Author: Badalian Vardan

THE STORY BEHIND THE MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN CROSS THAT’S NOW IN THE VATICAN MUSEUMS

Rome Reports
March 29 2015

2015-03-29

It’s hard to imagine a time when St. Peter’s Square didn’t exist. But
long before Bernini’s columns stood high and long before the Vatican’s
dome became a hallmark of Rome, pilgrims still visited the area,
to pray before the remains of St. Peter.

Among the pilgrims were thousands of Armenians who traveled to the
Eternal City to pay their respects. In fact, there was even a welcoming
home for Armenian visitors.

MIKAYEL MINASYAN Armenian Ambassador to the Holy See “The priest who
was responsible for managing this home, placed a cross made out of
stone at the entrance. It was a cross with a traditional Armenian
design.”

Now the Vatican Museums has that very cross as part of its permanent
exhibit. Even though the welcoming home closed its doors and
everything seemed to disappear, that cross re-emerged hundreds of
years later. Armenian’s president Serzh Sargsyan was there for its
unveiling, back in September 2014.

MIKAYEL MINASYAN Armenian Ambassador to the Holy See “In addition to
the writing in Armenian, there was also a phrase in Latin that read,
‘This cross has been consecrated.”

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official
religion. Often its people were persecuted because of it. So, this
piece is about much more than mere devotion. It’s about Christianity,
history, faith and perseverance.

On April 12th, when Pope Francis celebrates a Mass to mark 100 years
since the Armenian genocide, part of the journey will come full circle.

MIKAYEL MINASYAN Armenian Ambassador to the Holy See “This cross was
placed in an area where Armenians would stop and pray before the
tomb of St. Peter. Now, the Cross is back in Rome, in the Vatican
Museums. On April 12th, Armenians will be here again, to honor the
martydrom of victims from the Armenian genocide.”

The stone dates back to 1246 and its displayed in the Pope Urban VII
Gallery, just a short distance from the Sistine Chapel.

NEVADA: CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AT THE LEGISLATURE

US Official News
March 30, 2015 Monday

Carson City

Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau has issued the following event
detail:

Centennial Anniversary of Armenian Genocide at the Legislature Time:
08:00 AM – 05:00 PM Function: Special Day at Legislature Invitees:
Legislators and Invited Guests Location: Legislature Instructions:
Proclamation presented by Assemblyman Jim Wheeler.

Reception to follow that evening at Dukes

AUSTRALIA WON’T ATTEND ARMENIAN MASS KILLINGS CENTENARY COMMEMORATIONS

SBS Radio, Australia
March 31 2015

Is Australia’s decision not to send representatives to Yerevan for
events marking the centenary of what’s known as the Armenian genocide
an outright snub of Armenia or a carefully manoeuvred diplomatic
balancing act?

By Kristina Kukolja

(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)

Is it an outright snub or a carefully manoeuvred diplomatic balancing
act?

The Australian government says it won’t be officially represented
in Yerevan next month at the centenary commemorations of the mass
killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

That’s widely referred to as the Armenian genocide – terminology
rejected by Turkey.

The Yerevan events will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the
Anzac landing in Gallipoli, to which Prime Minister Tony Abbott is
expected to lead a high-level delegation.

Kristina Kukolja has the details.

(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)

While there is no international consensus on the matter, over 20
countries have officially recognised the massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman Turkish soldiers as genocide.

The leaders of some of those nations will be in Armenia next month
at the invitation of the Armenian president to attend the 100-year
commemoration.

Australia isn’t among the countries to officially adopt the term
“Armenian genocide” at a national level, although two state parliaments
have done so.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade won’t confirm whether
Australia was invited to attend commemorative events in Yerevan.

But the Department has told SBS the Australian government will not
be sending a representative.

When asked about the reason for the decision, and whether an official
invitation was received, the Department declined to comment further.

Vache Kahramanian, from a group known as the Armenian National
Committee of Australia, says he’s seen the Armenian government’s list
of official invitees.

He says it includes Prime Minister Tony Abbott and a number of other
federal MPs.

Vache Kahramanian says he’ll be very disappointed if all of the
Australian MPs invited decline to go to Yerevan.

