Monday,
Senior U.S. Official Phones Pashinian
SERBIA -- Wess Mitchell, U.S. assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian affairs, is seen at a press conference in Belgrade, March 14, 2018
A senior U.S. State Department official telephoned opposition leader Nikol
Pashinian on Monday to discuss the continuing political crisis in Armenia.
In a short Facebook post, Pashinian said he and Assistant Secretary of State
Wess Mitchell touched upon “issues relating to a peaceful and legal resolution”
of the crisis sparked by massive anti-government protests. He did not elaborate.
The State Department renewed at the weekend its calls for the leading Armenian
factions to end the turmoil through dialogue.
“The United States continues to monitor closely the situation in Armenia,” said
a spokeswoman for the department, Heather Nauert. “As a friend of Armenia, we
urge all parties to engage in good faith negotiations on the formation of a new
government in accordance with the Constitution, and to reach a resolution that
reflects the interests of all Armenians.”
“We support the ongoing efforts of the Office of President [Armen] Sarkissian
to facilitate dialogue between all parties. We continue to commend the peaceful
nature of the demonstrations, and trust that the security forces and those
exercising their right to peaceful protest will remain committed to
non-violence in the days to come,” Nauert added in a statement.
The U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Richard Mills, met with both Pashinian and
acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian last week in a bid to help ease
political tensions in Armenia.
Pashinian spoke with Mitchell the day before a session of the Armenian
parliament which is due to elect the country’s new prime minister. The previous
premier, Serzh Sarkisian, resigned on April 23 under pressure from tens of
thousands of Pashinian supporters demonstrating in the streets against his
continued rule.
Pashinian Grilled By Parliament Majority Members
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian meets with parliament deputies from
the Republican Party of Armenia, .
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian faced tough questions from members of the
pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament on Monday as he tried to
secure their backing for his bid to become the country’s prime minister.
Senior lawmakers from the ruling Republican Party (HHK) pounced on his past
harsh criticisms of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and his current pledges not to pull Armenia of
the Russian-led blocs.
Pashinian met with the HHK’s parliamentary faction in the presence of
journalists one day before a session of the National Assembly which is due to
choose a replacement for former Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian. The latter
stepped down on April 23 amid massive street protests organized by Pashinian.
Although the 42-year-old opposition politician has been endorsed by three other
parliamentary forces, he needs the HHK’s full or partial support to become
prime minister. The party until now headed by Sarkisian has made clear that it
will not nominate acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian or anybody else for
the vacant post.
“Our immediate task is to turn the page of political feud and create an
atmosphere of solidarity based on law,” Pashinian said before answering
questions from the parliament majority members.
Some of them cited his earlier denunciations of the Sarkisian administration’s
decision to make Armenia part of the EEU and his claims that membership in the
Russian-led trade bloc is very bad for the country. They repeatedly challenged
him to explain why he is now making very different statements on the subject.
“We now have new political realities and must reckon with them,” Pashinian kept
saying. A “drastic” change in Armenia foreign policy would only hurt the
country, he argued.
Eduard Sharmazanov, a deputy parliament speaker, remained unconvinced. “You
have just proved very well that the foreign policy of the Armenian government
has stemmed from Armenia’s national interests and that out accession to the
Eurasian Union served those interests,” he said.
Armen Ashotian, another senior HHK lawmaker, likewise said Pashinian must now
admit that he was wrong and that Sarkisian’s foreign policy decisions were
justified.
The HHK’s Samvel Farmanian demanded, for his part, further clarifications of
Pashinian’s position on Armenia’s broader relations with Russia Pashinian
assured him that just like the current government he regards Russian-Armenian
ties as a “strategic alliance.”
Answering other questions, Pashinian would not say who will be given key
ministerial posts in his cabinet if he is elected prime minister. He promised
only that he would form a “government of accord” and avoid staff “purges.” He
also insisted that a smooth handover of power to his movement will
significantly accelerate economic growth in the country.
The HHK’s Gagik Melikian disagreed, saying that the daily protests across the
country are on the contrary taking a heavy toll on the Armenian economy.
“People must have no hopes for a better life for the next seven or eight
years,” he claimed.
“I don’t share your pessimism and think that there will be quick and tangible
changes,” responded Pashinian. He said a “lack of justice and rule of law” are
the main hurdles to faster growth and that he would act quickly to eliminate
them.
The HHK faction met behind the closed doors after the question and answer
session with Pashinian.
Armenian Protest Leader Schedules ‘Victory Rally’
• Karlen Aslanian
ARMENIA - Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan arrives to attend at a
rally in Yerevan, Armenia,
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian on Monday said that the Armenian parliament
will almost certainly elect him prime minister and urged supporters to
celebrate his victory in Yerevan’s central square.
He told them to gather at Republic Square at 11 a.m. on Tuesday one hour before
the start of an extraordinary session of the Armenian parliament during which
lawmakers will vote for the new premier.
Pashinian, who is a leader of the opposition Yelk alliance, is the only
candidate nominated by parliamentary forces for the country’s top executive
post. Three of them -- Yelk, the Tsarukian Bloc, and the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation -- have officially endorsed him, while the ruling Republican Party
(HHK) has pledged not to “obstruct” his candidacy. The HHK controls 58 of the
105 seats in the National Assembly.
The parliament vote will come one week after massive protests organized by
Pashinian’s opposition movement forced Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian to
resign. Sarkisian was elected prime minister on April 17, nine days after
completing his second presidential term. The end of his presidency completed
Armenia’s switch to a parliamentary system of government.
“The Armenian people will be celebrating their victory here,” Pashinian told
thousands of people who again gathered at Republic Square.
He said they will be able to watch Tuesday’s parliament session live from giant
screens to be placed there in the morning. He stressed that they must not block
streets or march to the parliament building or any other locations in the city
center from the square.
Pashinian had earlier urged supporters to “flood the streets and squares” of
the capital and surround the parliament building during the session.
The 42-year-old former journalist has repeatedly said that he intends to serve
as prime minister in the interim, until the holding of fresh parliamentary
elections demanded by his movement as well as several other political groups.
It remains unclear when such polls might take place. Pashinian has said that he
is ready to discuss their possible dates with the HHK and other parliamentary
forces.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
Author: Hambik Zargarian
Peaceful Protests in Armenia Bringing Democracy or East vs. West Showdown?
Sunday,
The Russophile
https://www.therussophile.org/peaceful-protests-in-armenia-bringing-democracy-or-east-vs-west-showdown-2.html/
On April 23rd, 2018, the eve of the 103rd anniversary of Armenian Remembrance Day, Armenia’s president recently turned Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned from his newly created post after over a decade in control leading the Yerevan government. His Republican Party still holds 96 of the 105 parliamentary seats in the Republic. Just two Mondays prior to Serzh Sargsyan’s surprise resignation, another purportedly unrelated Sargsyan named Armen was quietly sworn into office as the new Armenian figurehead president in literal “same as the old boss” irony, in surname if not more.
