Garoon E-News

Up coming Events

NOVEMBER 15            Appreciation night

NOVEMBER 29            Toumanian school’s end of year concert

DECEMBER 13             Scouts Yertman araroghoutiun

DECEMBER 31             New Year’s Eve party.

ANC Australia welcomes genocide advocate Beazley’s appointment

Kim Beazley

SYDNEY: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has welcomed the appointment of noted Armenian Genocide recognition advocate and former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Kim Beazley to the post of Australia’s Ambassador to the United States of America.

After serving Australia’s Federal Parliament in roles including Defence Minister and Opposition Leader as head of the Labor Party, Mr. Beazley returned to academia in 2007 as Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia, and more recently as Chancellor of the Australian National University.

In 2002, during a speech to the Australian House of Representatives in relation to the 2002 International Criminal Court Bill, Mr. Beazley stated:

“The Armenian genocide looked as though it might be punished at the conclusion of World War I. But by 1923, in the Treaty of Lausanne, they decided, `Perhaps it’s better for the peace of the show if we forget about all of that; perhaps it’s better if we just ignore the murders’.”

ANC Australia welcomed the new appointment, with President Mr. Varant Meguerditchian stating that Mr Beazley’s long service to Australian public life and his firm belief in justice for crimes against humanity meant the next Australian Ambassador to the United States would be a fine representative of the values of mainstream Australia.

Mr. Meguerditchian said: “Mr. Beazley has a strong understanding of the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide despite the Australian government’s preference to remain silent on this matter of international human rights significance.”

He added: “Mr Beazley’s appointment to this post adds to the great number of advocates in Washington who seek the international recognition for and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.”

ANC Australia congratulates Dr. Brendan Nelson

Brendon Nelson

SYDNEY: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has congratulated resigning Member of Parliament and close friend of the Armenian-Australian community, the Hon. Dr. Brendan Nelson on a wonderful career.

Dr. Nelson, the Federal Member for Bradfield, has been a senior member of the Liberal Party for over a decade, serving as Defence Minister and Education Minister under the John Howard government. He was also the Leader of the Opposition Liberal Party following their 2007 election loss until one year ago.

Dr. Nelson has long been an advocate for Armenian Genocide recognition, and as recently as this year, reaffirmed his support for Australia to formally recognise the still unpunished crime against humanity.

At the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening in April, he said: “I believe it is time we recognised the Armenian Genocide.”

ANC Australia President, Mr. Varant Meguerditchian said: “We congratulate Dr. Nelson on his fulfilling career in Australia’s parliament, and thank him for always being a supporter of our community and wish him best in his future endeavours.”

Dr. Nelson was this week appointed as Australia’s next Ambassador to the European Union and NATO.

Mr. Meguerditchian added: “We look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Nelson in his new role.”

Khatchadourian Saber Dance Vanessa Mae

National Academy of Science Backs Protocol

National Academy of Science

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences officially expressed support on Thursday for the government’s policy of rapprochement with Turkey and the recently publicized Turkish-Armenian relations in particular.

The state-funded institution, which rarely challenges government decisions, discussed the matter at a special meeting of its top decision-making body, the General Assembly, held late Wednesday. The meeting, attended by more than 150 members of the academy and directors of its research institutes, took place behind the closed doors. Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian also took part in the discussion.

Journalists were only allowed to be present at the opening remarks made by Radik Martirosian, the president of the Academy. He was reported to claim that public attitudes toward the two draft protocols on the normalization of Armenia’s relations with Turkey have been “mainly positive” despite existing “concerns” about some of their provisions.

Martirosian noted that all Armenian presidents sought to mend ties with Turkey but that only Serzh Sarkisian has managed to achieve major progress with his “dynamic and active foreign policy.”

In a statement issued the next day, the academy’s press service said the meeting overwhelmingly adopted a resolution welcoming Sarkisian’s efforts to “settle relations with neighbors and get Armenia out of the [Turkish] blockade.” “It is said in the resolution that the normalization of relations with Turkey and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border without preconditions would contribute to the strengthening of Armenia’s geopolitical positions,” the statement said. The agreements allow for the “continuation of that policy,” it added.

The academy meeting was part of “internal political consultations” which Ankara and Yerevan have pledged to undertake before signing the deal next month. Sarkisian discussed the sensitive issue with leaders of 52 political parties mostly loyal to him last week.

Business Fusion Source of Corruption

Gagik Tsarukian (center), arguably the wealthiest man in Armenia, owns more than 40 medium and large companies. His business empire has seen an incredible expansion in recent years. Seen as the most influential of Armenia’s government-connected “oligarchs, Tsarukyan is the founder and leader of Prosperous Armenia Party, which is represented in Parliament and the governing coalition.

