Author: Elizabeth Jabejian

President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree today, appointing Levon Galstyan as Member of the Council of Public TV and Radio Company of Armenia for a term of six years.

Levon Galstyan’s candidacy was approved during the sitting of the Council of TV and Radio Company of Armenia held on October 26, taking into account his experience and achievements in the field of journalism, his long-time activity in the sphere of TV and Radio.

Seventeen people had applied for the position of the Member of the Council, which had been vacant since Armen Amiryan was appointed Minister of Culture.

Asbarez – On Friday, September 30, 2016, the 20th anniversary of enthronement visit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I commenced with a youth gathering held at Glendale Civic Auditorium under the auspices of the Western Prelacy and organized by Homenetmen Western US Regional Executive Committee. Over 1,400 youth participated in the meeting with His Holiness, including Homenetmen scouts, Prelacy Schools’ and Sunday Schools’ students, and parishes’ youth group members. Clergy, Central Executive and Executive Council members, representatives of sister organizations, parents, and community members were among the guests in attendance.

The event began with the entrance of His Holiness in a procession guided by scouts. Following the flag ceremony by the marching band and scouts and the flag ceremony, the scouts’ choir sang the Pontifical anthem. Welcoming remarks were delivered by MC Moushegh Bedevian, after which remarks were delivered by representatives of Prelacy Armenian Schools, parish youth groups, Sunday Schools, and Homenetmen, all of whom welcomed His Holiness and touched upon the legacy of His Holiness as a prominent leader of our church, of ecumenical affairs, in the Armenian culture and the Armenian cause.

H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, welcomed His Holiness and stated how pleased and proud he must feel to see the large gathering of youth and to hear them pledge their faithfulness to our faith and heritage. He then invited His Holiness to address the youth and guests.

His Holiness spoke in general on the absolute importance of preserving and fostering our religious and national values, in a Diaspora situation especially, emphasizing that “preserving the Armenian language is crucial to preserving and manifesting our Armenian identity, our particularity.” Addressing the youth representatives who earlier had delivered their remarks, His Holiness commended their self-understanding, self-perception, self-articulation, and self-expression as Armenians, of their sentiment that they are proud to be Armenians, stating that they are role models and exemplary examples of what it means to be Armenian. His Holiness spoke also on the pivotal role of the family in our identity and existence, stating that after the Genocide, when everything was lost, the family became a small Armenia. “Through our families, we not only preserved our Armenian identity, we also deepened our faith,” stressed His Holiness.

A question and answer session followed. His Holiness engaged closely with the youth, answering their questions in a serious yet witty manner on topics such as how the church can attract youth, the use of modern technology by the church, the role of the church in community life, the Sis lawsuit, and more. His Holiness iterated the importance of the church, school, and family triune; spoke on the vocation of the church to be with the people – to identity itself with the suffering, joy, concerns, expectations, and needs of the people; on the need for our schools to focus not only on education but on the Christian, moral, spiritual, and Armenian formation of our youth so that our youth comprehend the significance of our church in our history and today as our spiritual home. Speaking on the Sis lawsuit, His Holiness stated that the Catholicosate is committed to continuing the process, even though it is not a rosy one, for recognition and reparations are closely interconnected and it is high time to move our cause to the legal sphere.

The program concluded with the benediction by His Holiness and the Cilician anthem sung by the Homenetmen scouts’ choir.

Thousands of people are expected to pay their final respects to former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres, who died at the age of 93, the BBC reports.

His coffin will lie in state in front of the parliament building in Jerusalem throughout Thursday.

US President Barack Obama and some of the world’s most powerful figures will attend his funeral on Friday.

Mr Peres was one of the last of a generation of Israeli politicians present at the nation’s birth in 1948.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his role negotiating the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier, a prize he shared with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Mr Peres had suffered a stroke two weeks ago and died on Wednesday in a hospital near Tel Aviv.

He will receive a state burial at a ceremony on Friday at Mount Herzel Cemetery in Jerusalem.

Newly planted trees now stand as a symbol of peace in Markham. On Saturday, the Canadian city  hosted a park dedication ceremony to mark 100 years since the Armenian genocide, the  reports.

Federal, provincial and municipal government officials and members of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee for Canada waited in anticipation as the Forest of Hope was unveiled.

The new Forest of Hope will be a place of peace and hope for the Armenian community across the GTA.

“This small forest conveys an enormous message of new life,” said provincial minister of international trade, Michael Chan, during the official opening ceremony of the memorial.

“These young trees will establish deep roots, grow tall and their branches will reach for the sky — just like the Armenian community.”

Canada is one of two dozen countries that recognize the events as the first genocide of the 20th century.