Western media coverage of the massive Armenian protests prior to the prime minister’s historic announcement was virtually nonexistent. But chomping at the bit to broadcast another potentially successful “color revolution” has all the big boys lined up happily reporting recent events from the capital Yerevan. Hundreds of Armenian soldiers went AWOL to join the 100,000 demonstrators in solidarity in the central square. When opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan and a few of his supporters were arrested and taken into custody, the crowds reacting through social media swelled into the streets
Upwards of 20% of the country’s population for two straight weeks took daily to the streets in spontaneous youthful protest against Sargsyan’s transparent power play to retain political control as prime minister in this tiny impoverished landlocked Christian nation. Because his two presidential terms expired, Sargsyan is said to have manipulated constitutional amendments calling for a new office of prime minister as a ploy to stay in power. Originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, the long disputed Armenian enclave that’s had Armenia and Azerbaijan coming to loggerheads for nearly a century, in 2008 Serzh Sargsyan was first elected Armenia’s president.
Sandwiched between two hostile Muslim neighbors – Turkey to the west and Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia remains in precarious conflict at its eastern border vying with Azerbaijan over the disputed “breakaway” region of Nagorno-Karabakh that since ancient times has always been populated by an overwhelming Armenian majority.
In 1921 a young Georgian soon to be bloodthirsty dictator Josef Stalin intentionally set up the endless “divide and rule” dispute pitting the two Soviet outer states Azerbaijan and Armenia against each other fighting indefinitely over the contested territory. This fate was cast shortly after one third of all Armenians on the planet – 1.5 million – were slaughtered by the Ottoman Turks during World War I. The Netherlands’ February vote brought the latest count up to 23 nations officially recognizing last century’s first genocide that Turkey still denies.
Near daily skirmishes occur between Armenians in defense of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Azeri troops ever since the bloody war from 1988-1994 killed up to 30,000 Azeris and 6,000 Armenians with over a million people displaced. It was two years ago when, with Washington’s complicit blessing, Azerbaijan launched an April Fool’s Day surprise invasion in what turned out to be an unsuccessful military offensive into the embattled Armenian enclave killing over 200 soldiers and civilians. After a near week of open warfare and Azeris committing atrocities, Putin brokered a truce with each side engaging in daily exchange of gunfire leaving the conflict unresolved and still festering. Right up till today this region’s political unrest and violent instability have remained a global hotspot to potentially igniting World War III. And US Empire has taken full advantage attempting to embarrass Putin in his own backyard.
Armenia’s latest culmination of peaceful demonstrations this last week resulted in 42-year old opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan’s so called “velvet revolution,” seemingly a bloodless victory for citizen democracy. The interim Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, who is a former prime minister and mayor of Yerevan as well as close ally of Sargsyan, broke off negotiations last week with Pashinyan calling it “a show.” Meanwhile, Pashinyan stated that he is armed with the “mandate of the people,” and optimistic that the Constitution calling for the parliamentary vote within a week, will make him the next prime minister. However, within the last few hours the ruling Republican Party apparently has reneged on its May 1st promise to nominate a replacement candidate, refusing to do so citing “in the interests of the people.” Instead it will wait till all the candidates are nominated by April 30th, and then select which candidate to back.
At first glance, it appears as though civil society and democracy have triumphantly prevailed in Armenia over despotic cronyism and corruption. Yet a deeper analysis might characterize recent events as a geopolitical infowar being covertly fought on the global chessboard between both Western and Eastern forces. Of course the East is led by Putin’s Russia that has historically viewed Armenia as its close backdoor ally in the South Caucasus with two Russian military bases located inside Armenia and an S-300 missile defense system deployed in case NATO member Turkey threatens the Armenian-Russian defense pact. The West is represented by the opposing US Empire-EU-NATO bloc, always eager to steal Armenia (and every nation bordering Russia) away from the Moscow fold, much like it manipulated the 2014 Ukrainian coup and the former Soviet Iron Curtain now all NATO vassals with missiles aimed directly at Moscow.
These geopolitical dynamics are uniquely further complicated by the fact that the Armenian nation is indelibly connected to its international diaspora whose numbers exceed the population inside Armenia. With an estimated 2.2 million Armenians living in nearby Russia and another 1.5 in North America alone, they together vastly outnumber the 2.9 million Armenians living in Armenia. The total size of Armenian diaspora is about 8 million. Thus the close-knit diaspora’s direct ties to Armenia contribute much needed financial support as well as exert considerable political influence over Armenians’ ancient homeland that credits itself as history’s first Christian nation state back in 301 AD.
The long impoverished people of Armenia have struggled in economic despair starting with the devastating 1988 earthquake that virtually wiped out Armenia’s second largest city Leninakan with 290,000 residents in the northwestern part of the country. Shortly afterwards the dissolving Soviet Empire in 1991 granted Armenia its long awaited independence but without Moscow’s subsidized assistance, the post-earthquake reconstruction grinded to a halt.
Subsequently the fledgling republic’s economy faltered, resulting in a brain drain where a sizeable portion of educated citizenry left the country with many never returning. For a poor nation Armenia possesses a relatively well-educated populace of human capital. But in the last quarter century, Armenia’s chronically depressed economy has compelled 25% of its population to seek greater employment opportunity elsewhere, relocating and residing outside their homeland, mainly in Russia, Europe and North America. Armenia depends on the half billion dollars sent home each year by its citizens working in foreign countries. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate stands at a hefty 16% and the poverty rate has hovered near 30% for a decade, indicating Armenians subsist barely on less than $3.20 a day.
Currently there are two diaspora factions locked in a geopolitics power struggle taking place inside Armenia within the framework of the larger West versus East cold war that’s been heating up despite Trump’s broken campaign promise to partner with Putin. But the Donald’s only demonstrated that he’s a compromised, controlled puppet of the neocon Zionist ruling elite just like all his predecessors. At the intercontinental crossroads of Europe and Asia lies Armenia where a prominent Western contingent of Armenian American oligarchs primarily from California are in a faceoff against Eastern expatriated Armenian oligarchs headquartered mostly in Moscow and vicinity.
After several weeks of nonviolent protest, today’s state of political flux and uncertainty in Armenia while awaiting the parliament’s all-important vote scheduled on May Day Tuesday to elect the next prime minister, former-journalist Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party holds a meager 9 members or 8% of the Yerevan government. But with Sargsyan now deposed and overwhelming populist support from the nation’s younger generations actively demanding economic change and democratic reform, the baton of power now hangs in the balance.
The West’s mainstream media is portraying the ousted Serzh Sargsyan as representing Armenia’s historically corrupt, ruling oligarchic elite that maintains close alliance with Putin, while the bearded camouflage-shirted revolutionary Nikol Pashinyan symbolizes the new populist, David vs. Goliath, good guy democracy warrior. The bigger, behind the scenes picture indicates that the new kid in town is simply the West’s exploitable poster boy heralding a monumental covert power surge to recreate another humiliating US Empire victory over Putin much like the Ukraine debacle. And the most likely outcome is a “same as the old boss” scenario with Eastern favored oligarchs replaced by Western ones smelling unprecedented golden opportunity to seize power under the pretext of another “democratic color revolution.”
If this West vs. East story unfolds as described, a very disenchanted Armenian population will have their current idealistic fervor shattered as soon as Putin begins calling for payment on Armenia’s outstanding debt loans and decides to withhold arms from Armenia as oil rich Azerbaijan’s acquisition of Russian made state of the art weaponry threatens a weakened, overpowered Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Pashanyan knows Armenia cannot survive without Putin’s support both militarily and economically. For now the Kremlin is simply watching with great interest but not about to intervene. But with US Empire sharks financing the popular opposition leader’s sudden meteoric rise, and their feeding frenzy’s buying power taking hold in Armenia, they’re counting on Putin pulling the plug on his old misbegotten ally. Or if Putin commits to confronting Western tentacles grappling for control over his ally still very much dependent on Russia, risk of a larger war between the West and East could break out.
Meanwhile, predatory Western interests are eagerly working to separate and undermine Armenia from its current binding membership in the Russian led military Collective Security Treaty Organization and Eurasian Economic Union, while dangling its EU carrot stick after last year enticing Armenia to sign a revised Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership with the European Union. But just as the EU promise failed to save Ukraine from its disastrously bloody quagmire, Armenia may not fare much better if it allows itself to be unwittingly courted, swallowed up, bought and brought to the point of no return.
Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate and former Army officer who has written a manuscript based on his unique military experience entitled “Don’t Let The Bastards Getcha Down.” In addition to being a personal memoir, it exposes a faulty military leadership system based on one’s capacity to be an order follower, enforce arbitrary, asinine rules and engage in the psychopathic art of ingratiation. It’s based on ticket punching one’s way up the seniority system ladder, invariably weeding out the best and brightest along the way, leaving mediocrity and ass kissing order followers to rise to the top as America’s politician-bureaucrat generals in charge of losing US wars by elitist design. West Point fails miserably to instill integrity in its leaders and equally fails to teach and train positive genuine leadership skills to its officer corps.
After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field with abused youth and adolescents for more than a quarter century. In Los Angeles he constantly battled the largest county child protective service in the nation within America’s thoroughly broken and corrupt child welfare system. LA County Children’s Court regularly endangered his clients, afflicting more harm and abuse by making life and death decisions clearly not in their best interest. It prepared him well for later working as an investigative journalist exposing the evils of Big Pharma and how the Rockefeller controlled medical and psychiatric system inflicts far more harm than good.
About the author:
As an independent journalist focusing on geopolitics, international relations, globalization and US Empire imperialism for over four years, Joachim has written hundreds of articles published on numerous alternative news sites, foremost among them Global Research, Sott.net and LewRockwell.com. Joachim is currently working on completing a book entitled Pedophilia & Empire: Satan, Sodomy & the Deep State. His blog site is at http://empireexposed.blogspot.com.
Police in Armenia detain opposition leaders, protesters
Reuters
YEREVAN (Reuters) – Police in Armenia detained three opposition leaders and nearly 200 protesters on Sunday, drawing a rebuke from the European Union after demonstrators demanded newly appointed Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan quit.
Protesters accuse Sarksyan, 63, of clinging to power after parliament made him prime minister this month following a stint of 10 years as president. In the biggest political crisis in a decade, tens of thousands of his opponents have marched through the capital Yerevan, blocking streets and staging sit-ins.
The protests, though peaceful so far, threaten to destabilize a key Russian ally in a volatile region riven by a long low level conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and would, if successful, be a rare example of people power delivering reform in the former Soviet Union.
Critics accuse Sarksyan of ruling the South Caucasus nation of around 3 million people for too long, of being too close to Russia which has military bases inside Armenia, and of doing too little to root out corruption.
Sarksyan says his country needs him and that his party enjoys large-scale popular support.
Under a revised constitution approved in a 2015 referendum, most state powers shifted to the prime minister while the presidency has become a largely ceremonial post.
Police said in a statement that opposition politician Nikol Pashinyan and two other lawmakers had been “forcibly removed” from a protest. A Reuters reporter witnessed the “red berets”, as Armenian special police forces are known, grab one lawmaker by his hands and feet and carry him behind the police cordon.
The public prosecution service confirmed that three opposition leaders had been detained on suspicion of organizing an illegal protest.
Almost 200 people have been taken to police stations by law enforcement officers, the Interfax news agency cited police representatives as saying. Seven people had been taken to hospital, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
According to the law, the detainees must either be released within 72 hours, or a criminal case can be opened against them.
Opposition leader Pashinyan had earlier held talks with Sarksyan, who walked out of the meeting within minutes after accusing his opponents of trying to “blackmail” the authorities.
“This is not talks, not a dialogue, it’s just an ultimatum, blackmail of the state, of the legitimate authorities,” Sarksyan had said.
Police looking for those who do not “follow their legal requirements” (video)
The police announce
A criminal case has been instituted on the criminal case initiated under Article 225 (Mass disorders) and 2251 (Organizing and Conducting Violations of the Law) in connection with the mass events in Yerevan in recent days. It is evident that the participants of the action do not follow the legal requirements of the police, use violance against them, throwing stones and other objects into the direction of the police, thus causing body injuries.
Within the framework of the criminal case, measures are being taken to identify those persons, to arrest them and to ensure their participation in the investigation.
The investigation of the criminal case is underway.
Humanizing the ‘Faces of Genocide’
The Mercury News
Humanizing the ‘Faces of Genocide’
With tensions mounting between the U.S. and Russia over Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, is calling for a “stop to genocide.”
Her words hit especially home this week at West Valley College in Saratoga, where the annual Global Citizenship Conference focused on “The Faces of Genocide.”
The faces include Araxia Jebejian. “She died during the Armenian Genocide,” a distant relative, Nora Balabanian, said.
Araxia Jebejian’s biography says she was an educated woman who was deported from her hometown in Turkey in 1915 and, along with 250,000 other Armenians, sent to a city named Der Zor. A year later, the governor of Der Zor wanted to marry her, but she refused, so he tortured and then executed her.
Balabanian, who lives in San Jose and is active in the South Bay’s Armenian community, thinks Jebejian was her grandmother’s first cousin. Jebejian was just one of approximately 1.5 million Armenians killed in the genocide that lasted from 1915-1917.
“My mother’s aunt was also murdered,” Balabanian said. “My grandmother survived the genocide, but she was scared to talk about it,”
Balabanian and other Armenians say it’s important that they talk about it — especially now.
“We want people to know because it’s being repeated in the Middle East today — it’s the same thing,” she said. “So, our hope is to help people make a connection to genocide.”
For West Valley Planetarium Director Benjamin Mendelsohn, who was part of “Children of the Survivors” panel, the conference was deeply personal. His father’s family was hidden by a Polish farmer during the war and survived, but his maternal grandmother was “rounded up by German soldiers, shot and pushed into a mass grave,” Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn’s mother forbade his father from talking about the Holocaust at home. Even so, he picked up bits and pieces here and there, and eventually traveled to Poland where he met descendants of the “righteous person who saved my family.”
Ironically, San Jose State President Mary Papazian — the granddaughter of Armenian survivors — sees a direct correlation between the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide.
