Armenians all over the world marked the 95th anniversary of Armenian Genocide

The country and Armenians worldwide marked on Saturday (April 24th) the 95th anniversary of Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

You can find pictures from Australia to Argentina rallies here.

Mussolini and Armenia Genocide

Mussolini’s mistress, Clara Petacci, recorded intimate details of her affair with Il Duce in her journal. Her newly published diary reveals Mussolini as a sex-addicted anti-Semite who found Hitler “very likeable” — and who occasionally suffered from impotence.

Petacci’s recollections are of special interest to Armenians, because of this quote below:

Mussolini, while flipping through French newspapers, suddenly got into a bad mood. “These disgusting Jews, they should all be destroyed,” he said. “I will create a bloodbath the way the Turks once did. I will isolate them and imprison them. They will come to know the steel fist of Mussolini. It is time that the Italians realize that can no longer exploited by these snakes.”

Those diaries were published for the first time last week, to the considerable consternation of one of Mussolini’s descendents. “This woman would be convicted of stalking today,” says Alessandra Mussolini, Il Duce’s granddaughter. She insists that “not a word” of what Petacci wrote about her grandfather is true. Meanwhile, some extracts from the diaries, containing also the quote above, are avaliable here.

Read full version here

Protocols are ‘Dangerous’ for Armenia

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, in a statement issued Tuesday, slammed the draft protocols for the establishment and development of relations between Turkey and Armenia, calling their provisions “dangerous.” The protocols were issued Monday by the foreign ministries of the two countries and Switzerland.

ARF Bureau member Hrant Markarian denounced the protocols as “unacceptable,” in an interview with RFE/RL.

“I regret that our president is going to sign a document he has no right to sign,” Markarian told RFE/RL. “In the next two months we will do everything to inform the public about the essence of the agreement and issues hidden in it,” he said.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey. Protocols.

BERNE, YEREVAN, ANKARA (Foreign Ministry Press Service)—The foreign ministers of Armenia, Turkey and Switzerland issued a joint announcement Monday outlining the protocols that will guide the establishment and development of relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Below is the text of the announcement and the protocols, which we received from the foreign ministry.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have agreed to start their internal political consultations on the two protocols – the “Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations” and the “Protocol on the development of bilateral relations” – which have been initiated in the course of their efforts under Swiss mediation.

The two Protocols provide for a framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations within a reasonable timeframe. The political consultations will be completed within six weeks, following which the two Protocols will be signed and submitted to the respective Parliaments for the ratification on each side. Both sides will make their best efforts for the timely progression of the ratification in line with their constitutional and legal procedures.

The normalization of bilateral relations will contribute to the regional peace and stability. The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey are committed are pursuing their joint efforts with the assistance of Switzerland.

 

Surrendering of Armenia

Protocols represent a surrender of the rights of the Armenian nation, the truth of the Armenian Genocide, and the security of the Armenian Republic:

Surrender of Rights

– Armenia agrees to “territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers” and to “mutual recognition of the existing border,” in a manner that prejudices against the realization of the Armenian nation’s legitimate claim to land and other reparations for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

Surrender of Truth

– Armenia agrees to “refrain from pursuing any policy incompatible with the spirit of good neighborly relations,” despite the clear implication that Turkey and its allies will interpret this commitment to mean the abandonment of the Republic of Armenia’s support for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

– Armenia agrees to “implement a dialogue on the historical dimension,” knowing that Turkey will misuse this agreement to portray the Armenian government as itself casting doubt on the clearly established historical record of the Armenian Genocide, effectively undermining progress toward international recognition of this crime.

Surrender of Security

– Armenia agrees to “non-intervention in internal affairs,” despite the fact that the Armenian state has a humanitarian interest in the welfare of the remaining Armenian community in Turkey and a compelling security interest in Turkey abandoning its genocide denial and other anti-Armenian policies

Protocols represent a surrender of the rights of the Armenian nation, the truth of the Armenian Genocide, and the security of the Armenian Republic:

Surrender of Rights

– Armenia agrees to “territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers” and to “mutual recognition of the existing border,” in a manner that prejudices against the realization of the Armenian nation’s legitimate claim to land and other reparations for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923.

Surrender of Truth

– Armenia agrees to “refrain from pursuing any policy incompatible with the spirit of good neighborly relations,” despite the clear implication that Turkey and its allies will interpret this commitment to mean the abandonment of the Republic of Armenia’s support for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

– Armenia agrees to “implement a dialogue on the historical dimension,” knowing that Turkey will misuse this agreement to portray the Armenian government as itself casting doubt on the clearly established historical record of the Armenian Genocide, effectively undermining progress toward international recognition of this crime.

Surrender of Security

– Armenia agrees to “non-intervention in internal affairs,” despite the fact that the Armenian state has a humanitarian interest in the welfare of the remaining Armenian community in Turkey and a compelling security interest in Turkey abandoning its genocide denial and other anti-Armenian policies

Ara Hamparian

Serzh Sargsyan about Armenia-Turkey negotiations

Armenia will not allow to use the negotiations as campaign tool and to drag out the comprehensive dialogue; this is Armenia’s disposition regarding the regulation of Armenian-Turkish ties.

“We’d like to open the closed borders of Europe and to create normal ties without preconditions. But we are not intended to allow to use the negotiating processes to mislead the international society,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at joint news conference with his Cyprus counterpart.

President Sargsyan stressed that it would be much willing if Turkey kept faithful to mutual agreements.

It’s worth reminding that Armenian-Turkish negotiations have been launched after President Serzh Sargsyan took the initiative to start “football diplomacy”. Since 2008 the parties have had discussions and with Swiss mediating a joint statement has been made in April this year claiming to adopt “road map” to regulate ties. It seems the negotiating processes are currently paused which, according to experts, means Turkey wants to reject agreements.

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