15:35,
YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. The two Armenian servicemen who were wounded in an Azerbaijani drone strike Friday morning are in non-life-threatening condition, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia reported.
As of 15:00 the situation on the frontline was relatively stable, it added.
Friday,
Armenian Journalist’s Assets Frozen After Corruption Report
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Former Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian attends a session of
Yerevan's municipal assembly, September 23, 2022.
A court in Yerevan has frozen assets of an Armenian newspaper and one of its
journalists who has accused a leading political ally of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian of illicit enrichment.
In a video report posted on the 168 Zham newspaper’s website this month, the
journalist, Davit Sargsian, described Yerevan’s Deputy Mayor Tigran Avinian as a
“nouveau riche” whose family has been “steadily getting richer” ever since
Pashinian came to power in 2018. It detailed the family’s allegedly extensive
business interests developed in the last five years.
The reported claimed, in particular, that Avinian’s mother bought an expensive
apartment in central Yerevan before becoming recently a co-owner of two firms
and a 9-hectare plot of land in southern Armavir province.
Avinian, who will be the ruling Civil Contract’s candidate in upcoming mayoral
elections in the Armenian capital, took the newspaper to court. He is seeking an
unprecedentedly hefty compensation for the “slanderous” report which he claims
damaged his “business reputation.”
Acting on Avinian’s demand, the court decided earlier this week to freeze 18
million drams ($46,000) worth of assets belonging to 168 Zham and Sargsian
personally pending its verdict in the case. The sum is huge by Armenian media
standards.
Avinian, who also served as Armenia’s deputy prime minister from 2018-2021,
defended the legal action when he spoke to reporters on Thursday.
“I can only advise media outlets to bear in mind before slandering anyone, lying
about anyone that they can face such proceedings,” he said. “But I am otherwise
not an enemy of the media.”
The 34-year-old politician did not specify which parts of the 5-minute video
authored by Sargsian and posted on 168.am are untrue.
“Avinian’s real aim is to inflict significant material damage on me and thereby
silence me,” Sargsian countered in a Facebook post.
The journalist, who is highly critical of the Armenian government, insisted that
he simply shared with viewers credible information that was earlier reported by
other media outlets and not refuted by Avinian.
Press freedom groups also criticized the lawsuit, saying that no Armenian media
outlets or journalists have risked such heavy fines before.
“We are seeing a typical case of an official trying to muzzle and punish a media
outlet,” said Shushan Doydoyan of the Yerevan-based Center for Freedom of
Information. She noted that Avinian did not demand that the paper retract its
corruption claims before he filed the lawsuit.
Armenia - A screenshot from an Aravot.am report on expensive property
acquisitions by senior Armenian officials, March 15, 2023.
Pro-opposition and independent publications increasingly accuse members of
Pashinian’s entourage of enriching themselves or their cronies and breaking
their anti-corruption promises given during the 2018 “velvet revolution.”
Last month, hackers hijacked the YouTube channel of another newspaper, Aravot,
as it was about to publish a video report detailing expensive property
acquisitions by several senior government officials and pro-government lawmakers.
Earlier this year, Pashinian blamed such reports for a drop in Armenia’s
position in an annual corruption survey conducted by Transparency International.
He publicly urged senior officials to sue media outlets “falsely” accusing them
of illicit enrichment.
In 2021, the Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinian’s party tripled maximum
legal fines set for defamation.
Yerevan Vague On Azeri Control Of Karabakh
• Astghik Bedevian
U.S. - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts talks between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Arlington, May 1, 2023.
The Armenian government on Friday pointedly declined to clarify whether it is
ready to explicitly recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh as a
result of ongoing peace talks with Baku.
In April 2022, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian signaled readiness to “lower the
bar” on Karabakh’s status acceptable to Armenia and also stopped asserting the
Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination in his public statements.
