Author: Emil Karabekian

Asbarez – Citizens concerned about the safety of Garo Paylan, a member of the Turkish Parliament who has come under violent attack due to his Armenian identity and the free expression of his views, can now call upon the State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch to speak out in his defense, using the Armenian National Committee of America’s dedicated portal: .

Videos of attacks on Mr. Paylan, in the Turkish Parliament and Constitutional Commission, have gone viral, and have been featured on major media outlets.With one click, advocates can write to Tom Malinowski, State Department Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Ken Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; and Margaret Huang, Interim Executive Director of Amnesty International – USA. In their letters addressed to these three officials, supporters of Garo Paylan’s safety call for “public alarms” to be raised over the escalating threats and acts of violence directed against him. The letters specifically call for a forthright condemnation of those who seek to intimidate and incite hatred against Paylan.

Earlier this week, the ANCA called upon U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass to publicly voice official U.S. concern regarding the safety of Garo Paylan. In the May 3rd letter, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian compared Paylan’s persecution to that of noted Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was gunned down in broad daylight in 2007. “Prior to his [Dink’s] cold-blooded murder, the ANCA had called for an open expression of U.S. concern for his safety. Sadly, none was forthcoming. The only public words raised in his defense were those eulogizing him after his death,” noted Hamparian.

Mr. Kocharyan, how would you comment on the fact, that the Azerbaijani president awarded and had a photo with the Azerbaijani soldier, who, according to the Azerbaijani news sites, days ago was demonstratively depicted on a photo with the cut off head of Qyaram Sloyan, serviceman of the  NKR Defense Army

“While the international community fights against barbaric actions of terrorist groups, Azerbaijan, a country which is considered a subject of the international law, carries out actions of the same inhumane style,” Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

The comments come after Azerbaijani president awarded and had a photo with the Azerbaijani soldier, who, according to the Azerbaijani news sites, days ago was demonstratively depicted on a photo with the cut off head of Karam Sloyan, serviceman of the NK Defense Army.

“Encouragement of crimes of such kind by the highest state level, is not new for Azerbaijan. Ramil Safarov, who axe-murdered the Armenian soldier in his sleep in Budapest and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hungarian Court, was released by the president of Azerbaijan right after being extradited to Baku in 2012, and then awarded and glorified,” Shavarsh Kocharyan said in comments to Armenpress.

“Targeted bombardment of schools, during which schoolchildren were killed and injured, torturing and tormenting to death the elderly people, mutilation of bodies of captured NK servicemen during the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in early April, proves that Azerbaijan has adopted a policy of perpetration of terror acts and crimes against humanity, encouraged and guided on state level,” he said.

“While the international community fights against barbaric actions of terrorist groups, Azerbaijan, a country which is considered a subject of the international law, carries out actions of the same inhumane style,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

Turkey has warned the Bundestag not to condemn the  annihilation of Armenians by Turkey as genocide, reports.

“It is not the role of national parliaments to judge history,”Turkish Ambassador to Germany Hüseyin Avni Karslioglu told the Düsseldorf-based Rheinische Post.

The Ambasaador said “the genocide is a legal concept defined by the Geneva Convention and it’s only up to international courts to rule on the issue.”

“It is questionable whether the Bundestag will contribute to normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia with a resolution in which the events are called genocide,” Karslioglu said.

Rather, he said, “the two nations should be encouraged to cooperate with regard to this tragic period of history” and pointed to Ankara’s offer to form a commission of historians.

The German on June 2, according to an agreement reached in April between the Greens and the government.

The ruling coalition, the Left and the Alliance90/Green Parties have reached an agreement to call the 1915 events “genocide.”

The Spanish cities of Carcaixent, Alaquas and Elda officially recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide on April 27-28.

All political forces represented in the City Council of Carcaixent unanimously adopted an institutional statement.

Representatives of the People’s Party and Ciudadanos abstained during the voting at Alaquas City Hall.

In Elda the Ciudadanos Party was the only force opposing the resolution.

The sittings in the three cities were attended by representatives of the Armenian community, who expressed their gratitude to the City Councils.

On 2 April 2016, Defense Army of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic downed an Azerbaijani Air Force Mi-24G attack helicopter, which was carrying out a combat flight during the military aggression of Azerbaijan against the NKR. The following has been collected from the crash site of the downed helicopter:

–       flight maps;

–       pilot tablets;

–       user manual for night vision equipment;

–       personal notebook of one of the pilots;

–       VHF ACR500-A 30-420 MHz radio;

–       ARK-U2 automatic radio compass;

–       – SARPP-12 flight data recorder with a cassette;

–      –  part of the helmet-mounted night vision device;

–       – 10 links with eight 20 mm cannon shells;

–       – optoelectronic module with a gyro-stabilized platform.

The analysis of data from the seized property (flight documentation) revealed that:

1. between 31 March and 1 April 2016, the downed Mi-24G as part of a squadron flew from Baku “Kala” air base to “Zhdanovsk” with a stopover at “Kyurdamir” air base;
2. the route and the specified targets on the flight map indicate that the crew was tasked to attack targets in the territory of NKR, at a depth of three to ten kilometers from the Line of Contact;
3. according to the flight map, an advanced landing ground had been prepared to reduce the time for aircrafts to go into combat;
4. in the area of mount Lyalya Ilyagi, a grid was applied with the possible directions of aviation spotters’ work with a group of army aviation helicopters;
5. the total duration of flight of the downed helicopter is about three hours;
6. objective control data contain records of three separate flights, including the last one.

The NKR Defense Ministry earlier provided this information to the Ministry of Defense of Armenia to introduce it to military attaches of foreign countries accredited in Yerevan.

According to radar reconnaissance of the NKR air defense forces, during the 4-day aggression up to 60 aircraft-flights of the Azerbaijani armed forces were recorded, of which 40 with the use of various types of weapons on the positions of the NKR Defense Army. This is confirmed by the analysis of the armaments, technical equipment, flight maps, pilot`s notebook, as well as the transcript of the SARPP-12 data found at the crash site of the Mi-24G. In the first 12 hours of aggression by the Azerbaijani armed forces, 40 army aviation helicopters were involved.

The actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces, as well as the documents seized from the downed Mi-24G show that the 4-day military aggression of Azerbaijan against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was planned in advance by the Azerbaijani leadership.

George Clooney, Co-Chair of the ‪‎Aurora Prize‬ Selection Committee,  visited the Ararat Legendary Armenian Brandy factory today together with 100 LIVES Co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan.

In the evening of April 24, Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Aurora Prize Selection Committee Co-Chair, George Clooney, will present the $100,000 grant to the inaugural Aurora Prize Laureate.

The Laureate will then invite his or her nominated organization(s) to the stage to receive the $1 million award.

On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Prize celebrates the strength of the human spirit that compels action is the face of adversity.

The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually on April 24 of each year in Yerevan, Armenia.

Armenia has improved its media freedom ranking and is currently placed 74th in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index released by the Reporters Without Borders.

Other countries in the region are placed as follows: Russia – 148th, Georgia – 64th, Turkey – 151^st, Azerbaijan – 163^rd, Iran – 196th.

The 2016 World Press Freedom Index reflects the intensity of the attacks on journalistic freedom and independence by governments, ideologies and private-sector interests during the past year.

Seen as a benchmark throughout the world, the Index ranks 180 countries according to the freedom allowed journalists.

Three north European countries head the rankings. They are Finland (ranked 1st, the position it has held since 2010), Netherlands (2nd, up 2 places) and Norway (3rd, down 1).

At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, in last place, were the worst performers.

The Index is based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists in 180 countries.

The Index is not an indicator of the quality of the journalism in each country, nor does it rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking.

A memorial dedicated to the innocent victims of the genocide of Yazidis in Sinjar, Iraq, will be unveiled in downtown Yerevan on April 21 as part of the events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The monument will stand as a witness to the immortal spirit of the Yazidi people, their will to live and create, President of the Council of the Media – Shangal National Union of Yazidis NGO Amo Sharoyan told reporters today.

“We are a nation that has passed through genocide and survived. Although we cannot change the bloody past, we have to create a future void of such crimes,” Sharoyan quoted Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan as saying.

Fikret Igrek, President of the exile Council of Sinjar noted that genocide continues in the 21^st century. “Islamists massacred and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in august 2014,” he said.

Speaking about the recent escalation in the Karabakh conflict zone, Tamaz Mhoi, President of the Federation of Yazidis of France, said they condemn the Azerbaijani policy.

“On behalf of the Federation of Yazidis of France, we have sent a letter to the Azerbaijani Embassy, urging them to stop the war. We sent the letter on April 3, but have not received any response by now,” he said.