“The junior German officers who were in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide were senior German officers in World War II,” said Papazian, who took part in the survivors’ panel. “We’ve always felt a connection to German Holocaust victims.”
A “new history” was written in the 1920s denying the Armenian Genocide ever happened, Papazian said, and that history continues. She recalled being a student at UCLA in 1980 and said the Turkish consulate called university officials to have an Armenian Genocide exhibit removed from campus.
Papazian says the distant years mean her children have had very little exposure to genocide survivors. “What they come to now is pride in their history and ensuring we show people respect as we go toward the future. This is the kind of education we need to continue to do.”
West Valley student body President Mikela Lazari, who is Assyrian, plans to continue educating people by becoming an attorney. Her goal is to work for the International Court of Justice.
Lazari was born in Iran and came to the U.S. in 2009, when she was 11 years old.
“I’m a religious refugee,” Lazari said. “The experience of being a minority and being unwelcome in my home country, Iran, has made me an activist for social and political change. I want to bring some relief to groups around the world that don’t have a voice.”
Artsakh develops B&B guesthouse development program
ArmenPress, Armenia
Artsakh develops B&B guesthouse development program
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The tourism department of Artsakh’s ministry of culture, youth affairs and tourism has developed a B&B (bad and breakfast) guesthouse development program, reports Armenpress.
Head of the tourism department Artak Grigoryan said the first stage of the program includes up to 15 communities of Artsakh’s Martakert and Shahumyan regions.
“The following communities were selected as they are located on the northern tourism route and Road Trail along the entire length of Artsakh. The program will be implemented by the assistance of Armenia’s Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center and in cooperation with the Artsakh Investment Fund. There is already an agreement with the SME DNC on involvement of respective specialists”, Grigoryan said.
He also stated that the community residents interested in this program will pass respective lectures aimed at effectively organizing the guesthouse service in communities in the future.
As it is known, ecotourism is one of the prospective tourism directions in Artsakh. Artak Grigoryan believes that the establishment of B&B guesthouses will create preconditions also for ecotourism developments.
English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan
Speaker Babloyan believes President Armen Sarkissian will serve his entire knowledge for increasing welfare of Armenian citizens
ArmenPress, Armenia
April 9 2018
Speaker Babloyan believes President Armen Sarkissian will serve his entire knowledge for increasing welfare of Armenian citizens
YEREVAN, APRIL 9, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of the Parliament of Armenia Ara Babloyan believes that newly-elected President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian will serve his entire knowledge and life experience for implementation of pan-national goals and strengthening of unity, reports Armenpress.
“Dear Mr. President, on behalf of the Armenian Parliament and personally myself I congratulate you on being elected to the high post of the President of Armenia and assuming the Office. Mr. President, being familiar with the path you passed, I am convinced that you will serve your life experience and knowledge for increasing the welfare of the Armenian citizens. I once again congratulate you on assuming this responsible post”, Speaker Babloyan said in his remarks at the special session of the Parliament in the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex on April 9.
April 9 marks Armenia’s transitioning to a parliamentary system, and the end of tenure of President Serzh Sargsyan. Armen Sarkissian took the Oath of Office of President of Armenia midday April 9 at a special session of the Armenian Parliament. Sarkissian was sworn into office by placing his right hand on the original book of the Constitution of Armenia and a 7th century Bible.
English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan
Russian top diplomat says convinced problems in Nagorno-Karabakh settlement are surmountable
TASS, Russia
April 8 2018
Russian top diplomat says convinced problems in Nagorno-Karabakh settlement are surmountable
MOSCOW April 8
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be ultimately settled as all the problems are quite surmountable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Armenian mass media.
MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be ultimately settled as all the problems are quite surmountable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Armenian mass media.
"The most important thing is to drop mistrust which is still surfacing in the talks now and then. It is important to focus of realistic, pragmatic ideas we have in abundance," Lavrov said commenting on the current situation in the settlement process. "All that should be done is to commit them to paper. Conceptually, the sides agree that it must be done, but once it comes to concrete wordings, difficulties emerge, as it may be in other situations."
"I think we will continue efforts to overcome them [difficulties] and will finally reach results," he added.
According to the Russian top diplomat, settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of Russia’s priorities on the post-Soviet space. He recalled that active efforts on this track had been taken through 2009-2011 that had been crowned by a series of meetings between the Armenian and Azerbaijani president mediated by the Russian leader.
Even the fact that the Kazan summit in 2011, the final one in the series of contacts, failed to yield an agreement in no way diminishes the importance of the work done. "Extra questions and commentaries surfaced during the summit. Such things do happen. We see no tragedy in that," Lavrov said, adding that efforts would be continues.
Situation around Nagorno-Karabakh
Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Dmitry Medvedev, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, met in Russia’s Kazan on June 24, 2011. The meeting was expected to yield a final agreement on the so-called Madrid principles envisaging granting a transition status to Nagorno-Karabakh to be followed by a plebiscite. However, the sides failed to reach an agreement in Kazan.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated in April 2016. The presidents of the three countries, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Serzh Sarfsyan of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, met in June 2016 in Russia’s St. Petersburg to try to settle the crisis. The three leaders once again reiterated their commitment to peaceful settlement.
The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians, broke out in the late 1980s.
In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994.
Talks on Nagorno-Karabakh have been held on the basis of the so-called Madrid Principles suggested by co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, or Russia, France and the United States, in December 2007 in the Spanish capital.
San Gregorio di Narek, un ponte tra due mondi
ACI Stampa-Italia
6 apr 2018
San Gregorio di Narek, un ponte tra due mondi
Di Andrea Gagliarducci
CITTÀ DEL VATICANO , 06 aprile, 2018 / 9:00 AM (ACI Stampa).-
San Gregorio di Narek è un “ponte tra due mondi”, un simbolo dell’ecumenismo del sangue sperimentato dal popolo armeno, e la testimonianza che “nonostante tutto, gli armeni ci sono”. Mikayel Minassyan, ambasciatore di Armenia presso la Santa Sede, spiega così il senso della statua di San Gregorio di Narek inaugurata il 5 aprile nei Giardini Vaticani.
Una statua di San Gregorio di Narek nei giardini vaticani. Quanto è importante questo evento per l’Armenia?
È molto importante per l’Armenia, è molto importante per il popolo armeno, ed è molto importante per tutti i cristiani. È importante per l’Armenia perché San Gregorio di Narek è l’autore della Costituzione spirituale dell’Armenia e del popolo armeno. È importante per tutto il popolo armeno perché San Gregorio di Narek, tre anni fa, è stato nominato dottore della Chiesa da Papa Francesco, ed è l’unico vero dottore della Chiesa dal punto di vista ecumenico, perché non è cattolico e non è mai stato mai membro di una Chiesa in linea con la Chiesa romana. Perciò, è simbolo di un ecumenismo totale.
Papa Francesco ha definito gli armeni “fratelli fondati sull’ecumenismo del sangue”. Quanto è reale questa immagine?
