1 - How Can the Armenian Patriarch
Be as Pro-Turkish as Erdogan?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Latvia recognizes Armenian Genocide
3 - Arminé Chaparyan appointed City Manager of South Pasadena
4- Armenian court: Syrian mercenaries get life in prison
5- Armenia Faces 3rd Wave of COVID-19 Cases
6- Armenian American Museum Announces Groundbreaking on July 11
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1 - How Can the Armenian Patriarch
Be as Pro-Turkish as Erdogan?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
The General Assembly of the United Nations held a meeting on May 5,
2021 on the topic of “Interactive dialog to commemorate and promote
The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.” The
meeting is usually held on April 24, the date designated by the UN to
celebrate “Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.”
UN delegates from many countries, including the representative of
Armenia, made remarks during the meeting chaired by the President of
the General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, a former Turkish diplomat, and UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Davit Knyazyan, the Deputy
Permanent Representative of the Armenian Mission to the UN in New
York, made the following statement during the meeting:
“Armenia is firmly committed to effective multilateralism based on the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
including non-use of force or threat of force and peaceful resolution
of disputes. April 24 is the day, when the Armenian people worldwide
commemorate and pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide,
which is a stark reminder that the crisis of international order can
lead to atrocity crimes.
“The global challenges caused by the pandemic are a test to
multilateralism. Amidst the growth of hate speech, weaponization of
the pandemic to unleash wars and violate human rights and
justification of past genocides, the United Nations should serve as
the guardian of international law, purposes and principles of the UN
Charter and values of humanity. Strengthening the capacities of the UN
to prevent and respond to these challenges is crucial for upholding
human rights and human dignity.
“We would like to ask the heads of the principal organs of the United
Nations: what measures can be identified to strengthen the prevention
mechanisms of the United Nations in order to address the rise of hate
speech, denial and justification of past atrocity crimes? And second,
how to ensure efficient response of the UN system to incitement of
violence and identity-based crimes on ethnic and religious grounds?”
After brief remarks by the UN Secretary General, the President of the
General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, responded to the Armenian
Representative’s statement:
“In reply to my distinguished colleague from Armenia [partly answered
by the Secretary-General], Genocide is a crime specifically defined in
the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide. What constitutes genocide and how that is determined are
clearly established in the Convention. Accordingly, the crime of
genocide needs to be determined by a competent judicial body. In other
words, in order to describe an incident as genocide, a competent
international tribunal must make a decision to that effect. The UN’s
position on what constitutes genocide is naturally in line with the
Convention, and it has been repeated many times by UN officials in the
past, and, most recently, two weeks ago by the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General, who reiterated that genocide needs to be determined
by an appropriate judicial body, as far as the UN is concerned.”
There are several problems with Mr. Bozkir’s statement. First of all,
he responded to Armenia’s remarks more like a Turkish diplomat than as
President of the General Assembly, in violation of the norms of his UN
position. This is the reason that Armenia’s UN Ambassador Mher
Margaryan submitted on , a letter to the UN Secretary
General, to be circulated as an official UN document, expressing
concern that Mr. Bozkir was “misusing” the May 5 meeting to deliver
“an irrelevant, unsolicited interpretation” of the Genocide
Convention. Amb. Margaryan stated that Mr. Bozkir’s “misplaced
remarks… must be seen in the context of the official politics of
denying the occurrence of the genocide of the Armenian population in
the Ottoman Empire consistently promoted by the government of Turkey,
as demonstrated by the fact that Mr. Bozkir’s remarks came to be
immediately publicized by the state-run news agencies of that country
framed in support of the official denialist narrative. Clearly, Mr.
Bozkir’s actions are incompatible with the Code of Ethics for the
President of the General Assembly.”
Foreseeing Mr. Bozkir’s conflicting allegiances, the Permanent
Representatives of Armenia and Cyprus at the UN, Mher Margaryan and
Andreas Mavroyiannis, sent a joint letter on June 2, 2020, to the UN
Secretary General objecting to Bozkir’s nomination to his current
post.
The joint letter, circulated to all UN member states, reminded them
that Mr. Bozkir had assured the UN: “(a) to represent solely the
Office to which he is elected, based on the Charter of the United
Nations and the body of resolutions, decisions, rules and practices
that will bind him as President of the General Assembly; and (b) to
treat all Member States equally, upholding the spirit of
multilateralism and the rules-based international order, at the core
of which is the United Nations.”
Ambassadors Margaryan and Mavroyiannis pointed out that Turkey, the
country nominating Mr. Bozkir, “threatens peace and security in its
entire region by consistently violating the Charter of the United
Nations and international law, including United Nations sanctions
regimes, in order to realize its aspirations for regional domination.
It does so by displaying a pattern of aggressive behavior towards its
neighboring countries, encroaching on their territory, undermining
their sovereignty and territorial integrity, questioning their
sovereign rights and instrumentalizing the plight of refugees and
migrants for political ends. By imposing and sustaining an illegal
land blockade on Armenia for almost three decades, Turkey effectively
impedes the transit through and access to the sea of the neighboring
landlocked country. Turkey’s persistent policies of denying and
attacking the memory and the dignity of the victims of the genocide
committed in the Ottoman Empire 105 years ago continue to pose a
security threat for Armenia and the wider region. Turkey invaded
Cyprus and has continued to occupy more than a third of its territory
for almost 50 years; continues to deny its very existence by insisting
on not recognizing it, having unilaterally proclaimed an illegal,
secessionist entity in the area that it occupies, which it tries to
oppose the sole legitimate Government, despite the clear condemnation
of its actions by the Security Council; is responsible for egregious
violations of human rights in Cyprus, which it continues to deny
despite being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights; and
continues to violate Cyprus’ sovereignty and sovereign rights on land,
sea and air on a daily basis. It is for these reasons that our
delegations object to the election of Mr. Bozkir by silence procedure
and request that the election of the President of the General Assembly
at its seventy-fifth session be held by secret ballot.”
Despite his UN position, Mr. Bozkir is acting as the representative of
Turkey since he held numerous posts in his country’s Foreign Service
since 1972, including Ambassador to Romania, Consul General in New
York, First Secretary of the Embassy in Iraq, and Vice Consul General
in Stuttgart, Germany. He also served as Chief of Cabinet and Chief
Foreign Policy Advisor to Presidents Turgut Ozal and Suleyman Demirel,
and Deputy Undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was
also a member of the Turkish Parliament for nine years and Minister of
EU Affairs.
Forgetting his commitments to the UN, Mr. Bozkir had a ‘Pavlovian’
response to the mention of the Armenian Genocide by Armenia’s
representative. It is important to note that he has denied the
Armenian Genocide several times while serving as a Turkish diplomat.
On May 5, 2021, Mr. Bozkir parroted the oft-repeated Turkish line that
“the crime of genocide needs to be determined by a competent judicial
body.” He was indirectly reacting to Pres. Biden’s recent
acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. First of all, the Ottoman
Empire (now Turkey) was the first country to hold court-martial trials
regarding the Armenian massacres (the term genocide was not yet
coined) in Istanbul, in 1919-1920, sentencing to death the masterminds
of the Armenian mass killings. Secondly, Pres. Biden along with the US
Congress and over 30 Parliaments around the world have acknowledged
the Armenian Genocide, not as a legal judgment, but as a political
affirmation of the crime of genocide.
By claiming that “genocide needs to be determined by an appropriate
judicial body,” Mr. Bozkir is ignoring UN’s own records. For example,
the UN War Crimes Commission prepared a lengthy report in 1948,
accusing the Turkish Government of committing the Armenian massacres.
The UN report described these massacres as “crimes against humanity,”
which cover “inhumane acts committed by a government against its own
subjects. Mr. Bozkir is also ignoring the fact that the UN
Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities adopted a report in 1985 in which the Armenian Genocide was
mentioned as an example of genocide. I was present at that session and
spoke in support of the UN report. Since the Genocide Convention was
adopted by the UN, its acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide is an
authoritative statement.
Fortunately, Bozkir’s one-year term at the UN will be over in a few
months. By acting as a spokesman for Turkey, he is trying to secure
another Turkish diplomatic post as he will soon be out of his current
job.
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2- Latvia recognizes Armenian Genocide
(Combined Sources)—Latvia on Thursday, May 6 officially recognized and
condemned the Armenian Genocide. The Seima (Parliament) voted 58 to 11
with 7 abstentions to adopt a relevant declaration, Armenia’s outgoing
Ambassador to Latvia Tigran Mkrtchyan informs.
Back on April 24, 2020, two forces in the Latvian parliament, members
of the ruling coalition, the New Conservatives and the Yes to
Development Parties, made statements condemning the Armenian Genocide.
On the initiative of these forces, as well as most of the
representatives of the Agreement party, the process of recognizing the
Armenian Genocide began in February 2021, as a result of which a
resolution-statement was submitted on April 23.
Emphasizing that Latvia condemns all crimes against humanity, the
declaration notes that the country sees it as a duty to recognize and
remember these crimes in order to prevent their recurrence.
Recognizing that a large number of Armenians were deported to other
parts of the empire as a result of the actions of the Ottoman
authorities, which resulted in many casualties caused by starvation,
atrocities and massacres, the lawmakers condemn the crimes, massacres
and forced deportations committed by the Ottoman authorities against
the Armenian people.
The resolution respects the memory of all the victims of the Armenian
Genocide, pays tribute to all the survivors, affirms that open
discussions on historical issues are inextricably linked to the
development of a healthy, mature democracy.
The Seima calls on the international community “to assess these
historic events, to look to the future we want to build, without
violence, intolerance, a future where human rights are respected,
where everyone can be free, safe and secure.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry called on the Latvian Parliament to
retract the “wrong step” of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
In a statement the Turkish Foreign Ministry called the “recognition of
the 1915 events as genocide” a “null attempt to rewrite history with
political motives.”
