Author: Ophelia Vardapetian

PM Pashinyan’s official visit to the Czech Republic over

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 20:22, 5 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community in the Czech Republic in Prague, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister answered many questions of the attendees, which related to the developments in the region, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the steps taken in the security sector, the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulted by the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, opportunities for the involvement of Diaspora specialists in Armenia’s state administration system within the framework of the "iGorts" program and other programs, Armenia-Diaspora relations, economy, tourism, culture and other fields.

In Prague, Prime Minister Pashinyan laid flowers at the khachkar dedicated to Armenian-Czech friendship in the park of Saint Jindrich and Kunhuta Church.

Within the framework of the visit, the Prime Minister visited the European regional headquarters of RFE/RL in Prague. After the meeting with director Jamie Fly, Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to the Armenian service of the radio station.

The Prime Minister's official visit to the Czech Republic is over.

Azerbaijan’s actions speak of preparations for ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 20:52, 4 May 2023

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. What Azerbaijan is currently դօինգ against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is preparation for the ethnic cleansing process, the correspondent of ARMENPRESS reports from Prague that Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at the "Armenia's democracy in the troubled region: Security and stability needs" discussion held at the Prague Center for Transatlantic Relations.

Presenting the regional situation to the participants of the discussion, Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan grossly violates the provisions of the tripartite agreement signed in November 2020. For several months, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world, the Lachin Corridor, has been blocked. Azerbaijan is doing this in ignorance of the decision of the international court.

"Despite the decision of the international court, Azerbaijan illegally set up a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor, violating the right to free movement with these actions. The supply of natural gas and electricity is disrupted, deepening the humanitarian crisis. We do not consider these isolated actions, but preparations for ethnic cleansing. It is necessary that an international fact-finding mission be sent to Nagorno-Karabakh, Lachin Corridor," said Nikol Pashinyan, emphasizing that the international community should give targeted assessments.

Despite all the difficulties, according to the Prime Minister, peace in the region has no alternative.

Armenian Genocide Committee Holds Community-Wide Event Commemorating 108th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide

Ophelia Vardapetian
by Contributor

 

 

 

in Community, Latest, News, Top Stories

AGC Chairman addressing the crowd gathered at a community-wide event commemorating the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide


GLENDALE—Elected officials, community members and leaders gathered in Glendale City Hall’s plaza on April 24 to mark the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, when 1.5 million Armenians perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government from 1915 to 1923. The event was organized by the Armenian Genocide Committee, which is an assembly of the largest religious, political, cultural, athletic, and professional organizations of the southern California Armenian community.   

Master of Ceremonies for the solemn event was AGC Chairman Mehran Khatchadorian. He welcomed the large audience and thanked them for being present and raising their voices to demand justice for the unpunished atrocities. In his opening remarks, Khatchadorian expressed an ominous theme that was shared by many of the guest speakers at the event.

“Today our people confront a perilous situation as they did 108 years ago, as Azerbaijan and Turkey continue their policies of ethnic cleansing and annihilation of the indigenous Armenian population of the Armenian Highlands.  It is imperative that today on April 24 that we not only remember our martyrs, but that in addition, we speak with one voice, loudly and clearly, alerting the world of the need to prevent genocide taking place again in Artsakh,” said Khatchadorian.   

Congressman Adam Schiff California State School Superintendent for Instruction Tony Thurmond

Among the distinguished list of keynote speakers were: Congressman Adam Schiff, California State School Superintendent for Instruction Tony Thurmond, California State Assembly member Chris Holden, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City councilmember Nithya Raman, Glendale Mayor Dan Brotman, and Glendale City councilmembers Elen Astryan and Ardy Kassakhian. 

Congressman Adam Schiff announced that he introduced an unprecedented bill in the U.S. Congress for the United States of America to recognize the independence of the Republic of Artsakh. He also called on the U.S. government to stop all aid to Azerbaijan, as he resoundingly asserted that “not one dime” should be provided to the authoritarian dictator regime in Baku. Schiff also raised concern that Azerbaijan appears to be preparing for war again and that if war should breakout, he is concerned that such hostilities have the potential to escalate and involve other regional powers.