“The events that are occurring in Yerevan on the 22nd and 23rd of
April, which a large number of Australian members of parliament have
been invited to, is to take part in a forum titled “No to genocide”.

This is not only dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian
genocide, but a global forum which is going to attract more than
1,000 international attendees, including the president of France, the
president of Uruguay and many other distinguished world leaders who
will take part. And for Australia not to take part in a forum dedicated
to the eradication of the crime of genocide is very saddening.”

Armenia puts the number of its people killed by the Turks between
1915 and 1922 at around 1.5 million.

It says many more were forcibly deported from territories held by
Ottoman Turk forces.

Historians tell of other minorities — the Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Syriacs and Greeks — as being targeted.

These groups want the modern Turkish state to recognise its
predecessor’s actions as genocide.

Turkey does not dispute that many deaths and what it calls
‘relocations’ did occur, but it does dispute the Armenians’ estimated
death toll, and rejects outright the use of the word “genocide”.

Diplomatic cables between Canberra and Ankara, obtained under Freedom
of Information laws, show that last year the matter arose in a letter
from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to her then Turkish counterpart,
Ahmet Davutoglu.

An extract from the letter reads:

“Recognising the important interests at stake for both countries, I
assure you that there has been no decision to change the long-standing
position of successive Australian Governments on this issue… The
Australian government is sympathetic to the Armenian people and other
communities that suffered such terrible losses during the tragic events
at the end of the Ottoman Empire. The Australian Government does not,
however, recognise these events as genocide.”

Vache Kahramanian, from the Armenian National Committee, sees it as
Australia caving in to Turkish pressure.

“I interpret that particular passage as Ankara’s ongoing gag order on
Australia on the issue of the Armenian genocide. For a very long time
we’ve heard from many members of parliament throughout the country
that Turkey continues to use Gallipoli and the centenary of Anzac
Day as a bargaining chip to ensure that Australia does not formally
recognise the Armenian genocide. And what Julie Bishop in her statement
as Foreign Minister makes to her then counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu is
that Australia will not change its position to safeguard all interests
and is happy to allow this important issue of human rights to be used
as a political bargaining chip.”

A Holocaust and genocide expert from the University of Technology
in Sydney, Dr Panayiotis Diamadis, also sees Turkey using Anzac Day
sensitivities to apply pressure on Australia over the issue.

“If the federal government makes any more statements or moves that
look like recognition of the three genocides of the native peoples
of Anatolia, it will seriously disrupt the centenary commemorations
of ANZAC in the Turkish republic this year. That is essentially what
has been said to us by parliamentarians and that’s how I interpret the
particular passage, and that’s how I interpret the whole letter. It’s
a letter from the Foreign Minister only a few days after the
commemorations last year in which a very senior ranking member of the
federal government essentially called on the parliament to recognise
the genocide. And it’s reassuring, a very bureaucratic response.

Personally, I think it’s rather sycophantic to do with reassuring them,
smoothing the waters, making sure nothing affects the ANZAC centenary
and the so-called year of Australia in Turkey.”

The diplomatic cables acknowledge Turkey’s threat to ban New South
Wales MPs from attending this year’s Gallipoli commemoration, after
the state parliament passed a motion recognising the First World War
massacre of Armenians and other group as genocide.

Vache Kahramanian says federal Treasurer Joe Hockey was invited
in April last year to attend an Armenian community commemoration
in Sydney.

Mr Hockey, who is of Armenian-Palestinian descent, did not attend.

SBS has seen a letter the organisers say was instead sent by the
Treasurer, part of which reads:

“Back in 1915 the word “genocide” did not exist, as the UN Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was only
adopted in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust. But there is
simply no other word for what happened to the Armenian people of
Ottoman Turkey.”

It goes on to say:

“Many countries have officially recognised the Armenian genocide,
and as next year Australia will celebrate the Centenary of ANZAC I
live in hope that the government of Turkey will recognise that it has
the opportunity to reconcile its past in a way that allows us all to
move forward in peace and understanding.”

Ertunc Ozen, from the Australian-Turkish Advocacy Alliance, says he’s
aware of the correspondence.

