Author: Vardan Badalian

Gov. Sisolak signs Holocaust Education Bill into law

Vardan Badalian
Nevada – June 1 2021
June 1, 2021

CARSON CITY, Nev. – A brand new invoice strengthening Holocaust and Genocide schooling in Nevada was signed into law Tuesday by Governor Steve Sisolak.

Assembly Bill 231 is bipartisan laws sponsored by Assemblywomen Lesley Cohen and Lisa Krasner and supported by Lieutenant Governor Kate Marshall. It handed out of the state legislature with unanimous help.

“While the nation faces a rising tide of antisemitism, the unanimous bipartisan support this legislation received is a testament to the fact that Holocaust and genocide education must be a priority for all Nevadans,” stated Jolie Brislin, ADL’s Nevada Regional Director. “With education comes empathy, understanding, and dialogue essential for the prevention of future atrocities, and ensuring that ‘Never Again’ means never again for everyone.”

The invoice will set up an academic committee throughout the Nevada Department of Education to guage curriculum requirements, stock classroom supplies, and assess teacher coaching wants. In addition to schooling referring to the Holocaust, the invoice additionally addresses different genocides such because the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, Guatemalan and Rwandan genocides.

“Education about the Holocaust is a central pillar of our community’s Jewish identity, and we hope that through this legislation, we will share our stories, our history, with students across Nevada,” stated Stefanie Tuzman, President and CEO at Jewish Nevada. “Teaching our community’s history accurately, with respect to the individual experiences of those who survived the Holocaust, is one of our top priorities, and this bill will help Nevada meet that goal.”

A coalition of organizations together with ADL Nevada, Israeli-American Civic Action Network – Nevada, Jewish Nevada, and the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region, advocated in help of the laws.

“In signing this bill today, Governor Sisolak and Nevada’s legislators spoke with one voice, united in agreement about the importance of Holocaust education, especially at a time when we are facing a historic rise in antisemitism,” stated Dillon Hosier, CEO on the Israeli-American Civic Action Network. “And, we’re proud that Nevadans across the state, from a diverse coalition of community organizations, came together to support this vital legislation.”

Specifically, Assembly Bill 231 accomplishes the next:

  • Establishes definitions of Holocaust and genocides and units particular parameters for what genocide is and what high quality schooling round this subject ought to embody.
  • Creates a subcommittee that may report what the Nevada Department of Education and faculty districts require for educating the Holocaust and genocides, together with supplies, coaching, and curriculum.
  • Appoints members to the subcommittee from nonprofit organizations, the Department of Education, college districts, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust, and the Armenian Community, and different communities affected by genocide.

Russian peacekeepers held a humanitarian aid action in the village of Martuni

Vardan Badalian
Panorama, Armenia
June 1 2021

In Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), on the eve of the International Children's Day, the Russian Federation's peacekeeping contingent held a humanitarian aid campaign in the administration of the district center and two schools in the Martuni district, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. 

Due to the power outages in the region, during the action, representatives of the humanitarian center of the Russian peacekeeping contingent handed over the necessary electrical equipment to representatives of the administration.

"Today, an action was held to provide the administration of the district center of the Martuni district with the necessary equipment for uninterrupted power supply to the entire village, as there were big problems before that. This problem will be solved today, " said Ruslan Ivanov, an officer at the Humanitarian Response Center.

Also, during the visit to schools and kindergartens of the district center, the peacekeepers handed over to the medical offices of educational institutions paramedic kits and first-aid kits, which include a set of the most necessary medicines and dressings.

"In the same area, an action was held in two schools to issue paramedic kits and the necessary medical equipment," the officer added.

Defense Ministry denies report on Azeri military taking more Armenian servicemen captive

Vardan Badalian

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 15:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of Armenia is denying the reports claiming that more Armenian servicemen have been taken captive by the Azeri military.

“On May 30, reports started circulating in Azerbaijani social media networks claiming that Armenian military servicemen have been taken captive upon crossing the Azerbaijani state border. Despite the fact that this report was swiftly denied by the Azerbaijani state agencies themselves, with the Azerbaijani state border guard service issuing a respective statement, some social media users and news outlets in Armenia continue circulating it. The Ministry of Defense is once again urging not to spread unverified, fake, and in this case even officially refuted information,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

US remains committed to helping sides negotiate long-term political settlement of NK conflict – Blinken

Vardan Badalian

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 10:42,

YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRESS. As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States remains committed to helping the sides negotiate a long-term political settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and address the humanitarian impact of the fighting, including the release of all detainees, accounting for those missing, and the full and expeditious exchange of remains, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken  on May 28, reports Armenpress.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1053715.html?fbclid=IwAR11lNKNmOFEoIPY7uDv2IJB-eVT0MTCbvJe1dPEFgQqKrGsAGBLr8wppS4

Political scientist: Aliyev and Erdogan made a final decision to attack Artsakh on 12 December 2019

Vardan Badalian
Panorama, Armenia

Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, the head of the analytical center Voskanapat, claims the Azerbaijani and Turkish leaders made a final decision to attack Artsakh on 12 December 2019 following Nikol Pashinyan’s statement on Armenia's state apparatus.

“Would you like me to name the specific day when Aliyev and Erdogan made a final decision to attack Artsakh? It was on December 12, 2019. Do you remember what happened that day? The vile traitor announced that the state apparatus did not fulfil his instructions, was sabotaging and acting against the revolution. And he promised to break the state apparatus,” Melik-Shahnazaryan wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“This was an ‘invitation’ from the Armenian authorities to start a war against Artsakh and Armenia. What else did the enemy need to achieve the desired result? Of course, the destruction of the Armenian statehood. And they did not miss the opportunity.

“From December 12, 2019 to September 27, 2020, Armenia’s treacherous prime minister repeatedly disclosed the number of troops and strategic resources we had. Even after all this, he still dares to voice various accusations against Hrant Bagratyan,” the political scientist said. 

Armenian Ombudsman carries out fact-finding activities in Gegharkunik province

Vardan Badalian

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 15:11,

YEREVAN, MAY 21, ARMENPRESS. The Human Rights Defender of Armenia has carried out fact-finding activities in Gegharkunik province, his Office told Armenpress.

In particular, the Ombudsman carried out fact-finding works in Verin Shorja village of Vardenis community, adjacent pastures, Kut village of Geghamasar on May 15 connected with the gross violations of rights of border residents caused by the illegal presence of Azerbaijani troops in Armenia’s sovereign territory.

The evidence gained by the Ombudsman confirms the necessity of his proposal to create a security zone to guarantee the rights of border residents.

The Office of the Ombudsman stated that the results of the visit will be summed up, and actions will be taken for the protection of the rights of border residents.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan


Azerbaijan’s failure to release POWS a source of grave concern, Armenian envoy tells UN

Vardan Badalian
Public Radio of Armenia
 

Addressing and countering hate speech remain crucial priorities in delivering on the genocide prevention agenda, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan said at the UNGA plenary meeting on the Responsibility to Protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

“Incitement to hatred and hate crimes, denial, justification or glorification of past crimes, along with instances of racial and ethnic profiling constitute the detectable early warning signs, which, if unaddressed, can lead to further violence and atrocities,” he said, reminding that Armenia has welcomed the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech, which, as the Secretary-General has succinctly put it in his foreword, represents “a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace”.

“Today, there is a growing, urgent need to step up collective efforts to fight racism, discrimination and xenophobia, which so often represent the root causes of atrocity crimes. Armenia has consistently raised its voice against the immense sufferings and mass atrocities perpetrated against ethnic and religious minorities. The continuous, systematic human rights violations, crimes on ethnic and religious grounds in the context of situations of humanitarian crisis require stronger engagement of the international community, including the human rights and preventive machinery of the UN system,” Amb. Margaryan said.

He noted that fostering international cooperation for prevention of mass atrocities and the further development of national and international early warning mechanisms are important priorities of Armenia’s engagement within the United Nations.

“Armenia, whose people have undergone through the horrors of Genocide in the early 20th century, will continue to support strong focus on the early action to prevent situations, which can result in crises and atrocity crimes,” Mher Margaryan stated,

“As the main sponsor of the UN General Assembly resolution instituting the International Day of the 9th December as the Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, Armenia is fully committed to strengthening this important platform, most notably, through thematic events aimed at fostering cooperation for prevention of atrocity crimes and the further development of national and international early warning mechanisms,” he added.

“In our part of the world, the brutal, large-scale violence unleashed amidst the global pandemic in an attempt to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force led to the most intense and destructive escalation in the region since 1990s, putting the lives of thousands of civilians and the ancient Armenian Christian heritage under existential threat,” Mr. Margaryan said.

“Time and again, Armenia alerted the international community about the dangerously mounting level of hate speech and racist rhetoric dominating the political discourse in Azerbaijan, which constitutes all elements of incitement to violence against ethnic Armenians and represents a significant indicator of risk of atrocity crimes,” he noted.

“Azerbaijan’s continued failure to release the numerous prisoners of war and civilian hostages who are still being held in captivity, contrary to the international humanitarian law, the ongoing provocations by way of incursions into the territory of Armenia, as well as the wide-spread state-led campaign of dehumanization of Armenians, such as, for example, the recently opened “military trophy park”, which has already been named as “national hatred theme park” by the international media, come to manifest that the genocidal ideology does not merely belong to history.  This is a source of grave concern that needs to be properly identified and acknowledged to prevent further atrocities,” he stressed.

The envoy stressed that Armenia condemns such actions in the strongest terms and views them as an affront to the values, ideals and principles of the United Nations, including the collective commitment to prevent and punish crimes that “deeply shock the conscience of humanity”.

“Armenia remains strongly committed to advancing prevention agenda and shares the view that accountability for atrocity crimes prevention can be strengthened by open reflection and inclusive dialogue, with civil society, free media and academia playing a key role in this regard,” the Ambassador added.

Op-ed: possible implications of recent escalation at Armenian border

Vardan Badalian
JAM News
    JAMnews, Yerevan

The situation on the southern border of Armenia has not changed, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reported during a government meeting on May 13. Pashinyan stated that Azerbaijani armed forces had crossed the border of Armenia in the Syunik region, near lake Sev Lich, advancing 3,5 kilometers into the country. Armenian prime minister believes that Azerbaijan is attempting to establish control over the lake.

On May 12, Armenian media reported clashes with the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan which advanced their positions towards the Ishkhanasar community in the Syunik region.

The Armenian Defense Ministry denied the information about the clashes but confirmed that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, under the pretext of “clarifying the borders, tried to carry out certain activities, but they were halted after the steps taken by the Armenian forces”.

On the eve of May 12, a meeting of the Security Council was held in Yerevan, during which the acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the incident in Syunik a “sabotage campaign”:

“The current situation is unacceptable, Armenia cannot come to terms with it, our primary task is to resolve it through negotiations. […] But this is just one of our options”.

On the morning of May 13, Nikol Pashinyan said that the situation in the area of Lake Sevlich remains extremely serious:

“There are Azerbaijani soldiers in the lake area, there are also large numbers of our soldiers. I would like to note that the situation has not reached a military escalation and there were no skirmishes or clashes. Work is underway to have Azerbaijani soldiers withdraw from the territory.

What happened in Sev Lich was a pre-planned provocation, because the maps that Azerbaijanis brought with them to prove that they were allegedly on the territory of Azerbaijan were clearly fake.

Our task is to keep the sovereign territory of Armenia inviolable. The armed forces of Azerbaijan must return to their initial positions”.

Pashinyan added that in order to resolve the crisis, it is necessary to act “prudently, decisively, and in principle”.

  • Reported Azerbaijani troop movements, clashes raise security concern in Armenia
  • Two reinforced Russian military points created in southern Armenia

Chairman of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan provided his own view of the ongoing situation:

“Regardless of whether the Azerbaijani military violated the border of the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR in the vicinity of Sev Lich (Black Lake) or not, their actions contradict the November 9 agreement [document on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh], which clearly stated that the troops deployed to the territories adjacent to Syunik had to remain in their positions.

It is logically assumed that any changes could only have occurred as a result of a formal process of demarcation and delimitation, or at least as a result of a new formal agreement.

Only a few months ago, Armenia obediently and with the tacit consent of Russia allowed the Azerbaijanis to advance, arbitrarily carry out work to “clarify the borders” in the southeast of the country, and did not even raise the problem at the government level. Therefore, there is no use speaking of the November 9 agreement as a solid basis for conflict resolution.

This, in turn, means that new security guarantees need to be found and the Security Council is obliged to address this issue, not just the latest incident”.

