Author: Garnik Tadevosian

Tuesday,

Contact

Vic Gerami

Campaign Manager 

310.880.8563

[email protected]

BURBANK MAYOR NICK SCHULTZ ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT,

ACCELERATING KBUSHYAN’S MOMENTUM FOR LA CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 2

Los Angeles — Today, CA State Commissioner and small business owner Sam Kbushyan proudly announced the endorsement of Burbank Mayor Nick Schultz. Mayor Schultz is the frontrunner for the California Assembly to represent District 44. 

Schultz said, ‘I am pleased to endorse Sam Kbushyan for LA City Council District 2. I know Sam to be a man of integrity, empathy, and exceptional leadership, and he’ll be a strong champion for our community at City Hall.’

Kbushyan welcomed the endorsement, stating, ‘I’m grateful and honored to have Nick’s endorsement, not only as the Mayor of Burbank but as someone who, like me, has dedicated his entire professional career to public service. I proudly endorsed Nick for CA State Assembly because of his impeccable character, his admirable work as an attorney, and his service as a Burbank Councilmember since 2020. ' 

He added, ‘Our districts overlap in some places, and I know that Nick and I will make a great team. Los Angeles faces significant challenges, but there are also many opportunities for growth, synergistic partnerships, and community cohesion. I look forward to working with Nick for years to come.’ 

About Mayor Nick Schultz

Nick has spent his entire professional career in public service. He currently serves as a Deputy Attorney General with the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General’s Office with the California Department of Justice, where he works with local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute criminal cases primarily related to public corruption, officer involved shootings, human trafficking, mortgage fraud, tax evasion, and other forms of financial fraud.

In this role, Nick helped lead the charge to create the first-of-its-kind Post-Conviction Review Unit at the Department of Justice, which will review claims of innocence and wrongful conviction for any cases handled by the State. This will be the first-time individuals making claims of wrongful convictions will be able to have their voices heard.

Nick personally understands the hardships the average Californians find themselves in every day. He was largely raised by a single mother who worked to give him every available opportunity to succeed; he is the first person in his working-class family to attend and graduate from college.

VoteNickSchultz.com

About Sam Kbushyan 

Sam Kbushyan serves as a Commissioner for the California State Board and has long been a committed public servant, community pillar, and advocate for civil rights. He was first appointed to the California State Respiratory Care Board in 2017, and his dedication led to his reappointment for another term in 2022.

As the Principal of the public affairs firm SKG, Sam is deeply committed to fostering community growth, promoting business advocacy, ensuring civic participation, and nurturing symbiotic partnerships. Appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Sam is integral to the Mayor’s Advisory Transition Team. His unwavering commitment to public affairs, civic participation, and social entrepreneurship made him a prime choice for Mayor Bass.

Active in numerous preeminent community organizations, Sam also serves on the board of the LA Community Alliance. In this role, he creates strategic alliances and fosters cooperation among various community stakeholders. Previously the Executive Director of the Immigrants Charitable Foundation, Sam’s impact is wide-reaching.

Sam’s expertise was also evident in his tenure as a SEIU Local 434b labor union organizer. Here, he formulated strategies that empowered long-term healthcare workers to advocate for improved wages, work conditions, and healthcare accessibility. He successfully mobilized over 30,000 healthcare providers through advocacy initiatives, collective bargaining, and educational programs for union members.

As a member of the East Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board, Sam has fervently advocated for small businesses, addressing their unique challenges regarding the local economy and sustainability.

Sam’s dedication traces back to his academic years. He served as the Student Body President at Los Angeles Valley College and later assumed the role of Commissioner of Political Affairs at California State University Los Angeles.

Stepping into the political arena as a candidate, Sam has set clear priorities: combating homelessness, addressing housing shortages and related challenges, ensuring public safety, fighting government corruption, promoting economic development across all income levels, creating a sustainable immigration framework, and devising efficient public transportation solutions.

Sam pursued political science at California State University Los Angeles and earned his B.A. He furthered his education with a graduate degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He shares his life in Valley Glen, CA, with his wife, Suzanna, and their three children: Maria, David, and Bella.

SamForCD2.com

After the Chinese incursions in Doklam and Galwan worsened the India-China relationship and the involvement of extra-regional actors like Turkey in the Kashmir conflict, India’s foreign policy vision, approach, and strategic calculus are expanding beyond South Asia.

India’s outreach to Armenia, a faraway country in the South Caucasus, is part of this new change. The October 2021 visit of S Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister, to Yerevan is historic because it was the first such visit of the Indian foreign minister to Armenia in the last 30 years.

Before this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the 74th UNGA in New York, seeking Yerevan’s support in finalising a trade arrangement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU).

In the last three years, India has emerged as a major weapons supplier to Armenia. These big-ticket defense deals include the sale of Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers, a USD 40 million contract of SWATI weapon-locating radars, ammunition anti-tank missiles, and 155 mm artillery guns.

The author’s interlocutors in India’s Ministry of External Affairs informed that Armenia is interested in more defense deals, including drones and counter-drone systems, loitering munitions, and mid-range surface-to-air missiles.

In October 2022, Armenia’s defense minister, Suren Papikyan, visited the defense expo in New Delhi and met his counterpart Rajnath Singh. In Sept 2022, both countries signed MoUs in culture, digital infrastructure, and renewable energy to promote business ties at the India-Armenia Conference 2022 in Bengaluru. The delegates explored the trade and investment potential in pharma, agriculture, information technology, film-city, and tourism.

Additionally, one can witness a major uptick in think tank-level cooperation between India and Armenia. Most recently, the author represented Usanas Foundation, India’s premier foreign policy think tank, at the Yerevan Dialogue Series organised by the Prime Minister’s Office of Armenia, in collaboration with Armenia’s top-level think tank, Applied Policy Research Institute (APRI).

APRI will also organise the next dialogue series with the Observer Research Foundation, India’s top-level foreign policy think tank, and the prestigious Raisina Dialogue organiser in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.

All these developments come on the solid bedrock of robust cultural and historical ties between the two countries that have existed for centuries. The Armenian business community has lived in India for over four centuries. Kolkata has one of the oldest Armenian churches and a school. Armenia’s first constitution was drafted in Chennai.

Geopolitics behind strategic connectivity

Until the 2020 war, India more or less had a clear stand, backing Armenia against Azerbaijan’s territorial aggression. Turkey and Pakistan’s support of Azerbaijan made it all the more essential for India to support Armenia. In 2017, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan signed a trilateral ministers’ agreement to boost defense and strategic ties.

Notably, Azerbaijan has declared its support for Pakistan on the Kashmir issue whereas Armenia supports India. Turkey-Pakistan relations are very old, going back to 1947. Turkey has always supported Pakistan, and after the abrogation of Kashmir’s special status in 2019, Turkey has emerged as a diehard proponent of Pakistan against India in the global propaganda war and multilateral institutions.

Under Erdogan’s Islamist leadership and Pan-Turkic ambitions, Ankara’s interest and support of Pakistan strengthened, and anti-India diatribes have become vitriolic. More recently, the author’s interlocutors have suggested that Erdogan’s private paramilitary force, SADAT, may be active in sending highly trained mercenaries to Kashmir.

In addition to counter-balance Turkey and Pakistan, India also looks at Armenia as a nodal point to expand its strategic and economic outreach to the South Caucasus.

New Delhi’s most critical interests in this region lie in the strategic connectivity projects. India’s interest in the International North-South Corridor (INSTC), of which Armenia is a part, is firmly rooted in its quest for land connectivity to Eurasia, Central Asia, and Europe through the Iranian plateau, otherwise blocked by Pakistan and Afghanistan.

