Author: Sonya Jalatian

Azerbaijan continues violating international humanitarian law, Armenia’s acting FM tells CoE

Sonya Jalatian
Public Radio of Armenia

By refusing to hand over the remaining prisoners of war Azerbaijan continues violating international human rights law and international humanitarian law, Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said, addressing the 131st Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

He reminded that last year Azerbaijan waged a bloody war against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). The war was accompanied with massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 

“These transgressions are well documented not only in Armenian sources, but also internationally: by organizations such as Amnesty, the Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. Our own European Court of Human Rights indicated interim measures to Azerbaijan with relation to hundreds of persons confirmed to be captured by that country, requesting information about them, but not receiving any. The Court went to the length of publicly notifying the Committee of Ministers that Azerbaijan is not cooperating. Last PACE plenary expressed its grave concern as well. By refusing to hand over the remaining prisoners of war Azerbaijan continues violating international human rights law and international humanitarian law to this very day,” the acting minister said.

“We see an important role for the Council of Europe in addressing the devastating humanitarian consequences of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh including displacement, destruction of cultural and religious sites and continued captivity of hundreds of prisoners of war and civilians.  We believe that our Committee should bolster its efforts in this respect, also by providing its full support to the Court, Parliamentary Assembly, Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant bodies. So far, the response of the Committee to Azerbaijan’s obvious violations of its statutory and conventional obligations has not been adequate,” Aivazian added.

He emphasized that lack of strong response to massive and grave human rights violations in Nagorno-Karabakh further emboldened Azerbaijan to project the same policy towards Republic of Armenia by making attempts to seize borderline territories and deprive the local population of their livelihood. 

“The Council of Europe was established with the aim of achieving greater unity among its Member States. And the Council has been successful in bringing almost the entirety of Europe under one roof and in devising legal standards guiding many aspects of the cooperation between its Member States. Yet, there is a great divide between some of our Member States. And while the perpetrators of atrocious crimes are allowed to be on equal footing with those who still believe in the values of democracy and human rights, this divide is only going to widen. Unless we reinvigorate our efforts in ensuring democratic security throughout Europe, and particularly for those living in areas of conflicts and confrontations, our overarching goal of greater unity in Europe would remain illusory,” Ara Aivazian concluded.

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border will be discussed at the meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers

Sonya Jalatian
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia's acting Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan had another telephone conversation with the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Stanislav Zas, the press service at the Ministry reported. 

According to the source, Harutyunyan presented the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, noting despite the reached agreement according to which several groups of Azerbaijani military returned to their initial positions today and in the previous days, some Azeri troops still remain in the territory of the Republic of Armenia and the crisis actually remains unresolved due to the Azeri provocation. 

The acting minister noted that considering the fact that the Azerbaijani military remain under the full control of the Armenian military units as well as the accumulation of forces on both sides of the border area, the situation is fraught with unpredictable consequences if the matter does not get a swift solution.  

Stanislav Zas, in turn, noted that the CSTO closely follows the developments taking place in the border area, adding the matter will be discussed in the coming days at the meeting of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in Dushanbe.

France ready to provide military assistance for solving the situation – Pashinyan

Sonya Jalatian

France ready to provide military assistance for solving the situation  – Pashinyan

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 20:29,

YEREVAN, MAY 14, ARMENPRESS. French President Emmanuel Macron has informed that France, in case of necessity, is ready to provide also military assistance to international efforts for solving the situation, ARMENPRESS reports caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan informed during the National Assembly extraordinary session, presenting the situation on the border.

Pashinyan reminded that he also had a phone conversation with French President Macron. ‘’The position of the French President was also unequivocal. Moreover, the French President said that he sees the solution of the issue in the sidelines of the UNSC and in case of necessity, France is ready to provide also military assistance to the international efforts to settle the issue’’, Pashinyan said, highlighting that the permanent members of the UNSC should keep in contact and discuss the situation.

On May 12 in the morning the Azerbaijani armed forces crossed Armenia’s state border in the territory of Sev Lake in Syunik province and advanced up to 3,5 kilometers, trying to surround the Lake. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this action is intolerable for Armenia, as it is an encroachment on the sovereign territory of Armenia.

So far, neither the Armenian nor the Azerbaijani side have used any weapon. The number of Azerbaijani soldiers in the territory of Armenia is about 250.




Azerbaijani FM’s statement on Armenian POWs a violation of international humanitarian law – Ombudsman

Sonya Jalatian
Public Radio of Armenia
     
– Public Radio of Armenia

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister’s statement on Armenian prisoners of war is a violation of international humanitarian law, Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan says, stressing the need to take decisive measures for the release and return of all captives.

On , the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan stated: “The incidents related to the illegal entry of Armenian servicemen into the territory of Azerbaijan at the end of November last year, the death and wounding of Azerbaijani servicemen in December are a war crime committed against Azerbaijan. As a result of the operations carried out by the Azerbaijani special services, some of the Armenian servicemen who carried out provocative and subversive operations were killed and some were arrested. Investigations into the incidents are under way.”

Considering that the issue concerns the rights of Armenian captives (and prisoners of war), the Human Rights Defender of Armenia states that the above-mentioned statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan grossly violate the international humanitarian law, including human rights law.

“The reality is that there is an ongoing, open armed conflict. From the point of view of international [humanitarian] law, this means that regardless of whether or not they were taken captive (prisoners of war) after the November 9, 2020 tripartite declaration, they are prisoners of war, captives by legal status; they should be released immediately, without preconditions,” Arman Tatoyan says.

According to him, “Azerbaijan is artificially delaying the issue by openly abusing legal processes, presenting them as terrorists and using detention as punishment, in violation of international rules.”

“Meanwhile, this is a universal requirement for an international action subject to automatic application. The opposite grossly violates international human rights requirements and the international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Convention. The release and return of prisoners should be considered solely in the context of human rights and humanitarian processes,” the Ombudsman emphasizes.

The Human Rights Defender’s monitoring, as well as the results of the investigation of the complaints received continuously confirm that the Azerbaijani authorities, in gross violation of international requirements, artificially delay the release of the Armenian captives, and deliberately do not disclose the actual number of prisoners.

With this policy, they are violating the rights of prisoners, causing mental sufferings to the families of the captives and the missing persons, and causing tension in the Armenian society.

“The absolute urgency with respect to the issue of the release and return of captives must be considered in the context of the policy of hate speech and Armenophobia by Azerbaijani authorities,” the Ombudsman says.

Therefore, he notes, taking into account the humanitarian mandates of international bodies and their role in human rights (the priority of the right to life) protection, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia draws their attention to the mentioned statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan violating the international humanitarian law, including human rights law, and thus raising the urgent need to take decisive measures for the release and return of all captives.

Europe Day 2021 celebration activities in Armenia will be launched on May 10

Sonya Jalatian

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 16:26, 7 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 7, ARMENPRESS. The European Union Delegation to Armenia would like to announce the launching of the Europe Day 2021 activities in Armenia on 10th May, the Delegation told Armenpress.

The activities will be held under the EU-Armenia ‘Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement’ theme and will include thematic discussions, cultural events and regional events in Gyumri and Debed. The activities will take place in online-offline formats, ensuring compliance with COVID-19 protocols at all times.

The Europe Day celebrations will commence with thematic online discussions on Road Safety, Regional Development and Environment, they will continue with regional events concentrated on youth and innovation, as well as tourism and will also include a holographic projection, placement of a photobooth in major cities and musical inputs. The celebrations will culminate with an online concert on 19th May, which will be livestreamed via EU Delegation social media.

The Embassies of EU Member States accredited to Armenia will also join the celebrations.

The European Union Delegation to Armenia would like to inform the media representatives that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attendance to offline events is limited this year.

However, all the details about the activities will be available on the Delegation’s social media accounts:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eudelegationtoarmenia(link is external)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eu_armenia(link is external)

Instagram: euinarmenia

For media inquiries please contact Anahit Azatyan, Press and Information Officer, EU Delegation to Armenia [email protected](link sends e-mail).

***

On 9 May 1950, Robert Schuman presented his proposal on the creation of an organised Europe, necessary for peaceful relations and development.  Today, the 9th of May has become a European symbol (Europe Day) which, along with the flag, the anthem, the motto and the single currency (Euro), identifies the political entity of the European Union. Europe Day is the occasion for festivities that bring Europe closer to its citizens and neighbours.

What will be the consequences of Biden’s recognition of Armenian genocide? [Ray Hanania Show]

Sonya Jalatian
Arab News, Saudi Arabia
April 28 2021

What will be the consequences of Biden’s recognition of Armenian genocide?

  • Expert guests on the Ray Hananina radio show welcomed the US president’s announcement and said it puts pressure on Turkey to accept its responsibilities
  • They said it will give other, smaller nations courage to ‘speak truth to power;’ but added that it must be backed up by policy, otherwise it is merely symbolic

CHICAGO: Leaders and activists from the Armenian community in the US applauded the recent decision by President Joseph Biden to formally acknowledge the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915 by Ottoman Forces and said it adds to the pressure on Turkey to begin a process of reparations.

Biden made his announcement on April 24. On that date in 1915, he said, a genocide began during which an estimated 1.5 million people were “deported, massacred or marched to their deaths.”

Ani Tchaghlasian, a board member of the Armenian National Committee of America, said the killings were documented after the First World War by American and the German historians and government leaders. Biden’s decision puts Turkey on notice that it must accept its responsibility and face up to its obligation and make reparations to the descendants of the victims, she added. 

“There are many countries that have already recognized the genocide: France, Germany — most of Western Europe, minus the United Kingdom,” Tchaghlasian said during a discussion on the Ray Hanania radio show on Wednesday.

“I think what this does is give other smaller players in the world courage to speak truth to power. All of this is only relevant once it becomes policy. The first step is to say the word and then to back up the word with policy.”

She said that the Turkish authorities, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, can no longer avoid the issue because genocide is a well-defined legal term and cases that involve it have the full power of the rule of law behind them.

“The (Turkish) state has an issue with it and that’s where the problem is. The state doesn’t want to embrace this, even though it is a part of their history, because it has legal consequences,” said Tchaghlasian, who is a descendant of genocide survivors. 

She added that while she recognizes the fact that the Ottoman Empire carried out the genocide and not the Turkish Republic, “The issue is that successor states still have legal responsibility for their predecessors.

“Just because you change the name of your state, just because you elect a new body, like Germany did after the Second World War … that doesn’t mean the new government says, ‘Oh, I had nothing to do with this, so Germany bears no responsibility in the holocaust.’ That’s not how state responsibility works.”

During his speech at the White House this week, Biden said: “Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination.

“We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.” Meds Yeghern, which translates as “great evil crime,” is the Armenian term for the genocide.

Journalist Lara Setrakian, the CEO and founder of News Deeply, said Biden’s announcement reflects his personal support of the Armenian community in its efforts to force Turkey to acknowledge the genocide. It opens the door for Armenians to gain additional international support for their attempts to get Turkish authorities to acknowledge the genocide and begin the process of reparations.


“It is an incredibly important statement from President Biden and the United States,” she said. “It’s not just a question of the moral authority or the weight of the American word. In this case, two countries had an up close, front seat (view) to what was happening during the Armenian genocide: the United States and Germany.”

The eyewitness accounts diplomats from the two nations, including Henry Morgenthau, the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, are primary source materials, she added.

“They saw this happening before their eyes. They interacted with the Ottoman officials who basically said straight up, ‘This is our strategy, we are getting rid of the Armenians,’” Setrakian said.

Germany has officially recognized the Armenian genocide and apologized for its role in it, she added, but the political successor to the Ottomans, the Turkish government, refuses and is “pretending that it did not happen.”

Tchaghlasian also believes that more countries will follow Biden’s lead and put greater pressure on Turkey to acknowledge the massacre and begin the process of reparations. 

“We are glad that finally the time came,” she said. “The statement is very powerful. President Biden has a long history of being on the right side of this issue. It was time; the time has come.

“I think what is significant for the Armenian community is what comes next. I think having the declaration is very important; putting that word on paper is very important.

“But now we have to turn that into policy for the United States. Because putting the word on paper is only a word on paper and it needs to convert. We are pretty confident that the Biden administration will do that and will pursue that. But without converting that statement into policy, it really doesn’t have much teeth.”

The Ray Hanania Show is broadcast live every Wednesday in Detroit on WNZK AM 690 and in Washington DC on WDMV AM 700 on the US Arab Radio Network. The show is sponsored by Arab News and streamed live to millions of followers at Facebook.com/ArabNews. For more information on the radio show and the podcast visit .

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1850611/media

Sports: Women’s football making strides in Armenia

Sonya Jalatian
FIFA
April 26 2021

Women’s football making strides in Armenia

  • Armenia is set to launch a five-year women’s football strategy
  • The FFA are being supported by FIFA’s Women’s Football Division
  • An international women’s tournament was held in the country for the first time

Football is a popular sport in Armenia, a country of approximately three million inhabitants in which Sargis Hovsepyan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are household names. Some female stars may also be in the near future. The Armenian Football Association (FFA) has, indeed, started implementing an ambitious development strategy to embed girls’ and women’s football into the nation’s footballing heritage.

With the help and support of FIFA via its COVID-19 Relief Fund – with a tranche ring-fenced for the women’s game – the FFA are set to launch their five-year #OurGame strategy. The grant for the FFA-included support for league development in the form of regional U-12 youth tournaments and a women’s football campaign, with football equipment being provided for 1,000 children participating in events planned by the FFA. The FFA was also one of six European associations that received financial support from UEFA, based on an initiative that was financed by the FIFA Confederation Women’s Football Development Fund.

“In addition to training and development, our goal is to change and improve the image of women’s football in Armenia,” said FFA Executive Committee member Anna Tadevosyan, who is also president of the women’s football and futsal committees. “We want to showcase quality football as well as promote the game’s global reach and importance.

“Through the development and implementation of our strategy we will provide an inspirational pathway of opportunity for our current and future players and for all women working in football. In addition, we will develop a strong and sustainable infrastructure within which our clubs, coaches, officials and volunteers can develop and grow. We want to attract young players, via social media campaigns, live YouTube game broadcasts and broader media exposure.”

The effects of the support reaped immediate results as the FFA recently completed the first-ever international women’s football tournament in the country earlier this month. They were joined by three other developing countries in women’s football: Lithuania, Jordan and Lebanon.

Lithuania won the tournament with seven points, two ahead of hosts Armenia, who also finished the competition unbeaten after defeating Lebanon 2-0 in their opening match before drawing with Jordan (1-1) and the eventual champions (2-2).

“We didn’t win the tournament but for the first time in our history, the women’s national team completed three international games without defeat,” Tadevosyan said of their historical feat. “We view this as another demonstration that the work we started two years ago is going in the right direction and starting to show results.”

Their next test will become clearer on Friday, when the preliminary draw for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ will be made at UEFA’s headquarters. A record 51 countries will be split into nine groups, with Armenia in Pot 6 alongside Montenegro, Lithuania, Estonia, Luxembourg and Bulgaria. Group games will then begin in September of this year.

FIFA launched the Women’s Development Programme for member associations last September in order to further develop women’s football and provide associations with the opportunity to apply for and access additional resources and specialist expertise to develop women’s football at a national level.

Member associations can choose from eight individual programmes provided that they meet the requirements and fit in with their national women’s football development strategy.

 

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 04/26/2021

Sonya Jalatian 
                                        Monday, 

Armenian Carrier Reclaims ‘Hijacked’ Plane

        • Satenik Hayrapetian

A passenger aircraft belonging to a private Armenian airline arrived in Yerevan 
at the weekend two months after mysteriously disappearing and being found in 
neighboring Iran.

The Boeing 737-300 leased by Fly Armenia Airways reportedly went missing on 
February 20. The company said that it underwent repairs in Estonia’s capital 
Tallinn and was due to proceed to Ukraine for further maintenance. It said the 
plane flew instead to Varna, Bulgaria before ending up at Tehran’s Mehrabad 
airport.

Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee said in early March that it has reached a 
“tentative agreement” with Iranian authorities on the plane’s return to Armenia. 
It said that Iranian officials have informed their Armenian colleagues that the 
plane is still malfunctioning and that Iranian aviation specialists need more 
time to decide whether it can safely fly to Yerevan.

After the missing Boeing 737-300 landed at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport Armenian 
government officials and airline representatives insisted that it was hijacked. 
But they refused to elaborate, saying that a criminal investigation is underway.

“Yes, they tried to hijack the plane,” said Karine Sahakian, Fly Armenia’s 
deputy executive director. “A criminal case has been opened within that 
framework and we have provided relevant bodies with full information.”

Sahakian said the company will publicize that information after the inquiry is 
over. She assured reporters that the plane could not have been deliberately 
diverted by its Armenian pilots.

“The problem was that we fell into a trap set by a criminal group,” said the 
aircraft captain, Artur Harutiunian. He too refused to go into details.

“As soon as the investigation is complete we will definitely come up with a 
statement,” Tatevik Revazian, the head of the Civil Aviation Committee, said, 
for her part. What happened was a “crime,” she said without elaborating.

The Fly Armenia executive dismissed suggestions that the small carrier secretly 
sold Boeing 737-300 to an Iranian airline in violation of U.S. sanctions that 
prohibit any transfer of U.S.-made aircraft or their spare parts to Iran.

The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan has expressed concern about the plane’s 
disappearance and urged the Armenian authorities to investigate it.



U.S. Hopes For Democratic Elections In Armenia

        • Harry Tamrazian

Armenia -- U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy addresses members of the American Chamber 
of Commerce in Yerevan, May 15, 2019.

The United States hopes that Armenia’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections 
will be free and fair and will closely monitor them, the U.S. ambassador in 
Yerevan, Lynne Tracy, said on Monday.

“This is something we will be following closely,” Tracy told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service in an interview. “USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) 
will be providing some technical assistance to the Central Election Commission 
as well as helping with voter information.”

“What we certainly hope to see is that Armenia is able in the conduct of its 
elections to meet or even exceed that very good, high bar that it set in 2018. 
And we think … that’s very achievable,” she said.

The elections expected in late June are meant to end a serious political crisis 
sparked by last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Opposition groups blame Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian for Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war, having tried 
to topple him with street protests. National security is therefore expected to 
be the main theme of the unfolding parliamentary race.

“What I think we will see in this election is an opportunity for candidates to 
talk about how they intend to help secure Armenia’s future,” said Tracy. “That’s 
what a free and fair election is all about.”

Both Pashinian and most of his political opponents stand for a further deepening 
of Armenia’s defense and security ties with Russia. The prime minister has 
indicated his desire to see more Russian troops deployed in the country and its 
southeastern Syunik province in particular.

Russia already dispatched soldiers and border guards to Syunik late last year in 
addition to 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops deployed to Karabakh.

Asked whether Washington regards increased Russian military presence as a threat 
to Armenia’s sovereignty, Tracy said: “We think that while obviously Russia is a 
partner for Armenia in certain spheres such as the military … it’s important 
that Armenia has options and choices, has diversity in its economy, energy 
spheres so that it can make the kinds of choices that are in the best interests 
of Armenians.”

“There is military security but there is also other kinds of security,” she 
said. “There is economic security. There is security in having strong, resilient 
institutions of governance that are deeply rooted in integrity … And so these 
are areas that the United States can contribute to.”

“I think it’s more concerning to see an overdependence on one particular 
partner. So we think that we have a role to play here and we would like to be 
able to continue working in these areas of good governance and economic growth,” 
added the envoy.

Citing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s comments made earlier this year, 
Tracy also said that the Biden administration plans on “reinvigorating” U.S. 
involvement in international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

“The fighting is stopped but what we see is that there are still some very 
critical issues to be addressed: the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the issues of 
displaced persons,” she said. “So there are a number of issues that still very 
much remain on the agenda for the United States and the other Minsk Group 
co-chairs (Russia and France), and we intend to stay engaged on those issues.”



Armenia Expects ‘Actions, Not Words’ From Turkey

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan (R) speaks at a joint news 
conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis, Yerevan, 
.

Official Yerevan on Monday reacted cautiously to Turkey’s stated readiness to 
improve relations with Armenia, saying that it must be backed up by concrete 
actions.

In a weekend letter to Istanbul’s Armenian Patriarch Sahak Mashalian, Turkish 
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his administration stands ready to “develop” 
Turkish-Armenian relations “on the basis of the principles of good 
neighborliness and mutual respect.”

Erdogan did not specify whether Ankara still sets preconditions for establishing 
diplomatic relations with Yerevan and opening the border between the two states.

“We are familiar with the Turkish president’s letter and the readiness expressed 
in it,” said Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian. “But I must say that we attach 
importance not only to words but also actions.”

“There have already been similar messages [from Ankara] in the past. There was 
even a signed bilateral document which never had a continuation,” he told a news 
conference with Lithuania’s visiting Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

Ayvazian referred to the 2008 Turkish-Armenian protocols on the normalization of 
bilateral ties. Erdogan’s government refused to implement them, citing the 
unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ankara shut down the Turkish-Armenian border in 1993 and has refused to 
establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan since then out of solidarity with 
Azerbaijan. It has yet to clarify whether a Karabakh settlement acceptable to 
Baku remains a precondition for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations after 
last year’s war that resulted in the restoration of Azerbaijani control over all 
districts around Karabakh.

During the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10, 
the Turks supported the Azerbaijani army with weapons and expert advice. They 
also reportedly recruited thousands of Syrian mercenaries and sent them to fight 
in Karabakh on the Azerbaijani side.

Armenian leaders have repeatedly described the hostilities as a 
“Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression” against Armenia and Karabakh. Ayvazian said 
late last month that the Turkish government must end its “hostile” policies 
towards Armenia if it wants to contribute to peace and stability in the region.


Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in Ankara, March 10, 2021.

Erdogan sent his letter to the spiritual leader of Turkey’s small Armenian 
community on the 106th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide in the 
Ottoman Empire. He again offered his condolences to the descendants of Armenians 
who “died in the difficult conditions created during the First World War.”

Ankara denies a premeditated government effort to exterminate Ottoman Turkey’s 
Armenian population. Erdogan has claimed that Armenians themselves massacred 
Muslim civilians and that their mass deportations to the Syrian desert was “the 
most reasonable action that could be taken” by the Ottoman regime of the “Young 
Turks.”

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday officially described the 1915 mass killings 
of some 1.5 million Armenians as genocide in a statement hailed by Armenia but 
condemned by Turkey. The U.S. ambassador in Ankara was summoned to the Turkish 
Foreign Ministry on Sunday in connection with the “unacceptable” statement.

Ayvazian reiterated Yerevan’s strong approval of Biden’s move, saying that it 
will help to prevent more crimes against humanity.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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