U.S. ‘Still Pushing For Turkish-Armenian Normalization’

The United States is continuing to press Turkey to unconditionally normalize its relations with Armenia, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, John Heffern, said on Wednesday.

“We still are very hopeful that the process will resume as long as it’s not linked to any other issue,” Heffern told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “So we are continuing to work with Turkey and to push Turkey to do the right thing.”

He seemed to refer to the ratification of two U.S.-brokered protocols that were signed by Armenia and Turkey in October 2009. The protocols committed the two neighboring states to establishing diplomatic relations and opening the Turkish-Armenian border. Faced with an uproar from Azerbaijan, Ankara subsequently made their ratification by the Turkish parliament conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

How Should the Diaspora React To New Turkish Overtures?

10:50, May 23, 2012

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

I have been informed by reliable sources that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is continuing his efforts to initiate a personal ‘dialog’ with the Diaspora on Armenian-Turkish issues. Earlier this month, Davutoglu met with Armenian-Americans, as follow up to the meetings he held in Washington last March.

During their conversation in May, the Armenian interlocutors frankly advised the Turkish Foreign Minister that Ankara must address Armenian demands for genocide recognition and restitution before any ‘reconciliation’ could be achieved. The Turkish side reportedly indicated a willingness to discuss these thorny issues with Diasporan representatives.  Read more... (758 words)

Armenian press silent on Slovakia’s Armenian Genocide denial law – FAAE president

A law criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide was adopted in Slovakia, but Armenian press remained silent, Ashot Grigoryan, President of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (FAAE), told journalists on Tuesday.The new law envisages 5 years’ imprisonment for denial of the Armenian Genocide, he said.“The Azerbaijani ambassador to Slovakia informed Azerbaijani mass media that such a law had never been adopted nor would it ever be adopted. We addressed a letter to him and asked for explanations. However, it remained unanswered. Later I received a letter saying that the Armenian foreign minister objected to our publicly speaking of the law,” Grigoryan said.When the French Senate discussed the Armenian Genocide denial bill, it referred to the relevant Slovakian law.“When the French Senate started discussing the Armenian Genocide denial bill, the Senate president reminded the Senate members that such a law had been enforced in Slovakia,” Grigoryan said.“We are going to implement the program we must implement for [Turkey] to admit the Armenian Genocide before 2015. We will propose that they follow Slovakia’s example and adopt a similar law. If they do so, Turks will not deny the Armenian Genocide in their country,” Grigoryan said.   Read more... (202 words)

Academics consider Armenian diaspora, preservation of culture

Fewer Armenian Americans are speaking the language of their native country, eroding the ability of the diaspora to preserve its culture, according to an expert at UCLA who addressed a conference organized at the Central Library on Saturday, glendalenewspress.com reports.
 
Since 1970, the use of the Armenian language has decreased dramatically in all areas of diasporan life, including weddings, baptisms, schools and newspapers, said Hagop Gulludjian, a lecturer of Armenian studies at UCLA.
 
Language is key to the survival of ethnic identity, particularly because the Armenian diaspora appears to be permanent, he added.
 
“Ultimately, the world is language,” Gulludjian said.
 
While Armenian organizations focused their efforts on education during the first half of the 20th century, today’s diaspora favors issues that are less related to cultural survival, Gulludjian said, including recognition of the Armenian genocide and assistance to homeland, he added.
 
He proposed the creation of a “critical mass” of users of the language, which will result in more books and newspapers being published in Armenian and the language being used more often in homes, churches and at social events.
 
Organizers of the conference — the ARPA Institute and library officials — gave him a choice, he noted: make his presentation in Armenian or English, which left him with a difficult choice.
 
“If I speak in Armenian, the older generation, plus educated immigrants from the Near East, will understand me,” he said.
 
However, non-Armenian speakers and those who speak Armenian, but maybe not to the point of understanding abstract thoughts, will not.
 
Another topic discussed at the conference was the apparent lack of coordination among the three political parties of the diaspora with the Armenian government, according to Stephan Astourian, executive director of the Armenian studies program at UC, Berkeley.
 
He said the parties claim that they have power, but have done little during the past 20 years. He said one organization should be set up to represent all Armenian communities.
 