Pashinian made clear last month that his administration unequivocally recognizes
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and is ready to sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace treaty that would commit the two South Caucasus states to recognizing each
other’s Soviet-era borders.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded, meanwhile, that Armenia go farther
and officially declare that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”
Pashinian said last week that Baku is now not ready to even grant Karabakh an
autonomous status.
Responding to questions sent by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Armenia’s Foreign
Ministry did not say whether this means Yerevan has already agreed to the
restoration of Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. It said only that Yerevan
continues to insist on “discussion between Baku and Stepanakert on the rights
and security guarantees of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population.”
Nagorno-Karabakh - Protesters hold a giant Armenian flag as they attend a rally
in Stepanakert, December 25, 2022.
“Addressing the issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s rights and security is
very important for establishing a lasting peace and stability in the region,”
the ministry said in a written reply. It did not specify whether Pashinian’s
government believes this can be done under Azerbaijani rule.
Pashinian has publicly encouraged Karabakh’s leaders to negotiate with
Azerbaijan while accusing Baku of planning to commit genocide in the
Armenian-populated region.
The authorities in Stepanakert as well as the Armenian opposition have
repeatedly denounced Pashinian’s public pronouncements on the conflict with
Azerbaijan. In a joint statement issued on April 19, the five political groups
represented in the Karabakh parliament again accused him of undermining the
Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination which was for decades supported
by international mediators.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers made what the U.S. State
Department described as “tangible progress” towards the bilateral peace deal
during marathon talks held outside Washington last week. Aliyev and Pashinian
are expected to try to build on that progress when they meet in Brussels this
Sunday.
U.S. Calls For Armenian-Azeri Troop Disengagement
U.S. -- State Department spokesman Vedant Patel speaks during a daily press
briefing in Washington, September 6, 2022.
The United States has called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to withdraw their troops
from the Armenian-Azerbaijani border after fresh fighting between them.
A U.S. State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, said late on Thursday that the
violence “undermines the progress made” by the two sides during recent peace
talks, notably last week’s meetings between their foreign ministers held outside
Washington.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev
are scheduled meet to Brussels this Sunday in a bid to build on that progress.
“We call on the leaders of both of these countries that when they convene in
Brussels on [May] 14th to a – that these two parties agree to distance their
forces along the border, as discussed by Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken
during their participation of these negotiations that we hosted here in
Washington, D.C., at the beginning of May,” Patel told a news briefing.
Pashinian accused Baku of trying to derail the peace process shortly after the
fighting involving artillery fire erupted near the Armenian border village of
Sotk on Thursday morning, leaving one Azerbaijani soldier dead and four Armenian
servicemen wounded.
Each side accused the other of shelling its military positions in the
mountainous area. The intensity of the clashes decreased in the following hours,
and no major truce violations were reported on the night from Thursday to Friday.
The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said that two more Armenian soldiers were
wounded on Friday morning in an Azerbaijani drone attack on their position
outside Sotk. It said that the situation at that section of the volatile border
was “relatively stable” in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
The Armenian government has consistently advocated the idea of troop
disengagement, also backed by the European Union, for the last two years. Baku
does not support it.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Western Primate Arch. Hovnan Derderian bestows the “St. Nerses Shnorhali” medal to Sen. Anthony Portantino
BURBANK—Senator Anthony J. Portantino was presented with a Pontifical Encyclical from His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians and was honored with the prestigious St. Nerses Shnorhali Medal in recognition of his years of support of the Armenian American community. The Senator received the honor on April 27th during a reception held at the headquarters of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church in Burbank.
Western Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian bestowed the medal, with public officials, friends, and representatives of Armenian organizations in attendance. Senator Portantino is the first non-Armenian in the Western Diocese to receive St. Nerses Shnorhali Medal.
“I am humbled to receive this special honor and grateful to have the privilege and opportunity to be part of the spiritual center of the Armenian community,” stated Senator Portantino. “I have always been proud to represent this vibrant constituency in our state’s capitol and I cherish the deep connection I have with my Armenian neighbors and friends.”