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Efforts to combat endemic corruption in Armenia will be doomed to failure as long as the country’s top government officials have extensive business interests and are able to strangle entrepreneurs challenging them, a leading anti-graft watchdog said on Thursday.

“I cannot take any supposedly anti-corruption reform in our country seriously until the fusion between large entrepreneurs and politicians is addressed,” said Amalia Kostanian, head of the Armenian branch of Transparency International. “That’s not even a fusion, that’s two in one.”

“There has to be a serious material sacrifice on the part of the current authorities, something which I don’t see happening,” she told RFE/RL in an interview. “The authorities are better off continuing the imitation [of an anti-corruption fight] and punishing only low-ranking officials to show the public … and foreign donors that they are tackling the problem.”

The Armenian authorities claim to have stepped up their declared fight against corruption in recent years, adopting various anti-graft programs and forming special bodies tasked with their implementation. Transparency International and its Yerevan-based affiliate, the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC) see no significant decrease in the scale of corrupt practices among various state officials, however. Armenia ranked only 109th out of 180 countries covered by the Berlin-based watchdog’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The ACC believes that close ties between government and business are the root cause of the problem. Many government, law-enforcement and other officials in Armenia are believed to own lucrative businesses, both directly and through their cronies, and/or share in the profits of other firms sponsored by them. Government connections therefore remain essential for engaging in large-scale economic activities.

The problem was highlighted in a special global report released by Transparency International on Wednesday. It looks into the impact of corruption on the private sectors of 46 countries, including Armenia, around the world.

“The intertwining of business and politics gives free rein to those companies that do not challenge the authorities politically and are very often drawn into various political processes,” said Varuzhan Hoktanian, another ACC leader who authored the report’s Armenia chapter. “But when an entrepreneur tries to adopt a different position he comes under strong pressure.”

The chapter details the sagas of two Armenian companies that ended up in serious trouble after their owners took actions challenging the authorities. One of them, Gagik Hakobian of the Royal Armenia coffee packaging company, was sentenced to six years in prison in November 2007 on highly controversial fraud charges.

The case was brought by prosecutors in 2004 shortly after Hakobian and other Royal Armenia representatives publicly alleged high-level corruption within Armenia’s customs service. They claimed that their company is being driven out of business for refusing to engage in a fraud scam with the then deputy chief of the customs, Gagik Khachatrian.

Khachatrian, who reportedly owns several lucrative businesses, has also faced corruption allegations from opposition politicians and media. But that did not prevent President Serzh Sarkisian from appointing him as head of the State Revenue Committee (SCR), a new agency formed in August last year as a result of the merger of Armenia’s tax and customs agencies.

“This case is exceptional, because it demonstrates how businesspeople who consistently defended their rights and refused to submit to the illegal demands of the authorities were ultimately victimized and investigated on corruption charges,” Hoktanian wrote in the Transparency International report.

“Regardless of Royal Armenia’s actual behavior in this regard, the important conclusion is that the authorities appear to close their eyes to violations until the business in question ‘sticks its head above the parapet’ and makes life for the regime uncomfortable,” he said. “Then, when the authorities do act, as in this case, the punishment can be as swift as it is severe.”

“When one person has many businesses and views all other importers, who hold no government posts, as his competitors, he will naturally be disinterested in promoting a market-based economy,” Kostanian argued in an apparent reference to the controversial SCR chief.

“Also, if some businesspeople dare to support or finance the opposition, which is what happened in 2007-2009, they will face criminal proceedings and be driven in
to bankruptcy,” added Kostanian. She cited the example of Khachatur Sukiasian, a wealthy businessman, and its SIL Concern group.

Several of its companies were raided and fined by tax authorities after Sukiasian publicly voiced support for former President Levon Ter-Petrosian in September 2007. One of them, a mineral water plant, was effectively confiscated by the state last October because of alleged tax evasion.

The Armenian government, meanwhile, declined to immediately comment on the issue when contacted by RFE/RL on Thursday. An official at its press service said the government will present its position “in a few days’ time.”

WASHINGTON–The Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today expressed their reservations regarding Turkey’s willingness to cooperate in the implementation of its agreements under a set of recently signed protocols on the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a public statement, the two legislators called into question several points related to the protocols, including Turkey’s pattern of using its ongoing dialogue with Armenia as a “stall tactic” to delay the lifting of its illegal 16-year blockade of Armenia.  The Co-Chairman also noted their concern regarding Turkey’s efforts to impose preconditions, stressing that: “Normalization of relations should take place without preconditions.”  In a clear rebuke to the “historical commission” long advanced by Turkey, they set forth their view that: “Any attempt to include a review of historical fact, such as the Armenian Genocide, or to include the ongoing Nagorno Karabakh peace process into these negotiations stands in direct opposition to the intent of these talks.”

The leaders of the Armenian Caucus closed their statement by expressing their hope that, “Turkey, by lifting its illegal blockade, will open the door to normalized relations between Yerevan and Ankara, and a new era of Armenia-Turkey relations based on truth, justice, peace and cooperation.”

Earlier this week, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead author of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, expressed “serious concerns about some provisions of the protocols,” stating that “In particular, I was deeply disappointed to see that the protocols call for the creation of an historical commission to review the events of 1915-23.  This is a thoroughly discredited idea; there is no dispute among scholars that the Armenian people were the subject of genocide during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire and an historical commission is another effort to obfuscate the truth.”

Rep. Schiff went on to state that “True reconciliation between the Armenian and Turkish peoples will occur when Turkey acknowledges the genocide that was committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians from 1915 – 1923.”

On Tuesday, the ANCA circulated a memo to Members of Congress, noting that “among primary concerns is that Armenia, blockaded by Turkey and under intense economic and diplomatic pressure, was forced into accepting terms that threaten her interests, rights, safety, and future – very notably in the form of a proposed ‘historical commission.’” The memo went on to note that “This provision, a tactic long pursued by Ankara to cast doubt on the historical record of the Armenian Genocide, is intended to serve Turkey’s drive to roll back the growing tide of international recognition of this crime against humanity. There can be no enduring relationship between Armenia and Turkey that is not built upon the foundation of Turkey’s acceptance of a true and just resolution of this crime.”

Armenian Americans began expressing their concerns to Members of Congress through an ANCA WebFax campaign urging lawmakers to call for an investigation into State Department pressure on Armenia to agree to the inclusion of a ‘historical commission’ – an affront to descendants of Armenian Genocide victims and survivors around the world.

Turkish Guard post at the Armenian-Turkish border

The other day, a friendly Congressman’s staffer, upon his review of the twin Protocols aimed at normalizing bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey, conveyed the following observation to the Armenian National Committee of America’s Washington office:

“What Armenia is giving up is tangible and in the present as opposed to what Turkey is giving up that may or not come in the future.”

This observation is a fittingly accurate description of the essence and purpose of the proposed dual Protocols, which will be examined over the next six weeks in Armenia and Turkey and then ratified by the legislative bodies of each country.  It should be hoped that the Armenian people and their homeland government will be able to comprehend the full portents of the Congressional staffer’s observation – as it clearly hints that the so-called Protocols are grounded on perilous paths and unrealistic roadways that can only push the Armenian side into harm’s way.

It is not that difficult to pin down the dangers posed by these Protocols.  Let us start from the very beginning.

In the context of the current bilateral normalization process, Armenia’s sole and immediate objective is the opening of borders by Turkey.  The achievement of this objective was imposed upon Armenia especially in the aftermath of last year’s war between Russia and Georgia, when Georgia’s internal instability created sequential obstacles for the normal transportation of over 70% of Armenia’s imports and exports.

For Turkey, the opening of borders with Armenia rests on three objectives.  First, to finalize and legalize Armenia’s currently held frontiers with Turkey that have been left legally undetermined since 1920.  Second, to halt the international affirmation of the Armenian Genocide and its ensuing territorial and financial restitution.  Third, to dismantle the independent Republic of Nagorno Karabakh and subject its territory to Azerbaijan’s jusrisdiction.

Armenia’s lone objective, which requires immediate implementation, is based purely on economic considerations.  The border is already half open, because Armenia has not closed down its side of the territory.  Turkey, which keeps its side of the territory closed since 1993, is obligated under international law, as well as on the principle of good neighborly relations, to open its borders immediately.

The triple Turkish objectives, which cannot be subject to immediate implementation, are based purely on territorial considerations.  And resolution of territorial disputes, as experience suggests in diplomatic affairs, require lengthy processes of difficult negotiations.

The proposed Protocols, in substance as well as in form, convolute the timing of each party’s objectives by turning them upside down.  Their pertinent provisions entitle the first and second Turkish objectives – legalization of the current frontier regime, and cessation of Armenian Genocide recognition and claims – with the status of immediate implementation.  (As for the third Turkish objective pertaining Nagorno Karabakh, the Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, within hours of the execution of the Protocols, turned it into a corollary of these documents, when he announced that in the context of the normalization process with Armenia Turkey will defend Azerbaijan’s interests regarding Nagorno Karabakh.)

On the other hand, the very same provisions of the Protocols render a status of dependency to Armenia’s economic objective for the border opening, which in fact has to be entitled to immediate implementation.  Furthermore, this status of dependency turned into a remotely implementable and even an unenforceable proposition by Mr. Davutoglu, when he indicated in his above statement that opening the border was out of the question for now, because “a longer process is required for that.”

If the proposed Protocols are ratified in their existing contents, Armenia will obtain nothing in return in order to suffice its sole demand for the opening of the borders by Turkey – except perhaps an ephemeral promise or an unsubstantiated hope that someday somehow the borders may open.

As for Turkey, it will be able to achieve all of its demands, thereby fulfilling its dream of legalizing the usurpation of a large portion of Armenian homeland since 1920.

For Turkey, the twin Protocols are firmly anchored on beneficial and realistic grounds.  For Armenia, those grounds lead only onto perilous paths, over unrealistic roadways, and into harm’s way.

Seto Boyadjian is an attorney and member of the national board of the Armenian National Committee of America.

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The number of officially registered real estate transactions in Armenia jumped by 36 percent in June after months of rapid decline reflecting the ongoing economic crisis, the government said on Friday.

A top aide to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan overseeing the government’s anti-crisis measures said the increase reported by the State Cadastre Committee bodes well for the country’s emergence from its worst economic recession since the early 1990s.

“This is a significant indicator which shows that the [real estate] market is slowly recovering and that we have passed the stage of [price] fluctuations,” the official, David Harutiunian, said. “This testifies to increased activity in the market.” He did not say whether Armenian housing prices rose just as significantly.

The local construction industry has been hit hardest by the recession, shrinking by as much as 55 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year. That translated into an overall GDP drop of 18.5 percent. Accordingly, the sector has been a key beneficiary of large-scale anti-crisis loans attracted by the Armenian authorities from foreign lenders.

That apartment and house sales in the country have been on the rise of late was confirmed by some private developers. “Apartments do sell now,” said Armen Mkoyan, director general of the construction company Elite Group. “It’s just that buyers are worried that buildings won’t be completed and don’t make acquisitions for that reason. That is why there is now a strong delayed demand [for homes] in the republic.”

“The situation is stabilizing now and sales are going up,” Mkoyan told RFE/RL. “We have seen a positive dynamics in the last two months.”

Elite Group is one of six Armenian companies that have received credit guarantees from the government this year. The government set aside 20 billion drams ($53 million) for that purpose in March in an effort to shore up the construction industry.

According to Harutiunian, at least two dozen construction firms have applied for such guarantees since then. “The criteria used in the selection process are very strict,” he said, explaining why few of those applications were approved by a special government commission.

Harutiunian also attributed increased housing sales to the establishment in June of a state-owned mortgage fund which is supposed to make housing loans cheaper and more accessible for Armenians. The National Mortgage Company has an authorized capital of 22 billion drams and is expected to receive 20 million euros ($28 million) in additional funding from the German government soon.

In Harutiunian’s words, the total amount of mortgage loans disbursed in Armenia this year has already surpassed the 2008 level of 88 billion drams.

A simple review the proposed “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey” reveals one of the most obvious objectionable clauses and it reads as follows:

“Confirming the mutual recognition of the existing border between the two countries as defined by the relevant treaties of international law.”

The meaning of the clause is clear in that the present border which has been the de-facto frontier between the republics since 1991 and before that the Soviet Union going back to the early 1920s is being confirmed by Armenia as the legal border. More importantly that confirmation is based on those “relevant treaties of international law” that established or referenced that border.

The obvious 800 pound gorilla in the room no one in the Armenian government is speaking of is the fact that one treaty that established that border and granted Nakhichevan and Karabakh to Azerbaijan was the Treaty of Kars. That treaty has never been ratified or confirmed by the Republic of Armenia because it was a treaty between the Soviet Russians and the Turks to which Armenia was neither a sovereign nation nor in a position to agree to or enter into of its own volition. Hence, Armenia never had standing to enter into such an international agreement and ergo cannot be bound by it or so we thought until these Protocols. Since Armenia’s reestablishment in 1991 Turkey has repeatedly referenced this issue to be it most burning dispute with Armenia.

This begs the question what are Armenia’s rights to territories beyond the present de facto frontier?

The current Republic as the successor to the First Republic has rights to territories that rested under that predecessor Republic’s jurisdiction which included jurisdiction and possession to Kars, Ardahan, Igdir, Kaghisman, Sarikamish and Nakhichevan, to say nothing to the legal title granted by President Wilson’s 1920 International Arbital Award to additional territories including Van, Erzerum, Trabizond ,Bitlis and more.

Certainly the Armenian Republic as well as the Armenian nation would be better served by seeking an adjudication of it territorial rights before the International Court of Justice at the Hague rather than simply ceding it rights via a three page “Protocol” that appears to be the product of the unequal bargaining power of these two states.

We doubt history will favorably judge those charged with the responsibility of leading and protecting the Armenian Republic if they give up national rights as great as these for the mere agreement to open up diplomatic relations with a neighbor.

The Armenian nation must insist on the issue of its territorial rights to be decided in a neutral forum free of coercion, corruption and threats. The current clause as it stands must be excised from the Protocol and the issue must be resolved by international law.

The present frontier can only be recognized as just that the present border pending adjudication of rights by the International Court