“It is inappropriate for an Australian or any other government
or minister in that government to be making declarations or
affirmations about foreign historical events. That parliaments are
not the appropriate place to determine the legal characterisation of
historical events, we feel, is self-evident. What we’ve seen occurring
in New South Wales, in particular, and in some countries around the
world is the continuation of this megaphone diplomacy, very strong
lobbying to try and get governments to recognise an event as genocide,
or otherwise as though the recognition somehow makes the event more
likely to be genocide or not.”

One of the diplomatic cables reveals that Mr Hockey’s statement
received a lot of press coverage in Turkey.

Others detail a flurry of diplomatic activity between Australian and
Turkish officials in both countries in the weeks after the letter
emerged.

The documents show Turkey being assured there would be “no change to
the Australian government’s long-standing position” not to intervene
in the debate, and “not to recognise tragic events at end of Ottoman
empire as genocide.”

Turkey was also assured that Australia’s states and territories had
no constitutional role in the formulation of foreign policy.

Several pages of the Turkish response have been completely redacted.

But months after the exchanges began, Australian diplomatic staff
in Ankara were describing senior officials’ talks with Turkey as
constructive.

Ertunc Ozen, of the Australian-Turkish Advocacy Alliance, thinks
Turkish government concerns may be justified.

“If there is going to be this international concerted lobbying effort
to have foreign governments recognise another country’s historical
events as one thing or another, I think, any government or, certainly,
the Turkish government is well within its rights to want some assurance
about the position Australia does or does not take about this. The
Turkish government and Turkish community groups are forced to respond
to the very well organised and strident lobbying and campaign efforts
of the Armenian lobby groups around the world.”

The diplomatic documents also show the Turkish government’s apparent
concern about Armenia’s plans for its centenary commemorations
this year.

They quote President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying Turkey needed
to be prepared to ensure those events were marked in what it calls
“an objective, scholarly and realistic way.”

According to one cable, Mr Erdogan accuses the Armenian diaspora of
desiring to reflect what he calls the ‘1915 events’ in a “particular
and one-sided way, to take them out of their historical reality,
and to turn them into a political campaign”.

In the same account, Mr Erdogan promises that Turkey would use
“history, scholarship and scholarly data” in response to what he calls
“black propaganda.”

The Armenian National Committee’s Vache Kahramanian says, for all
the declassified cables do reveal, they still don’t come close to
telling the full story.

“It troubles me, as an Australian citizen, to wonder why and what
Australia has to hide in coming to rightfully recognise a genocide
that occurred a century ago. It is troubling that DFAT and the
government must redact documents which, I’m sure, contain incriminating
arguments against the government and which has put them in a dilemma
in recognising the Armenian genocide.”

The mass killings of Armenians last century were widely recorded in
the Australian media at the time.

City and regional newspapers wrote of the slaughter and starvation
of Armenian men, women and children.

They described deportations of civilians in the hundreds of thousands,
desert death marches and forced religious conversions.

Dr Panayiotis Diamadis says these events have important historical
connections to Australia, and should be part of any First World
War remembrance.

“There were Australians, particularly in the Middle East, ironically
in many ways in Syria and Iraq, picking up genocide survivors and
protecting them from further attack, particularly in what is now Iraq.

In the northern summer of 1918 a group called the Dunster force,
we have the Australian Prisoner of War memoirs, which are now in the
war memorial in Canberra which have been collecting dust for decades
until they started coming out a decade ago, and one of the links is
that a lot of the prison camps they were held in across the Ottoman
empire were churches, monasteries, schools and homes of the deportees
of the genocide victims and survivors. The two anniversaries not only
can coexist, they are so intertwined that we cannot separate them.”

JOINT CYPRUS-ARMENIA STAMP COMMEMORATING GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL TO BE LAUNCHED NEXT WEEK

17:56, 31 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

A joint Cyprus-Armenia stamp commemorating 100 years since the Armenian
genocide is to be launched next week as part of a series of events
to mark the anniversary, the postal services said on Tuesday,Cyprus
Mail reports.

The representative of the Armenian Community in the House of
Representatives, Vartkes Mahdessian has organised an event for next
week presenting the stamp in both countries simultaneously.

