Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

CivilNet: Hadrut: Was it possible to prevent the fall?

October 19, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

CIVILNET.AM

19 Oct, 2021 09:10

On the one year anniversary of the fall of Hadrut during the Second Karabakh War, CivilNet Artsakh correspondent Hayk Ghazaryan spoke with the city’s Mayor, Vahan Savadyan, in Stepanakert. An excerpt from that conversation has been translated into English.

Background

The city of Hadrut is located within the boundaries of the Hadrut region in the southern part of Karabakh. The region is one part of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) that is currently under Azerbaijani control. Although the city fell in October of 2020, the rest of the region was captured by Azerbaijani Armed Forces in December 2020, weeks after the signing of the November 10 Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement.

—

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): On which day exactly did Hadrut fall?

Mayor Vahan Savadyan: I would that it is not so important. On October 10, [2020], at around 11, AM the enemy entered Hadrut. After that day’s battles, we came out wounded. And on October 11, another group went to Hadrut, to the administration building, composed of the head of the administration, the head of the Hadrut National Security Service, and a number of citizens and servicemen. By then, the southern part of Hadrut, on the other side of the river, was already under the complete control of the enemy. They remained in Hardut for about an hour but it was impossible to resist because the enemy had stationed large numbers of troops in the area.

It was not possible to take any action with such a small group. Of course, they tried, but it wasn’t possible. The boys were wounded and had to leave. Some seven or eight people from that group were from our region. Others were from the special detachments of the National Security Services. There were other servicemen as well. I cannot specify their exact number since I was not there. I was injured on October 10. But there were about 30-40 of them.

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): If a proper defense was organized, do you think it would have been possible to defend Hadrut, or would the adversary have broken them eventually?

Mayor Vahan Savadyan: Of course, it would have been possible. Anyone who has been to Hadrut before October 10 will agree with me that it was possible to defend the city if the defense was organized properly. But no organization took place. For example, our boys, the head of the National Security Service, the head of the administration, his deputy․․․ There were many people who tried to organize and defend Hadrut. But it was not enough. The army should have immediately․․․ It is after all the 21st century. It’s not 1991. We shouldn’t have had to organize detachments with each of us attempting to organize something in one direction or another. This was a serious war. We had to prepare rigorously, which we did not do.

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): Why didn’t anyone announce the fall of Hadrut? Why were we deceiving ourselves?

Mayor Vahan Savadyan: Meaning, to announce on the 10th or 11th of October that Hadrut had really fallen?

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): On the 14th or 15th at least․․․

Mayor Vahan Savadyan: To be honest, there was such chaos that I wasn’t following the news. In general, I didn’t follow the news during this war, because I didn’t have that opportunity. Yes, people would call and inform [us] of various news. I didn’t know who was saying what. Who was lying or not. I was injured on October 10 and was moved to Yerevan. I returned two days later to the villages of Hadrut. There was no one there, there was no media to approach and ask me that question. No one asked about the situation in Hadrut, whether it was in our control or in [Azerbaijani control].

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): How many people from Hadrut currently live in Artsakh and in Armenia? How many people had to migrate?

Mayor Vahan Savadyan I can give approximate data because I do not have specific information from the region. So, 30-35% of [Hadrut city’s] population currently lives in Artsakh – in Stepanakert, in Martakert, in different communities. The same percentage applies to the Hadrut region. The rest settled in different parts of Armenia. Unfortunately, some of them went abroad. Specifically, 200 people went abroad from the city of Hadrut. And this is ongoing. And roughly 1000 people went abroad from the whole region. We hear news of this every day․ What can people do?

Hayk Ghazaryan (CivilNet): What programs are being implemented in Artsakh to house the people from Hadrut? Do most of them live in hotels?

Mayor Vahan Savadyan: Yes, they live in hotels or they rent. The rents are expensive. The state, of course, does not provide that much, people try to make ends meet themselves. As for building housing… Yes, it is one problem to provide housing, and another problem to provide employment. Providing an apartment is not a complete solution to the problem. What will that person do? We can say that there is no agriculture, we do not have that much land, there is a lack of pastures and arable land. What should these people do? This is the most serious question. Before the housing construction works are completed, they will have to be given employment opportunities. Starting today.

