Politics
The Armenian National Council of South America (Consejo Nacional Armenio de Sudamerica, CNA) issued a statement on the initialed Armenian-Turkish Protocols, reported Diario Armenia (Argentina). The CNA regards as unacceptable many of the points of the Protocols — first of all the terms set for a final ratification of the Protocols by the Armenian and Turkish Parliaments.
The CNA believes that six months is a term that is the result of economic and diplomatic pressure on Armenia endangering the country’s national security and Armenians’ rights. The Protocols provide for the formation of a subcommittee to “conduct an impartial scientific study of historical documents and archives.” According to the CNA, Turkey’s aim is to challenge the fact of the Armenian Genocide and get the international recognition of the fact delayed. The CNA believes that, to establish friendly relations with Armenia, Turkey should first of all admit the Armenian Genocide with all the ensuing consequences.
The source refers to the analyst Alberto Askarlyan, which can only be designated as a cry from the heart. “We can hardly believe in what the Armenians worldwide are experiencing now. We can hardly believe that it is not only a terrifying nightmare, but also most bitter reality. When you try to analyze the Armenian-Turkish Protocols on normalizing bilateral relations, you do it from two aspects – the ones of reason and feelings. The reason tries to comprehend point by point in the Protocols, which arouse rather mixed feelings. However, reasoning makes you think of the inexplicable, incomprehensible, disgraceful… Not that relations with neighbors should not be established. Rather, some concessions are unacceptable.
”Can the Armenian Government be so naïve? What are the suspicious interests behind the scenes – from the very “football diplomacy”? What did they get into their heads? After the Turkish authorities made statements on roadmap, they may think that their intentions are statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem are sincere? Suffice it to recall that the incumbent Turkish Government is successor to the criminal Young Turks, which is still committing genocide by wiping out every trace of our culture and history in the Western Armenia. On top of all, to implement their policy the Turks spend millions annually."
The expert underlines that “Nagorno-Karabakh’s territorial integrity, and its citizens’ right to self-determination, must not be endangered, as thousands of Armenians sacrificed their lives for independence. Turkey’s present-day borders must not be recognized, with historical Armenia being on the west, where an Armenian Genocide was committed claiming 1.5 million Armenian lives. The only reparations are the return of our legitimate lands. Have they forgotten about the Treaty of Sèvres, which recognized free and independence Armenia with vast territories of present-day Turkey as part of it?
”We must unite and appeal to the conscience and reason of each Armenian in Armenia and in the Diaspora to put an end to the suspicious intentions. Otherwise, the Armenian Cause will be buried for ever," says the analyst.
In his interview with the Lebanon-based Aztag daily, Professor William A. Schabas, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, referred to the principles of international law, saying that a successor state is responsible for its predecessors’ actions. Prof. William A. Schabas participated in recent conference on the Armenian Genocide and International Law in Beirut. Speaking of the complicated relations between Armenia and Turkey, as well as of the Armenian Genocide, Prof. Schabas pointed out that a state cannot renounce its international commitments, reorganizing itself. The relevant provisions of international law are quite clear.
As regards the different opinions that in 2015, after a hundred years have passed since the events in the Ottoman Empire, the issue may be removed from the agenda, Prof. Schabas stated no law sets any terms, particularly 100 years, as a time limitation for crimes like that. On the other hand he pointed out that it is more and more difficult to lay claims as time passes.
Regional analysts agree that the recent rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey for the normalization of relations between the two countries might cause a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh stalemate, reported Turkey-based Zaman daily.
The newspaper quotes S. Enders Wimbush, senior vice president of international programs and policy at the Hudson Institute, who states: “This [the opening of borders between Armenia and Turkey] will require intense and delicate diplomacy with Azerbaijan. [However], both Turkey and Azerbaijan will benefit if they succeed.”
“The normalization efforts between Ankara and Yerevan have shaken Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship for a short period. In 1993, after the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, post-Soviet countries in the South Caucasus, the diplomatic ties between Armenia and Turkey became strained. Supporting its strategic ally Azerbaijan, Turkey closed its borders to Armenia… Azerbaijan's primary resistance was over the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, which conflicts with Azerbaijan's policy of economically depriving Armenia in the region and hereby ensures easing the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Russia, the dominant power in the region, is solely interested in maintaining its grip. As the region is part of the former USSR, it is in Russia's interest to preserve its influence in the region over the countries of the post-Soviet areas, particularly that of the South Caucasus. While doing so, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has attempted to manipulate the regional countries through long-protracted conflicts such as Abkhazia and South-Ossetia…However, the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement could be regarded as a brilliant opportunity to drive Armenia out of the control of Russia, to pull the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from stalemate and in effect, to bring peace and stability to the region,” the newspaper writes.
“The word ‘initiative,’ which has become a popular term in politics in recent weeks, is now being used to describe relations with Armenia, although an initiative is a little too old for this country, Zaman reports.
”The two most recent protocols and the timing of the initiative are signs that both sides are ready to take serious steps to carry their relations to new horizons. It is not difficult to predict that there will be opposition, especially by nationalist circles in Turkey, Armenia and the Diaspora, to the new policy. Although it is not surprising that Armenian nationalists and Turkish nationalists oppose developing closer ties by expressing words such as “treason,” it is a case in point. The biggest criticism concerning the Armenian initiative is that Turkey is making one-sided concessions and that the Karabakh issue is not addressed in the protocols. Those who make these criticisms are indirectly defending the Armenian policy that has been in effect in recent years. But when we take a closer look at the issue, we understand that the criticisms in question are incorrect. The criticisms that Turkey is making one-sided concessions boost Armenia's status and relegate Turkey to a country that is an object of Azeri foreign policy," writes the newspaper.
The Yerkramas newspaper published by the Armenian community of Russia interviewed Semyen Baghdasarov, member of the Fair Russia: Motherland/Pensioners/Life faction at the RF State Duma. Responding to a question concerning RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s belated statements on the Armenians’ status in Javakhk, Georgia, Baghdasarov said: there is a Russian saying: “Better late than never.” So I consider it to be a timely statement anyway. I think the Javakhk population will support it. However, Mr. Sargsyan’s proposal is likely to be ignored. I regard Mr. Saakashvili’s policy toward national and religious minorities – not only toward Armenians – as nationalistic. So I am sure that the Armenian President’s proposal will be ignored."
Baghdasarov also answered a question about the orientation of Armenia and Georgia – the East or the West. “It is the peoples’ of Armenia and Georgia that have the right to determine this orientation. But I would like to remind you of some historical facts: It was Great Russia that saved the Georgians fro annihilation. I cannot recall the exact figures, but Georgia’s population was actually on the verge of extermination before the Treaty of Georgievsk was signed. During the following 50 years Georgia’s population increased several times and reached some 1.5 million people. That process was possible under umbrella of Russia, not of the Western states. As regards Armenia, it has ‘burned its fingers’ by making several attempts to become ‘part of the West.’ We all remember the plans incorporated in the Treaty of Sèvres as well as the role it assigned to the United States in the possibility of giving Armenia a status of mandate territory. What was the end? A disaster! We speak of the 1915 genocide. However, Turkey went on committing the Armenian Genocide right up to 1922,” the RF Duma member said.
In his article published by The Huffington Post Harut Sassounian, the publisher of The California Courier newspaper, speaks of contradictions in the Armenian-Turkish Protocols. “The first Protocol commits the two sides to open their common border and to establish diplomatic relations. It also requires Armenia and Turkey to recognize ‘the existing border between the two countries as defined by the relevant treaties of international law.’ This is an important requirement for Ankara as it seeks to put an end to Armenian claims to ‘historic Armenian lands,’ now part of the territory of the Republic of Turkey. On the other hand, many Armenians would reject this provision, as they want to leave the door open for future claims on the usurped territories, including Mount Ararat.
The second Protocol contains the most controversial element of both documents. It states that Armenia and Turkey ‘agree to implement a dialogue on the historical dimension with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations, including an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations.’ An ‘intergovernmental bilateral commission’ would first be established, comprised of several sub-commissions, one of which would deal with ‘historical’ issues. A ‘timetable’ attached to the second Protocol further specifies that Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and other international experts shall take part in the deliberations of ‘the sub-commission on the historical dimension.’
”These two Protocols are bound to raise serious concerns and could cause major political turmoil within Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev would most probably once again go on a rampage against Turkey, as he did during the announcement of the first ‘roadmap’ on April 22. Given Azerbaijan’s valuable energy resources and their transit through Turkey, Ankara's leaders can ill-afford to ignore Aliyev's temper tantrums!
…Ratification is also not a foregone conclusion in Armenia. For more than a year, many Armenians, both in Armenia and the Diaspora, have vigorously complained to the government about the wisdom of negotiating such an agreement. They objected to the plan to establish a sub-commission on ‘historical’ issues, which by its very nature would cast doubt on the veracity of the Armenian Genocide. Given the pressure brought to bear on the Armenian government by Russia, the United States, and Europe, it will not be easy for Armenia to back down from going forward with this agreement… Nevertheless, at this critical juncture, the Armenian government's preeminent concern should be safeguarding the country's national interest rather than earning brownie points from foreign powers!" the author writes.