It will depict the well-known but closed, Armenian educational
institute, the Melkonian in Nicosia. The school originally functioned
as an orphanage for children who survived the genocide and managed
to make it to Cyprus.

The event in Cyprus will also be attended by Armenian Assembly Speaker
Galust Sahakyan who is due to visit Cyprus.

The Armenian genocide is marked every year on April 24. The stamp is
one of a series of actions being taken in Cyprus for the centenary.

Mahdessian told the Cyprus News Agency on Tuesday the goal was
remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians who died at the hands of
Turkey during the 1915 genocide, and to push for recognition of the
genocide by Turkey.

“At the same time it is an appeal to humanity to prevent similar
tragedies in the future,” he said. Armenians everywhere, he added,
were united and would struggle “until the final vindication”.

The flower ‘forget me not has been chosen as the symbol for the
centenary with the five dark purple petals symbolising the five
continents, where Armenians settled after the genocide, forming the
Armenian diaspora.

The violet color symbolises the Armenian Church and the future. The
five smaller petals symbolise hope and the present. The yellow core
with twelve small parts are a linear representation of the twelve
characteristics pillars of the monument to the Armenian genocide in
Yerevan, Armenia, symbolising the victims, but also the sunlight and
the continuity of life. The black core of the flower symbolises the
horrors of genocide.

Events will include an art exhibitions, theatre, lectures,
documentaries and cultural performances.

A book will also be printed in Greek and English that will include
articles on the genocide that appeared in local newspapers between
1914 and 1923.

In addition, we issued book in Greek and English that includes articles
on the Armenian Genocide, which appeared in the Greek Cypriot press
between 1914 and 1923.

SARCELLES : CENTENAIRE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN ET ASSYRO-CHALDEEN

Publie le : 31-03-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Cent ans ont passe et
la ville de Sarcelles s’apprete a commemorer a partir du 10 avril
2015 le premier genocide du 20e siècle. Celui des Armeniens, des
Assyro-chaldeens, des deux millions de victimes exterminees en 1915 en
Turquie, par les autorites ottomanes. Nota CVAN : Un programme riche
et varie se tiendra dans la ville du depute-maire PS Francois Pupponi
pour mieux comprendre ces evenements trop meconnus de la Première
Guerre mondiale. Ce Centenaire revet une resonance douloureuse alors
que l’organisation Etat islamique, soutenue par la Turquie, sème
actuellement la terreur en Syrie et en Irak, la meme où avaient ete
deportees les victimes du genocide de 1915… Le Collectif VAN vous
propose cette information publiee sur le site de la ville de Sarcelles.

Sarcelles.fr

Madame, Monsieur,

Cent ans ont passe et Sarcelles s’apprete a commemorer le premier
genocide du 20e siècle. Celui des Armeniens, des Assyro-chaldeens,
des deux millions de victimes exterminees en 1915.

Commemorer, c’est se souvenir du destin tragique de ces innocents
assassines, de leur parcours, de leur courage.

Une serie d’evenements, dont vous trouverez le detail dans ces pages,
vise a faire vivre leur memoire, en images, en paroles ou en musique.

Sarcelles a pu, grâce a la mobilisation du tissu associatif et des
diasporas respectives que je veux remercier, proposer une programmation
riche et mettant en avant, l’art et la creativite de ces populations
millenaires d’Asie mineure. C’est donc avec fierte que je vous invite
a vous joindre a l’ensemble de ces manifestations.

Commemorer, c’est aussi honorer la resistance des disparus, c’est
offrir un deuil digne aux familles de descendants. Dans ce sens —
car je suis convaincu que la memoire est plus forte lorsqu’elle ne
se divise pas — une ceremonie unique aura lieu le 25 avril pour les
Armeniens et les Assyro-chaldeens, une première a Sarcelles.

Commemorer, c’est enfin refuser la fatalite. Fatalite d’une
reconnaissance du terme > qui tarde a etre pleinement
et totalement assumee. Fatalite d’une Histoire qui recommence ; sur
la meme terre, celle des premiers hommes de Mesopotamie ; contre les
memes cibles, les Chretiens d’Orient, armeniens ou assyro-chaldeens ;
avec la meme volonte d’exterminer et dans la meme indifference.

