Armenian News

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Stepa Safaryan: 'Demolition of Yerevan covered market's arch roof is a crime'

arminfo

Monday, May 28, 16:44

  Dozens of green activists have gathered near the covered market in

Yerevan today on May 28 to take the situation under control and save

the market after the arch roof of the market was demolished overnight.

It is noteworthy that the market is included in the list of historical

monument of Yerevan and demolition of the roof was, inherently, illegal.

"Demolition of the market's arch roof is a crime. The developer

company neglects relevant authorities and keeps destroying part of

Yerevan's history," Stepa Safaryan, a member of Heritage Party, told

media. "It is a developed illegal work style when construction is

carried out at nights, while there is no one on the construction site

in daytime to explain the illegal actions," he said.

Safaryan recalled the first attempt to demolish the roof was in March

and resulted in a 200,000 drams fine imposed on the construction

company. In addition, the developer had no necessary documents.

Nevertheless, there is no poster of the future market on the

construction site. "It is not only violation of the law. It also shows

that there is not approved project of the future market yet," Safaryan

said.

In this connection, activists will send  a letter of the Yerevan

Police demanding punishment of those guilty for demolition of the arc

roof of the covered market. Earlier Mass Media reported that Armenian

parliamentarian Samvel Aleksanyan acquired the closed market from

Gagik Tsarukyan, Leader of Prosperous Armenia Party.  The market is to

be transformed into a Yerevan City supermarket.

Demolished during re-equipment?: Pak Shuka lost some of its arches

despite owner's promises

Society | 29.05.12 | 14:20

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow reporter

Yerevan's well-known and beloved Pak Shuka (Indoor Market) has again

appeared in the center of public attention when on Sunday heavy

machinery demolished some arches of the roof of the building, included

on the State List of Immovable Historical and Cultural Monuments of

Yerevan. Public activists, concerned about the future of the market,

called this `vandalism' and `illegality'.

After some photo and video materials posted on Facebook as well as

after the interference of a representative from the Ministry of

Culture of Armenia, the construction works done at nights were ceased.

Owner of the market, lawmaker and businessman Samvel Alexanyan, who

also owns Yerevan City supermarket network, refuses to make any

comment.

When it was published that Alexanyan bought the indoor market which

was put into operation in the 1950s in central Mashots Avenue of

Yerevan, many people were worried that he was planning to build

another Yerevan City in the place of the market, however, Alexanyan

has repeatedly refuted this information, saying that he planned only

to renovate and re-equip it and build underground parking.

Styopa Safaryan from Heritage Party, who initiated a

signature-collection campaign in front of the market on Monday, posted

on his Facebook page: `It is demanded to launch a criminal case

against the perpetrators of the vandalism, besides, to take measures

with the entitled bodies to return the former image of the market.'

Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has also referred to the issue, posting

on his Facebook page that the municipality had provided no license for

the construction in the market.

`What has happened refers to the collapse of the building structures;

and the economic entity on his own initiative has taken measures to

strengthen it, aiming to avoid accident-prone states and collapse,'

Mayor Margaryan wrote.

A group of citizens on Monday argued with the activists, saying that

Alexanyan has done a good deed by clearing out the old structure.

Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time) daily writes that according to its

sources, the largest, four-storey Yerevan City supermarket in Yerevan

will be located inside Pak Shuka despite Alexanyan's promises.

`However, the roof of the market cannot carry such weight, therefore

the roof is being `neutralized',' the daily writes.

RFE/RL Report

Clinton To Visit Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

28.05.2012

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in Yerevan on June

4 at the start of what will be her second tour of Armenia, Azerbaijan

and Georgia in less than two years.

Clinton will visit the three South Caucasus states as part of an

eight-day trip to countries in northern Europe, the Caucasus and

Turkey, which she is due to start on Thursday.

She will discuss `regional security, democracy, economic development

and counterterrorism' in Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi, the U.S. State

Department said on May 25. The State Department also said Clinton

would meet with leaders from civil society groups in all three of the

countries.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Clinton will

hold talks with President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Edward

Nalbandian on `a broad range of issues relating to the development and

deepening of the U.S.-Armenian friendly partnership.' A ministry

statement said they will also discuss the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh

conflict and `regional and international issues of mutual interest.'

Clinton already toured the region in July 2010. U.S.-backed efforts to

normalize Armenia's relations with Turkey were high on the agenda of

her talks in the Armenian capital. She publicly praised Sarkisian's

position on the issue as `very statesmanlike and very impressive' and

said the onus is on Ankara to revive the normalization process.

