Author: Andres-Papazian

January 3, 2014
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

CHRISTMAS EVE DIVINE LITURGY

On Sunday, January 5, Christmas Eve will be celebrated in Prelacy
Churches with Divine Liturgy followed by the Jrakalooyts – Lighting of the
Candles service.
Given that Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy is traditionally celebrated
in the evening, and according to church canon we do not celebrate Divine
Liturgy more than once on the same altar on the same day, on Sunday morning
a prayer service will be held during which pastors will deliver their
sermons. Requiem service will also take place.
Divine Liturgy will take place in the evening.
The Prelate will celebrate Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon at
St. Sarkis Church in Pasadena.
By the ordinance of His Eminence, Rev. Fr. Boghos Tinkjian will
visit the Colorado parish where he will celebrate Christmas Divine Liturgy.
Rev. Fr. Khoren Babochian will celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Corona
parish.

CHRISTMAS DIVINE LITURGY AND BLESSING OF WATER

On Monday, January 6th, the Glorious Birth and Theophany of our Lord
Jesus Christ will be ceremoniously celebrated with Divine Liturgy and the
blessing of water in all Prelacy Churches.
The Prelate will celebrate Divine Liturgy, deliver the sermon, and
conduct the blessing of water at St. Mary’s Church in Glendale.
In the evening, the Prelate’s New Year and Christmas Dinner will be
held at “Bagramian Hall” in Montebello with the participation of clergy,
councils, parishes, sister organizations, sponsors, and friends.

CHRISTMAS DIVINE LITURGY AND BLESSING OF WATER
AT ARARAT HOME

In celebration of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus
Christ, on Sunday, January 5th Divine Liturgy will be celebrated and the
blessing of water ceremony will be conducted at Ararat Home in Mission
Hills.
The day will begin at 10:00 a.m. with morning service and the
blessing of water in the Residents Dining Room of the Nursing Facility. The
Prelate will conduct the services, with the participation of clergy members.
Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. at the Sheen Chapel
by Archpriest Fr. Nareg Pehlivanian, who will also deliver the sermon.
Following the service, the Prelate and clergy will be hosted to a
luncheon by the administration.

MEMORIAL DAY REQUIEM SERVICE AT FOREST LAWN

On the morning of Tuesday, January 7, Christmas memorial day requiem
service will be held at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills “Hall of Liberty” and
Forest Lawn Glendale “Church of the Recessional”, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
The Prelate will preside over the service at Hollywood Hills Forest
Lawn.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER SERVICE AND BLESSING OF WATER
AT GLENDALE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

In celebration of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus
Christ, on Friday, January 3, 2014, morning prayer service and the blessing
of water ceremony symbolizing the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was
conducted at Glendale Memorial Hospital.
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, led the prayer
service, conducted the blessing of water, and conveyed his New Year and
Christmas blessings and well wishes to the administration, staff, and
patients. St. Mary’s Church Pastors assisted in the service. Glendale City
Council member Mr. Ara Najarian and Prelacy Executive Council member Dr.
Dikran Babikian were among the guests in attendance. Reporters from Channel
7 and LA Times were also present.
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center President Mr. Jack Ivie
delivered welcoming remarks expressing his appreciation to the Prelate for
what has become a beautiful tradition.
The Prelate first delivered his message then conducted the service
and ceremony. His Eminence expressed thanks to God for the gift of another
year and for the opportunity to continue the tradition of gathering in the
first days of the new year to exchange well wishes to one another and
conduct the Blessing of the Home service beseeching God to protect and keep
in peace this facility, its faculty and patients. The Prelate explained the
blessing of the water ceremony signifying the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
River by John the Baptist and the use of the Holy Chrism (Muron) in the
Armenian Apostolic Church for blessings, consecrations, and anointing,
symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit. He explained that the oil used
today is revered because it contains part of the original oil blessed by St.
Gregory the Illuminator centuries ago, since whenever a new batch is
prepared and blessed, a small amount of the old go into it, thus preserving
continuity.
Reflecting on the start of a new year, the Prelate invited all to
resolve to thank God daily for the abundance of blessings in our lives, to
emulate the love and mercy of our Lord by demonstrating brotherly love,
compassion, and goodness to one another, to lift the spirits of the less
fortunate by sharing our blessings and spreading the good tidings of
Christmas to as many people as we can throughout the year. In conclusion,
His Eminence commended the hospital faculty for the care and compassion they
provide, prayed for the Lord to heal the infirm and restore them to health,
and wished that 2014 will be a blessed year for all filled with greatest
gifts of health, love, peace, and joy.