Il nostro sangue è stato versato per la fede cristiana, e ancora San Gregorio di Narek è il simbolo di tutto ciò, la sua vita racconta che nonostante tutto gli armeni, il pensiero e la cultura armena ci sono. Ed è il simbolo della distruzione e del genocidio, perché il monastero Narek, dove Gregorio lavorava e viveva, non c’è più, neanche la tomba del santo c’è più: è stata infatti distrutta durante il genocidio degli armeni.
Da dove è nata l’idea di portare la statua di San Gregorio di Narek nei giardini vaticani?
San Gregorio di Narek non è solo un teologo e un mistico illustre. È soprattutto presente nella vita quotidiana degli armeni. Non è solo un modo di dire: il Libro delle Lamentazioni, il suo capolavoro, ancora oggi si usa come un libro per curare i malati. Se lei entra negli ospedali armeni, vedrà vicino ai letti di quasi tutti i malati questo libro. La metà degli armeni non capiscono l’armeno classico nel quale è scritto il libro di San Gregorio di Narek, però lo usano come una medicina, una medicina spirituale, ma anche una medicina fisica.
È per questo che il presidente ha pensato di regalare al Papa una statua di San Gregorio di Narek?
Il presidente Sargsyan ha pensato molto a come ringraziare Papa Francesco donando qualcosa di molto simbolico, e ha chiesto ad un illustre scultore armeno, David Yerevantsi, di creare una piccola statua di San Gregorio di Narek. La statua è riuscita molto bene, ed è molto piaciuta al presidente. Questi, quando ha dato il dono al Santo Padre, ha detto: “Santità, questa è una piccola raffigurazione di San Gregorio di Narek, questo è un dono da parte di tutti noi, tutti gli armeni a lei, e speriamo un giorno di vedere la grande statua a Roma in Vaticano”. Papa Francesco ha guardato la statua e ha detto: “Mi piace molto. Sia la statua che l’idea”. E abbiamo cominciato a lavorare sulla realizzazione del desiderio di Papa Francesco e del presidente.
Armenia e Santa Sede hanno relazioni diplomatiche ormai da 25 anni. Questo rapporto quanto si è stretto negli?
È un rapporto molto importante per tutti noi. È un rapporto che dura da 25 anni, e allo stesso tempo da più di 1700 anni. È un rapporto tra due entità come Santa Sede e la Repubblica di Armenia, ma tra due anche mondi, il mondo armeno e il mondo cattolico. Infatti, alla cerimonia di inaugurazione della statua c’erano il presidente Sargsyan come presidente dello Stato armeno, ma anche il Catholicos di tutti gli armeni, Karekin II, il Catholicos di grande casa di Cilicia, Aram I, e il patriarca armeno cattolico Giovanni Pietro XX. È stato un ritrovo tra gli armeni e la Santa Sede.
Sul piano concreto, quali sviluppi può avere questo rapporto bilaterale?
È un rapporto che non riguarda solo gli armeni, ma tutti i cristiani del Medio Oriente. Noi non dobbiamo dimenticare che rappresentiamo una nazione che abita ovunque, ma soprattutto abita in una regione così importante per tutti i cristiani come il Medio Oriente. Gli armeni sono i testimoni viventi della decristianizzazione del Medio Oriente, e qua gli sforzi della Santa Sede e della Repubblica di Armenia adesso corrispondono, sono in parallelo: noi lavoriamo contro questa tendenza.
Quanto peso ha il cristianesimo in Armenia? È la prima nazione cristiana ed è rimasta cristiana nonostante l’impero sovietico, nonostante tutto, nonostante il genocidio. Perché?
Il cristianesimo fa parte della nostra identità, della nostra cultura, della nostra mentalità. Gli armeni non si chiedono perché sono cristiani. Gli armeni sono cristiani. Noi portiamo questa bandiera di essere i primi cristiani con una grande responsabilità. Siamo stati massacrati, siamo stati vittima di genocidi, però non possiamo non essere cristiani. Noi sentiamo la responsabilità di essere i primi cristiani, ma soprattutto sappiamo come essere cristiani in una regione ormai non cristiana. Noi sappiamo come convivere, non sopravvivere, ma convivere con i non cristiani. Guardate le nostre comunità in Iran, dove gli armeni sono rispettati, dove hanno il loro posto, sono cristiani, sono armeni, ma sono fieri cittadini iraniani. Guardate le nostre comunità in Libano, guardate le nostre comunità prima della guerra in Siria. Noi siamo l’esempio di come convivere con non cristiani.
Una ultima parola su San Gregorio di Narek. Come lo potremmo descrivere?
San Gregorio di Narek è un ponte. È un ponte tra la Chiesa Armena e la Chiesa cattolica. Un ponte tra due realtà, tra due mondi: quello armeno e quello occidentale. È un ponte tra Est ed Ovest. È un ponte tra terra e cielo. E noi siamo grati a Papa Francesco per aver riconosciuto l’importanza storica e il ruolo della teologia armena proclamando San Gregorio di Narek dottore della Chiesa.
The California Courier Online, April 5, 2018
Asbed,
Please delete the earlier version. It said by mistake March 29, 2018.
I have now corrected to April 5, 2018
Harut
The California
Courier Online, April 5, 2018
1 – Commentary
Turkey is Most
Frequent Violator of
European
Convention on Human Rights
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2 – Landmine explosion kills three HALO Trust
deminers in Artsakhp
3 – AAF Shipped $6.8M of Aid to Armenia,
Artsakh
4 – In Damascus,
Three Children Killed by Syrian Rebel Rockets
5 – Equality Armenia Leadership Award Recognizes
Commitment to LGBTQ Rights
6
– Development
of Diaspora’s Armenian Literature
7- Armenian
Genocide Monument
To Be Installed in Geneva
8 – The Presence of an Absence:
The Role of
Photography in the Lives of Ottoman Armenians
9- Commentary: Turkish Racism
By Garen Yegparian
******************************************
1 – Commentary
Turkey
is Most Frequent Violator of
European
Convention on Human Rights
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Veteran Turkish journalist Sedat Ergin wrote in Hurriyet
newspaper that “Turkey
is the champion of rights violations at the European Court of Human Rights”
(ECHR). The European Court
rules on cases when signatories of the European Convention on Human Rights
violate its provisions.
Even though Turkey
joined the Court in 1986, 27 years after its founding, it had more violations
than all other member countries between 1959 and 2016.
The European
Court had a total of 3,270 judgments on Turkey. Only in
73 cases, Turkey
was found by the Court not to have made any violations. The remaining cases
were settled in other ways. Since more than one article was violated in most
cases, Turkey’s
violations total 4,514.
The 2016 Annual Report of the European Court of Human Rights
indicated that:
— The highest number of Turkish violations (832) was in the
area of “right to a fair trial.”
— The 2nd highest category (707 violations) was “the right
to freedom and security.” This latter category means that “Turkish citizens are
frequently arrested using unlawful methods and that those arrests can easily
turn into sentences,” according to Ergin.
— The 3rd highest category of violations (653) is the
“right to property protection,” which means that many Turkish citizens are
deprived of ownership of their properties.
