Author: Chalian Meline

Trudeau, Macron discuss Nagorno Karabakh over phone

Chalian Meline

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 11:11, 6 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and President of France Emmanuel Macron highlighted the importance of the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through dialogue and diplomacy during a telephone conversation, the Canadian PM’s Office said.

“The Prime Minister and the President exchanged views on global affairs, such as the current tension in the Eastern Mediterranean and the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in the peaceful settlement process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Both leaders highlighted their commitment to continue the joint work in international organizations, such as NATO, G7 and G20 and promote the common priorities such as the protection of international peace and security and fight against climate change”, the statement says.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

‘In a sense Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for security of Europeans’ – Sarkissian

Chalian Meline

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 13:44, 4 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Armenian and foreign politicians and public figures, also representatives of authoritative international media from the Diaspora and various countries. They are in Armenia on the initiative of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), they will also visit Artsakh, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

At the meeting, the President was asked in particular about the military aggression against Artsakh which was unleashed by Azerbaijan assisted by Turkey, the role of the international community in the settlement of this conflict, and the support of the Diaspora.

Answering the question of a European journalist about starting a war, President Sarkissian emphasized that Azerbaijan waged war. “Armenians did not start this war, they did not start shelling civilian settlements. And there is no need to prove this, as the Armenians have no reason to start a war. How can you build schools, hospitals, roads and churches and then start a war? This is not logical. It is obvious that Azerbaijan and Turkey started this war.”

The President stressed that Azerbaijan’s claims that they were liberating their territories has, in fact, another internationally accepted formulation and is called “ethnic cleansing,” as they seek to take over a territory by annihilating the ethnic Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years. “They are now destroying schools, hospitals, committing inhumane acts, taking away human lives: of the elderly, children and young people.”

Touching upon Turkey’s involvement, President Sarkissian noted that Turkey provides full military-political support to Azerbaijan, citing a number of factors, among them their ethnic brotherhood and the protection of international infrastructures. Whereas, in reality, Turkey’s goal is to establish itself in the region, and to rule over the same international infrastructures. “By getting so close to Turkey, Azerbaijan is losing some of its sovereignty.” There are more and more facts that decisions in Baku are taken on the advice of Turkey.”

At the same time, the President of Armenia stressed that the people of Turkey and the Turkish government should be separated. “In 2007, when this government was not so strong, and Turkey was a different country, the famous Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in front of his editorial office in Istanbul. I remember very well how on the day of his funeral hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets and declared that they were Hrant Dink. “I am talking about the current Turkish government and its policies.”

President Sarkissian stressed the need to stop the war. “Now this is a war not only for our heritage, culture, survival, the people of Nagorno Karabakh, – said Armen Sarkissian, -In a sense, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for the security of Europeas well. If we do not stop Turkey’s ambitions in Azerbaijan today, if Turkey rules in Azerbaijan, we will have a situation when Europe suffers as well.

I think that if it were not for the factor of Turkey’s involvement, Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan would have had a ceasefire. Each time the ceasefire was violated not by the Armenians, but by the enemy. “As President of the Republic, I think there is no military solution.”

Answering the question what gives him hope in these difficult days, President Sarkissian said: “When you talk about hope, it seems like you do not know what you do, you just have hope. I work hard every day, I know what I do, I am sure that in the end Artsakh will win, because in our case the victory is to defend our own home, values and heritage. Thirty years ago, during the first war, many of our international partners said that the Armenians of Artsakh should stop fighting because Azerbaijan is large and has a great support from Turkey. But in 1994, the same people told me that Armenia has the most powerful army in the Caucasus. Therefore, I do not live with hope, but I work hard for that victory. “

In response to the question about the role of the Diaspora and its support, President Sarkissian emphasized that the strength of Armenia is the whole Armenian people. “Years ago and today, I am asked the same question: what was it that brought the Armenians to victory in the early 1990s, what did they have?” They did not have a large amount of weapons and energy resources, but what did they have? My answer is the following: we had each other. And that’s the most powerful thing you can have. It is the human value that is always essential. You can have the biggest army, and a lot of money, but if you do not have people who believe in something together, you will never win. Thirty years ago we had each other, today it is so as well. “Now we have each other: the Armenians of Artsakh, the Armenians here, the Armenians of the Diaspora, and it doesn’t matter if they are 8, 10 or 12 million.”

President Sarkissian thanked all those who did their best in the Diaspora to support Armenia and Artsakh. “If you want to provide financial support to the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh for construction and not for war, do it through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The potential of the Diaspora is much greater. We need organization, discipline and dedication, because all the other components are there. I hope that by winning this war, defending our homeland, and not allowing another genocide to be carried out, we will finally understand the power of the Diaspora, which includes the friends of Armenia and the Armenians as well. “We have the support of our true friends who are not Armenians, but share human values with us,- said the President of Armenia. – In our case, our victory in this war is not aggression, not occupying the land of others, it is the defence of our and your home.

Help us to defend our history, our culture, our faith and our heritage.”

Will Artsakh (Karabagh) be the tomb of Erdoğan ?

Chalian Meline
VoltaireNet.org
Oct 6 2020
by Thierry Meyssan

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict certainly had its origins in the dissolution of the USSR, but it was revived by the will of the Turkish president. It is unlikely that he took this initiative without first referring it to Washington. This is also what President Saddam Hussein did before invading Kuwait, falling by ambition into the trap set for him and causing his downfall.

