LOUSSAPATZ 890. 2011 06 18

Schiff and Dold Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing the Armenian Genocide Congressmen Urge Turkey to Safeguard Christian Heritage and Return Confiscated

Church Properties

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced a bipartisan House Resolu- tion with Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL) recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide in the House of Representatives. The resolution calls on the President and the U.S. Government to prop- erly recognize and commemorate the atrocities that occurred in Armenia beginning in 1915, and which resulted in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children, as genocide.

“The facts of history are clear, well documented and non-negotiable – 1.5 million Armenians were deliberately murdered in the first genocide of the 20th century,” Rep. Schiff said. “If we are to prevent future atrocities, we must condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs. It has never served our national interest to be complicit in another nation’s campaign of genocide denial, and it never will. While there are still some survivors left, we have a compelling, urgent and moral obliga- tion to speak plainly about the past.”

“The United States has a duty to remember those who have no voice,” Rep. Dold said. “Ninety- six years ago 1.5 million people were killed simply because they were Armenian. I’ve personally heard stories from Armenian-Americans in my district who lost loved ones during the Armenian genocide. This appalling tragedy should not be ignored; rather, as a nation that fights for justice it is only fitting that the United States honestly recognize the Armenian Genocide and the victims so that together we can help prevent future genocides.”

Bolstering his efforts to achieve justice and human rights in the region, Rep. Schiff has also joined in co-sponsoring a second resolution introduced today by Reps. Ed Royce and Howard Ber- man, calling on the government of Turkey to end religious discrimination, to cease all restrictions on gatherings for religious prayer and education, and to return stolen church property.

“By expropriating church properties, harassing worshippers, and refusing to grant full legal status to members of the Christian faith, the Republic of Turkey is violating its obligation to uphold basic freedoms that are the foundation of justice and peace worldwide,” Rep. Schiff said.

The Republic of Turkey is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which re- quires “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” While Turkey considers itself a secular de- mocracy, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has identified the Republic as one of the world’s leading violators of religious freedom.

“Christians constitute less than 1 percent of Turkey’s population, placing them in an especially vulnerable position,” Rep. Schiff said. “This resolution will help to promote religious equality by shining a light on the unacceptable violations and intolerance of religious freedom in Turkey.”

Armenia, Azerbaijan Report Significant Progress in Karabakh Peace Process

“Following the discussions, the sides managed to bring their positions closer on a number of issues of the Basic Principles of the Karabakh settlement. The draft of the given document will be presented at the regular trilateral summit in late June,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said follow- ing the June 11 meeting in Moscow of Minister Edward Nalbandian with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, hosted by Russia’s chief diplomat Sergei Lavrov.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Russia issued a virtually identical statement cited by Azerbaijani news agencies. Neither side specified the issues that were reportedly agreed upon by Nalbandian and Mammadyarov.

The two ministers met in Moscow just days after U.S., Russian and French diplomats co- chairing the OSCE Minsk Group ended yet another tour of the conflict zone. The co-chairs’ talks in Baku, Stepanakert and Yerevan in turn followed a joint statement on the Karabakh dispute issued by the U.S., Russian and French presidents.

The three leaders urged their Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts to finalize the basic prin- ciples, drafted by the three mediating powers, at their next meeting. It is due to be hosted by Rus-

9sian President Dmitry Medvedev in Kazan, Russia on June 25. The international negotiators also called upon the parties “to avoid any provocative actions or statements that might undermine the negotiating process during this critical period.”

Earlier, in May, the leaders of the three mediating powers issued a joint statement from the G8 summit in France urging the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan “to demonstrate their political will by finalizing the Basic Principles of settlement during their upcoming summit in June.” The Armenian-Azerbaijani summit is due to be hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Kazan, Russia, on June 25.

Erdogan’s Ruling Justice and Development Party Wins 3rd Term in Turkey

ANKARA -- Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been cast in the dual role of consensus builder and Turkey’s most successful modern prime minister after his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a third consecutive election landslide with nearly 50 percent of the vote.

The resounding victory margin saw the socially conservative AKP increase its vote share from its 2007 poll win by more than three points to 49.9 percent.