— The 4th highest category (586) is the violation of
“length of proceedings.”
— “Lack of effective investigation” comes in 5th place with
412 violations.
— “Inhuman or degrading treatment” is in 6th place with 314
violations.
— In 7th place is the “right to an effective remedy” (268
violations).
— “Freedom of _expression_” comes in 8th place (265
violations).
— In 9th place are 133 violations of the “right to life —
deprivation of life.”
— In 10th place are 100 violations of the “right to respect
private and family life.”
Regarding Azerbaijan, from 2002 to 2016, the European Court
of Human Rights had 122 judgments, of which 118 were found to be violations of
the European Convention on Human Rights, far fewer than Turkey, since Baku
joined the ECHR much later, in 2002. The remaining 4 cases were settled in
other ways. Since some cases had more than one violation, Azerbaijan had
a total of 224 rights violations.
— The highest number of violations (44) was the “right to a
fair trial.”
— The 2nd highest violation (34) was the “right to liberty
and security.”
— The 3rd highest violation (30) was the “protection of
property.”
— The 4th highest violation (21) was the “right to free
elections.”
— “Lack of effective investigation” was the 5th highest
violation (17).
Armenia,
on the other hand, which joined the European Convention on Human Rights at the
same time as Azerbaijan
(2002), had fewer violations. There were 75 judgments by the ECHR against Armenia between
2002 and 2016, of which 68 were violations. The remaining 7 cases were settled
in other ways. Since some of cases had more than one violation, Armenia had a
total of 119 violations.
— The highest number of violations (32) was the “right to a
fair trial.”
— The 2nd highest number of violations (27) was the “right
to liberty and security.”
— The 3rd highest number of violations (16) was the
“protection of property.”
Neighboring Georgia
had a slightly fewer violations than Armenia. It joined the European
Convention on Human Rights in 1999. Between 1999 and 2016 the ECHR had 68
judgments on Georgia,
of which 52 were violations. The remaining 16 cases were settled in other ways.
Since some of the cases had more than one violation, Georgia had a total of 99
violations.
— The highest number of violations (20) was the “right to
liberty and security.”
— The 2nd highest number of violations (17) was “inhuman or
degrading treatment.”
— There was a tie for the 3rd highest violation (12 each)
for “lack of effective investigation” and “right to a fair trial.”
In addition to the
above-mentioned violations, Turkey
and Azerbaijan
have much more serious problems with the ECHR. Turkey decided to suspend the
European Convention on Human Rights following the attempted coup of July 2016.
However, some parts of the Convention cannot be suspended, such as the right to
life, and the ban on torture and the inhumane or degrading treatment or
punishment.
Azerbaijan
faces another serious problem with the ECHR which had ruled that prominent
Azeri opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov should be released from jail. Azerbaijan has
refused to comply with ECHR’s decision since 2014. The Committee of Ministers
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have adopted several
resolutions urging Azerbaijan
to release Mammadov. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has
initiated an unprecedented judicial review of Azerbaijan’s lack of compliance
with the ECHR ruling. Further non-compliance by Azerbaijan could result in its
expulsion from the Council of Europe!
**************************************************************************************************
2- Landmine
explosion kills three HALO Trust deminers in Artsakh
YEREVAN—Three employees of the UK-based demining group The
HALO Trust were killed and two were injured in
what the organization is calling “the accidental detonation of an
anti-tank landmine” in the Ghazanchi area of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) on
Thursday, March 29, according to the organization and authorities.
Artsakh is one of the
most heavily mined regions in the former Soviet Union.
Mines were laid by Azerbaijani and Armenian forces during the conflict over the
region in the early 1990s.
Those killed were Pavel Akopov, Samson Avanessian and Marat
Petrossian—all local residents of Artsakh. Two other demining specialists, Aram
Mkrtchyan and Garik Gohiryan, were injured in the explosion Mkrtchyan, 44, had
internal bleeding and sustained a ruptured spleen, which was surgically removed
in the Republican Medical Center of Artsakh.
Ghahriyan, 31, is in a critical condition. Doctors were
forced to amputate the lower limbs of the de-miner. Additional examinations
revealed multiple fractures throughout his body.
The de-miners were in a vehicle conducting minefield survey
duties when their vehicle ran over a mine.
HALO is working closely with the local police and
authorities, and has called in external investigators to report on the full
facts of the incident.
HALO Trust is the world’s largest humanitarian mine
clearance organization. The demining agency says it has been clearing landmines
and cluster munitions in Artsakh since 2000 and has already cleared 90 percent
of the territory’s minefields.
Energy-rich Azerbaijan,
whose military spending exceeds Armenia’s
entire state budget, has repeatedly threatened to take back the region by
force.
James Cowan, HALO’s CEO said: “Every day around the world,
more than 8,000 HALO staff go to work in places where no one else can tread and
this tragic incident throws into stark relief the dangers that they face and
the importance of our work. Our colleagues were killed while working to make
the land safe for the people of Nagorno Karabakh.”
The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) extended its
condolences to The HALO Trust family upon learning the news of the tragic loss.
“The Assembly also expresses its deep gratitude for the important work and
service of The HALO Trust. Armenians will always remember Pavel, Samson, and
Marat, whose lives were lost while clearing landmines to keep the people of
Armenia and Artsakh safe, and will pray during this Easter Holy Week for the
full recovery of Garik and Aram,” said the Assembly in a statement.
Mine clearance in Karabakh has not only greatly decreased
the casualty rate but it has also allowed roads, schools, and housing to be
built, water pipes to be laid, fields to be cultivated, livestock to be safely
grazed, and people to go about their daily business without fear. The benefits
of the clearance are tangible and the cleared land can be safely used in
perpetuity.
Between 2000-2016, The HALO Trust in Artsakh has destroyed
180,858 small arms ammunition, 48,572 units of “other explosive items,” 12,423
cluster bombs, 8,733 anti-personnel landmines, and 2,584 anti-tank landmines.
HALO has cleared 88 percent of the territory’s minefields, with the goal to
clear all landmines in Artsakh by 2020. According to HALO, Artsakh has “the
highest per capita incidence of landmine accidents in the world—a third of the
victims are children.”
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairs Rep. Frank
Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), and Rep. David Valadao
(R-Calif.), House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member and Armenian Caucus
Co-Vice Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)
issued statements and paid tribute after hearing the tragic news.
“While there is always a danger associated with removing
unexploded ordnances, I am deeply saddened to hear the news of this terrible
accident and offer my condolences to the families of these individuals. I hope
investigators in Artsakh are able to quickly get to the bottom of what
happened, and I hope these awful circumstances help to shed an international
light on the vital work organizations like HALO Trust do around the world. I
will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to ensure demining
activities are able to continue unimpeded and as safely as possible,” said
Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Pallone.
“I was deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of three HALO
Trust workers, and injuries to two of their colleagues, while working to clear
the Artsakh region of landmines. My heart goes out to the victims and their
families and colleagues, all of whom are in my prayers. The people of Artsakh
continue to suffer the devastating effects of war with the highest per capita
incidence of landmine accidents in the world – a third of which involve
children. The courage and sacrifice of these ultimate Samaritans should serve
as a reminder to us all that we have much more to do to make this region safe,
and I pledge to continue my support of the HALO Trust and the Artsakh region in
honor of their memory,” said Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Speier.
Last September, Rep. Valadao traveled to Artsakh as part of
a Congressional Delegation, where he met with The HALO Trust staff to learn
more about mine clearance along the borders. Earlier that month, Rep. Valadao
spearheaded a bipartisan amendment along with House Foreign Affairs Committee
Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Rep. Pallone, Rep. Speier, and Rep. Schiff, to
ensure continued funding for de-mining projects in Artsakh. This amendment was
adopted as part of consideration of H.R. 3354, which consolidated numerous
Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations bills.
Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Valadao stated: “My heart goes
out to those killed and injured by the explosion in Nagorno-Karabakh. These
individuals have dedicated their work to ensuring the safety of others and
their sacrifice will never be forgotten. This tragedy serves as a stark
reminder of the ever present danger in the region. We must continue our work to
restore these communities so they may live without fear of mine-related
accidents.”
Rep. Schiff stated: “I’m deeply saddened by the death of
three employees of the HALO Trust who were performing demining work in Nagorno
Karabakh. I am proud of the support the United States has provided in removing
minefields from civilian areas in Artsakh, and this tragedy shows once again
why that work is both so dangerous and yet such an important humanitarian undertaking.”
During the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe,
Eurasia, and Emerging Threats hearing on July 25, 2017 titled “Examining the
President’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal for Europe and Eurasia,” Rep. Brad Sherman
urged support for U.S. funding for demining efforts in Artsakh, referencing The
HALO Trust and the need for additional funding to continue its lifesaving work.
“I extend my deepest
condolences to the victims’ families and the entire HALO Trust community.
Today’s events highlight the need for robust support of demining efforts in
Artsakh, so that these deadly explosives do not take additional lives. We thank
the victims for their contributions to this important cause,” Rep. Sherman
said.
***************************************************************************************************
3 – AAF Shipped
$6.8M of Aid to Armenia,
Artsakh
GLENDALE, Calif.—The
Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF) delivered over $6.8 million of humanitarian
assistance to Armenia
and Artsakh during the first quarter of 2018, between January and March.
The AAF itself collected $6.7 million of medicines and other
supplies donated by AmeriCares ($4 million) including special donations of
Canvas shoes from TOMS shoes; MAP International ($1.7 million); Direct Relief
($747,000) and Fawn
Grove Compassion
Center ($119,000).
Other organizations which contributed valuable goods during
this period were: Agape Project ($83,000) and Mr. Sergey Sarkisov
($15,500).
The medicines and medical supplies donated during this
period were sent to the Health Ministry of Armenia, Artsakh Health Ministry, AGBU Glaudia
Nazarian Medical
Center, Arabkir United Children’s
Foundation, Muratsan Children’s Endocrinology
Center, National Oncology
Center and St. Grigor
Lusavorich Medical Center. In the past 29 years, including its shipments under
its predecessor, the United Armenian Fund, the AAF has delivered to Armenia and
Artsakh a grand total of $783 million worth of relief supplies on board 158
airlifts and 2,392 sea containers.
“The Armenia Artsakh Fund is regularly offered free of
charge millions of dollars worth of life-saving medicines and medical supplies.
All we have to do is pay for the shipping expenses. We would welcome your
generous donations to be able to continue delivering this valuable assistance
to all medical centers in Armenia
and Artsakh,” said AAF President Harut Sassounian.
For more information, call the AAF office: (818) 241-8900;
*********************************************************************************************
4 – In Damascus,
Three Children Killed by Syrian Rebel Rockets
(Barnabas
Fund)—Three children at an Armenian Christian school in the Syrian capital of Damascus were killed on Tuesday, March 6, after rockets
fired from East Ghouta hit the school. Many
Christian families are now understood to have left Damascus to take shelter in villages after
weeks of rocket attacks from the rebel-held enclave, which is controlled by
multiple jihadist factions.
Humanitarian aid convoys entered East
Ghouta that same week, following the announcement of a ceasefire
brokered by the United Nations. The two largest rebel groups in East Ghouta
stated that they would adhere to the UN’s demand for a suspension of hostilities,
but this has not led to a cessation of rocket attacks on Christian areas in Damascus. The targeting
of Christian areas by rebels has been almost entirely ignored by Western media.
***************************************************************************************************
5 – Equality Armenia Leadership Award Recognizes
Commitment to LGBTQ Rights
LOS ANGELES—Equality Armenia (EqAr) announces the recipients
of its 2018 Leadership Award, West Hollywood Council Member and Mayor Pro
Tempore John Duran, Los Angeles Council Member Mitch O’Farrell and Glendale
Council Member Zareh Sinanyan.
Over 40 elected officials and dignitaries were among the
over 100 guests on March 29 to honor three outstanding public servants for
their exceptional leadership and commitment to LGBTQ rights. The red-carpet
event included a meet & greet cocktail reception, followed by the awards
presentation. Guests included
politicians, heads of organizations, community leaders, activists, members of
the press and stakeholders from the throughout greater Los Angeles area.
“For the first time, this unprecedented and historic event
assembled the crème de la crème of greater Los Angeles’ movers and shakers for
the next chapter in the fight for LGBTQ rights, human rights and equality for
all, not just in our own community but throughout the world,” said Vic Gerami,
an Equality Armenia board member.
The Mayor of Glendale, Vartan Gharpetian, was delivered a
heartfelt speech and honor his colleagues. Just a few elected officials and
dignitaries present were LA County Assessor, Jeffrey Prang, Glendale Council
Members Paula Devine and Ara Najarian and Armenian National Committee of
America, Chair, Glendale Chapter, Artin Manoukian.
Council Member John Duran said, “Equality Armenia’s work is
incredibly important given the cultural conservatism found in the Armenian
community. They will not only empower LGBT Armenians here in Los
Angeles but will also diminish homophobia back in Armenia.”
“Everyone, everywhere, deserves full equality and the
freedom to live their life authentically,” said Council Member Mitch O’Farrell,
of the 13th Council District in the City of Los Angeles. “I want to thank the Board of
Equality Armenia for raising awareness about the need to continue pushing for
LGBTQ rights here and in every community.”
Council Member Zareh Sinanyan said, “I am so humbled to
receive this recognition by a group that is working very hard to ensure that
LGBTQ individuals are treated with nothing but respect, dignity and equal
rights just like every other human being. Members of the LGBTQ community are
our brothers and sisters sons and daughters and their rights are human rights.
I stand with them and I’m honored to be recognized by Equality Armenia. Thank
you to all the organizers and all those who contributed to the event. It was
just a great honor to have it in Glendale.”
Leadership Council is a forum acknowledging the leadership
and achievements of local public officials in matters concerning the LGBTQ
community. The reception offers stakeholders, community leaders and activists
the opportunity to network with each other and meet cohorts from various
communities and organizations.
EqAr is a nonprofit organization with a mission to achieve
marriage equality in Armenia.