Translation by Zara Poghosyan

Armenpress: 2nd Army Corps in charge of protecting Armenia’s eastern border ready to fulfill any objective, says deputy commander

October 18, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

2nd Army Corps in charge of protecting Armenia’s eastern border ready to fulfill any objective, says deputy commander

15:16,

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The situation at the eastern border of Armenia is peaceful and stable at the moment, and the recent military escalation in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact where an Azeri attack left 6 Armenian troops wounded did not impact the stability of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, Deputy Commander of the 2nd Army Corps of the Armenian Armed Forces Colonel Hayk Petrosyan told reporters at a military post.

Colonel Petrosyan, who is in charge of the military morale of the 2nd Army Corps, stressed that his troops are a combat-ready formation capable of fulfilling any military objective. He said that any adversary provocation will receive adequate assessment from the Armenian military.

“We are now located in one of the military positions of the army corps protection area where border protection is conducted. The combat position is being equipped, it’s already in the final phase, there are observation posts, firing positions where on-duty troops are observing the adversary’s movement with the purpose of assessing and controlling the nature of its potential actions,” Colonel Petrosyan said.

He said that the latest provocation against their positions took place on July 28, when Azerbaijani servicemen attacked a military position near Vardenis, but were repelled.

Nevertheless, he added, despite the post-war military-political situation and significant changes of the line of contact the Azerbaijani military’s conduct hasn’t changed.

“The adversary is the same adversary,” he said. “The 2nd Army Corps, which is deployed at this border, is a combat-ready formation capable of fulfilling any objective. This was proven during the military actions of the 44-day war. Particularly now the army corps is capable of neutralizing any adversary provocation,” the colonel said.

“As a seasoned military expert I can assure you that the adversary is evaluating the military formations and military bases which stand in front of it. If the adversary were to think that they could fulfill some kind of an objective they will definitely go for it. We are not allowing this, we will thwart it with relevant actions,” the colonel said.

Photos by Hayk Manukyan

Reporting by Aram Sargsyan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia vs Azerbaijan: Hearings at the UN International Court of Justice

October 18, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

Oct 17 2021

JAMnews

For two days in a row, on October 14-15, the UN International Court of Justice considered the demand for the application of urgent measures in the Armenia vs Azerbaijan lawsuit. Yerevan presented a demand that, prior to the consideration of the main claim, Azerbaijan should release the Armenian prisoners of war and held civilians, close the trophy park in Baku, stop inciting hatred and facts of vandalism against the Armenian historical and cultural heritage.

Armenia filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan to the UN International Court of Justice for violation of six articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on September 16. The plaintiff states that “Azerbaijan has subjected Armenians to racial discrimination for decades. During this time, the Armenians were subjected to systemic discrimination, massacres, torture and other humiliations”.

Azerbaijan stated that it would “resolutely defend itself” and submitted a counterclaim to the Hague Court.

The interests of Armenia in the UN International Court of Justice are represented by lawyer Yeghishe Kirakosyan. He is the representative of Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights. A group of international experts will protect the country’s interests. They have already presented to the Hague Court the main provisions of the urgent action requirements.

Accusations and demands of the Armenian side refuted by the Azerbaijani side.

Armenia filed a lawsuit against Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice for violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Lawyers representing Armenia claim that the lawsuit contains ample evidence of torture and humiliation of the dignity of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan.

One of the members of the expert group, Sean Murphy, said in court that even after the end of the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan continues to keep Armenian prisoners of war. He pointed out that Azerbaijan was obliged to return them both in accordance with international humanitarian norms and in accordance with a tripartite statement signed by President Aliyev in the fall of 2020.

The expert on international law assessed the failure to fulfill obligations to return the prisoners as “a manifestation of ethnic discrimination”.