But rather than being more powerful than ever, the result leaves Erdogan short of the two- thirds parliamentary majority needed to unilaterally reshape Turkey’s constitution, which was writ- ten after a military coup in 1980.

With 326 out of the national assembly’s 550 seats — four fewer than it gained in 2007 — the AKP is also five short of what it would need to call a referendum for a new constitution.

The prime minister is widely believed to have been planning to create a presidential system in which he would be elected president, cementing his already formidable power.

The main opposition party, the avowedly secular Republican People’s Party, raised its showing to 26 percent — its best result in 30 years — under a new leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The right-wing Nationalist Action Party (MHP) received 13 percent of the votes.

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) also succeeded in winning 36 seats by fielding its candidates as independents — a move aimed at overcoming Turkey’s parliamentary- threshold rule that prevents any party with less than 10 percent of the national vote gaining seats in the national assembly.

Turnout among Turkey’s 52 million registered voters was about 86 percent.

Two historians, who staunch deniers of the Armenian Genocide, gained seats in the Turkish parliament.

One of them is a candidate from ruling Justice and Development Party Seyit Sertcelik, an au- thor of a book about Genocide denial. He is the only Turkish historian who masters Armenian.

Another historian who entered the parliament and is famous for his anti-Armenian stance, Yu- suf Halacoglu was nominated by Nationalist Movement Party.

Halacoglu, former head of Turkish Historical Society, recently claimed he was fired at the re- quest of Armenia and U.S. No Armenian candidate was nominated by Turkish parties.

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Opposition Activist Sarkis Hatspanian Released from Jail

YEREVAN -- Sarkis Hatspanian, an opposition activist and veteran of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, has been released from Vardashen penitentiary

Hatspanian, a French citizen of Armenian descent, criticized the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and claimed that he is facing deportation from Armenia after leaving the Vartashen prison in Yerevan.

Hatspanian was arrested in November 2008 after alleging, in an newspaper interview, a planned attempt on the life of President Serzh Sarkisian. He implicitly claimed that the murder plot was hatched by Sarkisian’s predecessor, Robert Kocharian.

Hatspanian was later convicted of “false denunciation” and sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He and rejected the charge as politically motivated.

“My release is also Serzh Sarkisian’s release because that person is held hostage by Robert Kocharian in connection with my case,” he said.

A native of Turkey, Hatspanian moved to Armenia from France in 1990 and took part in the Karabakh liberation war.

Hatspanian exposed his disappointment with the HAK leadership as he was greeted outside the Vartashen prison by his wife, children and a handful of friends chanting “Sarkis!” Senior HAK repre- sentatives were conspicuously absent.

Asked to comment on the HAK-government dialogue, the oppositionist said, “Doesn’t this [absence] say it all? It answers your question, doesn’t it?”

“Both parties to the dialogue are not here right now,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “I wonder where those people are. Has any of them knocked on my apartment door and inquired about my kids in the last three years?

“I’m going to put these questions to those who are absent from this place now. They haven’t bothered to say ‘welcome back.’ This shows the difference between their and my moral values.” Hatspanian also said that his chief objective now is to avoid deportation from the country, which was threatened by the authorities following the March 2008 unrest in Yerevan. “In the next few days Serzh Sarkisian will demonstrate whether he really wants Diaspora Armenians to live in Armenia,” he said.

Turkish-Armenian Normalization Seen Unlikely After Elections

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to kick-start Turkey’s ill-fated rapprochement with Armenia even after his Justice and Development Party (AKP) won yet another general election, Armenian political analysts said on Monday.

They predicted that the Turkish government will continue to link the full normalization of Turkish-Armenian re- lations with a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Turkey were due to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their border in accordance with two Western-backed protocols signed in October 2009. Ankara has since repeatedly stated that the Turkish parliament controlled by the AKP will not ratify them until there is decisive progress in international efforts to settle the Kara- bakh dispute.

Yerevan has rejected this precondition, accusing the Turks of acting against the letter and the spirit of the agreements. President Serzh Sarkisian and other Armenian leaders have also threatened to formally annul them.

Artak Shakarian, a Yerevan-based Turkey expert, suggested that while the Erdogan government might attempt to revive normalization process its chances of success will be slim. He argued that Turkey’s leading opposition par- ties, which have been critical of the government’s Armenian policy, have increased their presence in parliament de- spite the AKP’s landslide victory.

