New & Views (Jan 30, 2012)

News & Views is a weekly summary of some of the week’s most important stories, links and material of interest to Ararat readers.

— Geopolitical risk analyst Ian Bremmer was in Davos last week and he spotted what he called “The most politically controversial gift I have ever received.”

The bag included this statement regarding the Karabakh region between Azerbaijan and Armenia:

“Unfortunately the conflict ignited as a result of unfair territorial claims brought against Azerbaijan. The occupation by Armenian invaders of Garabagh … [has] turned the bright representatives of the Mugham art into internally displaced people … grief, sorrow, and melancholy is being felt today in their performance.”

Business Insider has images of the Azerbaijani swag bag.

— Talk of the French Genocide bill continues to dominate Armenian-related discussions around the world. The Jerusalem Post says the bill will become law in a week or so. The Armenian Weekly reports that Turkey is threatening to deport 100,000 Armenians that are illegally residing in Turkey. While the Armenian Foreign Minister is saying that the French bill “is a very important mechanism to prevent new crimes against humanity.”

— Harut Sassounian, who never shies away from a war of words, has written his opinion of “20 Steps Turkey Could Take to Worsen Relations with France After Genocide Vote.” It seems #17 (“Deport all citizens of Armenia working illegally in Turkey. Deprive them of all food and water during their long march from Istanbul to Armenia or, even worse, to the Syrian desert!”) may just happen.

— In less serious French Genocide bill-related news, Euronews reports that an Armenian couple has named their baby Sarkozy in honor of the French President and the passage of the Genocide bill.

— A lecture by Dr. Haroutune Armenian at ARPA in Southern California “Rural Needs in Armenia and the Turpanjian Rural Development Program” has been captured on video and posted on YouTube. The 104-minute lecture begins in Armenian but continues in English (beginning roughly at the 8-minute mark).

— Alexander Nazaryan has penned a strong opinion piece in the New York Daily News about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s newest proposal, titled “Russia: The Ethnicity Issue,” which aims to unify the disparate peoples of Russia through a common literary canon.

Nazaryan writes:

His advice for all those Armenians and Tajiks who live in his country is to become more Russian, for “this kind of civilizational identity is based on preserving the dominance of Russian culture.”

— Asbarez reports that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is a hypocrite:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US “opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through.” This is the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.

— The year’s Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2011-2012 is out and the listing has Armenia at the 77th spot out of a 179 countries. Northern European countries continue to dominate the top 10, while the East African nation of Eritrea placed last.

Armenia placed higher on the annual index than all of its neighbors, which placed #104 (Georgia), #148 (Turkey), #162 (Azerbaijan) and #175 (Iran).

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News & Views is published every Monday afternoon EST. It is a summary of the week’s most interesting, provocatiove and thought-provoking links to articles, videos, photos and commentary of interest to the readers of Ararat.