Category: 2019

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Armenian genocide, marking a first in more than three decades.

It was a “historic day,” says Berj Apkarian, Fresno’s Honorary Consul to the Republic of Armenia. He says the Fresno area’s Armenian community, one of the largest in California outside of Los Angeles, is abuzz with the news out of Washington. “The Armenian nation in the civilized world have been waiting for over 105 years to bring justice to this cause,” he says.

In a 405-to-11 vote, the House agreed to acknowledge the 1915 slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians as genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in what is present-day Turkey. In the century since, in which Turkey and the U.S. have remained allies, President Ronald Reagan was the only commander in chief to have ever used the word “genocide” in reference to the atrocities against the Armenians. The House passed similar resolutions in 1975 and 1984, but they were never picked up by the Senate.

“Whether it’s through the lens of being a NATO ally, or wanting to achieve stability in the Middle East, it’s always been problematic in terms of official recognition of the genocide,” says Fresno State University Armenian Studies Professor Sergio La Porta, referring to the U.S.’s silence on the issue as a “gag”.

La Porta says the House’s decision this week was clearly political, a reaction to recent violence in Syria at the hands of Turkish troops following President Donald Trump’s removal of U.S. forces in the country. “It would be better if politics could have been put aside, but barring that I’m just happy that it passed,” La Porta says. An official acknowledgement from the U.S. government, he points out, would not only commemorate the genocide and distance the U.S. from attempts to deny that it happened, but it would also encourage education and public awareness of the genocide.

Berj Apkarian agrees. Especially considering economic sanctions the U.S. government also levied against Turkey in the last month. “All these in my humble opinion transform it into a very strong and solid message,” he says. “This is not a symbolic act.”

Whether the rest of the U.S. government will take up the issue remains to be seen. A companion bill in the Senate has yet to build the same momentum that resulted in the passage of the House bill.

ArmInfo.On November 1, around 06:00 a.m., a second case of stray dogs penetration was recorded in the territory of the Yerevan Zoo.

According to the press service of the zoo, three mouflons (2 males, 1  males) were killed as a result of the attack.

According to the staff of the Yerevan Zoo, the pack of dogs that  entered the park is most likely the same pack that attacked the  kangaroo the day before.

To note, three puppies that could not get out of the enclosure were  caught and transferred to a sterilization center.

Considering the incidents of the last two days taking place at the  Zoo, Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Tigran Virabyan suggested director of  the Yerevan zoo Ruben Khachatryan to write a letter of resignation.

It is noted that the proposal was sent after consultations with  Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan.

In turn, the administration of the zoo turns to the appropriate  structures in order to quickly find and neutralize dogs, given the  relevance of the problem and the importance of ensuring public safety.

It is noted that in order to exclude the human factor associated with  the penetration of dogs, the Zoo administration also contacted the  law enforcement bodies of Armenia to begin a preliminary  investigation.  To recall, yesterday, at a Yerevan zoo stray dogs  attaked  three kangaroos. The incident occurred early in the morning  and the vets who arrived at the scene were unable to save rare  animals.  Kangaroo males were donated to Yerevan Zoo by the Chisinau  colleagues in June 2018. The males were to "get acquainted" with the  females that were expected from Amsterdam in December, with the  understandable purpose of breeding.

To recall, since 2011 this is the third case of stray dogs entering  the territory of the zoo due to which animals receive, sometimes  serious injuries and often die. This is due to the lack of fencing  throughout the park, which allows not only dogs, but also foxes exotic animals.  The Yerevan Municipality has already taken up  this problem and has already begun work on fencing the territory of  the park to ensure its safety.  However, it is strange that with such  extensive work, no one even thought about ensuring the safety of the  permanent inhabitants of the Zoo, and a "worthy" fence was not built. 

ArmInfo.The Russian Embassy in Armenia responded to the presentation in the republic of the report "The presence of the Russian base in Armenia, and its impact  on the human rights situation in the country."

So, the Embassy's statement received by ArmInfo,in particular, said:  "We could not help but pay attention to the report presented in  Yerevan on the presence of the Russian military base in Armenia and  its impact on the human rights situation in the country. Without  questioning the importance of informing of the Armenian society about  various aspects of the activities of 102 RMBs (it is well known that  we are open to dialogue and completely transparent in this regard),  we again ask ourselves the question: why do "studies" of the  fundamental issues of bilateral relations concerning more nor less  than the security and sovereignty of our countries, are financed with  funds from Western foundations, and how, in that case, like < Research> can claim to be objective? ".

To note, the report "The Presence of the Russian Base in Armenia and  Its Impact on the Human Rights Situation in the Country" was  presented in Yerevan. The report was prepared on the platform of the  Eastern Partnership Forum, by the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki  Civil Assembly in collaboration with the Moldovan Association  Promo-LEX and the Ukrainian Foundation for Eastern European Security  Research Initiative and was prepared with the financial assistance of  the EU. The English version of the report analyzes human rights  situations in connection with the presence of the Russian military in  Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine, while the Armenian version of the  report presents the situation only in Armenia.  According to the  authors of the report, the purpose of the study is to study the legal  grounds for the presence of the Russian base and the mechanisms of  its control in terms of ensuring human rights.