December 21, 2012 | 00:22

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Armenian-Russian strategic relations and deepening of cooperation were in the focus of the discussion.

The delegation led by President Sargsyan will be back to Yerevan Dec 20, presidential press service reported.

By SUSANNE GÜSTEN  Published: November 21, 2012

ISTANBUL — Before emerging into the bright colors of Ahmet Gunestekin’s celebration of the diversity of Anatolian cultures, visitors to his exhibition step into the darkness of mourning for its victims.

In a darkened front room of the exhibition, a video installation flashes up the dates of dozens of massacres committed on Turkish soil over the past century, one after another, each accompanied by historical recordings of dirges and laments from the victims’ own period and culture.

Armenian voices are heard wailing when the dates 1909 and 1915 are visible followed by Alevi, Kurdish, Turkish, Greek and other laments. The last date to flash up is 2012, as mothers wail in Kurdish and Turkish for their sons killed on both sides in Turkey’s ongoing war with Kurdish rebels.

“People are a little freaked out by it,” Mr. Gunestekin said in an interview last week in Istanbul. “But I want visitors to pay their respects to the peoples who have inspired my art before they tour the exhibition.”

“This is Turkey’s reality, many sins have been committed here,” he said. “We must face up to it.”

The show called “Yuzlesme” — best translated as “Facing Up” but blandly rendered as “Encounters” by the catalog — opened in the Antrepo gallery in Istanbul this month under the patronage of Yasar Kemal, the grand old man of Turkish literature and Mr. Gunestekin’s longtime mentor.

It will be there until Dec. 30, before moving on to the Kurdish city of Erbil in northern Iraq next year, followed by Venice, Berlin and several stops in France.

Though Mr. Gunestekin’s work is not included in any Turkish museum collection of contemporary artists, the opening night of his exhibition drew a mix of prominent politicians, business leaders and respected artists that was highly unusual for Turkey. The group included Kurdish nationalist deputies and leading members of the conservative ruling party as well as the Kemalist opposition.

“Turks and Kurds Come Together Over Art,” the Sabah newspaper declared the next day.

“Only art can bring these people together,” said Mr. Gunestekin, who is Kurdish and was raised by an Armenian step-grandmother orphaned in the 1915 expulsions.

Born in the southeastern province of Batman in 1966, he can remember a time when that region was not almost exclusively Kurdish with a smattering of Turkish oil men and administrators — as it is now.

“In my childhood, my neighbors and friends in Batman were Armenian, Syriac, Turkish, Arab — there were people from different cultures and beliefs,” he said. “These people are a part of my art, because I grew up with them.”

For nearly two decades, Mr. Gunestekin has been crisscrossing Turkey with sketchbook and camera, visiting every one of its 81 provinces, more than 700 districts and close to 4,000 towns and villages, by his own count, to explore and document its plethora of cultures.

“This has become the foundation of my art, it is where I found my colors,” he said.

The colors overwhelm the visitor from the moment he steps out of the darkness of the video installation, in the feathers of the peacock angel of the Yezidi religion, the light falling through stained-glass church windows, and the carpets in Anatolian mosques.

In addition to the bold coloring, most of Mr. Gunestekin’s work also bursts out of the canvas in other ways, with elements of sculpture adding a third dimension to paintings.

Many of his paintings feature a technique in which dark patches of irregular shape obscure some of the colors and figures beneath, evoking the decayed frescoes and mosaics covered by peeling layers of plaster in the many churches that have been turned into mosques around Anatolia, as well as symbolizing the coercive assimilation of other cultures into the prevailing Turkish identity.

Religious motifs abound, especially those common to several faiths, like the legend of the seven sleepers, who slumbered for centuries in an Anatolian cave, or the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.

On the eve of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2005, Mehmet Ali Birand, a prominent Turkish commentator, wrote an article in Hurriyet urging the Turkish public to be prepared for the upcoming “Armenian tsunami.”

Earlier this month, the Turkish newspaper Gazete Kars published a similar editorial titled, “The Armenian preparations for 2015,” alerting Turks of the approaching 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015, and advising them to take effective counter-measures.

The editorial reflects how closely Turks are following Armenian preparations for the Genocide centennial and how anxiously they are weighing the impact of the forthcoming Armenian activities on Turkey.

The lengthy column reports that Armenia and the Diaspora are expanding their joint campaign against Turkey on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The article warns that “Armenians through their lies will raise the entire world to its feet” and suggests that “the Republic of Turkey immediately put into action all its resources and take preemptive measures to bring to naught this deception.”

Gazete Kars complains that Armenians are “tarnishing Turkey’s reputation by launching powerful attacks on forty fronts. To counter these attacks Turkey must take far greater defensive and offensive measures. There is not a single minute to waste. The world is swallowing their lies.”

The editorial proceeds to outline the activities of notable individuals and organizations in preparation for the Armenian Genocide centennial. The newspaper specifically mentions Prof. Taner Akcam, filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the French and Armenian governments, Berlin University, and Hayk Demoyan, Director of the Genocide Museum in Armenia, who is quoted stating: “the struggle for Genocide recognition must be combined with an understanding for restitution…. We must pursue legal avenues to assign responsibility for this crime.”