Sean Murphy emphasized that the Armenian side provided the court with facts both about 45 prisoners, the content of which Azerbaijan confirms, and a full evidence base about those whose detention is not recognized.

He recalled that the Azerbaijani special forces captured Armenian soldiers in December last year near the villages of Khin Tager and Khtsaberd, although, according to a trilateral statement, “the Armenian side had no obligation to leave these two villages”.

The speaker presented to the judges evidence of torture of Armenian prisoners in Baku, spoke about publications proving that prisoners of war and held civilians were burned and tortured with electricity.

The lawyer presented to the court the video recordings of the murders and ill-treatment of Armenian prisoners. Some of them were disseminated on social networks by the servicemen of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces themselves.

“Today you can hear that all these prisoners of war are criminals, and their detention has nothing to do with ethnic cleansing [talks about the Azerbaijani objections expected after the statements of the Armenian side – JAMnews], while the facts testify specifically to ethnic cleansing.” , – said the expert.

Lawyers representing the interests of Armenia stressed that Azerbaijan is destroying Armenian cultural and religious monuments.

International law expert and legal adviser Pierre D’Arzhan, in particular, focused on the shelling of the Kazanchetsots cathedral during the 44-day war – twice a day:

“Armenians cannot feel safe in Nagorno-Karabakh, including in places sacred to them.”

According to the lawyer, although President Aliyev declared in September from the UN rostrum that Azerbaijan is a country of tolerance and peaceful coexistence for different peoples, the facts indicate the opposite:

“These facts show the real face of the ruling regime in Azerbaijan, a policy full of hatred, which is contrary to the convention.”

Another member of the expert group, Konstantinos Salonidis, stressed that the propaganda of hatred in Azerbaijan is carried out at the highest level and continues after the war. According to him, to be convinced of this, it is enough to listen to the speeches of President Aliyev.

The lawyer recalled the trophy park that opened in Baku in April 2021, where dummies of Armenian soldiers humiliating their dignity were displayed next to military equipment captured by the Azerbaijani side during the war.

Armenia’s Security Council Secretary: There will be no exchange of territories with Azerbaijan
Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia discuss Karabakh conflict

According to Yeghishe Kirakosyan, representing the interests of Armenia in the International Court of Justice, the group of lawyers managed to present the country’s position in the best way – with weighty facts, arguments and an impeccable evidence base.

“We are confident in the validity of all our demands and expect a fair decision,” Yeghishe Kirakosyan said.

Speaking at the Hague Court, he said that the Armenians were subjected to terrible ordeals, including genocide and massacres:

“The armed conflict, which, as President Aliyev himself openly acknowledged, started Azerbaijan in September 2020, is the latest link in this chain of ethnic violence and hatred. We fear that this will continue until the root causes of this conflict are eliminated. ”

According to the court hearing procedure, Azerbaijan presented its counterarguments. The speaker from the Azerbaijani side, Peter Goldsmith, expressed the opinion that Armenia’s demands should be rejected, since “Azerbaijan has fulfilled its obligations under the trilateral statement”:

“There are a limited number of Armenians in Azerbaijan who are accused or convicted of grave crimes.”

Azerbaijani representative in this case, Elnur Mammadov, denied accusations of racial discrimination, stating that the arguments of the Armenian side are incorrect.

He stated that the court should reject the claim of Armenia, and quoted the words of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that “ensuring ethnic and cultural diversity, cultural compatibility is one of the priorities of Azerbaijan’s policy.”

Elnur Mammadov also assured that some exhibits were removed from the territory of the trophy park. Moreover, he told the court that official Baku had launched an investigation and indicted those Azerbaijani servicemen who are suspected of committing crimes against Armenians during the 44-day war.

The court in The Hague has completed preliminary hearings on the claim of the Armenian side. On October 18-19, hearings will be held on the claim of the Azerbaijani side, after which the UN International Court of Justice will sum up the results.

The decision of the Hague court on the application of an urgent measure on the claim of Armenia, lawyers are expected not earlier than in a month. Consideration of the main claim will take place later.

