Author: Arbi Tashjian

Is Biden About to Recognize the Armenian Genocide?

Arbi Tashjian
Greek Reporter
By Nick Kampouris

The US Capitol. Credit: Public Domain.

The Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and great Philhellene, Senator Bob Menendez, asked recently the Biden Administration to officially recognize the Ottoman Empire’s genocide against the Armenian people.

Senator Menendez sent a letter to President Biden, along with 37 other of his Senate colleagues.

The first decision point for President Biden could come on Armenian Remembrance Day on April 24, 2021 around which vigorous lobbying by the Armenian diaspora, Congress, and the Turkish government over whether to label the 1915 atrocities a genocide will once again culminate.

President Obama stopped short of an explicit acknowledgment in 2015, as he did not want to anger Turkey, which recalled its ambassador from Washington in 2007 over a congressional committee’s recognition of the genocide.

The Armenian Genocide was the systematic mass murder and ethnic cleansing of around one million ethnic Armenian Christians from Anatolia and nearby regions by the Ottoman government during World War I.

During its invasion of Russian and Persian territory, Ottoman paramilitaries massacred local Armenians; massacres turned into genocide following the catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Sarikamish, which took place in January 1915. The defeat was blamed on Armenian treachery.

In the minds of the Ottoman leaders, isolated indications of Armenian resistance were taken as evidence of a coordinated conspiracy. However, this was not based on facts.


Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman Army were disarmed pursuant to a February order and later killed. In April 1915, the Ottoman authorities rounded up, arrested, and deported hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders from Constantinople.

The letter that was sent to President Biden has as follows:

”Dear President Biden:

We write today to strongly urge you to officially recognize the truth of the Armenian Genocide. In the past you have recognized the Armenian Genocide as genocide, including in your Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day statement during the 2020 campaign. We call on you to do so again as President to make clear that the U.S. government recognizes this terrible truth.


From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire systematically sought to eliminate the Armenian population, killing 1.5 million Armenians and driving hundreds of thousands more from their homeland. We join the Armenian community in the United States and around the world in honoring the memory of these victims, and we stand firmly against attempts to pretend that this intentional, organized effort to destroy the Armenian people was anything other than a genocide. You have correctly stated that American diplomacy and foreign policy must be rooted in our values, including respect for universal rights. Those values require us to acknowledge the truth and do what we can to prevent future genocides and other crimes against humanity.

In December 2019, after decades of obstruction, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution affirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide. The House also overwhelmingly passed its own resolution recognizing the facts of the Armenian Genocide in 2019. We appreciate that in your April 2020 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day statement you pledged “to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide,” but Congress has already made its position clear. It is time for executive branch to do so as well.

As you said in your Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day statement last April, “It is particularly important to speak these words and commemorate this history at a moment when we are reminded daily of the power of truth, and of our shared responsibility to stand against hate — because silence is complicity.” Administrations of both parties have been silent on the truth of the Armenian Genocide. We urge you to break this pattern of complicity by officially recognizing that the Armenian Genocide was a genocide.”

The Senators who signed the letter to the President were John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Rob Portman (R-OH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ed Markey (D-MA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jack Reed (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI.), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

Responding to a question of the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the spokesperson for the White House Jen Psaki said that the Biden administratio is committed to promoting human rights and ensuring that such atrocities are not repeated. ”A crucial part of this is recognizing the story,” the spokesperson noted.

Nearly 100 Armenian truck drivers stuck at Lars border checkpoint for 24 days, contact Armenia MP

Arbi Tashjian
News.am, Armenia
23:58, 16.03.2021

Nearly 100 Armenian truck drivers have been stuck at the Lars border checkpoint for 24 days and are currently in a situation that they can’t get out of. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Arman Abovyan, whom the truck drivers had contacted, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“The drivers contacted me and asked me for help since they are in a very bad situation. Nearly 100 truck drivers are stuck. I have already addressed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the issue and hope it takes actions,” he said, adding that the Armenian government must not overlook citizens in difficult situations, regardless of domestic affairs.

The drivers also informed that they don’t have money and don’t know what’s going to happen to them, if they remain stuck there for a few more days.

