A Europe-wide crackdown on alleged mobsters from the former Soviet Union continued Monday, with arrests now totaling at least 69, including Armenians. The suspects are accused of robbery, drug smuggling, money laundering, and other crimes.

The crackdown, dubbed ‘Operation Java,’ has exposed the global reach of the Russian mafia, who some experts claim now dominate the criminal underworld in several European countries and are active as far away as Australia and Singapore. »»»»»

By Owei Lakemfa

The following article appeared in the March 14 edition of Sierra Express, an independent online newspaper in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Turkey, one of America’s staunchest allies in the Islamic world is furious. Its anger is turned against the United States for a vote on March 4, 2010 by the  House, Foreign Affairs Committee which characterized the  wholesale massacre of Armenian minorities as a “genocide”. »»»»»

An exhibition entitled, “The Armenian Genocide-95 Years Later, In Remembrance”, will be on display at the University of Rhode Island’s Feinstein Providence Campus Gallery during the month of April.

The exhibition will display works of 47 professional artists and over 100 school-age children from local Armenian schools. The show will reflect impressions and understanding of the Genocide and aims equally to showcase the survival, achievements, and contributions of the Armenian people and culture. For more information: www.armeniangenocide95years.com.

The Speed Art Museum in Kentucky, USA, has opened an exhibition devoted to photographer Yousuf Karsh as part of its “The Most Famous People in the World” series to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Karsh’s birth in the eatern Anaatolian town of Mardin.

Included in the exhibition are many of the best known portraits of the era’s most illustrious faces displayed alongside rarely seen earlier photographs that reveal how Karsh learned his craft. »»»»»

Christer Asp, Sweden’s ambassador to Turkey, says that protests against Sweden were still underway on Saturday in some Turkish cities, following large demonstrations outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul in the wake of last week’s vote in the Swedish parliament to recognize the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

He added that his post box was over flowing with hate mail and letters indicating Swedish business interests have been affected by the dispute, this according to The Local, a Swedish newspaper. »»»»»

On March 11, the U.S. Postal Service issued the Arshile Gorky postage stamp, based on the artist’s 1944 painting “The Liver in a Cock’s Comb.” It will be the first of a series of stamps being unveiled on March 11 by the US Postal Service honoring abstract expressionists. »»»»»

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Sweden condemned on Saturday a vote in the Swedish parliament that defined the early 20th-century killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, reports Reuters

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who is holding informal talks with foreign ministers including Turkey’s Ahmet Davutoglu in northern Finland, said he was upset by the vote and concerned it could affect Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. »»»»»

By Nathan Hegedus

Yes, you read the headline right- the Ottoman Empire.  And yes, it is making Obama’s life miserable eighty-eight years after its unceremonious dissolution.

For six hundred years, the Ottomans straddled Europe and Asia, stretching from Algiers to the Persian Gulf to the gates of Vienna. It was a colossus, the last and maybe greatest center of political authority in the Muslim world. »»»»»

The United States issued its 2009 “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” on March 11. According to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “The reports released today are a record of where we are. They provide a fact base that will inform the United States’ diplomatic, economic and strategic policies toward other countries in the coming year.” Here are some excerpts from the Armenia report.

Freedom of Speech and Press

The constitution provides for freedom of speech and freedom of the press; however, the government did not always respect these rights in practice. There continued to be incidents of violence, intimidation, and self-censorship against and in the press throughout the year. »»»»»

By a vote of 131 to 130 on Thursday evening, the Swedish Parliament has characterized the massacres of Armenians. Assyrians and Pontic Greeks by Ottoman Turkey as ‘genocide”

 As expected, Turkey condemned the decision of the Swedish Parliament. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Sweden for consultations and said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cancelled his planned visit to Sweden on March 17. »»»»»

By Vadim Ryzov

Rebel Land: Unraveling The Riddle Of History In A Turkish Town originated from an error. In a 2001 New York Review Of Books piece about Turkey’s history, Christopher de Bellaigue stated in passing that the deaths of Armenians in Turkey during the 1890s and the infamous genocides of 1915 were aberrations rather than a calculated, coordinated, state-endorsed effort.

Many letters of outrage later, he realized he’d gotten his information “only from Turkish or pro-Turkish authors.” »»»»»

The following opinion piece entitled “Neighbors; Whose in Favor of Turkey?”, by ZvuBar’el, appears in today’s Haaretz.com.

The shock waves generated when the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a bill defining the 1915 massacre of the Armenians as genocide did not stop at Turkey’s shores. There have also been many ripples in the corridors of the Jewish lobby in Washington. »»»»»

Amid the finger-pointing, let’s recall how Turkey helped push the US Congress committee toward its vote on Armenian genocide.

When a committee of the US Congress foolishly voted last week to brand as genocide the 1915 slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, there was plenty of blame to go around. Ethnic lobbies, big-money politics and narrow-minded congressmen all played their part. Together they poked a gratuitous stick in the eye of a valuable friend. Once again America repeated its classic foreign policy blunder: do something that makes you feel good now, but that in the long run actually undermines American security interests. »»»»»

In the following March 7, 2010 editorial, The New York Times describes HR 252 as “unnecessary” and labels the 1915 Genocide a “tragedy”. 

The recent arrest or detention of dozens of Turkish military officers for alleged coup plotting could signal a significant shift in power from the tarnished army to civilian leadership. These cases could help strengthen Turkish democracy — provided the government and the judiciary scrupulously apply the rule of law. »»»»»

The following opinion piece by John Press appeared in the March 8, issue of the “Global Politician”.

This week the House of Representatives debated a resolution that would have given official recognition to the attempted genocide of Armenians at the hands of Turks. Speaking through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Obama administration said it “strongly opposes” the designation of the massacres as genocide. Obama’s strong opposition tells us a lot about truth claims and Obama’s lack of culturist sensibilities. »»»»»