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“According to some sources, secret Turkish-Armenian negotiations are continuing, they are preparing ground to revive the protocols,” Shakarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “But it must be pointed out that the AKP will have fewer seats in the new Turkish parliament. So Erdogan will again have to negotiate with opposition parties or at least independent Kurdish deputies.”

“There is a view that Erdogan could take an interesting step and ratify one of the two protocols, which is weaker and easier to sell to Azerbaijan. Namely, the protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations [with Armenia,]” he said.

Ruben Melkonian, a Turkish studies professor at Yerevan State University, was more pessimistic. He said that Erdogan’s chief priority now is to enact a new Turkish constitution favorable to the AKP and that he will have to court the opposition for that purpose. “I think that with Turkey entering another electoral phase ... it is difficult to expect it to make active efforts to nor- malize Turkish-Armenian relations,” Melkonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. Protocol ratification will become a real possibility only in case of “unexpected geopolitical developments” in the region, he said.

“Armenian Architects of Istanbul” Exhibition Opens in Yerevan

YEREVAN -- “Armenian Architects of Istanbul in the Era of Westernization” is a unique exhi- bition that will opens in Yerevan on Tuesday, June 14 at the National Museum – Institute of Archi- tecture of Armenia.

Curated by Hasan Kuruyazici, the exhibition presents the role of forgotten Armenian architects in the process of forging the urban landscape of Istanbul.

The exhibition is the brainchild of the International Hrant Dink Foundation, in collaboration with HAYCAR Association and Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency.

Visitors will be able to explore the life stories of more than 40 Armenian architects who lived between late 19th and early 20th centuries. The history, architectural drawings and documents about the ancient versions of 100 buildings that were designed by these architects will also be displayed at the exhibition via photographs and two short films.

The photographs of buildings, listed by Hasan Kuruyazici after his long trips through the streets of Kurtulus-Tatavla, Pangalti, Taksim, Cihangir, Tarlabasi, Tünel, Galata, Eminönü and Mahmutpasa, show us the contribution of Armenian architects in the westernization process of Is- tanbul.

Armenian architects played a significant role in the shaping up of the architectural silhouette of Istanbul by blending their knowledge based on tradition with Western architecture, which gradu- ally brought the European style to Istanbul.

Designed by Erkal Yavi, the exhibition was previously held at Istanbul Modern Arts Museum, the Istanbul Bahceshir University and the Modern Arts Centre of Ankara Cankaya Municipality.

The exhibition will travel to Gyumri in September and Vanadzor in October. A book that fea- tures articles on the architects and architecture of the period together with the photographs of build- ings has been published in Armenian-English and will be available at the exhibition.

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The exhibition will be on view from June 14 – August 31at the National Museum – Institute of Ar- chitecture of Armenia, Republic Square Government Bldg. #3, 1st Floor, Yerevan. (+374 10) 524630

Armenian Military ‘Interested’ In Russian Rocket Systems

MOSCOW -- Armenia has indicated its desire to acquire Russian rocket artillery systems that have a firing range of up to 90 kilometers, according to a senior Russian defense industry executive.

Nikolay Dimidyuk of the state-run Rosoboronexport company was quoted this week by the Moscow-based magazine “Voenno-Promyshlenny Kurier” as saying that Armenian officials showed an interest in the BM-30 Smerch (Tornado) multiple launch rocket systems during a recent international arms exhibition in Minsk.

Dimidyuk said that they as well as military officials from Kazakhstan held “interesting negotiations” with Ro- soboronexport representatives in the Belarusian capital. “These were not mere courtesy visits, we discussed concrete issues,” he said.

“We have not cooperated so closely with members states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) before,” added the Russian official.

The Armenian Defense Ministry declined to confirm or deny this information. “Armenia’s armed forces are constantly supplied with new and modern weaponry,” ministry spokesman Davit Karapetian told RFE/RL’s Arme- nian service. “It is not expedient to divulge details of our arms purchases.”

A Defense Ministry source, who asked not to be identified, said in that context that the Armenian army already possesses Smerch systems.

Developed in the early 1980s, Smerch is arguably the most powerful multiple launch rocket system in the world. It can fire twelve 300-milimeter rockets in a single salvo that lasts for less than a minute. The truck-mounted systems are currently estimated to cost $12 million each. It is not clear whether Armenia can ac- quire them at a knockdown price or even free of charge thanks to its membership in the CSTO or a Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed last August. The agreement commits Moscow to supplying the Armenian military with “special military hardware.”

ARPA Institute Presents an Illustrated Lecture/Seminar on “In Search of Armenian Cilicia” by Prof. Richard Hovannisian

After traveling through much of historic Western Armenia four years ago, Richard Hovanni- sian, AEF Professor of Modern Armenian History, UCLA, journeyed to Caesarea and Cilicia two years later, this time as historian-guide of a tour organized by NAASR. Beginning with the rock- hewn Orthodox cave churches of Cappadocia, the group traveled to Caesarea/Gesaria, Talas, Evereg-Fenese, Chomakhlu, and over the Taurus Mountains to Hadjin, Sis, Adana, Tarsus, Mersin, Selefke, Dortyol, Antioch, Musa Dagh, Killis, Aintab, Zeitun, and Marash. Scenes from these for- mer vibrant centers of Armenian life will be shown and discussed by Professor Hovannisian at Mer- dinian school Auditorium: 13330 Riverside Dr. Sherman Oaks, CA 91403, on Thursday, June 23, 2011 @ 7:30PM.

Richard Hovannisian is the Professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History and Holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Chair in Modern Armenian History at the University of Califor- nia, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was born and raised in Tulare, California. He received his B.A. and M.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley and Ph.D. in history from UCLA. A member of the UCLA faculty since 1962, he has organized both the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian history and has guided many students to the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Ar- menian History.

Dr. Hovannisian served as the Associate Director of UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies from 1978 to 1995. He is the first Holder of the AEF Chair since 1986. From 1965 to 1969 he was also Associate Professor of History at Mount Saint Mary’s College in Los Angeles, and has served as a distinguished visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley; California State Uni- versity, Fresno; Florida Atlantic University; and Clark University. Professor Hovannisian is a Gug- genheim Fellow and has received many honors for his scholarship, civic activities, and advancement of Armenian studies. He is a founder and six-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies and serves on the editorial boards of five journals and on the boards of directors of ten scholarly and civic organizations. He has given hundreds of lectures and participated in numerous international forums and in the media on Armenian issues.

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Since the 1970’s, Dr. Hovannisian has focused on remembrance and denial of the Armenian Genocide, about which he has spoken in 35 countries, more than 150 colleges and universities, and more than 1000 public lectures and forums on six continents. He has served as a consultant to the California State Board of Education, authoring the chapter on the Armenian Genocide in the State’s Social Studies Model Curriculum on Human Rights and Genocide. Dr. Hovannisian has also served as a consultant to the Facing History and Ourselves Organization, assisted in the preparation of its resource book on the Armenian Genocide, and introduced the subject in numerous Facing History teacher-training institutes and summer workshops. Dr. Hovannisian is the author of the four-volume history The Republic of Armenia and its forerun- ner, Armenia on the Road to Independence. He has edited and contributed to more than twenty other books.

Catholicos Karekin II Visits Armenian-Populated Javakhk

His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, on Monday arrived in Javakhk as part of his six-day pontifical visit to Georgia.

Karekin II, who was accompanied by a Georgian delegation headed by Patriarch Illia II, became the first Ca- tholicos since Khrimian Hayrik to visit the mostly Armenian-populated region.

Upon arriving in Javakhk, Karekin II was greeted by people of Akhaltskha in Queen Tamara Square, where both religious leaders addressed the crowd.

The two church leaders then made their way to the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church in Akhaltskha. There to greet them were local community leaders and young Armenians dressed in folk costumes who offered the traditional welcome of “bread and salt”.

A liturgy was officiated by the Catholicos at the church, where Ilia II also offered his bless-

ings.

Catholicos Karekin II then addressed the assembled crowd, saying he was pleased to see that Javakhk Armenians continued to follow the path of their ancestors and remain faithful to the Arme- nian Church.