Political observer Hakob Badalyan believes that what is happening in Syunik and the region as a whole “is not and cannot be one-dimensional”:

“Consequently, the questions and the search for answers should be as diverse as possible and include the role of Moscow. […]

Can Aliyev afford to encroach on the border in Syunik without Moscow? Of course, opinions in our society vary. There are people who are convinced that he cannot. But why can’t he? What should Russia do if Azerbaijan does this […]? Aliyev cannot attack Russia, he will not attack territory which falls under Russia’s security commitments. But what should Moscow do if Aliyev proceeds with such a border provocation? […]

Obviously, Russia’s security guarantees are ineffective and cannot be maintained if Moscow finds itself in confrontation with the United States. The question here is how can Armenia find alternative [security] mechanisms, without waiting for the Russians to agree with the West on their agenda, because this may not happen, or it may happen, but in a way that does not correspond with Armenian interests and safety”.

Turkologist, journalist Nairi Okhikyan posted on his Facebook page:

“The enemy advanced in the Ishkhanasar sector, taking advantage of the fact that Armenia did not guard the position because of the snow. […] What justification does the country’s political power have? Maybe this too was the fault of the previous [authorities]?

In order to give a little context, I will say that the Sisian section – […] is the narrowest part of the country’s territory and the enemy decided to further narrow in order to split Armenia into two parts with one blow and seize Syunik.

[…] Due to the stupid and frivolous steps of our government, Syunik and Artsakh can be completely separated from the Republic of Armenia”.

Global COVID-19 case count down 4% in past week — WHO

Vardan Badalian

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 11:17,

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. Over 5.5 million novel coronavirus cases and over 90,000 deaths were registered worldwide in the past week, which is 4% less than during the previous seven-day period, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a weekly bulletin released in Geneva early on Wednesday, reports TASS news agency.

“The number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths globally decreased slightly this week, with over 5.5 million cases and over 90 000 deaths”, the organization said in its COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update. “Case and death incidence, however, remains at the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic”.

On May 3-9, the global organization was informed about 5,517,602 new cases all over the world, and 90,242 COVID-related deaths. As of May 9, a total of 157,362,408 cases of the infection and 3,277,834 COVID-related fatalities were reported worldwide.

The most noticeable growth in cases (up 6%) was registered in Southeast Asia, which, according to the WHO classification also includes India. Cases declined by 23% in Europe, by 13% in Eastern Mediterranean, by 5% in Africa, by 4% in North and South America.

Mortality spiked in Western Pacific (up 34%) and Southeast Asia (up 15%), but declined in Europe (down 18%), Eastern Mediterranean (down 13%), North and South America (down 4%) and Africa (down 3%).

In the past seven days, over 919,000 people contracted the infection in Europe, over 19,000 patients died. The number of cases in North and South America increased by over 1.2 million in the reported period, while fatalities grew by 33,000. In Southeast Asia, doctors registered over 2.8 million new cases of the novel coronavirus, over 28,000 patients died.

India accounts for the majority of cases registered on May 3 – May 9 (2.7 million new cases), followed by Brazil (over 423,000 new cases), the United States (over 334,000), Turkey (over 160,000), Argentina (over 140,000), Iran (over 124,000), France (over 122,000), Colombia (over 108,000), Germany (over 103,000), Italy (over 67,000) and Russia (over 57,000).

Pashinyan Says Turkey Is Armenia’s Enemy, ‘But That Enmity Must Be Managed’

Vardan Badalian
Eurasia Review'

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By PanARMENIAN

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in parliament on Monday, May 10 that “Turkey is our enemy but that enmity must be managed.”

The National Assembly has convened to elect a new Prime Minister. If lawmakers fail to elect a head of government on Monday, the parliament will be dissolve by virtue of law to pave the way for snap elections.

“That’s a historical fact. Turkey is both our enemy and our neighbor,” Pashinyan said from the parliament floor. “That enmity must be managed, because if it boils on, there is going to be an explosion one day.”

Pashinyan also said that some circles are trying to present the ruling power as pro-Turkish, which he said is not true, citing, in particular, the adoption of resolutions condemning the Armenian Genocide in recent years and its recognition by the U.S. President.

Pashinyan came under fire after signing a statement with the Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh almost 45 days after the start of the military hostilities. Under the deal, the Armenian side was forced to return all the seven regions surrounding Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.