Sen. Portantino and his wife, Ellen, with Arch. Derderian, Diocese clergy and officials
“State Senator Anthony Portantino has been a close friend of the Armenian community whose support and dedication has been immensely appreciated by the members of the Armenian community of North America,” stated Archbishop Derderian.
“Additionally, being an advocate of the Armenian cause, he has earned the respect and love of our brothers and sisters in Armenia and Artsakh. I personally have witnessed his genuine respect for our faith, history, and culture, which should be regarded as a gift to our community. Since my arrival to the West Coast, I have witnessed his active engagement on many levels to bring to the Angelenos his steadfast services and utmost regard for all people. The one and perhaps the most important characteristic which should be underlined is his humility which has inspired us all. What has also empowered us tremendously is his dedication to his family, which I certainly believe is the greatest gift he shares with us all,” added Arch. Derederian.
Armenian community leaders were on hand when Sen. Portantino was honored
Senator Portantino has been a steadfast supporter of the Armenian American community and the Armenian cause for decades. He has visited Armenia and Artsakh on a number of occasions. In 2021, Senator Portantino became the first state or federal official to visit Artsakh after the 44-day war. The Senator has also authored countless legislation and resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide and has been a strong proponent of including the Armenian Genocide as part of the state’s curriculum.
Senator Portantino continues to chair the Senate Select Committee on California, Armenia, and Artsakh Mutual Trade, Art, and Cultural Exchange, which was first established in 2017 at the request of Senator Portantino to expand business opportunities through trade, economic development, cultural awareness, and education between California, Armenia, and Artsakh. In 2019, he helped negotiate the historic Memorandum of Understanding between California and Armenia, which established the California Armenian Trade & Services Desk in Yerevan. Senator Portantino has also been instrumental in securing state financial support for the Armenian American Museum in Glendale.
The democracies in Russia’s ally states helping the Kremlin in a war against Ukraine have started to look more like Putin-kleptocracy.
It seems as though the regional rulers had been waiting for a military invasion. While their Kremlin allies were getting ready for a full-scale invasion, a campaign for persecution of political opponents, which is after their own local civil activists and independent media, kicked off in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia.
Media are being attacked in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
The curtailment of civil liberties started in Central Asia. Later it continued in the Caucasus.
Here’s the most recent example. Thursday, April 27. The court in Kyrgyzstan rendered a judgment to close the editorial office of Azattyk Media, the local office of Radio Liberty.
“These violations reflect the process of establishing a new hierarchy in the country in the realm of truth – when the government discourse turns out to be higher than the law, ” said Jeanne Caveiler, head of the European and Central Asian department of Reporters Without Borders, in response to the persecution of journalists.
Earlier an unprecedented pressure on the local media began in Kazakhstan. They were persecuted by law enforcement authorities, and there were also attempts to discredit local journalists.
Russian laws are copied in Georgia
Rulers of the Kremlin-allied countries, as though emulating Putin’s regime in Russia, occasionally copy Russian laws. In 2022 the fashion to emulate the Kremlin’s method of revenge against opponents, has covered Caucasus too.
For instance, it was only after mass rallies in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, in early 2023, that the authorities were compelled to cancel their decision to adopt the law of the “foreign agent” similar to the Russian one.
False democracy in the Armenian way
The Armenian ruling political elite can easily be called by far the most sophisticated authority, disguising the hunt for political opponents as pro-western slogans.
Armenian leaders as well as many other Kremlin’s allies still get handshakes in the EU. They keep traveling freely around Europe in motorcades with sirens. In the meantime, as Ukrainian media pointed out earlier, Armenia still continues to provide an economic background for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Armenia is eagerly helping the Russian Federation to evade Western sanctions imposed as a result of aggression against Ukraine. It is not only about delivering supplies to civilians, but also hardware for Russian military industry.