From: A. Papazian

Voice of Russia
Jan 3 2014

Opposition blogger jailed amid Turkish graft scandal

A prominent Turkish-Armenian blogger has been sent to jail on charges
of illegal construction amid a growing chorus of criticism over a
graft scandal engulfing the government, local media reported on
Friday.

Sevan Nisanyan was sentenced in December to two years in prison in a
case he claims was punishment for his outspoken views about
restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey.

“Unfortunately, this country is ruled by dwarves who have no vision.
We all deserve a better country,” the 57-year-old was quoted as saying
by CNN Turk as he headed to prison in the western city of Izmir on
Thursday.

“I do not regret what I have done. I am proud of what I have done.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is grappling with a probe
that has ensnared several allies, some of whom are suspected of
bribery over construction permits for protected areas.

And Nisanyan’s jail sentence caused an outcry on Twitter.

“In a country where some people can build a department store on an
ancient city, how come Nisanyan is jailed for building without a
permit?” wrote one user, Yasin Tekin.

Nisanyan also faces up to 16 years in prison on other charges related
to construction work on hotels in a village near Izmir.

Nisanyan was previously convicted of blasphemy over a 2012 blog
defending an anti-Islam film that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed and
sparked angry protests across the world.

His words touched a nerve in the staunchly secular but majority
Muslim nation and he received hundreds of death threats.

Turkey has long been criticised for a lack of press freedom, and in
December the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists named it the
world’s number one jailer of journalists for the second straight year.

From: A. Papazian

How to Silence an Armenian Maverick in Turkey

By Nanore Barsoumian // January 3, 2014

They finally locked him up. It was only a matter of time, really. And
frankly, I’m surprised it took them this long. The Turkish-Armenian
journalist and entrepreneur Sevan Nisanyan could not accept his place
in Turkish society. And a `good’ Armenian ought to know better than
that. Somehow, Nisanyan always made headlines – from television talk
shows to controversial blog posts. He’s been practically swimming in
some two-dozen court cases – but Nisanyan is built differently than many
of us. In fact, he actually enjoys making waves. You might say he was
born in the wrong country, but if you were to ask him, he’d tell
you – as he once told me – `I feel perfectly at home in a country where
most people would rather see me go. A paradox? I don’t think so. I
like the precariousness of my situation. I think I contribute a lot to
the society I live in.’

Clutching a pillow in one hand, and two duffle bags in the other, he
walked in to prison on Jan. 2.

Two years, that’s how long Nisanyan will spend in a Turkish prison – an
early Christmas present from the Turkish courts. Clutching a pillow in
one hand, and two duffle bags in the other, he walked in to prison on
Jan. 2. This was the punishment dished out from one of a long list of
court cases piled against him that could amount to over 50 years in
jail.

This time, they said, the 57-year-old Nisanyan had gone too far
building a cottage without a permiton his property in the village of
Sirince in Izmir, a tourist destination he’s credited with reviving
through his rustic hotel business. A cottage without a permit, in a
land of illegal constructions, in a country where the President sits
in a mansion confiscated from its Armenian subjects. Chew on that,
Armenian!

This is a country where laws work for rulers – laws that were crafted to
weed out the other, to sanction looting, gagging, chaining, and even
killing.

Even at the prison gates, Nisanyan was still defiant. Still
controversial. Still hopeful. `Unfortunately, Turkey is being governed
by people who have no horizons, no vision, no quality; by small minded
people [`dwarves’ in literal translation],’ he said to reporters
gathered there. `It is a pity for this country. All of us, all of you,
deserve better. We hope that one day, people with vision, people who
can tell the good from the bad, will also be able to govern.’

As to his hotel-houses in Sirince, Nisanyan donated them to the Nesin
Foundation in 2011. The foundation, located in Sirince, brings
educational opportunities to children from financially handicapped
families.

Despite the numerous court cases that at times saw him appearing
before a judge as often as twice a week, Nisanyan managed to publish
his research on the old and new names of places in Turkey, as well as
an online toponymic index. This, in addition to his bestselling
guidebook to small hotels in Turkey.

Just over a year ago, Nisanyan, a graduate of Yale and Columbia,
angered thousands through a blog post defending freedom of speech. It
was a response to proposed `hate crime’ bills following the release of
`The Innocence of Muslims,’ a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.

`Mocking an Arab leader who centuries ago claimed to have contacted
God and made political, financial, and sexual benefits out of this is
not a crime of hatred. It is an almost kindergarten-level case of what
we call freedom of expression,’ Nisanyan wrote in his post.

