Author: Ani Basmajian

Representative Jim Costa is traveling overseas to Armenia Monday to help mediate conflict in the region, according to ABC30.

Costa says he’s been a longtime advocate and ally to Central Valley Armenians and hopes to help bring peace in their homeland.

“I’ll be meeting with the President of Armenia and members of the Parliament to determine how we in the United States can help facilitate a successful conclusion to these negotiations,” Costa said.

Costa said he’ll spend four days abroad meeting with dignitaries and traveling.

Armenian Ambassador to Lithuania Tigran Mkrtchyan handed his credentials to Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė today.

During the meeting reference was made to bilateral relations, and the perspectives of Armenia-EU negotiations.

Dalia Grybauskaitė said “Lithuania is interested in investing in Armenian economy.”

Amb. Mkrtchyan said, in turn, that “Armenia is interested in the further deepening of cooperation with Lithuania, reinforcement and expansion of relations in all directions of mutual interest.”

Ambassador Mkrtchyan briefed President Grybauskaitė on the negotiations on the Karabakh issue. The latter stressed that “Lithuania stands for exceptionally peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

“All conflicts on CIS territory and in any other region should be solved exceptionally in a peaceful way through political-diplomatic means,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, addressing the State Duma.

“This refers to the crisis in Ukraine, the issues of Transnistria and Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.

“The most important is to respect the agreements reached between the parties, and not to allow their revision.  We are confident that the crisis situations could be settled easier had the system defects in the field of pan-European cooperation been overcome and the dividing lines eliminated,” Lavrov stressed.

A trilateral summit on the settlement of the situation in Nagorno Karabakh will be held in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

The issue was discussed during Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin’s meeting with French Ambassador Jean-Marc Ayrault and French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Pierre Andrieu.

“Issues related to international efforts towards the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine and preparations for a trilateral summit on Nagorno Karabakh in Saint Petersburg were discussed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry did no clarify the concrete date of the summit.

Nagorno Karabakh Republic parliamentarian Lernik Hovhannisyan briefed Members of Congress and their senior aides regarding Azerbaijan’s recent escalation of violence against Artsakh and Armenia, during a full day of meetings on Capitol Hill.

In June 7th meetings with Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Energy and Commerce Committee member Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Robert Dold (R-IL), shared information and insights about the Azerbaijan’s April 2nd offensive, and the dangers that Baku’s belligerence represents to the security of Nagorno Karabakh and the stability of the region.  Among the specific issues discussed during his consultations were:

— The implementation of the Royce-Engel peace proposals

— The dangers of continued U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

— The value of Leahy Law investigations of Baku’s war crimes during the April 2nd offensive

— The importance of U.S. aid programs for Nagorno Karabakh

Hovhannisyan also held detailed consultations on these subjects with senior foreign policy aides to Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), who serves on the Appropriations Committee; Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), who serves on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees; Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who chairs the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who serves as Ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, and; Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  Hovhannisyan was joined by the ANCA-Eastern Region’s Armen Sahakyan and Raffi Karakashian, the ANCA’s Legislative Affairs Director.

Hovhannisyan traveled to Washington, DC as part of an educational tour of Eastern U.S. cities organized by the Artsakh Fund of the Eastern U.S. and the Hairenik Association to share timely information with American stakeholders regarding regional developments. He was born in the Karintak village in Shoushi in 1973. After studying at the local secondary school, he continued his studies at the Khrimian Hayrik School and graduated from the Yerevan State University’s History Department in 1996. He served in the 52nd battalion of the NKR Defense Army. In 2000, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Artsakh State University, and worked at the university’s Department of History as senior lecturer on Ethnography and Armenian History from 1999 to 2003. In 2013, Hovhannisyan was appointed Nagorno Karabakh’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs and was elected to the Parliament in 2015 as a member of the parliamentary faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). Since being elected, he has served as deputy chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defense, National Security, and Law Enforcement. Affairs Hovhannisyan, the author of 10 scientific papers and illustrator of 8 maps, currently runs Artsakh Public Television’s “Mer Yerkir” series. He is married and has 3 children.

Within the framework of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Board of Trustees’ annual meeting in Yerevan, a delegation led by the representatives of the fund’s Executive Board and comprising trustees, representatives of affiliates worldwide, and benefactors, began a string of project-site visits and opening ceremonies of newly completed projects in Armenia.

On May 25, the delegation visited the Nalbandyan village school (Armavir Region), which has been undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment with the financial support of Mr. and Mrs. Armen and Berjouhi Nalbandian of Toronto. The renovations of the 3,200-square-meter campus include a complete makeover of the two classroom buildings and the administrative wing, as well as the construction of a gym, currently underway. The project is slated to be finished in September 2016, when the school’s 600 students will be welcomed to an essentially brand-new campus featuring new furniture and equipment.

Also on May 25, the delegation visited the Mesrop Mashtots School of Oshakan, a village in Armenian’s Aragatsotn Region. The main building of the school has been transformed into a state-of-the-art learning environment, featuring all modern amenities, thanks to the co-sponsorship of the French-Armenian community and the City of Alfortville, France. Moreover, as sister communities, Alfortville and Oshakan have instituted student-exchange programs, which in turn are contributing to the school’s quality of education.

On May 26, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund delegation visited Yerevan’s Tchaikovsky Music School, which is being completely renovated through the financial support of USA Eastern Region affiliate. The delegation got a first-hand look at the large-scale modernization project, which includes seismic retrofitting; an extensive structural redesign; and a fully renovated auditorium, complete with a new stage and amenities for performers and audiences; as well as a newly built elevator and wheelchair ramps. As importantly, the school now features fully appointed rehearsal rooms for its symphony orchestra, string quartet, brass band, choir, and jazz ensemble. Thanks to the refurbishment, the Tchaikovsky Music School, whose graduates in the course of its almost 80-year history include many of the giants of Armenian music, is being transformed into a world-class conservatory.

Following a visit to Yerevan, the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC) and Guiseppe Galati (Italy, EPP/CD), have urged all political forces in Armenia to continue their dialogue on the new electoral code, and to seek compromise in order achieve as wide a consensus as possible.

“The new election system and electoral code, if implemented properly, could usher in an important new phase in Armenia’s democratic development,” they said. “At the same time we fully concur with the Venice Commission’s concerns about the complexity of the code, which could have an impact on public trust in the electoral system,” which they said was a key requirement for the conduct of genuinely democratic elections. “We therefore welcome the clearly expressed willingness of the authorities to continue co-operating closely with the Venice Commission in order to address its recommendations and concerns, as was the case during the adoption of the Constitutional amendments.”

In the view of the co-rapporteurs, the introduction of the new political system in Armenia could potentially reward parties that are willing to co-operate and enter into political coalitions, which could counteract the zero-sum mentality that has regrettably been prevalent in Armenia’s political environment, often at the cost of its democratic consolidation. In that respect, the co-rapporteurs expressed their concern at provisions in the draft electoral code that would prohibit coalitions of more than three parties from forming a government after the first round of voting, and which give very little time for parties to form a governing coalition before a second round of elections is called. They therefore welcomed indications that the period to form a coalition would be extended and called upon the ruling majority to consider dropping the three-party limit to form a government after the first round.

With regard to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the rapporteurs expressed their concern at the ongoing tension along the line of contact following the escalation of military hostilities in April. They welcomed the announcement of the OSCE Minsk Co-chairs that the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed to the establishment of an incident investigation mechanism under the aegis of the OSCE, which would be important for strengthening the ceasefire regime. In addition, they stated: “We were informed of allegations of atrocities and possible war crimes having been committed during the recent outbreak of hostilities. These reports need to be fully and independently investigated, preferably in the framework of the Minsk Group, and if proven, those responsible should be held fully accountable and prosecuted under national and international humanitarian and human rights law. If left without investigation, these reports will continue to be a source of mistrust and tension between the parties to the conflict.”

During the visit the co-rapporteurs also held talks about the ongoing fight against corruption, which continues to be a serious problem in Armenia. They welcomed the fact that a new law is being drafted that would allow the Commission for Ethics of High Ranking Officials to impose sanctions on any high officials, including MPs and members of the government, that fail to register, or intentionally incorrectly register, any assets, gifts or conflicts of interest, in line with GRECO recommendations. At the same time, the co-rapporteurs called on the authorities to enlarge the number of officials that would be covered by the provisions on ethics, assets and conflicts of interest in the civil service and related laws.

The co-rapporteurs will present an information note regarding this visit to the Monitoring Committee in June. They expect to visit the country again in the autumn of 2016.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Menno Snel, Executive Director of the IMF Netherlands/Belgium Constituency.

President Sargsyan thanked Mr. Snel for properly representing Armenia’s interests in the IMF in the course of the past five years.

Taking into consideration that Menno Snel will be completing his mission in the near future, the President wished him success in his future activity and voiced hope that the cooperation with the next IMF Director would be as effective and constructive.

Serzh Sargsyan hailed the role of the IMF in the execution of Armenia’s economic policy, underlining that considerable economic reforms have been implemented thanks to long-term cooperation with that authoritative financial organization.

Irrespective of a number of challenges, the negative external signals, it has been possible to achieve certain progress through joint efforts with the IMF, the President said and stressed that Armenia is interested in continuous cooperation with the IMF.

Menno Snel also praised the Armenia-IMF relations and the joint programs, noting that solid bases have been created for future cooperation.

Midfielder set to be a free agent after next season wants any new deal to include a buyout clause but his German club are unwilling, according to . 

Chelsea’s hopes of landing Borussia Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been given a boost as talks over a new deal have stalled.

Arsenal are also interested in the 27-year-old Armenia international, who has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season.

Versatile Mkhitaryan ’s contract runs out in the summer of 2017. But he is understood to want a buyout clause if he is to commit his future to the German Cup finalists.

Dortmund are unwilling to agree to such a request, after losing Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich three years ago. Champions Bayern triggered his £31million release fee at the time, with Dortmund powerless.

Since then, Dortmund have renegotiated the contract of Germany international Marco Reus – removing his £20m buyout clause.

Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Matzke also revealed last month that coveted striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s deal is another without a buyout clause.

He said: “We renewed Aubameyang’s contract until 2020 without a buyout clause because we want to be successful with him.”

By Thomas de Waal

“After a decade of unprecedented opening up to the world, Turkey is closing down again. Journalists and academics are persecuted. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has gone to war once more with the militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), disavowing a peace process he himself launched. Erdoğan rails against so-called terrorists in language reminiscent of the military men of the 1980s he fought hard to weaken, labeling almost anyone who sympathizes with the Kurdish cause a terrorist by association.

It is all a painful contrast with the first years of Erdoğan’s leadership in the mid-2000s, when there was talk of minority rights, media freedom, and EU accession. The regression of the last decade can be summed up as Turkey’s leaders spurning the legacy of Hrant Dink.

One day in Istanbul a little over nine years ago, there was a moment of tragedy that also said much about the hopes of that period. Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish editor and civil rights leader, was assassinated on January 19, 2007, by a teenage nationalist radical. Four days later, in revulsion at the killing, thousands of ordinary Turkish citizens marched through Istanbul in Dink’s funeral procession carrying placards that read “We are all Hrant Dink” and “We are all Armenian.”

It was not just a popular outcry. Erdoğan strongly condemned the assassination, and Turkish ministers attended the funeral. Ahmet Davutoğlu, now Turkey’s prime minister, has consistently praised Dink as a man of courage and peace.

Yet now, Davutoğlu’s government is not only fighting the Kurds again but also laying claim to the Armenian church in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır, which the local municipality had restored to the Armenian community as a place of worship.

Repressive policies against the Kurds mirror policies of intolerance practiced throughout the history of the Turkish Republic against the country’s much smaller Christian minorities: the remaining Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks who survived the campaigns by the last Ottoman regime to destroy them.

In Turkey (and not just there), an unexamined past legitimizes an intolerant present. Dink did more than any single individual to tackle the injustices of both past and present. He seized the moment to speak up for Istanbul’s tiny and timid Armenian minority—and not only for them. Straightforward, eloquent, and courageous, he encapsulated thoughts that others could not utter—or were too afraid to—while all the time understanding Turkey’s vulnerabilities as well. On the legacy of the 1915Armenian Genocide, for example, he memorably said, “Turks and Armenians and the way they see each other constitute two clinical cases: Armenians with their trauma, Turks with their paranoia.”

Dink was a hero in Turkey. Now, finally, the English-language reader gets to read about him, with the publication of the English version of .

The English subtitle is An Armenian Voice of the Voiceless in Turkey. Çandar’s brilliant method is to make this a book of voices. It is a sound tapestry consisting of dozens of voices of Dink’s family, friends, and colleagues, a biography as a polyphonic oral history. Dink’s personal evolution proceeds in parallel with a history of modern Turkey. The book begins with the austerity of provincial life in the 1950s. Dink comes of age as a leftist amid the turbulence of the political clashes of the 1970s. He, along with many other civil rights activists, is jailed and tortured after Turkey’s 1980 coup d’état. Here, the polyphony becomes a cacophony as Dink and his cellmates take part in what he calls a “magnificent toilet choir” in jail, singing the Turkish national anthem loudly to avoid a beating from the guards.

The English-language reader can get lost, even when provided with a glossary and chronology and despite a beautiful translation by Maureen Freely. The blizzard of names and references is hard to navigate for anyone unfamiliar with the story of modern Turkey.

But it is worth sticking with. Dink’s personal life story is worthy of a nineteenth-century novel. He was a street child, student, radical, father, prisoner, businessman, gambler. All of these vividly humanize the hero before the reader comes to his public persona as the editor of the Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos.

Agos was more than just a newspaper. It was also, as one voice in the book says, “a civil society hub” and, as one chapter calls it, a “world” in which many people were able to express for the first time the issues that concerned them.

In Çandar’s book, a fellow Istanbul Armenian, Etyen Mahçupyan, says:

As Dink foresaw, Turkey’s retreat from democracy has also diminished the Turkish state’s willingness to come to terms with its history and with the minorities who suffered from that history. That in turn has hardened parts of the Armenian diaspora against Turkey and perpetuates a cause that exasperated Dink: the international recognition of genocide. In his view, battering Turkey from abroad on the Armenian issue had little effect, and he commented, “I have a hard time accepting the imprisonment of human experience inside a legal term [genocide] that is itself designed to produce a political outcome.”

For Dink, having one foot in the Turkish world and one in the Armenian world was an awkward privilege. One of the voices in the book recounts, “Sometimes, he reminded me of a child struggling to find a way to bring together two sides of an estranged family.” Çandar’s book is a reminder of how badly that vision is missed inTurkey.