Improved reporting of violence against women and domestic violence cases by Armenian journalists

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

Council of Europe

Oct 14 2021

YEREVAN 16-18/09/2021

Journalists representing different regional TV channels, online and print media of Armenia discussed the principles of media reporting on the topics of violence against women and domestic violence in a three-day online training seminar. The seminar addressed how media can help raise awareness about violence against women and domestic violence, the sensitive techniques of interviewing victims/survivors of violence, the use of background information and statistics to present violence against women as a societal problem rather than as an individual personal tragedy, facts and reality vs. myths and stereotypes, the existing national legislation, policies and practices, as well as the international instruments, such as the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention).

“Coverage of this topic, in-depth analysis of the causes of violence require a sensitive approach, proper awareness raising of the legal framework and facts. Therefore, the media are our strong partners in promoting gender equality and preventing violence against women,” highlighted Sophie Bostanchyan, Head of the Human Trafficking and Women Issues Department, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia.

“I find the training extremely useful, now I know how to better conduct investigations related to cases of violence against women and domestic violence, where to take and how to correctly use the background information and statistics.”, said Armenak Davtyan, a reporter from “Aravot” daily newspaper and “Radiolur” Public Radio programme from Syunik region.

The training was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Path towards Armenia’s ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence” in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia.

Azerbaijani, Iranian top diplomats try to turn down heat

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

EurasiaNet.org

Oct 14 2021

Trucks travel along a slice of Azerbaijani territory on the road that connects Iran with Armenia. (photo: Joshua Kucera)

The foreign ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan have spoken in an apparent attempt to decrease the temperature on the tensions that have erupted between the two sides in recent weeks.

Azerbaijan’s Jeyhun Bayramov spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian by phone on October 13. The readouts from both sides referred to the heated mutual accusations that Baku and Tehran have been hurling at the other and expressed a willingness to move beyond them.

“The two countries must prevent misunderstandings in their relations,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in its statement following the call. “Tehran and Baku have enemies and the two sides should not give the enemies the opportunity to disrupt relations between the two countries and concerns should be resolved through dialogue and cooperation.”

The Azerbaijani statement echoed that sentiment (minus the reference to “enemies”): “The sides noted the harmful rhetoric observed recently, which does not correspond to the level of friendly relations between our countries, and the need to resolve all differences through dialogue.”

The diplomatic outreach followed weeks of unprecedentedly hostile rhetoric between the two neighbors, as well as large-scale Iranian military exercises held on Azerbaijan’s border.

While the real cause of the vitriol remains unclear, the spark was the Azerbaijani authorities’ arrest in September of two Iranian truck drivers on a section of the main road through southern Armenia that passes through some slices of Azerbaijani territory.

Following the October 13 conversation, Iran announced that two Iranian prisoners currently held in Azerbaijan would be extradited to their home country, and some media mistakenly reported that the prisoners were the two truck drivers.

Both Bayramov and Amir-Abdollahian did mention the transit issue, though, suggesting the two sides were working on a way to resolve it.

As a result of Azerbaijan’s victory in the war last year over Armenia, it regained control of most of its territory along Armenia’s border that it had lost in the first war between the two sides in the 1990s. That included some slices of land through which the main road through Armenia passes. That road is the main artery between Armenia and Iran, and Iranian trucks use it to supply Armenia as well as – occasionally and controversially – Karabakh.

The two Iranian drivers arrested were reportedly shipping cargo to Karabakh, and while Azerbaijan’s customs service denied that they had been released, as they did so they made public some new information about the drivers, including their names and the crimes they have been charged with.

According to a statement from the customs service, the two drivers, Barzegar Haghi Jafar Ghazanfar and Norouzi Shahroud Heidar, were arrested for “smuggling” goods into Karabakh, crossing Azerbaijan’s border without permission and outside an official border crossing. (Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and Baku takes a hard line on entries into the territory via Armenia.)

A criminal case has been launched and an investigation is underway, the customs service said: “Reports that they [Ghazanfar and Heidar] have been returned to their home country do not reflect the truth.”

