May 2021 – Page 103 – Armenian Directory & News

Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 06-05-21

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Rose Khoyetsian

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 06-05-21

17:34, 6 May, 2021

YEREVAN, 6 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 6 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.41 drams to 521.45 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.73 drams to 628.19 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.02 drams to 6.99 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.72 drams to 725.65 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 236.16 drams to 29879.43 drams. Silver price down by 8.53 drams to 440.84 drams. Platinum price down by 436.21 drams to 20470.07 drams.

Lavrov chides statements contradicting Karabakh agreements as not being alternatives

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Janet Ekmekjian

TASS, Russia

May 6 2021

Any issues, which might run counter to the agreements of the three leaders cannot be perceived as an alternative to what had been agreed on, the Russian top diplomat said

YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. Any statements running counter to the agreements between the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders on unblocking economic ties in Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be viewed as an alternative to the current agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday commenting on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s remark on creating the Zangezur corridor.

"As for trilateral cooperation at the level of deputy prime ministers, this mechanism was created based on the decision of the Russian and Azerbaijani presidents and the Armenian prime minister following their January 11 meeting in Moscow. This mechanism provides for agreements that can be entirely voluntary, mutually beneficial and in no way imply anything other than diplomatic consent and solutions that would allow economic relations to be completely unblocked. Any issues, which might run counter to the agreements of the three leaders cannot be perceived as an alternative to what had been agreed on," Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Armenia’s top diplomat Ara Ayvazyan.

The Zangezur corridor is set to link Azerbaijan’s mainland with Nakhichevan through Zangezur (Armenia’s Syunik Province). On April 20, Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijan’s state television that Baku would achieve the creation of the corridor regardless of Armenia’s wish and in the event of its resistance it would be ready to iron out the issue by force. The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned the statement, noting that it dealt a serious blow to regional peace and stability. Moscow called on the sides to refrain from revanchist and militarist rhetoric, which "could again put the region on the verge of war.".

Dwindling Armenians show Easter faith in Romania

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Kajoyan Gevork

CRUX

May 6 2021

In Associated Press, Church in Europe
Vadim Ghirda and Andreea Alexandru
May 6, 2021

Clergymen carry a structure symbolizing the tomb of Jesus Christ during a Good Friday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, April 30, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

BUCHAREST, Romania — The ethnic Armenian population in Romania numbered more than 40,000 at the beginning of World War II but rapidly plunged during the country’s communist era, especially during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.

The latest available census data shows a little over 1,300 people in Romania today identify as Armenian, many of whom welcomed the resumption of Orthodox Easter church services that were canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 100 people wearing mandatory face masks gathered inside and outside Bucharest’s Armenian Church, an imposing white building fashioned after the main Armenian Apostolic Church cathedral. Archbishop Datev Hagopian, the Iraq-born clergyman who since 2010 has served as primate of the Armenian church’s Romanian Diocese, led the Easter service.

An Armenian clergyman walks by an icon depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during a Maundy Thursday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 29, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

An Armenian clergyman helps a child remove his shoes before the washing of the feet ritual during a Maundy Thursday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 29, 2021.(Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Iraq-born Archbishop Datev Hagopian, left, prepares to symbolically wash the feet of a boy during a Maundy Thursday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 29, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Iraq-born Archbishop Datev Hagopian, left, symbolically washes the feet of a boy during a Maundy Thursday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 29, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

A baby wanders around while Iraq-born Archbishop Datev Hagopian, center, leads a Maundy Thursday religious service, that included the symbolic washing of feet for a few children, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, April 29, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Armenians, mostly traders, were an important presence starting in the 14th century in the region that makes up modern Romania, and the oldest historical evidence of their presence there dates from 967 AD. In 1700, they established Armenopolis, a city in the Transylvania principality that was then a part of Habsburg-ruled Hungary. The city is now called Gherla, while Transylvania is a region of central Romania.

After the systematic killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey — which U.S. President Joe Biden last month recognized as a genocide — many Armenians took refuge in Romania, where an orphanage was set up for up to 200 children who lost their parents.

