1 - Exposing the Fake Appeal Allegedly
Sent by Baku Armenians to Catholicos
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Armenians mourn passing of legendary duduk player Jivan Gasparyan
3 - Armenian Constitutional Court Asked To Scrap Election Results
4- Karine Ceyhan Gardner to be first Armenian
on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Amateurs”
5- Three Armenians convicted of using $18 million in COVID relief
to buy luxury homes, jewelry, gold coins
6- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
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1 - Exposing the Fake Appeal Allegedly
Sent by Baku Armenians to Catholicos
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Several Azeri websites claimed that Armenians in Azerbaijan sent last
October, in the midst of the Artsakh War, an appeal to “Catholicos
Karekin II, Armenians of the world, and Armenians in Karabagh.”
One of the Azeri websites (Report News Agency) alleged that the
“appeal was signed by a group of tens of thousands of Armenians” in
Azerbaijan. Just from this one sentence alone, one can tell that this
information is a complete lie as there are no “tens of thousands of
Armenians” in Baku. After the brutal massacres of Armenians in Sumgait
and Baku and elsewhere in Azerbaijan in 1988 and 1990 by Azeri mobs,
almost all Armenians fled that country to save their lives. The few
Armenians remaining in Azerbaijan are those who were married to
Azeris. Living in constant fear, they use Azeri names to disguise
their true identities.
I made two attempts to verify if this letter was authentic or fake.
First, I checked with one of the Azeri websites that had referenced
the letter. I asked for a photocopy of the letter. I wanted to see how
many signers there were and their names. The Azeri website, most
probably funded by the Azeri government, responded that they are
unable “to conduct painstaking investigation!” The only place where
the entire text of the fake letter appeared was in an Azeri website
(Armenia.az) that regularly posts hundreds of anti-Armenian articles
in Armenian and Russian. These articles are written by Azeris who
formerly lived in Armenia and know fluent Armenian.
My next attempt to verify the letter was with the Information
Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Armenia, the
alleged recipient. The Catholicosate was not aware of receiving such a
letter and stated that it was most probably an example of Baku’s
routine fabrication.
For the amusement of the readers here are excerpts from the English
translation of the fake Armenian letter posted on October 9, 2020 on
the Azeri website, Armenia.az.
“Today, tens of thousands of Armenians live in Azerbaijan. In this
country, all people, regardless of religion or race, are treated
equally. Everyone in this country enjoys the same rights granted to
its citizens by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.” In this first two
sentences of the letter, there are two obvious lies: “tens of
thousands of Armenians live in Azerbaijan” and they “are treated
equally” like all other citizens of Azerbaijan.
The alleged Armenian letter-writers appealed to Catholicos Karekin II
to use his “authority and power… to end Armenia’s policy of occupation
against Azerbaijan, return the occupied Azerbaijani lands to their
owners, and help prevent unjust bloodshed.” No true Armenian would
make such a statement, unless his or her life was threatened.
The letter then appealed “to Armenians of the world and various
Armenian lobbies so people can live in peace,” claiming that an
Armenian woman by the name of Karina Grigoryan in Ganja, Azerbaijan
(Gandzak in Armenian), was seriously injured during the Armenian
shelling. It is highly unlikely that such an Armenian woman lives in
Gandzak. One thing is certain; no Armenian in Azerbaijan would be
carrying such an obvious Armenian name. Those with Armenian names who
lived in Azerbaijan were either killed or fled the country over 30
years ago.
The letter went on to claim that Azerbaijan “conducts anti-terrorist
operations only in its territories, wishing to liberate its historical
lands from occupation.” It is the height of hypocrisy for Azerbaijan
to claim that it is fighting terrorism after bringing several thousand
Syrian Islamist terrorists to fight against Artsakh in last year’s
war.
The letter then appealed to “Armenians living in Karabagh” (Artsakh),
falsely alleging that “30 years ago, you were happy in the lands of
Azerbaijan, where you live now. Your material well-being was high, and
all your human rights were protected, because Azerbaijan has always
treated us as its citizens. And now the mafia leadership of Armenia
has turned you into a victim of its own games. We are very sorry about
this. You also have the right and the opportunity to live like a human
being, but Armenia has deprived you of this. Wake up, it’s not too
late and refuse to be a tool in this game. Azerbaijan will protect all
your rights, including your safety. We are a clear example of this.”
The content of the letter reads more like a comedy than a credible
appeal. Those who concocted this letter are so delusional that they
think Armenians will believe such obvious lies.
The letter finally appealed to Armenian mothers: “Do not close your
eyes to the death of your children in the lands of Azerbaijan, because
you did not bring them into the world to become victims of the game of
certain forces.” It is very touching that the Azeri Government,
masquerading as Armenians in Baku, would care so much about the
well-being of Armenian mothers and their children!
The only good thing about this appeal is that the government of
Azerbaijan is wasting a lot of money to pay Azeris, who would
otherwise be unemployed, to prepare such useless letters and websites.
No Armenian is going to believe a word of such fake news appearing in
the website of Armenia.az (az stands for Azerbaijan). I suggest that
the government of Azerbaijan also establish a TV and radio station to
broadcast programs in Armenian in order to waste more of the money
that their leaders have not yet stolen!
I do not think this was a real appeal issued by Baku Armenians.
However, even if there is a shred of truth in the claimed letter, it
means that Azerbaijan has adopted the Turkish policy of forcing its
Armenian and other minorities to issue false propaganda statements in
order to cover up its grave violation of human rights.
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2- Armenians mourn passing of legendary duduk player Jivan
Gasparyan (Public Radio of Armenia)—
Legendary Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan passed away on July 6
at the age of 92, according to his grandson.
“The world has suffered unimaginable loss tonight. Not only an icon,
but a beautiful soul. May he rest in peace,” Jivan Gasparyan Jr. said
in a Facebook post.
Born in Solak, Armenia to parents from Mush, Gasparyan started to play
duduk when he was six.
In 1948, he became a soloist of the Armenian Song and Dance Popular
Ensemble and the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has won four medals at UNESCO worldwide competitions (1959, 1962,
1973, and 1980). In 1973 Gasparyan was awarded the honorary title
People’s Artist of Armenia. In 2002, he received the WOMEX (World
Music Expo) Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a Honorary citizen of
Yerevan.
He has toured the world with a small ensemble playing Armenian folk
music. His music has been chosen on the soundtrack of several foreign
films, including the Gladiator.
He has collaborated with many artists, such as Sting, Peter Gabriel,
Hossein Alizadeh, Erkan Ogur, Michael Brook, Brian May, Lionel Richie,
Derek Sherinian, Ludovico Einaudi, Luigi Cinque, Boris Grebenshchikov,
Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Hans Zimmer and Andreas Vollenweider.
He also recorded with the Kronos Quartet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Gasparyan played as part of the Armenian entry “Apricot Stone” by Eva
Rivas at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo and became the
oldest ever person to feature in a Eurovision Song Contest
performance.
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3 - Armenian Constitutional Court Asked To Scrap Election Results
(RFE/RL Armenian Report)
Four opposition groups that participated in Armenia’s recent
parliamentary elections appealed to the Constitutional Court on Friday
to cancel their official results that gave victory to Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan’s party.
The separate appeals were lodged by the alliances led by former
Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan and two smaller groups
that failed to win any seats in the Armenian parliament.
They claimed to have submitted evidence of irregularities which
seriously affected the outcome of the June 20 elections.
A spokesman for Kocharian’s Hayastan bloc, Aram Vardevanian, again
accused Pashinyan of abusing his government levers, bullying
opposition activists and resorting to “hate speech” during the
election campaign and forcing military and security personnel to vote
for the ruling Civil Contract party.
Vardevanian said Hayastan’s appeal to the court includes video
material and documentary evidence of fraud in official results from
109 precincts where 88,000 Armenians cast ballots on election day.
He said the bloc also found discrepancies in documents used during
voting in three dozen other precincts.
Speaking at a news conference earlier this week, Kocharian questioned
the legality of 200,000 of about 700,000 votes which the Central
Election Commission (CEC) says were won by Civil Contract.
Those votes accounted for about 54 percent of the total ballots cast.
According to the CEC, Hayastan finished second with 21 percent of the
vote, followed by Sarkisian’s Pativ Unem bloc that got 5.2 percent.
None of the 22 other election contenders did well enough to be
represented in the National Assembly.
The CEC rejected on June 27 Hayastan’s and Pativ Unem’s demands to
annul the vote results, saying that the opposition blocs failed to
present evidence of widespread fraud.
Pashinian has described the snap elections as free and fair. He has
cited their largely positive assessment by European election observers
mostly deployed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe.
One of Pashinian’s associates, Alen Simonian, dismissed the opposition
appeals to the Constitutional Court as publicity stunts aimed at
tarnishing the legitimacy of the ruling party’s victory.
Under Armenian law, the court has to examine the appeals and rule on
them within the next 15 days.
In case of agreeing to annul the official results, the court could
order the holding of new elections or a second round of voting or
change the CEC’s distribution of the new parliament’s 107 seats.
Using a complex legal formula, the CEC has given 71 parliament seats
to Pashinian’s party and 29 seats to Kocharian’s bloc. The other
opposition force is to get the remaining 7 seats.
Four of the Constitutional Court’s nine judges were installed by the
outgoing parliament controlled by Pashinian.
Hayastan’s Vardevanian demanded that one of those judges, Vahe
Grigorian, recuse himself from the case. He said Grigorian cannot make
impartial decisions because of having represented relatives of
protesters killed during Kocharian’s rule in a high-profile trial of
the ex-president.
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4- Karine Ceyhan Gardner to be first Armenian
on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Amateurs”
(Combined Sources)—Chef Karine Ceyhan Gardner of Altadena, California
is set to be the first Armenian on Bravo’s Top Chef Amateurs, a new
show where home cooks are thrown into the Top Chef kitchen alongside
All-Star Alumni.