Pashinyan won nothing with Onik Gasparyan’s dismissal – Vazgen Manukyan

Arbi Tashjian
Panorama, Armenia
March 10 2021

“The task of the opposition is to remove Pashinyan from his post. The position of the Army is favorable for carrying out this task and it has not changed,” the opposition candidate for the post of interim prime minister Vazgen Manukyan told reporters ahead of the Homeland Salvation Movement’s rally on Baghramyan avenue. 

Manukyan’s commented on the news that the chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan was relieved of his post by virtue of law on Wednesday, according to a statement signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. To remind, the statement, released by the government’s press service, said Gasparyan was considered dismissed after the president neither signed a draft decree on his dismissal nor asked the Constitutional Court to determine its legality within the timeframe prescribed by law.

In Manukyan’s words, Pashinyan didn’t benefit from the dismissal of the Chief of the General Staff as the position of the Army has not changed, instead it has reinstated its stance that Pashinyan poses a threat to the security of Armenia. The opposition leader insisted that the most decisive step in dismissing Gasparyan was made not by Pashinyan but President Armen Sarkissian who, per Manukyan,  bears full responsibility along with the PM for any upcoming developments.  

“If Pashinyan had enough power he would continue destroying the army. Whether he will succeed or not depends on the Commanders of Army Corps likewise the person who will replace the Chief of the General Staff,” stressed Manukyan.

CivilNet: The AMAA’s Mission to Help Artsakh’s Displaced

Arbi Tashjian
CIVILNET.AM

10 Mar, 2021 06:03

As a result of the war in Artsakh, many houses and infrastructures lie destroyed or damaged. The Artsakh government and charitable organizations are helping people to deal with restoration works. The Armenian Missionary Association of America is one of these organizations, which aims to help Artsakh Armenians come back to their homes and resettle. The AMAA is renovating nearly 50 houses belonging to Artsakh Armenians. The house of Victoria is one of them. CivilNet’s team visited her to find out more. 

Armenian opposition announces plans to meet with president Sunday

Arbi Tashjian
TASS, Russia
March 6 2021
The opposition calls on Armen Sarkissian to appeal against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s proposal to sack the chief of the General Staff at the Constitutional Court until March 9

YEREVAN, March 6. /TASS/. Representatives of Armenia’s opposition Homeland Salivation Movement plan to hold another meeting with President Armen Sarkissian on Sunday at his request to discuss the dismissal of Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan, an opposition politician said at a rally in Yerevan on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, representatives of Homeland Salvation Movement are again meeting with president at his initiative. We will certainly hand him our demands, namely to appeal the decree on dismissal of the General Staff chief at the Constitutional Court,” Ishkhan Sagatelyan said.

The opposition calls on Sarkissian to appeal against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s proposal to sack the chief of the General Staff at the Constitutional Court until March 9.

Armenia has been gripped in a political crisis after the country’s General Staff had issued a statement demanding the prime minister and the government step down on February 25. Pashinyan slammed that move by the top brass as an attempted military coup and have submitted twice to the president the decree to sack the chief of the General Staff. Since the crisis broke out in Armenia, the opposition has held two meetings with the president to discuss Gasparyan’s resignation.

Trench Warfare Revisited: Armenia’s Indigenous Remote-Controlled Armament

Arbi Tashjian
March 2 2021
 Oryx  Tuesday, March 02, 2021  Armenia 

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans
 
Armenia’s small population and limited economic means force the country to come up with creative solutions to address the obsolescence of its military hardware and to introduce entirely new capabilties to its armed forces. Through the years this has led to a highly active R&D industry that has received little media attention outside of its own borders. While most of its projects never progressed beyond prototype status due to a lack of funding, those with a more limited scope (thus requiring less financial commitment) usually had more success. 
 
One of these projects comprises a PKT machine gun that has been adapted to allow to fire it from cover with a thermal sight connected to a screen for aiming. This highly interesting contraption was first shown in use with Armenian forces during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and was examined in more detail after having been captured by Azerbaijani forces as they overran Armenian positions. [1] [2] Unsightly but efficient in its intended role, the system is a clear example of the adaptive nature that has come to typify the Armenian defence industry.

Of course, we can’t entirely blame you for opining that the device looks like a modern adaption of something that came straight out of the trenches of the Somme and Verdun during the First World War. Engaged in a bitter standoff ever since the ceasefire agreement of 1994, Armenian trenches along the line of contact were in fact reminiscent of those of World War I, with both sides separated only by a thin strip of no-man’s land littered with mines and other obstacles. The network of defensive fortifications changed little over the past decades, and often still resembled temporary fighting positions rather than modern defensive structures.
While these trenches can be a nightmare for any military ground force to approach and eventually overcome, they proved of little defensive value in the face of Azerbaijani Bayraktar TB2 drones, which could fly circles above them and carefully select which positions were worth targeting either with their own MAM-L munitions or precision-guided munitions delivered by rocket artillery. As a result, most trench lines and positions fell to this invisible opponent long before the enemy it was supposed to keep at bay ever came in sight.
Still, a small fleet of UCAVs can only cover a limited area, and several defensive lines found themselves instead facing repeated artillery barrages on their positions followed by mechanised or infantry assaults. While most of these eventually succeeded in dislodging Armenian soldiers from their positions, other positions managed to keep Azerbaijani forces at bay for days or week on ends. This was true especially in the North of Nagorno-Karabakh, where the mountainous terrain and fierce resistance by Armenian forces limited advances made by Azerbaijan for the entire duration of the 44-day long war.
 

 

The weapon used is the PKT machine gun, a variant of the PK that was specifically designed for use as a coaxial mount in Soviet tanks and AFVs (hence its name, PK-Tank). Designed for remote firing from the onset (by means of an electric solenoid trigger), the PKT needed little modification for its new role as a remote weapon system. Another benefit of the PKT is the size of the magazine, which holds an impressive amount of 250 7.62×54mmR rounds. To enable long periods of almost continuous firing before having to bring in additional magazines, a basket for a spare magazine was welded on the right side of the metal structure.
 
Incidentally, Armenia was already in the possession of large numbers of PKT machine guns, with no apparent practical use for them. These PKTs once equipped BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicles and BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), but after most of these vehicles were relegated to reserve status and eventually decommissioned by the Armenian military, their weaponry was put into storage. Rather than leaving this potentially useful armament to rot, sizeable numbers were then converted to remote weapon systems.

 

The operating method of the system is as simple as it looks, with the PKT fitted to a rudimentary metal structure on top of a pole that can be heightened just above the trenchline when in use, and lowered back into cover when not in use or when having to reload. The gunner aims through the screen in front of him that’s linked to a Russian Infratech IT-615 thermal sight located on the left of the weapon. When someone enters his crosshairs, the gunner presses the trigger on one of two handlebars, which he also uses to aim the weapon system. [3] [4] What appears to be a battery for the thermal sight is crudely fitted to the left side of the metal structure, although this doesn’t appear to be installed on every example.
 

The PKT contraption is not the only attempt made by Armenia at designing automated gun emplacements. Another project called for the automisation of anti-aircraft guns for use against ground targets, and a prototype based on the 14.5mm ZPU-2 anti-aircraft gun was actually built. To increase the lethality of the system against armoured targets, a 73mm SPG-9 recoilless rifle (RCL) was additionally slaved to it. This combination could prove deadly against the armour of anything up to a tank, with BMP infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) loaded with infantry likely being particularly suitable targets. 
 

Fully remote-controlled and aimed by the means of a thermal sight, the only human intervention required would be reloading the SPG-9 after each shot and the ZPU-2 after firing off the 2400 rounds stowed in the guns’ two huge magazines. Like the PKT machine guns, the ZPU-2s too had been retired from active service in Armenia. However, much in common with most other Armenian indigenous military projects, any further development and an eventual introduction into the armed forces appears to have been prevented by a lack of budget.

Meanwhile a more advanced iteration of the PKT weapon system concept was also in the works, and first unveiled during the ArmHiTec 2018 military exhibition in Yerevan. [5] This version of the PKT could finally be called truly remote-controlled, with the operator of the box system sitting in the safety of an underground bunker. Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, a lack of budget precluded the introduction of this promising weapons system.
 
The only real downside of the box system is that it has to be manually reloaded each time after emptying its relatively small magazine. This could be a dangerous endeavour depending on the location of the gun box, and could entail Armenian soldiers having to climb to elevated positions in the view of the enemy to reload the system for continued use. Although the magazine used likely contains up to 150 7.62mm rounds, these can be quickly spent in anger, given the weapon’s firing rate of 750 rounds per minute.
 
 
Although Armenia’s PKT contraptions could not turn the tide in a war which was ultimately decided in the skies, and not in trenches, they remain a first-rate example of cost-effective ingenuity in the face of limited means. With its army in tatters after a catastrophic defeat, it is likely that the nation will call on this ingenuity to provide its military with weaponry suitable for the new military balance and the type of warfare witnessed during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. When provided with sufficient funding, Armenia’s indigenous military industry could well surprise friend and foe alike, and slowly begin to return the country from the adverse condition it currently finds itself in.
 
[1] https://twitter.com/TvIctimai/status/1312037877174480897
[2] https://i.postimg.cc/VNmjFRSH/6jf.png
[3] https://twitter.com/Mukhtarr_MD/status/1357673286704988167
[4] https://twitter.com/neccamc1/status/1362011034891005953
[5] https://twitter.com/Mukhtarr_MD/status/1360539364506402816 

 

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Pashinyan Maintains Anti-Russia Position Despite Armenia’s Abandonment From The West

Arbi Tashjian
Greek City Times
March 3 2021
by Paul Antonopoulos
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In an interview with 1in.am, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan assessed the results of the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

He questioned the capabilities of Russian-made weapons, and according to him, Iskander ballistic missiles exploded with only a 10% success rate.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the Prime Minister’s ambiguous statement about the success of the Iskander system during last year’s 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Iskander missile system.

However, after his statements, Pashinyan’s comments were quickly mocked by Russian media and military experts.

Viktor Zavarzin, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defense, called Pashinyan’s statement an absolute lie.

One of the designers of the Iskander missile, Vladimir Kovalev, urged the Armenian Prime Minister to end his ignorance as soon as possible.

In fact, Armenia’s first Prime Minister after the country’s independence from the Soviet Union, Vazgen Manukyan, said “you have to either be an idiot or an enemy to make such a statement about the Iskander missile system.”

Former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan.

The Deputy Chief of the Armenian General Staff, Tiran Khachatryan, laughed when he was asked about Pashinyan’s statements about the Russian-made weapons.

In the end, Pashinyan backtracked on his Iskander comments, with his Press Secretary Mane Gevorgyan saying “The Prime Minister was not properly informed about the situation with the Iskander.”

This was followed by the Kremlin expressing satisfaction with Gevorgyan’s statement and a conversation between Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Armenian Prime Minister was misinformed about the Iskander missiles.

It is highly unlikely that Pashinyan was misinformed, despite Russia’s reconciliatory statement.

The Iskander missile system is designed to eliminate army bases, command and control units, missile complexes, fighter jets and helicopters.

The main advantages of the system are strategic mobility, hidden on-call and missile launch capabilities, automatic task calculation and entry, and radio-electronic response conditions.

Yet, despite these impressive specs, the Iskander system was only used a total of three times during the war, and according to Armenian journalist Tatul Hakobyan, citing a high-ranking military source,  said that Iskander missiles were:

“fired towards a completely pointless direction, at a time when the outcome of the war was decided, the outcome of Shushi was also decided.”

Tatul Hakobyan.

Although Pashinyan continually stressed that last year’s war was a “battle for survival,” he never fully engaged in the war effort as he did not mobilize 200,000 reservists.

In fact, although government and military officials were calling for diaspora Armenians to fight in Artsakh, most volunteers were only put on a list and never transported to Armenia.

Hovik Kasapian, a leading member of the Armenian National Committee of Greece, also said that many ethnic Greeks had volunteered to fight in Artsakh but were rejected because Armenia did not want to put Athens in an awkward diplomatic situation.

One would expect in a “battle for survival” that all volunteers would be welcomed, just as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria accepted all foreigners into their ranks.

Pashinyan defended the necessity of the highly controversial ceasefire by claiming that Artsakh did not have enough manpower to defend against the Azerbaijani military, but Armenia had not even come close to using all the resources available.

In the political blowback to Pashinyan’s failure to deal with the Turkish-sponsored invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian military, police, several mayors and other high ranking and notable officials and former officials called for the his resignation.

Pashinyan came to power in 2018 on the back of pro-liberal/EU/NATO revolution to oust “pro-Russia oligarch” Merzhir Serzhin.

A report by EurAsia Daily documented Pashinyan’s appointments after coming to power, especially those associated with NGO’s funded by famous Russophobe billionaire George Soros.

Effectively, Pashinyan gained popularity on the back of an anti-Russia campaign, adopting the methods used by Baltic states to pivot to the West and reject Moscow.

However, Armenia is not in the European Union and is in an extremely dangerous neighborhood, wedged between Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran, not the likes of Finland and Sweden like the Baltic states.

For Pashinyan and his supporters, the folly of their obsession in rejecting everything Russian and pivoting towards Atlanticist power structures, despite being in a very dangerous and volatile Caucasus, came to a shocking realization.

This realization came when the Azerbaijani military, Turkish special forces and Syrian mercenaries began their invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh on September 27, 2020.

All efforts to pursue an anti-Russia agenda and move towards the West came to naught once the invasion began and the European Union, Washington and NATO were completely disinterested.

In the end, it was Russia that ended the conflict whilst saving Armenian administration over the Soviet-era borders of Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, with the political blowback because of his own incompetency, Pashinyan attempted to shift some of Armenia’s military failures onto Russia by falsely claiming that the Iskander system had only a 10% success rate.

This suggests that despite Armenia having experienced a catastrophic loss only a few months ago after receiving no support from the West, Pashinyan has no interest in ending his country’s path towards Western liberalism and continues attacks against Moscow.

Most Armenians in the post-war period realised that the oligarchs, despite their own set of problems, successfully defended Armenian interests and Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan and Turkey, something that Pashinyan catastrophically failed in.

The Armenian administration in Nagorno-Karabakh realise this reality and are even contemplating making Russian an official language in the de facto republic.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan has demonstrated that he is not interested in retreating from his Russophobia despite the Armenian people’s demand that he resigns.

Source: InfoBrics

Asbarez: Dutch Parliament Urges Government to Recognize Armenian Genocide

Arbi Tashjian

February 26,  2021



The Netherlands House of Representatives

The House of Representatives of the Netherlands on Thursday adopted a resolution reaffirming its recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but also urging the Dutch government to follow suit, the Armenian National Committee of Netherlands reported.

In the past, the legislature has recognized the Genocide, but the Dutch federal government has refused to do so. Thursday’s resolution mandates the government to take action and explicitly recognize the Genocide.

The motion, which was adopted almost unanimously, show that the legislature has been dissatisfied with how the government has dealt with the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of Netherlands played a leading role in the passage of the resolution

The Armenian National Committee of the Netherlands said that years of hard work by all Armenians in the country has yielded results, crediting Van Helvert, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, who was one of the lawmakers who spearheaded the effort.

In earlier motions in 2015 and 2018, the Dutch Parliament reaffirmed its recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which was unanimously adopted in 2004 in a motion, which called on the government “to expressly and continuously raise the recognition of the Armenian Genocide during the bilateral and EU dialogue with Turkey.”

Turkey was quick to denounce the parliament’s vote on Thursday, with its foreign ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy calling the move “a futile attempt to rewrite history with political motives.”

“Councils are not venues to write history and judge it. Those who agree with this decision, instead of looking for what actually happened in 1915, are seeking votes as populists,” Aksoy said.

“We invite you to support the efforts for a better understanding of a historical issue,” he said, adding that Turkey’s proposal for a joint history commission “was one of these efforts.”

Saying that the Dutch legislature is “detached from reality,” Aksoy urged the Dutch government to fight racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia.

President Sarkissian plans to meet Chief of General Staff Onik Gasparyan

Arbi Tashjian

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 12:23,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian is planning to have a meeting with Onik Gasparyan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces.

“As we had informed, President Sarkissian is initiating a series of discussions with the purpose of finding ways for peaceful resolution of the situation and de-escalation of the tension in the country,” Sarkissian’s Office said.

On February 25, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he was dismissing Gasparyan from duties. This still requires the President’s approval.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Freedom fighter Gevorg Gevorgyan urges people to join nationwide rally on Feb. 20

Arbi Tashjian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 17 2021

Freedom fighter and intelligence officer Gevorg Gevorgyan calls on people to gather at Yerevan’s Liberty Square on 20 February for a nationwide rally to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government.

In a video message released by the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement on Wednesday, the freedom fighter accused the authorities of “betraying the people and destroying the Armenian statehood”.

“Come out, the Armenian people, and fight for your homeland! We are looking forward to seeing all of you at Liberty Square on 20 February, at 3pm,” he said.