Francois Pupponi Depute du Val-d’Oise Maire de Sarcelles

——————————————–

1915-2015 : cultiver notre devoir de memoire

Cette annee 2015 commemore le centenaire du genocide armenien et
assyro-chaldeen perpetre en 1915 sur le territoire ottoman par les
autorites ottomanes.

Si les massacres de ces minorites avaient commence bien avant 1915,
ils n’avaient pas alors le côte systematique, organise et orchestre
qu’ils prennent a partir d’avril 1915.

Dès le 24 avril 1915 et l’elimination de six cents notables armeniens
a Constantinople sur ordre du gouvernement des jeunes Turcs, la
volonte d’exterminer les Chretiens ne fait plus de doute. C’est le
debut du genocide.

Une tragedie qui durera plus d’un an ; annee où rien ne sera
epargne aux populations chretiennes. Exil, deportation, executions,
au total ce sont presque deux millions de personnes (armeniennes,
assyro-chaldeennes, grecques pontiques) qui periront dans cette
purification ethnique aux seuls motifs de leurs origines et de leur
religion.

Un bilan effroyable qui aneantit deux tiers des Chretiens d’une terre
où ils vivaient depuis deux millenaires.

Le monde a alors les yeux rives sur la Grande Guerre et rares sont
les voix qui s’elèvent pour condamner ce premier genocide du 20e
siècle : c’est dans l’indifference generale que l’entreprise visant
a l’homogeneisation des peuples d’Asie mineure se met en place dans
les deserts de Mesopotamie.

Ce n’est que plus tard, grâce a l’effort toujours plus important des
descendants, que la verite s’imposera partiellement. L’histoire et de
nombreux pays (dont la France) reconnaissent aujourd’hui la realite
du genocide armenien mais l’extermination des Assyro-chaldeens reste
encore meconnue et la Turquie, heritière de l’Empire Ottoman, refuse
toujours d’assumer sa responsabilite.

Les commemorations du centenaire de cette > doivent
servir a obtenir une reconnaissance pleine et entière des evenements
de la part de tous les protagonistes. Elles doivent aussi mettre en
lumière une page de l’histoire souvent, injustement, occultee.

Sarcelles, terre d’asile des Armeniens exiles en 1915 puis des
Assyro-chaldeens dans les annees 80, continue aujourd’hui d’accueillir
des Chretiens d’Orient, chasses d’Irak ou de Syrie. Pour que l’histoire
ne se repète pas, les associations et la municipalite ont mis en place
un parcours fait de representations theâtrales et cinematographiques,
de conferences, d’expositions pour commemorer les cent ans du genocide.

Ces evenements ont pu voir le jour grâce a la documentation riche,
abondante et precise mise a disposition par les familles des victimes.

C’est grâce a elles que tout au long de l’annee 2015, Sarcelles va
cultiver son devoir de memoire.

Programme entier a decouvrir ICI.

Source/Lien : Sarcelles.fr

ICRC VISITS ARMENIAN POW IN AZERBAIJAN

11:45 * 31.03.15

Representatives of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)
mission on Monday visited the Armenian contract serviceman who is
being held as a captive Azerbaijan after crossing into the country,
says a spokesperson.

“[Andranik Grigoryan] has given information about himself and his
family,” Zara Amatuni, Communication Manager at the ICRC Office in
Yerevan, told our correspondent.

Commenting on Grigoryan’s act, Armenia’s Minister of Defense Seyran
Ohanyan earlier recommended searching for motives unrelated to
service. He cited family problems as a possible reason that might have
pushed the serviceman to cross into the adversary’s territory. The
minister ruled out the possibility of kidnapping by Azerbaijani
saboteurs.

Asked whether Grigoryan has made any statement to explain his reasons,
the ICRC spokesperson replied. “We do not normally disclose details
of either conversations with a hostage or any information conveyed
to him or her.”

She also refrained from giving details as to whether Grigoryan looked
beaten or tortured. Amatuni said that information of the kind is
kept confidential.

