Armenian News

Armenian Patriarchate's Bold Move To Sue the Turkish Government

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

We must commend Acting Patriarch Aram Ateshian and the Armenian

Patriarchate of Istanbul for making the bold move of suing the Turkish

government for the return of historically significant Armenian

properties.

Turkish officials normally view such legal actions with hostility and

exertgreat pressure on judges to reject property claims filed by minorities,

making it extremely difficult if not impossible to win similar

lawsuits. Nevertheless, this is a necessary first step in order to be

able to appeal the Turkish court's expected negative ruling to the

European Court of Human

Rights, where a plaintiff has a much better chance of a fair hearing.

The lawsuit filed by the Patriarchate on March 14 seeks the return of

Armenian properties belonging to Sanasarian College in Garin

(Erzeroum) which were confiscated by the Turkish authorities following

the Genocide of 1915. The College's extensive properties, now worth

tens of millions of dollars, include nine plots of land in Garin, a

garden house and vast farmland in the village o fAghveren, two plots in

the village of Gez, and a large commercial property(khan) in the

center of Constantinople (Istanbul).

Sanasarian College was founded in 1881 by a major endowment from

Mgrdich Sanasarian, a wealthy businessman from Georgia,who had settled

in St. Petersburg, Russia. The generous benefactor donated additional

properties to the College in the late1800's.

Prior to 1915, Sanasarian College played a prominent role as a

modernizing force during the Armenian national awakening. It was a

European-style liberal arts school with the specific purpose of

preparing teachers and professionals in various fields to assist

therapid development of Western Armenia's economy. During its brief

existence, the College produced hundreds of graduates, including many

who rose to prominent positions. Armen Garo, the Armenian

Republic's first ambassador to the United States in 1918, was an alumnus

of Sanasarian College.

Garin was an important base of operations for the Armenian

Revolutionary Federation (Dashnagtsoutyoun) and its leaders who had

taken residence there before 1915. One of ARF's founders, Rostom, was

appointed as superintendent of Garin's school system, which included

Sanasarian College.

Some meetings of the momentous ARF8th World Congress were held in

1914 at Sanasarian College buildings. The Congress was interrupted by the

start of the First World War. The Young Turk government had dispatched

to Garin a high level delegation headed by Behaeddin Shakir, one of the

masterminds of the Armenian Genocide, to pressure the ARF into collaborating

with the Turkish government's wartime efforts. The ARF Congress turned down

the request. The College closed down in early 1915 and its entire faculty

and many of its students were killed during the Genocide. Shakir was

assassinated by Armenian avengers in 1922 in Berlin.

Ironically, a few years later, Garin was converted from a hotbed of

Armenian activism to a center of Turkish nationalism with the convening

of the historic Erzeroum Congress by Kemal Ataturk in 1919. Currently,

the Sanasarian College complex is a Turkish museum.

Commenting on the lawsuit, Ali Elbeyoglu, the Armenian Patriarchate's

lawyer, told Hurriyet newspaper:"The Sanasarian Foundation was granted

to the Patriarchate by philanthropist Mgrdich Sanasarian in the

1800's. The administration and management of the Sanasarian Foundation

legally belongs to the Patriarchate....We are not going to content

ourselves with the mere return of historical buildings. We are also

going to demand compensation from the government's General Directorate

of Foundations for all material losses incurred by the

Patriarchate since 1936."

Earlier this year, the Armenian Patriarchate filed a separate lawsuit

against the Directorate General of Foundations seeking the return of

the Sanasarian Shopping Center (khan) in Istanbul. Even though the court

imposed a temporary injunction, freezing all transactions involving

the building's disposition, the Directorate General of Foundations

declared that it will not

abide by the court's order. The Patriarchate's lawyer Elbeyoglu reacted

by declaring: "This runs counter to all international legal[norms] as

well as the Treaty of Lausanne. The Patriarchate is still in possession

of the title deed," Hurriyet reported.

In the past, when I criticized the Patriarchate for making public

statements against Armenian national interests, I was accused of not

fully appreciating the special circumstances under which Armenians live

in Turkey, and was told to show more sensitivity to the fact that they

are basically hostages in

the hands of the Turkish government. Since this article commends the

Patriarchate's bold legal action, I am concerned that my words of

praise might make some Armenians in Turkey just as uncomfortable. I

am simply trying

to be fair and even-handed, offering criticism or praise, as

the occasion merits.

DO NOT PROVIDE ARMENIAN JUDGES WITH US ENTRY VISA, 

SAYS HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP

epress.am

03.20.2012

The Yerevan-based Helsinki Association for Human Rights has appealed

to US Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern in writing, requesting

that several Armenian judges not be granted entry visas to the

United States. Helsinki Association president Mikael Danielyan and

attorney Gayane Khachatryan informed Epress.am that these judges and

prosecutors have permitted numerous gross procedural violations in

several criminal cases in recent years, the victims of which to whom

the Association was providing legal assistance.

In the letter to Ambassador Heffern, the Helsinki Association notes

that the courts and state prosecutors are not objective and through

their indifference and inaction, ignore the many complaints of clearly

trumped-up charges that allow for longer prison sentences.

"This proves that reform of Armenia's judicial system is [merely]

a formality. Republic of Armenia judges, though from time to time

undergo training in such juridical countries as the United States,

continue to fulfill the orders of the prosecution and operate according

to the unwritten rule 'the prosecution always knows best' and are

not guided by the principles of the RA Constitution, criminal law and

procedure," said Khachatryan, presenting an extract from the letter,

copies of which were sent to RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan

and the RA Council of Justice.

According to Danielyan, considering the fact that the US government

has large investments in the reforms carried out in Armenia's judicial

system, a question arises: Do these funds serve their purpose?

"The Helsinki Association has repeatedly raised the need for

various sanctions against the Armenian authorities. That is why, as

a precautionary measure, we are suggesting that the following judges

be refused an entry visa to the US, who directly through their actions

damage and hinder the implementation of democratic reforms in Armenia,"

reads the letter, which lists the names of the following judges:

Mesrop Makyan, Court of General Jurisdiction of Kotayk Region; Suren

Kostanyan, Court of General Jurisdiction of Shengavit Administrative

District of Yerevan; Artur Mkrtchyan, Court of General Jurisdiction

of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan;

and Criminal Court of Appeal judges Grisha Melik-Sargsyan, Henrik

Adamyan, Gagik Avetisyan, Eva Darbinyan and Sergei Chichoyan.

POLICEMAN WHO POSED WITH TURKISH-ARMENIAN 

JOURNALIST'S KILLER PROMOTED

Hurriyet Daily News

March 19 2012

Turkey

A police officer that was photographed posing with Hrant Dink murderer

Ogün Samast behind a Turkish flag immediately after the assassination

has been promoted, daily Radikal reported today.

Yakup Kurtaran, who was a fourth-class police officer in the Black Sea

province of Samsun at the time of the murder, has been appointed as

the public security deputy manager in the eastern province of Malatya.

The controversial photo was taken on Jan. 20, 2007, after Samast was

detained and taken to the anti-terror office in Samsun.

Kurtaran and other officers were suspended after the photo was

revealed; initially, Kurtaran was docked one day~Rs pay for his role

in the photo, but the penalty was later rescinded by a Samsun court.

Authorities launched an investigation into the unidentified people

who leaked the photo on charges of "breaching an investigation's

secrecy by featuring photos and videos in the visual and print media."

Samast was sentenced to over 22 years in prison last year for the Jan.

19, 2007, murder of Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist.

RFE/RL Report

Armenian Inflation Relatively Modest In 2012

Emil Danielyan

23.03.2012

Consumer price inflation in Armenia has remained below the

government's maximum target rate so far this year after steadily

decreasing in the second half of 2011, according to official

statistics.

The National Statistical Service (NSS) recorded a year-on-year

inflation rate of 3 percent last month, sharply down from 12.4 percent

in the year-earlier period.

According to the government agency, consumer prices steadily fell

after February 2011, bringing the inflation rate down to 4.7 percent

in December. The figure was within the Armenian authorities' 2011

target band of 4 percent (±1.5 percentage points).

The government and the Central Bank of Armenia set the same inflation

target for 2012. In a statement issued after a January meeting of its

governing board, the Central Bank noted that external inflationary

pressures on the Armenian economy will remain `weak' in the months

ahead because of sluggish global growth.

Nevertheless, the bank avoided cutting its benchmark refinancing rate,

which has stood at 8 percent since September. As part of its earlier

anti-inflationary measures, it raised the minimum cost of borrowing in

Armenia by a total of 1.25 percentage points in February-April.

The NSS data shows that food prices rose more slowly than the cost of

other goods in February. The food price index, which has increased

markedly in recent years, was down by almost 2 percent from the

January 2012 level.

Still, the prices of some foodstuffs such as meat have risen by over

10 percent year on year. NSS reported even steeper rises in fuel

prices.