Also discussed was a paper by Simon Payaslian, chairman of modern Armenian history and literature at Boston University, which looked at how diasporan communities are declining in the Middle East and United States — but for different reasons.
 
In the Middle East, there’s an exodus of Armenians, while in the United States, he attributed the trend to assimilation.   Read more... (398 words)

Aftershocks: Recent seismic activity in the region remains public concern in Armenia

Dozens of relatively strong quakes and aftershocks that have hit the region in general and Armenia in particular in the past several months have caused anxiety among the population of the landlocked South Caucasus country where many remember the devastation and massive loss of life brought about by a powerful tremor more than two decades ago.

Seismic protection agency specialists, however, do not see reasons for panic, discarding all short-term predictions of a powerful earthquake as false.

Earthquakes in the region (Georgia, Azerbaijan, northern Iran, eastern Turkey) have been more frequent and intense since last October when a destructive magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred near the city of Van in modern-day Turkey. In May alone seismic monitoring agencies have registered about two dozen earthquakes in the region, with seven of them in the territory of Armenia.  Read more... (688 words)

Armenian-Turkish girl’s composition wins first prize

A composition by Klara Yeteroglu, daughter of an Armenian father and Turkish mother, won the First Prize in a competition held at the Istanbul-based Erdil College.The www.aksam.com website reports that the girl’s composition was posted on the blog ‘To be Armenian In Turkey’ of the Armenian Genocide Resource Center.“My name is Clara, my family name is Yeteroglu (means son of enough) From time I realized myself, one part of mine is Turkish and Moslem, and my other part is ARMENIAN and Christian. The conflicts and arguments which are intended to be placed in our country lately bring questions to my mind. Why do they want to make enemies of these two friendly communities, who lived in peace for centuries? What side should I take or do I have to be on one side? I am born from a Turkish mother and Armenian father. In this country I can go to Armenian school and do my prayers in church. I can buy newspapers and magazines in Armenian language and follow the events,” the girl writes.During national holidays I can freely celebrate the days and become part of our own community… When the Kurban Holiday or Christmas comes, we celebrate both… I am both Armenian and Turk… I think that there many who think the way I do.  Read more... (223 words)

Armenian Genocide book issued in Turkey

 A book telling about the Armenian Genocide has been published in Turkey, authored by Binnaz Oner, Agos newspaper reports.
 
Entitled “The Left Behind”, the novel tells about the Armenian mothers forced to hand their daughters in 1915 to Turkish families to save their lives. Oner said she has been greatly affected by the stories of the mothers forced to leave their children for saving the latter’s lives. “Leaving own child is worse than death for a mother. Only a mother will understand the feelings of the other mother. Only mothers may understand the pain of separation with a child,” she said.
 
Asked why she has written the book, Oner said the story of the Armenian mothers impressed her deeply. “Each sensitive person would be greatly touched by the story,” she said.  Read more... (140 words)

Attacks on DIY: Situation around Yerevan rock bar stirs debate over LGBT "rights and wrongs"

The recent blast in the DIY Rock Pub in downtown Yerevan owned by a lesbian has stirred public clamor with one group of people criticizing those indulging in homosexuality, justifying those responsible for the arson, while others condemn such intolerance qualifying it as fascism.

On Tuesday evening, the pub was again attacked, when a group of unidentified people spat on and threw dog-ends in the direction of the pub and tore out the pub’s poster with ‘No to Fascism’ words.

Early on the morning of May 8, a group of youngsters allegedly committed an arson the DIY Rock Pub located in Parpetsi Street, which is known by many as a gathering spot for the Armenian LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community.  Read more... (481 words)

Armenia Leading Country in Number of Visitors to Neighboring Georgia

According to figures released by Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, there has been a steady increase in the number of foreign visitors to Georgia in the period 2006–2011. There was a 4% increase in the number of visitors this year as compared to last year.

The highest number of visitors to Georgia come from Armenia. This is followed by citizens from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, EU states, Ukraine and Iran.

These countries are followed by visitors from Israel, Greece, Poland, the US, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the UK, China, Belarus, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Spain, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Lithuania and Belgium, reports Georgia Online.

According to the state agency’s statistics, the months when more tourists visit Georgia are January, July, August and September.  Read more... (146 words)