Author: Chakrian Hovsep

22 years ago, on May 12, 1994, a termless agreement on ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, signed by the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the Azerbaijani Republic and the Republic of Armenia through the mediation of the Russian Federation, entered into force. This agreement, as well as the February 6, 1995 trilateral agreement on strengthening the ceasefire, signed under the auspices of the OSCE, still remain the only real achievement, which laid the foundation for peace talks and created conditions for the activities of the mediators on finding a just and final solution to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

Before April 2, 2016, the ceasefire was generally maintained, despite the incessant attempts of Azerbaijan to destabilize the situation on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of the NKR and Azerbaijan. The NKR authorities have repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community to the purposeful actions of the Azerbaijani side, as a result of which ceasefire violations were becoming more and more threatening in their nature and scale.

Official Stepanakert has been urging the international community to condemn the deliberate policy of Azerbaijan of escalating tensions and derailing the negotiation process conducted under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. We have repeatedly pointed out that without an adequate and targeted international response, the consistent and purposeful actions of Azerbaijan on fomenting a war in the region will become irreversible.

In the early hours of April 2, Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the agreements of May 12, 1994 and February 6, 1995, launched a large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, using heavy weaponry, artillery and combat aircraft. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the NKR Defense Army, which gave a fitting rebuff to the insolent rival, on April 5, Azerbaijan was forced to ask, as in 1994, through the mediation of the Russian Federation for the cessation of the hostilities. It has been generally maintained, despite the recurrent violations by the Azerbaijani side.

Even after the failure of the military venture of April 2-5, Azerbaijan has not abandoned the idea to solve the conflict by force, as evidenced by the statements of the Azerbaijani officials, including at the highest level. Moreover, Azerbaijan tries to unilaterally denounce the ceasefire agreement of May 12, 1994, which is an obvious continuation of the policy on disrupting the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict and instigating a war in the region.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic, being committed to an exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict and making every effort to fully restore the ceasefire, is at the same time prepared to stop, in the strongest terms, any attempts of Azerbaijan to unleash another aggression.

Ensuring full compliance with May 12, 1994 agreement and the practical implementation of the February 6, 1995 agreement, which contains a set of measures on early warning and crisis stabilization is the only way of creating the necessary conditions for the resumption of the peaceful settlement process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

By Elif Shafak

Amid the political turmoil in Turkey this week, culminating in the prime minister’s announcement that he’ll stand down within days, it was Oscar Wilde who became the subject of a heated debate in the Turkish parliament. A member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said he wanted to quote a line from Wilde. A deputy from the ruling AKP party objected to the idea of citing someone who was neither Muslim nor Turkish. “Do you not have any examples from this culture, this civilisation?” Yet another AKP member confused the Irish author with the Oscars, to which a female HDP deputy, Burcu Özkan protested: “It’s Oscar Wilde. He is not an award, he is a man!”

When they are not debating Wilde, MPs are busy exchanging blows. During a discussion to strip them of their immunity – a deliberate amendment that might lead to the trial and incarceration of Kurdish MPs – Garo Paylan, an Armenian deputy, was kicked, punched and subjected to hate speech by several AKP members. Paylan said: “What they can’t digest is this: a person of Armenian identity reveals their lies and stands upright.”

It is hard to be an Armenian in Turkey. Or a Kurd, or an Alevi, or gay, or a conscientious objector, or a Jew, or a woman, or someone who just doesn’t agree with what is happening in the country. If you happen to tick more than one box, life is even harder. The list goes on and on. Diversity has been stifled. Freedom of speech has been abandoned. An “ideology of sameness” dominates the land. That ideology is shaped by Turkish nationalism, Islamism and authoritarianism blended with machismo and patriarchy. The tension in politics penetrates all aspects of daily life.

Turkey is no longer simply politically polarised. It is now bitterly divided into two planets: those who support and will continue to support the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, no matter what; and those who are, for a variety of reasons, against him. The president, who is theoretically above political parties and strictly neutral, is in truth, anything but. Erdoğan is the most divisive politician in Turkey’s modern political history.

A full, unconditional obedience to the leader is expected from AKP members. There isn’t even the slightest trace of inner-party democracy. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s announcement surprised everyone. He said his resignation was not a choice, but rather “a necessity”. It is no secret that his successor will be someone fully approved and controlled by Erdoğan, who will even further consolidate his power. Eventually, Erdoğan wants to change Turkey into a presidential regime with a monopoly of power.

What little opposition exists is fragmented, scattered, and demoralised. Since theGezi Park riots three years ago, people have been increasingly and systematically intimidated. On average, every four days someone is being sued in Turkey for insulting Erdoğan – almost 2,000 people since he became president. Among them are artists, journalists, cartoonists, academics, even students for Facebook comments. Over the years, as Turkey’s media has been curbed, social media has become more politicised. Now that too is heavily monitored. Turkey tops the countries demanding content removal from Twitter.

Everything is shifting in Turkey – and very fast. We Turks live with a feeling of “what now?”, knowing that every day something new happens. As the country slides backwards, what we have in our hands is not a democracy but a crude form of majoritarianism. The central components of democracy – such as separation of powers, rule of law, freedom of speech – are all but broken.

Murat Belge, a well-known academic and columnist, was put on trial for insulting the president. Academics who signed a peace petition criticising the government’s actions in southeast Anatolia have been slated in pro-government media. Some have lost their jobs. Four were imprisoned. The infamous article 301, which claims to protect “Turkishness”, even though nobody knows what exactly that means, has re-emerged.

There are three major dangers: an absolutist monopoly of power; the total collapse of the Turkish-Kurdish peace process; and the loss of secularism. Recently the parliamentary speaker, İsmail Kahraman, came up with a horrifying proposition: “Secularism shouldn’t take place in the new constitution.” Secularism was the one principle that separated Turkey from other parts of the Middle East. It made the country relatively more liberal, more open, more diverse. And the recent talk by some AKP members about developing a religious constitution is alarming – particularly for women, who need to uphold secularism more loudly and wholeheartedly than men because they have more to lose in an Islamic fundamentalist regime. Befittingly, Bayan Yani, a humour magazine produced by an all-female staff, and whose title means “the seat next to a woman on public transportation”, drew a cartoon of a Turkish Marianne leading the people with the caption: “Long live secularism!”

Hikmet Çetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, two veteran journalists from the daily Cumhuriyet – one of the last remaining alternative voices in the media – have been sentenced to two years in prison for reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons. During their trial Islamist slogans were chanted in the courtroom. The sentence profoundly shocked Turkey’s democrats. Today, in Reporters Without Borders’ world press freedom index, Turkey ranks 151st of 180 countries.

In the past we had a solid tradition of black humour. Politics was always rough, but it was OK for the people to laugh at politicians. Not any more. Recent research shows that only half of Turkey’s people think it OK to criticise the government publicly. When Angela Merkel allows German comedians to be sued by Erdoğan, it is a clear message to Turkey’s democrats: “You are all alone.”

So what happened to the Turkish model we used to be so hopeful about? That unique blend of western democracy, secularism and majority-Muslim culture and pluralistic society is today empty rhetoric. Even the EU, to which we Turks once so aspired, has turned into a political game.

However, Turkey has millions of beautiful people who – though deeply depressed, demoralised and lonely – are globally connected and ahead of their government. And that quote in parliament which fell on deaf ears? It was about the vulgarity of power.

At least nine people have died and more than 250 are injured after a powerful earthquake hit southern Japan, toppling buildings and cutting power supplies, the BBC reports.

Officials say more people could be trapped under collapsed buildings.

Thousands fled their homes and many people spent the night in the open in the town of Mashiki, near Kumamoto city on the island of Kyushu.

Troops have been sent to the scene but rescue operations are being disrupted by aftershocks, officials said.

No tsunami warning was issued after the magnitude 6.4 quake struck at 21:26 on Thursday (12:26 GMT) east of Kumamoto.

Nuclear reactors on the island are not reported to have been affected.

The two Sendai nuclear reactors on Kyushu were operating as normal while the three Genkai nuclear reactors still in operation were already closed for routine inspection.

Pope Francis will visit Armenia June 24-26 at the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan and His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, President’s Press Office reports.

French President Francois Hollande met with Charles Aznavour yesterday. Mr. Hollande shared the photo on Instagram. No details are available about the topics discussed.

Photo published by François Hollande (@fhollande)Apr 8, 2016 at 7:38 am PDT

Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs discussed with the Karabakh authorities the steps towards the stabilization of the current situation, Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group said after talks with the political and military leadership of Nagorno Karabakh

He said they discussed the issue in Baku yesterday. “We’ll later leave for Yerevan, where we will meet with the President, the Foreign Minister and the Defense Minister,” Popov said.

Before arriving in Yerevan, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs will meet with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Co-Chairs did not respond to any questions and said they would sum up the results of the meeting at a press conference in Yerevan on April 9.

Armenian First Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan received today the Military Attachés of the Foreign Ministries accredited to Armenia.

David Tonoyan briefed them on the situation on the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and presented the actions of the NKR Defense Army aimed at ceasing the large-scale military actions launched by the rival. Issues related to the possible reasons of Azerbaijani aggression and the expectations were discussed.

The Deputy DM noted that “the Armenian side is ready for any development and will provide all kind of support, including direct military assistance, to Nagorno Karabakh.”

Photo by Raul Roa

 

April 24 will be now designated “Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day” in the Glendale Unified School District after a unanimous vote by school board members on Tuesday, according to the .

Since the 2013-14 school year, students and teachers have been given the day off on April 24 — globally observed as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide — because so many of them take part in genocide events, such as the annual remembrance march through Hollywood.

However, school officials wanted to locally brand the day, which until now was referred to only as a non-instructional day.

“Every calendar in the school district, it’s going to be printed ‘Armenian Genocide [Commemoration] Day,” said board member Greg Krikorian. “It’s going to be embedded in there.”

Glendale Unified is the first school district in the country to establish a day in remembrance of the genocide, which began in 1915 and resulted in the killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Glendale has one of the largest Armenian populations outside of Armenia.

Krikorian said the genocide remembrance day is also about welcoming other ethnicities to participate and learn about the genocide, adding that while growing up in Hartford, Conn., he learned a lot about the local Irish and Italian populations.

“I think it’s good to know what your neighbors and co-workers went through,” he said.

Christine Walters, board president, echoed those statements, saying the commemoration day is also a lesson about man’s inhumanity to man.

“I think for us to be able to really embrace our cultural history and our collective cultural history is extremely important and really educating students about how things can get out of control,” she said.

While it is important to afford people the time to observe April 24 in their own ways, it’s also significant for the day to have a label, said board member Armina Gharpetian.

“Naming the day has a lot more value and meaning to our students, to our teachers, to the whole entire district and the city,” she said.

Elen Asatryan, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region, praised the decision during the school board meeting.

She spoke of the massive relief effort by the United States immediately following the Armenian Genocide in the form of aid, including opening 400 orphanages and caring for 132,000 orphans. Establishing “Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day” is a way of expressing appreciation for that aid, Asatryan said.

“You’re also commemorating those who have really risked their lives and gone overseas during that time to really help save the Armenian nation,” she said.

The Public Radio of Armenia will compete against Kiss FM Dance Music Australia in the quarter-final of the Radio Battle project hosted by Italian Rai Radio 2.

Keep tuned to Public Radio of Armenia (FM 107.7) on March 13, at 23:00 (8/9pm CET) or visit our official website (().

During the one-hour live show Armenia will “fight” against Australia.  Voting is only via Twitter, only during the show (one hour).

It’s really easy: just tweet #radiobattleAM or retweet the hashtag. Support Armenia and Public Radio of Armenia on March 13!

Horizon Weekly – On Saturday, March 5, 2016, members of the Armenian Youth Federation of Canada (AYF Canada), in collaboration with the Armen Karo Student Association and the Armenian Students’ Association at Carleton University, conducted a mass walk-out at Carlton University, to express their concern and indignation to the administration of Carleton University and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NSPIA). The university’s administration and the NSPIA collaborated with the Council of Turkish Canadians (CTC)—an organization known to promote events denying the Armenian Genocide and present Turkish-Armenian issues in a divisive manner—to hold a two-day conference on Turkish-Canadian relations at the university.

The CTC organized the conference under the deceiving title of “Turkey-Canada Relations in Troubled Times,” when in actuality, the event promoted anti-Armenian sentiments. The organizers held a panel discussion, which included Prof. Christopher Gunn of Coastal Carolina University and Ms. Lale Eskicioglu of Carleton University.

While Ms. Eskicioglu spoke about the Turkish claim of a small plot of the Brantford Mount Hope Cemetery that is allegedly dedicated to ethnic Turks, Prof. Gunn spoke about Secret Armenian Armies in the 1970’s and 1980’s—a topic that clearly diverged from the event’s supposed intent. The lecture focused on the actions of a small minority of Armenians outside of Canada, which contributed nothing to the discussion of Turkey-Canada relations.

Armenian attendees took part in the conference with the intent to give the speakers benefit of the doubt by listening to their presentations. Unfortunately, many pieces of inaccurate information were delivered. Representatives from the group politely questioned the validity of some of the remarks and statements by Prof. Gunn and Ms. Eskicioglu. It was later confirmed by Prof. Gunn that multiple points of his presentation were mere conjectures, with no tangible evidence to support his claims.

“Carleton University, being one of the most prestigious universities in a country that strongly upholds human rights, justice, and democratic values, should not so willingly allow for such groups to stage events on its campus. In general, a university should be devoid of any affiliation to politically motivated agendas,” said Harout Kassabian, AYF Canada Chair.

Most of the ideas and opinions that were voiced during the panel clearly had underlying motives to create a false narrative in the attendees minds about the Armenian’s during the 20^th century. The group was disappointed to learn that lecturers and attendees used the phrase “events of 1915” to refer to the Armenian Genocide; a common tactic by genocide deniers.

Sevag Belian of the Armenian Youth Federation questioned Prof. Gunn about the title of his latest publication “Getting Away with Murder: Soghomon Tehlirian, ASALA, and the Justice Commandos, 1921-1984.”

“What is your opinion of the Turkish government getting away with the murder of 1.5 million Armenians during the Armenian Genocide? Do you think there should be justice for that?” asked Belian.

After Prof. Gunn stated he is not an expert in the field and believes in having an impartial approach towards the issue, a member of the group stressed the unacceptable nature of his approach.

“The use of the term ‘events of 1915’ is commonly used by genocide deniers. The fact that this term keeps being used makes us question the impartiality and academic integrity of this conference. We do not see a beneficial purpose to continue being a part of this event.”

After the activists left the conference room in a mass walk-out, the group went on to the major intersections in downtown Ottawa to pass out flyers to the general public regarding Turkey’s human rights record, its denial of the Armenian Genocide, and why they should not be trusted as a NATO ally.

 

“Turkey has one the highest number of jailed journalists in the world and uses excessive force to silence protestors and other dissenters of the country, yet they are still regarded as Canadian allies. Furthermore, NATO has yet to speak out against Turkey’s human rights violations,” said Belian.

The Armenian Youth Federation condemns that an event with the intention to spread inaccurate and divisive speech took place at the university, and demands that Carleton University formally apologises for this oversight.