Author: Lara Chatinian

Photo: Reuters

 

The Iraqi army says it has seized the last strongholds of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in the city of Falluja, the BBC reports.

The head of the counterterrorism forces in the operation, Lt Gen Abdul-Wahad al-Saadi, said his troops had entered the northwestern Golan neighbourhood, the last area still under IS control.

The city was “fully liberated”, he said.

IS seized control of the city in January 2014.

THE MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II, CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS DURING THE PONTIFICAL DIVINE LITURGY CELEBRATED
IN THE MOTHER SEE OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN ON THE OCCASION OF THE VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS, FRANCIS, THE POPE OF ROME

(Holy Etchmiadzin, June 26, 2016)

When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd;

and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

John 13:34

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Yours Holiness, beloved brother in Christ,

Your Excellency, President of the Republic of Armenia,

Beloved spiritual brothers and faithful people,

Over the course of the past few days we have been experiencing an abundance of spiritual joy and joint prayer while glorifying God in Holy Etchmiadzin. Today we have gathered for the celebration of Divine Liturgy, joined in prayer by the Pontiff of Rome, our beloved brother, Pope Francis.

It is symbolic that today’s reading of the Scripture, during the celebration of Divine Liturgy, was the story of the multiplication of bread. The Evangelist tells us that when Christ secluded himself, knowing this, the multitude of people followed Him, and when the Lord saw the gathered crowd, He had compassion for them and healed the sick. In the evening the apostles asked the Lord to set the people free so that they could find food for themselves. Christ commanded them to feed the people. However, there was a shortage of food, and the Lord blessed it and the bread, which had miraculously multiplied, was enough for the apostles to feed the entire multitude.

The essence of this miracle, which became one of the important missions of Christ’s Holy Church, is the satisfaction of empty spirits by the Lord-given teachings and the support of the needy through compassion. The Lord urges His followers to rejuvenate faith by works, to conjoin prayer and worship with compassion, and to give alms; through which, by the appeasement of hardship and tribulations, we are co-workers with God, according to the words of the apostle (1 Corinthians 3:9). Through this vision, numerous prophesying Church fathers, graceful patriarchs, brave and good shepherds, countless witnesses of faith and devout believers have for centuries depicted the pages of the history of Christ’s Church with the devout preaching of the Word of God and the great works of giving alms and fostering; so that the people may be strengthened by faith, and through the works of faith they may secure the presence of God in the lives of humanity.

Today, faith in God is being tempted and human souls are being hardened during times of hardship and difficulties as well as during times of wealth and lavishness, when they are disengaged with the concerns of those who long for daily bread and are in pain and suffering. Faith is put to the test by extremism and other kinds of ideologies; xenophobia, addictions, passions and self-centred profits. The processes of secularism are intensifying, spiritual and ethical values and views are distorted, and the family structure, established by God, is being shaken. The root of evil in modern life is in trying to build a world without God, to construe the laws and commandments of God which bring forward economic, political, social, environmental and other problems, that day by day deepen and threaten the natural way of life.

Nevertheless, the world does not cease from being the center of God’s love and care. The Lord continues to say, “I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). The one who has tasted the delightful teachings of the Lord stoops to raise the fallen, to increase hope and faith in the hearts of men, and to repeat the miracle of the multiplication of the bread through supporting and consoling the needy, the sick, and the sorrowful. Goodness will prevail in the world and current challenges will be overcome by these commands of God, and by utilizing spiritual and moral values. All good works express God’s care towards humanity and the world, according to the words of the Lord, “behold the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), and as an affirmation of this, the churches of the world bring their service.

Dear ones, during these days together with our spiritual brother, Pope Francis, with joint visits and prayers we reconfirmed that the Holy Church of Christ is one in the spreading of the gospel of Christ in the world, in taking care of creation, standing against common problems, and in the vital mission of the salvation of man who is the crown and glory of God’s creation. The inseparable mission of the Church of Christ is the strengthening of solidarity among nations and peoples, reinforcing of brotherhood and collaboration, and a witness to this is the participation in this Divine Liturgy today of the ethnic minorities in Armenia: the Assyrians, Belarus, Greeks, Georgians, Jews, Yezidis, Kurds, Germans, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians who in brotherly coexistence with our people bring their assistance towards the development of our country and the progress of social life.

On this graceful day we are appreciative for another opportunity to thank Pope Francis on the occasion of his brotherly visit. We and our people will always pray for you, beloved brother, and for your efforts made towards peace and prosperity of humanity and towards the advancement of the Church of Christ. May God give you strength, bless and keep firm our Churches in love and collaboration and may He grant us new opportunities for witness of brotherhood. In your daily prayers remember the Armenian people, the Armenian statehood and the Armenian Church and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

With a prayerful spirit we ask for the protection and support of the Holy Right Hand of Almighty God to shelter those suffering from wars and terrorism, as well as those who are in starvation, poverty and other kinds of afflictions. We also beseech the Lord to pour abundant graces of heaven upon our lives and the whole world.  Amen

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France) call on the sides to honour the agreements which were reflected in the Joint Statements of the 16 May summit in Vienna and the 20 June summit in St. Petersburg.

We urge Azerbaijan and Armenia to remove all remaining obstacles to expanding the mission of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.  We also urge progress in substantive talks and on a proposal to establish an OSCE investigative mechanism. We will continue our engagement with the sides to advance all of these outcomes from the last two meetings between the Presidents.

SPEECHՕF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA SERZH SARGSYAN
AT THE MEETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES, PUBLIC AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS ACCREDITED IN YEREVAN

Yerevan, 24 June 2016

 Your Holiness,

Eminences,

Dear Guests,

What a special day the Lord has made for us.

It is an immense honor for our people and me personally to welcome the leader of the Catholic World, His Holiness Pope Francis on the Armenian soil, which was the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion and withstood sufferings through millennia for the Christian identity and values.

Your Holiness,

Your visit was long-awaited in our country. With Your dedication to humanitarian ideas and the universal values of love, peace, and kindness, and with your constant care for matters of concern to the Armenians, You enjoy the great respect and admiration of the Armenian people.

Thank you for gracing us all with this warm historic moment. Thank you for bringing blessing, happiness, and peace to our nation with your presence, for filling our homes and hearts with warmth. Approving the official motto of your visit as a “Visit to the First Christian Nation” and characterizing the trip as a “pilgrimage” by Your Holiness, bears testament to the care Your Holiness has towards our country and our people. It equally attests to the unique bond between the Roman Catholic Church and Armenian Apostolic Church. For this, we are thankful and grateful to you.

Distinguished Guests,

15 years ago, in 2001, the visit to Armenia of His Holiness Pope John Paul II was on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of declaring Christianity as the state religion in our country. Today, this historic visit of Pope Francis signifies another key anniversary—the 25th anniversary of restoring independent Armenian statehood—a cherished celebration for every Armenian.

Throughout the voyage of our millennia-long history, the Armenian people have faced many hardships — from Genocide and foreign oppression to indifference of friends and denial. It faced but never lost the ability to believe in the ideals of humanity, tolerance, and solidarity. It never lost owing to the faith, the values, the peace-loving nature, and for the great humanists who extended a helping hand.

One cannot but believe in the Triumph of Justice when in 100 years, a timeframe that divides 1915 from 2015, the message of justice is being conveyed to the mankind from the heart of the Catholic World heralding that the first of the mass atrocities having affected the humanity, the Armenian Genocide, is a historical fact and an undeniable reality; when notwithstanding all circumstances falsification and denial start to shake in the face of historic justice. This was testified by the new wave of recognition of the Armenian genocide that followed the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

We don’t look for culprits. We don’t spread accusations. We simply want things to be called by their names, as it will allow two neighboring peoples to move towards genuine reconciliation and a shared prosperous future by recognizing the past and embracing forgiveness and a clean conscience.

Your Holiness,

Dear Guests,

The Armenian people’s decision to declare Christianity as a state religion in 301 was indeed a key event in world history. However, it went beyond defining the destiny of the Armenian people: the Christian Faith became the hallmark of the Armenian identity, predetermining our historical course and the values and culture that steered us to the 21st century, to the present, to this very day.

Christianity is deeply-rooted into the Armenian soil and Armenian souls. To remain faithful to Christianity this is a key characteristic of the Armenian people. There is a reason why Armenian churches and cross-stones can be found virtually any country of the world. There is a reason why Saint Gregory of Narek, a great child of the Armenian people, was declared Doctor of the Universal Church, the highest title of the Catholic Church, joining the 36 greatest thinkers in Christianity. It is an honor, a milestone in the appreciation of the nation, which reaffirmed the same-source Christian value system underlying the bonds between Armenia and the Holy See.

Christianity is more than a religion for us. It is a lifestyle, one that instilled in the Armenian people the desire to live in peace and the philosophy of overcoming difficulties restraint and dignity. The more Christian we became, the more we respected and appreciated the faith of others, the more tolerant and peace-loving we became, capable of coexisting peacefully with other peoples and taking even better care of the spiritual-cultural legacy of others on our land.

Examples of inter-religious friendship are numerous. Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran is a case in point. Or, in the Middle East, until the unfavorable developments of the recent past, the presence of peaceful and prosperous Armenian communities and their harmonious coexistence with the host nations and national and religious minorities. We are watching with great sorrow the practices of vandalism and xenophobia in the Middle East, the only aim of which is the deletion of historical memory from those areas through a cultural massacre.

Your Holiness,

As you rightly noted in your address on 12 April, the peoples of this complicated region of ours need peace, referring to the peoples that, in the past, despite their differences and pressure, enjoyed extensive periods of peaceful life and even helped one another in difficulties.

Today, Armenia still aspires for peace. In any event, we prefer peaceful negotiation to shooting. We are ready for peaceful regional coexistence, as hard as the road to peace may be. It is perhaps because durable peace is based upon the idea of people’s freedom and free expression of will.

Your Holiness,

“Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement.” I agree completely. I believe in human achievements, in the ones who maintain peace at the price of their lives every second, in the ones that compel peace.

I am an optimist: I believe that humanity’s dreams of freedom and peace, cherished for centuries, will become reality one day.

Welcome to the First Christian Nation.

The bill on Armenian Genocide to be voted on in the German Bundestag on Thursday is very important to us, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said n an interview with He added that the measure is important not only for our country, but also for prevention of such crimes anywhere in the world.

“No German politician, even the ones who oppose the bill, denies that the events that happened 101 years ago were genocide, the first genocide of the 20^th century. I think that the values German politicians share should be more important than the short-term political interests. Many other countries, including France, have recognized the Armenian Genocide,” President Sargsyan said.

Speaking about the Germany responsibility, the President said: “There are numerous documents in German archives, reports by German diplomats and missionaries that prove the extermination of the Armenian people. The German Empire was historically an alley of the Ottoman Empire, and  might have to do something to prevent the crime. But it did nothing.”

President Sargsyan said he can’t understand the fear of German politicians of Erdogan’s sharp reaction. “Germany is a powerful state and the voice of the German Bundestag is heard all over the world. That’s why Germany has a special moral responsibility in defending the values without making any compromises. When you make a compromise out of a short-term political interests, you do it again and again. And that is bad for Germany, bad for Europe and the world,” he said.

The Armenian President said the possible failure of the Turkey-EU migrant deal has nothing to do with the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution. “It won’t be fair if you refuse calling the killing of the Armenian people “genocide” just because it will anger the head of state of another country. I am sure that the politicians in the Bundestag think the same way and will not be intimidated.”

Can Europe ever trust Erdogan in any form? “I cannot speak for Europe, but I can tell you from my own experience: No, we do not trust Erdogan! It is not only because of his refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide. We have tried for years to establish diplomatic relations. There were for example, the Zurich protocols that had to be ratified by the Turkish Parliament. But Erdogan has blocked everything. I wonder: Why did we ever negotiate?” President Sargsyan said.

Europe should not blindly trust Erdogan, but find its own solutions for the refugee problem, he added.

Referring to the Karbakh conflict, President Sargsyan said: “At the moment the situation is calm, there is no shooting. However, when Azerbaijan unleashed a military aggression, there was lack of international solidarity. We would like to make it clear what happened there: an attack by Azerbaijan.”

Asked what he expects from the international community, President Sargsyan said: “Armenia is a small country. We realize that we are economically perhaps less interesting. We want the wrong to be called wrong.  First of all. Europe should have criticized the actions of Azerbaijan. If that is not enough, sanctions would be conceivable as a next step.”

 

 

 

A draft law condemning the genocide of Sinjar Yazidis has been submitted to the Armenian National Assembly. The Sinjar Yazidi National Union participated in the elaboration of the bill.

Boris Murazi, who heads the public organization, said today “the Yazidi people will benefit both if the bill passes and if it fails to pass.”

“The document is not vulnerable in any respect, because it refers to international resolutions and laws adopted by the UN, which Armenia has also joined,” he told reporters in Yerevan.

He said the genocide continues today, as people are denied entry to their homes.

“If Armenia recognizes this genocide, it will provide Yazidis with an opportunity to present themselves on the international arena with concrete documents, to say that the US and Armenia have recognized the genocide,” he said.

The meeting of Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and Federica Mogheini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the EU Commission, has started in Vienna, President’s Spokemsman Vladimi Hakobyan informs.

The Presidents of Armenia and Azebaijan are in Vienna to participate in meetings initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Russian Foeign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kery have also joined the talks.

Photo: Getty Images

– The Anti-Defamation League said Friday that the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians that began in 1915 was “unequivocally genocide” and for the first time expressed support for US government recognition of the killings as a genocide.

The was posted on the organization’s website. It marked the strongest affirmation yet from the leading civil rights group in support of Armenian advocates, who have long pushed for formal recognition of what they contend was a genocide perpetrated by Turkish forces.

“What happened to the Armenian people was unequivocally genocide,” Greenblatt wrote. “We believe that remembering and educating about any genocide — Armenian, the Holocaust, Bosnia, Rwanda, and others — is a necessary tool to prevent future tragedies. . . . That is why I am speaking out today and why we would support US recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”

The statement came after years of tension between the ADL and Armenian activists, who chafed at the organization’s prior reluctance to acknowledge the killings as genocide.

Anthony Barsamian, the Boston-based cochairman of the Armenian Assembly of America, welcomed Greenblatt’s statement and said he hoped the ADL would back a resolution pending in Congress.

When World War I broke out, Turkish leaders targeted the Christian Armenian population under the pretext that they would cooperate with the Russian enemy. Turkey has long denied that a genocide took place, saying the death toll is exaggerated and that many Armenians died of from starvation or disease amid the upheaval of the war. The Turkish embassy in Washington could not be reached.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said Greenblatt’s statement “is new in that it’s very explicit in breaking with [the Turkish government’s] denials.”

While the ADL has never denied that a massacre took place, the organization said in 2007 that a similar congressional push was “counterproductive.”

The following year, the ADL’s then-national director, Abraham H. Foxman,said in a letter to an official in Watertown, which has a large Armenian population, that “we have referred to those massacres and atrocities as genocide.” Foxman also made explicit reference to the “Armenian genocide” during a speech in 2014.

On Friday, Robert Trestan, the ADL’s New England regional director, said Greenblatt’s statement was the “most unequivocal statement that we’ve ever issued,” and that the ADL and local Armenian community share an interest in educating the public about genocides to prevent future atrocities.

But Andrew H. Tarsy, former regional director of the ADL who split with the group over the issue, said Greenblatt’s statement was inadequate.

“I think they ought to lead the conversation about reparations for these families,” he said. “The recovery of assets, land, money, items, family heirlooms. Everything that Holocaust reparations . . . has represented should be on the table.”

In a statement, the US State Department said the government “clearly acknowledges as historical fact and mourns that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. . . . The United States continues to urge [Turkey and Armenia] to work together to achieve a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts. ”

Friday’s declaration by the ADL was also praised by Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, a prominent member of the local Armenian community.

“Today’s historic statement was the result of a lengthy, open dialogue I was proud to be part of, along with members of the Armenian National Committee of America, the Armenian Assembly of America, as well as individuals of the Armenian American and Jewish communities of Greater Boston,” Koutoujian said. “And so I want to personally thank all those who took part in these discussions, especially ADL New England Regional Director Robert Trestan who has been a true friend and partner to all Armenians.”

Armenia’s entrant at Eurovision 2016 Iveta Mukuchyan and members of the Armenian delegation had a meeting with Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sweden Artak Apitonyan.

“I have no doubt we’ll succeed, as the Armenian performance is one of the most discussed ones,” the Ambassador said. He voiced hope Armenia would be on the top.

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will take place in Stockholm May 10-14. Iveta will perform 7^th in the first semi-final on May 10.

Today marks the 25thanniversary of the Ring operation (Operation Koltso), as a result of which two villages in Artsakh were cleansed of Armenians.

The operation “Ring,” launched by the special police detachments (OMON) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, with the support of the USSR Interior Ministry՛s troops in April-May, 1991 holds a peculiar place in the history of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, both for its scope and consequences.

The operation resulted in a complete devastation and destruction of more than two dozen villages of Northern Artsakh, as well as in Shahumyan, Hadrut and Shushi regions. It ended only after a month, thanks to wide publicity and condemnation both within the USSR and beyond.

But the wheels of the war were set in motion. The operation “Ring”, which stood out by its brutality and massive violations of human rights, sharply increased the level of tension in the region and shifted the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict to a plane of military actions, becoming a prelude to the subsequent full-scale aggression of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, Azerbaijan failed to achieve its main goal – to intimidate the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and suppress their legitimate aspirations for self-determination. On the contrary, the operation “Ring” only strengthened the determination of the people of Artsakh to fight for their rights and freedoms.