“There is no military solution to the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh,” Stat Department Deputy Spokesman Mark C. Toner told a daily briefing.
“We have remained in contact with both governments, all sides in this conflict, and our message has been consistent, which is that we condemn in the strongest possible terms any violence along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of conflict and we need to see the peace process back up and running and as soon as possible,” Toner said.
– HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, during the group meeting of HDP, apologized for the Armenian Genocide. Yüksekdağ said, “On 101st anniversary of the genocide, we apologize to Armenian people. We apologize to Aunt Elizabeth, to Uncle Krikor. We apologize to our friend, comrade Garo and to our sister Roza.”
HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, during the group meeting of HDP, talked about the Armenian Genocide. Yüksekdağ said, “On 101st anniversary of the genocide, we apologize to Armenian people. We apologize to Aunt Elizabeth, to Uncle Krikor. We apologize to our friends, comrade Garo and to our sister Roza.”
Yüksekdağ started the meeting by saying, “I would like to begin by commemorating Armenian, Syriac and Chaldean people who were exiled and killed 101 years ago.” Then she added: “The mentality that led to the genocide avoids recognition today. However, recognition doesn’t demean a state, it only relieves pain. These lands will eventually spill out the bloodshed, regardless of your wishes. Our history is a history of massacres. Recognizing the massacres is a both actual and historical responsibility.”
“The ones who withhold their apologies have still the same mentality. They still use “Armenian” as an insult. This means that genocidal mentality is still alive. We apologize to Armenian people. We apologize to Aunt Elizabeth, to Uncle Krikor. We apologize to our friends, comrade Garo and to our sister Roza. As I said, the mentality that led to death and destruction in the past is still active today.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken harshly against the remarks of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan who used accusatory words against Turkey and declared that Armenia is ready for a war with Azerbaijan amid ongoing conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, Yenisafak reports.
“Armenia is playing with fire. More than 100,000 Armenians are living in Turkey, some of whom do not have residence permits. The situation has been tolerated by Turkey. Along with this, we also returned foundation goods of Armenian-origin Turkish citizens. These actions show how friendly Turkey has been acting. However, Armenia cannot see this,” said Erdogan during his flight from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
The Azerbaijani side not only continues to shell the populated areas in Karabakh, but also tries to present the events upside down, accusing the Armenian side of targeting its own settlements, the NKR Defense Army reports.
Committed to the principle of speaking with facts, the NKR Defense Army presents the video of rocket attack on the settlement of Mataghis.
A musical project in Dresden has come under fire for branding the Armenian massacre a “genocide.” The head of Germany’s cultural council says it’s yet another case of Turkey’s inappropriate interference abroad, reports.
The director of the Dresdner Sinfoniker Markus Rindt conceived an ambitious project in November 2015, alongside German-born Turkish guitarist Marc Sinan. Musicians from Turkey, Armenia and Germany would come together for the concert project “Aghet” in remembrance of the persecution and massacre of Armenians 101 years ago during the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The event was intended to be a sign of reconciliation.
Turkey, however, has taken umbrage in this, and is particularly offended by the use of the term “genocide” on the homepage of the European Commission, a main sponsor of the event. The EU appears to respect Turkey’s position and has removed its related pages. But Olaf Zimmermann, head of the German Cultural Council, says that this could become a slippery slope leading to encroachment of freedom of art and expression.
DW: Turkey appears to be targeting German cultural figures once more. This time it has taken aim at a concert by the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra, scheduled to be performed this weekend to commemorate the Armenian massacre at the end of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish government does not view the killings as a “genocide” – but surely that’s not all?
Olaf Zimmermann: No, it’s not just about that one word, of course. It’s about an artistic endeavor that examines the unique fate suffered by Armenians as they were forced into migration. Needless to say, the characteristics of this project deal with a situation 101 years ago. So referring to these massacres as genocide is not a creative concept, but rather builds on the opinion of reputable historians. Those artists in Dresden don’t represent dissenting views, but are part of the mainstream interpretation of events.
But Turkey has repeatedly resisted being associated with the terminology of genocide in the past when it comes to Armenians.
And that’s perfectly fine. Everyone has to find their own way to come to terms with the past. But trying to enforce one particular interpretation of a historic event amounts to a transgression and is, simply put, unacceptable. What they are doing is like aiming their cannons in the general direction of Dresden to do nothing but hit mere sparrows.
But Turkish President Erdogan skipped the immediate step of voicing his grievances at the orchestra and rather went straight to the EU, which is one of the sponsors of the project. And in response to his complaint, the EU actually went ahead and removed the description of the concert from its website to rephrase its wording. What do you think about these measures?
I think that’s problematic. Mr. Erdogan tells our leaders to jump and they seem to ask “how high?” At first it was only our chancellor, who reacted that way to that poem recited by comedian Jan Böhmermann, and now it’s the entire EU. Instead they could just tell him that it’s none of his business and that we won’t do anything about these things.
There have been such interventions in the past already, but they’re beginning to amass. And this is on account of the fact that Erdogan apparently seems to believe that the German government and the EU as a whole have become susceptible to such blackmail since we need his assistance in dealing with the refugee crisis. That’s why he seems to feel free to intervene in our domestic issues. Both the German government and the European Commission have become nervous and fearful, and the Turkish president is abusing this. This is a considerable problem.
Markus Rindt, director of the Dresdner Sinfoniker, says that this amounts to a major encroachment on freedom of expression and freedom of art. Are these freedoms being undercut?
At the very least, we’re getting accustomed to a foreign president having something to say about what we choose to do artistically in Germany, and if he doesn’t like something he seeks to prevent it. That is a rather unusual way of dealing with things, and I would really, really, really like to ask the government for more backing here, telling Erdogan to keep out of our business.
By Sen. Mark Kirk
The time has come for Azerbaijan to face consequences from the United States and the international community for its blatant military aggression against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).
After years of saber rattling, Azerbaijan’s four-day assault on the NKR earlier this month is its most egregious attack since it signed a cease-fire agreement with Armenia and the NKR in 1994. These recent military actions indicate the clear need for new measures to modify a cease-fire framework that is not working.
With no system to referee the cease-fire, Azerbaijan has become increasingly belligerent while facing no consequences for its violations. This must change.
I strongly support a congressional response, spearheaded by Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and ranking member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, that offers three pro-peace measures to bring needed oversight to a cease-fire that has been precariously self-regulated by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces for more than two decades.
First, all sides should agree not to deploy snipers along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.
Second, advanced gunfire locator systems and sound ranging equipment, monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), should be installed along the line of contact to verify the source of any attacks.
And third, additional OSCE observers should be deployed along the line of contact to more effectively monitor cease-fire violations. There are only six OSCE observers monitoring the conflict zone — woefully insufficient given the number of cease-fire violations each day.
More than 80 members of the House of Representatives have signed the bipartisan Royce-Engel proposals, which have also been supported by the U.S. State Department and the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group.
In order for a lasting peace to be established, there must be goodwill and trust on both sides. But, while both Armenia and the NKR have affirmed their support for these peace-building measures, Azerbaijan has not. In truth, the lack of oversight on the current cease-fire framework provides useful cover for Azerbaijan’s belligerence.
U.S leadership is needed now to stop the bloody pattern in which Azerbaijan attacks the NKR, the NKR responds, and then Azerbaijan blames the Armenians for violating the cease-fire. We should no longer accept Baku’s flagrant duplicity.
I call upon the administration to raise the Royce-Engel proposals to the highest levels of the Azerbaijani government.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has faced a chorus of international criticism for human rights abuses, such as the wrongful imprisonment of Radio Free Europe journalist Khadija Ismayilova and some 20 others who have been prosecuted on politically motivated charges, according to Human Rights Watch.
Just as the international community has come together to hold the Baku government responsible for its transgressions against civil society in Azerbaijan, so too should we call it to account for its treatment of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The OSCE’s Minsk Process, which started in 1995 to bring the parties of the conflict to a peaceful and comprehensive settlement, is hanging on by a thread. If diplomacy is to endure, there must be a verifiable cease-fire in place.
The onus is on Azerbaijan to demonstrate to the U.S. and the international community that it truly wants to be a partner in peace with Armenia and the NKR. Baku must fully commit to the Royce-Engel proposals.
The choice for President Aliyev is clear: Either he subscribes to diplomatic negotiations with the Armenians under peaceful circumstances or continues with a belligerent and futile policy of attrition.
If he chooses the latter, he should know that every act of Azerbaijani aggression will only further validate the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s argument that it go the way of Kosovo. As a veteran of the Kosovo War, I truly hope Azerbaijan realizes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should only be resolved through peaceful means.
Kirk has represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 2010 and was previously a five-term U.S. representative from the northern Chicago suburbs.
– Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney’s April 26 remarks to the have hit a raw nerve in Azerbaijan, the ex-Soviet petrocracy where her client, investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, is kept prisoner.
After Clooney described the political reasons for Ismayilova’s arrests, the Azerbaijani government apparently did what it always does when pressed on its human rights record — claimed a global Armenian conspiracy.
No matter if Clooney’s case at the European Court for Human Rights involves an Azerbaijani journalist’s struggle against the Azerbaijan state. Azerbaijan’s state propaganda will find an Armenian connection even if there is none.
“Turns out that Armenia indeed has a weapon that we could not even dream of… the ‘deadly weapon’ that Armenia is using against Azerbaijan is the quite well-known, failure-of-a-lawyer Amal Clooney, née Alamuddin,” Day.az sniped.
The smear campaign, waged loyally by Azerbaijan’s predominantly pro-government mainstream media, comes shortly after Azerbaijan and longtime archenemy Armenia fought a brief, so-called four-day war earlier this month. The seemingly endless feud between the two neighbors began after a bloody war in the late 1980s and early 1990s over separatist Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the eviction of the enclave’s entire ethnic Azeri population.
For that reason, in Baku’s thinking, Clooney’s past role as a legal advocate for the Armenian government before the European Court of Human Rights make her highly suspect. Her support, and that of husband George Clooney, for recognition of Ottoman Turkey’s slaughter of ethnic Armenians as genocide only add to the suspicions. Turkey ranks as Azerbaijan’s closest ally.
When Clooney said she was taking up Ismayilova’s case, Azerbaijani media claimed that the British lawyer was of Armenian descent. Clooney, who scoffed at the charges, is, in fact, of Lebanese extraction, but Lebanon houses a large Armenian Diaspora. So, for Baku, it all comes together.
“The Armenian diaspora must have some sort of trick prepared to use that good-for-nothing lawyer,” opined Rizvan Huseynov, a researcher with Azerbaijan’s National Academy of Science.
Azerbaijan’s pro-government media seemed particularly incensed with Clooney’s recent attempt to rally support for Ismayilova’s case in Washington. Clooney told the BBC that she believes international pressure can help free the journalist, who has been serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence since late 2015 for alleged abuse of power, tax evasion, illegal business activity and embezzlement.
“We know that diplomatic pressure can work on the [Azerbaijani] government because what we had happened in the last month,” Clooney said, referring to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s pardon of internationally recognized political prisoners ahead of a visit to Washington in late March.
In fact, Aliyev releases prisoners each year before Novruz, the traditional Zorastrian New Year celebrated in Azerbaijan, but the comment hit its mark.
Researcher Huseynov wrote in the pro-Aliyev News.az website that the Armenians paid Clooney to go to Washington and set the White House and Capitol Hill against Azerbaijan.
How far Azerbaijan’s pro-government hacks will go with this theme of an international Armenian conspiracy remains to be seen, but crossover PR tactics from the Karabakh fight should be expected.
The Azerbaijani army is violating international humanitarian law by using own civilians as a human shield.
The NKR Defense Army has pointed out all military objects, which are considered legitimate targets, according to the principles of ionternational law (Protocol 1 Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts), the NKR Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Azerbaijan deploys its military objects in populated areas in violation of Article 58 of the same Protocol.
On April 28, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Edward Djerejian, eminent US diplomat, director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
The interlocutors discussed steps carried out towards strengthening of Armenian-US relations.
Upon the guest’s request, Minister Nalbandian presented the situation unfolded due to large-scale military aggression launched by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, continuing gross breaches of the cease-fire regime by Baku, attempts to undermine negotiation process on peaceful settlement of the issues.
Edward Nalbandian and Edward Djerejian exchanged thoughts on developments in the Middle East, pressing international issues.
“Erdogan’s statement is a confession of the fact that the mentality of the Turkish leadership has not changed even after 101 years after the Armenian Genocide,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minster Shavarsh Kocharyan said.
The comments come after “Armenia is playing with fire” and reminded about “more than 100,000 Armenians living in Turkey.”
“The Turkish President is trying to threaten Armenia, linking the dependence of the Armenians of Turkey on the country’s authorities to his denialist statement released on April 24 this year,” Kocharyan said in comments to Tert.am.
“According to Erdogan, Azerbaijan is different from neighboring countries and Ukraine. The only thing I have to add is that with its xenophobia, its mania of spreading a wave of instability and bloodshed, with its genocidal approaches, Azerbaijan is like and even identical with one country – Turkey,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
“Such convulsive statements coming from both Ankara and Baku are the expression of their horror of finding themselves intentionally isolated as a result of their racist policy,” Shavarsh Kocharyan concluded.