Author: Anna Tamamian

On May 8 a Regional Conference on contemporary issues of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in Armenia, Georgia and beyond will kick off in Yerevan. Guests include state officials, religious leaders, and representatives of civil society and academia from Armenia and Georgia, as well as renowned experts from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia and Norway.

The conference will take place in Armenia Marriott hotel, Tigran Metz hall. The working languages will be Armenian, Georgian and English, with simultaneous translation. The event is open to media, and will be live-streamed online.

Opening remarks will be delivered by Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Vigen Kocharyan and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia and Georgia Mr. Jos Douma. The OSCE/ODIHR Senior Adviser on FoRB Kishan Manocha and UN OHCHR Senior Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus Vladimir Shkolnikov will attend the event. Representatives of Foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations are invited.

The goal of the conference is to provide a platform for key stakeholders to discuss the situation and developments of FoRB in Armenia, Georgia and globally and define recommendations for governments, religious communities and policy makers. The main topics that the Conference will cover are:

• International standards of FoRB and the situation in Armenia and Georgia;
• FoRB and education;
• FoRB and secularity
• FoRB and equality between men and women

The first stage of the negotiations between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on the Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (Common Aviation Area between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union) has been kicked off.

“The Common Aviation Area Agreement will help to enhance tourism & trade, allow more EU citizens discover beautiful Armenia,” Head of the EU Delegation to Armenian Piotr Switalski said at the opening of the negotiations.

“This is a beautiful day because the relations between Armenia and the European Union are getting a new positive impetus,” he said.

The negotiating group of the Armenian side will be headed by the Head of the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Armenia Sergey Avetisyan.

Negotiating delegation from the European Union side is headed by the Deputy Head of Unit for Aviation Agreements of the European Commission  Klaus Geil.

In the frames of this agreement the Republic of Armenia will join the EU Common Aviation Area, and as a result the parties will liberalize the market, providing the airlines with the opportunity to operate the routes without any limitations and enjoy equal opportunities of servicing a market with a population of 500 million.

The effective European standards will be introduced in the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian and foreign airlines will be provided with the opportunity to operate air routes based on commercial considerations without any limiting interference by the states.

We should note that on 1 December of 2016 the Council of EU Transport Ministers adopted a mandate that allowed the European Commission to start negotiations with the Republic of Armenia.

The assembly’s monitoring committee raised concerns over constitutional amendments that were approved this month in a national referendum amid a state of emergency.

Turkey rapporteur Marianne Mikko said on Tuesday the amendments, which significantly expand the powers of the presidency, “do not comply with our fundamental and common understanding of democracy.”

She stressed that the monitoring process is not “punishment” but a bid to strengthen dialogue with Turkey.

The committee was critical of the atmosphere ahead of the referendum and of emergency decrees after the failed coup attempt in July 2016.

The committee pointed to the detention of parliamentarians and journalists and the sweeping dismissals of civil servants allegedly linked to the coup.

The Turkish foreign ministry said it strongly condemned the “unjust decision” of a European rights body to put it on a monitoring watchlist, adding that Ankara was left with no choice but to reconsider its relations with the body.

“Deciding to re-open the monitoring procedure on Turkey… under the guidance of malicious circles at the PACE is a disgrace to this organ, which claims to be the cradle of democracy,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that xenophobia and Islamophobia were “spreading with violence” across Europe.

On April 18, the five American Corners in Armenia – in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Charentsavan, and Kapan – celebrated Armenia’s National Library Week by organizing a reading marathon of Mark Twain’s classic novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” with participants from throughout the country.

Dozens of community leaders, literary figures, library patrons, and students joined U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr. and his spouse Leigh – a former librarian herself  —  for the all-day marathon, with guests from all five American Corners connected via videoconference as each particiapantread a five-minute excerpt of the novel out loud.

“The story of Mark Twain is a story of the American Dream,” Ambassador Mills said. “Having started with very little, he became a famous author whose works are read and enjoyed all over the world, and whose characters – Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn – have become symbols of American life and the values Americans treasure – freedom, questioning authority, and ultimately our belief in every American’s personal dignity. And while Twain’s success is due to his hard work, talent, and motivation, his local library also played an important role in his career. Twain left school at the age of 12 and thereafter educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, where he said he was able to find wider information than at conventional schools. The example of Twain illustrates the important role that a library can play in a person’s life.”

National Library Week is celebrated in Armenia April 17-23. This year Armenia’s libraries are using the occasion to honor the 25^th anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Army. In the United States, which celebrated National Library Week last week, April 9-15, this year’s theme was theme “Libraries Transform.”

“This theme – that libraries transform – is a fitting way to think about the role of libraries in our communities,” Ambassador Mills said. “In many cases, they are being physically transformed, becoming more and more spaces that provide hands-on access to – and instruction in – cutting-edge technology. And by providing free access to a wide range of books, journalis, and online resources, they can transform people’s lives, helping them build their knowledge and skills to take advantage of greater educational and professional opportunities. This is especially true of our five American Corners.”

There are five American Corners in Armenia – in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Charentsavan, and Kapan. Last year, a record number of Armenians visited the five Corners for free English lessons, access to English-language books and DVDs, children’s activities, college and university advising, and access to technology such as computers, internet, and 3D printers.

Yuri Khachaturov has been appointed Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, RIA Novosti reports.

Khachaturov will take office from May 2, 2017, acting Secretary General Valery Semerikov told reporters today.

He said the decision was unanimously taken at the CSTO informal summit in Bishkek.

The Parliament in Cyprus has condemned the Armenian Genocide, calling on the international community to acknowledge the genocide, reports.

Addressing the House of Representatives at the start of the plenary session, Speaker Demetris Syllouris said that even if more than a century have gone by since the Armenian Genocide of 24th April 1915 when Turkey applied an ethnic cleansing plan against Armenians, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the murder of one and a half million Armenians.

The House, said Syllouris,was among the first parliaments in the world and the first one in Europe to acknowledge and condemn in 1975 the Armenian genocide, demanding the restoration of the historic truth.

In addition, the Cyprus Parliament approved in 1990, in a unanimous vote, to commemorate the genocide on 24th April and it also passed a resolution penalising denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, modifying existing legislation, which required prior conviction by an international court to make denial a crime.

The House of Representatives, reiterates its appeal to the international community, to recognize and condemn the Armenian genocide, Syllouris added.

On his part, the representative of the Armenian in the House, Vartkes Mahtesian said those guilty of the Armenian Genocide remain unpunished.

Addressing the House, he said “for over 100 years, we have been seeking justification, not revenge, and the complete acknowledgement of indisputable historic facts regarding this drama.”

We call on the great forces who call themselves guardians of the international law, to force Turkey to undertake its responsibilities in the modern world and to acknowledge the crimes it has committed.

Photo: Survival Pictures

– “The Promise,” a movie about the Armenian genocide, screened at the Vatican on Tuesday with director Terry George, producer Eric Esrailian and some talent in attendance, in a clear sign of Catholic Church support ahead of the film’s upcoming U.S. release.

The big-budget epic was bankrolled by late billionaire Kirk Kerkorian. Its lead actors, Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, did not make the trek to Vatican City, but the intimate event held for Vatican officials in the 50-seat Vatican Cinematheque’s screening room was attended by stars Shohreh Aghdashloo and James Cromwell and by singer-songwriter Chris Cornell, who composed the theme song.

The Vatican screening comes after Pope Francis last year made his first visit to Armenia. During the visit, he used the term “genocide” to describe the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.

The pope’s remark sparked an angry reaction by the Turkish government, which strongly denies that a genocide occurred, arguing that it was wartime and many Turks were killed as well and insisting there was never a systematic plan to execute Armenians.

Esrailian, head of Survival Pictures, which he set up with Kerkorian to produce “The Promise,” traveled to Armenia for the papal visit.

“When he [Pope Francis] mentioned the word ‘genocide’ once in the big Mass, you could hear a kind of collective gasp and people getting tearful because he spoke really as a world leader,” Esrailian recalled. He noted that Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, “so it has a special place in Catholicism.”

“When there was awareness [within the Vatican] that a major film was being made, we were contacted to screen the movie. So we sent a private link to be viewed,” he said.

“The Promise,” which world-premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September, will go on wide release in the U.S. on 2,000 screens via Open Road Films on April 21.

The roughly $100-million film is considered a breakthrough after several attempts to make a Hollywood film about the Armenian genocide failed during past decades because of what director Terry George calls a “denialist lobby,” which these days is efficiently run by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he claims.

George said there was a denialist propaganda machine behind “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” a film with strikingly similar elements to “The Promise,” but which allegedly takes the side of the denialists. “Ottoman Lieutenant” went on release via New York-based Paladin on roughly 200 screens in the U.S. in March.

“It’s an Erdogan propaganda film released as a feature film in the United States, remarkably, just ahead of us,” the director said. “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” which stars Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley, was produced by a Turkish company called Eastern Sunrise Films.

Variety critic Dennis Harvey, in his review of “The Ottoman Lieutenant,” wrote that, “[in] this primarily Turkish-funded production, the historical, political, ethnic and other intricacies — not to mention that perpetual elephant in the room, the Armenian Genocide, which commenced in 1915 — are glossed over in favor of a generalized ‘Whattaya gonna do… war is bad’ aura that implies conscience without actually saying anything.”

“The Promise” faces its own challenges, including tepid reviews. Variety critic Peter Debruge called it “a sloggy melodrama in which the tragedy of a people is forced to take a back seat to a not especially compelling love triangle.”

“The Promise” centers on a love story involving a medical student (Isaac), a journalist (Bale), and the Armenian woman (Charlotte Le Bon) who steals their hearts. All three find themselves grappling with the Ottomans’ decision to begin rounding up and persecuting Armenians.

“The construct of the love triangle is clearly there for people who are unaware of the genocide or not particularly that interested in it,” said George. “It’s a big, old-fashioned love story. I think we’ve created a classic form of story, and hopefully women in particular will be entertained by it,” the director added.

As part of its marketing strategy, Survival Pictures has launched a #KeepThePromise social impact campaign for which it has already recruited Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Andre Agassi, Cher, Sylvester Stallone, among others, for an anti-genocide call to action connected to the film which has a strong philanthropic aspect. Survival Pictures’ cut of the box office will go to charities including The Sentry, the non-profit group co-founded by George Clooney and activist and author John Prendergast.