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Romanian Armenians remember and condemn the massacres in Baku

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10:16, 21 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARAY 21, ARMENPRESS: Romanian Armenians remember  1990 massacres, persecution and escape of Armenians in Baku. Out of 250 thousand Armenians only some has reached Baku. ”First my family got shelter in Leninakan, then headed to Koslovodsk, it was only in 1992 that we settled in Bucharest ” Baku former resident Maya Oganezova stated. Currently she has a family in Bucharest and fluently speaks Romanian, Armenpress reports. ”Besides me there is also another Baku survivor habiting in Bucharest” .

Armenian Church in Bucharest assures to  establish communication with the Homeland. On the eve she attended Sunday’s memorial service ceremony dedicated to Baku massacres.” There were other persecutions as well before those dark days” our compatriot told Armenpress  journalist in Romania.

”It is regretful yet even in those days Armenians cannot feel themselves safe in any part of the world ” Romanian Diocese Bishop Tatev Hakobyan announced in his sermon. “Twenty-three years ago the flashpoint was Baku, Iraq followed then, currently Syria is endangered, then God knows. If in one country the physical existence of Armenians is endangered, in other country we face the danger of white massacre” Bishop Tatev Hakobyan continues and calls on  Romanian Armenians be constantly alert and united.

The Bishop noted, we should not satisfy ourselves by millennium dating Romanian Armenian glorious past; instead urges to get united over national identity and consciousness, over the Motherland, in order strengthened by those immense heritage would be able to confront challenges and threats Armenians are facing.

Aram Bakoyan, Armenian from Kurdistan Region, fought many years shoulder to shoulder with the Kurdish freedom fighters.

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Aram Bakoyan, Armenian from Kurdistan Region, fought many years shoulder to shoulder with the Kurdish freedom fighters to free Kurdistan from Saddam. Today he seats in the Kurdistan National Parliament side by side with the Kurdish politicians to build the Kurdistan Region.

Armenian rock in the Kurdistan mountains
Anahit Khatchikian and Roni Alasor, Erbil-Kurdistan – The life of Aram Shahin Davud Bakoyan, an Armenian born in Federal Kurdistan Region in Iraq, truly reflects the historical path of Kurdistan in the last 40 years. Aram was only 14 years old in 1968 when he started fighting as Peshmerga (Kurdish Freedom Fighter) in the Kurdish mountains against the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. He was tortured in prison and his left arm became immobilized after Iraqi Army cannon blast. Today the 57-years old Aram represents the Armenian community in Kurdistan Region as independent Member of the Kurdistan National Parliament.
Aram was born in Avzrog Miri, in the north of Kurdistan Region. Six generations ago a young man called Bakoz (Bohos) from the clan Geznakh in Hakari, today’s North Kurdistan (Turkey), came with his mother to Avzrog Miri and married an Armenian girl from Sarkissian family which was already settled there. They became the founders of family Bakoyan. Four more generations followed them with the fathers Revo, Gulan, Davud and Shahin and today Aram and his three sons and one daughter are the 6th generation living in Federal Kurdistan Region. 
The family Bakoyan witnessed the arrival of many other Armenians fleeing the massacres and the mass deportations in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of XX century. Today Aram Bakoyan says that there are about 80 Armenian families in Avzuruk, 170 families in Zaho city, 60 families in Dohuk, 100 families in Havresk. Aram also mentions 160 families arrived in the last years from different parts of Iraq to find safer life and better protection in the Christian suburb Ainkawa, in the capital Erbil.

 

Indeed, several attacks of Christian churches in different Iraqi cities, including the bombing of the Armenian church in Mosul in 2004, pushed many Iraqi Christians to come to Federal Kurdistan. The village Havresk for example was established in 2005 with the financial support of Sarkis Aghajan, Minister of Finance of the Kurdistan Region who initiated the building of 115 homes for the Armenians fleeing Baghdad and Mosul due to the lack of security.

 

Today the parliamentarian Aram Bakoyan estimates at about 450 families (3600-3800 individuals) the number of all the Armenians in Kurdistan. Armenians in Kurdistan, as well as the Kurds, were deprived from their fundamental human rights during the Saddam’s regime. The situation of the minorities in Kurdistan gradually has been improving since the establishment of Kurdish authorities in the 1990s. Today the Armenians have 2 Armenian schools (in Erbil and Dohuk), 3 churches (in Dohuk, Avzuruk, Zakho) and two new churches are expected to be built in Havresk and in Ainkawa (Erbil). Many Armenians from Kurdistan don’t speak Armenian language, but they have preserved the Armenian traditions and culture in a relatively closed and united community with Armenian identity. 