“We know the meaning of genocide, its history and the importance of education,” said Armen Yeganian, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Canada.

“We have to continue to educate, not just today, tomorrow or the first 100 years. But always, because unfortunately it still continues to happen.”

The Forest of Hope is one of about a 100 projects to commemorate the genocide’s anniversary across the country started by the Canadian arm of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, which was founded four years ago.

“And this is the best one, because it calls for hope and peace,” Yeganian said.

The Forest of Hope is located in Ashton Meadows Park near Woodbine Avenue north of 16th Avenue.

The park was designed by renowned landscape architect Haig Seferian and consists of 100 different trees, with different blooming time throughout the year.

“Despite being displaced, the Armenian community is determined,” said mayor Frank Scarpitti.

“The next generation of Armenians will be just as proud as the first Armenians who came to Canada. That’s a wonderful thing.”

Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

Syria has been the hub of shifting international military and political intrigues since the start of the ‘civil war’ in 2011. The diverse conflicting sides include: Hezbollah, Iran, Islamic State (ISIS), Israel, Jordan, Kurdish fighters, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, assorted terrorists from around the world, Syria, Syrian opposition groups, Turkey, the United States, and other NATO states.

The latest ominous development is the Turkish invasion of the Syrian border town Jarablus, which had been occupied by ISIS. However, contrary to Turkish propaganda, Turkey’s military did not invade Syria to chase out ISIS, and the U.S. Air Force did not drop any bombs on Jarablus to pave the way for the advancing Turkish troops, according to David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips had served as a Senior Adviser and Foreign Affairs Expert to the U.S. Department of State under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

Turkey’s actual plans were to prevent further inroads into North-West Syria by Kurdish YPG fighters (People’s Protection Forces) who have been the most reliable military allies of the United States in countering ISIS, while Erdogan calls the YPG ‘terrorists.’

Phillips revealed in his Huffington Post article that “Turkish-backed Islamists never engaged ISIS in the so-called battle for Jarablus. Before invading, Ankara made a deal with the Islamic State. Rather than resist, ISIS forces simply changed into FSA [Free Syrian Army] uniforms. Jarablus was ‘liberated’ from ISIS with barely a shot.” ISIS had evacuated all civilians from Jarablus prior to the Turkish invasion because it did not “want civilians to identify newly clad FSA members as hard core ISIS fighters,” Phillips wrote.

“It is not surprising that Erdogan and ISIS made a deal. ISIS and Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) are ideologically aligned,” Phillips asserted, since “they are both branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite official denials, there is a mountain of evidence that Turkey provided weapons, money, and logistical support to Islamists in Syria beginning in 2014. Turkey also underwrote the Islamic State by transporting its oil and selling it on the international market. About 500 Islamist fighters are still transiting from Turkey to Syria each month.”

Turkish leaders have made no secret of their true aim. Erdogan announced that his objective is to go after YPG and “terror groups that threaten our country.” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged that Ankara would “do what is necessary” to keep the Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border.

Washington is not pleased with Turkey’s misdirected military actions in Northern Syria. Senior Pentagon official Brett McGurk told CNN that “the Turks never cared about Jarablus until the Kurds wanted to get there.” McGurk called the Turkish attacks on Kurdish fighters “unacceptable and a source of deep concern” for the United States.

The Editor of Veterans Today was also highly critical of the Turkish invasion of Syria as reflected in his cynical explanation: “Turkish troops who had been in Syria for years dressed up as ‘ISIS’ have simply gone home to Turkey, had a good wash and shave, put back on their Turkish uniforms then returned to Syria.”

Saadeddine Somaa, a Syrian Arab militant who joined the Turkish incursion into Syria, expressed to The New York Times his disappointment for being misled into fighting the Kurds instead of ISIS and the Syrian government. “Everyone is pursuing their own interests, not Syria’s,” Somaa complained.

The New York Times article stressed that due to in-fighting, the rebel groups “risk reinforcing criticism that they are Turkish and American proxies at best, de facto allies of ISIS at worst.” Furthermore, “Turkish airstrikes had killed 35 civilians in Kurdish-held villages. And there was a video online showing rebels kicking prisoners from the Kurdish-led militias.” Some of the fighters accompanying the Turkish troops’ incursion into Syria, such as members of Nooredine al-Zinki, “were accused of having ties to Qaeda-linked groups” and were “widely condemned when a group of its fighters videotaped themselves beheading a young prisoner…. Its participation in the Jarablus operation was an indication that it has not been completely shunned, at least by Turkey.”

David Phillips ended his revealing Huffington Post article with an ominous prediction: “Syria will be Erdogan’s Waterloo. The U.S. Government must not be tethered to Turkey’s sinking ship.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel told Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper on Tuesday that people with Turkish roots living in Germany should be loyal to the country, reports.

