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Raffi Hovannisian: Azerbaijan’s aggression to Nagorno-Karabakh population is basis of NK conflict

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Azerbaijan’s aggression to Nagorno-Karabakh population is the basis of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Heritage party leader Raffi Hovannisian told reporters in Baku, Azerbaijan’s Turan news agency reported.

Raffi Hovannisian is visiting Baku to attend the 7th General Assembly of International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP).

“I think that the sides should set aside the legacy of the past and treat themselves critically,” noted Hovannisian.

Speaking of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, one should not use such political terms as occupation, according to Hovannisian.

“If we base on this term, then it turns out that most of the Armenian lands are under the occupation of Turkey and Azerbaijan,” the Heritage leader said.

Envoy: In spite of professing different religions, Armenians and Iranians have been living peacefully side by side for centuries

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In spite of professing different religions, the Armenians and Iranians have been living peacefully side by side for centuries, Iranian ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Raiesi stated during a conference at Matenadaran under the title “Two nations, two cultures and two religions,” Iran’s news agency ISNA reported.

Referring to Armenian-Iranian relations, the Iranian ambassador said, in part: “The Armenians and Iranians proved during history that the two peoples professing two divine religions, Christianity and Islam, have lived side by side in absolute peace and calm.”

Mohammad Raiesi, speaking of Iranian-Armenians and bilateral cultural relations, said: “Currently Iranian-Armenians are represented in Iranian Majlis by two MPs – those from northern and southern Iranian-Armenian communities (Tehran and Isfahan). Chair of Armenian Language and Literature has been operating in the University of Isfahan for more than 50 years. Besides, there are Armenian schools, publishing houses and other cultural institutions in Iran.”

Turkish Vice-Consul Cancels Model UN Appearance at UCLA

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AYF and UCLA ASA educate Conference attendees about Vice Consul’s opposing principles

LOS ANGELES—On Saturday, November 17, the collective efforts of the UCLA Armenian Students Association (ASA) and Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), with the support of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region (ANCA-WR) caused Tolga Arslan, Turkish Vice Consul to cancel his appearance at the Los Angeles Model United Nations Conference at UCLA.

The Los Angeles Model UN Conference has been hosted by BruinMUN (Bruin Model United Nations) for the past eight consecutive years and attracts more than 1,000 high school students from across Southern California to gather at UCLA and participant in dialogues regarding current events, international relations, and above all, the United Nations principles.

“The United Nations is an international organization whose mission includes the advancement of friendly international relations, thus emphasizing regional peace and stability, the freedom of thought and expression, and human rights in general,” explained Stepan Keshishian, Executive Director of the AYF, “Many of Turkey’s policies are in direct violation of UN principles. It is therefore highly problematic to invite the Vice Consul of Turkey to serve as the keynote speaker at this conference, and to essentially present himself and his country as a valid representation of UN principles.”

Arslan was invited to be the keynote speaker at the BruinMUN conference, and was supposed to deliver an introductory speech to the conference participants. Just as the conference began, it was announced that Arslan had made a last minute cancellation.

“When the Vice Consul of Turkey, a country notorious for its Human rights violations, is invited to our campus to speak to thousand impressionable high school students on human rights, we cannot stay silent.” said Knarik Gasparyan, Publicity Director for UCLA ASA. “It was not only our right but also our responsibility to protest against his presence and speech as well as to educate the students on what the Consul and his country stand for and represent.”

During the event, as students started filing into Ackerman Grand Ballroom, the UCLA ASA the AYF combined forces, protesting outside and passing out informative flyers about Turkey’s complete disregard for Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.

“It is not only important that the student participants are educated about Turkey’s blatant violations of human rights and the UN Charter, but that the organizers of the event are abreast of these issues as well,” remarks ANCA-WR External Affairs Deputy, Tereza Yerimyan. “The ANCA-WR is very pleased to have seen the youth organizations come together on a college campus to highlight the facts of the situation.”

The Armenian Youth Federation along with the UCLA ASA would like to thank the ANCA for their continuous support of our activities and commend them on their work for the Armenian Cause.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian American youth organization in the United States, working to advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of Armenian-American youth.

