1- Pashinyan’s Trail of Destruction:
First Artsakh; Then Armenia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Israeli Police restricts the Armenian Patriarchate’s Light
Ceremony in Jerusalem
3- Glendale City Plans Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event on April 24
4- Pasadena Mayor Issues Proclamation Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1- Pashinyan’s Trail of Destruction:
First Artsakh; Then Armenia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a very lengthy,
rambling speech on April 13, 2022 to the Armenian Parliament on his
government’s failures and achievements in 2021.
Ever since the catastrophic 2020 Artsakh war, I have been repeatedly
saying that the Prime Minister is too incompetent to govern Armenia.
He caused the loss of most of Artsakh and thousands of young Armenian
soldiers. As a defeated and psychologically crushed leader, he is
incapable of repairing the damage he caused to the country. With each
passing day, the situation is getting worse. Artsakh is mostly gone;
Armenia is next.
However, Pashinyan refuses to resign, clinging to his seat and
establishing a one-man rule. Ironically, when he took over the
government four years ago, he proclaimed that the power belonged to
the people.
In his April 13, 2022 speech, Pashinyan stated: “we have had the most
serious failures as well as the most serious achievements. I must
first talk about the achievements, then focus on the failures, but not
so much or not only to record them, but also to use the opportunity of
being on the high rostrum of the National Assembly, to confess to the
public about the cause and effect of the war and defeat, and talk
about possible solutions.”
Various high-ranking government officials have recently announced that
Artsakh is no longer a territorial issue, but one of human rights,
meaning that Armenia is giving up on its long-standing demand for the
independence or self-determination of Artsakh, opting instead on
seeking to preserve the cultural and religious rights of ethnic
Armenians in Artsakh under Azeri rule!
Since Pashinyan’s plan is to turn over the remainder of Artsakh to
Azerbaijan, why is he then boasting that “from November 2020 to the
end of 2021, the [Armenian] government has implemented in Artsakh 136
billion drams [about $272 million] of programs?” Armenia is actually
subsidizing Azerbaijan’s infrastructure in Artsakh, since the
government of Azerbaijan, in three and a half years or less, will take
over that territory.
Pashinyan admitted that the negatives in 2021 outweighed the
positives. He stated that “from the beginning I have accepted my guilt
and responsibility for both the war and defeat.” But then, he
contradicted himself by saying: “I have not accepted and I do not
accept the accusations addressed to me by the opposition after
November 9, 2020, accusing me of handing over lands and thus also of
treason.” He acknowledged that what he just said is “absurd—admitting
your guilt, but not accepting the accusation.”
Making his confession more confusing, Pashinyan added: “In a recent
interview, I hinted that if I were to be accused objectively, I should
be accused not of handing over land, but of not handing over land. And
now, yes, I’m going to admit that I’m probably guilty of it. It is my
fault that in 2018, 2019, I did not stand in front of our public and
did not speak out that all, I repeat, all distant and close [foreign]
friends expect us that we hand over the seven well-known regions to
Azerbaijan, one way or another and lower our bar for the status of
Artsakh. It is my fault that I did not tell our people that the
international community unequivocally recognizes the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, expects us that we too recognize it, also
expects that the Azerbaijanis who left Karabakh be fully integrated in
the decision-making and governance of Nagorno-Karabakh.”
In the above paragraph, Pashinyan admitted his guilt in losing
Artsakh, but strangely, avoided accepting the consequences for his
actions. He also repeatedly laid the blame on pressure from the
international community. It is not true that the international
community demanded that Armenians give up Artsakh, but even if they
did, Pashinyan should have been more concerned about Armenia’s
national interests than the outsiders’ suggestion. Only a weak leader
would buckle under the pressure of third parties and not defend his
people’s rights.
Pashinyan confessed: “And not doing this is my real fault, and such a
formulation is not an attempt to alleviate the situation at all. On
the contrary, I aggravate it, because by handing over [Artsakh’s
lands], I might have saved thousands of lives, but by not handing over
I actually became the author of decisions that resulted in thousands
of victims.” As the Prime Minister of Armenia, he had no right to hand
over Artsakh territories that he had no jurisdiction over.
Pashinyan is getting ready to surrender Artsakh completely by
announcing that he wants to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and
recognize its territorial integrity. He used the excuse that “the
international community clearly tells us that Armenia is the only
country in the world that does not recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity.” This “is a great danger not only for Artsakh but also for
Armenia. Today the international community tells us again, ‘lower your
bar on the status of Nagorno Karabakh a little and you will secure
greater international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh.’
Otherwise, says the international community, ‘please do not rely on
us, not because we do not want to help you, but because we cannot help
you.’”