The conversation between Bayramov and Amir-Abdollahian apparently touched on how to avoid these sorts of incidents in the future.

“Amir-Abdollahian … said Tehran expects that the problem of transit traffic of Iranian trucks in the Azerbaijan Republic will be solved,” the Iranian statement read. The Iranian side also said that Bayramov “suggested that the two countries’ customs officials hold talks to solve the problem of the transit of Iranian goods” and “stressed the pursuit of the release of two Iranian truck drivers detained in the Azerbaijan Republic,” though the Azerbaijani statement did not go as far on either of those points.

“It was decided to discuss issues related to transit transportation through the Republic of Azerbaijan by the way of direct contacts between relevant government agencies,” the Azerbaijani statement read.

Iran has already expressed its willingness to help Armenia construct a new road through southern Armenia into Iran that would avoid Azerbaijani territory.

In an October 13 interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev also touched on the Iranian transit issue. Aliyev reiterated earlier statements in which he described repeated demands to Tehran to do something about the Iranian trucks going to Karabakh.

“Please, pay attention to this illegal business activity in Karabakh by Iranian businessmen,” Aliyev said Azerbaijan had told Iran. “We were not in a position to accuse [the] Iranian government. We understood that it’s some private companies who do it. But we asked to stop it. What happened in return, everybody sees.”

Joshua Kucera is the Turkey/Caucasus editor at Eurasianet, and author of .

Garo Paylan, 3 other opposition MPs may be stripped of immunity

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

Panorama, Armenia

Oct 14 2021

A bill to strip ethnic Armenian MP Garo Paylan from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and three other opposition lawmakers has been submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ermenihaber reports.

The bill has been drafted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office.

Two of the MPs are also from the HDP, and one represents the Democratic Regions Party (DBP).

Azerbaijan continues to actively promote ethnic hatred against Armenians, Yeghishe Kirakosyan tells UN court

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

Panorama, Armenia

Oct 14 2021

Azerbaijan systematically promotes ethnic hatred against Armenians, Armenia’s representative before the ECHR, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, told the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, in The Hague on Thursday, asking the court to stop a cycle of violence and hatred against ethnic Armenians.

Armenia filed a case against Azerbaijan at the World Court last month, stating Azerbaijan has violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Kirakosyan’s comments came as the court opened a hearing into a request by Armenia for judges to impose urgent interim measures against Azerbaijan to stop the violations. Among the requested measures are an order to release Armenian prisoners of war and other captives being held in Azerbaijan and to close the so-called “military trophies park”.

Kirakosyan stated Armenia was not asking the court to rule on the root causes of the war, but seeks to “prevent and remedy the cycle of violence and hatred perpetrated against ethnic Armenians.”

“Generations upon generations are indoctrinated into this culture of fear and hate of anything and everything Armenian,” Kirakosyan said.

Not even the conclusion of the trilateral statement of November 2020 has prevented Azerbaijan from violating the Convention, he stressed.

“Azerbaijan continues to espouse and actively promote ethnic hatred against Armenians. The so-called “military trophies park” has stood as a grotesque monument to this ideology of hate,” Kirakosyan stated.

“Azerbaijan has captured, tortured, and arbitrarily detained numerous members of Armenian armed forces and civilians of ethnic Armenian origin. Azerbaijan, moreover, continues to destroy Armenian cultural heritage and religious sites or negate the Armenian character, and the territory’s economic controls. All those violations were perpetrated and continue to be perpetrated as we speak,” he said.

FUSD Board of Trustees Recognize H (Hratch) Roger Tatarian by naming school in his honor

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

Press Release

FUSD Board of Trustees Recognize H (Hratch) Roger Tatarian by naming
school in his honor

Armenian Museum of Fresno

550 E. Shaw Ave. Fresno CA 93710

Contact
Person: Varoujan Der Simonian

Contact
Number: 559.224.1001

[email protected]

Website:

October 14, 2021

Fresno,
CA: We are pleased to report that the Fresno Unified School District
Board of Trustees unanimously voted to rename Forkner Elementary School after world-renowned journalist,
author, and prominent educator H. (Hratch) Roger Tatarian.

