Month: May 2021

Hundreds under criminal investigation for crimes against defense capacity during war, says Armenian prosecution

Lilit Nahapetian

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 10:05, 6 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. 628 people are charged in more than 1580 criminal cases on apparent crimes committees against the defense capacity of Armenia and Artsakh related to the 2020 war of aggression waged by Azerbaijan, the general prosecution said in a news release. Suspects include high ranking officers.

The investigations are carried out in several main directions, such as “criminal violations during the processes of mobilization and supplementation of troops, use of potential corruption schemes in the procurement process of armaments and military equipment before and during the war, criminal failures during the management and implementation of armed forces and the actions of individual units in the tactical and strategic levels, cases of failures to carry out orders from the command and refusals from carrying out combat missions and revealing their reasons and consequences.”

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

Swampscott selectmen commemorate the Armenian genocide of 1915

Anna Tamamian
Wicked Local, MA
May 6 2021
William J. Dowd

Wicked Local


The Swampscott Board of Selectmen put the town’s name among Bay State communities that have issued official proclamations commemorating the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

The Ottoman Empire’s systemic and mass execution and displacement of 1.5 million Armenians began on April 24,1915, largely marching them out into the Syrian desert without food and water. 

“Armenian-Americans have been talking about this for the last century, and it’s really important for us to reflect and remember the atrocities that occurred,” Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald told selectmen before they issued the proclamation on May. 3.  “One of the hardest things is when [genocides] are denied, and justice is denied.”    

When he was the Essex County Advisory Board's budget analyst, Fitzgerald worked with former Peabody mayor Peter Torigian, whom Armenian-genocide survivors raised, for close to 15 years. 

“To hear the stories of the displacement and absolute inhumanity continues to chill my thoughts about how awful folks can be,” Fitzgerald told selectmen. “It also reminds me of how fortunate we are to live in a society where our freedoms are protected, and our rights are protected.”   

He added, “It's important that we hold the past to account in spite of all those who choose to ignore the facts and the realities.”   

Swampscott's proclamation endeavors to "protect historical memory, ensure similar atrocities do not occur again and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution and tyranny." 

What happened  106 years ago is widely recognized by the world as a genocide, but it remains a point of deep contention for the Republic of Turkey. The country's leaders deny genocide occurred, and they contend that both Ottomans and Armenians are responsible for the bloodshed.  

Armenian genocide, in the eyes of the executive branch, in the company of others  from the killing of the 6 million Jews by the Nazis to the killing of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge. 

“We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history,” Biden said. “We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.” 

Over the decades, Biden said the tragic history brought the genocide’s survivors to the United States shores.   

“Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world,” said Biden said on April 24. “With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community.”   

Selectman Peter Spellios underscored Biden’s formal recognition as the right thing to do.  

“There is a lot of importance [in Swampscott issuing this proclamation] especially given what President Biden did recently,” Spellios said. “His accurate reference of this as genocide, his accurate reflection of history. That we don’t want to whitewash history, and we don’t downplay this.”   

Biden’s recognition follows resolutions passed in the U.S. Congress in 2019, formally acknowledging the Armenian genocide.  Presidents and federal lawmakers' reticence to ascribe the genocide label lies in the fact that many saw Turkey as too strategic an ally for the United States geopolitical and militarily to lose.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been at the forefront of the Armenian-genocide-recognition movement. She praised Biden’s acknowledgement, saying its “long overdue.” 

“I commend President Biden's decision to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide. Calling this atrocity what it was — genocide — we must recognize the horrors of the past if we hope to avoid repeating them in the future. This is an important human rights moment,” Warren said. “President Biden pledged to put human rights back at the core of U.S. foreign policy, and I applaud this affirmation.” 

Swampscott’s proclamation falls in line with Massachusetts’ storied history as a sanctuary for Armenians and for its recognition of what happened in 1915.  Massachusetts elected officials, both on local and state levels, pinned the word “genocide” to the horrific events as early as 1965.  

Today, the Bay State claims the second-largest Armenian population in the country after California.  Worcester is home to the nation’s first Armenian church,  and the Armenian Library and Museum of American resides in Watertown

Since the mid-to-late 19th century and the turn of the 20th century, Armenians fled Ottoman persecution and oppression, finding refuge in Massachusetts – especially Greater Boston, Worcester and Watertown.   

“In the years following the genocide, thousands more arrived," reads an article on Massachusetts’ ethnic-Armenian population posted on Boston College’s Boston Global archive website.  “By 1930, there were more than 3,500 Armenians living in Watertown—nearly ten percent of the population.”  

The article goes on to read:  “In subsequent years, the town would become a major center of Armenian culture and heritage, even as later generations dispersed to surrounding suburbs.”  

 

Azerbaijan begins controversial renovation of Armenian church

Jack Hunanian
EurasiaNet.org
May 7 2021
Joshua Kucera May 7, 2021
The Ghazanchetsots Cathedral sustained damage in the war last fall. (photo: Human Rights Watch)

Azerbaijan has begun reconstructing a cathedral in Shusha to what they say is its “original” form, claiming that it had been inauthentically altered by Armenians in the 1990s. It is the most overt case thus far of Baku’s intent to manipulate the heritage of the territory they now control again after winning the war with Armenia last year.