In the meantime, articles claiming that the Armenian Republic is the only democracy in the Caucasus are being spread among English-language versions of news websites. In its “unique” capacity it is contrasted with “Azerbaijani dictatorship”.
Among such reports, one article stands out. It was posted on April 29 on the Armenian website past.am , which has the reputation of a media outlet with the most reliable sources of information. The article points out: “Not only does Armenia expect statements from western and international organisations, but it also waits for practical measures to be taken intended to help the only democracy in the Caucasus against the dictatorial Azerbaijan”.
As Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated “Democracy is the main international brand in Armenia, the key factor of preservation of national sovereignty”.
Such articles are aimed at the western reader oblivious of the local realities. These are propagandist materials designed to fix the image of the republic after many Western and Eastern European media reported the pre-eminent role of Armenia in Russia-Iran alliance in the recent weeks, and the illegal import of equipment including that used for military purposes, into the Russian Federation.
One example is the website of the Ukrainian channel Ми – Україна which said on April 4: “Not only does Armenia serve as a big hub for shipment of sanctioned products into Russia and a base of military and technical supply of aggression against Ukraine, but also as a military and logistic support of the Russian-Iranian alliance.
The image was stained, so much so that on April 14, UKnewspaper The Telegraph called on the West to “toughen the relationships with Yerevan”.
The allegations about the uniqueness of the Armenian democracy are an equivalent to attempts made by Pashinyan since the start of the war to demonstrate the US and the EU its reorientation to the West. However, according to the European and American media, Yerevan keeps a close military strategic partnership with Moscow and Tehran.
The same goes for “the democracy”. The statements by many Armenian politicians and NGOs, as well as numerous facts, indicate that Armenia continues to be an Eastern autocracy, which is strenuously hiding behind modernist civility. But Armenians are not to blame for that.
In a matter of only 30 years, it is impossible to change the foundation of the traditional society and the mentality, which have been formed for centuries, since throughout almost its entire history Armenia was part of despotic Asian empires. Besides, there is a great impact of Putin’s totalitarianism and the Ayatollah dictatorship – Yerevan’s main strategic partners.
Here are some examples of degradation of democracy in Armenia. In a joint statement in May 2022, eighteen non-governmental organizations of Armenia accused the authorities of “nullifying all the positive tendencies in strengthening the re-emerging democratic foundations and development of electoral institutions”.
Yerevan persecuting political opponents
In July 2022, the chairman of the coordination council of Armenia organizations of France, Murad Papazyan stated that the government of Armenia violates “the fundamental principles of the rule of law, the presumption of innocence and the freedom of speech”.
Another politician, an MP for the Hayastan faction in the Armenian Parliament, Vahe Hakobyan said in November 2022 that “unfortunately, today Nikol Pashinyan managed to have the entire law enforcement system on a string… We are living in a dictatorship”. He was echoed by the lawyer of the chairman of the Republican party of Armenia, Ruben Melikyan, who spoke of “sheer lawlessness and overt political persecution in the country, which had pronounced itself the bastion of democracy”.
In April 2023, the chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on protection of human rights and public affairs, Taguhi Tovmasyan stated “Every day the government deceives the international community claiming that Armenia is a democratic country”.
Facts about the ‘unique democracy’ in Armenia
August 2021. NGO “For the fourth estate” issued a statement about the oppression of the media by intelligence agencies.
November 2021. Artur Vanetsyan, chairman of the parliamentary opposition alliance “I Have Honour” announced that Pegasus spyware had been embedded in his phone.
April 2022. Secretary of the same faction Aik Mamidjanyan said that it had been a year since the authorities “were trying to install virus spyware on my phone”. Media expert Artur Papanyan described such episodes as “the use of cyber weapons to impede legitimate democratic processes”.
May 2022. The National Security Service detained opposition producer Armen Grigoryan. A week later, former MP Gevorg Petrosyan called him “the classic political prisoner”. In another two months Grigoryan passed away in a court room.
