push through US Congress resolution on recognition of `genocide of Armenians'. Former diplomat underlined that Turkish government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a mistake in this respect. `It was pointed out before that Armenian diaspora in USA is strong enough and stands behind all decisions. But now there is no such tendency. After gaining independence by Armenia, foreign policy and administration of activity of diaspora is governed by Yerevan.

Director and corrector of this work is Ambassador of Armenia in Washington. For this reason our policy with regards to Armenia should be reviewed. No Turk will accept game of Turkey and Armenia. Under the pressure of USA and European Union we changed policy towards Armenia. After occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Turkey imposed embargo against Armenia. It strongly pressed the country, but USA and European Union forced Turkey to soften embargo. And what do we have now? 6 planes land in Istanbul airport every week from Armenian, which damages image of Turkey. Armenians coming to Istanbul exist from account of `shuttle trade' ` they need it so much. Foodstuffs of Turkey are exported to Armenia via Iran and Georgia. 70,000 Armenians live in Turkey illegally.

Turkey should make necessary pressure upon Armenia ` in order to prevent taking decision on recognition of `genocide of Armenians' first of all air flights and indirect export to Armenia should be stopped, and 70,000 Armenian citizens should be evicted. Armenia should be notices that it is time to be wise.

Armenia should understand that if it continues anti-Turkish policy it will cost dear for it'.

US journalist says air strikes on Iran planned

25.02.2007, 06.15

NEW YORK, February 25 (Itar-Tass)
- Despite the statements by the George Bush administration to the effect that the US is not going to attack Iran, the Pentagon has developed a plan of air strikes on a number of Iranian facilities, investigative journalist Seymour Hersch said in the latest issue of New Yorker magazine.

He asserted that the plan could be brought into action within 24 hours of President George Bush's issuing a respective order.

An operational group that was set up a few months ago at the Joint Chiefs of Staff originally focused on a possibility of destroying Iranian nuclear facilities, but later got orders to add to the plan facilities that could be used for helping insurgents in Iraq, Hersch said, citing unnamed Pentagon officials.

Azerbaijan one step closer creating “Southern Azerbaijan” and a greater Turkey

It seems the Azerbaijani Government is cooperating with the U.S. who is readying their war they will at some point wage on Iran. The Azeris hope to gain control over what is now Northern Iran, something that Azerbaijan refers to as “Southern Azerbaijan.”

If they are successful in taking this territory, they will not only cut Armenia off from the only friendly country that is connected by land (Iran), but Azerbaijan will also have a land-link to Nakhichevan and Turkey.

It’s in Armenia and Iran’s best interest to destabilize Azerbaijan in the shortest period of time so the American military are not able to dig in with a strong presents in Azerbaijan.

Though I can’t see any good coming from this new to be built American military airport, one thing is for sure, Iran is going to be working even harder now to help Armenia out to become more stable militarily so it can repel Azerbaijan from taking an inch of land from us.


US to build military airports in Republic of Azerbaijan - Iranian agency

IRNA news agency, Tehran
21 Feb 07

Baku, 21 February:
Gundalik Azerbaijan [daily] reports that America has been using two Azeri military airports for refuelling, transportation of troops and technical inspection of planes.

In its Wednesday edition [21 February], the newspaper adds: The airports of Azeri Air Force are located in the 'Haji Zeyn al-Abedin Taqiyev' and 'Qala' districts on the outskirts of Baku, and the Pentagon had earlier gained permission from Baku to use them for its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The daily adds: Initially, the Azeri officials evaded the question of America using their military airports, but later on they confirmed it.

According to Gudalik Azerbaijan, in addition to using the two airports, the Pentagon intends to establish well-equipped military bases in southern Azerbaijan and accordingly, has reached an agreement with Azeri officials on building new airports in the Lankaran and Masali regions close to the Iranian border.

Quoting Azeri military experts, the daily says: In the light of this [agreement], the increased comings and goings of American military officials to Baku in recent years are not without reason.

The daily noted: The recent visit to Baku of Peter Rudman, the US under-secretary of defence for international affairs, and other Pentagon officials underline that important issues are at stake, to the extent that, in the current month the Pentagon officials have held a number of meetings with Azeri military and border guard officials on bilateral cooperation.

Gundalik Azerbaijan, quoting Ildrum Mohammadov, a retired Azeri colonel, reports: The frequent visits of the Pentagon officials to Baku and the American military movements are mainly about Iran and Russia.

NKR PRESIDENT ARKADY GHUKASYAN ADDRESS TO PEOPLE OF NKR

Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
24 Feb 07



Dear fellow countrymen, Today I again have to address you in connection with the upcoming presidential election in NKR. Unfortunately, certain mass media of Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia continue to abuse a topic which has been closed long ago ` the possibility of my running a third term. Namely, attempts are made to present my last year's statement that second re-election of the president is not expedient politically and morally as a game mislead the public. These activities will do only harm to the international reputation of Nagorno Karabakh which is committed to the European values. Moreover, this abuse makes the society nervous and divides it. In order to avoid insinuations on my intentions I considered it necessary to make a statement in October which should have answered all the questions connected with my running a third term.

However, one statement of the NKR president was not enough for a few mass media and politicians. Apparently, they think the president must confirm daily his unlikelihood to run a third term, provoking him to take such a step with their slander. Of course, I could overlook the inappropriate behavior of these people if they did not go on harming the society with their actions. These people invent everything to slander the president. Every event in our state and outside it, which is directly related to me, is offered by them as a veiled intention of the president to run in the presidential election again.

Meanwhile, every day ordinary citizens of NKR, representatives of different political and non-governmental organizations, public servants, members of parliament, our compatriots from Armenia, other countries, foreign friends of Artsakh, as well as famous foreign diplomats, political figures, philanthropists come up to me with requests to run in the upcoming presidential election because the NKR Constitution adopted by our people authorizes the head of state to run for presidency. However, a dignified president cannot say one thing and do another thing. I am deeply grateful to all the citizens and foreign friends of our republic who endorse my home and foreign policies, and sincerely wish that I be reelected for another term, and I am stating again that I do not intend to run for the post of the NKR president. Nevertheless, I already know the behavior of the political abusers and their mass media and I am almost convinced that my address will not put an end to detrimental talks on this topic.

There is nothing I can do about it. I think this is an incurable disease. I am sorry for these people. I repeat that there can be no more precious value than the international reputation of my homeland, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which is essential to the international recognition of NKR.

Friday, February 23, 2007

TURKEY LIKELY TO BE OPPRESSED SO AS TO SATISFY THE ARMENIANS' CLAIMS

AZG Armenian Daily
22/02/2007


Genocide Recognition

The former president of the Turkish organizations of America, Ercument Kilic, according to "Hurriet", made a statement that Turkey in the next coming years will face the necessity of paying Armenia large sums of compensations. He stressed that several American insurance companies have started paying the Armenians, who have suffered from the Genocide, financial compensations. Kilic thinks that such turn of events may soon promote the pressure of insurance companies and Armenian lobby groups upon Turkey in order to refund the losses of the Armenians.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

ARMENIAN SPOKESMAN SLAMS AZERI OFFICIAL'S REMARKS

Mediamax, Armenia
Feb 13 2007

Yerevan, 13 February:
"The Armenian side assesses the latest stage of the talks on the Karabakh conflict settlement as constructive and promising, and the [OSCE Minsk Group] mediators share this opinion," Vladimir Karapetyan, a Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said today. He was commenting on Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov's statement that if the negotiations do not continue on the basis of previous agreements, doubts may arise about the expediency of the talks.

"Probably, ahead of the forthcoming meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, the Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister is preparing grounds for Azerbaijan's non-constructive position, just like this repeatedly happened in the past", Karapetyan noted.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

BAKU DECLARES ABOUT POSSIBILITY TO STOP TALKS OVER KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.02.2007 13:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov labeled as "a step back" the meeting between Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Elmar Mamedyarov held in Moscow at the end of January in the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. He stated that "in the result of a very tough position of Armenian Foreign Minister ha cannot predict the future developments of the process." "Vartan Oskanian presented some positions, which return us to the past. We categorically rejected those statements. Among those also were the return of Azeri refugees to their home and use of the road through Lachin corridor. I want to inform the Armenian side, that if we do not keep on the talks on the principles, which were being discussed during the last two years, perhaps, the continuation of negotiations will be useless and it will not be right to expect any results," he underlined.

The Armenian Plenipotentiary on the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations also underscored that currently the OSCE MG Co-Chairs offer to hold one more meeting between Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers. Azimov stated that principally, the Azeri side can accept Co-Chairs' offer to meet. "But if such a meeting supposes like the one in Moscow, we think that it is useless," he added, Bakililar.AZ reports.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Armenian judicial system continues to help free human traffickers

Another case of human trafficking has concluded, with one trafficker receiving 5 years (should be eligible for parole next year), another 2 years and the others one year probation.

As we know from our past experience, at very least the RA Minister of Justice David Haroutiunian is complacent when it comes to human trafficking, thus we have yet to see a case where a trafficker is held behind bars for any real amount of time.

In the past it’s been early parole or in one case last year around this time, all of the legal bodies in Armenia assisted a convicted trafficker escape and returned to her country of origin.

All I can say right now is that we should all once again be disappointed with the legal system in Armenia, which once again demonstrated that it does not work in the best interest of the people, but works to reward criminals so they will again go back to their dishonest deeds which provides an income for those people like RA Minister of Justice David Haroutiunian who has undoubtedly become one of the top 10 richest people in Armenia today as a results of manipulating the system to his advantage.


Pimp Sentenced to Five Years In Prison

www.hetq.am
[February 12, 2007]


On January 31 st a four-month criminal trial involving pimping and human trafficking came to an end in the Court of First Instance of Yerevan's Shengavit district. In 2006 Mayranush Harutyunyan, Susanna Nikoghosyan, and Ruzanna Baghdasaryan were charged by prosecutors with violating the Article 261of the Criminal Code of the Republic Armenia. Gayane Melkonyan was charged for violating the Articles 261 and 132, on human trafficking.

An alleged victim, Hasmik (all the names in this article are fictitious) told the court that in 2005 her acquaintance Knarik Danielyan offered her a high-paying job as a waitress in Dubai. “Being in a dire state financially and having to take care of two young children, I agreed,” Hasmik recounted.

After some time, Knarik took Hasmik to Gayane Melkonyan's house. Melkonyan immediately called Irina Yenokyan in Dubai, and then told Hasmik that she should leave Gyumri for Yerevan the next day, and from there to Dubai. Knarik reassured the surprised Hasmik and told her that she had already informed Hasmik's mother that Hasmik had found a job in Yerevan.

As soon as Hasmik reached Dubai, Irina Yenokyan seized her passport and forced her into prostitution by repeatedly beating her. Hasmik was arrested by the police In December 2005 and deported in January 2006.

“I was living in very bad conditions, so I was looking for way to earn some money, “ recounted Nazik, another victim. “My mother wasn't working, and I was studying. My grandmother was paying my tuition, and sometimes my uncle would send money from Russia. Coming home from classes I ran into Anush Harutyunyan, an acquaintance of mine, and during our conversation I told her about my financial situation. Anush said that she knew a woman who could send me abroad to earn good money, “Nazik went to see Gayane Melkonyan the same day. Gayane persuaded Nazik that she had connections in Turkey and could find a high-paying job for her. Knarik Ghandilyan and Lia Bagaryan were also present during the conversation and they confirmed Gayane's words. The next day Nazik again visited Gayane, who told her that her acquaintance Meline would be arriving soon from Turkey, and then returning shortly thereafter, so Nazik could go with her.

“They asked me what I could do. Then they told me that I could earn good money, have a nice apartment, and help my family. It was Meline who offered me a waitressing job. Gayane didn't promise anything. I don't even know if Meline paid Gayane anything for me.”

Several days later Nazik traveled with Meline Gevorgyan, Gayane, and Nelli Mnatastakanyan to Turkey, expecting to work as a waitress there. Meline paid the travel costs. But there were several surprises awaiting Nazik in Turkey. Meline told her that her travel costs were $400, and that she was not going to work as a waitress, but as a prostitute, because that work was better paid there. Meline was working in the city of Ushadas under the supervision of a Kurd named Mujhdat. Mujhdat threatened the girls that if they didn't work he would sell them to pimps in Antalya or Istanbul.

“At first we were afraid, since we were in a foreign city and didn't know the language. Afterwards we agreed. After all, the debt had to be repaid. Even though my passport was with me and I could leave the hotel, I didn't run away. For three months I shared my earnings with Meline. After that, I lived for some time with my boyfriend, and then came back to Armenia, “ Nazik told the court.

Nazik testified that she considered herself quits with the defendants, but at the same time she was a victim, because she had been tricked into going to Turkey on false pretences.

Several other witnesses told the court that they had gone to Turkey with the help of the defendants, specifically to engage in prostitution. But none of them had any issues with the defendants because they went on their own initiative and of their own free will in order to make money as prostitutes.

Oddly, both the victims and the witnesses refuted the section of their preliminary statements where they mentioned Susanna Nikoghosyan as being involved in the crime as their recruiter. Susanna Nikoghosyan was a defendant in two similar cases, which were subsequently merged, a month ago that were subsequently merged.

Larisa, another victim, told the court that she was in dire straits financially and that her only source of income was her daughter's allowance and occasional money from her brother who lived abroad. She added that in very tough times she would also work as a prostitute. Larisa told her neighbor Gayane Melkonyan about her tough situation, and through Gayane, left in 2004 for Trabzon to work as a hairdresser. In Trabzon she was met by Gohar from Ijevan.

“Gohar told me that I wouldn't be able to make good money working as a hairdresser there and that in order to pay the travel debt back quickly I would have to work as a prostitute. I refused but they took away my passport and forced me out on the street. I worked for six months and gave all the money to Gohar. Only once did I send $100 back home. Later on, it was either May or June, they sold me for about $2,000 to another pimp called Ferman,” Larisa recounted. In the end the victim said that she had no complaint against Gayane Melkonyan as she hadn't tricked her and promised her a job.

In court, all the defendants with the exception of Gayane Melkonyan pled guilty and requested a lenient sentence. Judge Surik Kostanyan denied the request of Gayane Melkonyan's attorney Gurgen Grigoryan request to move the case back to the preliminary phase, and found Gayane Melkonyan guilty of violating two articles of the criminal code, sentencing her to five years in prison. Susana Hakobyan was sentenced to two years, and Mayranush Harutyunyan and Ruzanna Baghdasaryan each received one year of probation.

Varduhi Zakaryan

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Aleksandr Sargsyan Does Business in America

hetq.am
[February 5, 2007]

Armenian Member of Parliament Aleksandr Sargsyan is selling a house in Los Angeles. The grounds are closed off; ordinary people cannot approach.

But interested buyers can learn more about the house, including its asking price—$3, 395,000—by visiting www.realestate123.com/Nav.aspx/Page=/ListNow/Default.aspx.

It has been reported in the media that the brother of Armenia's minister of defense is involved in construction work in California and that when he entered the US he reported $30 million in his customs declaration. Sargsyan has never denied this information. Naturally, he carried the money from Armenia but didn't report the amount when he crossed our border.

In the tax returns presented to the State Tax Department he never mentioned that he had made that kind of money. It is, of course, a violation of the law, but it a common thing Armenia that judging by their tax returns our MPs, cabinet ministers, judges and other officials who drive around Yerevan accompanied by groups of bodyguards are actually among the country's poor. They own old cars and tiny apartments and get by on their salaries alone.

Sargsyan's house is behind the gates pictured here. He bought it on September 9, 2005 for $2,840,000.

The house is advertised at www.niteowlplus.net as well. The site also contains the address of the house for sale: 4935 Avenida Oriente, Tarzana, CA 91356-4632.

On the site it says “Loan type: N/A”, which means that Aleksandr Sargsyan didn't take out a bank loan to buy the house; he paid in cash.

In America such transactions are rare since they are heavily taxed. And most people, unlike Sargsyan, don't usually travel from one country to another with huge sums of cash.

Even the rich and famous in America borrow from banks when they buy houses like this to keep their taxes down. But for Sargsyan a few tens of thousands of dollars are of no great importance. And this cash deal is just one of many for the notorious businessman.

Edik Baghdasaryan

“My Turkishness in Revolt”

The following is from Blogian's Feb. 10, 2007 post

Taner Akcam’s latest essay has been translated from Turkish and published by the Armenian Reporter. The online version omits the paragraphing and the Turkish accent marks, which makes it difficult to read as it should be read. Below is the corrected version:

Armenian Reporter, Feb. 10, 2007

© 2007 Armenian Reporter

“My Turkishness in Revolt”

By Taner Akçam

EDITOR’S NOTE: Taner Akçam – Turkish intellectual, professor at the University of Minnesota, and the author of A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility – recently became the subject of a formal complaint under Turkey’s Penal Code Article 301: the same “crime” of “insulting Turkishness” for which Hrant Dink was tried and found guilty by the Turkish judiciary. The essay below – originally published as Türklüğümün Ä°syanı (”The Revolt of My Turkishness”) in the January 24, 2007 edition of the Turkish newspaper, Radikal – is Mr. Akçam’s approved English translation of his original Turkish-language article. It is being reprinted in the Reporter with the author’s permission.

I am a Turk. Hrant was an Armenian. I write for Agos. He was Agos. Hrant, Agos’s Turkish writers, and Agos itself risked everything for a cause: to cease the hostility between Turks and Armenians; to bring the resentment and hatred to an end. We wanted each group, each nationality, to live together on the common ground of mutual respect.

Hrant and Agos were a single flower blooming on the barren plains of Turkey. That flower was destroyed, torn from the ground. Everyone says, “The bullet fired at Hrant hit Turkey.” That’s true, but we need to ask ourselves in complete and transparent honesty: Who made the target for that bullet? Who targeted Hrant so the bullet would find its mark? Who held him fast so the shot wasn’t wasted?

Hrant wasn’t killed by a lone 17-year-old. He was murdered by those who made him a target and held him in place.

Nor was he killed by a single bullet. It was the targeting, month by month, that murdered him.

“I’m afraid,” he said on January 5. “I’m very afraid, Taner. The attacks on me and on Agos are very systematic. They called me to the Governor’s office, where they started making threats. They said, ‘We’ll make you pay for everything you’ve been doing.’ All the attacks began after I was threatened.”

“2007 is going to be a bad year, Taner,” he continued. “They’re not going to ease off. We’ve been made into a horrible target. Between the press, the politicians, and the lawyers, they’ve created this atmosphere that’s so poisonous, they’ve made us such an obscenity, that we’ve become sitting ducks.

“They’ve opened up hunting season, Taner, and they’ve got us right where they want us.”

Hrant wasn’t killed by a 17-year-old. He was murdered by those who portrayed him as an enemy of Turkey, every single day in the press, to that 17-year-old. He was murdered by those who dragged him to the doors of the courthouse under Article 301. He was murdered by those who aimed Article 301 during their open season on intellectuals, and by those who didn’t have the courage to change Article 301. Hrant was murdered by those who called him to the Governor’s office and then threatened him instead of protecting him.

There’s no point in shedding crocodile tears. Let us bow our heads and look at our hands. Let us ponder how we will clean off the blood. You organs of the press who have expressed shock over Hrant’s death, go read your back issues, look at what you wrote about Hrant. You will see the murderer there. You who used 301 as a weapon to hunt intellectuals, see what you wrote about 301, look at the court decisions. You will see the murderer there.

Dear government officials, spare us your crocodile tears. Tell us what you plan to do to the Lieutenant Governor who called Hrant into his office and, together with an official from the National Intelligence Bureau, proceeded to threaten him. What do you intend to do to them?

Hrant was portrayed as “the Armenian who insulted Turkishness.” For this he was murdered. He was murdered because he said, “Turkey must confront its history.” The hands that pulled the trigger – or caused it to be pulled – in 2007 are the same hands that shot all the Hrants in 1915, the same hands that left all those Armenians to choke in the desert.

Hrant’s killers are sending us a message. They’re saying “Yes! We were behind 1915 and we’ll do it again in 2007!” Hrant’s murderers believe they killed in the name of Turkishness, just like those who killed all the Hrants in 1915.

For them, Turkishness is about committing murder. It means setting someone up as the enemy and then targeting that person for destruction.

Quite the contrary, the murderers are a black stain upon the brow of Turkishness. It is they who have demeaned Turkish identity.

For this reason, we have stood up and we have decided to take Turkishness out of the assassins’ hands and we have shouted out, “We are all Hrant! We are all Armenian!” We are the resounding cry of Turkishness and Turkey. All of us – Turks, Kurds, Alevites, secularists, and Muslims alike – shout out on behalf of everyone who wants to take Turkishness away from these murderers.

Turkishness is a beautiful thing that should be respected instead of left in the hands of murderers; so is Armenianness.

We can feel proud to be Turkish only if we can acknowledge the murderer for who he is. That is what we are doing today. By declaring, “We are all Armenians,” we know that we honor Turkishness; by identifying the true murderer, we create a Turkishness worth claiming.

Today we declare to the world that murder has nothing to do with Turkishness or Turkey. We are not going to leave Turkishness in the hands of murderers. We will not allow Turkishness to be stained by hate crimes towards Armenians. Either Turkishness belongs to the murderers, or it belongs to us.

Turks cry out that the person who killed Hrant is a murderer. In the wake of his death, Turkishness affirms that we are all Armenians.

This, I say, is what we also need to do for 1915.

If we can affirm that a real Turk is someone who can distance Turkishness from the murder of Hrant Dink, then we ought to be able to do the same thing for the events around 1915. Those who gather in a protective circle around Hrant’s murderer are the same people who protected the murderers of 1915. Those who honored Talaat, Bahaettin Sakir and Dr. Nazim yesterday are doing the same for Hrant’s murderer today.

If we can come out and declare Hrant’s murder a “shameful act,” then we should be able to state the same, as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk did, about the acts that occurred in 1915. Today, hundreds of thousands of us condemn this murder by declaring “We are all Armenian.” In 1915, Turks, Kurds, Moslems and Alevites did the same. We have to choose, not only for today but for yesterday as well.

Whose side are we on? Which “Turkishness” are we defending, the one that defends the murderers or the one that condemns the murderous acts? Do we stand with Kemal, the Mayor of BoÄŸazlıyan, who annihilated Armenians in 1915, or with Abdullahzade Mehmet Efendi, the Mufti of BoÄŸazlıyan, who bore witness against that mayor at the trial that lead to his execution, stating, “I fear the wrath of God”?

Are we going to represent the “Turkishness” that defended the crimes of Talat, Enver, Bahaettin Åžakir, Doctor Nâzım, and Governor Resit of Diyarbakır? Or will we oppose them in the name of a Turkishness that condemns such horror?

We need to know that in 1915 we had Mazhar, the governor of Ankara; Celal, the governor of Aleppo; Reşit, the governor of Kastamonu; Cemal, the lieutenant governor of Yozgat; Ali Faik, the mayor of Kütahya; and Ali Fuat, the mayor of Der-Zor. And we had soldiers and army commanders in 1915, men we can embrace with respect, for opposing what happened: Vehip Pasha, Commander of the Third Army; Avni Pasha, Commander of the Trabzon garrison; Colonel Vasfi; and Salim, Major Commandant of the Yozgat post.

Trabzon has its share of murderers like Ogün Samast in 2007 and Governor Cemal Azmi and Unionist “Yenibahçeli” Nail in 1915. But those who opposed the crimes of 1915 and didn’t hesitate to identify the murderers in court included many citizens of Trabzon: Nuri, Chief of Police; businessman, Ahmet Ali Bey; Customs Inspector Nesim Bey, and parliamentarian Hafiz Mehmet Emin Bey, who testified, “I saw with my own eyes that the Armenians were loaded onto boats and taken out and drowned, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”

These are just a few of the dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people who opposed the horrible acts committed.

We, Turks and Turkey, have a choice to make. We will affirm either the Turkishness of murderers past and present, or the Turkishness of those who cry out today, “We are all Armenian!” and who yesterday declared, “We will not let our hands be stained with blood.”

The whole world looks upon us with respect because they see us draw a line between Turkishness and barbarism. Today we are building a wall between murderers and Turkishness; we are Turks who know how to point the finger at a murderer.

We must show the same courage in regard to the events of 1915. Hrant wanted us to. When he said, “I love Turks and Turkey, and I consider it a privilege to be living amongst Turks,” that’s what he was asking for. We need to acknowledge the murderers of the Hrants of 1915, and we need to draw a line between them and Turkishness. If we are going to own up to this murder in 2007 then we need to do the same for those of 1915.

That’s what confronting one’s history is about. Today, by saying to Hrant’s murderer, “You don’t represent me as a Turk: you are simply a murderer,” we have begun the process of confronting and acknowledging our history. We must do the same with the murderers of 1915 by drawing a line between their acts and our Turkishness. We must condemn these murderers as having smeared our brows with the dark stain of their crimes. Then, and only then, can we Turks go about the world with our heads held high.

I cry out in the name of Turkishness. I cry out as a Turk, as a friend who lost Hrant, my beloved Armenian brother. Let’s take back Turkishness from the murderous hands of those who wish to smear us with their dark deeds. Let’s shout in one voice, “WE ARE ALL HRANT! WE ARE ALL ARMENIANS!”

Radikal (Turkey)

January 24, 2007

20% increase in traffic accidents due to corruption

The story below claims that traffic accidents are up by 20% due to better roads and people being able to afford to buy cars.

Though there may be some truth to this, I would say that the story lacks the fact that you can buy your way out of trouble if you are driving drunk and that to get your drivers license in the first place, you never have to see the inside of a driving school or take a test. You can just pay the school fees, pay off the doctors that “examined” you and give a gift (bribe) to the head of the licensing department.

In terms of crime rates going up, I’m not sure if this is completely accurate (it could be higher than reported), as in the past (in terms of Artsakh), it was quite common that recorded crimes were not always registered. This was done for a couple of reasons. One was that the government didn’t want to show in their statistics that crime was high and the second was that people would buy their way out of criminal prosecution by paying police officials a bribe to look the other way.


TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS KILLS 332 PEOPLE LAST YEAR

Armenpress
Feb 08 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS:
A deputy chief of police blamed yesterday a 20 percent rise in traffic accidents last year on improving living conditions of his country fellows 'who can now afford buying more and more cars.' Another reason according to Lieutenant -General Hovhannes Hunanian is a massive repair of the country's roads due to which motorist drive with higher speed.

Hovhannes Hunanian said a total of 1,574 road accidents were reported last year by Armenian traffic police which killed 332 and injured 2,089 people. In the last four years, he said, Armenians bought 80,000 cars and 24,000 in 2006 alone. Hunanian said traffic police is undergoing a sweeping reform which he said is supposed to improve the work of road policemen and bring order to roads.

According to other figures, released by Hunanian, crimes rate last year rose nearly 10 percent to 9,757, but he argued that the higher crime rate had not any impact on the criminal situation.

The figures released by Hunanian show that 75 people were murdered last year, sharply up from 55 such cases officially registered in 2005.

Law-enforcement authorities also registered a more than 30 percent surge in instances of drug abuse and trafficking that totaled 1,510, or nearly 16 percent of the overall crime statistics.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Let the feast begin

I’m not sure who the businessman mentioned below is, but all I can tell you is that whatever money is given to the government we have today, based on what the Minister of Territorial Administration, Armo Tsaturyan told me during our January 7, 2007 meeting, money that is spent on the types of projects mentioned in the story below are eaten up and very little gets to where it is intended. This assessment of the situation is literally straight from the horses mouth.

MOSCOW-BASED ARMENIAN BUSINESSMEN PLEDGE $15 MILLION TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH

Armenpress

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 9, ARMENPRESS:
Moscow-based businessmen of Armenian origin have pledged $15 million in assistance to Nagorno-Karabkh's government to help it implement a series of humanitarian programs and improve irrigation systems in a number of rural areas.

The pledge was made last week when Nagorno-Karabkh leader Arkady Ghukasian was visiting Moscow and met with these businessmen. Ghukasian was in Moscow to be confered the titles of member of two Russian acadmies.

One is called Russian Academy for Security, Defense and Legal Issues and the other is called International Relations Science Academy.

In Moscow Ghukasian also met with some Russian diplomats to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Denier of Armenian trafficking phenomenon will run for Parliament

DAVID HAROUTIUNIAN TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS BY RPA'S PROPORTIONAL LIST

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Minister of Justice David Haroutiunian made a decision to run for the forthcoming parliamentary elections by the proportional list of Republican Party of Armenia. Noyan Tapan was informed about it from RA Justice Ministry's Public Relations Department.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Stop playing games with our land that was liberated with our blood



I found this gem on youtube. It’s an interview with Leonid Azkaldian, who was one of the many educated freedom fighter who participated in the defense of Artsakh from 1988 until his death in 1992.

The reason I wanted to share this with you so you could see with your own eyes what we lost to liberate the territories, this same territories we secured with the spilling of the blood of Leonid, our uneducated leaders of today have the nerve to talk about giving in exchange for peace and international status.

You know what is really sad is that for the most part, those that are in power today who have so far failed at building our nation and moving us forward, were the ones that were rarely and/or never found on the front line defending us from the enemy and now they, the ones who didn’t and don’t have it in them to give their lives for our nation, are now ready to give something that does not belong to them so they can stay in power.

If you ask me, these negotiations and talk about giving land for peace is empty talk, since in the end, he who agrees to giving one inch of land to the Azeris or anyone for that matter, will pay the ultimate price for such an act of treason and the deal will be null and void, just like the deal LTP signed into before he had to resign.

All I can say is those who think you are negotiating for us, the common people of Artsakh did not empower you to speak on their behalf, thus stop playing games with our land that was liberated with the blood of our families and friends. If you want to know where we stand on this issue, look at Leonid’s interview and remember who you are and what we desire. Snap out of that hypnotic trans your in and read our history so you know who your dealing with when you sit down to talk about peace deals.

War and Globalization - The Truth Behind September 11

This is a lecture that talks about the oil around Armenia and in short something we need to know, since we find ourselves in the middle of a major conflict the U.S. is going to take forward.

In this lecture by Michel Chossudovsky, he blows away the smokescreen put up by the mainstream media, that 9/11 was an attack on America by "Islamic terrorists". Through meticulous research, he has uncovered a military-intelligence ploy behind the September 11 attacks, and the cover-up and complicity of key members of the Bush Administration.

According to Chossudovsky, the "war on terrorism" is a complete fabrication based on the illusion that one man, Osama bin Laden, outwitted the $40 billion-a-year American intelligence apparatus. The "war on terrorism" is a war of conquest. Globalisation is the final march to the "New World Order", dominated by Wall Street and the U.S. military-industrial complex.

September 11, 2001 provides a justification for waging a war without borders. Washington's agenda consists in extending the frontiers of the American Empire to facilitate complete U.S. corporate control, while installing within America the institutions of the Homeland Security State.

Turks ask for Jewish help on Armenia

Jewish Telegraphic Agency
02-06-2007


Turkey ’s foreign minister asked U.S. Jewish leaders to lobby against a resolution that would label the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

Abdullah Gul met for 90 minutes Monday night with representatives of the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella group, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, American Jewish Congress, Chabad-Lubavitch, B’nai B’rith International and the Orthodox Union. He asked for assistance in facing down legislation sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is Jewish and who has a substantial Armenian-American constituency.

Schiff’s resolution has garnered 169 co-sponsors.

Gul and the Jewish leaders also discussed U.S.-Turkish relations, Israeli-Turkish relations, Jewish-Muslim relations and the Turkish Jewish community.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Armenian Libertarian-Socialist Movement

Onnik over at Oneworld logged about a new Armenian blog which is titled “Armenian Libertarian-Socialist Movement.”

I went to take a look at it, since Onnik sparked my interest when he described the movement as an “Armenian anarchist or very alternative one.”

Though I’m certainly NOT an intellectual, nor am I involved with this movement, since I don’t consider myself an anarchist, nor do I have an interest in becoming a part of the Armenian political system, I did notice that the site has very few links, but of those very few links, 3 of them go to my sites, one to Onnik and another to hetq.am.

So what gives? Do the anarchists of Armenia like what we have to say? Does this make me an anarchist for my views corresponding to their views? I will say that at this time I am not in favor of eliminating the government or any of our institutions in Armenia. I say this as this is my understanding of what an anarchist believes in.

I will say that the last paragraph in their “About Us” page which reads: “We would want to say from now that we are not interested to hear from fascists, racists, nationalist socialists, blood-worshipers, “tseghakron” race-worshipers or other intellectually impoverished persons.” Not to be critical, but a movement for the people of Armenia would not exclude the “intellectually impoverished” since sadly they are the ones who make up the majority of or nation, including me. On top of this, I think I could consider myself a race-worshiper, since the things I do in here is not for humanity, but for the Armenian tribe. If it was not for this being a tribal issue, I would be living a traditional life like everyone else. So I would say I'm a race-worshiper, which I guess from their statement, anarchist are not.

I’ll visit their site every now and then just to see how they develop and who knows I might even get some extra hits on my sites from the links they have posted.

You know, the Armenian government is going to think that I’m behind this movement, just like some thought I was behind the Kashatagh movement (which happens to also be another link the anarchists have on their site).

President Bush answers the call and participates in acts of civil obedience in Armenia

Today RFE/RL reported that President George Walter Bush is trying to be responsible by cutting aid to Armenia by half. This aid more often than none lands in the pockets of corrupt officials in Armenia and Artsakh.

Though George and I don’t see eye to eye on most issues, his attempt to be civilly obedient and responsible by not feeding into corruption gives me a sense of pride to be a citizen of America.

The Armenian Assembly and Armenian National Committee of America instead of applauding George for his courage to work towards making Armenia a more bearable place to live, is unjustly attacking him for wanting to make Armenia less of a welfare state and at the same time Azerbaijan more corrupt by giving them more aid that destabilizes civil society there and makes their corrupt officials more powerful so they can suppress the common citizen even more than they do now (which is already really bad, but would equate this to an American war on terror tactic. Bravo!).

Anyway, for those of you at the AAA and the ANCA that read this log, please open your eyes and instead of attacking George, praise him for starting to put an end to the problems that you have been involved in perpetuating since the early 90’s with the welfare you have worked so hard to secure for Armenia, which has made many people lazy, corrupt and added to the country not developing into what I could and should be. Shame on anyone who for the sake of justifying their existence would sacrifice Armenians promising future.

Now we just have to work on getting all aid cut and make sure the the $236 million MCA funds never makes their way into Armenia.

Anyway, a big thank you to President George Walter Bush. You’re the man!!!


RFE/RL Armenia Report - 02/06/2007

Bush Seeks Drastic Cut In U.S. Aid To Armenia

By Emil Danielyan

The administration of President George W. Bush has proposed a drastic reduction in regular U.S. assistance to Armenia, provoking strong criticism and resistance from Armenian-American lobbying organizations.

The Bush administration's budget request for the fiscal year 2008, unveiled on Monday, calls for $35 million in economic aid to the country, sharply down from the 2006 level of $69 million. It would also cut U.S. aid to the Armenian military by more than 30 percent to $3.3 million.

The proposed cuts came just days after the U.S. House of Representatives set the 2007 aid package for Armenia at about $75 million. The Senate is expected to approve a similar aid allocation soon.

The two main Armenian-American advocacy groups were quick to denounce the more modest aid levels sought by the administration, pledging to lobby Congress to revise them upwards.

`This budget request represents more than a 50 percent reduction in assistance,' said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America. `This is simply unacceptable.' `We will work with Congress to correct the glaring deficiencies in the Administration's request,' he added.

"We look to our friends in Congress ¦ to substantially increase aid levels to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh that reflect Armenia's growing partnership with the United States,' Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), said in a separate statement.

The Assembly and the ANCA have been instrumental in making Armenia one of the world's leading per-capita recipients of U.S. economic assistance, which has totaled over $1.6 billion since 1992. Highlighting their political clout, Congress has always significantly boosted the White House's aid allocations for Armenia. It has also made sure that Washington provides equal amounts of military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenian-American leaders are particularly dismayed by the fact that the Bush administration is again trying to change that parity by asking for $5.3 million in military financing for Azerbaijan. Administration officials have previously argued that Azerbaijan needs more such help than Armenia in order to secure its much longer border with America's arch-rival Iran and Caspian Sea coast.