The Armenian Church pontiff urged the crowd to boldly face the challenges confronting them while at the same time promising that the Church would do all it could to provide religious and edu- cational guidance.

ties.

The delegation then headed to Hovannes Tumanyan Armenian School for a tour of the facili- A reception, organized by local officials, was held later in the evening.

Resolution for the Third Time? Why Pass an Armenian Genocide

By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier A new Armenian Genocide resolution is being introduced in the House of Representatives this week.

The first question is why Congress is being asked to pass a genocide resolution for the third time? As is well known, the House of Representatives twice adopted resolutions acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, in 1975 and 1984. What would Armenians gain by adopting the resolution for the third time? And if it passes this year, would another attempt be made to pass it again for the fourth time next year?

Some may be under the mistaken impression that such resolutions would help Armenians obtain restitution from Turkey for their confiscated lands and stolen possessions. This is simply not true. Commemorative resolu- tions express "the sense" of Congress and do not have the force of law. Furthermore, if these resolutions had any real benefits, Armenians would have taken advantage of them during the decades since their adoption!

On the positive side, the passage of these resolutions have ethical, psychological, and political dimen- sions. Morality dictates that the mass murder of an entire nation not be forgotten or ignored. Yet, it is the Turk- ish government’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide that compels Armenians to present such resolu- tions to Congress year after year. Regrettably, successive U.S. administrations also share the blame in this sordid affair by aiding and abetting the Turkish denialists, and playing unethical word games with the extermination of 1.5 million innocent men, women and children.

The psychological advantage of passing such a resolution is the satisfaction received by descendants of geno- cide victims when their loss and pain are acknowledged by the legislature of the world’s greatest democracy.

The political raucous, whenever an Armenian Genocide resolution is introduced in Congress, is due to the Turkish government’s scandalous behavior. Dozens of commemorative resolutions on a variety of issues are adopted by the U.S. Congress each year, yet not a single one makes the news. Because Turkish leaders create such mayhem by making threats against the United States, dispatching high-level delegations to Washington,

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hiring powerful lobbying firms, and spending valuable political capital, they end up making millions of people aware of the facts of the Armenian Genocide. While the Turkish intent is to cover up the mass murder of Arme- nians almost a century ago, their berserk reaction inadvertently succeeds in publicizing to the whole world the dastardly crimes committed by their forefathers.

Hopefully, the Turkish government would once again resort to its normal bullying tactics, thereby attracting the attention of the international community to the Armenian Genocide issue. The newly introduced resolution can only benefit from such Turkish-generated publicity, since the Republican-dominated House is not likely to act on it anytime soon, not that the more sympathetic Democrats had a greater degree of enthusiasm to bring it to a vote late last year, when they were in power!

Certainly, Turkish officials could be even more helpful should they create unexpected crises with the United States, thus forcing the hand of both the Democratic administration and Republican House leadership to support the genocide resolution. Meanwhile, the Armenian-American community would keep the issue alive and ready to be triggered at the opportune moment, causing the Turkish side to spend millions of dollars in on-going lob- bying efforts!

Such an opportunity may come later this month with a possible bloody confrontation between the second Turkish "humanitarian" flotilla and Israel’s Navy, which could trigger the ire of U.S. and Israeli leaders, com- pelling them to put the pending Genocide resolutions to a vote in their respective legislatures. While Armenians would resent seeing the genocide issue used as a political football, they may not have much of a choice, since they have been just as offended when the resolution was not being adopted for all the wrong reasons!

Going beyond the genocide issue, Armenian-Americans may introduce several other resolutions in Congress this year involving Armenian-Turkish relations: -- Urging Turkey to return the expropriated Armenian churches to the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, allow- ing them to function as churches, not museums, mosques, or touristic sites;

-- Honoring the distinguished jurist Raphael Lemkin who coined the term genocide, influenced by the mass murder of Armenians in 1915; -- Advocating the lifting of the blockade of Armenia imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan; and -- Supporting the protection of human rights of all minorities in Turkey (Alevis, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Jews, and Kurds).

With the upcoming congressional and presidential elections, and unexpected developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, we may be facing a hectic and chaotic political season. It is critical for Armenian-Americans and their supporters to remain well informed, active, and committed to the pursuit of Armenian interests.

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