On his Twitter account, President Erdoğan wrote on the day of the outbreak of hostilities: ” – During the phone calls we had today, a wise and resolute stance, the “one nation, two states” approach, once again testifies, as I mentioned to Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, that Turkey will continue to strengthen its cooperation with its Azerbaijani brothers. – As we call on the Armenian people to defend their future against their domination and those who use them as puppets, we call on the whole world to support Azerbaijan in its struggle against occupation and oppression. – The international community, which was unable to provide a necessary and sufficient response to Armenia’s provocative aggression, is once again showing its double game. The trio from Minsk, which has maintained its negligent attitude for about 30 years, is unfortunately far from being solution-oriented. – By adding a new attack to the previous ones against Azerbaijan, Armenia has once again shown that it is the biggest threat to peace and tranquility in the region. The Turkish Nation supports its Azerbaijani brothers with all its means, as always. »

The Turkish people define themselves as descended from the “children of the wolf of the steppes”, i.e. as descendants of the hordes of Genghis Khan. It is composed of both “one people and two states”: Turkey and Azerbaijan. The political rebirth of the former automatically engenders the arrival of the latter on the international scene.

Of course this political renaissance does not mean a resurgence of the violence of the barbarian hordes, but this past has nonetheless forged mentalities, despite the efforts of many politicians who, for a century, have been trying to normalize the Turkish people.

In the last years of the Ottoman era, Sultan Habdulhamid II wanted to unite the country around his conception of the Muslim faith. He therefore ordered the physical elimination of hundreds of thousands of non-Muslims. This was supervised by German officers who acquired during this genocide an experience that they later put at the service of Nazi racial ideology. The Ottoman policy of purification was pursued on a larger scale by the Young Turks at the beginning of the Republic, particularly against the Orthodox Armenians [1].

Murder being an addiction, it reappeared sporadically in the behavior of the Turkish armies. Thus, in March 2014, they escorted hundreds of jihadists from the al-Nosra Front (al-Qaeda) and the Army of Islam (pro-Saudi) to the city of Kessab (Syria) to massacre the Armenian population. The jihadists who participated in this operation were today sent to kill other Armenians in Karabagh.

These massacres ceased in Azerbaijan during the brief Democratic Republic (1918-20) and the Soviet period (1920-90), but resumed in 1988 with the collapse of Moscow’s power.

Precisely during the Soviet period, in accordance with Joseph Stalin’s policy of nationalities, an Armenian region was joined with Azerbaijan to form a Socialist Republic. Thus when the USSR was dissolved, the international community recognized Karabakh not as Armenian but as Azeri. The same mistake was made in the rush in Moldova with Transnistria, in Ukraine with Crimea, in Georgia with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. A series of wars immediately followed, including that of Nagorno-Karabakh. These are cases where international law developed from an error of appreciation at the beginning of the conflicts, as in Palestine, which was not rectified in time, leading to inextricable situations.

Westerners intervened to prevent a general conflagration. However, the example of Transnistria attests that it was a step backwards in order to better jump: thus the United States resorted to the Romanian army to try to annihilate the nascent Pridnestrovie [2].

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE, then CSCE) created the “Minsk Group”, co-chaired by the United States, France and Russia, to find a solution, which it never did: Russia did not want to choose between its former partners, France wanted to play the important game, and the United States wanted to maintain a conflict zone on the Russian border. The other conflicts, created at the dissolution of the USSR, were deliberately fuelled by Washington and London with Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia in 2008 or the EuroMaydan coup d’état aimed, among other things, at expelling Russians from the Crimea in 2014.

The attack on the Republic of Artsakh (Karabagh) by Azerbaijan and Turkey was justified by the speech of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev at the UN General Assembly on September 24. [3] His main idea was that the Minsk Group had qualified the status quo as unacceptable, but that “statements are not enough. We need action. He could not have been clearer.

In accordance with his family’s ideology, he put his opponents under the greatest burden, for example, attributing the Khojaly massacre (1992, more than 600 victims) to “Armenian terrorists”, even though it was a black operation during an attempted coup in his country; in any case, this allowed him to present in a biased manner the actions of ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia) in the 1970s and 1980s. He pointed out that four Security Council resolutions ordered the withdrawal of Armenian troops, playing on the homonymy between the Armenian population of Karabagh and the neighboring state of Armenia; one way of ignoring the fact that the Council also enjoined Azerbaijan to organize a referendum of self-determination in Karabagh. It accused, not without reason, the new Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, of being one of the men of the speculator Gorge Soros, as if this erased what had gone before.

The conflict can only end after a referendum of self-determination, the outcome of which comes as little surprise. For the time being, it benefits those who, like Israel, sell arms to the aggressor.

The Turkish, Azeri and Pakistani armies display their unity against the Armenians.

Having said this, let us analyze the current conflict from another angle, that of international balances, keeping in mind that the Turkish army is already illegally present in Cyprus, Iraq and Syria; that it violates the military embargo in Libya and now the cease-fire in Azerbaijan.

Baku is organizing itself to postpone the inevitable deadline even further. Azerbaijan has already obtained the support of Qatar, which also supervises the financing of jihadists in this field of operations. According to our information, at least 580 of them have been sent from Idleb (Syria) via Turkey. This war is expensive and KKR, the powerful company of the US-Israeli Henry Kravis, seems to be involved as it is still involved in Iraq, Syria and Libya. As in the destabilization of communist Afghanistan, Israeli weapons could be routed through Pakistan. In any case, in Turkey, posters flourish placing side by side the flags of the three countries.

Even more astonishing, President Aliyev received the support of his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. It is likely that he is acting in agreement with the Kremlin, which could herald a more visible Russian support for Orthodox Armenia (Russia, Belarus and Armenia are all members of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization).

Strangely, Shiite Iran has not taken a position. Yet, although ethnically Turkish, Azerbaijan is the only other Shia people in the world because it was part of the Safavid empire. President Hassan Rohani had included it in his plan for a Shia Federation presented during his second election campaign. This withdrawal gives the impression that Tehran does not wish to enter into conflict with Moscow, which is officially neutral. All the more so since Armenia plays a non-negligible role in the circumvention of the US embargo against Iran.

On the Armenian side, the diaspora in the United States is lobbying intensely in Congress in order to make President Erdoğan -whose country is a member of NATO- responsible for the conflict before an international tribunal.

In the case of a tacit agreement between Moscow and Washington, this war could be turned diplomatically against President Erdoğan, now unbearable to the Big Two. Like Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who brutally changed from valet of the Pentagon to public enemy No. 1 when he thought he had the authorization to invade Kuwait, the Turkish president may have been encouraged to take the blame.

