1 - Pashinyan Made Yet Another Gaffe,
Implying that Shushi Was an Azeri City
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Armenia’s president congratulates Biden and Harris
3- Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic
4- Books by Chesnut Express Armenian, American Legacies
5- Serj Tankian Speaks ‘Truth to Power’ in New Documentary
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1 - Pashinyan Made Yet Another Gaffe,
Implying that Shushi Was an Azeri City
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
After ruling Armenia as Prime Minister for almost three years and most
importantly during the country’s recent disastrous defeat in the
Artsakh War, Nikol Pashinyan keeps making mistake after mistake and
misstatement after misstatement.
As I have written before, regrettably Pashinyan is not competent to
lead Armenia. He is more of a protester and a critic, who does not
possess the necessary skills and experience to be the head of state.
The Artsakh War made the situation in the country even worse and
exposed Pashinyan’s inability to manage the plethora of Armenia’s
problems.
Armenians around the world had high hopes that, after getting rid of
the previous regime, Pashinyan would be able to lead Armenia into
prosperity and a degree a normalcy. The overwhelming majority of
Armenians supported him due to their complete hostility to the former
government.
Unfortunately, it turned out that Pashinyan was all talk and no
action. In addition to his lack of experience, he surrounded himself
with advisors and ministers who knew even less than he did. As a
result, neither he nor his government had the slightest chance to be
successful. The Artsakh War made matters worse. As the
Commander-in-Chief, he made error after error leading Armenia and
Artsakh to an indescribable disaster from which we will not recover
for decades, if ever. Pashinyan now insists that he should remain in
power to correct the grave problems of the country. One would be
extremely naïve to believe in such a promise. A leader who is
incompetent to lead in peace time and utterly fails during the war is
in no position to correct anything. He has made matters worse with his
misstatements and erroneous policies.
Several weeks ago, while addressing the Parliament, Pashinyan angered
many Armenians by describing as “unfortunate and pale” the historic
Armenian city of Shushi in Artsakh. There was no reason to use such
negative adjectives to describe a city which is the pride of all
Armenians.
More recently, during another appearance in Parliament, in response to
a question from a deputy about Shushi, Pashinyan made matters worse
for himself, when he said: “Shushi before the conflict and the
liberation [in 1992], had an Azeri population of 90 and more percent.
In other words, you mean to say that the city of Shushi with an Azeri
population of 90 and more percent is Armenian with that status?”
A huge outcry erupted among Armenians around the world after
Pashinyan’s unfortunate words. This was yet another self-inflicted
wound. A few days later, during Pashinyan’s visit to Yeraplour, the
cemetery where fallen Armenian soldiers are buried, when a journalist
questioned him about his statement in Parliament on Shushi, he said
that he would give an answer if the reporter put her question in
writing. The following day, the journalist wrote Pashinyan’s words on
a large placard and read them aloud, while standing in front of the
Prime Minister’s building. Even though one of Pashinyan’s supporters
attacked the journalist and tore up her placard, the Prime Minister
kept his word and on his Facebook page addressed the controversy
during a live video.
In his response, Pashinyan first accused the media of manipulating his
words. He repeated that in the early 1990’s Azeris consisted of over
90 percent or rather 96 percent of Shushi residents. He went on to
state: “How Shushi could be considered under Armenian control by its
status when 96 percent of the population was Azerbaijani?” Pashinyan
then mentioned the offer by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on
October 19, 2020, several weeks before the end of the war, to accept
Armenia’s demand for a ceasefire on condition that Armenians allow the
return of the former Azeri residents to Shushi, under Armenian rule.
Pashinyan made several errors in his original statement and subsequent
failed attempt to set the record straight. Actually, he had no reason
to go into such a convoluted and false argument. He had just to say
that he rejected Aliyev’s offer because allowing Azeris to return to
Shushi under Armenian control was unacceptable to him and most
Armenians. In fact, that’s exactly what Pashinyan told the President
of Russia, Vladimir Putin, when the latter relayed to him Aliyev’s
offer. Had Pashinyan limited his remarks to that fact, there would
have been no outcry in the Armenian world. There was no reason to say
that Shushi was mostly populated by Azeris prior to 1992, causing such
a controversy at a time when his power is waning and he is criticized
by a lot of Armenians, including many of his former supporters.