With this intent, India aims to extend INSTC to Armenia, connecting Chabahar port in south east Iran to European and Eurasian markets. India and Iran have two options — railway lines connecting north western Iran to Russia or the Black Sea through Armenia’s Syunik province or via the Caspian coast through Azerbaijan.

Armenia is a natural choice for India because of Azerbaijan’s proximity to Pakistan and Turkey. Armenia is also keenly interested in INSTC. Yerevan announced an alternate road to Iran in May 2021 to connect Iranian ports to Georgian ports via Armenia. During the Indian foreign minister’s 2021 visit, Armenia also proposed a scheme allowing the transportation of Indian products to Russia and the Black Sea via Armenia. All these initiatives bring the INSTC closer to reality.

Given the above mentioned developments, it is reasonable to conclude that both countries are moving towards a robust strategic partnership. However, India’s relative silence or pessimism after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 indicates a moderate decline in New Delhi’s enthusiasm and a sense of guarded optimism bordering on skepticism.

Perhaps, after Azerbaijan’s aggression and conquest of Nagorno-Karabakh, India is reeling under a sense of insecurity about its investments and plans for strategic connectivity projects in this region. India may reconsider its aforesaid preference for the Syunik transit route because of the Zanzegur region which falls in it. Azerbaijan has made claims to Zanzegur corridor as it provides unimpeded accesses to its exclave of Nakhchivan. Given the revisionist intent of Azerbaijan and the recent attacks on mainland Armenia, these threats originating from Baku can not be underestimated. Hence, the prevailing instability and volatile security situation may dampen India’s enthusiasm for a transit route through Syunik.

Nevertheless, India faces a difficult choice. India is majorly invested in the Chabahar project and eyes INSTC as a critical connectivity project to obtain overland routes to Europe. Despite the hindrances owing to sanctions against Iran and Russia and major differences over the arbitration issues with Iran, India has finalised a ten-year contract with Iran for the use of Chabahar port.

India’s West Asia expert and former envoy to many Middle Eastern countries, Ambassador Anil Trigunayat said in a telephonic interview that after the Ukraine war, Russians have become very serious about the rapid execution of INSTC to gain access to Chabahar through the Indian Ocean, to counter the European sanctions.

India does not want to miss this opportunity. Trigunayat further said that if India shows lack of interest, China is likely to occupy that space as it already has strong ties with Russia and Iran, and India’s dependence is further accentuated by the declining prospects of the India-Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEC) after the Israel-Hamas war.

Hence, whether these vulnerabilities will compel India to explore the Azerbaijan route for INSTC in the backdrop of the Turkey-Pakistan-Azerbaijan alliance or not remains a million-dollar question.

Worst-case scenario

In addition to the abovementioned factors, the increasing involvement of global powers in the South Caucasus can also impede the transformation of India-Armenia relationship into a strategic partnership.

After Russia’s lukewarm response to the war with Azerbaijan, there is a marked Armenian shift towards the US, which is making Moscow uncomfortable.

In the recent Russia-Ukraine war, India had to face tremendous pressure from the Western powers to abandon Russia. Given its aversion to alliances, New Delhi would avoid getting caught in another cold war front between the US and Russia.

Also, India’s strong ties with Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy, and Iran’s with China, India’s arch-enemy, will make it increasingly challenging for India to continue and further its involvement in Russia-Iran-led INSTC.

The worst-case scenario for India will be the passage of INSTC through Azerbaijan. Hence, it can be argued that in the prevailing uncertainty and instability in the South Caucasus, India will prefer to move ahead on a bilateral trajectory with Armenia, with a particular focus on defense deals and economic ties.

The writer is the founder and CEO of Usanas Foundation, a foreign policy and national security thinktank. A Cornell University grad in public affairs, and the author of Radicalisation in India: An Exploration. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.

https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/understanding-indias-armenia-outreach-amid-global-power-play-in-south-caucasus-13579412.html

Jerusalem (AFP) – Residents of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem's historic Armenian quarter rapidly mobilised when bulldozers rolled in to start work on a luxury hotel, a project they fear threatens the ancient but dwindling community.

The real estate deal which gives an Australian-Israeli investor roughly 25 percent of the Old City's Armenian quarter has sparked anger and concern among its residents.

"The youth arrived in large numbers and positioned themselves in front of the bulldozers," recalled resident Kegham Balian of the escalation last month.

"The settlers underestimated our community," said the Armenian merchant.

"We are waging a peaceful struggle, and we are not afraid."

Ever since the construction began, Armenians have set up camp, bringing tents, stoves, mattresses and even a TV to a weeks-long sit-in to guard the contested land.

Inside a tent, wooden planks patch up the holes left by construction equipment.

On Thursday, "over 30 armed provocateurs" attacked members of the Armenian community including clergymen, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement.

It accused the real estate developer, Danny Rothman, of being responsible for the "massive and coordinated physical attack" shortly after the patriarchate had taken to the court to annul the controversial land sale.

East Jerusalem and the Old City — divided into Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters — was seized by Israel in 1967 and annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.

Land rights are a key point of tension in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, where Israel has built and expanded settlements, considered illegal under international law.

Only around 2,000 Armenians remain in the Old City quarter after waves of immigration primarily to the United States and Europe since the 1960s.

Like Palestinians in the rest of east Jerusalem, most Armenians do not hold Israeli citizenship but only residency.

Panic first erupted among the minority community in April, after it was revealed that the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Father Baret Yeretzian, in charge of real estate affairs, struck a deal in 2021 with a Tel Aviv-based company.

The firm, which won a 99-year lease on the land, is Rothman's Xana Gardens Ltd, according to Israeli lawyer and Jerusalem specialist Daniel Seidemann.

"The agreement was reached by the patriarchate without the knowledge and without the consent of the residents of the Armenian quarter or their institutions," Seidemann told AFP, an assertion echoed by community members.

The contract included "11,500 square metres (2.8 acres) of land, including a parking lot, five residences, and the patriarchate's seminar hall," said Setrag Balian, co-founder of Save the ArQ, a movement by Armenian quarter residents.

Despite the Armenian Patriarchate saying it had subsequently "withdrawn from negotiations" after discovering "problems behind this transaction", many community members still feel betrayed.

Yeretzian, the priest behind the contract has been defrocked.

The latest escalation came after Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, on October 27 sent a letter to Xana Gardens formally notifying the firm of the "cancellation of the agreement".

Then, "bulldozers, armed settlers accompanied by dogs, and residents of the Jewish quarter" arrived to the area, said the activist Balian, 27.

The takeover attempt "took advantage of the chaos of October 7," he said, referring to the bloody attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel that triggered all-out war.

"They managed to demolish part of the wall surrounding the parking lot."

Rothman's lawyer, Avi Savitzki, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

– 'We are ready'-

Campaigners say they are trying to preserve the land of the Armenian community, whose presence in Jerusalem dates as far back as 1,500 years.

Save the ArQ is also supported by Armenian diaspora communities with legal assistance and media coverage.

"Every day, families come to see us and bring us food," said Kegham Balian of the sit-in, where young and old take turns sleeping at the site.

They hope the land does not befall the same fate of some Greek Orthodox Church property in Jerusalem.

Israeli settler group Ateret Cohanim, using front companies, in 2004 acquired leasing rights on three building belonging to the church.

After years legal battles, Israel's top court eventually allowed Ateret Cohanim to take hold of the property.

This judicial setback "endangers the Christian presence and the integrity of the Christian quarter," said activist Hagop Djernazian.

To Balian, "we know the political stakes" in the divided holy city, a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"It will not be an easy battle, especially since we are not just fighting against a private company but also against settlers," he said.

But "we are ready."

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231229-jerusalem-s-armenians-vow-to-keep-up-fight-against-settler-project