Stanford University to host ArmTech Congress

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November 22, 2012 | 16:23

YEREVAN.- ArmTech Congress 2012 annual high-tech industry business forum will be held in December in Stanford University, the heart of Silicon Valley, Economy Minister Tigran Davtyan told reporters on Thursday.

The Armenian delegation will be headed by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. The conference will be dedicated to the problems of Armenia’s high-tech industry.

Heads of world famous IBM, Intel, Microsoft, National Instruments, D-Link are expected to attend, Davtyan said, adding that nearly 120 experts were invited.

The Minister is confident the conference will have immediate results: the sides are likely to sign two or there agreements to make investments in Armenia’s high-tech industry. It is also planned to open permanent representation in Silicon Valley.

ArmTech is a nonprofit global network and recurring event officially adopted by Armenia as its global high-tech industry platform.

Karabakh war hero Leonid Azgaldyan would have turned 70 Nov 22

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November 22, 2012 – 17:54 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Karabakh war hero Leonid Azgaldyan would have turned 70 this year.

“Over the 4 years of Karabakh war, the detachment of Leonid Azgaldyan, a commander of Artsakh liberation army, lost only 6 dead,” his friends reminisce.

“Exemplary discipline was established in Azgaldyan’s detachment, which incorporated the greatest number of volunteer soldiers. The commander always strived for boosting the morale of his soldiers. He had a rare quality of training ordinary people to be heroes.”

Unfortunately, the commander was not paid the tribute he deserved. No school or street was named after him, not a single book written.

From the very first days of Karabakh movement, Azgaldyan was involved in national-liberation war. Since February 1990, he took command of Independence Army, organizing self-defense operations in several settlements, particularly, Vardenis, and fighting in the first line during Nuvadi battles. Fully devoting himself to Karabakh liberation war, Azgaldyan fought in Getashen, Shahumyan and Martakert. In June 1991, he created Liberation Army military organization, and was its Commander-in-Chief till the end of his life.

Leonid Azgaldyan died on June 21, 1992 in Martakert region, on the outskirts of Tonashen village. He was posthumously awarded with Armenian and NKR Military Cross First Degree Order.

Hasan Cemal’s “1915. Armenian Genocide” is an honest book. German Kultur radio station

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18:28, 14 November, 2012

YEREVAN, November 14, ARMENPRESS: “Brave book”, this is how the book of Turkish writer Hasan Cemal “1915. Ermeni Soykirimi” which means “1915. Armenian Genocide” was considered by German “Culture” radio station. As reports Armenpress on November 13 outstanding German radio station has devoted a whole program to Cemal’s book, his observations on Armenian Genocide and their friendship with Hrant Dink. The program mainly referred to the confession of Hasan Cemal about his grandfather who participated in the massacres of Armenians.

“The issue of Armenian Genocide has been a taboo in Turkish history for a long time, and Hasan Cemal has been raised with this taboo. His own approaches, issues and perceptions Cemal has collected in his book “1915. Armenian Genocide”. The cover of the book reflects Cemal putting white carnations near the flame in Tsitsernakaberd memorial” noted the radio station. The station quoted Cemal as saying “I was feeling to destroy the “wall” of taboo inside me. But I remembered the word of my friend, Hrant Dink when saying “Lets finally come together and respect our pain””.

The author of the book has earlier stated ”We cannot move forward without confronting and taking into consideration the events of the past. We cannot keep an eye on the anguish of the past. Moreover the pain of 1915 is not a story, it is a current day issue’’.

The first chapter of the book runs how Hasan comes to know 1915 events. Then the author dwells on how he became to be called ”parricide” after coming forth with his obtained   information and statements in the course of Hrant Dink’s assassination hearings in 2006. The second chapter of the book tells the author’s way of thinking before reveal of 1915 events and reportedly how it changed in the course of the time. The most interesting part of the book is the third chapter entitled ”Pasha Grandfather or Cemal Pasha family”. This chapter tells about 1915 Armenian Genocide organizer Cemal Pasha and his family. Hasan Cemal has repeatedly stated he recognizes 1915 events Genocide. He visited Tsitsernakeberd and laid a wreath at the Genocide Memorial in 2008.

German “Culture” has concluded its program referring to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide which will be respected by Armenian all over the world.” Whether Turkey will manage to conclude peace with Armenia or not. This process should be supported by such brave and courageous people as Hasan Camal” noted German journalist.