July 2022. The National Security Service banned entry into the country to Murad Papazyan, the co-chairman of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), as an “unwanted person”. This is what he said on the subject: “My presence at the protest rally against Pashynyan in Paris on June 1 2021 and its organization is the reason for the ban”.
August 2022. The National Security Service banned entry into the country of an Armenian activist from the Netherlands, Masis Abramyan. He called it “a display of retaliation by Nikol Pashynyan for rallies and demonstrations we have organized”.
January 2023. The chairman of the Central Office of the French Youth Union “ARF New Generation” Ndzhe Garagavoryan was banned from entering Armenia as an “unwanted person”.
In the course of 2022, a total of 184 violations of media and journalists’ rights were registered.
There is a plethora of such facts. Listing every one of them would take up too much space. That is why we picked out the most characteristic ones. They speak volumes.
The authorities are using classic authoritarian methods of pressure and persecution of the opposition, independent journalists and human rights activists, in particular of those who represent the interests of minorities. The listed facts and quotes by Armenian politicians clearly and explicitly reveal the false nature of the statements about “the single democracy in the Caucasus”.
We emphasise once again: In order to demonstrate the falsehood of the Armenian side, the media outlet Past was chosen as a source at the beginning of the article. Past has the reputation of one of “the most trustworthy sources” in the country. The fact that the text was published in English indicates that the target audience of the propagandist material is none other than the West.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez sat down for an interview last week with Asbarez Editor Ara Khachatourian.
Soto-Martinez, who represents the 13th Council District, was elected in November.
During the short time that he has served on the City Council, Soto-Martinez has joined Council President Paul Krekorian in advancing a motion to condemn Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh and call on Baku to immediately open the Lachin Corridor.
Reflecting on the situation in Artsakh, Soto-Martinez said that his life-long advocacy for human rights prompted him to advance the measure and believes that preserving human rights and the Armenians right to self-determination in Artsakh must be advanced on local, state and federal levels.
Engaging and empowering the Armenian constituents in CD 13 is part of his broader agenda of ensuring participation by all residents in the political process, Soto-Martinez told Khachatourian.
To that end, his priorities have been to address the homelessness situation, which Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency upon assuming office. Soto-Martinez said that he and his office are working closely with the mayor to ensure that her plan of action is applied to CD 13. These include providing mental health care as well drug counseling to the unhoused.
Soto-Martinez said that he is also tackling the issue of affordable housing in the district and explained the steps he has taken to ensure that the district has a say in future city development plans and projects.
The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.
Last December, during a meeting of Princeton’s Armenian Society, I received shocking news: I discovered that I have a distant cousin on campus. A Turkish student, who has chosen to remain anonymous, revealed to me that our shared ancestry, uncovered by a genetics test and a shared cousin, can be traced back to Malatya, Turkey, where my great-grandfather and his extensive family once lived. My great-grandfather, Stepan, his younger sister, Hripsime, and his two other lost siblings were the only four of 86 to survive an attempt at mass genocide. My deceased relatives were among the 1.5 million Armenians who fell victim to the Ottoman sanction orders of forced deportations and genocide.
More than 100 years later, the denial of the Armenian genocide continues. Princeton’s Department of Near Eastern Studies (NES) has some faculty that do not explicitly acknowledge the genocide. Princeton needs to choose a better path.
As a descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors, I carry the weight of generational trauma. It’s been 108 years since my ancestors witnessed and endured the brutal rape and mutilation of their families, were stripped of all their possessions, and forced to march hundreds of miles through the scorching Syrian Desert. Even today, genocide is an ever-present reality in my life, made more evident by the discovery of a long-lost cousin of mine on campus. To me, this reunion is a constant reminder that just over a century ago, there was an attempt to wipe my people off the face of the earth.
And today, the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War has awakened the same fear Armenians faced a century ago. Some call the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of the Armenian enclave, where 120,000 people remain without essential living supplies, another attempt at mass ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Despite the overwhelming evidence by world-renowned researchers and scholars like the Turkish scholars Taner Akçam and Raphael Lemkin (who coined the word “genocide” in 1944, citing the Armenian case as a primary example), Turkey continues to deny the atrocities that were sanctioned under the Young Turks. Yet, as of 2023, governments and parliaments of 34 countries — including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, and the United States — have formally recognized the Armenian Genocide.
As students, we may not have the power to change the policies of foreign governments, but we can ensure that denialist rhetoric does not infiltrate Princeton’s campus and curriculum. And unfortunately, as an Armenian student at Princeton, I do not feel comfortable taking classes in the Near Eastern Department, knowing that some faculty continue to reject the idea that the mass deportations of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 were a centrally planned and executed genocide. It baffles me that faculty members at one of the world’s leading universities deny the validity of a traumatic historical event that eradicated almost my entire family and millions of Armenians in the early 20th century.
Princeton’s Near Eastern Department is notorious among Armenians. In 1996, a New York Times article exposed links between large payments of the Turkish Government and the appointment of Professor Emeritus Heath Lowry, a genocide denialist, as the Chair of Princeton’s Near Eastern Department. Professor Emeritus Bernard Lewis, another notable historian of Turkey and Middle Eastern Studies, and a peer of Lowry at Princeton’s Near Eastern Department, refused to call the atrocities a genocide — he said there was a lack of evidence in the Ottoman archives. Lewis was also censured by a civil proceeding in the French Court for “failing in his duty of objectivity and prudence” in regard to an interview he gave to Le Monde, where he denied all evidence that the Ottomans’ slaughter of the Armenians constituted genocide.
However, most scholars across the country such as Richard G. Hovhannisian and Israel Charny, rely on the ample supply of primary sources documenting the atrocities, such as Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s diary entries, eyewitnesses and personal testimonies, U.S. and French Archives, and German Foreign Office correspondence as their among many other sources as their primary sources of evidence. Akçam published the groundbreaking book “Killing Orders,” analyzing Talaat Pasha, Minister of Interior and later Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, and Ottoman officer Naim Efendi’s correspondence outlining the killing orders issued by Talaat. His sources draw upon archival material from Krikor Gergerian’s collection of Ottoman government documents.
Despite decades of research and analysis on this issue and several countries’ recognition, including the United States, current faculty, such as Michael Reynolds in Princeton’s NES Department, contest evidence proving the large-scale deportations and massacres were a genocide decreed by CUP leaders. Even Šükrü Hanioğlu, another scholar and Chair of Princeton’s NES Department, who has not explicitly recognized the extent of the horror has avoided the use of the word “genocide.” Hanioğlu has called the deportations of the Armenians “the most tragic event of the war,” and in another instance, in his book published in 2011, he described America’s anti-Turkish stance as “sympathy for the sufferings of the Ottoman Armenians” (90). While calling the events “tragic” and a “suffering,” Hanioğlu has not labeled the events as a systematic genocide.
As a leading academic institution, Princeton is responsible for fostering an environment of intellectual honesty and scholarly rigor. This means acknowledging the historical facts, and recognizing what the International Association of Genocide Scholars and Center for International Truth and Justice have cited and recognized as genocide. Denying the Armenian Genocide undermines the integrity of the academic community and is a disservice to the victims and their descendants.
By formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Princeton can set an example for other institutions and individuals. It can demonstrate its commitment to academic freedom and intellectual honesty, and show solidarity with the Armenian community and other past (Jews, Cambodian, Kurds, Rawandans, Bosnia/Kosovo) and present-day (Rohingya, Uyghurs, Ukraine, Darfur) victims of mass ethnic cleansing and genocide.
As an Armenian student at Princeton, I ask that the NES Department takes concrete steps to address this issue. This includes offering courses that accurately reflect the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide, ensuring that faculty members do not minimize the atrocity, and inviting scholars specializing in Armenian studies to teach at Princeton.
Recognizing the Armenian Genocide is not just a moral imperative but also an intellectual one, we can only learn from history and build a better future by acknowledging the truth. As a community, we must work towards creating an environment that values truth and justice, and we must ensure that the horrors of the past are never repeated and that denial of such an atrocity does not set a precedent for the enabling of other genocides. I strongly urge the NES Department and Princeton University to take action and create a safe environment where intellectual honesty — rather than denialist conspiracy — is upheld.
Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian is a sophomore from Yerevan, Armenia, and Red Bank, N.J. She can be reached at [email protected].
As frankincense and myrrh wafted through the chilly evening air, young children, working parents and the elderly gathered below an old oak in their churchyard to listen to a prayer for the dead.
The Rev. Hratch Sargsyan stood in front of the roughly 75 worshippers and, speaking in a mix of English and old Armenian, conducted a service for the victims of a genocide that began 108 years ago on this past Monday.
Azniv Torosov, 79, a grandmother of three from Pickerington, teared up. She said that when her mother was 7, she witnessed Torosov’s grandfather being murdered before she fled what is today Turkey and settled in Azerbaijan, where Torosov was born.
Almost everyone in the congregation seemed to have a similar story of a family member killed in the Armenian genocide, during which Ottoman authorities orchestrated the deaths of between 664,000 and 1.5 million people. April 24 is observed as a day of remembrance by the Armenian diaspora around the world.
“The reason we remember, and we demand recognition and reparations, is because if genocide is denied, genocide continues. It happened to us. It happened to Jewish people. It happened in Rwanda,” Sargsyan told the crowd.
Congregants bowed in front of a six-foot tall cross-stone known as a khachkar, bedecked with bouquets of carnations and tulips, then filed inside for dinner in the basement of the St. James Episcopal Church in Clintonville, which shares space with the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church.
The local congregation has about 120 Armenian American families, according to Sargsyan.
Although the Turkish government disputes the use of the term “genocide,” historians have reached broad consensus that that is what happened during the last throes of the Ottoman Empire. The Young Turk government viewed with suspicion Armenians — a Christian ethnic minority in a Muslim-majority state — and feared they would rebel in alliance with Russia during World War I.
The purge began on April 24, 1915, when the government ordered Armenian intellectuals to leave Istanbul, and continued as between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenians were killed in massacres or forced-marches into the desert, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first American president to recognize the genocide; he put the dead at 1.5 million.
“The historical record on the Armenian Genocide is unambiguous and documented by overwhelming evidence. It is proven by foreign office records of the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia, and perhaps most importantly, of Turkey’s World War I allies,” according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, a non-partisan organization of researchers.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a NATO ally, claims that the casualty figures are wildly exaggerated. Turkey has prosecuted writers who have dared to use the term “genocide.”
Armenian survivors fled what is today Turkey to Armenia and elsewhere in the Middle East, Europe and North America. In the U.S., the largest community is in California, according to the Armenian consulate.
Columbus’ Armenian community began to grow after Keteon Ares Menendian, an Armenian immigrant, began a local carpet business in 1910, according to Ohannes Tchobanian, 86, a retired engineer who lives in Clintonville.
Tchobanian said more Armenians like himself came to Franklin County in the following decades, attracted by jobs and studies at Ohio State University — especially after the fall of the Soviet Union, to which Armenia belonged until 1991.
David Krikorian, 54, a small business owner from Cincinnati, said Turkey’s continuing denial of the genocide is frustrating.
“Can you imagine a Germany today that denied that the Holocaust happened?” he said. “The simple act of denying the genocide is one of the stages of genocide.”
To spread awareness among youth, Krikorian recently co-authored “Operation Nemesis,” a graphic novel about the events of 1915-16, copies of which he distributed on Monday evening.
Like several other congregants, Krikorian also expressed concern over the simmering conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed territory that Armenia and Azerbaijan fought two wars over — most recently in 2020.