For some weeks the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, the largest church in Shusha, has been covered in scaffolding and on May 3, Armenian sources began reporting that the dome of the church appeared to have been removed. After an outcry from Armenians, including a statement from Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling it “vandalism,” Azerbaijan acknowledged that it was planning to alter the form of the church.

“Mosques, historical monuments, mausoleums, house-museums, as well as the Gazanchi Church [the Azerbaijani name for Ghazanchetsots] are being restored in the frame of large-scale reconstruction work in Shusha,” the MFA said in a statement. “We would like to note that this reconstruction is carried out in accordance with the original architectural style in order to restore the historical image of Shusha.”

What the “original” style is supposed to be, Baku has not specified.

The church was built in the 19th century; it had an inscription above the southern entrance saying that construction began in 1868 “under the rule of Emperor of All Russia Alexander II and Patriarch Gevorg IV” and was completed in 1887. (At the time of the completion, Russian census figures showed that the 57 percent of Shusha’s population was Armenian and 43 percent, “Tatar,” as Azerbaijanis were then known.)

Azerbaijani sources have been circulating images of the church during the Soviet period and comparing them to its appearance after the 1990s, following Armenia’s victory over Azerbaijan in the first war, when Armenians won sole control of Shusha. They have noted that in the post-Soviet photos, the church acquired a distinctive pointed dome that it didn’t have in the earlier photos.

Even earlier images, though, in the pre-Soviet period, show it with a similar-looking pointed dome.

The church in 1904

In 1920, Shusha’s Armenians suffered pogroms at the hands of Azerbaijanis and the city’s entire Armenian population was killed or expelled. The church was damaged at this time and it lost its dome, remaining in that damaged, neglected state throughout the Soviet period. When Armenians won the war in the 1990s and reversed the ethnic cleansing of 1920, one of the first buildings they restored was the cathedral. And they did it with the pointed dome.

Azerbaijani officials have nevertheless been arguing that the pointed dome was an artificial addition added for the first time in the 1990s.

“Everything in Shusha is being restored in the appearance in which it was constructed historically,” member of parliament Togrul Juvarli said, the news website Caucasian Knot reported. “Most likely the church also will be restored to its original appearance, as it was before, without the pointed dome.”

The church was struck twice during last year’s war, and its dome was damaged. Human Rights Watch concluded that Azerbaijan likely “deliberately targeted” the church “in violation of the laws of war.”

“An artillery shell damaged the dome, and in any case it needed to be dismantled,” an unnamed Azerbaijani government source told Caucasian Knot. The source also argued that the form of the church was changed in the 1990s. “This is proved by photo and video evidence … they altered the appearance of the church, rebuilt it and put in the pointed dome which it didn’t have before. Now the work is going on to eliminate the damage from the shelling of the church and to return it to its original appearance.”

What precisely the church was supposed to have been before it was altered is not clear.

Caucasian Knot’s unnamed source implied that the church may have been Albanian, referring to an Azerbaijani state-sponsored pseudoscientific theory ascribing many Armenian churches in the region to another medieval people, the Caucasian Albanians. “Azerbaijani restorers have experience restoring churches. In the last two decades several Albanian churches have been restored, as well as the Armenian church in the center of Baku,” the source said.

But those claims about Albanian origins are not usually applied to 19th century or later churches. Other Azerbaijani sources suggest, without much evidence, that it was originally Russian Orthodox.

The muddled narrative from Baku about what the true origin of the church is supposed to be makes it also unclear what it will ultimately look like once it’s restored. A commentary about the church on the website haqqin.az suggested that “whether it will become Orthodox or Grigoryan [that is, Armenian Apostolic], is for the descendants of the ancient Albanians – the Orthodox Udis – to decide.” (The Udis are a small minority in Azerbaijan that are the closest descendants of the Caucasian Albanians and who have been lately enlisted by Baku to help implement its Albanian theory.)

A spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture did not respond to messages from Eurasianet seeking more information.

In any case, it’s clear that Baku is not seeking input from Armenians, nor from international experts. A long-discussed UNESCO mission to the region has yet to take place, though a UNESCO spokesperson confirmed to Eurasianet that “negotiations are ongoing for a mission,” without providing more details.

The church renovation thus parallels in some ways Armenians’ custody of the Islamic and Azerbaijani cultural sites on the same territory during the time that they controlled it, from the 1990s until last year. Armenians, with some fanfare, restored a mosque in Shusha in 2019, but they labeled it “Persian” over the objections of Azerbaijanis. In many more cases, though, Armenians simply neglected non-Armenian historic sites, wrote them out of the region’s history, and let them fall into ruin or allowed them to be plundered, a process that Azerbaijanis are now trying to reverse.