By mentioning the high percentage of Azeris living in Shushi in the
past, Pashinyan made several mistakes:
First of all, regardless of the number of Azeris who lived in Shushi,
it is a well-known fact that it has been an Armenian city for
centuries long before Azerbaijan existed. In 1920, after Azeris
massacred thousands of Armenians in Shushi and pursued a policy to
depopulate the city’s Armenians, their numbers were diminished
considerably. But Pashinyan provided no such background in his
misleading statement.
Secondly, Pashinyan was wrong to judge whether an area is Armenian or
not by its population at a particular time. For example, there are
hardly any Armenians now living in Nakhichevan or Western Armenia, but
Armenians still consider these territories to be a part of historic
Armenia.
Thirdly, it is understandable that accepting Aliyev’s offer to allow
former Azeri residents to return to Shushi, under Armenian control,
was a hard pill to swallow for Pashinyan and most Armenians, there is
an important issue to consider. How many Azeris would have returned to
Shushi to live under Armenian rule? Very few, if any. Pashinyan’s
implication that thousands of Azeris would have returned to Shushi,
making the city’s population again 96% Azeri was totally unrealistic.
No Azeri would have wanted to live in Shushi under Armenian rule, just
like no Armenian would risk living in territories controlled by
Azerbaijan.
Finally, Pashinyan’s refusal to accept Aliyev’s offer on October 19,
2020, meant that the war was prolonged until November 9, 2020, causing
the loss of much more Armenian territories to Azerbaijan. Furthermore,
Azeris took over Shushi completely and many more young Armenian
soldiers were killed or wounded. The consequences of Pashinyan’s
faulty decisions during the war were far worse than his misstatement
in Parliament and his subsequent lame effort to correct himself.
The Prime Minister should realize that the longer he clings to power,
the more he destabilizes the country. A defeated and incompetent
leader cannot improve the tragic situation in the country. The sooner
he leaves, the faster a new government can take over and try to reduce
the damages suffered by Armenia and Artsakh
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2- Armenia’s president congratulates Biden and Harris
(Aysor)—Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian congratulated Joe Biden
on assuming the presidency of the United States.
“I am convinced that during the upcoming years You will do everything
possible to ensure progress and noticeable achievements in Your
country. I expect that our cooperation will give an opportunity to
advance in Armenian-American friendly relations and promote the
long-awaited peace and stability in the region,” Armenia’s president
said in his message. Sarkissian also sent a congratulatory message to
Vice President, Kamala Harris.
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3 - Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic
The Armenian government has commissioned 600,000 doses of coronavirus
vaccines from WHO-backed COVAX; medical and social workers, seniors
and people suffering from chronic diseases will be the first to get
vaccine shots free of charge, and according to Gayane Sahakian, the
deputy director of the National Center for Disease Control and
Prevention,
The first COVAX-distributed vaccine is the one produced by
AstraZeneca, which will deliver it to COVAX in February or March.
According to the Ministry of Health, there were 6,204 active
coronavirus cases in Armenia as of January 25. Armenia has recorded
167,088 coronavirus cases and 3,084 deaths; 157,800 have recovered.
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4- Books by Chesnut Express Armenian, American Legacies
By Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut
From the killing fields of Marash, Turkey, in 1920 to America and from
the dustbowl in Amarillo, Tex., to California in 1935, We Armenians
Survived! Battle of Marash 1920 and Written Works of Glen Chesnut both
tell remarkable stories.
The first book relates the tale of immigration to America by a people
besieged by a government bent on their extermination.
The second written by my late husband weaves the narrative of
Americans leaving a parched homeland in Texas to literally greener
pastures in California.
I am very proud of being able to tell the story of my mother’s family
and the Armenians of Marash, Turkey by sharing the experiences of
eight Armenians who made it through the blood bath of Marash where
thousands were torched in their churches.
The author of The Media Monopoly, Ben Bagdikian, was newly born when
his family trekked out of Marash in one of the worst blizzards in
memory following behind the retreating French soldiers many of whom
were black Senegalese.
Dicran Berberian, at 17 years of age, learned of the murder of his
immediate family and others by none other than one of the perpetrators
who happened also to be his next door neighbor, a Turk, who proudly
showed Berberian his father’s pocket watch.