Karine is a surgical sales consultant by day, married to Brian
Gardner, and a mom of two—a daughter, Lucca, and a son, Golden
Sahnur—and an avid home cook by night and weekends.
She took up the opportunity of joining the Top Chef cast at the height
of the pandemic. Ceyhan Gardner said “Follow your dreams and passions!
It’s never too late.”
“I have always found a fascination with my rich Armenian culture and
food. It has always been a gateway for me to connect with and get to
know my late father Sahnur Ceyhan who loved cooking warm traditional
meals and sharing it with his loved ones. He was born in ancient
Western Armenia (Sivas-Zara) but spent his last years in Marseille,
France. I’m excited to use this platform introduce the ancient
Armenian culture to the world while adding in my unique French twist.
Just like my father, I cannot wait to share my meals with the world. I
believe that life without passion is no life at all. So live and savor
…. That’s the ultimate love,” Karine Ceyhan told Zartonk Media.
Hosted by longtime Top Chef judge Gail Simmons, Top Chef Amateurs will
feature home cooks from all walks of life — from formerly working in
the CIA to currently serving lunch in the school cafeteria. In each
30-minute episode, two amateur chefs will go head-to-head to put their
culinary skills to the test in fan-favorite challenges previously seen
on Top Chef, such as creating a dish inspired by one of the seven
deadly sins, the mise-en-place race, and the blind taste test.
But they won’t be doing it alone. Each amateur will be paired with a
Top Chef All Star, who will help them bring their dishes to life.
Ceyhan Gardner frequently posts her recipes and cooking demonstrations
on social media. Her Instagram is @karineceyhan
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5- Three Armenians convicted of using $18 million in COVID relief
to buy luxury homes, jewelry, gold coins
(City News Service)—Sentencing is scheduled Sept. 13 for four Los
Angeles residents found guilty of scheming to submit fraudulent loan
applications under which they and their co-defendants obtained more
than $18 million in COVID-19 relief funds used to put down-payments on
luxury homes in Tarzana, Glendale and Palm Desert and purchase jewelry
and other high-end items. Four others from the San Fernando Valley
already pleaded guilty. The defendants used the pandemic funds for
down payments on homes in Tarzana, Glendale and Palm Desert, say
federal prosecutors.
Richard Ayvazyan, 42, his wife Marietta Terabelian, 37, and his
brother Artur Ayvazyan, 41, all of Encino, were each found guilty
Friday of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud,
11 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of bank fraud and one count of
conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Richard Ayvazyan was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated
identity theft, while his brother was found guilty of one count of
aggravated identity theft.
Vahe Dadyan, 41, of Glendale, was found guilty of six counts of wire
fraud, three counts of bank fraud, and one count each of conspiracy to
commit bank fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money
laundering, and money laundering.
On Monday, the Los Angeles federal court jury that convicted the four
defendants found they must forfeit bank accounts, jewelry, watches,
gold coins, three residential properties and about $450,000 in cash,
according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Seeking quick riches, the defendants stole federal funds intended to
help Americans harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic
carnage left in its wake,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy L.
Wilkison. “The verdicts in this case are the first in this district
resulting from a pandemic-related fraud scheme, and we are prepared to
bring additional defendants to justice as we continue our efforts to
safeguard our nation’s disaster-relief programs.”
Evidence presented at trial showed the defendants used fake, stolen or
fabricated identities to submit fraudulent applications for the loans.
In support of the applications, the defendants also submitted false
and fictitious documents to lenders and the Small Business
Administration, including fake identity documents, tax documents and
payroll records. The defendants used the fraudulently obtained funds
as down-payments on luxury homes and to buy gold coins, diamonds,
jewelry, luxury watches, imported furnishings, designer handbags,
clothing and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Prior to the verdict, the following co-defendants pleaded guilty to
criminal charges in the case:
Manuk Grigoryan, 46, of Sun Valley, pleaded guilty on June 7 to one
count each of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Grigoryan
faces up to 32 years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for
Sept. 13;
Edvard Paronyan, 40, of Granada Hills, pleaded guilty on June 11 to
one count of wire fraud. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 30 and
faces up to 20 years in federal prison;
Tamara Dadyan, 39, of Encino, Artur Ayvazyan’s wife and Vahe Dadyan’s
cousin, pleaded guilty on June 14 to one count each of conspiracy to
commit bank fraud and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and
conspiracy to commit money laundering. Dadyan faces up to 52 years in
federal prison, with sentencing set for Sept. 27; and
Arman Hayrapetyan, 41, of Glendale, who pleaded guilty on June 21 to
one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces up to 20
years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for Sept. 20.
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6- Armenia Continues Fight Against COVID-19
Armenia is continuing the fight against the third wave of COVID-19
cases, as the country continues promoting the vaccination phase.
There were 4,181 active cases in Armenia as of July 12. Armenia has
recorded 226,459 coronavirus cases and 4,547 deaths; 217,731 have
recovered.
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