In his remarks, Superintendent Thurmond explained how California schools are at the forefront of educating our youth about the Genocide, in particular the Armenian Genocide.

California State Assembly member Chris Holden Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath

Prominent attorney and community activist, Milena Mailyan was the non-elected official keynote speaker. She spoke of the work that the Center for Truth and Justice, which she co-founded, has undertaken — recording over 400 testimonials and gathering evidence from survivors of the acts of aggression that Azerbaijan and regime have wrought against the Armenian population of Artsakh. As part of her address, she announced that an Armenian Legal Defense Fund is beeing established which will help fund the prosecution of claims against the perpetrators of the heinous crimes against humanity and provide for a means to defend Armenian rights in international forums. 

On behalf of the Armenian Community AGC representative Antoin bezdjian delivered a speech in Armenian. AGC Armenian Youth representatives also took the podium and offered remarks. Participants later heard from Ani Ghazaryan (AYF) and Nanor Bedrossian (AGBU Youth).

The audience also heard a moving poetry recitation, presented by Ellen Vardanyan of Blair High School’s Armenian Studies Program in Pasadena, California, as well as a beautiful rendition by Maggie Margarita Khlghatyan.

The AGC also produced a two-hour April 24 Armenian Genocide Commemoration special program that was broadcasted on most local stations and all major Armenian television channels, and on AGC social media platforms. The special program featured interviews with scholars and political activists, and special message from Armenian religious leaders.

The highlight of the two-hour special program was a discussion with University of California, Armenian Promise Institute director and historian, Professor Taner Akcam. The two-hour special program was hosted by KTLA 5 News reporter Ellina Abovian, a journalist and news anchor Vruir Tadevosian, and Armenian TV & Radio Host Rafayel Mnatsakanyan. The program can also be viewed in its entirety on AGC’s Facebook page.

“I want to thank all AGC member organization and their representatives for working tirelessly to organize the Armenian Genocide commemoration and the special program. I am proud of the fact that we were able to raise awareness of the dire circumstances that the Armenian nation finds itself in once again. While we remember April 24 1915 and demand justice for our martyrs, we will be ever vigilant in bringing our community together to prevent the genocide that is looming against the Armenian nation and specially our compatriots in Artsakh,” said Khatchadorian.

Armenian genocide victims commemorated in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır

Ophelia Vardapetian
Kurdish Press –

Victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide were commemorated on Saturday in a vigil organised by the Human Rights Association in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır (Amed).

Each week relatives of Diyarbakır’s enforced disappearance victims come together to demonstrate. However, Saturday’s vigil focused on the annual 24 April Armenian genocide remembrance day.

The demonstrators recounted the life of Tanile Varujan (Daniel Varoujan), an Armenian poet killed in 1915.

In 1914 Varujan had founded a group called ‘Mehian’ with fellow writers in Istanbul. A year later he was deported towards the central Anatolian province of Çankırı and, at 31 years old, was tortured to death.

Varujan was one of an estimated 1.5 million Armenian victims of mass killings committed between 1915 and 1917.

On 24 April 1915 over 200 Armenian intellectuals were arrested in Istanbul and deported. The date now marks the annual remembrance day.

Armenian genocide commemorations were banned in Istanbul for a second time this year.

Istanbul’s governor’s office announced that the commemorative events planned in the district of Kadıköy were “not deemed appropriate to be organised”.

“By banning our commemoration event, the Governor’s Office has clearly shown that it is against the dynamics of democratisation. We call on the governorship to abandon this decision,” the organisers announced.

“There is no reasonable justification for the banning of our commemoration this year as it was last year. It is unacceptable to ban this event, in which we commemorate those we lost in 1915 with respect and tranquillity,” the organising platform continued.

“Confronting 1915 is a compulsory step that must be taken today in order to build democracy, equality and sisterly coexistence on solid foundations,” it added.

Despite the ban, the Human Rights Association’s (IHD) Commission Against Racism and Discrimination plans to make a press statement on 24 April in Istanbul’s Taksim.

US ‘deeply concerned’ by Azerbaijan’s checkpoint on Lachin corridor bridge

Ophelia Vardapetian
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. government said it is "deeply concerned" by Azerbaijan establishing a checkpoint on the only land route to the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying it undermines efforts toward peace in the region.

"The United States is deeply concerned that Azerbaijan’s establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process," the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Sunday.

The State Department urged free and open movement of people and commerce on the Lachin corridor and also called on the parties "to resume peace talks and refrain from provocations and hostile actions along the border."

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but its 120,000 inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians and it broke away from Baku in a war in the early 1990s.

Azerbaijan on Sunday said it had established a checkpoint on the road leading to Karabakh due to what it cast as Armenia's use of the road to transport weapons, a step that was followed by claims of border shootings by both Azeri and Armenian forces.

Armenia said the checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor was a gross violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement which ended a 2020 war.

Armenia called on Russia to implement the agreement, which states that the Lachin corridor, the only road across Azerbaijan that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, must be under Russian peacekeepers' control.

Nagorno-Karabakh was the focal point of two wars that have pitted Armenia against Azerbaijan in the more than 30 years since both ex-Soviet states achieved independence. Russia and Armenia are officially allies through a mutual self-defence pact, but Moscow also seeks to maintain good relations with Azerbaijan.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, editing by Deepa Babington

Ruling force MP: You should close doors of Armenia ARF organization

Ophelia Vardapetian
NEWS.am
Armenia –
15:38, 21.04.2023

Half of your faction is being tried for illegal property, and to talk about someone acquiring a second or third property is not understood at all here. Vagharshak Hakobyan, an MP of the ruling majority “Civil Contract Faction” of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, stated this in his remarks at the NA Friday, addressing the lawmakers of the opposition "Armenia" Faction.

He reflected on the remarks by Armen Rustamyan, an MP of the “Armenia” Faction and member of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party of Armenia, and noted: "If you analyze what the ARF has been doing, you should close the doors of the ARF organization here because at least in recent years, you have not provided any objective benefit to Armenia. Being in the [former] coalition [government], not being in the coalition, you can't note… in 20 years we see what you have brought the country to. By singing 'Mush and Sasun' [Armenian patriotic songs], you, with other coalition partners together, have brought our country to the door of disaster. This is the reality," said Hakobyan.

And commenting on "Armenia" Faction secretary Artsvik Minasyan statement that it is necessary to find out to what extent the Turkish-Azerbaijani agents’ network participates in the affairs of the Armenian government, Vagharshak Hakobyan said: "Mr. Minasyan, I call on you to look for the Turkish-Azerbaijani agents’ network and other agents’ network in the ranks of the [Armenian] opposition."

CoE must demonstrate that its declared values are above political and economic interests. Speaker of Artsakh parliament

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 21:38,

YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. During this period the opinion that they are abandoned by the international community has spread widely among the residents of the Republic of Artsakh, while Azerbaijan continues to violate its own international obligations without any consequences for itself. In this regard, "Artsakhpress" news agency asked Artur Tovmasyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, what kind of expectations there are, in particular, from the Council of Europe, an organization that is authorized to protect human rights in its entire geographical area, including Artsakh.

In response, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Artsakh noted that within the framework of informing the international community about the humanitarian and human rights-related consequences of blocking the Lachin Corridor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) has sent letters to the leadership of the Council of Europe and all member-states, asking them to take immediate measures, to prevent further violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by Azerbaijan.

“Responding to the situation, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Commissioner for Human Rights and the PACE co-rapporteurs on the issues of Armenia and Azerbaijan issued statements calling for the opening of the corridor, and the European Court of Human Rights applied interim measures against Azerbaijan. After the discussions on the pending issues held in January, a report entitled "Elimination of the consequences of blocking the Lachin Corridor" is being prepared in the Parliamentary Assembly. At the same time, we are deeply disappointed by the absence of a targeted appeal from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who after the very weak statement made on December 15, 2022, decided to remain silent in the conditions of the ongoing blockade and the publicly announced goal of ethnic cleansing of Artsakh by Azerbaijan”, Artur Tovmasyan said.

According to Artur Tovmasyan, while all the leading international human rights defenders continue to raise the alarm and call for urgent steps to be taken to end the blockade of Artsakh, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe has stayed away from this human rights crisis, showing double standards and a selective approach to fulfilling his official duties and fulfilling the organization's mandate in general. The same can be said about the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

"Silence and inaction of such high-ranking officials is tantamount to giving consent, if not complicity, given that more than a hundred thousand people in the zone of responsibility  of the Council of Europe remain abandoned amid massive violations of human rights, deep-rooted hatred, physical and psychological intimidation by the autocratic regime of Azerbaijan and its state apparatus. Ultimately, the leadership of the Council of Europe must be committed to the ideals and values of the organization and work for the benefit of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people, rather than being guided by the principle of political expediency.

Human rights and the rule of law should not be sacrificed for shameful economic and political calculations. Each new day of Azerbaijan's blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh is another day of shame for those who have an international mandate for protection and the necessary tools for it, but prefer not to act. We reiterate our call to the Council of Europe and its leadership to act decisively for the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We expect from the Committee of Ministers an unequivocal political assessment of Azerbaijan's barbaric actions, as well as the use of all its tools, including the implementation of a fact-finding mission to end the policy of ethnic cleansing and hold Baku accountable for not fulfilling its obligations," said Artur Tovmasyan, adding , that while the Council of Europe is preparing for its 4th summit, it should demonstrate in practice that human rights are universal and that the values proclaimed by the organization are placed above political and economic interests.

Book: Greek-Armenian writer’s ‘Bread, Education, Freedom’ hits Iranian ‎bookstores

Ophelia Vardapetian
IBNA – Iran's Book News Agency
IBNA- 'Bread, Education, Freedom' (2013), a dystopian novel by Greek-Armenian ‎author Petros Márkaris has been published in Persian and is available in Iranian ‎bookstores. ‎

This novel has been rendered from French into Persian by Ghasem San'avi. Jahan-e Ketab Cultural Artistic Institute has released 'Bread, Education, Freedom' in 242 pages.
 
In an impoverished and tense Athens, the corpses of three prominent personalities are found. Alongside them, a recording broadcasts this slogan once used against the dictatorship of the Colonels: “Bread, education, freedom”.
 
As the head of the crime squad in Athens, he’s called to the scene when Yerassismos Demertzis is murdered. When the police arrive on the premises, a construction site near the Olympic Games stadium, they start investigating. A phone set on the victim’s body rings and a recorded message says the slogan “Bread, education, freedom”.
 
This is the slogan used by the students who fought in the Athens Polytechnic Uprising in November 1973. This uprising was repressed by the Regime of the Colonels but the people supported the students and it eventually led to the end of the regime.
 
Who is behind these murders? A member of the extreme right? A former leftist driven by the desire for revenge? The police are not spared by the crisis either and Commissioner Kostas Charitos, deprived of his salary for three months, will have to redouble his efforts if he wants to discover the truth.
 
Petros Márkaris is a writer of detective novels starring the grumpy Athenian police investigator Costas Haritos. He wrote several plays and cooperated with leading film director Theo Angelopoulos on a number of film scripts. He translated several German dramas into Greek such as Goethe's ‘Faust I’ and ‘Faust II’, as well as Brecht's ‘Mother Courage’.

Armenia remains committed to resolving all regional issues through negotiations, says PM Pashinyan

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 11:46,

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenia remains committed to the policy of resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the settling the relations with Azerbaijan through negotiations, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

“Notwithstanding all difficulties, we continue to be committed and be involved in the policy of resolving all regional issues, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, through negotiations. We are also ready for the opening of the regional economic and transport connections, based on our principles expressed previously. We are also ready for delimitation based on the Prague and Sochi agreements,” the Armenian Prime Minister said during the April 13 Cabinet meeting.

Armenian Deputy PM meets with United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in Washington D.C.

Ophelia Vardapetian

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 11:58,

YEREVAN, APRIL 13, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan has met with United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo in Washington D.C.

“Deputy Secretary Adeyemo discussed recent economic developments in Armenia. He also highlighted the United States’ global efforts to prevent evasion of U.S. sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia. He affirmed the United States’ commitment to ongoing collaboration between the United States and Armenia,” the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a readout.