The three-volume work about the testimonies of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide is ready

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10:00, 19 November, 2012

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Toward the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the National Archive of Armenia continues publishing important and unique documents and introducing them to the public. The book “the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire: the Testimonies of the Survivors. Archival Documents” is already finished. The testimonies of the survivors dated to 1916 are enclosed in the book.

In a conversation with “Armenpress” the head of the National Archive of Armenia Amatuni Virabyan stated that there was a program organized by the Russian Army and held in 1916-1917, which was aimed to the discovery of the events in the Western Armenia in 1915. Amatuni Virabyan stated: “During the liberation of the Armenian territories by the Armenian voluntary units and the Russian Army they have seen that almost no Armenian was left in that territories or a very small number of people remained there. And a row of intellectuals developed a questionnaire to discover the number of the population, income and residents of a row of villages before the aforementioned events: the number of the servicemen, their future fate, the date of the beginning of the massacre and deportation, the identities of the participants of those events, the survivors and the state of a village by 1916.”

As the Head of the National Archive of Armenia stated these are authentic testimonies, as they have been taken only a year after the tragic events, when the memory f the people was fresh and they could recall the names of those criminals. The testimonies spread light on those events and it becomes clear that among the executors there have been Turkish officials, policemen, heads of provinces and states, Hamidian units, the Kurdish mobs, the Circassians.

The head of the National Archive of Armenia Amatuni Virabyan emphasized the legal significance of those documents, as at the time of their record there had not been any conversation about the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian-Americans score major gains in US Elections

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By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

After long months of hectic campaigning, a constant barrage of e-mails and ads, and billions of dollars spent by the candidates and their supporters, the US presidential and congressional elections did not change the American political landscape. The United States will have the same President for another four years and the same majorities in the House and Senate. The House remains in the hands of Republicans, and the Senate in the hands of Democrats.

This means that Pres. Obama’s foreign and domestic policies will remain more or less unchanged and Congress will continue to be deadlocked for two or more years, negatively impacting the prospects of a quick economic recovery. House Republicans will probably not support Pres. Obama’s social and economic agenda, particularly on healthcare and taxes.

Even though there were no great political changes resulting from the Nov. 6 elections, Armenian-Americans scored important gains in congressional and local elections. Armenian voters were not instrumental in the outcome of the presidential race, since Pres. Obama received over three million more votes than his Republican rival. It was therefore politically astute to concentrate the Armenian community’s resources and votes on congressional and local races.

A whopping 90% of the 145 congressional candidates backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) won reelection. In Senatorial races, 12 out of 15 ANCA endorsed candidates were victorious: Dianne Feinstein (California), Chris Murphy (Connecticut), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Ben Cardin (Maryland), Debbie Stabenow (Michigan), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Bob Menendez (New Jersey), Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island), Bernard Sanders (Vermont), and Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin).

In House races, 118 of 130 ANCA endorsed candidates were reelected, including Lois Capps (California), Jeff Denham (California), Janice Hahn (California), Ed Royce (California), Adam Schiff (California), Brad Sherman (California), David Valadao (California), Cory Gardner (Colorado), Dina Titus (Nevada), Frank Pallone (New Jersey), Michael Grimm (New York), David Cicilline (Rhode Island), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Virginia), and Frank Wolf (Virginia).

The November 6 elections may result in an unexpectedly favorable development in Congress for the Armenian-American community. Cong. Ed Royce, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, has a good chance of being elected by his colleagues as next Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A strong supporter of Armenian causes, Cong. Royce would replace outgoing Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida, a staunchly pro-Turkish House member.

A similar highly favorable development may take place in the Senate when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton retires shortly at the end of Pres. Obama’s first term. Most political analysts believe that Sen. John Kerry, currently Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a close friend of the Armenian community, may assume a Cabinet position as Secretary of State or Defense, in which case Sen. Menendez, a staunch supporter of Armenian issues, may become next Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The possible simultaneous selection of Cong. Royce and Sen. Menendez as chairs of these two powerful committees would give Armenian-Americans unprecedented access to key foreign policy decision-makers.