After saying that Armenia has not recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity, Pashinyan contradicted himself by falsely claiming that in
1992, Armenia had recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. His
contention, that the international community warned him that they
cannot help Armenia, unless it made concessions on Artsakh, is also a
baseless statement. When has the international community lifted a
finger to help Armenia? Pashinyan is simply using this excuse to make
further concessions to Azerbaijan. He is incapable of protecting
Armenia’s borders as we have seen with Azerbaijan’s May 12, 2021
encroachment on Armenia’s border. Furthermore, Pashinyan falsely
blamed his political opponents for that Azeri incursion! He also
faulted the Russia-led CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization)
for not coming to Armenia’s defense, even though he is the current
CSTO Chairman!
Pashinyan’s defeatist remarks at the Parliament were soundly condemned
not only by the political opposition, but also by the usually
compliant leaders of Artsakh.
Everything must be done to get rid of Pashinyan as soon as possible
since he refuses to resign, favoring his own seat over Armenia’s
interests. Otherwise, after Artsakh, Armenia is next to go.
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2- Israeli Police restricts the Armenian Patriarchate’s Light
Ceremony in Jerusalem Ahead of Easter, the Armenian Patriarchate of
Jerusalem issued a statement about the restrictions that Israeli
police tried to impose this year.
On April 11, representatives of the Patriarchate met with the police
officers in charge of the Luys (light) ceremony, which stated that
this year only 1,000 pilgrims should be allowed to participate in the
ceremony, only 200 of whom could be Armenians. The Patriarchate’s
representatives expressed their disagreement with the decision and
left the meeting.
The Armenian Apostolic Church has exclusive rights during the Luys
ceremony, which are enshrined in the Status Quo Agreement.
The Armenian Church has the right to open the door of the Church of
the Holy Resurrection, which is attended by hundreds of Armenian and
foreign pilgrims. The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, accompanied by
hundreds of pilgrims, enters the temple, after which his
representative, together with the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, enter
the “Light-Fire” symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ.
The above rights have been exercised for centuries under various
powers and rulers without any restrictions. Therefore, the Armenian
Patriarchate disagreed with the decision of the Israeli police to
restrict the ceremony and demand that this year, as in previous years,
the “Light” ceremony be held without any restrictions on the number of
believers.
“The Government of Israel has an international obligation to ensure
the freedom of religious observance and to ensure its smooth conduct.
We demand that the police respect this commitment and overturn its
decision on restrictions,” the Patriarchate stated on April 12, 2022.
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3- Glendale City Plans Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event on April 24
The City of Glendale proudly announced its Annual Armenian Genocide
Commemorative Event at The Alex Theatre on Sunday, April 24, 2022, at
7 p.m. For the first time in two years, the event will be held in
person.
This year’s program will showcase the work of Komitas through dance
and musical performances curated by The Lark Musical Society. Komitas
was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and
choirmaster who is considered the founder of the Armenian national
school of music.
Tickets to the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event are free and
required for entry; limit 4 tickets per transaction from
www.itsmyseat.com/april24.
At their regularly scheduled meeting, the Glendale City Council will
pass a proclamation recognizing April 2022 as Genocide Awareness
Month, and April 24, 2022, as the Day of Commemoration of the 107th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
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4- Pasadena Mayor Issues Proclamation Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
(Pasadena Now)—Mayor Victor Gordo issued a proclamation on Monday,
April 12 recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
The genocide began in 1915 and, by the time it ended eight years
later, 1.5 million Armenians had been hanged, poisoned, drowned or
marched into the desert to die at the hands of soldiers from the
Turkish Ottoman Empire. Along with the Jewish Holocaust and the
enslavement of African Americans, it remains one of the darkest
episodes in human history.
“Since memories fade with time, it is important to remind ourselves
about human tragedies that have taken place; and whereas, those who
survived the Armenian genocide and their successors have had to work
hard to make these tragic events known to the world, battling
cover-ups, misinformation and denial; and whereas, as a community, it
is appropriate for us to stand together and join our Armenian brothers
and sisters in an effort to memorialize their fallen ancestors and to
ensure that this horrible act is not repeated,” the proclamation read.
The Pasadena memorial was erected in 2015 to mark the 100th
anniversary of the Genocide.
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5- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
Armenia continues the fight against COVID-19. Coronavirus cases have
been steadily increasing in Armenia since mid-January. The government
continues to promote vaccinations. There were 3,690 active COVID-19
cases in Armenia as of April 18. Armenia has recorded 422,770
coronavirus cases and 8,622 deaths; 410,4558 have recovered.
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