“We expect that people of Turkish origin who have been living in Germany for a long time should develop a high level of loyalty to our nation,” Merkel said.

“Therefore we are trying to have open ears to hear their concerns and to understand them. And for this we are also keeping in close contact with immigrant associations.”

Merkel’s talk of loyalty comes as the government is considering new measures to combat terrorism, including getting rid of dual citizenship. Members of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) have said that dual nationality poses a “huge obstacle to integration”.

The Chancellor also commented on the current situation in Turkey where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been cracking down on suspected dissenters in the wake of a failed coup last month. She urged Germany’s Turkish community to remain calm despite the circumstances dividing the country.

“Freedom of opinion and to demonstrate are meant for everyone who lives here in Germany, but of course everyone must peacefully express their differences of opinion,” Merkel said.

Erdogan and his supporters in Germany criticized German authorities when officials denied the Turkish president the chance to speak via video link to a rally of tens of thousands in Cologne at the end of last month.

About 30 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival fired more than 30 shots from firearms of different calibers in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army keep full control of the situation at the frontline and continue with the reliable protection of the military positions.

At about 5 a.am. today the Police used force to remove the protesters from Khorenatsi street after two warnings. Many have been detained.

In call to th protesters the Police were requesting to immediately stop the illegal gathering and restore transportation on the street. The law-enforcement bodies resorted to force after the demonstrators refused to obey.

Photo: AP

 

Some 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested after an attempted coup that is now over, says Turkey’s PM Binali Yildirim, the BBC reports.

The attempted coup was a “black stain on Turkish democracy”, he said, with 161 civilians killed and 1,440 wounded.

Those held include two army generals, Turkish media say.

Explosions and firing were heard in key cities on Friday night and thousands heeded a call by President Erdogan to rise up against the coup-plotters.

It is unclear who was behind the coup.

The authorities also said 104 suspected coup-plotters had also been killed.

Some 2,745 Turkish judges have also been dismissed in the wake of the coup, state media say.

They are reported to include a member of the country’s top court.

“The Madrid Document proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs suggests packaged settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue based on mutual compromises,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said. The comments come after statements by the President of Azerbaijan regarding the phased solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

“One of the key elements of that packaged solution is the determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The adoption of the Madrid Document in general, including the idea of referendum as a basis for the negotiation process, was a serious compromise by the Republic of Armenia, considering that the referendum on the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh was conducted before the collapse of the Soviet Union in full compliance with the fundamental norms of the international law and the Constitution and legislation of the Soviet Union then in force,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to Panorama.am.

“The idea of the new referendum was substantiated by the Co-Chairs in terms of providing the Azerbaijani leadership time to prepare their population to the inevitability of holding such referendum as well as to long-term peace and not to war. However the Azerbaijani leadership used the timeframe after the adoption of Madrid principles for distorting the essence of negotiation process, seeding hatred towards Armenians, preparing their population for war, maintaining the tension and carrying out provocations along the borders with the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“The logical continuation of such politics was the renewal of large-scale military offensive against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by Azerbaijan, which represents a grave violation of the latter’s international obligations under trilateral – Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia- agreements on the establishment of ceasefire regime and the enforcement of the ceasefire regime of 1994-1995, which have no time limitations. The Azerbaijani aggression was conducted by a cruelty not inferior to ISIS with grave violations of humanitarian law, including shelling of schools resulting in the death and injuries of children, torture, mutilation and killing of elderly people as well as decapitation of soldiers. Moreover, the President of Azerbaijan demonstratively decorated the barbarian, who decapitated the Armenian captive soldier, exactly how he previously glorified another barbarian who axed an Armenian lieutenant during the NATO courses in Budapest,” he added.

“The international community attempted to give the Azerbaijani leadership a chance to retake a civilized and constructive path. To that end, Baku must respect and implement the agreements reached on 16th of May in Vienna and reaffirmed on 20th of June in St. Petersburg and facilitate the creation of an atmosphere necessary for the resumption of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. However, the statements of the Azerbaijani leadership prove that Baku is losing as well this opportunity provided by the mediators,” Shavarsh Kocharyan noted.

“Azerbaijan’s April aggression clearly demonstrated the inability of its leadership to adhere to its international commitments under the agreements signed by that very side and proved that the launch of the packaged settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh issue must start with the recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by Azerbaijan and its proclamation on the readiness to return the occupied territories of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” he added.

“The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh and the conflict must be resolved within the framework of realization of the right of self-determination of people of Nagorno-Karabakh and responsibility of Azerbaijan in its aggression against the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” the Deputy FM concluded.