After eight years of inept leadership, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to damage Armenia’s interests, after giving away Artsakh to Azerbaijan.
I will now present the latest example of Pashinyan’s illegal actions.
Armenians were surprised to learn that the Prime Minister had ordered the dismissal of the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Dr. Edita Gzoyan, just because she had given the visiting Vice President of the United States JD Vance books on genocide and mass violence.
Here is how Pashinyan on March 12 justified his illegal demand for Dr. Gzoyan’s resignation: “When the Prime Minister says there is no Karabagh movement, what does it mean to present a foreign guest a book about the Artsakh issue? In this country, how many people can conduct foreign policy? The foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia is conducted by the government of the Republic of Armenia. And any state official who says something contrary to the foreign policy of Armenia should be dismissed. There is no issue there. Are we a state or a self-made group where we are experimenting with our creative potential? This is a state, beloved ones, with its clear governmental logic and state system. And there is absolutely no reason to make any excuses. The government decides foreign policy and I am the leader of the government and I decide, yes. … Yes, I asked her [Dr. Gzoyan] to submit her resignation. Yes I considered it an action contrary to the government’s foreign policy. I viewed it as a provocative act and asked her to submit her resignation. This is a state security issue. I say it again, when we announce that we must cease the Karabagh movement, there cannot be an official who can continue the Karabagh movement. There cannot be!”
By forcing Dr. Gzoyan to resign, Pashinyan committed several illegal acts:
1) He has no legal authority to decide who would be the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. The museum is managed by a foundation. Only the 15 members of the foundation’s Board of Trustees have the right to appoint or dismiss the director. Thus, Pashinyan illegally usurped the authority of the Board Trustees. In protest, several distinguished members of the Board of Trustees resigned, including the chairman, Dr. Raymond Kevorkian, a French-Armenian historian and a preeminent genocide scholar; Prof. Stephan Astourian, Executive Director of the Armenian Studies Program and Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Harutyun Marutyan, a leading researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia; and Dr. Hranush Kharatyan, a leading scientific researcher at the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
2) Dr. Gzoyan did nothing wrong. As the Director of the Genocide Museum, she presented several books relevant to the Genocide museum’s mission to Vice President Vance. The Genocide Museum is an establishment that chronicles mass violence and genocide against Armenians in the past and the present.
3) After dismissing Dr. Gzoyan, Pashinyan committed a second illegal act. Without any authority, he appointed his former aide, Hrachya Tashchian, as acting director of AGMI. This is the prerogative of the AGMI foundation’s Board of Trustees.
4) Pashinyan sent the wrong message that academic research should be subordinated to politics. Anytime governmental policies change, scholars would be expected to amend their research to match the political leader’s whims! This is how Turkey and Azerbaijan distort the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
5) Pashinyan, who complained about Dr. Gzoyan giving a book about Artsakh to Vice President Vance, presented a book on Artsakh to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in 2019 in Turkmenistan during the CIS summit. Shouldn’t he be dismissed for doing what Dr. Gzoyan did?
Trying to appease Erdogan and Aliyev, Pashinyan’s next order may be the shutdown of the Genocide Museum and Memorial.
Twenty five prominent Armenian scholars from around the world, including a Turkish scholar, signed a joint statement issued by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), condemning Pashinyan’s “troubling” action. They praised Dr. Gzoyan’s exceptional academic credentials and called on the Armenian government “to respect the independence of AGMI and ensure that Dr. Gzoyan is allowed to continue her work without political pressure or intervention. Protecting the [Genocide Museum] Institute’s autonomy and leadership is critical for preserving its credibility, safeguarding its scholarly mission and maintaining the trust of the international academic community. We believe that directorship of the AGMI should be based on the qualities of the individual as a scholar and administrator and not the political expedience of any particular administration.” They firmly demanded that “Dr. Gzoyan be reinstated immediately and allowed to continue the outstanding work she has been leading.”
With each passing day, Pashinyan continues to drag Armenia downhill — a critical issue to consider when voting in the June 7 parliamentary elections.
Residents stated that Kheshfejian’s home, located in the city center, appeared to have been targeted during a burglary attempt. Investigators believe the attackers broke into the residence with the intention of stealing valuables.
The crime has sparked widespread shock among residents of Aleppo, as the victim was well known in the area for her good reputation. She worked in the education sector and had previously served as the principal of a local school, earning respect for her role in teaching and guiding generations of students.
The incident comes amid broader concerns over security affecting Christian communities across various Syrian provinces, where many cases of violence and theft remain unresolved. Christians in Syria have endured numerous violations during the years of conflict, including killings, abductions, robberies, displacement, church bombings, and the desecration of religious sites.
In a separate incident, Dr. Salwa Saloum was recently the victim of an armed robbery when a Range Rover carrying two men stopped in front of her clinic. One of the assailants reportedly pointed a gun at her head and threatened her while the other stole approximately 17 million Syrian Pounds from inside the clinic before fleeing the scene.
The Wadi al-Masihiyeen (Valley of Christians) was also shaken last October when masked gunmen attacked a group of Christian youths, resulting in the deaths of Wissam George Mansour and his cousin Shafiq Rafiq Mansour, while several others were injured.
- Colorado Boulevard
Every March 15, Armenian communities across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and the
Middle East gather for ceremonies, lectures, monument unveilings, and memorial services honoring one man and one mission: Soghomon Tehlirian and Operation Nemesis.
On that day in 1921, 25-year-old Armenian survivor Tehlirian walked up behind Talaat Pasha, the chief architect of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, in broad daylight on a Berlin street and shot him in the head. The act was not random vengeance. It was the most visible strike in a secret Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) campaign called Operation Nemesis, launched because the world had failed to deliver justice. For the Armenian diaspora, March 15 is “Avenger’s Day,” an annual remembrance established by the ARF in 1974. It is more than nostalgia; it is a living affirmation of identity, moral resolve, and the refusal to let genocide go unpunished.
The Shadow of Genocide
The date carries profound weight because of its history. Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman Young Turk government orchestrated the systematic deportation, massacre, and death marches of roughly 1.5 million Armenians. After World War I, promises of tribunals faded. Key perpetrators, Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha, Cemal Pasha, escaped into exile, living freely while survivors rebuilt shattered lives in foreign lands. International justice had failed.
In response, the ARF’s 1919 congress in Yerevan authorized Operation Nemesis: a secret mission to deliver accountability where none existed. Named for the goddess of retribution, it targeted those most responsible. Between 1920 and 1922, the group carried out at least seven successful assassinations across Europe and the Middle East.
Tehlirian: Survivor and Avenger
At his two-day trial in June, the courtroom became an unofficial tribunal on the Genocide. Survivor testimony, expert witnesses, and Tehlirian’s calm statement, “I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer,” filled the German press. The jury acquitted him in less than an hour. The verdict sent shock waves: a European court had implicitly recognized the Armenian Genocide as a mitigating circumstance for an act that would otherwise have been simple murder.
Diaspora Memory and Identity
For the diaspora, this sequence, genocide, impunity, targeted justice, public vindication, condenses the 20th-century Armenian experience into one dramatic episode. Most diaspora families trace their presence in California, France, Argentina, or Lebanon directly to genocide survivors who arrived as refugees. Annual April 24 commemorations remember the victims; March 15 remembers the response. It affirms that Armenians were not passive martyrs but agents who reclaimed agency when governments abandoned them. The act restored dignity and pride.
This truth resonates in my own family. My mother, Serpouhi, survived the horrors, and I grew up hearing fragments of the Dickranian family story—not as dramatic tales, but as quiet, enduring truths. Eventually, they found safety in America and rebuilt a life of quiet strength. Those stories shaped me—not with anger, but with a deep responsibility to remember and honor those who ensured our survival.
In Fresno, California, at the Masis Ararat Armenian Cemetery, a monument honors Tehlirian: an obelisk topped with a gold-plated eagle slaying a snake, symbolizing Armenian justice striking down Talaat Pasha, the “snake” as the chief architect of the Genocide. Erected in 1969, it remains a powerful pilgrimage site, drawing visitors who lay flowers and reflect on the enduring legacy of retribution and resilience.
Lessons for Today
A historic Armenian artifact and a graphic artwork by Armenian-American painter Arshile Gorky—acquired by the Armenian government as part of its efforts to locate and retrieve Armenian cultural heritage artifacts that have appeared in private collections or auctions around the world—will soon be put on display at the History Museum of Armenia and the National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan.
The Armenian government allocated more than 300 million drams last year alone for the retrieval of various artifacts.
“Soon, our public will be able to see the wooden door panel of a medieval Armenian church acquired by the state, as well as a graphic artwork by Arshile Gorky, which will be displayed in the National Gallery and the History Museum,” Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan said at a parliamentary committee meeting on her ministry’s 2025 performance report.
The monumental Armenian church door panel was made in 1188 and will be displayed at the History Museum of Armenia.
The artifact appeared in international circulation in the 1980s and was later found in a private collection in New York. Earlier in December 2025, the Sam Fogg London art dealership website featured a monumental door panel carved for the Haghpat Monastery in Armenia, dated to 1188.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to reappoint two Armenian-American community leaders with long-standing involvement in the Armenian National Committee of America and its Western Region affiliate.
Jack Hadjinian was reappointed to the Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs by L.A. serving County Supervisor Hilda Solis’ District 1.
Vasken Yardemian was appointed to another term to the L.A. County Economy and Efficiency Commission. He will represent Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s District 5.
Finland tops the list, followed by Ireland, Denmark, Costa Rica, and Sweden.
Among Armenia’s neighbors Georgia ranked 91st, Turkey (94th), Iran (97th) and Azerbaijan (102nd).
Rankings are based on the single life evaluation question called the Cantril Ladder.
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