Azerbaijan already is known to have destroyed one Armenian church, although that was a three-year-old structure on a military base. Also this week, Armenian sources published satellite photography appearing to show the destruction of an Armenian cemetery. Azerbaijani officials have not commented.

The brazenness of this church renovation, though, and the Azerbaijani authorities’ explicitly stated intent to alter its appearance to fit their historical narrative, is yet a further step. It suggests a growing confidence that they can remake their newly retaken territories in whatever image they want. “It’s clear that their goal is to erase everything Armenian from Shushi,” an Armenian former resident of the town, Artyom Pogosyan, told Caucasian Knot. “And it’s very sad that neither the Armenians, nor the international community, nor the Russian peacekeepers can influence the actions of the Azerbaijanis.”

Ilham Aliyev visiting the church in January.

Soon after the war ended in November, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev promised to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin – one of the co-signers of the ceasefire statement – that Baku would protect Christian sites now under its control. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Yerevan this week, but made only an oblique mention of the church issue. “We are not reducing our efforts aimed at returning home all the detainees, demining, protecting cultural and religious heritage, allowing the work in Karabakh of high-profile international organizations,” he said. Lavrov is slated to visit Baku next week.

While Azerbaijan originally paid some lip service to the notion that Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians would be welcomed as citizens of Azerbaijan, the church renovation suggests that Baku isn’t even pretending to take its ostensible citizens’ views into consideration.

That point was driven further home by Azerbaijan’s dissolution on April 30 of the official organization representing Azerbaijanis who had been displaced from the region in the first conflict, the "Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh Region of the Republic of Azerbaijan.” That group had been framed as a counter-organization to the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic that Armenians formed as a de facto government in the territory.

The dissolution of the community “sends a message to the world,” MP Zahid Oruj said on May 4: “there will be no status, that is, the concept of ‘Armenian community’ will not be accepted, they should not expect special rights and privileges, they can live in accordance with the Constitution of Azerbaijan like other ethnic groups.”

 

Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet, and author of The Bug Pit.

 

106 years and 44 days of the Armenian Genocide

Mary Lazarian
Open Democracy
May 7 2021


The US decision to recognise the Armenian Genocide has urgent relevance for the country in the wake of last year’s war in Nagorno Karabakh

Avetis Harutyunyan
7 May 2021, 12.00am

“You have not seen Mount Ararat how I saw it growing up. I promise, one day I will take you back home.”

Since childhood, my grandfather grew up listening to these words of his great-grandfather, Baghdasar, who fled to Armenia with his family during the 1915 genocide.

My grandfather recollects how Baghdasar would tell stories of their home in Bayazet, or Doğubeyazıt in modern Turkey, in the shadow of Mount Ararat, and promise his grandchildren that one day they would return to their home. In 1915, to save his family from the massacres, Baghdasar closed the doors of his house, crossed the Araks River, which flows along the borders of Armenia and Turkey, and ended up in the Armenian city of Gavar. According to my grandfather, when Baghdasar died, he still had the key to his old house in his pocket.

Many Armenians left their Turkish homes, wealth and gardens in 1915 and fled to Armenia, knowing that they would one day return. Today, people build new houses close to the Armenian-Turkish border in order to be in sight of Mount Ararat, a symbol of Armenia.

But one of the best views is from the Tsitsernakaberd, Armenia’s Genocide Memorial in Yerevan. When you step on to the memorial’s roof, it feels like Mount Ararat is a few metres away, as the Ararat valley opens before you.

I was at the Tsitsernakaberd last month, on the day of Genocide Remembrance, 24 April, and so were a group of young Armenians, waving the flags of states that have recognised the genocide. On that date this year, the United States recognised the 1915 massacres of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide. When someone shouted out the news, the US flag quickly appeared at the front of the line.

President Biden’s decision has urgent relevance for Armenia in the wake of last year’s war in Nagorno Karabakh, a territory disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey. Many Armenians draw a direct straight line between the 1915 genocide in Turkey and the war that began in Nagorno Karabakh in the 1980s for national self-determination – and which erupted last autumn.

Turkey’s support goes beyond terrifying rhetoric: it backed Azerbaijan by providing arms, diplomatic support and transporting mercenaries to fight against Armenia

During the 44-day war last year, thousands of young men died in the frontlines fighting against Azerbaijani soldiers, Syrian mercenaries and Turkish attack drones. Hundreds of soldiers are still missing, and hundreds were taken captive and transferred to Baku. At least 19 Armenian civilians and servicemen have been tortured and killed, according to representatives of Armenian captives in the European Court of Human Rights. Four of them were women.

Article 2 of the UN’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines it as an act committed with “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”. In this regard, Azerbaijan’s mistreatment and killings of Armenian civilians and soldiers for ethnic or religious reasons has elements of genocide.

Azerbaijan denies the Armenian genocide, and denied the presence of Syrian mercenaries fighting in Nagorno Karabakh, as does the country’s principal supporter, Turkey.