The chief U.S. diplomat also met with Armenian journalists, human

rights campaigners and other civic activists at the time. She promised

continued U.S. support for their activities.

 Armenians Should Form a United Front Before Any Negotiations 

With Turkey

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

My latest column on Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's efforts

to initiate a dialog with the Diaspora generated numerous reactions

from

both Armenians and Turks.

Turkish newspapers, TV stations, and websites gave extensive coverage

to Davutoglu's reported overtures to Armenians. The Turkish

media linked the Foreign Minister's initiative to Armenian plans for

the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Genocide in 2015.

Armenians posted dozens of comments on websites and facebook in

response to

my column which was circulated worldwide in English, Armenian, Turkish,

French, and Russian. The Armenian reaction was understandably skeptical

and cautious. Armenian government officials quietly followed

the reports on Davutoglu's meetings without making any public comment,

while the Armenian press in Istanbul simply reprinted what the Turkish

media had published on this topic.

Armenian readers raised two key issues: Who would represent tthe

Diaspora if

and when Armenians start negotiating with Turkey, and what should be

the specific Armenian demands from the Turkish government?

These are highly complex issues deserving serious consideration by

Armenians worldwide. Ideally, Diaspora representatives should be

selected through elections in various countries, as proposed in my

earlier columns. Those elected would have the right to represent

Diaspora Armenians in any negotiations.

These representatives would have to coordinate their decisions and

actions with the Armenian government, particularly on the critical

issue of negotiating with Turkey, by forming a joint delegation. As

Armenians learned from the recent fiasco of the

Armenia-Turkey Protocols, it would be unthinkable to reach a settlement

with Turkey without the participation and agreement of both Armenia and

the Diaspora.

In the absence of an elected Diasporan structure, representatives of

the three main Armenian political parties, jointly with the Armenian

government, could take the lead in forming a single negotiating

team. To make the delegation more inclusive, several major community

organizations and prominent individuals could be asked to join,

including representatives of Armenians in Turkey.

Another critical issue is framing the agenda of negotiations with

Turkish officials. What are the Armenians' concrete demands from

Turkey? This is an extremely serious and sensitive matter that requires 

In depth knowledge of the Armenian Cause and expertise in negotiating

strategies and tactics.

It would be instructive for Armenians to review how Israel and 23 major

Jewish organizations came together as the

Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, to obtain

restitution

for Holocaust victims; and how these organizations coordinated their

positions with the State of Israel which signed a separate Reparations

Agreement with West Germany? Over the years, as a result of

Their collaborative efforts, the coalition of Jewish Diaspora

organizations and Israel received more than $70 billion dollars

in restitution from Germany.

Additional lessons could be learned from examples of financial

settlements resulting from mass torts, asbestos exposure and

product liability, and claims arising from destruction of the World

Trade Center and the Gulf oil spill.

There is, however, a significant difference between the Holocaust and

the Armenian Genocide. While the Jewish people were exterminated in

European countries under Nazi rule, Armenians were massacred and

Forcefully driven from their ancestral homeland. Therefore, no amount

of monetary payment will fully

compensate Armenians for the loss of their historic

lands. Armenians should

seek not only compensation for their personal losses, but also

the return of Western Armenia as arbitrated by Pres. Woodrow Wilson --

a claim Turkey has repeatedly rejected.

Should serious negotiations materialize, the joint Armenian delegation

could ask Turkey to take the following preliminary actions to show its

good faith: 

-- Compensate all Genocide victims;

-- Rebuild and return all religious sites to the Armenian Patriarchate

of Istanbul;

-- Return all confiscated private and community properties to their

Armenian owners;

-- Provide the Republic of Armenia with special access to the Turkish

port of Trabzon for commercial purposes;

-- Give Armenians visa-free entry to Ararat, Ani, and other Armenian

historical sites in Turkey;

-- Lift the blockade of Armenia;

-- End Turkey's official policy of denial of the Armenian Genocide and

annul Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code;

-- Refrain from all hostile policies directed against Armenia and

Artsakh (Karabagh).

These measures, if agreed upon, would represent significant progress in

The pursuit of Armenian claims from Turkey, whereas the issue

Of territorial restitution could be addressed separately through

International legal action.

RFE/RL Report

Prominent Turkish Publisher Gets Armenian State Award

Gayane Danielian

29.05.2012

Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent Turkish human rights campaigner and book

publisher, received an Armenian state award on Tuesday for what

President Serzh Sarkisian called a `remarkable contribution' to

international recognition of the 1915 Armenian massacres in the

Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Zarakolu was among more than two dozen mostly Armenian scientists,

writers and artists chosen for annual presidential awards given by

Sarkisian. He arrived in Armenia with his wife and daughter to accept

the prize less than two months after being released from prison

pending trial on controversial charges of aiding the outlawed

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey.

`His activities have been an exceptional mission,' Sarkisian said at

the awards ceremony held in the presidential palace in Yerevan. `His

struggle for conveying historical truth to the Turkish society is a

brilliant example of high civic stance and courage.'

`Your presence here and acceptance of this prize today is also an act

of courage,' he told Zarakolu.

In his speech at the ceremony, Zarakolu reaffirmed his belief that the

World War I-era mass killings and deportations of Armenians were a

genocide that must be acknowledged by modern-day Turkey. `Turkey must

accept historical truth,' he said. `Only in this way can Turkey regain

its self-respect.'

`Even after Turkey apologizes and compensates [Armenians,] Armenians

and Turks can't be as before,' he said. `But we can look to the future

together.'

Zarakolu, 63, rose to prominence in the 1970s as a newspaper columnist

and editor highlighting human rights abuses committed in Turkey. He

was twice imprisoned by military governments in Ankara before

founding, together with other prominent Turks, the Human Rights

Association of Turkey in 1986.

Around that time, Belge began publishing books on taboo subjects such

as the Armenian genocide. Belge has since translated into Turkish more

than a dozen books by Diaspora Armenian authors challenging the

official Turkish version of the 1915 events.

At least two of those translations landed Zarakolu in court. A Turkish

court ruled in June 2008 that the publication of one of those books

insulted `the institutions of the Turkish Republic.' The publisher

received a suspended five-month prison sentence.

Zarakolu was again arrested by the Turkish police in October last year

for `knowingly aiding and abetting a terrorist organization' together

with dozens of other Turks. If convicted, he will face up to 15 years

in prison. The European Union and international human rights groups

have expressed serious concern over the case.

Zarakolu was honored at the Armenian National Library during his

previous trip to Yerevan in February 2011. Its director, Davit

Sargsian, handed a medal to the publisher, praising his decades-long

activism and thanking him for donating dozens of books to the

state-funded library.

Turkish human rights activist: Cynicism and denial of the Armenian

Genocide is the core of Turkey's governmental and scientific policies

arminfo

Tuesday, May 29, 20:12

 Cynicism and the denial of the Armenian Genocide is the core of

Turkey's governmental and scientific policies.  The attempts to deny

the centuries-long existence of Armenians in Anatolia and to wipe off

Armenian geographic names are an unprecedented example of a continued

genocide, Turkish human rights activist and publisher Ragib Zarakolu

said after being awarded the Armenian President's Prize for his

efforts to inform Turkish society of the Armenian Genocide and his

struggle for the freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.

Zarakolu said that it was an honor to receive that prize and it was a

special feeling to be in independent Armenia. He said that two weeks

before, together with his wife and son, he traveled to Cilicia. He

visited Sis, Zeitun, Urfa and Musa Dag, and seeing the local ruins, he

remembered that in its reviews about those monuments the History

Museum of Anatolia said nothing about Armenia or Armenians.

"They allow mentioning only Urartu but without mentioning the

Armenians. This is the climax of denial, the last stage of genocide,"

Zarakoglu said.

According to him, a millennium of Armenian-Turkish co-existence has

been destroyed in a second. Turkey prefers denying its own culture,

but today the recognition of a historical fact, the Armenian Genocide,

has become a precondition for democracy building in Turkey.

Zarakolu believes that only recognition, condemnation and compensation

can help to revive the Armenian-Turkish brotherhood.

Zarakolu realizes that Armenian-Turkish relations can never be the

same but he hopes for some progress in the future.

Times.am

Baroness Cox will continue her activities for strengthening

Armenian-British relations

On May 28 Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan

hosted Baroness Caroline Cox. Press and information department of

Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs about this.

Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the guest and rated

highly the assistance by Caroline Cox towards Armenia including

Artsakh. E. Nalbandyan thanked for her humanitarian activities and her

pro-Armenian works.

Baroness Caroline Cox also thanked for the warm words and said that

she would continue her activities for strengthening Armenian-British

relations.

During the meeting the sides referred to some issues of

inter-parliamentarian cooperation.

On the request of Baroness Cox Edward Nalbandyan presented the last

developments of Artsakh issue settlement process.