Author: Chatinian Lara

Supreme Religious Council expresses support to Bekçiyan

Chatinian Lara
Agos, Istambul
May 19 2017
 
 
05.19.2017 SOCIETY

Led by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the meeting of Supreme Religious Council was completed. Değabah Bekçiyan also attended the meeting as the representative of Istanbul.  

Held on May16-18 in Moscow, the meeting resulted in support to Değabah Bekçiyan. Also, Ateşyan, clerics and lay in the patriarchate were urged to take necessary steps.

 The concluding statement involves the following points concerning the patriarchal election in Turkey: 

“Değabah Bekçiyan gave a speech at the meeting. He told about the problem in the process of election. Supreme Religious Council expressed its concerns about the fact that Değabah is not able to perform his duties. The Council urged clerics and lay in the patriarch to cooperate with state officials to find solution. In this regard, the attitude of Archbishop Aram Ateşyan was also pointed and he was urged to help the değabah who was elected in accordance with the rules of Armenian Church and take the necessary steps for maintaining the natural course of the patriarchate.”

Chaos in Azerbaijan: Danger

Chatinian Lara
Lragir, Armenia
Chaos in Azerbaijan: Danger

    • Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
    • Comments – , 14:01
The Defense Army of Artsakh has published a footage made with the border monitoring and intelligence equipment with a message on how the Azerbaijani armed forces were shelling their own posts. Earlier the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry had responded to the statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs who stated clearly for the first time that Azerbaijan breached the ceasefire and fired a missile which was followed by the response of the Armenian side. The Azerbaijani foreign ministry official responded that the Azerbaijani army is in the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and can do everything it wants. Apparently, the Azerbaijanis shelled their own posts to prove that they can do whatever they wish. This would be funny of course, but there is no need to joke with Azerbaijan, especially if such things are happening in this country. Azerbaijan is either imitating uncontrollability or the situation has got out of control, which explains the fact of shelling their own posts. It is hard to tell if uncontrollability has reached Baku or only the border area or has reached the border from Baku but this is not a reason for the Armenian side to make fun. On the contrary. Moreover, it can be only imitation of uncontrollability or the so-called manageable chaos initiated by Aliyev, including for starting military actions. It is possible that the reason for this initiative is not the issue of Artsakh but the situation of the domestic economy and government. It is possible that Aliyev is imitating chaos to receive the assistance of the international community, otherwise threatening that the situation in Azerbaijan may get out of control. Aliyev might be trying to regain his “importance”. At least, this strange thing happening required vigilance. After all, it is not ruled out that Aliyev resorts to the technology of “chaos” after encountering serious issues of viability and applicability of the so-called military diplomacy clashing into the Armenian armed forces and the pressure of the international community for the introduction of ceasefire mechanisms. The frequent disruption of the “military diplomacy” is forcing Aliyev to transition to the “imitation of chaos” to remain a subject.

BAKU: Russia, Armenia take major steps to enhance military, deterrence potential vis-à-vis Baku