Photos by Karl Mancini, Gianmarco Maraviglia

In light of the recent aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan, Newsweelk presents the life of young people in Nagorno Karabakh’s capital Stepanakert. Excerpts from the article are provided below:

Many of Karabakh’s residents are given frequent reminders of a war they are too young to recall. Yet despite the harsh and fickle realities of the nearby frontline, they continue to dream and find ways to have fun.

There are not many signs of nightlife in Karabakh for teens and 20-somethings even in the capital of Stepanakert, by far the most populous and developed settlement in the aspiring republic. To those looking for a night out, Stendhal Club is the only disco opened until late in the city. Others prefer to meet at home or in restaurants.

Parts of Stepanakert, which stands around 20 kilometers from the contact line with Azerbaijan, have been rebuilt since the war. “The situation and city is quite dark,” Gianmarco Maraviglia, one of the two photographers behind our gallery says. “The frontline is very close and the people know it.” Other towns around such as Shushi, where little to no rebuilding has happened, bear the scars of war even more heavily.

Lika Zaqaryan is a political science major at Stepanakert’s Artsakh State University, where she is also prima ballerina in the ballet troupe. She knows opportunities lead abroad but she says she will always return to Karabakh.

“I want to go to another country to improve my education but when I do that I don’t want to stay there,” Zaqaryan says. “I want to come back and live here in Nagorno Karabakh. I hope it will be a peaceful Republic of Nagorno Karabakh or maybe a part of the Republic of Armenia.”

She says everyone worries about their brothers, fathers or grandfathers in the military but hopes the “problems with Azerbaijan on the border” can be resolved.

Grigor Khagramanyan, 13, has his sights on traveling the world. “I’d like to go to Iran. I’d like to see their carpets,” he says, looking on from his school window. “And Singapore, to see their many high buildings. Maybe South Africa will be good,” he says. “I have one friend, his father is working in the army, he’s a general. He wants to be like his father, I know.” Grigor himself says he has heard a lot about the army from his friend. He says it is “interesting.”

Knar Babayan, a photographer and journalist, is old enough to remember the violence of the late 1980s and so proud that she has had the chance to leave Karabakh and returned. “I studied here, then moved to Yerevan and I also had a chance to study in Georgia. I was also abroad to participate in workshops,” she says. “Every time I come back my friends ask me ‘Really you don’t want to leave Karabakh?’”

“I found that I could not live more than 10 days away from home,” she laughs. “One of my lecturers told me I am lucky because at my age I understand that I have a home.”

Wealthy benefactors from the Armenian diaspora have helped finance a handful of venues in Karabakh to help better the lives of the young and their career prospects. A small new soccer field has been built in central Stepanakert, where children can play. For those whose minds are more tech-geared, Stepanakert has also opened the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies.

The center is modeled after projects in Armenia, and it allows children develop skills in art and computer science, with a well stocked inventory of digital resources. The center is open free of charge to any under-18s and its sister-centers in Armenia have already established three startups.

Gohar Aushar, an aspiring filmmaker at the Tumo center in Stepanakert, says she would like to hone her craft abroad, but her inspiration will “always be Karabakh and Stepanakert.”

“I think a documentary would be a good idea,” she says. “Our country has a lot of history and I think other countries should know about it. I would like to film a story about our historical memorials and shoot Tigranakert.”

“I think there is no difference between Armenians and Karabakhis because we are one nation,” she says.

System of A Down’s Serj Tankian calls for donations to the families of deceased soldiers in Armenia and Artsakh.

“As you can see families of deceased soldiers in Armenia and Artsakh are economically disadvantaged to carry on. It is for this reason that I have decided to donate to this amazing non-profit organization called the Paros Foundation, who donate 100% of the proceeds directly to the affected families. I encourage those who want to contribute to do so to them,” Tankian said in a Facebook post.

“And to all the Azeri trolls paid handsomely by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Offense who have been frequenting my page, I want you to know that I really love my ban and delete buttons smile emoticon,” Serj Tankian added.

The Paros Foundation has launched a Hero Support Fund to raise funds and provide them to the families of our deceased heroes. The goal is to provide a minimum of $1,000 to every hero’s family.

“100% of donation will be used to support this project without any administrative costs. Funds will be distributed as quickly as possible to the grieving families of these heroes,” Paros says.