As the Turkish-backed war raged in mid-October last year, Erdogan made a public address on the conflict, in which he made an ominous reference that Turkey “will continue to fulfill this mission which our grandfathers have carried out in the Caucasus region for centuries”.

Then, a month after the close of the 44-day war in Nagorno Karabakh, Turkish President Erdogan gave a speech in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he made a glowing reference to the Turkish leaders responsible for the massacre of Armenians in 1915 and 1918: “May the souls of Nuri Pasha, Enver Pasha […] be happy.”

But Turkey’s support goes beyond terrifying rhetoric: it backed Azerbaijan by providing arms, diplomatic support and transporting mercenaries to fight against Armenia (and, reportedly, promised them $100 for each dead Armenian). And once again, Armenians looked to Russia to protect the Armenian-Turkish border.

In 1981, then US president Ronald Reagan first used the term genocide to refer to the massacres of 1915. Presidents George Bush Sr and Barack Obama both promised to recognise the genocide, but did not make a formal acknowledgement. Perhaps it’s because US recognition is what the Turkish leadership, which has always repeated that the genocide never happened, feared the most. After all, genocide is a crime that does not have an expiration date.

The US recognition might create the conditions for discussions and criminalising the denial of the genocide

Indeed, the US recognition might create the conditions for discussions and criminalising the denial of the genocide. And it could force Turkey to compensate both the financial and property losses of Armenians during the genocide to their legal successors.

When I was a schoolboy, it was my grandfather who took me to the Genocide Memorial for the first time – it was a sunny day, no clouds, I could even see the Araks river at the Turkish border. My grandfather wasn’t moving and stood like a statue. His eyes weren’t blinking, but his lips were trembling. I had never seen him cry.

After a few minutes, he finally spoke. “Do you see it?” he said, looking at Mount Ararat. I was a kid. I didn’t know anything about history or the genocide or my ancestors. He repeated the question again, but I didn’t answer. “Do you see how beautiful it is today?” he said. Every time we visit the Genocide Memorial, I always hear him asking that question again and again. But I never answer. His question isn’t directed to me, but to his own grandfather, who left Bayazet in 1915 – and never went back.

 

Armenia After The Parliamentary Elections – Analysis

Kanayan Tamar
Eurasia Review
May 6 2021
 May 6, 2021  

By Emil Avdaliani

On June 20, snap parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia. The move will ease tensions in the country but will fail to end political divisions and solve structural troubles such as poor economic situation, weak judiciary, and the fragile army.

The decision to hold elections followed months of protests when all the former presidents of Armenia, the current president Armen Sarkissian, leadership of the Armenian Church and large parts of the top leadership of the armed forces acted in concert to oppose the Pashinyan government. They all blame him for the country’s unexpected defeat in the war with Azerbaijan in 2020, as a result of which Yerevan had to cede most of the Azerbaijani territory it has occupied since the 1990s, including parts of the mostly Armenian populated Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan, a protagonist of the 2018 Velvet Revolution, enjoyed widespread popularity in the first two years of his rule. However, expectations for fundamental changes proved to be too high given Armenia’s weak state institutions, polarized political culture, and corruption. Additionally, those who appeared in the government with Pashinyan mostly came from Armenia’s civil society, which meant they had only limited policy development experience.

The year 2020 was associated with some tectonic upheavals in Armenia. The human toll and economic troubles from the pandemic coupled with the war with Azerbaijan, questioned Pashinyan’s competence. His position was undermined both at home and abroad. Still, no clear alternative to Pashinyan exists, which makes observers believe that a long-term solution to the country’s woes is not forthcoming.

According to the poll by the International Republican Institute, Pashinyan’s “My Step” faction remains the country’s most popular political party with 33% support. Second is “Prosperous Armenia,” the faction led by former President Kocharian. Both have 3%, while the former ruling Republican Party has only 1%. The figures show Pashinyan is still wanted, but political apathy is also on the surge when nearly 44% of Armenians do not support any party and 45% of the population disagrees with the general direction the country heading into. This suggests that in the longer run there is political vacuum, space for a new political force to emerge.

Elections will be competitive, but Pashinyan is likely to win. After all, despite all of his mistakes, Armenia’s military losses are a result of a slow degradation of Armenia’s military potential before his coming to power and the general change in the balance of power, namely, Azerbaijan’s rapid growth as a military power; the latter’s exponential military ties with Turkey, and Russia’s opportunistic behavior during the 2020 war.

New elections may well ease tensions, but the structural problems facing Armenian politics will remain. Deeper flaws, such as a lack of accountability, a lack of an independent judiciary, and a weak parliament, will negatively affect any new government. Additionally, Armenian politics remains highly polarized and personalized, which limits the room for real political changes in the fabric of the country’s management. Long-standing problems with corruption, unemployment, emigration and an ineffective economy will remain.

The parties participating in the Armenian elections are not debating foreign policy. If since 1991 the country’s foreign policy course was always discussed, these elections mark a break with this tradition. Following the war, without the presence of Russia in the country, Yerevan would be unable to defend itself, which gives the elections an external dimension. 