Political consultant, President-founder of the Réseau Voltaire (Voltaire Network). Latest work in English – Before Our Very Eyes, Fake Wars and Big Lies: From 9/11 to Donald Trump, Progressive Press, 2019.

A civilian dies in Artsakh as a result of Azerbaijani bombing

Chalian Meline

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 21:00,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, ARMENPRESS. A resident of Artsakh’s Aknaghbyur village, Sergey Balayan, 60, has died as a result of the Azerbaijani bombing. 6 civilians have been injured, ARMENPRESS reports Human Rights Defender of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan wrote in his Twitter micro blog.

”Azerbaijan continues deliberate/indiscriminate attacks against civilian settlements and population”, Beglaryan wrote.

Should the world avoid recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as independent entity?

Chalian Meline
Israel Hayom
Oct 29 2020
 By  Rachel Avraham


In recent days, a number of legislators across the globe under the worrying influence of Armenian lobbyists have called for the international community to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is ruled by a puppet regime of Armenia and that has been illegally occupied in violation of four UN Security Council Resolutions for the past few decades.

In the early 1990’s, Armenia illegally seized the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts belonging to Azerbaijan in a military campaign that utilized brutal ethnic cleansing and was followed by the Khojaly massacre. Up to one million Azerbaijani citizens became internally displaced persons, as 20% of Azerbaijani territory became occupied.

As Israeli citizens, it is pivotal that we do not recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, and we should support Azerbaijan’s right to territorial integrity.

The Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh has an uncanny resemblance to our conflict with the Palestinians. Article 15 and 16 of the League of Nations Mandate engrained Israel’s legal right to Judea and Samaria into international law, a fact that was confirmed by Article 80 of the UN Charter.  Similarly, UN Security Council Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 888 ingrained Azerbaijan’s legal claims to the Nagorno-Karabakh region into international law.

However, the Armenians presently make up the majority in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, just like the Palestinians presently make up the majority in Judea and Samaria.  Thus, if the Armenians are permitted to unilaterally declare a state in Nagorno-Karabakh in violation of four UN Security Council resolutions, it could pave the way for the Palestinians being able to do the same.

For this reason, it is an Israeli interest that Nagorno-Karabakh never receives international recognition, especially given the fact that Iran has taken a stance against Azerbaijan due to their positive relationship with Israel.  An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added: “Israel utilizes Azerbaijan to wage intelligence missions in Iran.  Azerbaijan is also a strategic ally of Israel.  Therefore, it is important that Azerbaijan not be weakened by a war with Armenia.”

In an exclusive interview, former Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, who presently heads the Center for Economic Peace, offered to mediate between both sides in order to find a solution that avoids bloodshed while upholding international law: “I have a good relationship with both Azerbaijan and Armenia.  For many years, I was in the government and now head the Center for Economic Peace.  I already dispatched a member of my center, Alexander Shapiro, to try and find a solution to stop the violence.”

“They must negotiate and make peace,” he added.  “I propose to help both sides if they need anything.   They must make a decision, like we made in Southern Lebanon.”  In 2000, Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in the hopes that it would eventually lead to a peace agreement, for the country lost too many lives in order to control the area.   Kara argued that the value of human lives takes precedence over any piece of land.

“Thus, just as Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon hoping for peace, Armenia should do the same regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.  In conclusion, Kara noted: “Both sides must support the UN Security Council resolutions.   Everyone must have a judge.  We do not have another judge.”

Former Israel Consul General Eli Shaked stressed, “Too many countries are getting involved in this conflict: Turkey, Israel, Russia, America, Greece and the Iranians, of course.”

“Israel is on the sidelines, but we have historic diplomatic relations and military interests in Azerbaijan, taking into consideration that Azerbaijan is a Muslim Shia country that borders Iran,” he added.  “We have an embassy in Baku.  In contrast, our relations with Armenia have been complicated for many years for various reasons.   Of course, international law and UN resolutions are particularly important.

“Yet, there are many emotions and political interests involved, and the superpowers got their own interests.  It is not simple to talk about international law and UN resolutions for there are great emotions involved.”

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Nevertheless, even though it is not simple, every nation has a sacred duty to uphold international law.   For this reason, the community of nations should not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and instead recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, alongside impose economic and political sanctions against Armenia because of its aggression and war crimes against Azerbaijan

The international community should also encourage Armenia to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh in the upcoming talks in Washington, DC, so that both peoples can avoid future bloodshed and violence.  To achieve these results, the world should stop calling upon both sides to be calm and instead focus their attention upon those who are violating international law!

Rachel Avraham is a political analyst with the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights.  She is the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media.”    


Recognition of Artsakh’s independence key step for solving security issue – MP

Chalian Meline

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 13:19,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The recognition of the independence of Artsakh has become the number one demand, the recognition is a key step to solve the security issue of the Artsakh people, Chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on defense and security affairs Andranik Kocharyan said.

He said both the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries should understand that today an issue of existence is being solved, and the logic – territories for uncertain status, discussed for years by the Minsk Group, can no longer operate. “Because the adversary has shown that they want territories without Armenian population. Today as well they are trying to eliminate not only the buildings, but also the people”, he said.

He said the Armenian side has formed its proposal. “The Prime Minister has presented what is urgent now in order to solve the security issue of our people in Artsakh. The recognition of the independence of Artsakh has become the number one demand”, Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan stated that Armenia today is the guarantor of the security of the Artsakh people. “And today we are fighting jointly for keeping firm the security of our people”, he said.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Glendale City Council to discuss recognition of Artsakh’s independence

Chalian Meline

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 23:50,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The City Council of U.S. Glendale city will discuss the resolution on recognizing the independence of Artsakh today, member of Glendale City Council Eliza Papazian told ARMENPRESS.

‘’Our City Council will discuss that issue this evening, the session will kick off at 18:00 (05:00 in Armenia)’’, Papazian said.

To the question if the resolution will be adopted, Papazian gave a positive answer.

The resolution is authored by Glendale Mayor Vrej Agajanian.

The resolution notes that the Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno  Karabakh, is historically an Armenian land, which has always had an Armenian majority of the population.

The resolution also calls on the US President and the Congress to recognize the independence of Artsakh.

The Most Consequential Election of A U.S. Citizen’s Life

Chalian Meline

Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

This election article is a bit atypical for me in that it will contain EVERYTHING, rather than being broken up into three parts: local/state/federal elections, since it’s very late in the election cycle.  I plead for your patience.

The November 3, 2020 General Election  in the U.S. is without a doubt the most consequential election anyone alive today has ever lived through.  This applies not just to citizens of the country, but also to everyone in the world because of the central, pivotal, role the US has taken on since World War II.  It should be obvious why this is: Donald Trump.  The man has wrought havoc with the world through his supposed “outsider” approach to Washington, DC politics.  What’s really going on? He was, and amazingly with four years on the job, still is, unprepared for the job of being “POTUS” as it has now become fashionable refer to the president of the US.

Citizens in general who voted for him did so out of the misguided belief that an “outsider” is better suited to shake things up in government.  Even if that’s true, Trump was and is hardly an outsider.  He is both the product and partial cause of the “swamp” he promised to drain.  He came to the position as a crooked man who ripped people off to make his millions, abused laws, and generally acted in bad faith (best example- his avoidance of federal taxes through questionable tactics) with everyone outside his immediate circle.  He has degraded the international standing of the country he supposedly leads.  His incompetence in handling the pandemic has led to the end of the slow but persistent economic growth initiated during his predecessor’s post-Great Recession period.  He has abused his high office to enrich himself covertly, and deepen the divisions of the country, all in the pursuit of self-aggrandizement.  If you don’t see this, you are being dishonest with yourself, whether or not you ultimately choose to vote for Trump for other reasons you may have.

From an Armenian perspective, too, Trump is a nightmare.  His financial interests in Turkey and Azerbaijan make it very obvious that he will never do the right thing.  He certainly has not recognized the Genocide, just like all his post-WWII predecessors (except, briefly, Reagan).  His policies towards Syria and later Turkey when it invaded Syria caused much avoidable harm to our compatriots there.  His ratcheting up tensions with Iran makes life more difficult for the Republic of Armenia.  I know one person who voted for Trump in 2016 hoping he would put Turkish President Erdoğan in his place, and has since regretted it.

Obviously, I recommend voting for the Biden-Harris ticket, even though I have reservations about them, too.  It’s unfortunate that I had to waste so much space on such an undeserving person, but it’s so important to not-elect Trump that I had to.

Let’s move on to other elections.  For state and federal level legislative endorsements (with three  exceptions), please see the ANCA’s websites, (the Western Region is covered here).  I’ll first cover the twelve propositions on the California ballot, since those are often the least well understood aspects of elections.  Unfortunately, I can’t be of much assistance on the vote for judges, except to suggest going to the American Bar Association’s relevant website for their recommendation about the qualification of a person to be a judge.  Then, it’s on to local elections in places with large Armenian populations.  Remember, the more local an elective office, the greater its day-to-day impact on a citizen’s life.

One very intriguing state-level, federal-office, election is the U.S. Senate race in Maine.  There, a 24-year incumbent, Susan Collins, is being challenged and is in serious jeopardy of losing her seat.  While this is a big deal in the high-stakes Democrat-Republican contest over control of the Senate, it is interesting for Armenians because the challenger, Sara Gideon, is half Armenian, a child of our Providence, RI community!  Collins’ ANCA grades over the years have been lackluster at best.  She has a C and two C+s showing.  Armenians in Maine have every reason to vote for Sara, while those of us living in other parts of the country can send her some last-minute financial support.  Let’s get the first Armenian ever in the U.S. Senate!

In California, Adrin Nazarian, the 46th District’s Assemblyman certainly deserves your vote if you live in that jurisdiction.  Currently, he is the only Armenian serving in the state’s legislature (something of a low point for our community relative to the recent past) and deserves to be recognized for it along with his legislative achievements.  Conversely, we also have a political embarrassment to our community.  You might remember that until about a decade ago, we lived through numerous elections in Glendale, CA where Armenians who had did not have appropriate credentials insisted on running for city council, hurting legitimate Armenian candidates’ chances to get elected.  Now, we have a member of our community who is carpetbagging.  Two years ago he ran against Adam Schiff, one of our strongest supporters, in the 28th Congressional District.  Now, he’s running in the 27th, against Judy Chu, another strong supporter.  This is one of the rare occasions where I am compelled to name the guilty party rather than just pointing out the problem that requires solution.  Johnny Nalbandian is a political embarrassment to our community and should cease his electoral shenanigans.  If he’s really serious about getting into elected office, he should work his way up the ladder as most people do, slowly earning and building his credibility.

Now, let’s address California’s 12 state-level ballot measures.

Proposition 14- This ballot measure is a “continuation” of an earlier one passed by voters to fund stem cell research in the pursuit of major health benefits.  It makes sense to keep going on this front.  The program has had some glitches, but those are not reason enough to terminate it.  What program is ever perfect?  Please vote YES.

Proposition 15- HOT, HOT, HOT.  This ballot measure is also a “continuation” of sorts.  It closes a loophole created by another one passed more than forty years ago.  Currently, huge corporations, because of the way they came to own some of their properties, get away with paying property taxes on property values from three-four decades ago.  Similarly, people who inherit properties and then just use them to rent out, not live in them, also get away with paying a pittance in property taxes.  By closing this loophole, such properties will be assessed at their current value,  creating a fairer and more balanced tax system.  It makes sense, right?  If you’re making money off a property, you should be paying the right amount in taxes, especially when homeowners are doing the same on their property.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 16- Yet another “continuation” measure, this one reverses another from the 1990s that eliminated the ability of governments in the state of California to correct historical injustices that have led to the exclusion or under-representation of various groups in society.  By restoring this tool, we enable our elected leaders to work on remedying built-in inequities.  We as Armenians should understand all too well what discrimination means and what it can lead to.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 17- This one’s a no brainer.  People who commit crimes and serve prison time lose their right to vote.  Afterwards, having “paid their debt to society”, they should return to being full-fledged citizens.  This proposition does that.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 18- I like the idea undergirding this proposition.  It gives the vote to some 17-year-olds.  Specifically, if a person will turn 18 in time to vote in the November general election of that year, then they would be allowed to vote in the Primary Election earlier in the year.  This would help engage more voters from an age group that typically has very low participation rates in elections.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 19- To my mind, this measure adds flexibility to older homeowners or others who have suffered harm (e.g. wildfires) by allowing them to buy a new home and retain the same property tax assessment base as their old home, preventing a huge spike in their property tax  bill.  This complements Prop 15 nicely, which makes sense since both were placed on the ballot by the legislature.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 20- This proposition is needlessly punitive of those who are non-violent offenders and have served time by reducing options for them to get parole.  Not only is it heartless, but it also increases government costs for no good reason.  Please vote NO.

Proposition 21- Another hot one!  Rent control really gets people worked up, whether they are for or against it.  This measure makes a sensible adjustment and allows cities to impose rent control on buildings that are 15 or more years old.  Currently, the law only allows rent control on buildings erected before 1995.  You see how this allows the owner to make their money back after the initial investment in purchasing or constructing it.  Then, it allows local authorities to limit rent increases to protect tenants form sometimes exorbitant rent hikes.  It’s a fair compromise. Please vote YES.

Proposition 22- This is a sneak attack by the likes of Uber and Lyft to exempt them from paying their drivers reasonable amounts for the work they do.  It is cloaked in the misleading language of protecting drivers and giving them benefits when what it really does is eliminate much more substantive protections put in place by the legislature.  Please vote NO

Proposition 23- Not only is this one another “continuation”, it is essentially a full-on rerun, proposing to limit the obscenely high fees charged by dialysis service providers.  The last time this issue appeared on the ballot, these providers scared people into voting against the proposition.  They’re playing the same game again.  I have gotten more election mailers about Prop 23 than any other.  Those mailers cost a lot of money.  Why would anyone spend so much?  If you really want to help those who need dialysis because their kidneys are failing, support this measure so the costs are reduced.  Please vote YES.

Proposition 24- This one is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Initially, I was favorably disposed and was going to recommend supporting it.  But another person, whose judgment I trust, recommended opposing it.  So I looked a little deeper, and realized that while some online consumer protections would be provided, they came at a high cost – the internet behemoths get a lot more from this proposition than individual people do.  Please vote NO.

Proposition 25- Economic fairness motivates this measure.  It eliminates money bail.  The fairness comes from the fact that if people are released before going on trial, their release would be based on the merits of their case, not whether or not they have the money to get out.  Please vote YES.

Now let’s move to local elections.

Burbank has a full slate.  The ANCA has endorsed in all the races.  For City Council, where two seats are up, Tim Murphy and Paul Herman made the cut.  Both are aware of Armenian concerns, including the problem of a small group of locals who have targeted Armenians who want to remodel and enlarge their homes.  There are three other viable candidates (out of a total ten), two of whom are being strongly promoted by one political faction, so your vote for the ANCA endorsees is particularly important.  For School Board, where three seats are up (and four candidates running), Armond Aghakhanian, Steve Ferguson, and Roberta Reynolds made the cut.  They are incumbents who have a long history of working with the ANCA and the Armenian community.  Armond has also been an active ANCA member and brought Genocide resolutions to the Board’s agenda for the first time ever.  For City Treasurer, with three candidates, Krystle Palmer made the cut.  She is the appointed incumbent who took the job when her predecessor resigned.  The hottest issue on the Burbank ballot is Measure RC, for “rent control”.  While I am in favor of rent control in principle, this particular measure goes beyond just empowering the city to enact such legislation.  It creates a separate, and very expensive, infrastructure to address landlord-tenant issues.  Please vote against this measure since it is the sort of legislation that should be hashed out by a city council.  The ANCA, too, is recommending a vote against it.

In the City of Los Angeles, two city council districts ended in runoff after the March Primary election.  Please vote for David Ryu in District 4 (also ANCA endorsed).  This district covers parts of Hollywood, a high Armenian-population area, so our participation is very important.  In district 10, both candidates have strengths and weaknesses, and I’m going to call this a toss up – perhaps and organization you trust has a recommendation, the ANCA has not taken a position on this one.  If you live in the Santa Monica Mountains or Hollywood Hills between I-405 and Griffith Park,  please vote YES on Mountains Recreation And Conservation Authority – Measure HH.  This raises funds to pay improve local fire prevention services.  The funds raised can only be spent in your area and will be some of the best money you’ve ever spent.

In Pasadena, the ANCA has only endorsed in the Mayor’s race – Terry Tornek.  Please vote for him if you live in the City.  There are also two measures on the ballot.  Please vote YES on both.  Measure P authorizes the continuation of transfers of funds from the city’s utility to its general fund to help pay for various important services.  Measure O will fund upgrades to schools, technology access, drinking water, facilities and equipment, repairs to bathrooms, roofs and labs, and removal of hazardous materials.  Unfortunately, I do not have any insight on the three School Board races and cannot offer any recommendations.

In Montebello, Jack Hadjinian is running for reelection to the city council.  An ardent ANCA activist, Jack obviously earned the organization’s endorsement.  So did Joella Valdez, for the other seat on the council that is up.  No ANCA endorsements were made for the City Clerk and School Board seats that also appear on the ballot. Here again, I do not have any insight and cannot offer any recommendations, sorry.

In other Los Angeles County cities: We have some Armenians on  the ballot who certainly deserve your vote.  In Rolling Hills Estates, Vram “Frank” Zerunyan is running for reelection to the city council.  In South Pasadena, Suzie Abajian is running for reelection to the School Board.  In nearby Altadena, which is not an incorporated city but does have infrastructure needs and is represented in other settings as an unincorporated area of the county, Measure Z is on the ballot.  If passed, it would create a Community Facilities District to attend to the needs of Altadena’s libraries.  Please vote YES on this one if you live in the area.

At the county level, the hottest race is the one for District Attorney.  The incumbent, in office for two terms, had come in with high hopes for improvements which seem to have largely been unfulfilled.  The challenger, George Gascon seems to have a better chance of implementing necessary reforms and is endorsed by the ANCA.  Vote for him, please.  One seat on the county Board of Supervisors is up, in the second district.  If you live there, please vote for Holly Mitchell (also ANCA endorsed).  There is also Measure J, which designates permanent funding to pay for social justice oriented programs by the county.  While I support this in principle, I have read that it was prepared with some haste, last minute, and, it specifies a percentage of the county’s funds to be used for this.  I am little uncomfortable with these two aspects.  This one’s a tossup.  Unless you have a strong opinion on this issue, flip a coin and choose accordingly – it’s better than not voting on it at all.

On a regional (but sub-county) level, there are two elections to address.  If you live within the jurisdiction of the LA Community College District, please vote Andra Hoffman for Seat 1, David Vela for Seat 3, Scott Svonkin for Seat 5 (ANCA endorsed, too), and Pearlman for Seat 7.  Similarly, in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) vote for Scott Schmerelson in District 3 and Patricia Castellanos in District 7.  Both of these candidates fall into the camp that is wary of charter schools which is important for Armenians.  Remember, the Turkish Gulen movement has made tremendous inroads within numerous school districts across the United States, including LAUSD.  Excising their insidious propaganda machines that are poisoning children’s minds takes political power.  The balance of power between factions will be in our favor if these two candidates get elected.  Measure RR, a bond issue, is also on LAUSD voters’ ballot.   Vote YES on this to fund upgrade to the district’s schools.

Remember, always VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

15 Artsakh War Myths Perpetuated By Mainstream Media

Chalian Meline

in World — by Lucine Kasbarian — 
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When geopolitical power, malignant governance, military might and petroleum wealth determine the political pecking order, being a landlocked country on the right side of history is a minor detail.  It is through this lens that global citizens may observe the tiny besieged Republic of Armenia fighting for its survival alone against neighboring aggressors, ISIS, civilian bombings, foreign actors provoking instability in a bid for regional dominance, and world powers which gang up like hyenas before an uncaring world.

If this illustration of force ratio were not enough, media gatekeepers serving the interests of the powerful are working overtime to impose a false or at least misleading if not vilifying narrative about the Armenians in news coverage about the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) War which exploded on the de facto Armenian state on September 27 after a nominal, 30-year truce with Azerbaijan.

From peddling false equivalence, to selectively reporting the facts, to committing sins of omission, to cherry-picking so-called experts to support a desired argument, to concluding news coverage with biased policy recommendations, these actions taken by mainstream media about the facts on the ground reveal the handiwork of master purveyors of fake news.

Let’s review the top myths perpetuated by mainstream media in their coverage of the Artsakh War:

1) The Azeri claim that Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) belongs to Azerbaijan. FALSE.Artsakh has been continuously inhabited by a majority Armenian population for the last 2500 years. This is testified by ancient Greek historian Strabo and Roman historian Pliny the Elder (69 B.C.). Following Soviet law, Armenians of the Autonomous Oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh voted in a 1991 referendum to secede from the Soviet Union and rejoin Armenia. This was a fully legal step that did not require the permission or approval of Azerbaijan. After Artsakh declared its independence, Azerbaijani mobs, supported by their government apparatchiks, attacked Armenian communities in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad (Ganja) and Artsakh. Mass murders, pogroms, and property confiscations forced the Armenians of Artsakh to either flee or physically defend themselves from obliteration. The Artsakh Armenians successfully drove back invading Azeris in 1994, won the war, and have run a de facto state for nearly 30 years.

When Armenian Artsakh was an Autonomous Oblast under Azerbaijan, the Azeri leadership made sure to economically disempower the region. It also settled Azeris to tamper with the demographic, forbade the production of Armenian-language textbooks and committed other actions to drive Armenians out of the region. For Azerbaijan, there is no interest in nonviolent coexistence with Armenians, who simply desire to live on their ancestral homeland in peace. The Turkish and Azeri plan is to seize Artsakh and empty it of its native Armenian population through ethnic cleansing. After Artsakh, Armenians believe that the Azerbaijanis and Turks will invade Armenia’s Syunik province to form an unhindered border between Turkey and Azerbaijan proper. Their intention is land and conquest. This has already been apparent from the land grabs in Western Armenia (now Eastern Turkey) during and after the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the encroachment on Nakhichevan after native Armenians had been liquidated, and similar actions.

When journalists – lazily or deliberately — call Armenians “occupiers,” they fail to mention that Armenians have been continuously “occupying” Artsakh for the last 2500 years. When labeling Armenians “separatists,” journalists fail to mention that Armenians are the opposite: anti-separatists seeking to once again rejoin with Armenia. When describing Azeris who seek to “liberate” the territories of Artsakh, writers fail to mention that it was the indigenous, majority Armenians who liberated themselves from brutal Azeri rule.

From superficial reporting or deliberate omissions, consumers of news will almost never learn that Azerbaijan as a country did not exist prior to 1918. Any map (and primary sources of history) produced before that date will verify this.

 

2) That there is no precedent for the genocidal markers unfolding today in Armenia and Artsakh.FALSE. Armenians have been repeatedly subjected to ethnic cleansing in historically Armenian-populated lands in Western Armenia, Cilicia, Nakhichevan (a historically Armenian territory also gifted to the Azeris by Stalin), Baku, Sumgait,Kirovabad, and, Artsakh. Following Artsakh’s declaration of independence, Azerbaijan violently persecuted the Armenians, who then rose up to avoid their annihilation. Armenians and global observers know that Turkey and Azerbaijan have genocide in mind once again. The sheer number of civilians, civilian infrastructure, cultural and historical monuments targeted by aerial shelling should leave no doubt. This is a continuation of the Armenian Genocide.