The proposed funding cuts seem to stem from a broader reduction in U.S. assistance to former Soviet republics that began in the late 1990s. U.S. officials will also point out that Armenia is on course to receive $235.6 million in additional U.S. aid under Bush's Millennium Challenge Account program. Washington says the release of the five-year aid package is conditional on the democratization of Armenia's political system.

Monday, February 05, 2007

America: Freedom to Fascism

During my research on fascism and totalitarian regimes for our project of civil obedience in Armenia, I stumbled across a documentary by award winning director/producer Aaron Russo titled “America: Freedom to Fascism” which you can view by clicking on the screen below.

Though the documentary is almost 2 hours long, it’s well worth watching and should be a wake-up call to everyone in the world today, especially those living in America who by not paying attention to what is really going on in Washington, is going to have much to answer for in the future to their children and grandchildren for not stopping what is being created to further enslave the common citizen of the world.

For those of you in America, you should know that:

- By May of 2008 the law will require you to carry a national identification card?
- There are plans being developed to have all Americans embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) computer chip under their skin so they can be tracked wherever they go?
- The Supreme Court has ruled that the government has no authority to impose a direct unapportioned tax on the labor of the American people, and the 16th Amendment does not give the government that power?
-That computer voting machines can be rigged and there is no way to ensure that vote is counted?

Everybody, not just Americans should get involved with the common goal of:

- Stop the polarization of America
- Stop the domination of the Democratic and Republican parties over our political system
- Shut down the Federal Reserve system
- Return America's gold to Fort Knox and have it audited
- Have Congress and the IRS, in a public forum, reveal the law that requires Americans to pay a direct, unapportioned tax on their labor.
- Make computerized voting illegal in all 50 states
- Keep the internet free and out of the control of large institutions
- Rescind the law called the Real ID Act so Americans never have to carry a National ID Card
- Make it illegal to implant RFID chips in human beings
- Educate juries to the fact that they have the right to determine the law as well as the facts of a case
- Educate juries to the fact that they are not obligated to follow the instructions of a judge
- Stop Globalization because it is the path to a one world government
- Protect our borders
- Restore the environment
- Put an end to the Patriot Act

I hope that this documentary will be the call to action to everyone in America, as if you take care of your problems there, then many of the problems we are facing all over the world will be neutralized and the world will be a little bit nicer place to live in.

With no further delays from me, please click on the screen below and watch this documentary from end to end.





This is the "Director's Final Cut" authorized version of Aaron Russo's documentary, America: Freedom To Fascism (AFTF). It is being uploaded to Google Video for the first time during the evening of October 19-20th, 2006. Aaron has listened to everyone's feedback - volunteers, students, lovers of freedom & liberty, young and old alike - and, true to his word, he is putting this up "for free" on Google Video knowing that the hour has come for Americans to either be awakened to restore the Republic or be swept aside by the dark global forces of fascism that seeks to enslave mankind.

AFTF's main focus comes in a statement with six very simple words: SHUT DOWN THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM!!

After viewing the movie, please be sure to visit http://www.freedomtofascism.com where you will soon be able to view a much higher quality "pay per view" Internet version of AFTF, buy the DVD and sign up as an affiliate to sell/distribute DVDs to others.

We also urge everyone to be sure to sign up as volunteer, register for email alerts and tell your family, friends and neighbors about this groundbreaking movie.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Reality Check

Though I’m not at all surprised at the treatment that the latest hero of Turkey is getting (see the last two logs posted), I sure was not expecting these facts to be revealed so quickly.



News and footage of and about Hrant Dink is quite prominent in Armenia these days. The gathering at the Western Diocese on November 5, 2006 is playing on some channel in Yerevan everyday. All my friends have called to tell me that my mother is on television. She was the mistress of ceremony and as such introduced Hrant.

I’ve listened to Hrant’s speech a couple of times now and I have to tell you, what he was saying, knowing who we know the Turks to be, nothing he says makes sense to me. In short, Hrant was out to get the Turks to come to terms with their past and recognizing 1915 was one of the prominent items in his lesson plan.

Like most in Armenia, I really didn’t know much about Hrant before his death. I will say that I knew a little bit about his first cousin Noubar Yelmian, who also had an agenda to get Turks to come to terms with themselves but Noubar was active back in the days when ASALA was just starting up. Though Noubar was not a member of ASALA, in some ways he was hated more by the Turkish Government for his revolutionary methods and was from the get go in their sites.

Noubar Yelmian was known by the Turkish Government to attend gatherings that Turkish officials would be speaking at and after the officials would finish giving some speech about democracy, freedom of speech, equality and so on, Noubar would raise his hand and ask a question about the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

In November of 1982 in Holland, a place that Noubar and his family had fled to after being run out of Turkey, agents from Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (Turkish Intelligence service) tracked down and assassinated Noubar.

So now almost 25 years later, Noubar’s first cousin Hrant, who was born about the same time as Noubar is assassinated for the same thing and probably by the same people.

It really makes me wonder what Hrant was thinking? He knew what answer the Turks had for people like him. His cousin Noubar got the answer. Did he think 25 years would change the Turk? Was he not paying attention to what and why Noubar was assassinated?

If you ask me, taking everything into consideration, the only way to deal with the Turk is with a strong army and the will to survive. Any relations with Turkey will be as a neighbor with open trading boarders and nothing more. It’s really clear who they are and what they want from us.

I hope someone will prove me wrong, but mark my words. Sadly, my great-great-great-grandchildren will not see a civil Turkey, since the Turks know good and well who and what they are and they have no reason to change their ways for the sake of having good neighbor relations with us. Who the hell are we for them to change? And they certainly are not going to listen to an Armenian trying to teach them anything. Attempting to do that is insane and at very least Hrant proved that such actions bring nothing more than a death sentence that would be carried out by a Turkish hero.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Scandal in Turkey as police pose with journalist's alleged murderer




Fri Feb 2, 11:16 AM ET

ISTANBUL (AFP) - The Turkish security forces face fresh embarrassment after it emerged that some of its members had posed for "souvenir pictures" with the alleged murderer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Film footage and photos leaked to the media showed 17-year-old Ogun Samast, who has confessed to the murder, displaying a Turkish flag, flanked by members of the security forces, some of them in uniform.