As congregants dined in the church basement on spanakopita, grape leaves and meatballs, Hagop Mekhjian, 85, gave a speech in which he recalled growing up in exile in Aleppo, Syria.
“In my pre-teen years, my father made absolutely sure I went to western Syria, to see the piles of skulls of people who had died in the desert, because of the genocide. I came home sad and cried” said Mekhjian, a retired doctor and OSU professor emeritus who lives in Upper Arlington. “As I grew older, I overcame my sadness. And today, (April 24) is a joyous occasion — it’s a celebration, it’s a miracle that we’re here…. Don’t don’t forget the past. Learn and apply the lessons for the future.”
Before the event wrapped up, Sarah Khatcherian Milo, 44, of Dublin, performed a traditional Armenian folk song. The song, “Armenian News,” is about a crane — a common bird in Armenia — that visits a wanderer in exile.
Khatcherian, a professional opera singer, said it evokes nostalgia and the processing of grief. She translated the lines as:
“Oh crane, where are you coming from?
I am thirsty for your voice.
Do you have any news from our homeland?
You did not answer me and flew away,
Oh crane, fly away from our land.”
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
@pitaarji
Azerbaijan has said it set up a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Armenia and the Karabakh enclave.
Sunday’s checkpoint is the first set up by Azerbaijan since the latest war ended in 2020 with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
“The units of the Azerbaijani Border Service established a border checkpoint on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan at the entrance of the Lachin-Khankendi road,” the state border service said, adding it was a response to a similar move by Armenia.
Tensions between the countries further rose following the announcement with Armenia claiming that such a checkpoint violates the 2020 ceasefire agreement.
Armenia’s defence ministry said Sunday that one of its soldiers was killed by an Azerbaijani sniper near the border, but Azerbaijan denied the claim and separately reported that its soldiers had come under fire from Armenia in another part of the border area.
Baku and Yerevan went to war in 2020 and in the 1990s over Karabakh.
Under the ceasefire that ended the 2020 conflict, Azerbaijan is required to guarantee safe passage on the Lachin corridor, which is patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.
‘Transferring firepower’
Azerbaijan said it set up the checkpoint at 0800 GMT (12:00 pm local time) on Sunday “to prevent the illegal transportation of manpower, weapons, mines.”
The foreign ministry accused Yerevan of using the corridor for the rotation of army staff, “the transfer of weapons and ammunition, entrance of terrorists, as well as illicit trafficking of natural resources and cultural property.”
It said on Saturday it recorded military convoys entering Azerbaijan’s territory and “the construction of military infrastructure… at the point closest to the territory of Azerbaijan.”
The checkpoint was built “in light of these threats and provocations” and “shall be implemented in interaction with the Russian peacekeeping force.”
Tensions had been brewing around the Lachin corridor since last year.
In December, Azerbaijani activists blocked the Lachin corridor to protest what they say was illegal mining.
Yerevan accused Baku of staging the demonstrations and creating a humanitarian crisis in the mountainous enclave. It has also accused Russia, embroiled in its Ukraine offensive, of failing to prevent the blockade.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope for the soon opening of the Armenian-Turkish border.
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“I hope that the Armenian-Turkish border will open soon and there will be a basis for neighborly, natural relations,” Pashinyan said, speaking in parliament.
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According to him, for this it is important to implement the agreement on opening the land border for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports over the coming months.
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There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993 at the initiative of Ankara. Difficult relations between the countries are caused by a number of circumstances related, in particular, to Turkey’s sharp reaction to the process of international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
17:16,
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS. Russia hopes that Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign a peace treaty as soon as possible and is making efforts in this direction, Chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia Valentina Matviyenko said at a press briefing following the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly session in St. Petersburg.
“Russia has done everything possible and continues doing everything possible in order for a peace treaty to be signed as soon as possible. We hope that this will happen as soon as possible,” TASS quoted Matviyenko as saying.
Armenian Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan and his Azeri counterpart Sahiba Gafarova also participated in the press briefing.