“We reject and strongly condemn this unfortunate and unlawful
decision. Parliaments are not venues for history writing and
judgment,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
“Instead of serving the agenda of some circles that try to create
enmity from history, we invite the Latvian Parliament to take back
this wrong step and to support the efforts to establish a practice of
peaceful coexistence in the region, especially between the Turkish and
Armenian peoples,” the Ministry stated.
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3 - Arminé Chaparyan appointed City Manager of South Pasadena
With benefit of the insights of four community focus groups of 31
South Pasadena community leaders, each describing the ideal qualities
they wish to see in the next city manager, the City Council retained
executive recruiter Gary Phillips, of Bob Murray & Associates to
undertake a national recruitment to gather qualified candidates to
fill the city’s vacant city manager position. Following candidate
screening, and two rounds of City Council interviews, and a
well-received April 28 virtual community forum with the final
candidate, the City Council has unanimously appointed Armine Chaparyan
to the City’s top administrative post. Chaparyan has 15 years of local
government experience, most recently serving as assistant city manager
of The City of San Gabriel.
“The City Council has an ambitious agenda for making South Pasadena
even more special than it already is. We look forward to working with
Armine to advance infrastructure projects and services that improve
the quality of life of every South Pasadenan. We know that Armine is
very familiar with our city and looks forward to putting her energy
and talent to good use in South Pasadena. We are excited to welcome
Armine as our new City Manager,” said Mayor Diana Mahmud.
Chaparyan, a graduate of John Muir High School in Pasadena, holds a
Bachelor of Arts Degree from UCLA ,and a Masters of Public
Administration from USC. She will start her new position with South
Pasadena on Monday, May 31, 2021.
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4- Armenian court: Syrian mercenaries get life in prison
(Public Radio of Armenia)—A court of general jurisdiction in Armenia’s
Syunik has sentenced the two Syrian mercenaries captured during the
Artsakh war to life in prison.
Syrian nationals Yusuf Alaabet al-Hajji and Mehrab Muhammad Al-Shkheir
were charged with international terrorism and crimes committed during
armed conflict.
Being citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic, they participated in the
aggressive war unleashed by the military-political leadership of
Azerbaijan against Artsakh on September 27, 2020, during which their
actions were aimed at killing or causing serious harm to civilians who
were not directly involved in hostilities during the armed conflict in
the territory of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh.
Charges were brought against the two Syrian nationals under Article
217, Part 3, Clause 1 (terrorism committed by an organized group);
Article 389 (international terrorism); Article 390), Part 1, Clause 1
(Serious breach of international humanitarian law during armed
conflicts, murder); Article 390, Part 3, Clause 1 (assault on civilian
population or individual civilians); Article c, Part 3 (participation
of a mercenary in armed conflicts or military actions).
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5- Armenia Faces 3rd Wave of COVID-19 Cases
Armenian health officials are sounding the alarm of a third wave of
COVID-19 cases just as the country commences the vaccination phase.
The most recent rise in coronavirus infections following a loosening
of COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.
Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan got their
Covid-19 vaccine on May 3. Pashinyan asked the acting Minister of
Health Anahit Avanesyan whether the public showed more interest in
getting vaccinated.
Avanesyan reported that the vaccination process had intensified
significantly in recent days.
There were 12,387 active cases in Armenia as of May 3. Armenia has
recorded 217,472 coronavirus cases and 4,149 deaths; 200,472 have
recovered.
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6- Armenian American Museum Announces Groundbreaking on July 11
GLENDALE—The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of
California has announced that the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the
landmark center will be held on Sunday, July 11, 2021 from 4 p.m. to 7
p.m. The event will be hosted as a virtual ceremony and live broadcast
to a worldwide audience from the future site of the museum at Central
Park in Glendale, California.
Museum officials invite the public to participate in the event by
watching the ceremony via television, social media, and streaming
channels.
The event will have a limited number of in-person participants based
on current public health guidelines.
The Armenian American Museum was born in 2014 when the Armenian
Genocide Centennial Committee Western USA officially adopted the
museum project.
The Armenian American Museum will rise to a two-level 50,820 square
foot museum complex built on a one-level semi-subterranean parking
garage.
The first level will feature the grand lobby, auditorium, learning
center, demonstration kitchen, gift shop, and administrative offices.
The second level will be dedicated to the permanent and temporary
exhibition galleries as well as the collections archives.
The cultural and educational center’s programming plans include
producing and hosting powerful, immersive, and thought-provoking
permanent and temporary exhibitions, leading meaningful dialogues and
discussions through engaging public programs, providing educational
programs for adults, youth, kids, and families, preserving Armenian
heritage through the museum’s collections and archives, and serving as
an iconic venue for memorable experiences, gatherings, and
celebrations.
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