More important than the election of friends of the Armenian community was the success of at least 16 Armenian-Americans who were either elected for the first time or reelected to continue serving their constituencies. Armenian-American members of congress, Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, both from California, were overwhelmingly reelected. Other Armenian-American winners in state and local races were: Linda Arzoumanian, Superintendent, Pima County School Superintendent, Arizona; Khacho Achadjian (incumbent), State Assembly, California; Adrin Nazarian, State Assembly, California; Tim Kapucian (incumbent), State Senate, Idaho; Mary Lou Marzian (incumbent), State House, Kentucky; Peter Koutoujian (incumbent), Middlesex County Sheriff, Massachusetts; James Miceli, State House, Massachusetts; John Fresolo, State House, Massachusetts; Gary Azarian (incumbent), State House, New Hampshire; Charlene Takesian, State House, New Hampshire; Brad Avakian, State Labor Commissioner, Oregon; Scott Avedisian (incumbent), Mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island; Jared Nunes, State House, Rhode Island; and Katherine Kazarian, State House, Rhode Island.

Congratulations to all those who were either elected for the first time or reelected. It is particularly pleasing to see a record number of Armenian-Americans running for political office, most of whom won their respective races. These victories bode well for the future of Armenian-American political activism. The community should support and encourage these public servants so that in a few years they would seek even higher office, running for Congress or the Presidency!

Bulgarian Nationalists Boycott Turkish Defense Minister Visit

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November 16, 2012, Friday By: novinite.com

Bulgaria‘s far-right, nationalist Ataka party staged a protest rally Friday against the visit of Turkish Defense Minister, Ismet Yilmaz, to Sofia.

The Turkish Minister, however, was met with honors by his Bulgarian counterpart, Anyu Angelov and three companies – from the land force, the air force and the navy. “The relations between Bulgaria and Turkey are an example of good partnership between neighbors and allies in NATO,” said Angelov during his meeting with Yilmaz. The two discussed matters of cooperation in the defense sector.

They also laid wreaths at the Unknown Soldier monument.

Meanwhile, Ataka leaders and followers were seen in the vicinity of the monument, holding signs such as “We cannot be brothers in arms with those who massacred Bulgarians for five centuries,” “Turkey Owes Us USD 10 B for Properties in Thrace,” and “Boyko, Don’t Lead Us to War with Erdogan.”

The rally was attended by Ataka leader, Volen Siderov, and Ataka Members of the Parliament, Pavel Shopov, Desisilav Choukolov, and Ventsislav Lakov.

Siderov complained of the strong police presence, saying it was a disgrace and a violation of the rights of the MPs. He reminded that every time a Turkish official is visiting Bulgaria his party was the only one to voice the truth that Turkey is indebted to Bulgaria.

“We represent the position of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians who voted for us. There is no difference between the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS. Both work not for Bulgarian, but for Turkish interests,” the nationalist leader concluded.

Syria, Turkey, Israel and a Greater Middle East Energy War

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Friday, 12. October 2012

Reported By: F. William Engdahl    on Boiling Frogs Blogs.

“The battle for the future control of Syria is at the heart of this enormous geopolitical war and tug of war”
On October 3, 2012 the Turkish military launched repeated mortar shellings inside Syrian territory. The military action, which was used by the Turkish military, conveniently, to establish a ten-kilometer wide no-man’s land “buffer zone” inside Syria, was in response to the alleged killing by Syrian armed forces of several Turkish civilians along the border. There is widespreadspeculation that the one Syrian mortar that killed five Turkish civilians well might have been fired by Turkish-backed opposition forces intent on givingTurkey a pretextto move militarily, in military intelligence jargon, a ‘false flag’ operation.[1]

Turkey’s Muslim Brotherhood-friendly Foreign Minister, the inscrutable Ahmet Davutoglu, is the government’s main architect of Turkey’s self-defeating strategy of toppling its former ally Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.[2]

According to one report since 2006 under the government of Islamist Sunni Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his pro-Brotherhood AKP party, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood.[3] A well-informed Istanbul source relates the report that before the last Turkish elections, Erdogan’s AKP received a “donation” of $10 billion from the Saudi monarchy, the heart of world jihadist Salafism under the strict fundamentalist cloak of Wahabism. [4] Since the 1950’s when the CIA brought leading members in exile of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to Saudi Arabia there has been a fusion between the Saudi brand of Wahabism and the aggressive jihadist fundamentalism of the Brotherhood.[5]

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