In
over 140 years of Armenian presence in Fresno County, this is the first
time that out of 110 schools in the district, one of the schools will be named
after an Armenian-American.

Few years ago, knowing
that there is no single school in the district named after any prominent
individual of Armenian descent in Fresno, former FUSD trustee Michelle Asadoorian
began exploring the possibility of naming a school. She spearheaded a campaign by
forming a committee of concerned individuals, who helped raise the level of
attention, creating awareness in that matter.

In this
community wide effort, Armenians and Non-Armenians alike worked together to
honor one of Central California’s prominent individuals who had an illustrious
career as a journalist on the world stage, and as a professor, educating
students to become world class journalists while teaching at Fresno State
University, where Endowed Chair in Journalism is named in his honor.

“On behalf of
the Armenian-American community of greater Fresno I appreciate the FUSD
Board of Trustee members for their decision,” said Asadoorian. “I also would like to thank our committee
members who worked diligently during the past seven-month-long process, and to all
our friends, who participated and contributed in educating the public at large
by writing articles, letters, and or through personal contact assisting us in accomplishing
our mission.” Asadoorian added.

A product of
Fresno’s own public school system and a makeup of our multicultural society,
Tatarian’s life story could inspire students of deprived and affluent families
alike. Tatarian personifies hope,
inspiration, courage, determination, vision and success – virtues in life that would
help parents and teachers to motivate their children and students in building a
cohesive community.

Following is The
Fresno Bee Editorial written by the Bee’s
opinion editor Tod Weber as published today, October 14, 2021 highlighting three
important reasons of this decision.

Fresno board stands against racism
and upholds an Armenian star by renaming school

By Tad Weber October 14, 2021 12:47
PM

After a torturous process that
dragged out over several months, the Fresno Unified School District trustees
did the right thing Wednesday night in renaming Forkner Elementary for one of
the city’s star residents.

As of fall 2022, the school in
northwest Fresno will become H. Roger Tatarian Elementary. That is important
for three reasons.

First, Tatarian was a Fresno native
who rose to become editor in chief of United Press International, one of the
world’s two leading wire services. As such, he oversaw a news report that went
to millions around the globe. Just on those merits alone, naming a school after
Tatarian was deserved.

Second, Tatarian was an Armenian
American. Fresno Unified has more than 100 campuses, and none had been named
for an Armenian. The Armenian heritage in Fresno covers more than a century,
having begun out of the genocide that started in 1915 in their European
homeland, then controlled by Ottoman Turks. About 1.5 million Armenians died in
that genocide, an event many historians think was a precursor to the Nazi
Germany’s attempt to rid the world of Jews in the Holocaust.

Third, Forkner refers to J.C.
Forkner, a Fresno builder who developed Fig Garden. Forkner used deed
restrictions that made buyers commit to not selling their homes to any
“Asiatics, Mongolians, Hindus, Negroes, Armenians or any natives or descendants
of the Turkish empire … .”

The practice morphed into red-lining
by financial institutions, and effectively shut off home-purchasing
opportunities to anyone from those groups. Fresno suffers today from the
impacts of such race-based restrictions.

This larger point was mostly lost on
a group of Forkner parents who attended the school board meeting to protest the
renaming.

Forkner and racism.

It is probably asking too much to expect
such parents to see the bigger picture. Forkner is their children’s school, and
they would want to keep it as is. That is understandable.

But, one parent inadvertently got to
the larger meaning when she said the restrictions put in place by Forkner in
first half of the 1900s were legal.

Yes, they were. But that’s the
point. It was legalized racism. It was also legal at one time to keep Black
students separate from white kids. In
Fresno, it was legal to keep Chinese residents “across the tracks” from where
whites lived. Being legal then does not make it right.

