WIKILEAKS EXPOSES TURKISH, AMERICAN AND AZERI AGENDA AGAINST ARMENIA, GENOCIDE RECOGNITION AND PROTOCOLS

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WIKILEAKS EXPOSES TURKISH, AMERICAN AND AZERI AGENDA AGAINST ARMENIA, GENOCIDE RECOGNITION AND PROTOCOLS


Asbarez - The public disclosure on Sunday by WikiLeaks of tens of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables included many of special interest to Armenian Americans, most notably a “smoking gun” revelation that Turkey has aggressively used the Turkey-Armenia protocols, particularly the prospect of its ratification, to pressure American leaders against U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide and in favor of a pro-Azerbaijani settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a Feb. 25, 2010 confidential cable from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffery noted that Turkey had made it clear that its ratification of the Turkey-Armenia protocols was predicated on Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s approval. Specifically, in describing a Feb. 18, 2010 meeting between U.S. Under Secretary of State William Burns and Turkish Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Sinirlioglu, Jeffery writes: “Sinirlioglu appealed for ‘simultaneity’ between Armenian Protocols ratification and the Minsk Process. He emphasised ‘a strong reaction’ against the protocols among ruling party MPs had to be overcome before the government would hazard a ratification effort. He warned that Congressional passage of an Armenian genocide resolution would ‘complicate’ his government’s domestic political calculations regarding ratification. He said if something acceptable to Azerbaijani President Aliyev can be found, then ‘we can move’ the protocols forward.”
Wikileaks cables of interest:

Armenia here
Turkey, here
Azerbaijan, here

ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR WIKILEAKS TOP MAN

moment24 - Interpol, issued an arrest warrant in the category “Red Notice” against Julian Assange, founder and director of WikiLeaks.
Few days after this broadcast, Interpol released this arrest warrant as requested by the government of Sweden against Assange for rape and sexual harassment.
WikiLeaks founder is currently missing, fearing for his safety. He is being prosecuted by encounters with two Swedish women in August last year.
Assange consider these charges as part of “a plot by the Pentagon”, after revelations this year on the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

AMERICA'S DARK (very dark) VIEW
OF THEIR NATO ALLY TURKEY

"Tayyip believes in God ... but doesn't trust him."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, has surrounded himself with "an iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors," according to US diplomatic cables.

Spiegel.de - The US is concerned about its NATO ally Turkey. Embassy dispatches portray Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a power-hungry Islamist surrounded by corrupt and incompetent Ministers. Washington no longer believes that the country will ever join the European Union.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the most important Muslim ally of the United States. On coming into office he promised a democratic Islam - a vision that could have become a model for other countries in the region.
But if the US dispatches are to be believed, Turkey is far from realizing that vision. Erdogan? A power-hungry Islamist. His ministers? Incompetent, uneducated and some of them corrupt. The government? Divided. The opposition? Ridiculous.
US diplomats have sent thousands of reports from Ankara to Washington in the past 31 years. Recent documents, though, are merciless. They convey an image of Turkey which is at odds with almost everything the US government has officially said about the country.
First and foremost, the US distrusts Erdogan. A dispatch dated May 2005 says that he has never had a realistic worldview. Erdogan, the document says, thinks he was chosen by God to lead Turkey and likes to present himself as the "Tribune of Anatolia."
US diplomats claim that Erdogan gets almost all of his information from Islamist-leaning newspapers - analysis from his ministries, they say, is of no interest to him. The military, the second largest among NATO member states, and the secret service no longer send him some of their reports. He trusts nobody completely, the dispatches say, and surrounds himselves with "an iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors." Despite his bravado, he is said to be terrified of losing his grip on power. One authority on Erdogan told the Americans: "Tayyip believes in God ... but doesn't trust him."

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS RULES FOR THE RETURN OF GREEK ORPHANAGE TO BOLIS PATRIARCHATE

ANKARA STILL REFUSES TO OPEN GREEK ORTHODOX SEMINARY OF KHALKI

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians was given back the deed to a historic building on Monday in a move hailed as a symbolic but important victory for the formerly dominant church in Turkey.
The Turkish government returned control of the 19th-century orphanage, one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople after a ruling for the church in the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Union has called for Turkey to return dozens of other properties seized from Jewish and Christian foundations decades ago. Several court cases are currently under way by minority religious groups against the Turkish state.
The Patriarchate in Constantinople - the spiritual leader of Turkey's Greek minority - dates from the Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire, which collapsed when the Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453.
Turkey, which is overwhelmingly Muslim and officially secular, has long been criticized by the EU and human rights groups for its dealings with its religious minorities, including the confiscation of property. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has, however, taken steps to improve minority groups' rights to meet some EU demands.
Turkey took control of the 19th-century building in 1997, many years after it was abandoned by a Greek Orthodox foundation that oversaw orphanages, on the grounds that it had fallen into disuse. The European court ruled in June that the land the building sits on is registered to the church, giving it de facto ownership.
"It is an important development to show respect for law, democracy and minorities," said Cem Murat Sofuoglu, an attorney for the Patriarchate. "A right has been taken back."
Patriarch Bartholomew I — who is known as the "Green Patriarch" for his environmentally friendly attitudes — plans to turn the building into an institute for the environment after it is restored, Sofuoglu said.
But he said the government had refused to issued the necessary permits for the maintenance and repair of the large structure.
Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras welcomed the "deeply significant" decision.
"(The decision) also opens the way for the preservation and use of this historic architectural monument, he said.
The EU has also called on the government to reopen a seminary belonging to the church that trained generations of Ecumenical Patriarchs, including present leader Bartholomew I, until it was closed by Turkey in 1971.
The official argument for its closure is that a religious institution without government oversight is not compatible with the secular institutions of Turkey, a country where all Muslim clerics are trained and paid by the government.
The church, however, said Ankara refuses to open the seminary, on an island outside Istanbul, because it wants to prevent the church from raising new leaders. The church's leader has to be a Turkish citizen, which makes it difficult for the dwindling Greek community of several thousand to produce any candidates.
In a move to address the problem, the government recently granted Turkish citizenship to 12 senior clerics at the church, so that they could succeed the 70-year-old Bartholomew.

TURKISH TROOPS FIRE AGAINST GREEK CYPRIOT FISHERMEN
Gibrahayer e-magazine - Wednesday 1 December - Two Greek Cypriot fishermen escaped unhurt as they came under machine-gun fire from Turkish troops at the region of Pomos, 800 meters from the coast. "Bullets were whistling past our boat", said one of the men who had gone fishing with his son. More than a dozen similar incidents have been reported in the last decade.

GIBRAHAYER REPRESENTED AT BI-COMMUNAL MEETING

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra - For some time now, the Embassy of the Slovak Republic to Cyprus has been organising bi-communal meetings, which regularly take place every month at the Ledra Palace Hotel, Nicosia, each time hosted by a different Cypriot political party. The last meeting was on 24 November 2010 and was hosted by the YKP (New Cyprus Party), with its topic being “The cultural heritage of the Maronite, Armenian and Latin communities and minority rights after the Cyprus solution”.
For the first time in this series of meetings, representatives from all three smaller communities of Cyprus were invited. On behalf of the Armenian-Cypriot community were invited the Honourable Armenian MP Mr Vartkes Mahdessian and the Armenian National Committee of Cyprus. After Mr Mahdessian thanked for the invitation and greeted the meeting, Mr Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, on behalf of ANC, presented in a nutshell the history of the community within the wider framework of the history of Cyprus, emphasising its contribution to the culture and development of our common homeland.
As it became evident by all parties involved, the participation of the Armenian, Maronite and Latin communities of Cyprus will give a new and more positive flavour to these meetings; indeed, representatives from both G/C and T/C political parties have asked for such a meeting to be repeated in the future. Yerani/Inshallah/Makari!

ISRAEL SLAMS ERDOGAN'S
'LAME DIATRIBE' FROM BEIRUT

Lebanese Armenians tear up Erdogan posterjpost.com - 26 November - Turkish PM launches new war crimes salvo; Lebanese Armenians protest his visit over WWI genocide.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted Israel in Beirut on Thursday for a variety of alleged war crimes, on a day when he faced angry demonstrations by hundreds of Lebanese Armenians highlighting Turkey’s slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians during World War I. “Does [Israel] think it can enter Lebanon with the most modern aircraft and tanks to kill women and children, and destroy schools and hospitals, and then expect us to remain silent?” Erdogan asked on the final day of his two-day visit to Lebanon.
“Does it think it can use the most modern weapons, phosphorus munitions and cluster bombs to kill children in Gaza and then expect us to remain silent? We will not be silent, and we will support justice by all means available to us,” he declared.
One Israeli official said Erdogan’s latest anti-Israel diatribe “was a particularly lame diversion from the issue that was brought to his door in Lebanon by Armenian demonstrators.”
The official also said Israel took note that Erdogan, in his speech, “found not one single word to at least distance himself from killing of Israeli women and children [by Hizbullah].”
The website of the Istanbul-based daily Hurriyet quoted Erdogan as having said on Wednesday during a speech at a Turkmen village near Beirut that “we will go on to raise our voice against those massacring innocent people and children. We will call a killer a killer when needed.”
The Turkish Prime Minister met during his visit with officials in the north and south of the country, including Turkish troops stationed with UNIFIL in the South.
In Beirut on Thursday, hundreds of Lebanese of Armenian descent clashed with army troops in the capital’s Martyr’s Square during a protest against Erdogan’s visit.
When demonstrators tore up a large poster of Erdogan and pelted troops with rocks, security forces responded by beating up a number of them.
There were no reports of serious injuries. At the time, Erdogan was inaugurating a hospital in the southern port city of Sidon.
Lebanon has around 150,000 Armenians – nearly 4 percent of its population – who, because of the Armenian genocide, harbor deep animosity toward Turkey.

IN LIMASSOL-CYPRUS
On the last day of the Under 23 European Weightlifting Championship that was held in Limassol - Cyprus, Armenian weightlifter Hayk Hakobyan (+105 kg) brought the 3rd gold medal to Armenia, lifting a total of 390kg in clean & jerk and snatch (180kg and 210 kg respectively).
With this result, the Armenian sportsman got ahead of Poland's Christoph Klichki by 24 kg.


Aerial Photographs of Artsakh - click here
News in Brief by Sevag Develetian

- A dispatch point of thousands of Armenian genocide victims in 1915 - Haydar Pasha train station in Bolis - caught fire and its top floor completely burnt.
- National carrier Armavia announced that starting from Thursday 23 December, 2010 direct flights from Larnaca to Yerevan will be restarted with flights on December 3, 10, and 17 being conducted via Beirut.
- During the official visit to the Republic of Armenia, on November 29 the administrative head of the Russian President Sergey Narishkin visited Dzidzernagapert. Narishkin put flowers on the memorial of the innocent victims, and visited the Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide accompanied by the head of the Museum Hayk Demoyan. Narishkin left the following note in the book of the honorable guests of the Museum "I bend my head over the victims of national tragedy of the Armenians. The Memorial leaves an indelible impression. Here you deeply realize what challenges the Armenian nation took and how courageously and honorably revives his native land. I wish the fraternal Armenians lot's of success and prosperity."
- Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam reports that Turkeys President Abdulah Gul, stated to journalists accompanying him during his two day visit in Switzerland that a "Cyprus conference" could take place in 2011, which would bring together all the sides involved in the Cyprus problem. Gul also recalled that Switzerland has a diplomatic tradition as a mediator in the Cyprus and Armenian issues and added that he supports Switzerland's readiness to be involved once again.
- Daron Acemoglu, a Turkish-Armenian professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was included in the second Top 100 Global Thinkers list issued by the Foreign Policy magazine.
- Renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian's "Spartacus" ballet was awarded the winners title at the "Ballet of 21st century" first pan-Russian forum.
- The press service of the presidential administration of Azerbaijan has issued a special statement in connection with whistleblower website WikiLeaks release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables related to foreign governments revealing, among other things, the statements of President Aliyev on Russian, Turkish, Iranian and Armenian authorities. The Azerbaijani presidential press service seeks to cover up Aliyev’s disgrace and named the declassified diplomatic cables “a provocation”.
Invitation to join the only Armenian Dance Ensemble in Cyprus
The committee of Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association “Oshagan” Cyprus Chapter cordially invites all members of SIPAN Dance Ensemble to a first meeting on Wednesday 1 December at AYMA at 7:00 pm. This year's Dance instructor is Felix Haroutunyan who will be preparing the dance group for the spring 2011 performance in Cyprus.
A special invitation is extended to members of our community and especially to youngsters who want to join our Dance Ensemble and to participate in the opportunity of making Armenian cultural experience an inseparable part of their life.
SIPAN Dance ensemble provides a unique privilege to its team of dancers to excel as performers and enhance Armenian community life in Cyprus.
If you have questions regarding Sipan Dance Ensemble's activities and would like to join Hamazkayin's family, call Shoushig Bakalian on 99667828 and Louise Aynedjian on 99533684.
With this opportunity the Committee would like to again thank Janna Tahmizian for the decade-long contribution to SIPAN's elevation to the "pride of our community."

Ara Gevorgian Concert Photos by Avo Koushian at:
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2089565&id=1543460178&l=493eeebe76
Ara Gevorgian concert FINALE at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2reb3-1WaU
Hayots Ashkharh in Nicosia at : www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaEBbQxZ-Rw

Letters to the Editor

Amazing concert. Attended with a group of 5 from Amman - Jordan. Bravo Cyprus and Cypriot Armenians for putting on display to the world, the best of Armenian Dance and Music.
Aline Bannayan - Amman - Jordan
We were there too :) a group of 12 from Aleppo, it was an amazing concert, we all are fans of Ara Gevorgian's music, but watching his performance LIVE is something unexplainable, every second your heart beats Armenian and you are proud to be Armenian :) Thank u Ara and thanks for all who make this possible..
Maral Darakjian - Aleppo - Syria