And here Russia’s position matters as it is in a fortunate position to favor both sides of the aisle. Russia does not need to fully support the overtly pro-Kremlin candidate, because in reality every plausible ruling entity in Armenia will become increasingly dependent on Moscow. Take, for example, “Bright Armenia” headed by Edmond Marukyan. The party is known for its moderately pro-European attitude. However, after the 44-day war – Marukyan called for the creation of a second Russian military base in the country. 

Thus, Russia is in a perfect position. With one masterful blow in November 2020, Moscow physically placed itself in the only territorial conflict in the South Caucasus, where it previously had no direct influence. With its peacekeepers in Karabakh, and Armenian army and the general public demoralized and confused after the 2020 fiasco, Russia is Armenia’s only hope. As argued above, this becomes increasingly clear for the entire political spectrum of Armenia’s political elite. 

Thus, the election results will not entail major changes in foreign policy. Nevertheless, the results will be of great importance for the Armenian-Russian relations and Armenia’s geopolitical maneuvering. The political parties are now itching in favor of closer ties with Russia, which could change the very fabric of bilateral relations. Russia can insist on deeper integration of Armenia into its favorite economic organization – Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Better trading conditions for Russian companies could be sought and more modern Russian weapons could be supplied in return.

The plausible deeper amalgamation could set a scene for a new integration pattern between Russia and the neighbors in the former Soviet space. Deeper ties with Armenia would also mean that Russia could be able to play Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other. This Russian approach is not new, but this time its intensity will be much greater. In four years, Russia will have to officially extend its peacekeeping mission in Azerbaijan. However, the Russian military presence worries the political minds of Baku. The desire to annul the Russian peacekeeping agreement will grow, and the Kremlin will have to play a smart game. 

Some concessions from Baku may be effective, but other political and military messages may work. At times, Russia will indicate to Baku that in case of its peacekeepers’ withdrawal, a much better trained and equipped Armenian army, bristling with high-tech Russian weapons, would prepare for a military campaign. Other ways to persuade Azerbaijan to a prolonged Russian presence might not work. 

Regardless of who wins the upcoming election, the structural troubles besetting Armenia will remain in place. A weak judiciary, military and the parliament will hinder the prospects for a quick solution to the traumas the country has been through since early 2020. The political landscape will remain viciously personalized, which would preclude potential cooperation between the parties to limit internal political pressure. Though Armenians nowadays think little about the country’s foreign policy, critical changes will take place – dependence on Russia will only grow because of the lack of options. Multi-vector policy attempts will cease to be made or will not bring any practical results.

This article was published by Caucasus Watch

Emil Avdaliani has worked for various international consulting companies and currently publishes articles focused on military and political developments across the former Soviet sphere.

 

At a Distance: UCLA community reflects on Biden’s recognition of Armenian Genocide

Arbi Tashjian
Daily Bruin – UCLA
May 5 2021

On April 24, President Joe Biden was the first U.S. president to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide. Some students and faculty said they felt relieved at the announcement, and said they hoped it would pave the way for recognition of other injustices. (Tanmay Shankar/Daily Bruin senior staff)

This post was updated May 5 at 9:04 p.m.

Bruins come from all around the world, from Colombia to Bangladesh. Because of the pandemic, many international Bruins are currently residing in their home countries. In “At a Distance,” Daily Bruin writers will look at events around the world Bruins care about and give a student’s perspective on the topics.

On April 24, Hasmik Baghdasaryan woke up to a message from a group chat that President Joe Biden had released a statement recognizing the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Baghdasaryan, who is also the program representative of the Promise Armenian Institute at UCLA, said she was shocked to hear the news. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide has always been the campaign promise of many U.S. presidents, but it was never kept until now, she said.

Biden is the first U.S. president to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide in his address on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Observed annually April 24, it commemorates victims of the systemic mass murder and the deportation of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.

For decades, previous U.S. presidents had refrained from calling the killings a genocide out of fear that it may affect diplomatic relationships with Turkey, according to The Washington Post.

S. Peter Cowe, the Narekatsi professor of Armenian studies, said Turkey had leverage against the U.S. – Turkey was a big consumer of U.S. military goods, an ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has a strong military presence – which previously hindered U.S. presidents from openly acknowledging the genocide. Turkey was also involved in the U.S.’ Middle East operations, Cowe added.

Arman Antonyan, a fourth-year history student and president of the Armenian Students’ Association, said he felt relieved that Biden finally had the courage to recognize the killings as a genocide rather than a massacre.

The Armenian community in the U.S. has demonstrated on April 24 for many years and is vocal about the genocide, said Devin Grigorian, a first-year English language student and member of the ASA. He added it is somewhat frustrating that the recognition took this long, but nonetheless, he is thankful.

“I knew this marked a new stage for our community and our cause going forward,” Grigorian said. “We’re finally gaining more momentum, but we know that there’s still a long way to go … until Turkey and the rest of the world recognize the genocide.”

Including the United States, only 30 countries recognize the Armenian Genocide today.

Although Anna Chakhoyan felt happy, the third-year psychobiology student said the recognition felt bittersweet, as it happened during a time when relations between Turkey and the U.S. are souring.

According to the New York Times, Turkey’s government has acknowledged the atrocities that occurred during the time period, but they also argued that many Turks were killed and that the Armenian casualties were exaggerated.

Raffi Kassabian, a communications lecturer, said there is a penal code in Turkey that prohibits people from talking about the Armenian Genocide.

“If you were to visit Turkey as an academic or as a journalist, if you even talked about the Armenian Genocide, there’s a penal code that you (could) be punished under,” said Kassabian, who is also the vice chair of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region.

In response to Biden’s recognition of the genocide, the foreign ministry of Turkey has summoned the U.S. ambassador in Ankara, Turkey, to condemn the statement.

Cowe said the official Turkish narrative of the genocide was established during the governmental period of Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founding father, and has been maintained by the Turkish government to present day.

This particular narrative is also enforced in school textbooks as part of governmental censorship, he added.

Antonyan said Turkey is unwilling to recognize the Armenian Genocide, because it contradicts the nationalist narrative surrounding the country’s history.

“Psychologically, you don’t want to believe that your country was founded on genocide,” Antonyan said. “(The genocide) is damaging to a key part of Turkish national identity.”

Kassabian said Turkey does not recognize the genocide because it would also lead to demands for reparations and restitutions for the Armenian people.

“(The recognition) sets the world stage for the victims of the Armenian Genocide to pursue justice, full reparations, restitution and other forms of justice that are available in a court of law,” Kassabian said.

The people in Armenia were generally celebratory and welcoming of Biden’s acknowledgement, said Sebouh Aslanian, holder of the Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History. The recognition is important to both Armenians in Armenia and the diaspora, as it gives a semblance of psychological and spiritual healing to those who have been silenced and left without recognition, added Aslanian, who is also a history professor and director of the Armenian Studies Center.

Meanwhile, Chakhoyan said a cousin told her that the reaction in Armenia has been lukewarm, because the nation is still recovering from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and is preoccupied with an upcoming election in June.

[Related: UCLA community responds to ongoing conflict between Armenia, Azerbaijan]

Aslanian also said it is still too early to see the results of Biden’s recognition, but he is hopeful that the acknowledgement will have the financial, moral and legal impact to bring responsible parties to the court of justice.

“We can only hope, as human beings and as members of communities that have been wounded or hurt or faced with injustice, that it will pave way to a future that is more optimistic – a future that is based more on justice and recognition for the pains that peoples have suffered,” Aslanian added.

‘I wish my grandparents were alive to see this day’ U.S. officially recognizes Armenian Genocide

Lara Chatinian
May 6 2021
By: Stephanie Garibay
Posted at 3:57 PM, May 06, 2021

 

and last updated 12:57 AM,

MAGIC VALLEY — Just recently President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to officially recognize the killings of Armenians during World War I as a genocide.

No U.S. president in the past has acknowledged the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as a genocide for fear of losing relations with Turkey.

But for one Armenian refugee in the Magic Valley, the news was bittersweet.

Armenian National Institute

“It was bittersweet not only because I wish my grandparents were alive to see this day and not only because of the life-long work that not only myself but many advocates have done to see that the U.S. has recognized the Armenian genocide,” Liyah Babayan, Idaho chair of the Armenian National Committee, said.

For Liyah and her family, they thought this moment would never come. Her family resettled in Idaho after having to flee Armenia because of the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan.

“So it does matter to resettlement communities when the atrocities that we have survived are recognized by the communities that are resettling us," Babayan said.

“Armenians are happy that someone is acknowledging it. Some Armenians are not happy; they feel like the U.S. could go further that we could do something about it. Let's find a way that we can show that the U.S. is backing this in different programs,” JustinVipperman, Historian at The College of Southern Idaho, said.

The Gem State also did its part with Governor Little signing a proclamation recognizing April 24, 2021, as a remembrance day for the Armenian genocide.

Armenian National Institute

“What we see with Idaho doing this and Governor little pushing this is that it is on people's minds people are starting to look at it as a genocide," Vipperman said.

Babayan says for Idaho this moment is full circle since the Gem State resettled Armenians during the 1915 genocide.

“After the 1915 genocide, Idaho resettled and adopted over 1,000 orphans through Christian groups and missionary groups and so for the governor to issue a proclamation it’s very meaningful and it’s very full circle for Idaho," Babayan said.

She says the Armenian genocide being recognized is vital and sends a positive message to resettlement communities in Idaho and throughout the nation.

“So it does matter to resettlement communities when the atrocities that we have survived are recognized by the communities that are resettling us. It lets us know that we are sharing something and that it does matter to our new community to our new country those events and those tragedies,” Babayan said.

 

Press Release: ANCA-WR Announces 2021 Karabian Fellow

Lilit Nahapetian
ANCA-WR Announces 2021 Karabian Fellow
May 7, 2021
For Immediate Release
Contact: Armen Sahakyan
tel. (818) 500-1918

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) is pleased to announce that California native Araksya Nordikyan has been selected as the 2021 Walter & Laurel Karabian Fellow. As an exception due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Karabian Fellow will spend 6 months at the ANCA-WR office working on policy initiatives and spend the remaining term of the 9-month program at a government office.

“We are excited to welcome the 2021 Karabian Fellow to the ANCA-WR. Araksya brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and energy to the organization and we look forward to working with her in advancing the policy priorities of our community” remarked the ANCA-WR Executive Director Armen Sahakyan. “I am certain her tenure at the ANCA-WR office and later placement at a government agency will continue to foster her professional growth, while allowing for the opportunity to work on issues she is passionate about.”

“While there are countless reasons why individuals are dedicated to public service, perhaps nothing is more worthwhile than being a part of something that is greater than yourself,” said Nordikyan. “I am thankful for the opportunity to work alongside ANCA-WR staff and look forward to contributing to the issues impacting the Armenian-American community.”

Araksya Nordikyan is a first-generation immigrant who is motivated by her national and family history, her love for learning and her desire to become an asset to her community. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2020, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Law and her Master of Public Administration.

While in college, her ambition and commitment to civil liberties led her to join the Student Senate for California Community Colleges where she served as a voice for students by engaging in policy advocacy. Wanting to learn more about government, Araksya pursued an internship with Councilmember Paul Koretz and was then accepted to the Schaeffer Fellowship in Sacramento where she worked for Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. Prior to applying for the Karabian Fellowship, Araksya was the Director of Youth Services for PESA and the liaison for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s JOIN Program, both of which host diversion programs for system-impacted youth to avoid criminal convictions. With her diverse background, academic discipline, and political engagement, Araksya hopes to continue her work on social issues where she feels she can have the most impact in shaping a more inclusive world.

The Walter and Laurel Karabian Fellowship is a nine-month experience that offers young Armenian-Americans the opportunity to enhance their leadership and professional skills. The purpose of this fellowship is to produce professionals in the public policy and political arena.

—

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

Azerbaijani press: Organization of Azerbaijani Veterans appeals to Russian FM

Emil Lazarian
POLITICS7 May 2021 09:50 (UTC+04:00)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 7

Trend:

The Presidium of the Organization of War, Labor and Armed Forces Veterans of Azerbaijan sent an appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, Trend reports.

“Dear Sergey Viktorovich! In our previous appeal to you on the eve of the 76th anniversary of the historic Victory over fascism, we, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, expressed our concern at attempts to represent the Armenian puppets of Hitler's Nazism as heroes. That appeal dealt with the shameless glorification of Nazi criminals both in Armenia and in the information and cultural space of Russia, which honors the memory of millions of people killed by the Nazis,” said the appeal.

“With pain in our hearts, we brought to your attention that Armenia is using Russian resources to justify the leaders of the punitive Armenian SS Legion Drastamat Kanayan and Garegin Ter-Harutyunyan, also known as Generals Dro and Nzhdeh. In the media, Nzhdeh, who was an accomplice of the Nazi regime and a friend of Hitler and Himmler, is equated with heroes,” the appeal noted.

“Moreover, a presentation of ‘Conversations with Garegin Nzhdeh, or Monument to 125th Anniversary of Nzhdeh’ book was held in Moscow. The paradox is that, according to the event organizers, ‘Nzhdeh's ideas are more relevant today than ever and should be actively promoted in modern society’. In 1948 Nzhdeh was sentenced to 25 years in prison as a war criminal and died in 1957 in the Vladimir Central Prison. He wasn’t acquitted, since the court upheld the previous sentence,” reminded the appeal.

“Nevertheless, the Armenian Diaspora of Russia annually organizes visits to the grave of Nzhdeh at the Prince Vladimir cemetery in Vladimir city to honor the memory of this fascist executioner. The question is also raised about the construction of a memorial complex at the cemetery to this Nazi accomplice,” the appeal further said.

“We express our deep gratitude to you for not ignoring our last year's appeal. As you can see from the answer we received, a certain amount of work was done with representatives of local Armenians. Apparently, as a result of this work, an attempt to perpetuate the memory of this Nazi killer in Russia was prevented last year,” the appeal authors noted.

“Contrary to this, two weeks after the celebration in Armenia of the 71st anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany, a solemn ceremony of unveiling a monument to Garegin Nzhdeh took place in the center of Yerevan. The ceremony of perpetuating the memory of the fascist murderer was personally attended by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who stood next to you a year ago at the parade timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Victory over fascism in Moscow,” added the authors.

“You have repeatedly stressed the inadmissibility of rewriting and distorting the results of the Great Patriotic War. It was on the initiative of the Russian Federation that the UN General Assembly adopted the ‘Fight against the glorification of Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance’ resolution No. 70/139,” the appeal read.