L’ANTISEMITISME EST A CONDAMNER, D’OÙ QU’IL VIENNE !

Publie le : 31-03-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
invite a lire le Communique de presse de la Ligue des droits de
l’Homme publie le 30 mars 2015.

LDH

Communique LDH

La Ligue des droits de l’Homme a ete informee d’une image et d’un
texte antisemite diffuses sur le reseau social Facebook, le 3 août
2014, affirmant, parmi d’autres propos insupportables, que la Shoah
ferait partie d’un plan global concu par > visant a
coloniser la Palestine.

Ayant prealablement tente de les faire retirer et après avoir constate
qu’aucune condamnation publique d’une telle publication n’avait eu
lieu, notamment auprès de ceux ou de celles qui avaient approuve
ce texte par leurs commentaires, face au refus de tout dialogue,
la LDH a ete contrainte de deposer plainte auprès du procureur de la
Republique du tribunal de grande instance de Montpellier notamment
pour provocation a la haine, a la discrimination et a la violence a
raison de la religion. Une enquete est en cours.

La LDH decouvre avec stupefaction que loin de condamner de tels propos
et de tels actes, certaines organisations prennent fait et cause pour
celles et ceux qui ont rendu publics de tels messages.

Cette attitude est d’autant plus scandaleuse que ces organisations
ciblent nominalement des membres de la section LDH de Montpellier,
tandis que la plainte a ete deposee par l’association au plan national.

La LDH ne faiblira pas face a ces methodes d’intimidation. Elle
rappelle que d’où qu’il vienne, l’antisemitisme doit etre condamne et
qu’il n’y a pas lieu, jamais, de le justifier au motif d’une cause
quelconque. L’antisemitisme, au meme titre que toutes les formes
de racisme, est une abomination qu’il convient de systematiquement
combattre.

La LDH espère que toute la lumière sera faite sur ces publications
scandaleuses et apporte tout son soutien a ses membres qui font
l’objet d’injures ou de menaces.

Paris, le 30 mars 2015

Source/Lien : LDH

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT IN LYON DESECRETED

16:03, 31 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Armenian Genocide monument located in the Antonen Ponse Square
adjacent to Lyon’s most famous Belcour Square has been desecrated
once again. There are curse words and offensive remarks inscribed on
the monument, Nouvelles d’Armenie reports.

The opening of the monument in April 2006 was protested by denialist
groups, apparently sponsored by Turks. The protesters then clashed
with representatives of the movement in Lyon, who were filled with
indignation over the slogans that were heard during the protest. Along
with the protest, offensive remarks were inscribed on the monument.

Further desecration ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial
commemoration ceremonies goes to show that the criminals intend
to continue due to lack of a law criminalizing denial, Nouvelles
d’Armenie writes.

TURKISH-ARMENIAN CONFLICT REARS ITS HEAD IN LEBANON

11:32, 31 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Al-Monitor- Lebanon counts a large Armenian community that may be the
most prominent among the Armenian diaspora. There are nearly 150,000
Lebanese Armenians, who have an active economic presence in Lebanon,
in addition to their participation in the Lebanese political and
constitutional system. They have a permanent ministerial share of one
or two ministers, depending on the size of the Cabinet, as well as
six parliament seats, four of which are in Beirut, where the majority
of the Lebanese Armenians live.

The Lebanese Armenian community — Orthodox and Catholic Christian
— is firmly preserving its Armenian roots. The Armenian language
is taught in the community’s own schools, and the majority of
the Armenians are affiliated with the Lebanese Armenian political
parties. Large Armenian groups live in Armenian-majority areas, such
as in some neighborhoods of Beirut and on the northern Metn coast in
Mount Lebanon, adjacent to Beirut.

The Lebanese Armenian community constitutes a special case in
terms of its involvement in Lebanese society on the one hand, and
the preservation of its historic memory on the other. The Armenian
community came to Lebanon after being persecuted by the Turks 100
years ago — a persecution that resulted in massacres, tragedies and
attempts to exterminate its people.

A large number of Lebanon’s Christians share the Armenians’ memory of
suffering from the Turkish Ottoman persecution. History books used
in Lebanese schools write about the Ottoman occupation of Lebanon,
which coincided with the Armenian massacre in the early 20th century,
intended to starve Mount Lebanon’s Christians. This resulted in
one-third of Mount Lebanon’s population starved to death or killed by
the Ottomans during World War I. The large statue in Martyrs’ Square
in downtown Beirut commemorates dozens of journalists, militants and
politicians from all sects who were hanged by the Ottoman authorities
in 1915-16 for calling for the independence of Lebanon and opposing
the Turkish occupation.

Turkey has refused to recognize the Armenian tragedy. In today’s
political reality in the Middle East, Turkey is considered a Sunni
Muslim country that interacts with the region’s countries against
the backdrop of the current sectarian separation in the Middle East.

Lebanon is part of this region, and of this separation to a large
extent. The post of Lebanese premier, according to the sectarian
power-sharing in Lebanon, should always be held by a Sunni Muslim.

According to a government source, who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition
of anonymity, stances differ within the Lebanese state institutions.

Christians in parliament support the Armenian point of view on those
historical events and the international repercussions, whereas Muslims
— especially Sunnis in the parliament — are friendly with Ankara,
for political and economic reasons.

Armenia is preparing for a major international event in Yerevan
on the occasion of the centennial of the 1915 events, the annual
commemoration of which takes place April 24. A large number of heads
of state have been invited to attend the event, which Armenia wants
to be an occasion to renew the demand that the Armenian genocide by
the Ottoman Empire is internationally recognized.

Turkey has scrambled to organize the commemoration for the 100th
anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, on the same day, April 24.

During this battle, which occurred between April 25, 1915, and
Jan. 9, 1926, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s army triumphed over the Allies
in World War I. It was clear that by picking the same date to hold
the ceremony, Turkey intended to respond to Armenia and to corner
government representatives invited to choose between the event in
Ankara or the one in Yerevan.

In this context, Lebanon has received two invitations: an invitation
from Armenia to attend the official Yerevan ceremony, and another one
from Turkey to participate in the ceremony commemorating the Battle of
Gallipoli. This has ignited the Armenian-Turkish conflict within the
Lebanese state. Christians are more inclined to refuse to participate
in Ankara’s ceremony, in solidarity with the Lebanese Armenians who
are represented in Beirut’s government and parliament, and to condemn
Turkey’s role in Lebanon under the Ottoman occupation. Meanwhile,
Sunnis are likely to take part in the Turkish ceremony, to maintain
friendly ties and nurture political and economic co-operation.

Two different points of view are now expressed by two communities
within the Cabinet and by two individuals who have received an Armenian
and Turkish invitation — namely the prime minister, a Sunni, and
the minister of foreign affairs, a Christian. The latter is expected
to boycott the Ankara event, and the former or his representative is
expected to boycott the Yerevan ceremony.

According to the government source, Lebanon will thus be officially
participating in both events. Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam or
his representative will attend Ankara’s ceremony, while Minister of
Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil will take part in the Yerevan ceremony.

Officials from Christian and Armenian parties told Al-Monitor that
the Lebanese Armenian political parties, as well as other Christian
political forces, are preparing for a series of activities in Beirut,
in support of the Armenian cause, between April 24 and May 6, to
condemn the Turkish stance and embarrass the premier for his position
in what seems to be an ongoing Ankara-Yerevan war in Beirut.

SERGEY SMBATYAN HEADED THE WARSAW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

13:39 | March 31,2015 | Culture

Sergey Smbatyan, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of
the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia headed the Warsaw Philharmonic
Orchestra on March 29 within the framework of the 19th Ludwig van
Beethoven Easter Festival. The soloist was Leticia Moreno (violin).

The concert program included the Passacaglia for Orchestra by Lazar
Saryan, the Violin Concerto No.1by Dmitri Shostakovich and the Symphony
No. 7 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

The Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival dates back to 1997. It is
Poland’s largest festival of classical music which hosts renowned
soloists, conductors and orchestras from all over the world. This
year the project is going to be held from March 22 to April 3.

19 is a symbolic number for the festival: 19 concerts will be held
during the 19th festival.

Press Service of the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia