Armenian News

ANA-MPA
Anniversary of Istanbul pogrom
09/06/2010


(ANA-MPA) -- Recent history recalls that during the night of Sept. 6
and into the early morning hours of Sept. 7 enraged mobs descended
into the Istanbul neighborhoods where most of the ancient metropolis'
ethnic Greeks lived, worked and owned property. The tragic
developments that occurred in those fateful hours came to be known as
the "Septemvriana" or "Evenings of September" pogrom.

As it turned out, the orchestrated attack on the centuries-old
Greek presence in what is now known as Istanbul -- then the glorious
Constantinople, the seat of the Byzantine Empire for a millennium --
came a day after a stick of dynamite exploded in the garden of the
Turkish consulate of Thessaloniki, a building historically linked with
the founder of modern-day Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Several windows of the consulate were broken in what would quickly
be uncovered as a staged provocation by Turkey's ruling DP party and
its 1950s-era "deep state": the man who placed the stick of dynamite
in the courtyard was a Turkish doorman at the consulate, Hasan
Mehmetoglu, on orders of a young ethnic Turk college student then
studying law at the University of Thessaloniki, Oktay Engin.

The long-planned provocation was timed to coincide with the
delicate trilateral talks in London on the fate of Cyprus.

A few broken windows in Thessaloniki led to the ethnic Greek
community's "Kristallnacht" in Istanbul 650 kilometres away, as angry
mobs of young, mostly working-class, men recruited from the provinces
rampaged through the Bosporus metropolis, wrecking everything Greek or
Orthodox Christian in their wake, although Armenian and Jewish
property were not spared either.

The death toll reached 30, with hundreds injured and thousands of
buildings -- shops, residences, cafes, restaurants, factories,
clinics, hotels, pharmacies, churches, schools, community centres and
even cemeteries -- looted and destroyed.

The Septemvriana pogrom was literally the "beginning of the end"
of Hellenism in the ancient metropolis.

ARMENIAN HISTORIANS URGE NOT TO VISIT AKHTAMAR ON

SEPTEMBER 19
Liana Yeghiazaryan

"Radiolur"
06.09.2010 17:06

A number of Armenian intellectuals from the History Institute of the
Armenian National Academy of sciences have issued a statement today,
according to which Turkey will demand an expensive reimbursement from
the Armenian side in exchange for the conduct of the liturgy at the
St. Cross Church of Akhtamar. Director of the History Institute Ashot
Melkonyan is confident that there only one way out of this slippery
situation - we should not support the Turkish show by visiting Akhtamar
on that day.

The Turkish side is trying to present the demonstration of the cross
to the public and the conduct of the liturgy at St. Cross Church as
an expression of goodwill towards Armenia and the Armenian people. The
Turkish side also wishes to involve 5-6 thousand people in the event.

Rumors say the Armenian-Turkish border is going to be opened for
three days. Armenian historians are assured, however, that Turkish
thus wants to reach certain objectives, which are anti-Armenian.

"We have no desire to participate in the recurrent Turkish show. This
is true mockery. It would take half an hour to install the cross
on the dome. I think there can be no second opinion here," said
Ashot Melkonyan, adding that "we are the masters of our Akhtamar
and we will have a lot of opportunists to conduct liturgies there,
and we should not do it under the Turkish flag waving and the face
of Mustafa Kemal there."

Director of the Oriental Studies Institute Ruben Safrastyan says the
show organized by Turkey is a simple deceit. According to him, the
decision of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to boycott the mass
at St. Cross has made many citizens refuse from the idea of leaving
for Van.

"I think the majority of Armenians say 'no' to this show. We should
understand that the Shariat prohibits renovating a Christian Church
and installing a cross on it. Besides, the political situation in
Turkey should be taken account of. 75% of the Turkish citizens are
active Muslims, and the government will not go against them. Actually,
they are deceiving," he said.

Armenian historians are confident that e Tukrey is doung that step
to resist the anti-Turkish wave expected to raise on the occasion
of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. According to the
statement, Turkey had to do this under the Lausanne Treaty of 1923.

The statements calls on every Armenian, who respects his national and
religious dignity, to refrain from visiting Akhtamar on that day to
avoid becoming a tool in the hands of the foreigners in this dirty
and anti-Armenian game.


More bad news for Baku
Monday, August 30, 2010
SEMİH İDİZ
Hurriyet

Given the excitement over domestic politics in Turkey, and the

concentration on developments concerning Iran and Israel abroad, few

Turks have had a chance to consider the meaning of some of the steps

Moscow has been taking in the southern Caucasus. One such

development was the protocol Moscow signed recently with Armenia,

extending the bilateral defense treaty the two countries signed in 1995

through 2044.

Experts tell us that while the defense alliance between Armenia and

Moscow is nothing new, the protocols signed by Russian President

Dmitri Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian have

important new features. We are told, for example, that with the new

arrangement Russia undertakes to guarantee Armenia's territorial

integrity in its entirety, and not just its borders with Turkey and Iran,

as before.

This amounts to leaving Armenia’s overall defense to Moscow, and

also enhances further the partnership the two countries have within

the context of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Analysts who indicate that the CSTO is a NATO-like formation,

underline that this alliance is rapidly gaining significance in the area

covering the former Soviet Union, where Russia is increasing its

military hold from Ukraine to Kyrgyzstan.

There is also some suggestion that Washington is not as averse to

these developments as some may think, given that it shares some

elemental concerns with Moscow, mostly to do with Afghanistan and

the rise in Islamic terrorism. It is indicated in this context that the U.S.

has a stake in seeing the republics of the former Soviet Union

stabilized, something which clearly only Russia, if anyone, can do.

It is a fact that for all the angry noise out of Washington over Russia

effectively invading and dividing Georgia two years ago, little was

actually done to retaliate. Russia’s consolidation of its military position

in the southern Caucasus appears to be accepted as a “fait accompli.”

It is also noticeable that there is more convergence on Iran between

Russia and the U.S., as exemplified by Moscow’s support of the

sanctions imposed on Iran by the Security Council.

One country where the latest development between Moscow and

Yerevan has caused deep frustration and anger, however, is Azerbaijan.

The main reason is that Moscow has effectively told Baku, by means

of the protocol it signed with Yerevan, that it will not stand for any

attempt by the Azeri military to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh issue

by military means.

This is a blow to Azeri prestige because the administration in Baku

has been rattling its saber for quite some time now, indicating its

readiness to use military force to regain lands occupied by Armenian

forces, not just in Nagorno-Karabakh, but also in Azerbaijan proper.

Baku has also been using its oil money to purchase advanced military

systems and shore up its armed forces in order to give more credence

to its saber rattling.

Moscow’s indirect notice to Baku, however, makes it more or less

impossible for Azerbaijan to unleash a military campaign against

Armenia and attain its objectives.

In the first instance Azerbaijan is not a member of the CSTO, while

Armenia is and now has an even stronger protective umbrella as a

result of this alliance.
The current situation also makes it very likely that if Baku should try,

against all odds, to go for a military option, it will find itself isolated

internationally. NATO member Turkey will also find it very difficult to

get openly embroiled in such a war, even if Ankara will instinctively

be on Baku’s side, and try to help Azerbaijan in covert ways.

It is also clear that in the event of such a war the Armenian military

will have the freedom to concentrate exclusively on the Azeri

onslaught given that Moscow has now guaranteed the safety of its

other borders.

This overall situation perhaps explains why there is increasing

frustration and nervousness in Baku, which also issued two high-level

warnings to Turkey recently spelling out in so many words that if the

Erdoğan government decides to open the closed Turkish-Armenian

border for even a day and for any purpose, relations will be poisoned.

These warnings come on the heels of news reports in Turkey that the

border closed by Ankara, in solidarity with Baku after Armenians

overran Azeri territory outside Nagorno-Karabakh, may be opened

for a day within the context of an international military exercise.

As matters stand the Azeri administration was livid with anger when

news of the Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols broke last year,

forcing the Erdoğan government to shelve these protocols because of

domestic pressure Baku was able to generate among the Turkish public.

Since then it is an open secret that there is a crisis of confidence

between Turkey and Azerbaijan, with the Azeri side overly alert to any

suggestion that Turkey might embark on some gesture, such as the

opening of the border with Armenia even if for a day, to reactivate its

normalization efforts with Yerevan.

Baku knows of course there is significant pressure on Ankara from

the West to actually start implementing the ”Geneva Protocols” with

Armenia, as they have come to be known, and worries that the

Erdoğan government may not be able to withstand this pressure in

the long run.

But Foreign Minsiter Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was asked about reports

concerning the border, said last week that there was no such plan

and that the border would remain closed. Thus if there was any

preparation on Ankara’s part for a mini-gesture to Armenia, one can

say that Baku put a spanner in the works again.

What must also be frustrating for Azeri diplomats is that Russia

provided a counter point to Turkey when Ankara announced its

protocols with Armenian last year. Azeri President Ilham Aliev

immediately went to Moscow, after the protocols were signed in

Geneva, and made statements while there – especially in terms

of energy cooperation with Russia – that were clearly aimed at

ruffling feathers in Ankara.

But it was always an unrealistic expectation on the Azeri side

that Russia would provide any advantage for Baku as it pursues

its policies against Yerevan, especially those based on the military

option. Now with the latest Russian-Armenian protocols, Baku

seems to have painted itself even tighter into the corner.

We maintained at the time, and still do so today, that if Baku had

not spoiled the implementation of the Turkish-Armenian protocols,

it would have more options today vis-à-vis Nagorno-Karabakh.

For one thing Turkey would also be playing an active role in the

settlement of this seemingly intractable problem.

Today, however, there is no potential role for Turkey to play here,

given that normalization with Armenia is at a standstill, and

Azerbaijan’s zero sum game has landed Ankara in a situation

that it cannot extract itself from.

As for the real power broker in the region, this is increasingly

seen to be Russia, and it is more than likely that Azerbaijan will

have to eventually settle for a “Pax Russicana” arrangement over

Nagorno-Karabakh.

Whether that arrangement will provide Azerbaijan with what it

wants today is highly questionable. Therefore one can say that

the latest show of solidarity between Russia and Armenia, which

has now been consummated by means of a security arrangement

that will last till 2044, is more bad news.

It’s time for Yerevan to be prepared for a new role
By Times.am at 25 August, 2010, 2:32 am
By Hrant MELIK-SHAHNAZARYAN
Voskanapat.info

Summer of 2010 turned out pretty hot for the entire South Caucasus. It
was the beginning of the formation of new alliances with far-reaching
political goals. No sooner had the ink dried up on the renewed
Russian-Armenian Protocol on the presence of Russian military bases on
Armenian territory, in Baku began to talk about that on the territory
of Azerbaijan (which is Nakhijevan autonomy republic) can be placed
units of the Turkish army. And on Friday, 20th of August, Vice
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Georgia Nino Kalandadze recalled that
Georgia is considering creating a confederation with Azerbaijan.
“Georgia welcomes the formation of confederal relations between Baku
and Tbilisi … As part of the confederation, we can determine the
development plans of our relations, which will serve the development
of the whole region”, – said Deputy Minister in an interview with
reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Thus, it becomes apparent that virtually all the South Caucasus
countries to protect themselves from external threats by integrating a
variety of military-political blocs. However, judging by the
publications in Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian media the societies
of these countries don’t understand if such a policy is adequate to
the issues before the internal and external challenges next to them,
and what could strengthen the role of the larger powers in region.

In recent years, Azerbaijan and Turkey have made considerable efforts
to subdue Georgian policy to its will. Active efforts of the
Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem in the Georgian direction have already
produced tangible results in economy and demography. Now, by
developing political relations the counterparts insist on creation of
a confederation. It seems that this tendency is explained by the
desire to Saakashvili Georgian president to entrust part of public
expenditure on the shoulders of Azerbaijan. Tbilisi has long been
accustomed to foreign donations, and the idea that the time will come
to pay down the debts and dismal interest to them, except this the
western funds may stop funding the Georgian government, are with
Saakashvili always as a bad dream to come true.

However, what can the Georgian-Azerbaijani Confederation give to
Georgian people? It seems that the answer to this question is quite
obvious: the loss of statehood. First, the Georgians will lose their
Armenian Samtskhe-Javakheti-Tsalka and part of the Black Sea coast.
And then will begin the rapidly integration into a joint
Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance. Of course, about the prospect of such
developments of Azerbaijani-Georgian relations are very well aware
also in Tbilisi. Therefore, there is great hope that the announcement
of officials of various calibers of a confederation is not nothing but
a desire to demonstrate the readiness of azeris of Georgia for close
cooperation in all spheres of public activity.

Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance has quite a long distance passed, and
good prospects. The fact that the possibility of deployment of Turkish
troops in the territory of Azerbaijan is debated right now is a
consequence of the fact that so far, official Baku hoped to return
it’s control over Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by diplomatic talks.
Aliyev clan cherishes plans to bargain Karabakh from Russia and the
West by developing economic potential of the country. However, the
visit of Dmitry Medvedev in Yerevan became clear signal that the
Armenian side is serious, and does not intend to retreat from the
ideas of the liberation movement of the early 90’s.

Now, in order to maintain “diplomatic parity” between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Aliyev is trying to give an adequate response to renewed
Armenian-Russian Protocol on the presence of Russian military bases in
Armenia. The truth is that even if most of the millions of the Turkish
army will move to Azerbaijan, anyway, it does not change the current
situation. Now Azerbaijan deprived of any possibility of attack on
Armenia. And in Azerbaijan at the moment nobody is going to attack.

Based on the foregoing, the most capable is the strengthening of the
Armenian-Russian alliance and, as the logical consequences, increasing
the role of the CSTO in the FSU. The task of a minimum of
Armenian-Russian Union for Armenia is to ensure own security. And this
problem is already partially solved. Partially, because besides the
threat of renewed war, Armenia faces the challenges are of a different
nature. Currently, however, they cannot play a vital role for the
political future of our country, and we have a pretty good chance to
strengthen our political position in the South Caucasus region and
beyond. Moreover, the field of action is rather large.

For example, you must initiate the beginning of the Iranian-Israeli
dialogue through the CSTO. We cannot allow us having military actions
in the border regions of Armenia. Not using the potential of Armenia
and Russia- the two leading countries of the CSTO, in reconciliating
Iran and Israel would be a grave mistake. It is based on the interests
of almost all regional states and the world community, and success in
this business would turn CSTO is still a regional organization in the
organization of almost universal importance.