Behind them is a calendar featuring another Turkish flag and the words of the country's founder, Ataturk: "The motherland's soil is sacred. It cannot be left to its destiny."

The images were taken at the anti-terror department in the northern city of Samsun, where Samast was captured 32 hours after Dink was gunned down in central Istanbul on January 19, officials said Friday.

Dink, one of Turkey's most prominent ethnic Armenians, was loathed by nationalists for saying that the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide, and was last year given a suspended six-month sentence for insulting "Turkishness."

The press was up in arms over the images and some newspapers suggested they indicated that certain members of the security forces sympathised with Samast's alleged ultra-nationalist motives and have treated him as a "hero."

"A kiss on the forehead is the only thing the murderer was not given," growled liberal paper Radikal. "This is the picture of the mindset that killed Dink."

"Shoulder to shoulder with the gunman," trumpeted the mass-circulation Sabah newspaper, while the popular Vatan said the images were "as grave as the assassination itself."

"The footage proves that the murderer and his associates are not alone, that their supporters... have penetrated all segments of the state," Radikal's editor-in-chief, Ismet Berkan, wrote.

The police are already facing allegations that they had received a tip-off last year about a plot to kill Dink but did not follow it up.

They are also under fire for failing to grant Dink special protection, even though the journalist mentioned in articles in his bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos about receiving threats and hate mail.

Samsun's chief prosecutor Ahmet Gokcinar said he launched an investigation into the officers seen in the pictures on charges of commending crime and criminals and misconduct in office.

They belonged both to the police and a paramilitary force which is policing rural areas, he said, adding: "We will do what the law requires without delay."

The Anatolia news agency, citing interior ministry sources, later reported that eight police officers from Samsun had been dismissed from their posts.

Apart from Samast, seven other suspects have been arrested over Dink's murder, all young people from the northern city of Trabzon.

The nationalist stronghold has come under the spotlight with a series of violent incidents, including the murder of an Italian Catholic priest by a 16-year-old boy last year.

The probe has so far suggested that the suspects did not belong to any known underground group but were under the sway of ultra-nationalist ideas and wanted to take the law into their own hands against what they saw as rising threats to Turkey's unity.

Trabzon's governor and police chief were removed from office last week.

Despite the controversies, Dink had won respect as an earnest campaigner for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and about 100,000 people marched at his funeral.

Scandal tails death of Turkey journalist



Fri Feb 2, 10:51 AM ET

ISTANBUL, Turkey - The Turkish media published photographs and video on Friday of police posing with a teenager charged with killing an ethnic Armenian journalist, and newspapers denounced the officers for treating the suspect as a "hero."

The photographs show 17-year-old nationalist Ogun Samast holding out a Turkish flag and posing with officers, some in uniform. Behind Samast, a poster with another Turkish flag carries the words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey: "The nation's land is sacred. It cannot be left to fate."

Samast is charged with the Jan. 19 killing of Hrant Dink, a 52-year-old ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered Turkish nationalists with repeated assertions that the mass killings of Armenians around the time of World War I was genocide.

The Turkish media was outraged by the photographs and video. "Shoulder to shoulder with the triggerman: suspected killer Samast was given the hero treatment," the Sabah daily reported on its front page.

Later Friday, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported that four police officers in Samsun, where the photographs were taken, had been dismissed and four military police officers had been moved to other assignments.

It was not clear whether the eight officers were the ones posing with Samast.

Initial reports said the photos were taken at a military police office at the bus station where Samast was captured, but military police said they were taken at a police station nearby.

"The military police personnel seen in the images were personnel assigned to hand over the suspect to the police," a statement from military police headquarters said.

The statement urged the media to be cautious in publicizing "attempts aimed at fraying the Turkish Armed Forces" and expressed concern about the motives of those who leaked the images.

More than 100,000 people marched at Dink's funeral, many of them chanting for Turkey to abolish a repressive article in the penal code used against many intellectuals, including Dink, who spoke openly on controversial topics.

It is a crime to insult Turkey or the Turkish national character.

Friday, February 02, 2007

TURKEY MENACES TO STOP THE COOPERATION WITH THE USA

AZG Armenian Daily #019, 02/02/2007


USA-Turkey Relations and Turkey-Armenia Policy

On February 4-9 Foreign Minister of Turkey Abdullah Gyul is to makeofficial visit to the USA. "Azeri.press" agency sayd that the main topic of Gyull's meetings with american statesmen will be the issue of the Armenian Genocide recognition and the Kurdish problem. Mr. Gyul has stated that in case the USA adopts the bill about the Armenian Genocide, military cooperation between the two states will be ceased. As some sources allege, President Bush's board will demand opening the border with armenia in exchange of hampering the Genocide bill adoption.

By Agavni Harutiunian

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Sadly, what goes around comes around

It seems that the cheep Iranian made gas heaters sold in Armenia may have killed two Iranian nationals living in Yerevan.

It’s constantly around this time of year in the press of Armenians dying from leaks from gas heaters, some being the cheep Iranian models. This time it was nationals from the country that makes these dangerous heaters that keep killing those living in Armenia.

Of course it is a shame that anyone had to die, but at least we didn’t loose two more Armenians due to substandard, inferior products brought in from Iran and instead it was someone from the place the dangerous heaters came from.

I highly recommend that anyone who has a gas heater, get a gas detector, as I reported a couple of years ago, they are available in Armenia and will protect you from being gassed by the odorless natural gas that is pumped into homes all over Armenia and Artsakh.

TWO CITIZENS OF IRAN DIE FROM LEAKAGE OF GAS IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, NOYAN TAPAN. On January 30, Arabkir Police Department was informed that gas was flowing out at Nairi Zarian 15, apt 18, and it was possible that there were no inhabitants at the apartment.

Corpses of citizens of Iran, 23-year-old Ghasheh Saragon and 19-year-old Raana Mohammad were found at the apartment, in their beds, by the investigation group. As Noyan Tapan was informed from RA Police Public Relations and Information Department, no traces of violence were found on the corpses.

The investigation is carried on by the Prosecutor's Office of Kanaker-Zeytun communities.