 

Since 2009 for the first time in the history of Iraq the Armenians have been politically represented in the Kurdish parliament. At the last parliamentarian elections in 2009, following the appeal of President Massoud Barzani, three Armenians participated as independent candidates. The Armenians in Kurdistan who had right to vote at that time were about 800, but Aram Bakoyan got 4200 votes! His rivals Aertex Morses Sargisyan and Eshkhan Melkon Sargisyan won respectively 2900 and 880 votes. It is evident that apart the votes of the Armenians, many Kurds voted for the Armenian candidates.
One important reason for the Kurdish support for the Armenian candidates and particularly for Aram Bakoyan, is the fact that he was already well known for his Peshmerga (Kurdish Freedom Fighter) past. Aram was only 14 years old when in 1968 he and 6 other Armenians from Zakho started fighting as Peshmerga, shoulder to shoulder with the Kurds from Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) against the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. In 1974 Aram has been injured by a cannon blast on the left shoulder and stayed three months in a hospital in Mahabad, in Kurdistan in Iran. Unfortunately, his left arm remained immobilised. After coming back home, in 1977 the Armenian was sentenced to five years in prison for his political activities. In the prison Aram was tortured brutally as many other Kurdish political prisoners at that time. In 1979 he was released and he continued to participate actively in the political and social life. Aram was elected two times as leader of the Armenian community in Zakho in 1982-1990.
For the 2009 parliament elections in Federal Kurdistan Region, eleven of the 111 seats were reserved for minorities, including Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen and Armenians. Aram Bakoyan was one of the three Armenian candidates who run in the election campaign and he got elected. Today Aram is member of 2 committees in the Parliament – the committee for Municipalities and the committee for Housing and Reconstruction.
The parliamentarian Aram contributes to the new developments in Kurdistan Region, but he also works to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage and to help the Armenian community. Some of his future initiatives will be construction of a wall round the Armenian graves in Avzuruk and providing a salon for celebrations. Aram counts on the support of the Kurdish authorities for these projects, but he and the Armenian community also hope that the Armenian government in Erevan will not forget the Armenian children who live in Kurdistan Region and could help with sending teachers and priests who are not enough for the moment. Aram also believes that even a simple visit by Armenians from Armenia or from the Diaspora – artists, writers or just ordinary people, could be very stimulating for this small, but dynamic Armenian community in Federal Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

Best minds of Armenia proved they are more intelligent than Turks. Ilyumzhinov

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16:49, 19 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 19, ARMENPRESS: Security of Armenian chess players during 2016 Chess Olympics in Azerbaijan must be ensured by Baku. This is dictated by FIDE Statutes.  Armenpress quoted Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as saying on January 19, in Tsakhkadzor. The main principal of FIDE is that all we are a big family having nothing to do with economic or political issues.

“I am well aware of Armenian relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, therefore they must not become an obstacle for Armenian chess players for proving for one more time they are the best,” FIDE President said.

Ilyumzhinov reminded the victory of Armenian chess players in Istanbul which proved best minds of Armenia are more intelligent than Turks or others.

“If other Armenian sportsmen may participate in championships in Baku, why Armenian grandmasters cannot?” Kirsan Ilyumzhinov noted.

First FIDE Vice President George Macropolus underlined that Baku had to create an atmosphere in which Armenian chess players will have all conditions needed to win gold medal. “Gold medals of Baku are missing in the collection of medals of Armenian chess players and they must be ready for it,” Macropolus said.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, 23 FIDE members and representatives of chess federation of more than 20 countries are currently in Armenia in order to participate in the Presidential Board Meeting of World Chess Federation taking place in Tsakhkadzor.

Armenia urges UN against moving regional center to Turkey

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January 19, 2013 – 13:27 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian civil society representatives addressed a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, voicing deep concerns over the plan to move UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre for Europe to Istanbul, head of For Sustainable Human Development NGO and UNEP National Committee said.

As Karine Danielyan told a press conference, Armenia’s 15 NGOs joined the initiative, with the decision on the move taken once the information was released.