3) That when hostilities broke out on September 27, Armenians attacked the Azeris first. That both sides “blame the other” for violating the brokered humanitarian ceasefire agreements. FALSE. While surrounded by hostile forces blockading them, Armenians have nevertheless lived peacefully on their historic homeland and have been maintaining a defensive posture. Armenia and Artsakh are outnumbered and out-gunned by Turkey to the west and Azerbaijan to the east.  There is proof that Turkey, Azerbaijan and Israel had been cooperating and planning an unprovoked military incursion into Artsakh and Armenia. This reached a peak when, in August, Turkey and Azerbaijan launched joint military air drills and ground exercises in Baku, Nakhichevan, Ganja and elsewhere. Turkish military personnel never left. In fact, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev inadvertently confessed to initiating the attack on Artakh. Although media outlets claim that both sides blame one another for the resumption of hostilities, there is a clear aggressor and defender. Rather than truthfully state that Azerbaijan violated ceasefire agreements, mainstream media prefer to report, without performing adequate research, that each side blames the other for the violations. Media outlets also neglect to mention that for years, Armenia and Artsakh have requested the placement of electronic monitors to identify ceasefire violators while Azerbaijan has adamantly rejected this constructive idea.

4) That Turkey is not managing this war. FALSE. Turkey is not only providing guidance to Azerbaijan but has taken over their entire military command. Turkey is also managing all airstrikes on Armenian military and civilian targets.Moreover, Turkey has closed its airspace to humanitarian flights heading to Armenia. Contrary to the projections of Erdogan’s psyche, Armenia is not “the greatest threat to peace in the region.”

While every country of the world walks on eggshells to avoid provoking volatile Turkey and Azerbaijan, little Armenia and Artsakh are fighting like blazes. Why are mainstream media not reporting about the fearless, heroic Armenians fighting alone for their very existence and standing up to the global bullies whom everyone else appeases?

5) That the countries at war are evenly matched. FALSE. Turkey and Azerbaijan have a combined population of 92 million. Armenia and Artsakh have a combined population of 3.1 million. Turkey and Azerbaijan’s combined GDP is $818 billion, while Armenia/Artsakh’s combined GDP is about $12 billion. Turkey and Azerbaijan encompass 870.162 km2 territory, combined. Armenia and Artsakh encompass 41.201 km2 territory, combined. The employment of sophisticated drones and aerial weaponry utilized by Turkey are decimating the native civilian population. This is a proverbial David and Goliath struggle.

While mainstream media report that some world powers and so-called neutral observers are urging a ceasefire and a return to the negotiation table, why aren’t the same media identifying Armenia’s willingness to seek peaceful solutions and specifying that Turkey, Azerbaijan and Israel continue to agitate for war?

6) That this is not a NATO battle against Russia, using Turkey as its proxy, with Armenia as sacrificial lamb. That Armenia and Artsakh are “backwaters” of civilization, of no geopolitical or cultural importance. FALSE. Currently, NATO encroachment of Russia and the Caucasus is nearly complete. The political situation that arose from the secession of Artsakh is being used by Washington, London and Berlin to attack and destabilize Russia through their Ankara and Baku proxies. This region is the stage for WWIII between Russia, Iran, Turkey and its proxies – the US, Israel and NATO. Moreover, NATO, the UN, the CSTO and the Minsk Group are invested in seeing Azerbaijan and Turkey prevail.

As for Armenia’s cultural significance, it will be a cold day in hell before any mainstream media outlet quotes Heinrich Schliemann, archaeologist and excavator of Troy, Mycenae, and Tiryns, who said, “The whole European culture considers itself the heir to the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, not realizing that both of them, in their turn, originate from the ancient Armenian civilization.”

7) That Turkey and Azerbaijan are not buying media and government personnel to whitewash this crime against humanity. FALSE. Several U.S. PR companies are lobbying on Baku’s behalf. This public relations blitz does not include the apathy of world governments compromised by caviar diplomacy, petro-lobbying and the widely-reported Azeri money laundromat scheme in Europe. According to The American Conservative, Azerbaijan ramped up its public relations campaigning, employing some of K Street’s heavy-hitting firms, including Stellar Jay Communications, BGR, and the Podesta Group. Last year the country spent $1.3 million to camouflage its disgraceful human rights abuses and present Azerbaijan as a victim of Armenian aggression. Until mid-October, two other PR heavyweights, The Livingston Group and DLA Piper also threw their weight behind Azerbaijan, which had hired them.

Rather than mention this detail, why do mainstream media instead point out that a purportedly aggressive Armenian Diaspora (largely and ironically in existence because of prior Turkish [1915] and Azeri genocides [1998-1992]) is giving Armenia an “unfair” advantage in this “Battle for Evermore?”

8) That Azerbaijan observes international rules of warfare. FALSE: Turkey and Azerbaijan import jihadists and mercenaries to the Artsakh front – flouting the rules of warfare. Weapons such as Smerch multiple rocket launchers and Israeli-made cluster bombs — prohibited by all international organizations — are being used against the Armenian civilian populations throughout Artsakh and even Armenia. Since September 27 and as of October 18, more than 6000 residential, cultural and religious objects have been damaged and/or destroyed in the Artsakh Republic, according to the Armenian Unified Infocenter. This includes the deliberate pulverization of Armenian churches, homes, hospitals and kindergartens. Azerbaijan is also ignoring codes of wartime conduct by murdering elderly civilians and beheading Armenian prisoners of war – gross war crimes.

In addition to blurring the above facts by suggesting that they are partisan ravings or unverifiable, why do mainstream media not report about a particularly stark contrast: the Armenians’ humane treatment of Azeri prisoners of war in Artsakh military hospitals and elsewhere?

9) That Pakistan is not helping Azerbaijan. FALSE.  Pakistan has sent its troops to fight alongside Turkish, Azeri and mercenary combatants attacking Artsakh.

On October 7, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said, “Unlike the Turks, Armenians fight for their land by shedding their own blood, not the blood of mercenaries.” Why don’t mainstream media convey that the losses sustained by Artsakh are its own young Armenian men protecting their families and borders? Or that Turkey is implementing a bait- and-switch upon their imported soldiers of fortune? Ample video footage has surfaced detailing that mercenaries are lured to Azerbaijan to “guard pipelines,” after which they are sent directly to the battlefield as cannon fodder, their passports and stipends withheld to prevent desertion.

 10) That Russia does not favor Azerbaijan. FALSE.Russia has long sought to sustain the stalemated, frozen-conflict status quo between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to maintain its dominant role in the Caucasus. As Azerbaijan is tightly aligned with Turkey and Israel while being courted by NATO, Russia often sacrifices Armenian interests in order to placate Azerbaijan and keep it in its sphere of influence.

In light of this, why do mainstream media insist that Armenia has the fearsome patronage of the Russian bogeyman, when this so-called ally has yet to come to Armenia’s aid?

 11) That Georgia is not giving Azerbaijan an advantage. FALSE. Georgia prevented Armenians of its Akhalkalaki region from sending used tires into Armenia to insulate military posts, yet allows the Turkish military free access over its sovereign territory by air and land.

12) That foreign actors are not working hand-in-hand with Iranian citizens of Azerbaijani descent to destabilize Iran, foment a secessionist movement, or at least cause chaos. FALSE.There is a concerted effort to drag Iran into a confrontation with Turkey and neighboring states. In fact, on October 7, hundreds of Azerbaijani troops purposely placed themselves in a position where Armenian artillery would violate the Iranian frontier, even though the Armenians avoided it.

 13) That Azerbaijan is a bastion of interfaith and cultural tolerance. FALSE. Along with 9 other nations, Azerbaijan and Turkey are both on the US State Department’s Special Watch List (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant of the International Religion and Freedom Act, according to the 2020 Annual Report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Why have mainstream media neglected to mention that both Turkish and Azeri educational systems mandate discrimination and hatred against Armenians which spill over into every aspect of Turkish and Azeri culture?

Why have mainstream media not brought up that the brilliant Armenian culture, pre-dating both countries, was repugnant to Turkey and Azerbaijan when it was clearly a product of the Armenians, but that once Turkey and Azerbaijan appropriated and claimed parts of it as their own, they trumpeted their pride over the products of the very culture they once scorned?

14) That Azerbaijan has invaded and conquered several Armenian towns and villages within Artsakh. FALSE. Just one example is the yellow journalism about the takeover of the town of Hadrut. We know that at least two civilians were slain by the Azeris who violated the ceasefire just minutes after it went into effect on October 10. But before the murders, 200 “special operations” mercenaries invaded Hadrut specifically to hoist the Azeri flag up the town hall’s flagpole. This action was taken to back up President Aliyev’s earlier, boastful but false claim that Azeri forces had taken the town.  The mayor of Hadrut, with 23 men, held back the storm troopers until Armenian forces arrived and drove out the mercenaries. On their way out, in their humiliation, the Azeri forces massacred a woman and her disabled son.  Somehow, these acts of Armenian heroism and Azeri cowardice also escaped the notice of mainstream media outlets.

15) That Azerbaijan is democratic and honors free speech and assembly. FALSE. Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World” (FIW) 2020 Report describes those countries who have had the worst declines in freedom in the last 10 years. Azerbaijan received a “not free” country designation with a -10 decline in freedoms. Turkey also received a “not free” country designation with a -31 decline in freedom. Armenia is not listed among those objectionable countries, though did receive a mention as a promising, democratically-elected government.

Why has mainstream media not pointed out that in the past 30 years, Armenia and Artsakh have had four presidents each, per their constitutions, while Turkey and Azerbaijan continue to endure the same dictatorial, dynastic regimes under Erdogan and Aliyev Senior who then passed the sword to Aliyev Junior?

Foreign journalists have free access to information and complete freedom of movement in Armenia and Artsakh.  If Azerbaijan were the honest broker it is portrayed to be in mainstream media, why are foreign journalists suppressed,forbidden from freely interviewing Azeri citizens, and prevented from visiting the war zone from the Azeri side?

Why don’t mainstream media mention that the Azerbaijani government maintains tight control over the Internet, harasses social media activists, bloggers and online journalists? Or that even before this war, Azerbaijan blocked nearly all social media except for Twitter so that the Azeri government could control war propaganda?

Why do mainstream media not mention that the Artsakh Defense Ministry issues daily bulletins from the front while announcing military and civilian casualties whereas Azerbaijan does not?

An entire global media orchestra working in concert persuaded the world to stand up, denounce the death of George Floyd, and shout “Black Lives Matter.” And yet, when the annihilation of an entire race of people – the Armenians – is once again unfolding before our eyes, the media — and the public guided by them — are conspicuously silent.

The mainstream media’s failure to report the truth demands that we ask ourselves who is responsible for this mismanagement of information. This discrepancy would explain why the truth-telling alternative media universe has a populist following, why it is constantly under threat of annihilation, and why we must protect its precious existence.

The same may be said of the Armenians.

May the example of the endangered, deserted yet valiant Armenians be a warning to all that one day, the dark forces will come for other innocents of this world and that by then, there will be no one left to protect global citizens persisting to safeguard life and liberty on the face of this earth.

Lucine Kasbarian is a journalist, publicist and editorial cartoonist. Today’s events comprise a déjà vu as she has spent the greater portion of her life discrediting media bias and Turkish denial of the Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide of 1915 which drove her grandparents from their ancestral Western Armenia, since usurped by Turkey. Many of her articles are archived at: