Author: Paul Hambardsumian

President Serzh Sargsyan has signed a decree, dismissing Arpine Hovhannisyan of the post of Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, President’s Press Office reports.

Arpine Hovhannisyan has been elected to the National Assembly, which is set to convene its first session on May 18.

Armenian Weekly — The United States Director of National Intelligence Daniel R. Coats published on May 11 the U.S. Intelligence Community’s (IC) 2017 “Statement for the Record” entitled “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community,” which includes a part on the increased tensions between Artsakh and Azerbaijan that took place in April 2016.

The IC is a federation of 16 separate U.S. government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and national security of the United States. The statement that assesses potential threats to U.S. national security reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community.

The statement, which is divided into global and regional threats, includes subcategories like cyber threats, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and counterintelligence.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are addressed in the “Russia and Eurasia,” section of the regional threats division, in a subsection entitled “The Caucasus and Central Asia.”

The statement provides particular attention to the escalation of tensions between Artsakh and Azerbaijan and concludes that the situation is likely to remain in 2017. It also makes a reference to Azerbaijan’s economic difficulties and the possibility of Azerbaijan’s regime being challenged as a result.

“We in the Intelligence Community are committed every day to provide the nuanced, multidisciplinary intelligence that policymakers, warfighters, and domestic law enforcement personnel need to protect American lives and America’s interests anywhere in the world,” read a part of the report.

Below is the section on Armenia and Azerbaijan in its entirety:

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Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabagh flared in April 2016, and both sides’ unwillingness to compromise and mounting domestic pressures suggest that the potential for large-scale hostilities will remain in 2017. In Azerbaijan, ongoing economic difficulties are likely to challenge the regime and increase its tendency to repress dissent to maintain power while it continues to try to balance relations with Russia, Iran, and the West.

Photo: Reuters

A suicide attack on a convoy belonging to the Nato mission in Afghanistan has killed at least eight people in Kabul, officials say, the BBC reports.

The victims were all civilians, a government spokesman said. About 25 other people were injured, including three US service members.

The attack on the group of military vehicles happened next to the US embassy during the morning rush hour.

No group has said it was behind the bombing.

The blast follows a threat by the Taliban to target foreign forces.

One of the vehicles was badly damaged, along with several other passing cars.

The G7 group of nations has failed to reach agreement over threatening new sanctions against Russia and Syria, the BBC reports.

Foreign ministers were seeking a common position on the Syrian conflict, before the US secretary of state flies to Russia to try to persuade it to abandon its Syrian ally.

The nations agreed there was no solution to the Syria crisis with President Assad in power.

But UK proposals to target sanctions at senior military leaders were sidelined.

The diplomacy in the Italian town of Lucca follows the latest apparent use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Syria has denied it carried out a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun last week that left 89 people dead.

In response, the US fired 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase that it said was implicated in the attack.

Speaking after the end of the G7 meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the missile strike “was necessary as a matter of US national security interest”.

Asbarez – As the Armenian Diaspora and human rights activists from around the world prepare for the 102nd Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Angelenos will join community artists to raise awareness of genocide prevention and education through the 9th annual Silence the Lies, Rock the Truth concert. The concert combines forces with the “Genocide 101” Educational Charitable event that took place last year.

“We find special meaning in working with the community to bring an artistic component to remembrance,” Kzirian added. Kzirian has served as Chairman of the AYF Central Executive in the Eastern United States and Executive Director and Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region.

Silence the Lies, Rock the Truth! is a social justice concert dedicated to raising awareness of the Armenian Genocide.  For the past several years, socially conscious artists in the Los Angeles area have come together to work with the community through music, activism and commemoration. VI·ZA, The Dirty Diamond, Killikiah and Ayline will take the stage on April 23, 2017 at the Roxy Theatre as the arts will inspire the need for recognition and contrition through a uniquely powerful performance that will indeed Silence the Lies and Rock the Truth.

“As youth of the Armenian Diaspora, we are constantly engaging in meaningful ways to fight for human rights while maintaining ties to our homeland,” said AYF Youth Corps Representative Nazeli Khodabakhsh. “Silence the Lies, Rock the Truth is an opportunity for us commemorate through artistic expression, and helps provide the means for us to continue to play a role in the future of Armenia, through programs like AYF Youth Corps,” she added.

Various community organizations, including the Armenian Youth Federation – Western Region, Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region, and UCLA Alpha Gamma Alpha are teaming up with these artists to make for a high impact show.

“We’ve been organizing this concert for many years, and with each show we grow firmer in our resolve to stand up for what is right,” added K’noup Tomopoulos, singer of the band VI·ZA.

This year, proceeds from the concert will be donated to two needy organizational projects.

Actor Dean Cain, who recently visited Armenia, has talked to Fox News about Armenia’s support for Syrian refugees, Armenia as the first Christian nation, and the Armenian Genocide.

Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Theresa May is to officially notify the European Union next Wednesday that the UK is leaving, the BBC reports.

Downing Street said she would write a letter to the EU’s 27 other members, adding that it expected negotiations to then begin as quickly as possible.

The move comes nine months after people voted 51.9% to 48.1% in a referendum.

Talks on the terms of the departure and future relations are not allowed under the Article 50 process until the UK formally tells the EU it is leaving.

If all goes according to the two year negotiations set out in the official timetable, Brexit should happen in March 2019.

Photo: Tony Savino

Archbishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church will make a rare visit to Naples, the reports.

Unlike the archbishops of most churches, who are tasked with baptizing or confirming or ordaining around their diocese, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, of the Armenian Orthodox Church, comes to Naples this weekend simply to be with his Southwest Florida flock.

It will be his first time here since 2006, a cause for major celebration, with two dinners and the church’s service, known as the Divine Liturgy, on Sunday.

Naples is receiving the Eastern U.S. archbishop at a fortuitous time, too: In the Armenian church, Sunday is “The Day of Good Living,” the last day before the Orthodox penitential season of Lent begins.

This congregation is holding its breath until Saturday. Archbishop Barsamian was actually scheduled to visit last year but was summoned at the last minute to a conference in Armenia.

“So we held the banquet anyway, but he couldn’t come,” recalled Frank Avakian Stoneson, parish council chairman.

Stoneson knows the archbishop; he worked for him in the Eastern diocese office in New York for 10 years.

“He’s a real Christian spirit,” he said. “He has really pushed for ecumenism, and he’s served on interfaith organizations around the world.”

He also invited the public to experience the two-hour Divine Liturgy, a formal event with ecclesiastical robes and a sermon from the archbishop, on Sunday: “If you haven’t been to one, it’s a great experience.”

The Naples parish is considered a mission because it does not have its own sanctuary. It meets at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Davis Boulevard, bringing in a priest for its service, known as the Divine Liturgy, twice a month.

Nearly half of its members are seasonal, Stoneson said. The congregations dwindles to about half its 100-member count during the summer. There’s an average of one baptism a year, according to records with the national church.

That isn’t a concern to its leaders. There is a history of loyalty to the Armenian church and to its adherents’ struggling homeland. Their faith to them is “like the skin of our bodies,”  Archbishop Barsamian said from his office in New York.

“We don’t proselytize,” he added “But for someone who wants to adopt our faith, we welcome them in.”

If anything, the Armenian church has been fostering communion with other religions rather than taking from them, Archbishop Barsamian said. He was one of the founders of an annual dialogue among Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic church, tackling the tough theological points that could divide them.

It has brought about revelations that churches have misunderstood each other for years, perhaps centuries, when they could have been collaborating. An example in mind is the nature of Jesus Christ, whom all consider the son of God, but whom some churches don’t consider as ever having been human.

“We believe in two natures of Christ. He was human and divine,” he explained. After one of its ecumenical dialogues the discovery came that they all believe the same thing: “All the theologians see there was misunderstanding in the past. Some of it had to do with languages — now that some of those texts are translated they see there was a wrong interpretation.”

Even more surprising were the statements of Pope Francis at the dialogue’s conference last year. The pope addressed the assembled group with the idea of a “unity where no one is higher than the other.”

That is a watershed moment for Orthodox churches, which each have prelates but have always understood Catholicism to insist the pope is the universal head of the church. It was “a breakthrough,” said Archbishop Barsamian, that still excites him: “So having different heads for churches does not create any obstacle to communion. It looks like Pope Francis is in favor of this.”

All of those may be in his message to the faithful this weekend. But Archbishop Barsamian says his primary message to Naples will be the one that bedevils Christianity everywhere — that we are in danger of becoming that “Material Girl” Madonna sang about. That, and the rise of secularism, that separation of church from daily life, worry him most.

“That’s a challenge, especially in the Western World,” he remarked. “Is that the intent of life?”