“Armenian Foreign Ministry has already issued an official statement; however, we found it appropriate to take relevant steps on the issue,” she said.

Ms Danielyan further noted that Armenia finds it inappropriate to move a regional center to a country that failed to recognize the Armenian Genocide and establish diplomatic relations both with RA and other states in the region.

“Moreover, Turkey is not an EU member. It is still guided by Article 301 of Constitution, which restricts freedom of speech, hampers the free development of national minorities, the latter, in turn, bringing about internal conflicts and deaths of prominent public figures (Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s murder),” she said.

“We hope that the UN will be committed to its principles and won’t prioritize the funding Turkey offers,” Ms Danielyan said, urging the international community to focus on the problem that may adversely affect the implementation of the programs of the UNDP Regional Center both on regional and country level.

According to her, Cyprus and Slovenia have already joined the call, with Russia also having expressed concerns over the plan.

Expert: Dink’s murder committed and concealed by Turkish govt.

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January 19, 2013 – 17:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – From the judicial perspective, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s murder investigation turned into a mere farce, with all of the legal norms violated, Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan said.

“Though the Turkish authorities repeatedly pledged to take every step to disclose the case, a number of high-ranking officials, accomplices in the crime, continued with their duty,” the expert said.

“From the political perspective, the Turkish state organized, committed and further concealed Dink’s assassination,” Mr Melkonyan said, adding that the journalist’s murder helped the Turkish public adopt a standpoint on Armenians different from the government’s thesis.

“Dink aimed to introduce a change in Turkish mentality. Now we see that the goals he pursued are being fulfilled,” he said.

Hrant Dink is in our hearts – leader of Kurdish party

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anuary 19, 2013 | 18:53

Chairman Peace and Democracy Party, the Kurdish political force in Turkish Parliament, Selahatin Demirtas made a statement on the anniversary of the assassination of Hrant Dink.

In a statement, he noted that Dink’s murder became manifestation of attacking democracy and peace. By choosing him as a target, the sights were set on the brotherhood of nations, but it was doomed to failure, Turkish Haber7 website quotes Demirtas.

“Hrant was an important symbol of the brotherhood of nations, their living together in peace. He was convicted under Article 301 and fell victim of ‘Love it or leave it’ concept which is inciting hatred,” Demirtas said, stressing that Dink was killed with the tacit approval of the government.

Hrant Dink, chief editor of the Armenian newspaper Agos, was shot dead outside his office January 19, 2007.

Armenian candidate reveals Anatolian roots

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ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr

Raffi Hovhannisian, the most prominent rival of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan for the country’s Feb. 18 presidential elections, has revealed that he is the descendent of Armenians saved during the 1915 events by their non-Christian neighbors.

“My mother’s family comes from Garin [the present-day eastern province of Erzurum], and my father’s family is from Harput [the former name of the eastern province of Elazığ],” Hovhannisian recently told the Hürriyet Daily News, adding that he often visited East Anatolia.

“My grandmother Khengeni was saved from the genocide by a Turkish family in Erzurum. My grandfather Kaspar was saved by a Kurdish family in Harput,” he said.

The son of Richard Hovhannisian, a professor in the United States, Raffi Hovhannisian was born in the U.S. and came to Armenia in 1988 to help rescuers after a strong earthquake that hit the country at the time. Two years later, he decided to settle permanently in the country.

Speaking about relations with Turkey, Hovhannisian said ensuring that the 1915 mass killings of Armenians are recognized as “genocide” would be a must if he is elected.

“Turkey, based on its own needs and interests, should recognize the great genocide and national dispossession of the Armenian people, seek full redemption and effect restitution, restore Armenian cultural heritage, ensure a secure right of return,” he said.

Hovhannisian, meanwhile, said Turks who saved Armenians during the mass killings would be commemorated in Yerevan on the centenary of the event in 2015.

Hovhannisian, a former foreign minister and the founder of Armenia’s Heritage Party, gained headlines after staging a hunger strike against Sargsyan two years ago.

“It was a fast for freedom, rule of law, and the supremacy of rights,” he said.

 

Armenian Army to ensure safe flight of civil aircraft launched from Stepanakert

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12:40, 18 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 18, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Air  Force  is  ready to ensure the safety of Stepanakert airport. Seyran Ohnayan, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia  dwelled on Azerbaijani continuous threats regarding  Stepanakert Airport in the briefing with the journalist on January 18.

”The  Armenian Air Force will provide the operation and the flight of the civil aircraft ” Minister Ohanyan came forth with, Armenpress reports.

Stepanakert airport was built in 1974 and mostly hosted flights from Yerevan and Baku. In 1992 the airport  ceased its activities. In 2008 work began on the construction of a new passenger terminal resembling that of  an stretched wings eagle. In the course of this period of time the runway was also expanded, besides they smoothed runway adjacent several hills aimed at adoption of modern type aircrafts.

In Turkey even Funeral are decremented, if you are Muslim the Government pay but not for non-Muslims

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Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The members of minority communities in Turkey demand contribution of municipalities to their funerals, similar to the sevices given to Muslim majority

Non-Muslim communities in Turkey have asked for municipal and state services at their funerals similar to the services given to the country’s Muslim citizens.

Municipalities do not provide non-Muslim citizens with free services such as allocation of a funeral car. A graveyard plot costs little money for Muslims in municipal facilities, whereas a plot in minority graveyards that have limited spaces may cost a fortune.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, authorities from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Cemeteries Directorate said even though they knew the cost of graves and funeral ceremonies for non-Muslim citizens is very high, they did not intervene. “[Non-Muslims] can afford organizing funerals in accordance with their religions and traditions. We do not interfere with them since we are not used to their traditions and ceremonies. Only if they prove their conversion to Islam with witnesses can we hold their funerals,” an official from the directorate said.

Equal citizenship

Burgazada Hagia Yanni and Samatya Hagia Nikola Greek Church Foundation head Andon Parisyanos said the Directorate of Religious Affairs must allocate funds to non-Muslim populations as a requirement of equal citizenship.

“Forget about funerals, we even pay the utility bills for the churches by our own means. However, the Directorate of Religious Affairs meets the expenses of mosques,” Parisyanos said, adding that funeral organization companies should also be supervised.

“Aid should be provided [to non-Muslims], but still it would be more convenient if we organized the funerals according to our traditions,” Parisyanos said.

“Last week, an acquaintance of mine passed away at [Istanbul’s] Medipol Hospital. [The officials at the hospital] told me that they had come across a deceased Christian for the first time and did not know what to do,” Parisyanos said.

Likewise, Garo Paylan, who is a member of the Yeşilköy Armenian School’s Executive Board, said the requirements of equal citizenship must be implemented. “The Directorate of Religious Affairs could allocate funds, which would be conveyed to the owners of the funeral homes through the Patriarchate,” Paylan said.

Yeznik Bahçevanoğlu, owner of an organization company that holds funerals for non-Muslims, said the cost of funerals range from 2,000 to 8,000 Turkish Liras, adding that the prices might vary and increase according to the company. When asked about pricing policies, Bahçevanoğlu said the prices were determined according to the classes of the plots.

“There is a standard price given by the Patriarchate; however, that price increases a lot when other expenses such as obituaries and coffins are added. If the Directorate of Religious Affairs could allocate resources, the prices would not be that high,” Bahçevanoğlu said, adding that some organization companies might exploit their clients.

Vasgen Barın, the Armenian deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district, in which non-Muslims are densely populated, said municipalities were not responsible for holding funerals.

“Some people may want to be buried in their hometowns; when they appeal to us, we provide them a bus in order to transfer the body,” Barın said.

Serbian journalist astonished by courage of Armenian soldiers

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16:35, 15 January, 2013

YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. Leading Serbian daily newspaper “Politika” published an article by Serbian journalist Dragan Vukotic dedicated to his impressions from his visit to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. As reports “Armenpress” the journalist briefly introduced the history of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the excerpts from his conversations with the soldiers at the frontlines. Dragan Vukotic wrote about the prehistory of the conflict and stated that, even though the Armenians, who are the majority there, had wished to unite with Armenia, “in 1921 the Caucasus Communist Bureau made a decision on behalf of Azerbaijan and the Armenians still recall this event with bittern sense of sorrow”.

In addition the author mentioned that “the Turkey of Ataturk”, which supported Azerbaijan, likewise had a great impact on the reaching of such unfavorable decision for Armenia.

Among other thing Serbian journalist Dragan Vukotic wrote that he is amazed at the endurance, courage, and vigilance of the Armenian soldiers, and jokingly calls them “crazy Armenians”.