Author: Jhanna Virabian

Court accepts Armenia Constitutional Court president’s statement of claim against PM for proceedings

Jhanna Virabian
News.am, Armenia
March 4 2020
Court accepts Armenia Constitutional Court president's statement of claim against PM for proceedings Court accepts Armenia Constitutional Court president's statement of claim against PM for proceedings

18:22, 04.03.2020
                  

The court on Tuesday accepted President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan’s statement of claim against Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan for proceedings, as reported the Judicial Information System.

The President of the Constitutional Court demands that Pashinyan be obliged to apologize for his offensive remarks and refute defamatory information.

During his January 25 press conference, Pashinyan declared that “Hrayr Tovmasyan had offered his services since May 2018, first on a daily basis, then on a weekly basis and later on a monthly basis.”

Afterwards, Hrayr Tovmasyan gave the Prime Minister twenty days to present any evidence of this, after which the Prime Minister went live on Facebook and showed a pen that the President of the Constitutional Court had given him.

Explainer: Why it took 40 years to pass a bill acknowledging the Armenian genocide

Jhanna Virabian
Navy Times
March 6 2020
Eldad Ben Aharon, Leiden University
 
Armenian widows and children. glass negative from Bain News Service taken ca. 1915 and ca. 1920. (Library of Congress)

Between 1914 and 1921, the Ottoman Empire carried out an extended campaign to expel or kill the Armenians living in Turkey and its border regions.

From massacres to death marches, 1.5 million of Turkey’s historic Armenian population was murdered.

Since 1923, Turkey has denied perpetrating what came to be called the Armenian genocide. It has pressured its allies to refrain from officially declaring the events a “genocide,” which the United Nations defines as acts committed with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

But in a milestone vote in late 2019, both the U.S. House and Senate defied that pressure and the weight of over 40 years of precedent.

They passed a bill declaring that the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks was, in fact, a genocide.

Since 1975, numerous efforts were made to pass an Armenian genocide bill. The decades-long struggle involving Turkey, Israel, Armenian-Americans, the American Jewish community and the U.S. government over the commemoration of the Armenian genocide resulted in failure to pass a bill every time – until 2019.

I am a historian of international relations. I am currently writing a book that focuses on Israeli-Turkish-American relations and the contested memories of the Armenian genocide.

The political struggle over U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide was set in motion during the presidency of Jimmy Carter in 1976. Carter came to the job with a commitment to protecting human rights.

That commitment was soon tested by the longstanding strategic relationship between the U.S. and Iran, which was ruled by the Shah with an iron fist. By late 1977, U.S.-Iranian relations were deteriorating after Carter sent mixed signals about the Shah’s dictatorship and his abuse of Iranians’ human rights.

In 1978, Carter’s fraught relations with the Shah weakened the Iranian leader’s hold on power. Popular protest movements mounted, culminating in the Shah’s overthrow in 1979, the Iranian fundamentalist revolution and the American hostage crisis.

The criticism at home about the Carter-Shah relationship and American Jews’ reluctance to support Carter’s administration convinced the president and his staff members to re-promote human rights through American foreign policy.

Their strategy: Use the Holocaust as a universal lesson for genocide prevention to help reinforce ties with Jewish voters.

Holocaust remembrance

While the Iran crisis was playing out, on Nov. 1, 1978, Carter launched the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. Carter requested that the commission submit a report addressing the “establishment and maintenance of an appropriate memorial to those who perished in the Holocaust.”

The commission included American Holocaust survivors like Elie Wiesel and Benjamin Meed. The commission’s September 1979 report recommended special days of remembrance for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, a dedicated education program, and the establishment of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a national memorial.

The museum, the report said, should be focused on one specific aspect of the Nazis’ many crimes: the “unique” and unprecedented nature of the murder of the Jews – even over other Nazi victims.

“Millions of innocent civilians were tragically killed by the Nazis. They must be remembered. However, there exists a moral imperative for special emphasis on the six million Jews. While not all victims were Jews, all Jews were victims, disdained for annihilation solely because they were born Jewish,” wrote the commission.

This approach clashed with Carter’s views on the universal lessons of the Holocaust.

It also aroused the opposition of representatives of other victims of the Nazis, such as the Roma and the gay community, who pressed for inclusion in the Holocaust museum.

A ‘campaign to remember’

Another heated debate was taking place about who should pay for the museum, which was estimated to cost $100 million.

The land allocated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was a contribution by the federal government. But the remaining funds to build the museum were to be donated mainly by the American public through a “Campaign to Remember.”

This was the moment – the convergence of Carter’s vision of human rights protection and the “Campaign to Remember” – that the organized American-Armenian community believed could bring the almost-forgotten memory of the Armenian genocide back to public consciousness.

California Gov. George Deukmejian, an Armenian-American, pressured museum leaders to appoint Set Momjian as its American-Armenian community representative. The Armenian community in the U.S. made a donation of $1 million, aiming to be able to include the Armenian genocide in the museum’s focus.

In August 1983, the Armenian expectations became reality when the museum commission reached a decision to include the Armenian genocide in the exhibition narrative. Although the decision about the 1915 genocide was informal, it was still a commitment that later would be difficult to reverse.

Turkey looks to Israel

The Turkish government was extremely anxious about the museum. It turned for help to its regional and Cold War ally, Israel. Turkey pressured Israel to influence the concept of the museum and to make sure the Armenians were left out of the memorial.

As part of an oral history project, I interviewed Gabi Levy, who served as Israeli ambassador to Turkey from 2007 to 2011. Levy told me that throughout the history of Israeli-Turkish relations, whenever Turkey had an urgent concern in the U.S., “the Turks carried assumptions regarding the ‘magical power’ of Israel’s foreign policy,” especially their purported ability to use the American Jewish lobby for influence the U.S. political arena.

Israel capitalized on presumptions about the Israeli/Jewish “magic power” to convince Turkey that they were taking all “possible measures.”

Israeli diplomats tried to persuade the relevant American players to prevent the Armenian experience from being incorporated into the museum, requesting influential Jewish congressmen such as Tom Lantos and Stephen Solarz to convince the museum commission to exclude the Armenian genocide. Lantos and Solarz believed this would serve U.S. interests in the Middle East that included Israel and Turkey maintaining good relations.

Ultimately, as a key U.S. NATO ally, it was Turkey’s own pressure on the U.S. Congress and the Reagan administration’s Cold War fears that forestalled any presence of the Armenian genocide in the museum as well as resulted in the failure to pass the Armenian genocide bill.

When the memorial finally opened its doors in 1991, its focus was the Holocaust and Jewish victims.

What changed in 2019?

Internationally, a number of developments supported the dramatic changes in U.S.-Turkish relations in 2019. They include Turkey’s July purchase of a Russian-made air defense system, which angered the Americans, and the October military offensive by Turkey in Northern Syria against the Kurds, who were U.S. allies.

In the U.S., the unprecedented condemnation by both Democrats and Republicans of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his attack on Kurds in Syria, as well as the impeachment process against Erdogan ally Donald Trump, weakened Congress’ adherence to the longtime official position favoring Turkey.

Congress passed powerful sanctions against Turkey. The Armenian genocide bill was part of the package.

Importantly, the bill passed by the U.S. Congress states the U.S. will “commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance.”

The U.S. is thus committed to allocate federal resources to build a U.S. memorial to commemorate the 1915 genocide – just as with the the 1978 President’s Commission on the Holocaust.

Practically speaking, building a U.S. Armenian genocide museum or memorial will have further negative implications for U.S.-Turkish relations, which might take another 40 years to rebuild.

Dr. Eldad Ben Aharon is a lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies. He specializes in the field of modern Middle East studies and the region’s diplomatic history during the Cold War. His research focuses on Israel’s foreign policy from 1948 to the present and Memory Studies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Arab Jews and the theory and practice of Oral History.

Asbarez: Prelacy Ladies Auxiliary Hosts Traditional Great Lent Luncheon

Jhanna Virabian
March 5, 2020

A traditional Great Lent luncheon hosted by the Western Prelacy Ladies Auxiliary took place at Vertigo Event Venue in Glendale under the auspices of Western Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian. The event was held on Wednesday, March 4.

Prior to the luncheon, the Prelate presided over Sunrise Service at St. Mary’s Church in Glendale. Vicar General Bishop Torkom Donoyan delivered the spiritual meditation on Jesus Christ as the one and only path to eternal spiritual joy and inner peace. “During the service, we prayed for God’s strength and we prayed for God’s mercy, even though we are unworthy, because we repent but commit the same transgression and continue to walk down the same sinful path. We prayed for the Lord to lead and keep us on His path. There are many paths in life, but our Lord Jesus Christ affirms that He is the one true path,” stated the Vicar General. He urged the faithful to turn their gaze from the earth to heaven above and seek the Lord’s guidance, to reject worldly pleasures, and seek lasting heavenly blessings instead.

During the luncheon, Prelate Mardirossian was joined by the Vicar General, Very Rev. Smpad Saboundjian, Very Rev. Ashod Khachadourian, and Archpriest Nareg Pehlivanian. Executive Council Secretary Elizabeth Boyajian, members of parishes’ Ladies Guilds, representatives of community organizations, Prelacy sponsors, and supporters were in attendance.

Welcoming remarks were delivered by Ladies Auxiliary member Maral Keledjian. A brief Sunrise service was conducted, followed by the blessing of tables.

Marriage and Family Therapist Nora Chitiian-Keleshian was the luncheon’s keynote speaker. In light of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I’s “Year of Armenians with Special Needs” proclamation, Keleshian spoke on how we, as individuals and as a community, can and must assist those who have special needs, whether intellectual, physical, or emotional, as well as their families. She stated that the initial diagnosis of a child with a disability is the hardest part for parents, who often go through the stages of denial, and it is at this time especially that they need the support of their family, friends, and of the community; in particular, love, care, understanding, a listening ear, and a helping hand.

Next, she touched on the true message of Great Lent, which sadly has come to be viewed as a diet rather than what it really is – a time of introspection, self-awareness, self-correction, cleansing of mind, body, and soul, prayer, and reflection, and doing good for others in need, all of which serve to draw us closer to God and transform our bodies into temples of the Holy Spirit. She focused in particular on the spiritual, rather than physical, aspect of Great Lent and doing good for others as a means of expressing and enriching our faith. Keleshian gave a number of examples of how our community has, in recent years, instituted programs for individuals with special needs, including special religious services at the Crescenta Valley Church, the Homenetmen “Hrashk” team, and the work of the Armenian Autism Outreach Project.

The program also featured nationalistic songs performed by tenor Kevork Hadjian, and musical selections on the kanoon by Nektarine Chilyan.

The Prelate then delivered the closing message. He began by conveying his blessings and commendation to the Ladies Auxiliary and to the keynote speaker, and expressed his support to children with special needs and their families, announcing that the special services which take place at the Crescenta Valley Church will be expanded to other Churches, including St. Sarkis Church in Pasadena. On this “Year of Armenians with Special Needs,” the Prelate stressed that we are all to make an effort to offer our love and support to all those with special needs in the spirit of tolerance, compassion, and mercy. He also commended the cultural program participants for their beautiful performances.

Referencing Socrates’ philosophy that self-examination, introspection, self-correction, renewal, rejuvenation, and revitalization comes from knowing oneself, Prelate Mardirossian added that, to truly know ourselves, we must be sincere and we must examine ourselves by God’s standards. “Great Lent is a wonderful opportunity to regulate our lives, morally, spiritually, and physically. And this comes from self-discipline. In addition, during Great Lent especially we are to be in constant communication with God, and that line of communication is prayer. Pray, not only for yourselves but for your fellow man, so that we may all enjoy a life of peace, justice, harmony, and tolerance, guided by discipline,” concluded the Prelate.

Lavrov tells Cavusoglu that situation around Sputnik Turkiye must be resolved swiftly

Jhanna Virabian
Panorama, Armenia
March 2 2020

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for immediate measures to settle the situation around Sputnik Turkiye employees, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday after Lavrov’ telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu. 

"The Russian side stressed that the situation around journalists and employees of Sputnik news agency in Ankara must be resolved the soonest possible. He also demanded their security be ensured," the ministry said, according to TASS. 

Editor-in-Chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, RT and Sputnik Margarita Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel earlier on Sunday that the police was searching the agency’s Istanbul office under an official warrant. She also wrote that the three Sputnik Turkiye employees, who had been detained earlier, were taken to the Palace of Justice for questioning. According to Simonyan, practically all Spitnik Turkiye employees are Turkish nationals.

On Saturday night, Simonyan wrote that unidentified persons had broken into the apartments of three Sputnik employees in Ankara, accusing them of high treason because of their work for a Russian mass media outlet.

Later, the Sozcu newspaper said that the police had detrained these three journalists over a publication on the news agency’s website titled "The Stolen Province: Why Turkey Was Given A Corner of Syria By France 80 years ago." The province of Hatay became part of Turkey in 1939 under an agreement with France when Syria was ruled by the French mandate.

Azerbaijani press: Elmar Mammadyarov invites OSCE Secretary General to visit Azerbaijan (PHOTO)

Jhanna Virabian
POLITICS 09:20 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 11

Trend:

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger in Vienna and the sides discussed the ways to enhance co-operation between OSCE and Azerbaijan, Trend reports citing MFA press service.

Secretary General Greminger said that the OSCE is committed to supporting Azerbaijan in the implementation of its commitments in all three fields of security: politico-military, economic and environmental, human. In this regard, the Secretary General said that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission to Azerbaijan to observe early parliamentary elections on 9 February, following an official invitation from the authorities.

Mammadyarov stressed that these elections should be viewed in the context of the reform process in Azerbaijan.

Mammadyarov briefed Secretary General Greminger about his meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, which took place under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on 28-30 January in Geneva. The minister emphasized the importance of such detailed discussions on the substantive aspects of early conflict resolution, on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act principles. Greminger expressed his full support to the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and welcomed the talks and concrete steps to prepare the populations for peace through intensified people-to-people contacts.

Mammadyarov and Greminger also discussed the current phase of implementation of the OSCE project on “Promoting Green Ports and Connectivity in the Caspian Sea Region”. The project aims at supporting Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan in making the best use of renewable energy, digitalization and trade, and transport facilitation to promote connectivity across the Caspian Sea and the wider region.

Elmar Mammadyarov invited Greminger to visit Azerbaijan in the near future. The minister announced that on the occasion of the Secretary General’s visit a conference on promoting green ports and connectivity will be organized in Baku.

https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/politics/3189879.html?fbclid=IwAR32Tn285Jrwy1p5KoKCoOETRSGi0wuJueSdCagblfKscWgojKX6nWnt174

Armenian Foreign Minister met with Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization

Jhanna Virabian
Arminfo, Armenia
Feb 10 2020

ArmInfo. On 10 February during a working visit to Austria, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in Vienna met with Executive Secretary of the  Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Lassina Zerbo ,.

According to the press service of the RA MFA, the interlocutors  touched upon the activities of the Organization, its tasks and steps  taken by the international community to solve them. In this context,  the parties emphasized the importance of steps taken to use the  potential of science, in particular, innovation and information  technology, including through a wider involvement of industry  experts.  Zohrab Mnatsakanyan confirmed Armenia's commitment to the  goals of disarmament and non- proliferation of nuclear weapons and  noted that in 2006, having ratified the Treaty on the  Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Armenia was always in favor of  its ratification by all states.

In the context of discussing the results of work with the  Organization and prospects for expanding cooperation, the Minister  and Executive Secretary Zerbo praised the active participation of  Armenian experts in the work of the Preparatory Committee of the  Organization.

Both sides also noted the importance of strengthening nuclear  security at the national and international levels through the  ratification and implementation of international legal instruments,  as well as the adoption of national legislation. In this regard, the  Armenian Foreign Minister praised the activities of the Garni seismic  station in Armenia, as well as the technical assistance provided by  the Seismic Protection Agency of Armenia in order to build the  capacity of the National Data Center.


RFE/RL Armenian Report – 01/16/2020

Jhanna Virabian 
                                        Thursday, 

Pashinian Slams ‘Corrupt’ TV Channels

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 
.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian lambasted TV stations critical of him on 
Thursday, saying that they belong to corrupt individuals and wage an 
“information war” against the Armenian government.

Pashinian said the government should expose the “real owners” of the private 
channels. He did not name any of them.

“I would say that the level of democracy in Armenia is so high that even corrupt 
persons have TV companies in Armenia nowadays,” he told a weekly cabinet meeting 
in Yerevan. “The logos of at least two TV channels can be replaced with the 
words ‘Corruption’ or ‘Corruption Group.’”

Pashinian claimed that he is “not unhappy with this situation” because these 
broadcasters help the authorities combat corruption by frequently interviewing 
former officials facing corruption charges and exposing their other “tentacles.”

Nevertheless, he went on, the government needs to enact legislation that will 
require them to reveal their “real owners” and thus increase broader 
“transparency” in the Armenian broadcast media. Justice Minister Rustam

Badasian told Pashinian in that regard that his ministry is already working on 
such a legal “mechanism.” Badasian did not elaborate.

At least two Armenian TV channels are owned by individuals thought to be linked 
to former Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian or their relatives in 
one way or another. They regularly air strong criticism of the current 
authorities in their news programs and talk shows.

The official owner of one of the pro-Kocharian Fifth Channel, Armen Tavadian, 
was arrested late last month on charges of seeking false testimony in favor of 
the jailed ex-president. Tavadian rejected the charges as politically motivated. 
Some Kocharian loyalists and Fifth Channel executives claim that Tavadian’s 
arrest is aimed at silencing the opposition media outlet.




No Date Set For Next Armenian-Azeri Talks

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia -- Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian speaks at a news conference in 
Yerevan, December 2, 2019.

Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian on Thursday declined to give a possible 
date for his fresh talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov 
anticipated by international mediators.

Mnatsakanian and Mammadyarov have met regularly in the last 18 months, most 
recently in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava on December 4. They appeared to have 
failed to make major progress towards a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh 
conflict during that meeting which Mammadyarov described as “tough.”

The U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group said 
afterwards that the two ministers will meet again early next year “to intensify 
negotiations on the core issues of a peaceful settlement.”

“Ever since our government took office in May 2018 we have not dragged out or 
delayed the [negotiating] process at any point,” Mnatsakanian told reporters 
when asked when that meeting will take place. “As you know, we worked quite 
actively last year.”

“The process is going on,” he said after meeting with pro-government lawmakers 
in Yerevan. “You know that we announce a meeting when we reach agreement on it. 
We announce it simultaneously with the co-chairs.”

Mnatsakanian also noted that it is “too early” to talk about fresh talks between 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

Mammadyarov claimed later in December that the Bratislava talks focused on the 
most recent version of a framework peace accord originally drafted by the U.S., 
Russian and French mediators in 2007. He said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey 
Lavrov presented it to the conflicting parties two years ago.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry insisted, however, that “no document is being 
discussed” by the parties at present.




Yerevan Mayor Demands Retraction Of Corruption Claims

        • Narine Ghalechian

Armenia -- Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutian speaks to journalists, January 16, 2019.

Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutian on Thursday challenged two leading members of the 
opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) to substantiate their allegations that his 
administration has accepted dubious cash donations from wealthy businesspeople.

In letters sent to the LHK’s Edmon Marukian and Davit Khazhakian, he said they 
must retract those claims if they cannot come up with any evidence.

Khazhakian is a member of the Yerevan city council who has repeatedly accused 
Marutian of corruption and mismanagement. He sparked a scandal in November by 
revealing that private firms have donated two dozen garbage trucks to the 
municipal administration.

Khazhakian claimed that the donations were made in return for construction 
permits given to them. Marutian strongly denied such a quid pro quo.

The opposition politician subsequently alleged that the municipality also 
accepted cash from private donors.

Marutian’s spokesman, Hakob Karapetian, dismissed that allegation as 
“disinformation.” “After that statement the municipality conducted an additional 
inquiry and did not find any instances of cash donation,” he told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian service.

Karapetian did not exclude that the mayor will take the opposition figures to 
court if they ignore his demands.

Khazhakian insisted, meanwhile, that he does have evidence of the alleged 
wrongdoing and has submitted it an ad hoc commission of the Armenian parliament 
which was formed recently to investigate the controversial donations. He said 
Marutian should cooperate with the commission.




Press Review


Armenia -- Newspapers for press review illustration, Yerevan, 12Jul2016

“When the leader of a post-Soviet state initiates constitutional changes he very 
likely does so in order to extend his rule,” writes “Aravot.” “In countries like 
ours, there is no culture of resigning in a dignified manner after completing a 
term in office. Usually they invent some ploys to keep sitting on the same or 
altered throne forever.” The paper says Russian President Vladimir Putin is 
pursuing the same goal in his latest drive to amend Russia’s constitution. Putin 
wants to stay in power for the rest of his life, it claims.

“Zhoghovurd” says that under Armenian law Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has 
only two more months to choose the new heads of Armenia’s Police and National 
Security Service (NSS). “These agencies have been run by acting heads for the 
last four months,” explains the paper. They cannot temporarily these posts for 
more than six months. “What is the reason for this uncertain situation?” the 
paper goes on. “It is possible that the prime minister cannot find trustworthy 
individuals in the security agencies.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” weighs in on a growing debate in Armenia about whether media 
outlets and social media users should be allowed to spread false or slanderous 
information and whether a government crackdown on them would constitute a 
violation of freedom of speech. “Those who carry out such propaganda against the 
authorities and political beneficiaries of that think they can spread any lies 
and nobody has the right to tell them off because freedom of speech is an 
absolute right,” writes the pro-government paper. “The opposite side believes, 
however, that … there is a limit beyond which there is a state interest which 
everyone must reckon with.” The daily controlled by Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s family goes on to accuse unnamed media outlets of “using freedom of 
speech against Armenia’s state interests.”

(Lilit Harutiunian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

House overwhelmingly approves resolution recognizing Armenian genocide

Jhanna Virabian
Los Angeles Times
Oct 29 2019
 
 
House overwhelmingly approves resolution recognizing Armenian genocide
The Armenian Genocide Committee held its March for Justice demonstration in Los Angeles on April 24, 2018.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
By Sarah D. WireStaff Writer
Oct. 29, 2019
2:28 PM
 
WASHINGTON —
 
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly reaffirmed that the U.S. government should recognize the century-old killings of 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide.
 
The resolution, which is not legally binding, marked the first time in 35 years that either chamber of Congress labeled as genocide the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, which is now modern-day Turkey, between 1915 and 1923 . A similar House resolution passed in 1984.
 
Support for the measure — particularly among some Democrats — grew after Turkey’s recent incursion against the Kurds along the Turkish-Syrian border, which killed about 200 Kurds and displaced more than 200,000.
 
“Given that the Turks are once again involved in ethnic cleansing the population — this time the Kurds who live along the Turkish-Syrian border — it seemed all the more appropriate to bring up a resolution about the Ottoman efforts to annihilate an entire people in the Armenian genocide,” said resolution sponsor Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank).
 
The vote on the bipartisan resolution came on the heels of House passage of economic sanctions against Turkey.
 
Turkey crossed the border on Oct. 9 and began attacks across a broad swath of northern Syria following President Trump’s announcement that U.S. forces would withdraw from the area. The United States had previously allied with Syrian Kurdish forces against Islamic State militants. The withdrawal drew swift condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans.
 
More than 40 states, including California, and several countries have recognized the genocide. But the Turkish government has refused to acknowledge it. And the U.S. government has stopped short of recognizing it by calling the deaths an “atrocity.”
 
The Turkish government acknowledges that the killings occurred but rejects the use of the term “genocide” to describe it, saying other countries should not pass legislation judging another country’s history.
 
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Schiff, who represents many of the estimated 200,000 Armenians living in Los Angeles County, has pushed the government for decades to recognize the genocide but hasn’t been able to overcome opposition from the Turkish government, a NATO ally.
 
Although there are currently no plans to bring the companion resolution up for a vote in the Senate, Schiff said the 405-11 bipartisan vote sent a strong message. “The Turkish lobby has few friends and allies anymore,” Schiff said.
 
Some lawmakers, including Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) questioned why the House was taking time to debate a nonbinding resolution dealing with atrocities committed 100 years ago when Congress had a lot left to accomplish in scant days before the end of the year, including preventing the government from shutting down when its spending authority expires Nov. 21.
 
“It remains unclear why we are urgently considering this resolution,” he said.
 
But longtime supporter of the effort Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Northridge) said it was important for the United States to take a stance, even so long after the fact.
 
“It is critical that we counteract Turkey’s genocide denial because genocide denial is the last act of a genocide,” Sherman said. “First, you obliterate a people, then you seek to obliterate their memory, and finally you seek to obliterate the memory of the obliteration.”
 
Southern California is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia, and each spring, thousands march on a day of remembrance.

Viktor Ambartsumian International Science Prize announces call for nominations

Jhanna Virabian
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 19 2019
Society 17:17 19/10/2019 Armenia

Viktor Ambartsumian International Science Prize is one of the important awards in astronomy/astrophysics and related sciences. It is being awarded to outstanding scientists having significant contribution in physical-mathematical sciences from any country and nationality. The Prize is being awarded once every two years since 2010. During 2010-2016 it was established by the Armenian Government as USD 500,000. At present it is USD 300,000.

The Prize includes laureate honorary diploma, medal with certifying document, USD 200,000 equivalent cash award and USD 100,000 equivalent, which should be used for the further development of Astrophysics as well as related fields of Physics and Mathematics in the RA, for the next two years after the Prize award.

This year the International Steering Committee (ISC) consists of local and international scientists,
Acad. Radik Martirosyan (President of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Armenia), Prof. Anatol Cherepashchuk (Russia), Prof. Michel Mayor (Switzerland), Prof. Vahe Petrosian (USA), Prof. Joseph Silk (UK) among them.

The deadline for submissions is March 18, 2020. The winners will be announced in July, while the awarding ceremony is scheduled for September 2020.

The details about the submission is available on the official website of the Prize here.

Government starts discussing budget funding bids for 2020

Jhanna Virabian

Government starts discussing budget funding bids for 2020

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 18:26, 9 October, 2019

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS. Chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the Government proceeded to the discussion of public agencies’ funding bids under the 2020 State budget bill.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Premier noted that the discussion should result in a more efficient and better targeted State budget bill for 2020.

“Considering our last year’s experience and the experience of past years, in general, we need to specify our primary task in the budget plan. The biggest challenge is the effective implementation of capital costs. The point is that this year and last year we had a situation several times when the State had money, but there were difficulties with using effective tools in terms of spending this money. This year, unfortunately, we may face the risk of under-fulfillment in terms of spending, but I want to stress that I consider this process to be quite normal. Why? Because budget spending, as we all know, has changed significantly since last year’s political changes. At least, the political authorities and the Armenian leadership consider the principle task to be the efficient spending of budget funds and the elimination of corruption and abuse. And in this regard, we see the need to make institutional decisions so that money is not merely spent, but is translated into political and economic realities that will improve our citizens’ living standards and the quality of economic growth, in general,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, within the framework of these institutional decisions, specific changes are foreseen, in particular, in the procurement system. “And I want to remind that it is extremely important that ministries and government agencies complete the tendering processes before the new year in parallel with the budget discussions, so that the relevant contracts could have been signed by January 1 in order to move forward with a clear-cut timetable,” the Head of Government said, noting that the next principle is the ability to review quarterly spending data.

“After seeing which of our expenses proved effective, we will have the opportunity to carry out budget redistribution on a quarterly basis. And in those areas where expenditure will turn out to be efficient and progressive, we will perhaps change and increase funding for these areas to ensure that spending is more effective in terms of economic impact,” Prime Minister Pashinyan emphasized.

The 2020 budget allocation for the Ministry of the Environment was the first to be discussed. In this context, the meeting reviewed the relevant departments’ assessments.