Although Armenians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6, according to the Julian calendar, Armenian Apostolic Church leaders decided after the mass killings, in 1925, to observe Easter at the same time as the Orthodox Christian majorities in Romania and Greece. They believed the change would promote the integration of Armenians in the countries that accepted refugees and eliminate possible doubts about their Christianity.

Members of the Armenian community in Romania, wearing face masks, are reflected in an icon as clergymen carry a structure symbolizing the tomb of Jesus Christ during a Good Friday religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, April 30, 2021. Dozens gathered inside and outside Bucharest’s Armenian Church, an imposing white building fashioned after the main Armenian Apostolic Church cathedral. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Members of the Armenian community in Romania, wearing face masks, stand during the Easter religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, May 1, 2021. The ethnic Armenian population in Romania numbered more than 40,000 at the beginning of World War II and rapidly plunged during the country’s communist era, especially during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

A man of the Armenian community in Romania holds a young child during the Easter religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Members of the Armenian community in Romania, receive the holy light from Iraq-born Archbishop Datev Hagopian during the Easter religious service, at the Armenian Church in Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP.)

Romania’s authorities relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for Orthodox Easter’s Holy Week. The celebrations started on Maundy Thursday, when Archbishop Hagopian symbolically washed the feet of a few children. On Good Friday, worshippers formed a line behind a flower- and icon-decorated structure carried by four men, symbolizing the tomb of Jesus Christ.

Easter Sunday meant sitting on benches inside the church for a service of nearly two hours and then waiting in line to receive Holy Communion from the archbishop.

Beirut: Lebanese-Armenian Is Facing ‘Terrorism’ Charges In Azerbaijan

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Lena Karagyozian

The 961, Lebanon

May 6 2021

Souad Lazkani·

Diaspora

·May 6, 2021

Viken Euljekchian, a Lebanese national of Armenian origin, is facing terrorism-related charges in Azerbaijan for allegedly participating in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He was captured by Azeris as a war prisoner after the ceasefire.

Elijekchian along with Maral Najarian, who has since returned to Beirut, first went missing on November 10th, 2020, the day the ceasefire was signed. Now, Azerbaijan is accusing him of mercenary activity, alleging that he voluntarily took part in the conflict for a sum of money.

Lebanese-Armenian Is Facing 'Terrorism' Charges In Azerbaijan

According to Azerbaijan’s investigation, Elucekhian was offered $2,500 by Lebanese-Armenian Ovak Kikiyan to fight in the war.

Eluchekhian is facing charges for fighting as a mercenary, illegally crossing Azerbaijan’s border, and engaging in terrorist activities, Azeri news reported.

The investigation reportedly found that Eulcekjian and others who had partaken in “terrorist activities against Azerbaijani citizens” for material compensation were part of an organized group.

“By a court decision, a measure of restraint was chosen in the form of arrest. On May 5, 2021, the indictment in the criminal case was confirmed and sent to court for consideration,” read a joint statement by Azerbaijani Prosecutor’s General Office and the State Security Service.

Latvian Saeima passes declaration on Ottoman Empire’s committed Armenian genocide

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Mike Maghakian

BNN – Baltic News Network
May 6 2021

LETA
May 6, 2021

– Baltic News Network – News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

Thursday, 6 May, Latvian Saeima passed a declaration developed by the Foreign Affairs Committee on the genocide of Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire.

The parliament also had a project of the declaration prepared by several dozen deputies on the agenda of the 6 May meeting. This declaration was rejected in favour of the document prepared by the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Saeima deputy Romāns Naudiņš stressed during debates that parliaments that pass such declarations have to prepare them very carefully, because they cause long-reaching consequences. He objected to the fact that none of the declarations passed by other parliaments had been discussed with historians even though the core of the matter is an issue that has not been analysed by members of the parliament thoroughly enough.

Naudiņš proposed rejecting both declarations and compose a new one. According to him the parliament may prepare a new redaction of the declaration by autumn. According to him, the declaration should not forget about other peoples who died in those tragic events.

Aleksandrs Kiršteins from the National Alliance dived deeper into history and invited rejecting any announcements, adding that he does not understand why it is necessary to pass this declaration at all and why it should be done now.

Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman Rihards Kols reported that for a couple of months the committee has held numerous discussions about the Armenian genocide, adding that all sides interested in this issue have been interviewed.

The document mentions it is important to remember the lives of the people who perished in the genocide committed by the Ottoman authorities – mass murder and forced relocation of Armenian nationals and activists that started in Constantinople 24 April 1915.

Latvian parliament referred to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) and the European Parliament’s resolution recognizing these World War I events as genocide as defined in the UN Genocide Convention.

The Saeima stresses Latvia condemns all crimes against humanity and affirms its duty to recognize and remember these crimes to prevent their repetition.

In the document it is detailed that as a result of the actions committed by the Ottoman authorities many Armenian nationals were forcefully deported to other regions of the empire, which resulted in the loss of many lives due to famine, physical violence and killings.

The Saeima stresses that it honours the memory of all victims of the Armenian genocide and shows respect to the survivors and points out that open discussions of historical events are indispensable for the development of a healthy and mature democracy.

Latvian parliament urges the international community to asses these events and turn towards the future, which should be made free of violence and intolerance – a future in which human rights are respected and any individual can feel free and safe.

Note to Benny Morris: The Armenian ‘tragedy’ was a genocide

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Talar Tumanian

Ha'aretz, Israel

May 6 2021

Turkey's ultranationalist genocide deniers, led by President Erdogan, must be applauding the shameful revisionism of academics like Benny Morris, while they continue to threaten Armenian lives today

Note to Benny Morris: The Armenian 'tragedy' was a genocide – Middle East News – Haaretz.com

The Armenian genocide in many ways shook the established world order to its very core. Here was an atrocity so inexplicably depraved that there was no word to describe it, and no system to resolve it. In this watershed moment in human history, the basis of our modern system of international governance, human rights, and international law were born.

It wasn’t, however, until the crime of genocide was repeated with the annihilation of Europe's Jewish population – inspired in part by the Ottoman Empire's extermination of the Armenians – that these nascent systems of international law and global governance would be fully institutionalized; namely with the establishment of the United Nations.

It was there the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide first formally defined the extermination of an entire group on the basis of its indelible characteristics as a criminal act – the life work of Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer whose inspiration for coining the term was the lack of legal recourse for the Armenian people to seek justice for the systematic destruction of their people.

Yet despite the centrality of the history of the Armenian people to very concept of genocide prevention and restitution, the Armenian people have long been denied that very justice – and that is due largely to Turkey’s ongoing denial of the genocide.

Elie Weisel referred to denial as a "double killing": the consummation of the process of genocide. It is also widely considered to be the "final stage of genocide," the process by which the memory of a group’s suffering and persecution is forgotten, leading to the risk of repetition.

Turkish counter-protestors in front of the Turkish Embassy on the 106th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Washington, DC last monthSAMUEL CORUM – AFP

From the birth of the Turkish Republic, a concerted effort was undertaken to expunge any mention of the Armenians and their suffering, so as not to undermine the nascent state’s standing within the community of nations – or draw attention to the continuity between it and its predecessor.

Over time, genocide denial became a sophisticated revisionist historiography, a broad church of nationalist conspiracies best encapsulated by Ronald Suny: "There was no genocide, and the Armenians were to blame for it."

Genocide denial soon became Turkey’s greatest export, as it enlisted foreign governments in its obstruction of justice, threatening to sever ties in response to any recognition of historic fact. And while a growing number of governments – including most recently the United States – have recognized the Armenian genocide, many more have evaded using the term to placate Turkey even while acknowledging that mass killings took place.

The failure to characterize the destruction of the Armenian people as genocide has more than just a symbolic impact. Armenians continue to face many of the same threats to their existence today as they did 106 years ago – and this is not mere coincidence. The failure to accurately diagnose genocide has obscured understanding of the continuity of genocidal policies to this day.

A recent article in Haaretz by Benny Morris and Dror Ze’evi (The Armenian Tragedy Was Not Genocide, but an Attempt to Exterminate Religious Communities) demonstrates this point well.

Morris and Ze’evi asserts a counterfactual revisionist narrative that refutes the genocide label, replacing it with a caricaturish "clash of civilizations," fueled by an Islamic empire's destruction of its Christian subjects. He therefore posits there was mass murder but not genocide, as it was a proto-jihadist, not nationalist, animus which informed the annihilation of Christian religious communities – not a specific ethnic or national group.

This is nonsensical, because under the UN convention, massacring a religious community clearly constitutes genocide.

But most significantly, Morris downplays the ideological root of the genocide: Turkish ultranationalism.

Then, as today, Turkey’s minorities weren't persecuted solely on the basis of their common religious identity, but because they weren’t Turks, and were therefore the enemy. As Turkish nationalism took root among the ruling elite, a concerted campaign of ‘Turkification’ foreshadowed the annihilation of the region’s Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations.

Russian soldiers on the Caucasus front during the First World War discover the skulls of victims from the Armenian village of Sheyxalan burnt alive by Ottoman troops, 1915STR / AGMI / AFP

These policies also impacted the empire’s non-Turkish Muslim subjects, specifically the Kurds, who were subject to forced deportations at the writ of Talaat Pasha – even as he enlisted Kurdish tribes in the slaughter of Armenians.

Today, Turkey’s President Erdogan is increasingly overcome with Ottoman nostalgia.

In addition to praising Armenian genocide architect Enver Pasha at a military parade in Baku, after aiding in the assault on the Armenian-majority enclave of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Erdogan caused a diplomatic row with Iran by reciting a poem ("I will not be separated from you. They have separated us forcibly…") widely seen as a symbol of the doctrine of pan-Turkism – the same expansionist ideology propounded by the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide that seeks the unification of the Turkic world and annihilation of everything in between.

Which country artificially divides the United Turkic World ? pic.twitter.com/hYhfikoKZY

— Fariz Ismailzade 🇦🇿 (@fismailzade) April 30, 2021

Tweet by Fariz Ismailzade, Executive Vice Rector of Azerbaijan's ADA University

After the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan was signed in November 2020, Turkey’s newly established military presence in Azerbaijan was widely portrayed as a "return of Turkish troops to the Caucasus after 102 years." Azerbaijan and Turkey have long seen each other "one nation, two states" – sharing a common commitment to the realization of a pan-Turkic regional order.

The escalation of this rhetoric also meshes with the expanding influence of the pan-Turkic ‘Nationalist Movement Party’ (MHP) in Turkey, which entered into a coalition with Erdogan’s AKP in 2018, and whose leader has been quoted saying the deportation of Armenians in 1915 were "absolutely correct" and "should be done again if the circumstances were the same."

Turkish nationalists making the far-right nationalist Grey Wolf hand signal chant slogans against France in Istanbul following the passing of a French law criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocideAFP

The party’s youth wing, the "Grey Wolves," not only vociferously denies the Armenian genocide, but has organized and incited violence against Armenians, Greeks and Kurds within Turkey. Unsurprisingly, the Grey Wolves also propagate antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

Erdoğan salutes crowd with nationalist grey wolf sign https://t.co/7lYOw8wcvC pic.twitter.com/JY1bqbicM1

— Turkish Minute (@TurkishMinuteTM) March 12, 2018

As the Armenian people today face an existential threat at the hands of Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey – as they brazenly dehumanize the Armenian people, torture and execute prisoners of war, destroy Armenian cultural heritage sites, and threaten further military aggression – it has become clear what the failure to recognize and condemn historic genocides, by politicians and intellectuals, and the efforts to deny and obscure that history, has cost us.

It is often said that a genocide denied is a genocide repeated. Not only because the impunity afforded the perpetrator risks enabling future violence, but because the failure to identify the crime of genocide after the fact obstructs our ability to address the warning signs before it occurs.

Alex Galitsky is communications director of the Western Region of the Armenian National Committee of America, the largest Armenian-American grassroots organization in the United States. Twitter: @algalitsky

US acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide: Its implications

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Jane Topchian

JNS – Jewish News Syndicate

May 6 2021

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Alan Baker

It is incumbent upon the international community and the United Nations to respond with commensurate measures to Iran’s genocidal threats against Israel.

(May 6, 2021 / Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) The recent formal recognition by President Biden of the genocide of the Armenian people at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in the early 20th century is not merely a pro forma gesture to the Armenian people. It is of vast historical significance. It corrects a century-old historic anomaly by acknowledging a reality that, due to political pressure from Turkey, has been deliberately overlooked.

The U.S. declaration

On April 24, President Biden, in an official statement commemorating Armenian Remembrance Day, expressed the United States’ formal acknowledgment and recognition of the Armenian genocide by Ottoman-era Turks during the years 1915-1923.

The atrocities by the Ottoman authorities included the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders and the systematic deportation and massacre of one-and-a-half million Armenians in different parts of Turkey.

Rejecting the U.S. declaration, the Turkish foreign ministry stated:

“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the U.S. regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on April 24 … This statement of the U.S. … will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual friendship and trust.”

The consistent Turkish rejection of the allegations of genocide appears to run counter to considerable historical evidence pointing to the large-scale massacres that took place. A joint declaration by Britain, France and Russia, dated May 24, 1915, accused the Turkish government of responsibility for crimes against the Armenians:

“For about a month, the Kurd and Turkish populations of Armenia have been massacring Armenians with the connivance and often assistance of Ottoman authorities. … Inhabitants of about one hundred villages were all murdered. In that city, the Armenian quarter is besieged by Kurds. At the same time, in Constantinople Ottoman Government ill-treats inoffensive Armenian population.

“In view of those new crimes of Turkey against humanity and civilization, the Allied governments announce publicly to the Sublime-Porte that they will hold personally responsible [for] these crimes all members of the Ottoman government and those of their agents who are implicated in such massacres.”

The Turkish denial

The Turkish rejection of the U.S. declaration is consistent with the standard policy of denial of successive Turkish regimes. This despite eyewitness accounts, official archives, photographic evidence, diplomats’ reports and the testimony of survivors.

Turkey has even attempted to disrupt academic conferences and public discussions dealing with the Armenian Genocide. A notable example was the attempt by Turkish officials to force the cancellation of a conference in Tel Aviv in 1982 at which the Armenian Genocide was to be discussed. Such demands were amplified with threats to the safety of Jews in Turkey. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council reported similar threats over plans to include references to the Armenian Genocide within the interpretive framework of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

While there seems to have been a general consensus in the international community regarding the reality of the genocide, many countries (including Israel) have refrained from formally acknowledging it. The reasons for this reluctance vary, from bilateral relations and commercial interests to Turkey’s status in the international community and the considerable political pressure employed by the Turkish government.

Israel and the Armenian Genocide

Israel’s position has been influenced by many moral, humanitarian and political factors.

In 2001, Israel’s then-foreign minister (and later president) Shimon Peres, basing himself on the uniqueness of the Holocaust, refrained from drawing a parallel with the Armenian situation, claiming that “what the Armenians went through is a tragedy, but not a genocide.”

In 2011, when the subject was discussed in Israel’s Knesset, Speaker Reuven Rivlin (currently president) expressed his intention to convene an annual parliamentary session to mark the Armenian Genocide. Speaking to an Israel-based Armenian action committee, Rivlin said, “It is my duty as a Jew and Israeli to recognize the tragedies of other peoples.”

While the issue was referred to the Knesset’s Education Committee for more extensive deliberation, such recognition never materialized. Ultimately, because of Israel’s commercial, security, tourism and aviation interests with Turkey, as well as its relationship with Azerbaijan (Israel’s leading supplier of oil), then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman made it clear in 2015 that Israel did not intend to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Implications of the U.S. declaration

The U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide portends a significant paradigm change in the way attempted genocides, large-scale atrocities and systematic murder and repression are likely to be perceived within the international community in general, and by major powers specifically.

Recent occurrences of such atrocities include:

• The 2015 attempted genocide of the Iraqi Kurds, committed by Islamic State (ISIS), Iraqi government forces and Iran, as well as the systematic attempt by ISIS to exterminate the Yazidis, Assyrian Christians and Shi’ites in Iraq since 2014.

• The ongoing attempted genocide by Myanmar of the Muslim Rohingya people that commenced in 2017.

•The repression of the Turkic Muslim Uyghurs in China since 2016.

• The attempted genocide and ethnic cleansing by South Sudan’s president against the Nuer tribal ethnic group in South Sudan since 2018, as well as ethnic massacres and killings by Arab militias of minority, non-Muslim groups in Darfur.

• The attempted genocide, displacement of millions, and ethnic cleansing of Christian militias by Muslim leadership in the Central African Republic.

• The mass killing of Yemenis by the Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2017.

• The ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria by radical Islamists.

Threats by Iran to annihilate Israel

The same moral and historical logic that brought the U.S. administration to finally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide might be expected to lead to similar acknowledgment of Iran’s oft-voiced genocidal intentions with regard to Israel:

• In 2005, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, called Israel a “tumor” and echoed the words of the former Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, by saying that Israel should be wiped off the map.

• In a 2006 speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia, Ahmadinejad said, “the main solution to the Middle East crisis is for the elimination of the Zionist regime.”

• In 2008, marking Israel’s 60th Independence Day, Ahmadinejad declared: “Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today, the reason for the Zionist regime’s existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation.”

• In June 2008, the Iranian presidency issued a statement calling to “wipe Israel off the map”: “O dear Imam [Khomeini]! You said the Zionist regime is a usurper and illegitimate regime, and a cancerous tumor that should be wiped off the map. I should say that your illuminating remark and cause are going to come true today. The Zionist regime has lost its existence philosophy … the Zionist regime faces a complete dead end, and under God’s grace, your wish will soon be materialized, and the corrupt element will be wiped off the map.”

• In 2014, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on social media that: “This barbaric, wolf-like and infanticidal regime of Israel, which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated.”

A 9-point table, published on Twitter, outlining why and how Israel should be eliminated: “The only means of bringing Israeli crimes to an end is the elimination of this regime. … The only means of confronting a regime that commits crimes beyond one’s thought and imagination is a resolute and armed confrontation.”

• In January 2019, the head of Iran‘s air force, Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, called to eliminate Israel from the Earth: “The young people in the air force are fully ready and impatient to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the Earth.”

The 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide determined in its third article that incitement to genocide is a crime under international law. Iran is plainly violating this basic provision of international law.

It is incumbent upon the international community and the United Nations, in particular, to respond with commensurate measures. The silence of the international community can and will continue to be interpreted by Teheran as a form of acquiescence to Iran’s declarations.

Conclusion

The above panoply of threats, when complemented by Iran’s intentions and ongoing efforts to acquire nuclear capability and weaponry, must surely be taken into consideration by the U.S. administration, as well as by the European countries, as a central factor in any resumed negotiation with Iran.

There cannot exist a double standard that acknowledges and condemns past occurrences of genocide, while out of the same “political correctness” that was demonstrated vis-à-vis Turkey, and “out of fear of offending Iran,” overlooks, ignores, downgrades and sidelines genuine, ongoing threats by the Iranian leadership to destroy the State of Israel.

Alan Baker is director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center and the head of the Global Law Forum. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. He served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry and as Israel’s ambassador to Canada.

This article was first published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Russia exploring prospects of shipping 1 mln Sputnik V doses to Armenia, says Lavrov

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Edgar Tavakalian

TASS, Russia

May 6 2021

On April 14, Armenia’s Acting Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said in parliament that Armenia and Russia had reached a high-level agreement on the purchase of 1 million Sputnik V doses by Yerevan

YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. Russia is planning new deliveries of its Sputnik V jab to Armenia and is exploring the possibility of shipping 1 million doses to the CIS country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"We have been cooperating closely since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia has been providing assistance to Armenia to prevent the spread of the infection. A batch of the Sputnik V vaccine doses has been provided on a non-repayable basis. Another batch of 15,000 doses was delivered last month. More supplies are on the horizon. We are working on our Armenian friends’ request for the provision of 1 million doses," he said at a meeting with Armenia’s Acting Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian.

Armenia earlier began its vaccination drive after receiving the first batch. Medical professionals, people with chronic illnesses, and staff from social institutions are receiving the shot. On April 14, Armenia’s Acting Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan said in parliament that Armenia and Russia had reached a high-level agreement on the purchase of 1 million Sputnik V doses by Yerevan.

Russia’s top diplomat satisfied with situation in Nagorno-Karabakh normalizing

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Mike Maghakian

TASS, Russia

May 6 2021

A trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers "is working very actively and smoothly," the Russian foreign minister pointed out

YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has substantially normalized and Russian peacekeepers are settling minor incidents promptly and effectively, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

"We are observing positive trends in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. The situation on the ground has substantially normalized. The Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed along the engagement line and the Lachin corridor is acting as a guarantor of security," Russia’s top diplomat said at a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazyan.

"Minor incidents that perhaps can’t be avoided in any operation are being ironed out by our peacekeepers promptly and effectively. They are also paying constant attention to completing a POW swap," he said.

A trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers "is working very actively and smoothly," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.

"We are interested in this work to proceed further and contribute to building a dialogue between Baku and Yerevan to ensure the sustainable development of the South Caucasus," Lavrov stressed.

For his part, Armenia’s top diplomat noted that the sides "had already discussed a couple of issues on settling the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh." "In this context, we stress the importance of cultivating conditions for resuming the peace process under the aegis of the OSCE ‘Troika’ of co-chairs," Ayvazyan said.

"The most important issue is that Azerbaijan should release all prisoners of war and individuals held in custody and this task has to be resolved as soon as possible, which is also evidenced by a lot of information on continued crimes," the Armenian foreign minister added.

Creating conditions for the return of refugees to their homes, providing humanitarian aid to civilians, restoring the economy of Nagorno-Karabakh and unblocking transport links must also be seen as urgent issues, Ayvazyan stressed.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020 with intense battles in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10.

Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides maintained the positions that they had held, some districts passed over to Baku’s control and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line and the Lachin corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement also envisaged an "all-for-all" POW swap.

After the Russian peacekeepers had been deployed to the region, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh stabilized. Tens of thousands of Karabakh residents who had fled their homes during the hostilities returned to the region with the help of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.

There is no way to logically deny the Armenian Genocide

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Lilit Nahapetian

Greek City Times

May 3 2021

by Guest Contributor

In light of the recent recognition of the Armenian Genocide by U.S. President Joe Biden not one week ago, I’d like to take this time to debunk some common denialist “arguments” spread by “historians” such as Bernard Lewis and Justin McCarthy.

Their main thesis is basically “The Armenians rebelled and killed over a million Turks and Kurds so the Ottomans had to relocate them. Only 40,000 Armenians died in relocation to Syria, where the Ottomans fed and cared for them. Oh yeah and there weren’t even 1.5 million Armenians in the empire so the 1.5 million number is a big lie.”

Summed up in the infographic below:

These “arguments” are littered with holes and fallacies, not least of which is the “they rebelled so we had to deport them” excuse.

Armenians were the last out of 39 Ottoman nations to rebel, remaining loyal when everyone else did.

Accordingly:

“In the early 19th century, the Ottoman army had smashed the Kurdish principalities of eastern Anatolia in the view of centralizing reform efforts, but without establishing a new order in their place. The Ottoman governments instead opted for a delegation of force to various rival local actors, who were supposed to keep each other under control and were given specific powers, weapons or privileges.

As a result, many regions were affected by power struggles between provincial administration and military organs, irregular tribal regiments, and local notables. The settlement of nomads and the settlement of the many Muslim refugees from the Crimea, the Caucasus and the Balkans – which were often not given sufficient livelihood and could not otherwise provide than by plunder and stealing – exacerbated the conflicts.
Since the middle of the 19th century, the daily lives of many Armenian villages have been characterized by an excess of everyday violence, robberies and attacks against which the Armenian peasants could scarcely defend themselves, also because they as Christians had no right to carry weapons.

The Armenian Patriarchate, as well as the Armenian National Assembly, sent innumerable petitions to the Ottoman central government asking for punishment of the crimes, which were ignored. At the end of the 1880s and early 1890s, Armenian revolutionary parties were formed, which fought against the autocratic regime of Sultan Abdulhamid II and the reinstatement of the 1876 constitution along with the Young Turk revolutionaries.”

So basically any “revolt for a Greater Armenia” as the denialists claim, was brought on by the Ottomans themselves.

Second, the denialists like to deflect and say “look at all the Turks and Kurds killed by the Armenians!!! That’s genocide isn’t it??” Well, as tragic as those deaths were, you cannot logically accuse the Armenians, but not the Turks, of genocide.

The approximate definition of “genocide” is as follows: “A concentrated effort by a centralized authority to, in whole or part, remove an ethnic group and/or religion.”

There was no Armenian state at the time of these events the denialists refer to! There was no centralized authority coordinating it. So how can this be a genocide if no one party is organizing it, is the question I ask? (Answer, it’s not and anytime a denialist says this it is not worth taking even 1/10th seriously)

Now as for the “There weren’t even 1.5 million bla bla bla” argument, uh yes there were.

The only sources claiming this were Ottoman records, which were terribly and deliberately flawed.

In response to the insurgency which the Ottomans started, they butchered 200,000 to 400,000 Armenians in the Hamidian Massacres of 1894-1896, and 20,000 to 30,000 Armenians in the Adana Massacre of 1909.

Regarding the deportations and genocide of 1915 and afterwards, Talaat Pasha himself conceded “the death toll was 800,000 but undercount of 30% is likely” and hundreds thousands more were killed in Kars, Igdir etc in 1918-1920.

Therefore the Armenian Genocide’s death toll in actuality is anywhere from 1 million to 2 million, but to be fair, let’s go with 1.5 million.

So yeah, “not even 1.5 million bla bla bla,” guess what, there were.

Second, “there is no document proving genocidal intent of the Ottomans! All there is, is orders to move them.”

First of all the denialists like to corroborate this theory by claiming the so-called “Anadonian Documents” were forgeries, these documents showed killing orders of Armenians but denialists denounce them as forged.

Well surprise surprise they are in reality, very much genuine.

And Talaat Pasha himself stated:

“Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention. What on earth do you want? The question is settled. There are no more Armenians.” – Talat Pasha, in a conversation with Dr. Mordtmann of the German Embassy in June 1915

Denialists can’t deny that.

As well, in many areas all Christians regardless of ethnicity were just deported and massacred, which goes to show absolute genocidal intent.

“In some places, at Mardin for instance, all the Christians without distinction of race or faith have had the same fate.”

More reports from the American Ambassador in Constantinople:

Regarding the Muslim dead, (and it’s true there were many), the circumstances around them were different, explained well below.

“Most Muslim civilians died in WWI not at the hands of another ethnicity or government but from starvation. The Ottoman Empire conscripted hundreds of thousands of Muslim men and commandeered food items to feed the war effort. The villages where the men were needed to farm starved to death as men were away for years at a time. Similarly, Muslims fleeing the Russo-Turkish front died due to similar reasons after they were unable to return to their farms.

It’s true and important to acknowledge that the Russian army (and it’s 10–20% Armenian fighters Russia recruited from territory it conquered from Persia in the 1820’s) killed 160k-200k Muslim civilians from 1915–1918. But of the 2–3 million Muslim civilians (also includes Arabs) who died, most of it was due to disease and starvation. There were also a lot more Muslims living in the empire than Christians so number of deaths would be higher even if % percentage was lower.”

So claiming the large number of Muslims dead is due to “the Armenians killing them” is completely unfounded.

Finally “the Armenians have created a genocide industry” this is the only one that is somewhat accurate, but not in the negative, demeaning way it is used in.

The inventor of the word “genocide” specifically referred to the Armenians when using it!

Stating:

“I became interested in genocide because it happened so many times. It happened to the Armenians, and after the Armenians, Hitler took action.” – Raphael Lemkin.

So in conclusion, there is no way to logically deny the Armenian Genocide.

Thank you President Biden for recognizing the truth.

Alper Bilgin is a Georgian and Anatolian Greek activist for minority rights in Turkey and against Turkish propaganda and Turkification.