Thankfully, in 2021, Americans — and
Fresnans — are coming to grips with mistakes and failures of the past. It is
simplistic to label it as “cancel culture.” Actually, it is better called
maturing.

Renaming this elementary school pays
overdue honor to Fresno’s Armenian community and, at the same time, stamps out
the memory of a man who built his wealth through the use of racist covenants.

The school trustees of decades ago,
when Forkner first opened, should never have named it after him. But they did,
and years later a different board — composed of a Black woman, three Latinas, a
Filipina and a white man — unanimously made the right decision.

Teaching moment

Mark Arax, a local
Armenian-American, former Los Angeles Times reporter and best-selling author,
told the board that renaming the campus after Tatarian would accomplish
historical restitution and reckoning.

He also encouraged the Forkner staff
and parents to use this as a teaching moment. That’s probably a hard sell,
given the high emotions on display at the meeting.

But that is exactly what it is. The
renaming can only be properly understood in the context of the greater meaning.
The students at Forkner Elementary
should know the truth about their old namesake, and the honorable reason for
their new one. That’s known as education.

Tad Weber is The Bee’s opinion
editor.

Armenian FM to participate in session of CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Minsk

October 17, 2021March 12, 2026 Emil Lazarian

10:00, 14 October, 2021

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will depart for Minsk on October 14-15 to take part in the session of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, the foreign ministry said in a statement today.

The minister will have meetings with the counterparts of the CIS states in Minsk.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia expects ICJ will take into account all presented evidence: Kirakosyan provides details from Hague hearings

October 17, 2021October 17, 2021 Emil Lazarian

17:03, 14 October, 2021

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS. During today’s hearings at the International Court of Justice, convened over Armenia’s request to indicate provisional measures against Azerbaijan, Armenia has presented at best its position, convincing evidence and facts, expecting that the Court will take into account all these facts, Representative of Armenia before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Yeghishe Kirakosyan told Armenpress.

Kirakosyan is representing Armenia’s interests at the Court hearings.

“In the first part of the first day of the hearings Armenia presented its claims and legal facts, proofs which justify the circumstances of Armenia’s demand to apply urgent measures. This was the first stage, which will be followed by Azerbaijan’s response in the second half of the day. In the morning again Armenia must present its counter-arguments. I think it will be summed up with Azerbaijan’s response by the end of the day”, he said.

The Court’s response will be in the form of a decision. The Court is expected to make a decision in 1-1.5 months.

“I think Armenia with its team managed to present at best and in details the Armenian positions, the facts and evidence. We will wait for the response. We are confident that we have presented maximally in the best way”, Yeghishe Kirakosyan said.

During today’s hearings Armenia presented facts both about the confirmed captives and the unconfirmed captives. The representatives of Armenia stated that there are proofs about the captivity of these persons. They cited photos, videos, which prove ill treatment against the Armenian captives. Kirakosyan assured that Armenia presented numerous facts and videos, and all judges have been provided with all these evidence.

Armenia went to the international court with an expectation of justice. “I think this is a very important step. The future course will show, but the expectation from the Court is to take into account the convincing proofs and facts presented by Armenia and take actions on this direction. What we expect from the Court is the decision to apply an urgent measure. We wish that all our demands are met, because we are sure that our demands are well-grounded. Justice is our expectation”, he said.

He stated that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, based on the violation of which Armenia appealed to the Court, plays a vital role in the international law. “The obligations deriving from the Convention are fundamental, therefore, the strict observance of this document is very important both for atmosphere, peace and security”, Yeghishe Kirakosyan said.

The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is holding public hearings over Armenia’s request to indicate provisional measures against Azerbaijan.

On September 16, 2021, Armenia instituted proceedings against the Republic of Azerbaijan before the International Court of Justice with regard to alleged violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Armenia also requested the Court to indicate certain provisional measures “as a matter of extreme urgency”, including the return of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives from Azerbaijan, as well as the closure of the so-called “Military Trophies Park” in Baku.

The hearings will last until October 15.

Armenia is represented by a group at the hearings, which involves famous international experts who will help to present the country’s interests.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan