Author: Emma Jilavian

Biden’s recognition of Armenian genocide a message to Erdogan

Emma Jilavian
Arab News
Osama Al-Sharif
| Arab News

For decades, US presidents have failed to recognize the 1915 massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians as “genocide.” The main reason was geopolitical. Turkey was a key Western ally on the forefront of confronting the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. As a member of NATO, it hosted strategic military bases and presented itself as a bridge between Europe and Asia. In addition, it had made a slow transition from a military dictatorship to a civilian democracy and was quickly emerging as an economic powerhouse.
And, for decades, Turkey and its lobbyists threatened the West that it would not tolerate any attempt to recognize the Armenian massacres as genocide. That would lead to closing down military bases, quitting NATO and shifting toward Russia and China.
But, on Saturday, US President Joe Biden said in a statement marking the annual Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day that, “each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring.”
Turkey’s reaction was furious. Officials denounced Biden’s statement and the Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador to Ankara. In a statement, the ministry said that Biden’s remarks caused “wounds in ties that will be hard to repair,” and that Turkey “rejected it, found it unacceptable and condemned (it) in the strongest terms.”
Turkey has acknowledged that many Armenians died between 1910 and 1915, but rejected reports that the massacres had cost the lives of 1.5 million and that they amounted to ethnic cleansing. In response to Biden’s announcement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that “we have lived together in peace in this land for centuries; we find peace under the shadow of our crescent and star flag.”
Reports say that Biden called Erdogan on Friday and told him about his imminent decision. It was the first call between the two leaders since Biden entered the White House. It was described by CNN as “tense.”
The question is why did Biden take this decision? The US did little to support Armenia during last year’s military conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. A ceasefire was negotiated by Moscow. Turkey supported Azerbaijan.
Biden’s move is a clear message that his view of Turkey and its president is different from that of his predecessors. Biden’s main foreign policy mantra rests on upholding human rights and furthering democracy — two issues that Erdogan is accused of undermining. More critically, it now appears that the US is downplaying Turkey’s regional role and Erdogan only has himself to blame.
One key issue is Erdogan’s controversial 2017 decision to acquire Russia’s strategic S-400 air defense system despite US and NATO protests. The decision resulted in the halting and later canceling of a deal to supply Turkey with advanced F-35 fighter jets. The purchase of the S-400 by a main NATO ally is said to undermine the alliance’s security and expose its military technology to the Russians.
Erdogan defied then-President Donald Trump and pushed for the delivery of the Russian air defense system even as the US imposed sanctions on Turkey. In March, it was reported that Ankara was considering buying a second regiment of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, despite US objections. The S-400 — a mobile surface-to-air missile system — is said to pose a risk to the NATO alliance as well as the F-35, America’s most expensive weapons platform. Doubling down, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Ankara’s purchase of the Russian missile defense system was “a done deal.”
The US is not happy with Erdogan’s regional adventures in northern Syria and in Libya, where he has sent mercenaries and weapons to help the Tripoli government. It is certainly worried about Erdogan getting close to Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the regime in Tehran. Turkey’s tensions with Greece, a close US ally, have also added to the growing problems.

It now appears that the US is downplaying Turkey’s regional role and Erdogan only has himself to blame.

Osama Al-Sharif

Furthermore, Erdogan’s ties with the EU have worsened in recent years, as Turkey has shifted to the east and Central Asia. His support of the Muslim Brotherhood has soured his relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Erdogan lost a great deal of his popularity at home due to his clamping down on the free press and political opponents, along with Turkey’s worsening human rights record, a falling currency and declining economic conditions.
In the view of experts, Biden’s move is meant to put pressure on Turkey more than to appease the Armenians. The geopolitical reality is that Turkey still needs the US, while America’s reliance on Ankara is waning. The two leaders are expected to meet at a NATO summit in May. By then, the future of bilateral ties could become clearer.

  • Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

Destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijani-occupied territories worrisome – acting FM

Emma Jilavian
Public Radio of Armenia


The destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the territories currently under Azerbaijani control is worrisome, Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian said at a joint press conference with visiting Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

“We have already witnessed precedents of the destruction of Armenian places of worship, monuments, and official statements justifying them. This issue is in the focus of our attention, and our international partners have strongly criticized any attempts to destroy or misappropriate the Armenian historical and cultural heritage,” the acting Foreign Minister said.

He said the issue is on the agenda of the peace process, as evidenced by the 2020 OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ statement of December 3 and April 13. “We work with specialized structures. We cooperate very closely with UNESCO and other structures,” Aivazian said.

He attached importance to raising the issue with the international community. On April 24 the “Heritage in Danger. Artsakh” exhibition opened at Yerevan City Hall in the presence of high-ranking delegations, which arrived in Armenia to participate in the events commemorating the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The exhibition will run until May 2.

Conflicting sides should respect one another, try to reach lasting settlement – CoE Gen.-Sec.

Emma Jilavian

 

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 19:00, 20 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 20, ARMENPRESS. Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, welcomed the trilateral ceasefire agreement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9, 2020. ARMENPRESS reports Burić emphasized that the most important thing in Karabakh issue is the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

”The sides should respect one another and try to reach a lasting settlement. One of the issues discussed during the session was the return of the Armenian POWs and de-escalation of tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia’’, she said.

Pentagon LA Make Stylish Statements About Armenian Genocide

Emma Jilavian
LA Weekly, Los Angeles
April 22 2021

If you’re in and around Glendale and certain parts of Los Angeles during the month of April, you’re likely to see Armenian flags on cars and in windows of local businesses in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. You also might notice the phrase Our Wounds Are Still Open: 1915 printed on T-shirts, hoodies, caps, signs and decals.

Armenians march and wave flags every year on April 24 to bring attention to the killing and ethnic cleansing of their people (over a million) by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire during World War 1. But even if you know this history, you might wonder about the meaning and origin of these words now written everywhere.

Los Angeles locals R-Mean, Tina Chuldzhyan and Alex Kodo are behind the clothing line and slogan, taken from one of rapper R-Mean’s lyrics. What started as a rap song written 15 years ago about the Turkish government’s denial of the genocide has now become a popular, politically-inspired streetwear line, and a rallying cry for youth in the Armenian community and beyond.

(Courtesy Pentagon LA)

Born Armin Hariri to an Armenian-Persian mother and a Baha’i Persian father in L.A., R-Mean grew up just outside of Amsterdam before moving back here in 2004. He rapped as a hobby in high school. In 2006, he released his first record, Broken Water, which included the song “Open Wounds”- (“We’re praying to God to make ‘em admit it – we’re still hoping / But they still won’t and that’s why these wounds are still open”).

R-Mean has since recorded six albums and projects on his label Pentagon Records. In 2013, he re-released “Open Wounds” and shot a video wearing a black T-shirt with the wordage design written in white slash-style font with the letters R, I and P in red.

“Everyone started asking us, ‘Where can we get that shirt in the video?’” R-Mean shares with L.A. Weekly. “We would get stopped every single time. It became a tool to educate people.”

The rapper, Chuldzhyan and Kodo, along with a graphic artist, conceived of the design as a “conversation piece,” but in an intentionally subtle way that was meant to address all social and historical – even personal – injustices.

(Courtesy Pentagon LA)

“We want it to be universal,” explains R-Mean. “It’s about crimes against humanity. I remember a guy in New York who had a tattoo of the logo, but with the year his sister was killed. People make it their own. It’s relatable.”

“It’s an empowering way of saying who we are without being obnoxious about it,” adds Chuldzhyan.

The T-shirts took off with R-Mean’s fans and on his website, and soon dozens of neighborhood shops started carrying them. Currently some 60 stores in L.A. sell the T-shirts around April, and profits from sales benefit the Open Wounds 1915 nonprofit, which in turn collaborates with many other Armenian organizations around the world.

In 2017, R-Mean, Chuldzhyan and Kodo opened The Pentagon LA retail space in Glendale, selling hip-hop-themed apparel, many with patriotic, Armenian images on them, as well as an “LA” logo design also created by the trio.

(Courtesy Pentagon LA)

From keffiyeh scarves and Che Guevara shirts to anti-Trump pink “pussyhats,” clothing and activism have always gone hand in hand. Nothing connects young people to a cause faster these days than integrating fashion and hip-hop.

“Having speeches by professors at commemorations is boring and not enough,” says R-Mean. “Sometimes you can spread a message so much better through art, music and movies. It was time to do something different. People need to look outside the box.”

The three even enlisted help from celebrities. The Game, Cardi B, Post Malone, DMX, Xzibit and other hip-hop heavyweights have all been photographed on social media either wearing or holding the T-shirt. (The designers shared a video of DMX wearing the shirt on their Instagram just last week following his death.)

“She actually had a full conversation with us about it,” remembers Chuldzhyan of Cardi B. “She’s a history buff. She was really inclined. That photo got spread all over social media, and you can’t pay for that kind of advertising.”

The store displays framed covers of hip-hop albums on its walls in addition to works by artists Shepard Fairey, Van Saro and former L.A. Weekly cover subject Robert Vargas, who recently painted the Eddie Van Halen mural in Hollywood, and is currently creating what will become the largest mural by a single artist in Downtown. With a pool table and basketball hoop in the front, the space also functioned as a sort of hang out, hosting pop-up events for other rappers and local designers, until it shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19.

L.A. saw more business closures than any city in the U.S. during lockdown – approximately 15,000 across L.A. County. Like many small businesses hit by the pandemic, Pentagon LA sustained itself with online sales.

“We had to really shift our gears and work online,” says Chuldzhyan. “It was really tough being able to afford having employees again when you haven’t had a high level of sales anymore. Our online community and our music helped us heavily during this time. If we didn’t have those we wouldn’t have survived. I feel bad for businesses who were just starting out because they were the ones who got hit the hardest.”

– LA Weekly

In September, Azerbaijan launched a military attack on Artsakh, a small, long-disputed region in the South Caucasus, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, that’s recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians. The conflict killed thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced many residents, leading to protests by Armenians all over the world. A ceasefire agreement was reached in November.

Though they were still dealing with COVID, R-Mean and his co-owners responded by turning their store into a drop-off station, collecting $500,000 dollars’ worth of donations for local charity Armenia Fund (armeniafund.org). “We were head to ceiling in boxes,” recalls Chuldzhyan. “We bound together as a community and it helped a lot.”

(Courtesy Pentagon LA)

Before the shop reopened in February, R-Mean continued releasing new music during quarantine, including a duet with Capital Cities singer Sebu Simonian and a collaboration called Armenian Emcee Cypher 2020, which includes several other local Armenian rappers and System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian. He also recorded “King James,” a LeBron James-inspired track produced by Scott Storch and featuring rapper Jeremih, which was used on an ESPN commercial.

R-Mean also started the #ArmeniansforBlackLivesMatter hashtag on social media with Mihran Kirakosian, a dancer who’s toured with Madonna and Britney Spears, as a show of solidarity for BLM and the struggle for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“We wanted to show the youth in our community that we’re standing up for any kind of injustice, not just our own,” R-Mean, whose other designs include the words We Are Still Here and just the year 1915. “We’re showing the African American community that we’re really behind them. I’m a hip-hop artist and he’s a dancer, and obviously we’ve been influenced by hip-hop. It’s been a big part of our lives. It was only right that we speak up and do whatever we could.”

The Pentagon LA, 1207 W. Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale. (818) 523-3803, thepentagonla.com and openwounds1915.com

Force Azerbaijan to return the POWs, Armenian MP Naira Zohrabyan tells PACE

Emma Jilavian 
Public Radio of Armenia
Armenian MP Naira Zohrabyan has called on the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) to force Azerbaijan to return the
Armenian prisoners of war, noting that “every day of captivity is
hell.”
Speaking about the opening of a “trophy park” in Baku, Zohrabyan
described it as demonstration of fascism.”
“It was horrible to see Azerbaijanis queue for miles to see this
insulting exhibition. They brought with them their children, who were
declaring that Armenians were their genetic enemy,” the MP pointed
out.
“Six months after the war, we have hundreds of prisoners of war held
in Azerbaijani prisons; Azerbaijan not only refuses to provide the
European Court of Human Rights with clear information about Armenian
prisoners of war, but cynically declares that they are not prisoners
of war. By the way, one of the prisoners of war was recently buried by
his parents. I want to understand why the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights has not yet visited Baku prisons to see
the inhumane conditions in which Armenian prisoners of war are being
held,” Naira Zohrabyan stated.
“When the Council of Europe member states Azerbaijan and Turkey are
cynically violating human rights, when Aliyev declares that they won
this war, because they raised a whole generation of Azerbaijani youth
with hatred for the enemy, such racist, anti-Armenian statements must
be discussed by our organization, otherwise we violate the fundamental
values of our organization with fake agendas,” the Armenian lawmaker
stated.

The Washington Post’s publications on Armenian Genocide published in a two-volume book

Emma Jilavian

The Washington Post’s publications on Armenian Genocide published in a two-volume book

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 19:49,

YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS. The publications of The Washington Post on the massacres of the Armenian people and the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey during the period of 1890-1922 have been collected and printed in a two-volume book called ”The Armenian Genocide: Prelude and Aftermath. As referred in the U.S. press”. ARMENPRESS reports the books are compiled and edited by father of the Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice, Reverend father Vahan Ohanyan and Ara Katibyan.

The two-volume book of the Washington Post’s publications on the Armenian Genocide of the period of 1890-1922 contain huge valuable information for researchers and ordinary readers, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Harutyun Marutyan said during the presentation of the book.

”The positive attitude of the U.S. Government and the people towards the Armenian Genocide survivors during those years and afterwards was also conditioned by the in-depth coverage of the Armenian massacres by the American press’’, Marutyan said.

”What was said about Armenians in the US Congress was covered by the newspaper. It is noteworthy that in those years diplomatic and political secrets were not kept as strictly as they are now. There are many articles that contain letters from Washington to the US Embassy in Turkey”, Ara Katibyan said.

The first volume, in particular, presents the publications of The Washington Post about the massacres in Turkey in 1890-1900.

The second volume contains 1,200 articles on the Armenian Genocide during 1916-1922, Armenians and Armenian topics.

Photos by Mkhitar Khachatryan



Interior Ministry [of Turkey] says no hate speech or crimes against Turkish Armenians occurred during Azerbaijan-Armenia clashes

Emma Jilavian
By

 SCF

 –

Turkey’s Ministry of Interior said no attacks or hate speech targeting Turkey’s Armenian community occurred during last year’s clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in response to questions from the Parliamentary Committee for Investigating Human Rights Violations.

According to the Mezopotamya news agency, the inquiry was made by a sub-committee that was working on the “Report on the rights violations that occurred during the tensions and clashes that started after Armenia’s attack on Azerbaijan and on the well-being of Armenian citizens of Turkey.”

“According to information and documents received from the Turkish National Police and Gendarmerie Command, no attacks or incidents that could cause anxiety among Turkey’s Armenian community or that could cause material damage to Armenian places of worship happened,” the ministry’s response said. “[N]o messages were found that included hate speech.”

Clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus triggered a new wave of anti-Armenian sentiment in Turkey last year, which was exploited and fueled by ultranationalist elements and increased the pressure on its Armenian citizens. A group of Turks and Azeris were allowed to stage protests in front of the Armenian Patriarchate in İstanbul on September 27. Protesters waved Azerbaijani and Turkish flags and chanted slogans in a convoy of cars on the patriarchate’s street in Kumkapı.

Speaking to the sub-committee, Yetvart Danzikyan, editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly newspaper, published in both Turkish and Armenian, said Armenians living in Turkey began to feel anxious after the start of the clashes in September. “[T]he most important reason behind this was the news stories and commentaries that appeared in the media,” Danzikyan added. “[T]he demonstrations in Kumkapı and Şişli [in front of the site where journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated] increased the level of anxiety.”

Patriarch of Turkey’s Armenians Şahak Maşalyan claimed the tension felt by Turkish Armenians was entirely psychological. He said Armenians do not have any problems with specific people but that there is a certain “noise” about them in Turkey. “Even though there are no threats to peace in the society except for some provocations, negative language hurts Turkey’s Armenians, demoralizes them and causes nervousness in people,” Maşalyan said.

In its conclusion the report said the hate speech against Armenians that is frequently witnessed in the media caused serious distress within the community. “Even though the legislation to prevent that exists, more diligence and sensitivity are required in its implementation,” the sub-committee said.

In their dissenting opinion, Servet Ünsal and Mahmut Tanal from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said they were saddened by the targeting of the Armenian citizens of Turkey during the clashes and defined the hate speech against Armenians as provocation.

Several attacks have targeted the Armenian community in İstanbul in the past year. In May a man had attempted to set fire to the gate of the Dznunt Surp Asdvadzadzni Church in Bakırköy. Three weeks later, a crucifix from the gate of the Armenian Surp Krikor Lusaroviç Church in Kuzguncuk, on the Asian side of İstanbul, was ripped down. A threatening letter was also sent to the Hrant Dink Foundation, which was established in 2007 following the assassination of Hrant Dink, the founder of the Agos weekly.

In August some of the graves in an Armenian cemetery in the Sincan district of Ankara were desecrated.

A hate speech report by the Hrant Dink Foundation, titled “Hate Speech and Discriminatory Discourse in Media 2019 Report,” revealed that Armenians, Syrian refugees and Greeks were at the top of the list of groups targeted with hate speech by the Turkish media in 2019.

According to the report Armenians were the most targeted group in 2019 with 803 hate speech items. They were portrayed as enemies and associated with violence, terrorism and massacres in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Armenian deputy PM, EU Special Representative discuss transportation unblocking activities

Emma Jilavian

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 16:47,

YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan received European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar and his delegation, the deputy PM’s Office told Armenpress.

The meeting was also attended by head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin.

The officials discussed the ongoing activities for regional transportation unblocking. Deputy PM Grigoryan presented the activity framework of the trilateral working group operating under the co-chairmanship of the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani deputy prime ministers.

A number of issues of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan