Author: Edgar Tavakalian

The Knesset must do the moral thing and recognize the Armenian genocide, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said at a Knesset Education, Culture and Sport Committee meeting Wednesday, the reports.

“I visited one of the Armenian memorial sites and it is very hard to ignore what I saw there,” Edelstein recounted. “I expect that I and the Knesset behave appropriately so that we can make decisions according to the moral standards of a democratic state.”

The Knesset Speaker explained that many governments do not recognize the atrocity, while their parliaments clearly do.

“I will try to promote the issue and I hope that MKs will know the right way to vote in the moment of truth,” he stated.

Twenty-two countries recognize the 1915 massacres as a genocide, including Canada, France and Germany, but not the US.

The Knesset sent a delegation to the Armenian government’s 100th anniversary ceremony in April, but Israel does not formally recognize the Armenian Genocide, in hopes that it can repair ties with Turkey, which perpetrated it.

Education, Culture and Sport Committee chairman Ya’acov Margi (Shas) said “we are aware of the diplomatic sensitivities, but we overcame them and the time has come for the government to do so, too.”

Margi called for the government to recognize the genocide and for the Knesset plenum to make a historic decision in keeping with Jewish values.

“Ignoring [the Armenian genocide] will bring the next genocide,” MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz), who initiated the meeting along with MK Nachman Shai (Zionist Union), said.

Shai, who attended the memorial ceremony in Armenia, said: “We want to be in the international arena with countries that respect morals. Israel, the state of the Jewish People, must recognize what happened to the Armenians. Nothing will change in our relations with Turkey or Azerbaijan.”

Foreign Ministry representative Oded Yosef said that Israel has ties with Armenia and cooperates with the country in many projects, but the international debate as to whether there was a genocide or not is a political one about semantics.

Gal-On responded: “It would bring honor to Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide. It was a tragedy, but the word tragedy is not enough.”

The Sydney Armenian community has responded magnificently to an “Appeal to Help Armenians in Syria”, donating $50,000 during a week of fundraising between 22nd June and 28th June, 2015.

The Australian chapters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Armenian Relief Society, Homenetmen, Hamazkaine, the Armenian National Committee, the Armenian Youth Federation and Armenia Media Inc., joined forces to organise a series of fundraising activities in response to news of severe financial hardship coming from their counterparts in Syria.

These activities were:

1. Radiothon on Armenia Radio 99.3FM on Monday 22nd June;
2. Door Knock Appeal throughout Sydney’s suburbs, powered by members of the ARS, AYF and Hamazkaine, every night between Monday and Thursday;
3. Online Credit Card Appeal, organised by the ANC;
4. Appeal to Businesses for Donations;
5. Sydney Benefit Concert for Syrian-Armenians, which was held at Galstaun College’s Nalbandian Hall on Sunday, 28th June.

Kodzo Alabo (residence in Moscow), the newly-appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Ghana to the Republic of Armenia, today handed over his credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan.

The president congratulated the ambassador on his appointment and wished him success, noting that Armenia attaches importance to promoting political dialogue and contact with African countries, including Ghana.

At the outset, Ambassador Alabo conveyed the Ghanaian president’s gratitude to the RA president for the condolence letter on the recent terrific explosion in Accra which took multiple lives and for symphonizing and being with the Ghanaian people during these tragic times.

The ambassador noted that during all of his tenure, he will work, with sincere devotion, towards strengthening the relationship between Armenia and Ghana and revealing the full potential for multifaceted collaboration.

The interlocutors agreed that by maintaining close contacts, conducting consultations between the foreign ministries and developing a legal framework, the two countries will provide a firm foundation for cooperation in the areas of, inter alia, education, culture and economy.

Serzh Sargsyan and Ambassador Alabo expressed their satisfaction with the level of mutual cooperation within the frames of international organizations.

On Tuesday, June 2, the student government at the University of California, Santa Cruz, unanimously passed “A Resolution to Divest from the Republic of Turkey to End the Perpetuation of the Armenian Genocide,” Asbarez reports.

The resolution ultimately called for UC Santa Cruz, the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, and the University of California to divest $72.6 million dollars worth of University of California bonds and investments in the Republic of Turkey for its crimes in, and continued denial of the Armenian Genocide.

Various students of UC Santa Cruz, members of the Armenian Students’ Association (ASA), along with members of the greater Armenian community gathered for the hearing of the resolution and spoke about the university’s investments in the Turkish government, its compliance in genocide denial, and the need for divestment.

” Going through the process of this divestment was an amazing feeling and experience. With this victory we are showing the Republic of Turkey, which is a remnant of the Ottoman Empire, that we are still here. This divestment proves that their ancestors failed in their mission. And not just us but a diverse body of people, like the students of UCSC, stand with us in solidarity to continue the fight until they acknowledge the crimes committed against our people and we achieve justice,” ASA member Kami Kahwedjian.

“I’m very grateful to have been a part of the divestment process here at UC Santa Cruz. It’s very important that, we, as students, take the initiative to make these types of things happen to show the Republic of Turkey that the Armenian Youth are stronger than ever and we will fight for the Armenian cause until we die. Lastly, I want to thank Kami Kahwedjian for working on the divestment process with me and the divest Turkey team as well,” said anothe ASA member Maral Tatoian.

The student governments of UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC RIverside, and UC Berkeley unanimously passed similar resolutions during the first half of this year. Moreover, just a few months ago, ASUCI unanimously passed a resolution “Commemorating the Armenian Genocide and Condemning its Denial,” raising further awareness on campus about the Armenian Genocide and its need for international recognition.

The resolution is an initiative started in part by the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States- a grassroots community organization dedicated to justice for the Armenian cause and the Armenian people. For any questions, comments or inquiries on the #DivestTurkey campaign, please email [email protected]

Islamic State militants have seized the last Syrian government-controlled border crossing between Syria and Iraq, a Syrian monitoring group says, BBC News reports.

Government forces withdrew from al-Tanf – known as al-Waleed in Iraq – crossing as IS advanced, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The loss of al-Tanf to IS follows the group’s takeover of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on Thursday.

The US says that fighting the militants will be a “difficult challenge”.

Islamic State now controls “more than 95,000 sq km (36,679 sq miles)” of Syria, which is 50% of the country’s entire territory, the SOHR said.

The militants dominate the provinces of Deir al-Zour and Raqqa and have a strong presence in Hasakeh, Aleppo, Homs and Hama.

However, correspondents say there are large areas under IS control in the east that are not very significant strategically.

IS has also been made significant gains in neighbouring Iraq, capturing the strategically-important city of Ramadi in Anbar province after weeks of fighting.

(Agencia Prensa Armenia) -Casa de Tucuman (House of Tucuman),  a historical Argentinean building and museum was illuminated with the colors of the Armenian flag for the Armenian Genocide Centennial on Friday, May 15.

Casa de Tucuman is a national historic monument in Argentina, because it was the place where the Argentine Declaration of Independence was signed on July 9, 1816.

The artistic impression, which also featured music and poetry reading, was organized by the Historical House Museum of Independence, the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), a body chaired by Pedro Mouratian, and the Armenian National Committee of South America.

“Genocide is the most extreme form of discrimination and the awareness of society is essential to prevent the recurrence of these crimes against humanity,” said Guillermo Ferraioli, Coordinator of INADI.

“Under Law 26,199, Argentina declares April 24 as the ‘Day of Action for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples’ in commemoration of the genocide against the Armenian people,” added in turn Gustavo Diaz Fernandez, member of INADI Tucuman.

Madres de Plaza de Mayo joined the act through a letter signed by Sarah Mrad, in which she stressed that “we cannot be absent in this commemoration with the Armenian people.”

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Luxembourg to Ankara for consultations after the Luxembourg parliament deemed the 1915 killings of Ottoman Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire “genocide,” joining the other countries that use the word,  reports.

In a written statement over the Luxembourg parliament’s vote on the 1915 killings on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey condemns and strongly rejects the decision by the Luxembourg parliament, which it says was taken by distorting historical facts and law. The ministry said it summoned Luxembourg’s ambassador in Ankara to its offices and conveyed Ankara’s opinion to the ambassador over the vote. Turkey’s Ambassador to Luxembourg Levent Şahinkaya has been recalled back to Ankara for consultations, the statement said.

In the latest in a number of acts by parliaments of different countries, the members of the Luxembourg parliament said in a joint declaration that the 1915 killings of Armenians amount to genocide.

The declaration, parliament members say, is intended to encourage Turkish authorities to face the past.

Luxembourg is the 22nd country to officially recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide.

Texas police shot dead two gunmen who opened fire on Sunday outside an exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that was organized by an anti-Islamic group and billed as a free-speech event, reports.

Sunday’s attack took place shortly before 7 p.m. in a parking lot of the Curtis Culwell Center, an indoor arena in the suburb of Garland, northeast of Dallas. Geert Wilders, a polarizing Dutch politician and anti-Islamic campaigner who is on an al Qaeda hit list, was among the speakers at the event.

According to the source, Police said they had not immediately determined the identity of the two gunmen or whether they were linked to critics of the event who had branded it anti-Islamic.

The exhibit was organized by Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). Her organization, which is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, has sponsored anti-Islamic advertising campaigns in transit systems across the country.

Organizers of the “Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest” said the event was to promote freedom of expression. They offered a $10,000 prize for the best artwork or cartoon depicting the Prophet, as well as a $2,500 “People’s Choice Award.”