Turkish songs are banned in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has banned Turkish songs on the radio and television in Azerbaijan as a protest against the (talks toward the) opening of the Turkish border with Armenia. Azeris are readying themselves to demonstrate in front of Turkey’s embassy in Baku, and a boycot of Turkish goods is also on the agenda.

Mikel Housep Martirossian -The mission of Dhaka’s last Armenian

 Michael Joseph Martin is guarded about his exact age and reluctant to accept he will be the last in a long line of Armenians to make a major contribution to the history of Bangladesh.

Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was once home to thousands of migrants from the former Soviet republic who grew to dominate the city’s trade and business life.

But Martin, aged in his 70s, is now the only one left.

“When I die, maybe one of my three daughters will fly in from Canada to keep our presence here alive,” Martin said hopefully, speaking broken Bengali with a thick accent. “Or perhaps other Armenians will come from somewhere else.”

Martin came to Dhaka in 1942 during World War II, following in the footsteps of his father who had settled in the region decades earlier.

They joined an Armenian community in Bangladesh dating back to the 16th century, but now Martin worries about who will look after the large Armenian church in the city’s old quarter.

Moldova. Twitter revolution.

Students in Moldova are using Twitter as a tool to mobilize opposition against a communist victory in Moldovian elections. According to reports, close to 10,000 protesters gathered at Moldova’s parliament in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital and were able to eventually break through police lines to storm into the building. From looking at the tweets on the subject, it appears that the demonstration turned into a violent coup attempt.

In the last 48 hours, students from Moldova have been tweeting, trying to rally others into demonstrating against the communists. If you look under the search terms “pman” (stands for Piata Marii Adunari Nationale, a square in Chisinau) or “Chisinau,” you can see the tweets about the demonstration coming in a rapid pace. There are also videos on YouTube of the protest. There have been reports that there is limited cellphone reception in the square (thought to have been turned off by authorities). So protesters are using Twitter to give live updates via GPRS networks on their mobile devices.

Twitter has long-been been a popular platform for breaking news, but this adds a new twist to the powerful capabilities of the micro-blogging service. The protests no doubt would have happened anyway and it is not clear how may of the actual protesters in Moldova are on Twitter. But it seems to be helping both as a coordinating tool and as a way to disseminate information about the events that are unfolding to the rest of the world.

Here are a few sample tweets:

“Chisinau – live feed from Radio Vocea Basarabiei is intrerrupted. will retransmit later. where are the official authorities?”
“RT @Moscovici: Protesters report police attacks protesters. Severe fights between police and protesters now in Chisinau, Moldova. #pman”
“The #twitter revolution – Twitter as the organizing tool for protests in Chisinau http://is.gd/rhwJ”

Tnaks to Rouben Muradyan

Moldova. Another color revolution?

Interesting event are going on in Moldova. Like year ago in Armenia, the same scenario.

Many intersting pictures from Moldova and some video showing  young democRats.

http://community.livejournal.com/md_community/751045.html

http://drugoi.livejournal.com/2914511.html

http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/_robot_marvin_/post100030324/

Translation on Twitter

Videochannel on Youtube.

Hawaii became the 42nd U.S. state to recognize the Armenian Genocide

HR192 H.D.1
House of Representatives
Twenty-fifth Legislature, 2009
State of Hawaii

House Resolution

Declaring April 24 as a Day of Remembrance in Recognition and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide of 1915

WHEREAS, during the chaos of World War I between the years of 1915-1923, approximately 1,500,000 Armenian men, women, and children living within the Ottoman Empire’s borders were killed in a brutal genocide; and

WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forced to flee to foreign countries after being stripped of their possessions, national identities, and homeland; and

WHEREAS, documented as the first instance of genocide in the 20th century, the Armenian genocide remains unacknowledged by the Republic of Turkey to this day; and

WHEREAS, even though over 90 years have passed since these mass killings took place, present-day atrocities continue to resonate throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, it is every person’s responsibility to recognize the brutal slayings of so many innocents, remember their suffering, and vow to help prevent future occurrences of genocide; and

WHEREAS, Armenia’s ties to Hawaii started in the 1920s with the gifted painter Arman T. Manookian, a genocide survivor, who lived in Hawaii for almost six years before his tragic death in 1931, and who became known as Hawaii’s Van Gogh; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has a growing Armenian-American community that is involved in all aspects of public life, including business, education, and government; and

WHEREAS, each year, Armenians throughout the world honor those who perished in the first genocide of the 20th century, and all the people of the world should join in recognizing and commemorating the Armenian genocide to ensure that this ugly testament to man’s inhumanity to man is never forgotten; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that this body hereby declares April 24 as a day of remembrance in recognition and commemoration of the Armenian genocide; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body joins with Hawaii’s Armenian- American community and all Armenians worldwide in recognizing and honoring those who were killed and persecuted during the Armenian genocide, and urging people throughout the world to never forget these horrific crimes against humanity; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, who in turn is requested to transmit copies to the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America and Armenian National Committee of Hawaii

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HR&billnumber=192

Hayk Demoyan:Opening of Armenian-Turkish border is no longer considered a manna from heaven for Armenia.

We have all preconditions necessary for establishment of diplomatic relations with Ankara, Armenian Genocide Museum Director Hayk Demoyan told a news conference in Yerevan. “If Turkey refuses to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia, international community will take it as reluctance to be on friendly terms with their neighbors,” Demoyan noted. When questioned about the possibility of Turkish Armenian border opening, the Museum Director stressed that even if Ankara does not open borders, Turkey will sign some document on a possibility to open it.

“Opening borders have both positive and negative aspects for Armenia. We have to carefully analyze the challenges not to fall into dependence on Turkey. We mustn’t forget that Turkey is a country that has several scenario developments up their sleeve,” Demoyan said adding that Turkey remains the chief ally for Azerbaijan, the country waging undeclared war with Armenia.

“In financial crisis circumstances eastern provinces of Turkey became very vulnerable, the population in those regions also expects the opening of borders. Opening of Armenian-Turkish border is no longer considered a manna from heaven for Armenia. Those times are gone,” Demoyan stressed.

panarmenian.net