Society
By order of the State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre, NKR Government, the Center of Geodesy and Cartography, State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre, RA Government, compiled an atlas of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) in Armenia and Russian. The atlas has been printed by the Tigran Mets printing house. It is a comprehensive historical and geographical atlas of NKR. About 70 large- and average-scale maps contain full information the formation, geographical location, natural conditions and resources, population, economy and culture of the NKR, as well as on the politico-military events that played a crucial role in the historical development of the Artsakh Armenians.
The USA-based Merced Sun-Star newspaper reported that the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) will grant scholarships for 100 American students of Armenian descent to finance a semester at any Turkish or Turkish Cypriot university. In return for the $2,000 provided each student, the scholarship sponsors seek potentially priceless benefits.
“We hope to encourage dialogue between Turks and Armenians, so that future generations won't have the burden of this animosity,” coalition president Lincoln McCurdy said Monday. “The shared history of both cultures has been overshadowed by hostility for far too long.”
But the new scholarships also provoke questions in some Armenian-American circles, as do the broader talks now under way between Turkey and Armenia. With so much historic vitriol, every gesture gets second-guessed, the newspaper writes.
“There's always skepticism, because of Turkey's attitude in the past,” noted Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, director of the Fresno State Armenian Studies Program.
The Singapore Armenian Heritage Committee today announced plans for a series of extraordinary events to be held in Singapore during the week of October 4, 2010, reported Reuters. The Committee expects this celebration to be the largest gathering of Armenians and their friends in Singapore in modern history. The weeklong celebration will include a diverse range of cultural, economic development, and festive events highlighting the Armenian community and its contributions to Singapore. The Celebration is open to all who have a positive interest in strengthening relations with Singapore, Armenia, and the global Armenian Diaspora. Internationally recognized Armenian entertainers will perform as part of the celebration, which will be attended by local and international dignitaries. In addition, organizers are reaching out to Armenians and their friends throughout the world as well as to the Government of the Republic of Armenia to join the celebration. The Committee is planning an evening Gala at the Armenian-founded Raffles Hotel highlighting Armenian contributions to Singapore and other countries along the Silk Road.
On the occasion of the 55th birthday anniversary of the well-known Armenia journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, the Hrant Dink International Fund held a commemoration meeting and awarded prizes to the journalist Alper Gurm Alper Görmüş and to the Israeli journalist Amira Hass, reported the Bianet website.
On September 15, the Fund held a party at the Resid Rey hall in Istanbul. Among the guests were Hrant Dinks family, colleagues and human rights activists. Among about the 500 guests were State Minister Egemen Bağış, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission Zafer Üskül, the member of the Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP), deputy Akın Birdal, deputy Ufuk Uras, representatives of the EU mission in Turkey, other celebrities.
This year, the prize-awarding committee consisted of Ali Bayramoğlu (Chairman), Chairperson of the Hrant Dink Fund Rakel Dink, Etyen Mahçupyan and others.
Culture
Armenia and Russia are considering the possibility of opening a branch of the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS) in Yerevan. “It will enable the most talented representatives of this group to receive or continue their education by the GITIS standards,” said Farit Mukhametshin, RF Special Presidential Representative and Head of the RF Federal Agency for the CIS Affairs. He stressed that the “small number of grants provided for education at Russian higher schools of dramatic art is not enough. So we suggested this idea,” he said.
The world-famous duduk player Djivan Gasparyan visited the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, reported the Lraber website. Head of the congregation, Archbishop Aram Ateshyan received the musician and his company. Gasparyan said he had been invited to a concert and wished to visit the Patriarchate. The musician inquired about Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan’s health, and the guests expressed their gratitude for the reception.
The well-known Canadian film maker of Armenian descent, Atom Egoyan, is participating in the 57th international film festival in San Sebastian, Spain, reported the ABC.es. His film “Chloe”, with Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried, will be demonstrated at the festival.
Sport
In his interview with Championat.ru Artur Abraham, an Armenian- German professional boxer and Middleweight World ex-champion, told about his plans, new weight class and new rival Jermain Taylor.
"We have modified training, and I pay more attention to physical exercises now. The new weight class means stronger rivals. But now I do not have to lose up to eight kilograms before fighting, only four are enough. I would say that I need psychological, rather than physical, changes. You can do excellent training before fights, but they are nothing without moral strength,’ the boxer said.
As regards his planned fight with Jermain Taylor, he said: “I have known him for a long time. I am going to closely watch his fights and analyze his tactics, strong and weak points.”