A few months later, an Istanbul court found Nisanyan – a recipient of
the 2004 Freedom of Thought Award by the Human Rights Association of
Turkey – guilty and sentenced him to over 13 months in jail. His crime?
`Publicly insulting the religious values of part of the population.’

When I asked him about it a few days later, his response was, `I don’t
believe anyone has ever been prosecuted in Turkey for advocating the
murder, mayhem, or massacre of Armenians, Jews, Kurds, atheists, gays,
or liberals. Thousands, on the other hand, were prosecuted and
convicted in the past for `insulting Turkishness’ under the notorious
Article 301 of the penal code. Now, `insulting Islam’ seems to be
replacing that old juggernaut as a favorite instrument to hit
dissidents with.’

In 2010, Nisanyan’s comments about the Armenian Genocide aired during
a Turkish television debate program resulted in the punishment of the
TV station. Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK)
declared that Nisanyan’s comments `humiliated the Republic of Turkey.’

Turkey’s human rights record – especially when it comes to
journalists – is dismal. In 2012, Reporters Without Borders dubbed
Turkey `The World’s Biggest Prison for Journalists.’ In fact, the
country is the leading jailer of journalists – ahead of China and Iran.

Nisanyan’s imprisonment further confirms what he has been
communicating all along: `There is instinctive hostility toward an
Armenian. It turns rabid when that Armenian is also an outspoken
critic of the Turkish system.’

At the doorstep of the Armenian Genocide centennial, Nisanyan’s
imprisonment is but a chapter in the fate of Turkey’s Armenians. `I
believe this is a test case for the Erdogan government’s willingness
to improve minority rights in Turkey,’ he had told me in 2010, when a
Turkish court ordered the demolition of his houses. `I believe it is
also a test case that will show if Armenians can go on living freely
and securely in this country, or whether the old system of state
thuggery will go on unchanged.’

Ultimately, when a restless maverick like Nisanyan goes to jail, the
whole of society suffers. It leaves Turkey with one less dissenting
voice; one less dreamer capable of hoping for a democratic Turkey; and
one more nail that binds modern Turkey to its xenophobic legacy.

From: A. Papazian

Man attempts to burn himself in Armenia

January 03, 2014 | 17:08

YEREVAN. – The Armenian Rescue Service received information on January
3, at 2.55 pm, that a resident of Lori region attempts to commit
suicide by self-immolation.

The rescuers arrived on the scene and together with police officers
prevented the suicide attempt of A. Avetisyan, born in 1976, Tashir
Police Department informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

From: A. Papazian

Armenia-Turkey protocols failure of Armenian diplomacy – Levon Zurabyan

January 03, 2014 | 17:12

YEREVAN. – The very presence of Armenia-Turkey protocols is a failure
of the Armenian diplomacy, head of ANC parliamentary faction Levon
Zurabyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He said the protocols provided Turkey with what the country needed: by
agreeing to set up a commission of historians the Armenian side in
fact questioned the fact of Genocide.

`This is what Turkey needed to slow down the process of international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide,’ Zurabyan noted.

The opposition MP is confident that U.S., to some extent, solved a
local problem thanks to so-called football diplomacy: negated the
pressure of the Armenian lobby on Congress and the White House.

`The only party not winning anything is Armenia. The only person who
won is Serzh Sargsyan, as using this initiative, he got the support of
the international community to prolong his stay in office,’ Zurabyan
concluded.

From: A. Papazian

Washington Post Urges Obama to Reconsider Turkey Policy

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

U.S. President Barak Obama with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in Washington, D.C., ahead of talks that focused on the
Armenia-Turkey normalization protocols. October 15, 2009.

WASHINGTON – `The Obama administration and the European Union should be
pressing Mr. Erdogan to respect the rule of law and give police and
prosecutors the opportunity to present their cases in court,’ says the
Washington Post’s editorial board in an instructive editorial
published Wednesday, calling on President Obama to reconsider its
foreign policy with Turkey.

The editorial article urges the Obama administration to finally act on
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spiraling
authoritarianism.

The authors highlight the many transgressions by Erdogan and his
administration over the years and lament the fact that the Obama
administration has not applied pressure despite the deterioration of
Turkish democracy.

The editors point to a growing rift between a Turkey that Obama once
described as `a political model for the Middle East,’ and a Turkey
that seems to resemble its authoritarian neighbors more and more each
day. Not a mistaken observation when considering that Turkey is number
one again this year in the number of jailed journalists, not just in
the Middle East but in the world, topping even Iran and China.

A final and troubling trend runs parallel to the latest graft scandal
that has hit the Erdogan administration: a slanderous campaign carried
out by the pro-government media is in full swing in Turkey, accusing
the United States and Israel as dark powers who are behind the turmoil
that has gripped Turkey. This daft and deliberate anti-West discourse,
the authors say, cannot be ignored and must be given an appropriate
response by the United States.

With an ever-growing slew of offenses by the Erdogan administration
piling up, the Washington Post says there is a new urgency for the
Obama administration to reconsider its policy toward Turkey and
Erdogan.

From: A. Papazian

Shant Harutiunyan’s Supporters Clash With Police

On January 1 Shant Harutiunyan’s supporters and civil activists held a
demonstration and a march, azatutyun.am informed.

The demonstrations demanded that the authorities set free Shant
Harutiunyan and the other 13 political prisoners immediately.

The demonstrators moved to the headquarters of the National Security
Service, Yerevan Center Penitentiary.

At Nalbandyan-Sayat Nova crossroad several dozens of policemen blocked
their way, which resulted in a clash. The participants of the march
were able to block Sayat Nova and Nalbandyan streets for a short
period.

In the result of 15-20 minutes of negotiations with the policemen the
demonstrators were allowed to walk towards the National Security
Service. Shant Harutiunyan’s son Shahen Harutiunyan stood at the main
entrance of the NSS and wished a happy new year to his father speaking
in a megaphone. Then the demonstrators walked back to Freedom Square.

Nobody was arrested. It was announced that the next demonstration will
be on January 10 on Freedom Square.

1
19:32 02/01/2014
Story from Lragir.am News:

From: A. Papazian

Independence Armenia’s biggest achievement in the past decades – activists

13:35 – 03.01.14

Armenia has not had any serious achievements since gaining
independence in the early 1990s, say members of the Preparliament
group.

Speaking to Tert.am, an activist of the initiative, Garegin
Chugaszyan, pointed out to two major factors – the liberation of
Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and Armenia’s status as a subject of
international law – which he said have been the only essential
developments that have marked serious progress for the country since
the independence era.

`In all other respects, the country has been in a state of bankruptcy.
That is, if we try to take a broader outlook, these two results are
what have remained to date, but they are under threat today,’ he said.

`The darkness is getting thicker, so the time of dawn is nearing. I
think that dawning process should be very rapid in 2014.’

Zhirayr Sefilyan, another member of the group who was a special
detachment commander during the Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war,
considers 1991, the year of gaining independence, the most successful
period. `That was a remarkable [event] in the Armenians’ life and also
a long-waited day,’ he told Tert.am.

The activist said the days of the war which brought victory to the
Armenian side were the best ever for the country. `Those days were
really quite remarkable,’ he said. `Then, in the post-war period, we
never, unfortunately, managed to record victories, establish law and
order and ensure the corresponding level of growth,’ he noted.

Asked about his expectations, Sefilyan replied, `We never depend on
any illusion, so I think 2014 will be favorable in that respect. We
will manage to finally create a center of gravity in the Armenians’
life in a national political-sense to determine the future success.’

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

ATTENTAT MANQUE
600 grammes de TNT sous la voiture de Vitaly Balasanyan héros du
Karabagh et candidat aux dernières présidentielles de la République du
Haut Karabagh

Qui en veut à Vitaly Balasanyan, le héros de la guerre de libération
du Haut Karabagh et candidat aux dernières présidentielles de la
République du Haut Karabagh ? Car le 29 décembre Vitaly Balasanyan a
échappé à la mort. Vers 21h10 Vitaly Balasanyan (55 ans) a affirmé à
la police que sous sa voiture, garée devant la maison au numéro 25 de
la rue E. Dalialian à Askeran (République du Haut Karabagh) il venait
de découvrir un système contenant des explosifs placés sous sa
voiture. La police intervenue sur place confirmait qu’entre 18 et 21
heure, un ou plusieurs inconnus ont placé sous la voiture de Vitaly
Balasanyan plus de 600 grammes de TNT qui aurait pu couter la vie à
plusieurs personnes en cas d’explosion. La police enquête.

Krikor Amirzayan

vendredi 3 janvier 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA, Iran
Jan 1 2014

Iran symbol of peaceful coexistence of divine religions: Archbishop

Isfahan, Dec 30, IRNA – The Archbishop of Isfahan province and
southern parts of Iran Babken Charian said here Monday the religious
minorities’ right to have representatives in Majlis is an indication
to the freedom of speech in the Islamic Republic.

Talking to IRNA, Archbishop Charian said Iran is a symbol of peaceful
coexistence of followers of divine religions.

The Armenian community of Isfahan province and southern Iran enjoy
full freedom in their cultural, social, religious and educational
activities, he said.

From: A. Papazian