*****************************************************************************************************
6 – Development of Diaspora’s Armenian
Literature
Exclusive
Presentation by Renowned Krikor Beledian
On Thursday, April 19, at 7:30 pm, renowned author Krikor
Beledian will give an exclusive presentation on The Development of Diaspora’s
Armenian Literature.
The presentation will take place at the Downtown Glendale
Central Library Auditorium, 222
East Harvard Street.
Beledian is a renowned Armenian writer, poet and literary
critic. His extensive work revolves around identity, Armenian Genocide and
Armenian language. Beledian has played a significant role in the development of
the western Armenian literary language. His works have been translated in
English, German, French and Italian. He has published more than 20 books in Armenia, the United
States, France
and Lebanon.
He resides in Paris.
Admission is free. For more information please contact:
Elizabeth Grigorian, [email protected] or (818) 548-3288.
*************************************************************************************************
7- Armenian Genocide
Monument To Be Installed in Geneva
A monument to the Armenian Genocide victims will be
installed in Geneva’s Tremblay Park
next month. The monument called “Les réverbères de la mémoire” (The Lanterns of
Memory) was sculpted by Melik Ohanian, of France.
The Armenian community of Geneva has struggled for over a decade to
have the monument installed, and was in 2016 given a permit to implement the project.
The attorney, adviser and MP of Swiss People’s Party Yves Nidegger has applied
for cancelling the decision of the city’s administration. He said the park was
a green zone, and nothing can be built there except for the buildings in the
interests of the citizens and exclusively related to the park development.
The project was to be implemented in Geneva’s
Ariana park in 2014, but was turned down on the ground of “violation of Geneva’s neutrality on the
international platform,” although the decision was actually adopted under the
pressure of the Turkish authorities.
************************************************************************************************
8 – The Presence of an Absence:
The Role of
Photography in the Lives of Ottoman Armenians
On Thurs., April 12, at 7:30 pm, Armen T. Marsoobian will
give an exclusive presentation on The Presence of an Absence: The Role of
Photography in the Lives of Ottoman Armenians, at the Downtown Central Library
Auditorium, 222 East Harvard
Street. Admission will be free.
Marsoobian’s presentation will be illustrated with
photographs from a number of important Armenian photographers including those
from the Dildilian family. Marsoobian’s recent book, Reimagining a Lost
Armenian Home: The Dildilian Photography Collection, is based on extensive
research about his family, the Dildilians, who were accomplished photographers
in the late Ottoman period. Marsoobian will examine the social and cultural
function of photography for Ottoman Armenians.
His recent co-edited volume, Multidisciplinary Perspectives
on Genocide and Memory, was released this month. He has organized exhibitions
in Istanbul, Merzifon, Diyarbakir,
Ankara, Yerevan, London, New Haven, Watertown, Chicago, and Glendale.
His exhibition Continuity and Rupture: An Armenian Family
Odyssey, based upon his family archives, is on view at the Brand Library and Art Center
from March 24 through April 27. A companion exhibition, Prosperity, Loss, and
Survival: A Photographic Journey from the Dildilian Family Archive, is also on
view in the Glendale Downtown Central Library from March 17 to May 6.
Marsoobian is Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State
University and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Metaphilosophy. He resides in Connecticut.
*****************************************************************************************************
9 – Commentary: Turkish Racism
By Garen
Yegparian
In case the ongoing, periodic, massacres of Armenians in
and/or by the Ottoman Empire and its willing and eager collaborators weren’t
enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the 1905 massacres of Armenians by “Tatars” (which
were reciprocated), as Azerbaijanis were referred to back then, weren’t enough
proof of Turkish racism,
In case the Armenian Genocide weren’t enough proof of
Turkish racism,
In case the simultaneous genocide of Assyrians and Greeks
weren’t enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the 1918 Baku
massacres by locals and Enver Pasha’s “Army of Islam” weren’t enough proof of
Turkish racism,
In case the 1920 sacking of Shooshi, a vibrant Armenian
cultural center, and its accompanying massacres weren’t enough proof of Turkish
racism,
In case the 1937 massacres of Alevi Kurds, (or the Zazas, a
term that no longer seems to be in use) weren’t enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the depopulation/expulsion of Armenians from
Nakhichevan during the Soviet era by Azerbaijani authorities wasn’t enough
proof of Turkish racism,
In case discriminatory practices in Azerbaijani controlled
Artzakh during the Soviet era wasn’t enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the discriminatory Varlik Vergisi (a tax invented by
Ankara in 1942
to impoverish and drive out Armenians, Greeks, and Jews) wasn’t enough proof of
Turkish racism,
In case the 1955 (premeditated and “fake-news” instigated)
pogroms of Greeks (with some spillover on to Armenians) in Constantinople
weren’t enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the mutilation of Greeks during Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus wasn’t
enough proof of Turkish racism,
In case the 1989 February and later pogroms in Baku, Cantsag/Gandsak (Ganja as Turkified), Sumgait, and elsewhere
weren’t enough proof of Turkish racism,
Then let’s look to this century for… more of the same!
How about Victor Bedoian’s septennial sojourn in Van as he
tried to open “Hotel Vartan” and was blocked at every turn from the vali
(governor) who boasted that no Armenian would start a business in Van on his
watch to the Turkish Supreme court that shut down his final appeal?
How about Hrant Dink’s 2007 murder?
How about Turkey’s
sealing of its border with Syria
at Kobane, blocking assistance and escape for the Kurds of that area in their
life-and-death struggle against Daesh/ISIS?
How about the mutilation of civilians and beheadings by Azerbaijan’s forces
during the April 2016 Four Day War??
How about Erdoğan feigning outrage at being called an
Armenian (which is a really bad slur in Turkey, it turns out)?
How about the hatred spewed against Jews from all corners of
Turkey’s
polity?
How about the episodic appearance of hate graffiti on
Armenian institutions in Turkey?
How about the ongoing desecration of Armenian cemeteries and
churches in Turkey?
How about the recent video from Azerbaijan with children expressing
their hatred of Armenians?
How about the comment that “Raping Kurdish women is a moral
obligation. No one should abstain” by a leader of a Turkish group in Holland?
How about the Estonian citizen who was Armenian being denied
entry into Azerbaijan, just
days ago, because of her ancestry, despite having travelled to Baku with a properly issued visa?
It’s not only unfortunate, but utterly tragic, that current
Turkish identity (including Azerbaijan,
less its persecuted minority populations- Avars, Jews, Lesghis, Tats, Talysh)
is unimaginable without this all-encompassing racism.
The only glimmer of light in that darkness is the small
portion of the population which constitutes civil society and its efforts to
defend human rights, in the broadest sense of the term.
This reality must permeate the halls of (at least) Western
governments so their foreign policy for Azerbaijan
and Turkey
is more rational and effective.
The above can serve as talking points during any encounter
with our elected representatives. Use
them.
And just in case anyone you’re speaking with has doubt as to
whether there exists a significant difference between Ankara’s and Baku’s
ethos, ideals, and morals, here’s a joke to help convey this reality:
“What’s the difference between an Azeri and a Turk?”
“Nothing.”
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