Chatinian Lara 
Trend, Azerbaijan
May 18 2017
Russia, Armenia take major steps to enhance military, deterrence
potential vis-à-vis Baku
18 May 2017 16:11 (UTC+04:00)
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 18
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Since the occurrence of large scale fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh
in April 2016, resulting in some Azerbaijani gains, there has been a
widespread fear that this crisis could easily escalate out of control
drawing in not only the two belligerents but also Russia, wrote
Stephen Blank, senior fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council,
in his article published by the Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst
biweekly.
“Armenia’s response to the visible enhancement of Azerbaijan’s
military capability has marked a qualitative escalation of the crisis’
military potential. Moreover, it has further unmasked the Russian
policy of abetting the crisis rather than trying to resolve it, even
though Moscow professes to be against renewed hostilities and to want
a solution,” noted the author.
According to Blank, last year, Russia and Armenia have taken major
steps to enhance the latter’s military and thus deterrence potential
vis-à-vis Baku.
“These actions include the establishment of a joint Russo-Armenian air
defense for the Caucasus and joint forces to “ensure security in the
Caucasus region of collective security”; ongoing modernization of
Russian bases in Armenia; Armenian lobbying to increase the
effectiveness of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); a
new agreement on new weapons transfers to Armenia and the development
of overall military-technical cooperation; and most significantly the
transfer to Armenia of the Iskander-M missile – a dual-use missile
that comes in both cruise and ballistic missile variants,” says the
article.
“To add fuel to this fire, Armenian officials claim that they received
the Iskander from Russia at subsidized prices and that it is entirely
under Armenian control. Whether or not this is truly the case – it is
admittedly a rather inconceivable proposition that Russia would be
unable to assert control of the system – this marks the first time
Moscow has ever transferred an Iskander missile abroad and therefore
another reckless step taken by Moscow in the military sphere,” said
Blank in his article. “Although Moscow undoubtedly sought to upgrade
Armenia’s deterrence capability, the terms under which Armenia claims
to have received the Iskander and President Sargsyan’s stated
readiness to use it have not calmed things down but infuriated Baku.”
“Baku has given notice that it is contemplating its own ripostes,
either by acquiring foreign missile defenses for example from Israel
or by developing or acquiring its own offensive missiles to raise the
ante on Armenia. Thus a new escalatory spiral and arms race appears to
be taking place over Nagorno-Karabakh,” noted the author.
Beyond strengthening Armenia’s deterrence capability and its own
standing in Yerevan’s eyes, Moscow has also strengthened its position
in Armenia and throughout the Caucasus by deploying the Iskander along
with troops and other arms systems to its base in Gyumri, Armenia,
says the article.
“It has clearly intervened on behalf of Yerevan and Foreign Minister
Lavrov subsequently announced that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is not
merely an Azerbaijani or Armenian one, meaning that Russia will weigh
in on its resolution,” added Blank.
According to Blank, Moscow has qualitatively escalated the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Armenia’s claim to have both unlimited control and command of the
system and willingness to use it have already further heightened the
tension in the Caucasus, underscoring the recklessness of transferring
such systems even if legal loopholes exist for doing so. Of course,
the transfer to Armenia also shows that Moscow is not a neutral
arbiter between Baku and Yerevan, quite the opposite,” he said.
Blank said Moscow has once again demonstrated a lack of good judgment,
which is a fundamental legitimating factor in its claims to dominate
the former Soviet space.
These developments raise several questions, said the author.
“Beyond the Caucasus, we now must reckon with the possibility of
Moscow selling versions of the Iskander missile to other partners and
customers, including China and Iran,” noted Blank.
Moreover, beyond threatening Azerbaijan, Russia’s deployments
throughout the Caucasus also threaten the Middle East, including
Turkey, says the article, they isolate both the Caucasus and the
larger Black Sea Basin, as well as parts of the Middle East from NATO
military power.
According to Blank, these issues furnish ample incentive, if not
justification, for US and Western involvement in formulating and
implementing a viable resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The widespread belief that this conflict will not remain frozen and
that the consequences of that “unfreezing” will be catastrophic, not
only for Armenia and Azerbaijan, appears to have even greater validity
due to the Russo-Armenian escalation, noted the author.
In other words, what happens in the Caucasus does not stay in the
Caucasus, he added.

Germany’s Gabriel warns Turkey against ‘blackmail’ over Incirlik base

Chatinian Lara

Germany’s foreign minister has said Berlin may pull its troops out of a base in Turkey if lawmakers aren’t allowed to visit. The latest spat comes as two Turkish generals reportedly applied for asylum in Frankfurt, reports.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel sharply criticized Turkey’s decision to block a parliament delegation from visiting Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at Turkey’s Incirlik base in an interview on Wednesday.

If “the German parliament is to be blackmailed, then the limit of tolerance has been reached,” Gabriel told German newspaper the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

“I can only hope that the Turkish government will change its mind in the coming days,” he said. “Otherwise, the German Bundestag will certainly not leave soldiers in Turkey.”

Gabriel noted that if cooperative work is no longer possible out of Incirlik, including that members of parliament can visit soldiers at the base, “then we have to consider alternatives.”

2017 Eurovision Grand Final tonight: Armenia’s Artsvik performs 5th

Chatinian Lara

The Grand Final of 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Kyiv tonight. The slogan for 2017 is Celebrate Diversity, and the show tonight will feature both Ukrainian traditions interwoven with modernity.

Reigning Eurovision champion Jamala will perform during the live broadcast as well as Ukraine’s first ever Eurovision winner Ruslana (2004). Twenty six will participate in the show.  Israel’s IMRI will open the show and Alma from France will close the 2017 competition. Armenia’s Artsvik will perform 5th. 

The final result will be decided by a 50/50 combination of jury and public votes. The professional juries voted during last night’s Dress Rehearsal and tonight the public will vote by telephone, SMS and through the official app.

The running order of the Grand Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest:

  1. Israel
  2. Poland
  3. Belarus
  4. Austria
  5. Armenia
  6. The Netherlands
  7. Moldova
  8. Hungary
  9. Italy
  10. Denmark
  11. Portugal
  12. Azerbaijan
  13. Croatia
  14. Australia
  15. Greece
  16. Spain
  17. Norway
  18. United Kingdom
  19. Cyprus
  20. Romania
  21. Germany
  22. Ukraine
  23. Belgium
  24. Sweden
  25. Bulgaria
  26. France

 

 

Taner Akcam’s finding to make Turkey seek new ways of denying the Armenian Genocide

Chatinian Lara

 

 

 

Turkish historian Taner Akcam has recently uncovered a telegram, which, he says, will force the Turkish government seek new ways of denying the Armenian Genocide.

“Are the Armenians who were deported from there being liquidated? Are the troublesome individuals whom you have reported as having been exiled and expelled being exterminated or merely being sent off and deported? Please report back honestly,” reads the telegram sent from Ezrum by Behaeddin Shakir to Kharberd Governor Sabit Bey.

The document dated July 4th, 1915 consists of two parts – the actual text on top and the coded four-digit Arabic numbers on the bottom.

Taner Akcam, a history professor at Clark University in Massachusetts, says the telegram is important for two reasons. “First, it is written on a paper with the letterhead of the Ottoman Ministry of Interior. Second, separate from the text there is a decoded message on the bottom,” he said in a phone interview with .

The historian has compared the coding system with that of other documents from Ottoman archives and  found matches with 24 documents from the same month. The same words are coded the same way. “So there is no escape for Turkish authorities, there is no way to say these are forgeries. And this is a very crucial document in that sense,” Akcam said.

This telegram is well known in Armenian Genocide research and has been quoted in main indictments in Istanbul military tribunals. This was one of the most important evidences that helped convict Behaeddin Shakir and sentence him to death. However, most of the court materials vanished at the time and Turkey has since been building its policy of denial on the argument that the original documents from postwar military tribunals that convicted the genocide’s planners were nowhere to be found.

Taner Akcam knew the telegram was in a the archive of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem , but in the end found a film taken from the document in a private archive in New York. Thus, two stories need to be recalled to shed light on how the photo of the telegram ended up in the United States.

The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was representing Armenians in military tribunals and had access to the court materials.  The judge presiding over the tribunals at the time handed the materials over to the Armenian Patriarch. With the Turkish nationalists about to seize the country in 1922 the Patriarch shipped a huge package of documents to Marseille and then to Manchester for safekeeping. The materials finally ended up in Jerusalem.

“Armenian Catholic priest, Krikor Guerguerian went to Jerusalem sometimes towards the end of 1960s. He filmed the materials there and a lot of other Ottoman documents one of which was this document.  He had a private archive, which was saved and secured by his nephew,” Taner Akcham said.

Despite the crucial importance of the document, the historian does not believe it will lead to changes in Turkey’s stance on the issue in the short-term perspective.

I’ve thrown a stone in the water, and waves go to the shore, it takes a long time until they hit the shore. The shore is the Turkish denialism. I don’t know when it’s going to hit the shore

Taner Akcam

According to the historian, the telegram is a strong evidence Ankara can hardly argue, but he’s confident that Turkey will find some excuses. He’s also confident that “Turkey will continue its denialist policy, but this will put the government in a very difficult position and will force it seek new ways of denying.”

Towards the end of the interview, Mr. Akcam emphasized one point. “As everybody knows successive Turkish governments would argue all the time that Armenian Genocide should not be politicized, that the Armenian Genocide should be left to historians. And I’m just really doing it. I’m a historian and regardless of the fact whether the Turkish government recognizes the genocide or not, I keep working on this topic, because as scholars, as academicians our job is to teach the young generation about the historic injustices, about mass atrocities in the past so that they are not repeated in the future.”

Taner Akcam believes that “it’s important for Turkey to face its history.” If Turkey faces its history and acknowledges the wrongdoing, it can develop a very good relation with Armenia and develop a democratic society,” he says.

Menendez, colleagues commemorate Armenian Genocide with bipartisan resolution

Chatinian Lara

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a bipartisan resolution in the Senate to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide. The was cosponsored by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

“Today, on Armenian Remembrance Day, 102 years after this tragedy took place under the Ottomans, we must call it for what it is:  genocide.  I believe our continued failure to do so leaves space for barbarism in our present world and I call on my Senate colleagues to correct this shameful oversight,” said Senator Menendez. “This resolution reaffirms in the strongest terms possible that we will always honor the memory of innocent Armenian men, women, and children who were killed or expelled from their homeland, and will always remember this tragedy as a lesson to always stand together against all crimes against humanity.” 

Over the course of eight years, the Ottoman Empire deported nearly 2,000,000 Armenians from their homeland, where they had existed for 2,500 years. Of that population, 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed. In 1915, England, France and Russia jointly condemned this “crime against humanity,” the first ever such charge against another government.

“We want to thank Senator Menendez and his Senate colleagues for introducing legislation calling for an end to U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).  “It’s evident, as the authors of this bipartisan resolution clearly articulate, that any meaningful improvement in Armenian-Turkish relations will require that the Turkish government first acknowledge the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide and then accept a just and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity.”

“We deeply appreciate Senator Menendez’s commitment to affirming America’s proud chapter in helping to save the Armenian people during the first genocide of the twentieth century,” stated Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.  “As we remember the Armenian Genocide today, I am reminded that Christians and other minorities in the Middle East and elsewhere remain at risk.  Their plight obligates us to redouble our efforts to prevent further atrocities and restore respect for human rights everywhere.”

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau issues statement on Armenian Genocide anniversary

Chatinian Lara

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has issued astatement on 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide;

On this day, we solemnly gather to commemorate the tragic loss of life among the Armenian population, which took place over a century ago.

In 2015, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion declaring April 24th as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.

This day honours the memory of those who unjustly lost their lives and suffered during the genocide. We pay tribute to them and their descendants, many of who now reside in Canada.

On this occasion, Canadians – regardless regardless of faith or ethnic background – stand together in solemn remembrance and reaffirmed dedication to ensuring that we never stand indifferently in the face of hate or violence in any form.

As we observe Armenian Genocide Day, please join me in my hope for a future characterized by peace and mutual respect.

European Union committed to a stable, democratic and prosperous future of Armenia

Chatinian Lara

“The election result nevertheless reflects the overall will of the Armenian people,” the EU said in a statement on Almena’s parliamentary elections.

The statement reads:

Parliamentary elections took place in Armenia on 2 April. According to the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission (EOM), the elections were well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected. However, the elections were tainted by credible information about vote-buying, and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies, which contributed to an overall lack of public confidence and trust in the elections. The election result nevertheless reflects the overall will of the Armenian people.

Whilst an unprecedented number of international and domestic observers were provided an enabling environment in which to carry out their work, international non-governmental organisations were not invited to observe, in contradiction to the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. The International EOM welcomed the introduction of new technologies, which the European Union supported through a project successfully implemented alongside the Armenian authorities, as well as reforms of the legal framework. Despite some minor technical problems, fewer irregularities concerning ballot box stuffing, double voting, counting and tabulation of results were recorded by observers.

The European Union is committed to a stable, democratic and prosperous future of Armenia. Once the electoral process has been completed, we look forward to working with the democratically elected new Parliament and Government to strengthen our political dialogue and continue our support to economic and social reform including on the basis of the recently initialled EU–Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and within the larger framework of revised European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership.

Elections 2017: Voter turnout at 13.32 % as of 11 a.m.

Chatinian Lara

The Central Electoral Commission informs that 344,714 citizens or 13.32 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the parliamentary elections as of 11 a.m.

The total number of voters is 2,587,706. The polls opened at 8 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m.

The voting is taking place at 2009 polling stations in 13 electoral districts.