Author: Kevo Kalantarian

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (USA) and Pierre Andrieu (France) and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The interlocutors discussed the situation established as a result of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact.

The parties attached importance to the maintenance of the ceasefire regime, soonest implementation of confidence-building measures and resumption of peace talks.

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will visit Yerevan on April 9, Spokesman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tigran Balayan said in a Twitter post.

“They will be received by President Serzh Sargsyan and will meet with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

The Co-Chairs also plan a visit to Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, TASS quotes French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as saying.

Pope Francis is planning a trip to Armenia in June, a year after he termed the Ottoman-era slaughter of Armenians a genocide.

Pope Francis may be going to Armenia, Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Friday. “A trip by the pope to Armenia is being assessed,” he said, adding that the most likely period was “the second half of June.”

“There is not yet a finalized programme, not certain dates,” said Lombardi,  reports.

Fr. Lombardi said a final survey of the sites by organisers on the Vatican side has not yet taken place and there is no definitive programme for this visit approved by the Pope.

His comments came after some media outlets reported a visit by Pope Francis to Armenia would take place from the 22nd to the 26th of June. Fr. Lombardi said those dates were not correct and it would be best to await final decisions to avoid creating confusion, Radio Vatican reported.

The Public Radio of Armenia will compete against Kiss FM Dance Music Australia in the quarter-final of the Radio Battle project hosted by Italian Rai Radio 2.

Keep tuned to Public Radio of Armenia (FM 107.7) on March 13, at 23:00 (8/9pm CET) or visit our official website (().

During the one-hour live show Armenia will “fight” against Australia.  Voting is only via Twitter, only during the show (one hour).

It’s really easy: just tweet #radiobattleAM or retweet the hashtag. Support Armenia and Public Radio of Armenia on March 13!

The Azerbaijani side undertook an infringement attempt at about 23:20 last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army were quick to spot the advancement of the rival pushed the Azeri troops back to their initial positions.

The Defense Army incurred no losses as a result of exchange of fire.

The Ministry said the rival suffered losses, but probe into details is still under way.

The Azerbaijani side fired more than 12,000 shot in the direction of the Armenian positions on March 7-8, forcing the Defense Army take retaliatory measures.

The Defense Ministry also dismissed earlier reports, claiming that the Armenian side had opened fire at shepherds in the direction of Chaylu village.

 

 

 

 

The German Bundestag is set to hold a debate on the Armenian Genocide on February 25. The Alliance 90/The Greens faction will make mention of the Armenian Genocide 100 years ago. Forty-five minutes are allocated for the report.

“There will be a statement followed by a debate,” Cem Özdemir, President of the Greens Party said in an exclusive interview with .

According to him, the Greens will present a statement, which has the same emphasis as the draft bill debated with the ruling coalition back in November 2015. Although the parties had reached some common ground, the bill was later prevented by the coalition.

“Obviously, the political motives are more important for the coalition than joint recognition,” Mr. Ozdemir said.

“We want the debate to be followed by voting. However, this is still uncertain, as we don’t know what the disposition of the ruling coalition is. If no voting follows, the bill will again be sent back to the Commission, where it is doomed to share the fate of an earlier motion submitted on April 24, 2015. It will remain pending, as the ruling coalition is not interested in raising the issue again,” President of the Greens Party said.

He added that the debate scheduled for February 25 is of great significance, considering that no other events commemorating the genocide of Armenians or other ethnic minorities is envisaged in the Bundestag this year.

The German Bundestag held heated debated on the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015, a day after German President Joachim Gauck used the word “genocide” to describe the events of 1915.

While the Greens and the Left Party supported the term ‘genocide,’ the federal government and the coalition parties had certain reservations. A single joint resolution is still being worked out. It’s unclear whether the final text will include the word “genocide” or not. It’s also hard to predict when the Bundestag will hold a final voting on the bill.

Cem Ozdemir hopes the ruling coalition and the opposition will manage to give a common assessment to the Armenian Genocide. “This would be an important message on the 100^th anniversary of the Genocide. First, it’s necessary to call it “genocide,” second, it’s necessary to accept the German share of guilt. Third, we should do our utmost to reach the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border,” he said.

Iran has signed a deal to buy 118 Airbus planes worth $25bn (€22bn; £17.4bn) at list prices in one of the biggest deals signed since Western sanctions against Tehran were lifted, the BBC reports.

The agreement was signed during a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to France.

The order included 73 wide body and 45 narrow body jets, including 12 A380 superjumbos.

Iran’s decision to buy the A380 is a significant boost for Airbus.

The company has struggled to convince airlines to order the world’s biggest passenger aircraft in the past two years.

By Arin Mikailian

Opponents of a proposed Armenian American Museum in Glendale voiced concerns over the potential for traffic and parking impacts, while backers endorsed the idea of creating a cultural hub and community resource during a public forum earlier this week.

More than 100 people packed a meeting room at St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church for a forum organized by the museum development committee.

The contested site, a 1.37-acre, city-owned parking lot, is at Mountain Street and Verdugo Road, across from Glendale Community College and abutted by a residential neighborhood.

While concerned residents say they’re not against the idea of a 30,000-square-foot museum, they’re not a fan of the location.

“The museum should be in a central area of the city, where City Hall is, and there is a core civic center area,” resident Tom Searson said in a phone interview after the meeting. “I think that’s probably the best location; there’s an infrastructure there. There’s shopping, all these things that will attract pedestrian traffic.”

Adding a museum to the area could generate congestion that nearby streets can’t handle, he said.

Conceptual designs depict a two-story building with a façade resembling both local and Armenian mountains. Inside, a library with research facilities, exhibitions and a coffee shop are planned.

Teacher Taline Arsenian, who was among those at the meeting, called the location, which is within walking distance of the college, ideal.

“I’m looking forward to this museum opening, to students from our community and neighboring communities being exposed to all of the cultural awareness and education they’re going to get,” she said.

Berdj Karapetian, chairman of the museum’s project development committee, said half of the exhibits will be permanent, while the other half will be traveling collections that feature other cultures, including Korean and Indian.

He said the museum isn’t looking at other sites.

One resident asked why the design couldn’t reflect the architecture of nearby Spanish homes. Architect Aram Alajajian explained that differentiating the building was intentional, citing as examples the distinct designs of the Broad and Getty museums.

“A museum is an iconic project,” he said. “An iconic building needs to stand out.”

In response to concerns over potential activities, Tigranna Zakaryan, the museum’s outreach director, said the property would not host weddings or other events “completely unrelated to what the museum stands for.”

Several residents of the adjacent Rossmoyne neighborhood said they were worried about added traffic.

A traffic study is planned, as are future reviews by City Hall. The Glendale City Council eventually would have to give its approval for the project to move forward.

The traffic study likely will be conducted next month and take into account peak hours, especially when Glendale College students arrive in the morning, traffic engineer Jano Baghdanian said.

While data still has to be collected, some things already are known about museum traffic.

“One [factor] with museums is that they do not generate traffic during peak hours; they generate traffic during the day. … A majority of museum visits occur on Saturdays and Sundays,” Baghdanian said at the forum.

As for parking, the Verdugo and Mountain lot houses 176 spaces used by college students and visitors of the adjacent Glendale Civic Auditorium.

More than a year ago, the City Council granted an agreement with the museum’s committee not to lease the lot while a conceptual design was prepared.

While final details have a long way to go, the city already has stipulated that the museum’s construction must include an underground parking structure to replace the existing lot — accessible by students — in addition to spaces for visitors.

While there’s no price tag for the entire project, the first financial goal through fundraising is $10 million, Zakaryan said.

She declined to say how much has been raised.

– Recently, a group of religious leaders from different denominations in the Lowell region met to discuss the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. What started as an informal get-together has become a united coalition of churches, pooling their spiritual and material resources to help some of the world’s most victimized people. It is the first time Christians in the region have worked together on such a large-scale initiative.

The culmination of their efforts will be an interfaith “Ecumenical Prayer Service of Christian Unity” on Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Lowell. The service is open to the public, and will highlight the hundreds of thousands of Christians who are being persecuted and killed in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. The clergymen are working with their respective congregations and the local community to inform people of the atrocities, and to raise money for relief efforts.

A unique feature of the multi-denominational initiative is that all donations will be combined and distributed to three trustworthy charitable organizations: Catholic Charities, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), and the Armenian Relief Fund. Donors may select among the three according to their personal preferences.

The enterprise was conceived and promulgated by Rev. Terrence O’Connell of St. Joseph’s Shrine and Chuck Saba, owner of Bishop’s Legacy Restaurant in Lowell, who developed the plan with Rev. Leonard Faris of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. The founding team met with Rev. Daniel Crahen of St. Patrick Church, Rev. Peter Rizos of St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Fr. Ernest Couloras, a retired Greek Orthodox priest, and Fred Simon, a parishioner at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, to discuss how to implement the plan.

Since then, many other churches have joined the operation, such as the Armenian Christian churches in Haverill and Lawrence. A number of Protestant denominations have also been contacted to expand the effort.

Rev. Faris has been an indefatigable organizer of the Jan. 24 event, which will take place at his church. He explained that, despite the relentless persecution from groups such as ISIS, the majority of Christians in the Middle East do not want to repatriate to other countries. They have deep roots in the area, and do not want to leave their businesses behind. Additionally, many have family members, especially the elderly, who are unable to travel.

“Many of the refugees don’t want to leave their homes because they know once they leave their country they’ll never go back,” Rev. Faris noted. “Most of them will never hear again from their relatives. So we want to help them stay in their homelands, since that’s what they prefer.”

Rev. O’Connell concurred: “The effort is to help people on-site, so they can either stay in their own country or to return to their homes.” He added that the victims are singled out for their faith: “It’s a tragedy for the refugees because they’re being persecuted for their religious beliefs.”

Rev. Faris expounded, “ISIS has no value for human life – Christian or Muslim. If you don’t follow their ideology, you’re killed. Unfortunately, Muslims are getting a bad name from ISIS. We need to remember that moderate Muslims are also getting slaughtered.”

Accordingly, the funds collected for relief programs will help both Christian and Muslim refugees, since the organizers wish to help all victims. Rev. Faris explained that when individual churches send contributions, they are often confiscated or stolen, especially by ISIS operatives. As a result, churches are wary of sending anything on their own since it will likely go to the wrong hands. To ensure the donations go directly to the designated beneficiaries, the ecumenical coalition is combining their resources and distributing them to three well-established relief organizations.

The cooperative effort among so many denominations in the Lowell region reverberates far beyond the local level. The ecumenical initiative is more than a gesture: it is a formidable example to believers and persecutors alike that Christians can cooperate and support each other in adversity.

Rev. Faris is enthusiastic about the response from the participants and the historic nature of the enterprise: “This is the first event of its kind in the region.

Lowell is a city of immigrants and we all get along and work well together. There is no animosity between us. We’re multi-cultural, and our churches are open to all who want to come and pray. As Christians, we have more in common than what divides us. This harmony can also happen in the Middle East.”

The book, titled “Bir Ermeni Subayın Çanakkale ve Doğu Cephesi Günlüğü 1914-1918” (The Journal of an Armenian Military Officer at the Çanakkale and Eastern Front, 1914-1918), which includes Dr. Avedis Cebeciyan’s memories of the war, has been translated into Turkish, reports.The book was originally written in Armenian and published in Beirut in 1986.

The book reveals another perspective of the war and contains some of Cebeciyan’s insights. Some moments of the battle, bombardments by Allied countries and tents set up for those injured in the war are among the moments covered in the book by the Armenian doctor.

Cebeciyan states in the book that the Deportation Law, which was enacted on May 27, 1915, came as another tragic incident Ottoman Armenians suffered during the war. Cebeciyan describes the situation of those who suffered due to the deportation policy, as his family members, including his pregnant wife, were deported to Syria in 1915.

In a journal entry dated Aug. 13, 1915, Cebeciyan wrote: “An enemy aircraft bombed us three times today. One of the bombs landed four meters away from my tent. I wasn’t in the tent and the bomb didn’t explode. It just got stuck in the ground and we dug it out. There are many injured people here. It’s painful to witness the sufferings of thousands of people and not being able to do anything for them but transfer them [to hospitals]. We have transferred 11,000 wounded in the last three days and there isn’t enough space on the ships for all of them. I have spent most nights without any sleep carrying out the transfers.”

“The bombardment has finally ended. However, a ship has caught on fire. I stood up on a steep mountain, and called to the soldiers, saying: ‘Come on, this is a day to serve the country. Come to [extinguish] the fire!” Cebeciyan wrote in another entry dated Sept. 3, 1915.

Cebeciyan attended the American University of Beirut with the encouragement of his father, Hovhannes Cebeciyan — one of the Armenian gentry in Gaziantep province, and graduated as a doctor. After serving in Şanlıurfa for a while, he continued to work at the Sev Gaziantep American Hospital. He also served in Germany and Switzerland to gain more experience and specialize in his profession. The Adana massacre of 1909, which resulted in the death of 20,000-30,000 Armenians and 1,300 Arameans (Syriacs), broke out when his wife was pregnant with their first child. Cebeciyan decided to return to Gaziantep, his hometown, because things were becoming unbearable for him after his father-in-law was killed on his way to Osmaniye.

Cebeciyan heard that many of his relatives had been killed while he was treating those who were injured during World War I. His brother, Kirkor, had been banished to Syria and was able to come back only after the war. He returned to Syria’s Aleppo Governorate after the Armistice of Mudros was signed on Oct. 30, 1918. He earned a living by establishing a clinic with his brother-in-law, Filip Hovnanyan, who was also a doctor. He treated those who were injured during the 1915 Armenian massacres and worked at the clinic until 1952, two years before his death.