“Paragraph 4 of this document states that the UN General Assembly "expresses deep concern about the glorification in any form of the Nazi movement, neo-Nazism and former members of the Waffen SS, including the construction of monuments and memorials and public demonstrations in order to glorify the Nazi past, the Nazi movement and neo-Nazism, as well as through the announcement or attempts to declare the members of this organization and those who fought against the anti-Hitler coalition, collaborated with the Nazi movement and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, participants in national liberation movements,” pointed out the appeal.

“Cult of worshipping persons loyal to the fascist regime who became the perpetrators of the massacres of Soviet soldiers and civilians, including representatives of the Armenian people themselves, is widespread in Armenia, which joined this resolution and posing as a strategic ally of Russia,” the appeal also noted.

“We are surprised that Russia itself, which has always reacted to similar incidents in other countries, doesn’t react to this in any way, and we don’t understand why Armenia, where commemorative coins are minted and films are made in honor of the Nazi criminals Dro and Nzhdeh, is given special privileges for such behavior,” the authors said. “In Yerevan, a square and a metro station are named after Garegin Nzhdeh, and there is also a street named after Drastamat Kananyan. Now, along with the complex of government buildings and the headquarters of the ruling party of Armenia, there is also a monument to Nzhdeh.”

“We would also like to inform you that another monument to the Nazi Nzhdeh is located in the city of Khojavand, which was once occupied by Armenia, and now is in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers, and it’s extremely important to demolish this monument,” the authors further noted. “The presence of such a monument on the territory of Azerbaijan is unacceptable and unacceptable not only from the point of view of the values of our state and people, but also taking into account universal and moral values.”

“The bright memory of the courage of the Soviet people is still revered in Azerbaijan, and May 9 remains one of the most revered public holidays. We, people who have gone through all the hardships of the war against fascism, who have lost comrades in these battles, are watching with pain in our hearts the glorification of Nazi criminals,” the authors also pointed out. “We are outraged by the actions of Armenia, which are a direct manifestation of disrespect for the memory of those who died for our once common Motherland, for all peace-loving humanity.”

“We are convinced that we must unite our efforts in the fight against the common evil in the form of the ideology of fascism promoted by Armenia, remaining faithful to the blessed memory of the victims of the Great Patriotic War. On behalf of all veterans of the Great Patriotic War of Azerbaijan, with respect and hope that we will be understood correctly,” concluded the appeal.

Turkish press: Russia’s foreign minister vows retaliation against EU sanctions

Emma Nadirian
Elena Teslova   |07.05.2021
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan (not seen) during his official visit to Yerevan, Armenia on May 06, 2021. ( RUS Foreign Ministry Press Office – Anadolu Agency )

MOSCOW

Russia will retaliate against sanctions imposed by the European Union, although it considers the restrictions placed on Russian citizens and entities "a road to nowhere," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. 

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan following a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazyan, Lavrov said the EU has introduced sanctions against Russia "without any persuasive grounds."

“We will not leave unanswered such attacks on Russia, on members of the Russian leadership, on parliamentarians of the Russian Federation, and on our companies whose only culpability in the eyes of the European Union is their registration in a country that the EU has chosen to declare an aggressor illegally and for no reason," he said.

Commenting on Russia's recent decision to blacklist eight top EU officials, Lavrov said: "We declared persona non grata those people in the European Union structures and in a number of EU member states due to the fact that they took a decisive part in the next wave of sanctions against our officials, including parliamentarians."

He added that the exchange of sanctions started "from an anti-constitutional coup" which happened despite the guarantees given to the Ukrainian leadership by the European countries.

"If we talk about relations between Russia and the European Union, between the Brussels structures, then the entire architecture of these relations, which was probably unprecedented in its time, was destroyed by Brussels in connection with the events that took place in Ukraine.

"We should have a claim against Europe for supporting and encouraging the coup in Ukraine, contrary to its obligations. It's sad, but it's not our choice. Once again, if you just look at the statistics of everything that happened after March 2014, you will instantly see who started this series of sanctions and what is the reason why we cannot help but respond to this hostility," he said.

Ukraine has been plagued by conflict in its eastern regions since the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in March 2014 after he rejected the Ukrainian-European Association Agreement, followed by Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has seen more than 13,000 people killed, according to the UN.

– Karabakh conflict 'stabilized'

Turning to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Lavrov said the situation there has been stabilized and there are only minor incidents that are quickly tackled by Russian peace-keeping forces.

He then called for not politicizing the peace process in the region, saying the issues of the routes connecting the region, line of contact, delimitation and demarcation of borders are being resolved.

"These are practical, understandable things that need to be resolved in order for the region to breathe freely and live a peaceful life. Those who try to leave these issues for later and first engage in political discussions, in my opinion, put the whole process on its head. It is much easier to solve political issues when people begin to live normally on the ground," he said.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27 last year, Armenia launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and even violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the six week-conflict, which ended with a Russian-brokered truce, Azerbaijan liberated several strategic cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages from Armenian occupation. The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

A joint Turkish-Russian center was established to monitor the truce. Russian peacekeeping troops have also been deployed in the region.