Berberian would later become the codiscoverer of plaquenil, an
anti-Malaria drug now known as hydroxychloroquine.
Glen, my husband of 45 years, was the youngest son of Sam and Ulta
Chesnut and had a remarkable story as well. Coming from a ranching
family, he quit high school in Tehachapi, Cal., for one year to work
as a cowboy. In later years he would become a merchant seaman and ship
out of San Francisco, when it was a great port city, and then out of
Oakland. Glen was a self-taught artist and a writer. Written Works
features some of his best flash fiction, poetry and short stories.
I invite you to visit his website to read more of his works not in the
book, don’t miss the art gallery of his paintings and multi-media
works and the photo gallery of pictures Glen took while stationed in
Germany in the early 1950s.
Go to https://glenchesnut.com to learn more. Glen’s book can be
ordered through Amazon in both an eBook and a paperback version and at
bookstores.
We Armenians Survived can be ordered at Abril Bookstore (818)
243-4112. www.abrilbooks.com); through Amazon in both eBook and
paperback versions. Abril Bookstore: All proceeds from book sales will
continue to go to Armenian charities.
This article appeared in The Alameda Sun on January 27, 2021.
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5- Serj Tankian Speaks ‘Truth to Power’ in New Documentary
In 2001, the band System Of A Down partnered with music producer Rick
Rubin to record their sophomore album. Against all odds, and during
one of the most painful and precarious months in American history, the
album Toxicity skyrocketed up the Billboard chart and catapulted to
Number One. But just as System Of A Down achieved their commercial
triumph, in a post-9/11 world their politically-charged lyrics were
suddenly the subject of scrutiny; they were thrust into headlines, and
their songs were pulled off the radio. The band’s global fan base saw
in frontman Serj Tankian a spokesperson for their disillusionment.
Tankian had always been outspoken and political, both on stage and
off, but when he found his message inspiring a popular movement on the
other side of the world, he began to realize that his music was more
revolutionary than even he could imagine. The documentary TRUTH TO
POWER follows Tankian down an unexpected path as his passion for human
rights and activism led him to become a social justice organizer in
Armenia. The film is fueled by interviews with Serj Tankian, System of
a Down band members, their producers, and fellow rock icons.
With exclusive interviews, adventures, and original footage personally
filmed by Serj, TRUTH TO POWER allows audiences backstage access to an
international rock star whose faith in music not only revolutionized
heavy metal, but also world events. Throughout his life, the musician
has pursued social justice, harnessing the power of his songs and
celebrity for real political change. Serj’s voice is equally likely to
take on American corporate greed as lambast the corrupt regime of his
homeland. His decades-long campaign for formal U.S. recognition of the
Armenian Genocide was finally approved by Congress in 2019.
TRUTH TO POWER is also an artist portrait with a revealing look at the
musician as he writes music—from inception to recording—and pursues
ambitions outside of the band. It includes memories from Rick Rubin on
System Of A Down’s early years breakthrough, the bandmates’ candid
insights about the splinters and highpoints for the group, and stories
from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello on his bond with Serj as
social justice advocates and their “Axis of Justice’’ nonprofit.
“I was an activist before becoming an artist so the two always worked
together within me. As time went by the breath and diversity of my
activism and music progressed side by side,” says Tankian. He notes of
his activism, “I just do the work and don’t think about how I feel
about it. Justice requires daily adherence. That’s all.”
When asked about the war in Armenia, and how to help Armenians
worldwide, Tankian explains, “The post war period in Artsakh and
Armenia are very contentious. Azerbaijan still continues its
aggression and committing of war crimes while the people of Artsakh
suffer innumerable humanitarian catastrophes. We need to inspire the
global community to recognize Artsakh, sanction Turkey and Azerbaijan
and bring war crimes charges against those countries while raising
funds for humanitarian aid for those Victims who are suffering.”
TRUTH TO POWER (79 minutes) opens worldwide February 19, 2021. The
film is written and directed by Garin Hovannisian; produced by
Hovannisian and Tankian; executive produced by Joe Berlinger, Michael
Rapino and Ryan Kroft; with music by Serj Tankian.
For more information, visit www.truthtopowerfilm.com
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