Gazete Kars also lists the Armenian National Committee of America, Armenian National Institute, Zoryan Institute, and Gomidas Institute as organizations that have succeeded in bringing the Armenian Genocide to the attention of scholarly and media circles worldwide. Prominent Turkish novelists Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak, who have bravely condemned Turkey’s distortions of the Armenian Genocide, are accused of enjoying the backing of “Diaspora Armenian lobbying organizations.”

The Turkish newspaper reports the formation of a central coordinating committee in Yerevan on April 23, 2011 to prepare the program of activities for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The committee, chaired by Armenia’s president, convened its inaugural meeting on May 30, 2011.

The Turkish editor then focuses on my articles, wrongly identifying me as “Ara” Sassounian, publisher of the California Courier. I am quoted stating that “demanding genocide recognition is no longer useful for Armenians. On the contrary it is harmful. Turks are happy that we are satisfied with this demand. What we should demand is justice. When he is asked what does justice entail, he explains that it means financial, moral and territorial restitution.”

The Turkish writer further elaborates on my views by stating: “Sassounian believes relations between Armenia and the Diaspora are not perfect, and that it is imperative to have a common understanding, especially on issues related to ‘Hay Tad’ (the Armenian Cause). Sassounian also believes that more serious results could be achieved by bringing together Armenians living in 100 countries under the umbrella of a Diaspora Parliament composed of 350 representatives.”

Gazete Kars concludes its editorial by outlining some of the Armenian activities planned for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

1) Prepare publications in seven languages: Armenian, English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
2) Produce films and documentaries, organize concerts and exhibitions, and publish books and scholarly materials.
3) Enlarge threefold the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan.
4) Create a central coordinating committee for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
5) Organize media conferences, establish contacts with press agencies in 89 countries, and invite Diasporan TV and Radio journalists to Armenia in advance of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
6) Using modern technology, publish e-books in various languages, and establish contacts with academic and cultural figures, media and civil society, and international organizations conducting genocide research.
7) Produce an Armenian Genocide film with well-known Indian director Shekhar Kapur and Puerto Rican screenwriter Jose Rivera.

Since Turks are expecting a flurry of activities for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Armenians should do everything possible not to disappoint them!

The editors of Gazete Kars do not seem to realize that Armenians in fact welcome Turkish attempts to counter the upcoming genocide centennial activities. By doing so, the Turkish side would be helping to publicize the Armenian Cause beyond what Armenians are capable of doing on their own.

Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

13:57, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Several dozen Turkish scientists have protested  against the Danish Royal Library Board that gave the right to Turkey to present Armenian Genocide denial policy in an exhibition entitled ”so called Armenian Genocide”.  Director of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Academy of Sciences Hayk Demoyan  stated in the briefing with Armenpress, ”The complaint letter of the intellectuals was published in Danish press on December 17. In early November by the support of our Embassy we opened a temporary exhibition in Royal Library of Denmark, which arose negative reaction by Turkish Embassy. They cared no efforts to hinder the launch of the exhibition; however it welcomed the visitors on November 6”.

”Danish museum, however, adopted an alternative decision enabling chance to Turkish side to organize its own exhibition” Demoyan underscored. In the words of the interlocutor this  arose fierce attitude among Danish society. By the data of our Embassy there were more than a hundred copies of publications, most of which in a critical nature, condemning Turkish side over holding denial policy refer to Armenian Genocide. Danish press published several Turkish scholars complaint letter addressed to the library administration, famous scholar Taner Akcham and other known scientists point of views  inclusive” Demoyan noted.

12:20, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. “Armenpress” News Agency celebrates its 94th anniversary with notable achievements. “Armenpress” was established on December 18. In accordance with the decision of the National Council of the First Republic of Armenia a state agency – Armenian Telegraph Agency was created on this very day.

Angry protesters have hurled stones at the Tunisian president and parliament speaker in Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the revolution that erupted in the north African country two years ago, Al Jazeera reports.

The incident began after a speech by President Moncef Marzouki in the central Tunisian town, where celebrations are taking place on Monday to mark the anniversary of the revolution. Mustapha Ben Jaafar, the parliament speaker, was about to address the crowd when the violence began.

Security forces swiftly evacuated the two men to the regional government headquarters. The protesters invaded the square where the head of state had been addressing the crowd, shouting “the people want the fall of the government”.

The police held back, after violent clashes over the past few months, which have often followed attempts to disperse protesters angry over the government’s failure to improve living conditions in the poor region.

Clashes and strikes have multiplied across Tunisia in the run-up to the second anniversary of the start of Tunisia’s revolution.

When the president took to the podium on Monday, Dec 17, many in the crowd of around 5,000 started shouting “Get out! Get out!” – one of the rallying cries of the revolution that toppled the regime of former dictator Zine El Abedine Ben Ali.

Marzouki promised economic progress within six months to the people of Sidi Bouzid, where poverty and unemployment were key factors behind the uprising that began there on Dec 17, 2010, after Muhammad Bouazizi a street vendor set himself on fire in protest at police harassment.

“I understand this legitimate anger. But the government has diagnosed the problem. In six months, a stable government will be in place and will provide the remedy to heal the country’s problems,” said the president, who was jeered by the crowd.

“For the first time, we have a government which is not stealing from the people,” he said. Marzouki had been heckled earlier in the morning, when he visited the grave of Bouazizi.