14:25, 5 May, 2021
YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. A mobile COVID-19 vaccination site has been dispatched to the Northern Avenue in downtown Yerevan, the health ministry said. It said they cooperated with Yerevan City Hall in forming the group.
All persons aged 18 and above are eligible for getting the vaccine.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Turkey has vowed to respond to President Joe Biden’s use of the term genocide in a formal statement April 24 to mark the 106th anniversary of the mass killings of the Ottoman Armenians in 1915. It was the first time a US president referred to the Armenian tragedy in those words, a measure of the awful state of US-Turkish relations but also of Biden’s ethical foreign policy stance.
In an April 25 interview with the Reuters news agency, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin called the characterization “simply outrageous” and said, “There will be reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees.” He did not specify what these would be and would only say, “At a time and place that we consider to be appropriate, we will continue to respond to this very unfortunate, unfair statement.”
So far Turkey’s only move was to summon US Ambassador David Satterfield in the late evening of April 24 for a formal protest. In fact, Ankara’s response has been remarkably muted given the decades of diplomatic and financial capital it spent on seeking to prevent just such a statement. Turkey’s swashbuckling president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has yet to comment.
Meanwhile, Erdogan’s overtly anti-American interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, reserved his ire to a single tweet. “The United States does not know history. Because it has no history of its own. Therefore, the words that were put in its president’s mouth have no value whatsoever,” he said.
Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party and Erdogan’s informal coalition ally, did make some hawkish noises but has not recommended any sanctions against the United States.
This is in sharp contrast with the main opposition parties, which blasted Biden for labeling the bloodletting organized by the Young Turks who ruled Turkey in the last days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, as most credible historians do. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party was the sole outlier, calling in a statement for Turkey to “face up” to the Armenian genocide.
So what can Turkey actually do? The prevailing consensus is that it has limited leverage due to the parlous state of its economy, aggravated by a fierce third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has battered Turkey’s multibillion-dollar tourism sector. Turkey’s mounting diplomatic isolation is cited as another reason Ankara will have to live with Biden’s statement.
At least 30 countries have already recognized the genocide, including Russia, Germany and the Netherlands, “and in those instances too, Turkey’s response did not go beyond angry statements,” recalled Berk Esen, an assistant professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Sabanci University. In this instance too, the government “is likely to engage in bellicose rhetoric principally aimed at pacifying public fury. At the same time, it will seek to bait the opposition into a debate then accuse it of not responding forcefully enough to Biden’s statement, but such tactics are likely to backfire,” Esen predicted. “The government is continually losing support,” he added.
Sinem Adar, a research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, concurred. “Just as the government’s room for maneuver has shrunk domestically, with the election of Joe Biden, it shrunk on the foreign policy front too. Biden’s April 24 speech needs to be assessed within this light,” Adar noted.
That is not to say that Turkey doesn’t have some leverage. It could, in theory, be less cooperative on Afghanistan peace talks that are meant to ease a full US withdrawal from the war-ravaged Central Asian state. Ankara agreed to host the talks in April — they have now been delayed — using its close alliance with Pakistan, which has considerable leverage on the Taliban, observed Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Turkey director for the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Or it could limit US activity at Incirlik air base, he speculated. Last but not least, Turkey might, with Russia’s blessings, mount yet another attack against the United States’ Syrian Kurdish partners in northeast Syria. But Unluhisarcikli does not believe that Ankara would resort to any of these measures, least of all before Erdogan and Biden are due to meet for the first time since the latter became president, on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June. “Any of these actions would incur a considerable cost for Turkey as well,” he said.
Some warn, however, that the Biden administration’s message that Turkey’s geostrategic value no longer trumps all else may push Ankara further into the arms of Russia and even China. Adar disagrees. “The ruling elite views Turkey’s NATO membership as a valuable lever and will refrain from adding new strains to existing ones.” Adar was alluding to the ongoing standoff between Washington and Ankara over Turkey’s acquisition of Russian-made S-400 missiles.
As such, further rapprochement with Moscow would be “an unintended consequence” of its hard power-driven foreign policy, she added.
Either way, said Merve Tahiroglu, Turkey program coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy, a Washington-based think tank, “Biden’s statement ought to be a wake-up call for Ankara about the consequences of playing the United States off of each other and the damage that has done to Turkey’s relationship with the United States.”
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13:07, 26 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. Lawmaker Vladimir Vardanyan from the ruling My Step bloc says the constitution allows the incumbent prime minister to continue serving as caretaker prime minister in the event of tendering resignation.
“There is no restriction or prohibition,” Vardanyan, the Chair of the parliamentary committee of state-legal affairs told reporters in response to opinions that Pashinyan can’t be the caretaker prime minister.
“In many countries, when a prime minister and the government resign, the country’s sovereign or the president tasks the prime minister and cabinet members to continue fulfilling their duties until the formation of a new government. This practice exists in many countries,” he said.
Vardanyan stressed that the fact that Pashinyan’s resignation isn’t an ordinary resignation but rather a move required to pave way for the dissolution of parliament must be taken into account.
He said the government must continue functioning in order to avoid a power vacuum. However, he noted that perhaps there is an absence of constitutional convention in Armenia.
At the same time, he noted that the constitution doesn’t prohibit the prime minister to designate another person to be an acting prime minister. “There is no constitutional dispute at this moment between constitutional bodies, the process is proceeding normally,” he said.
Vardanyan mentioned however that a problem of compatibility might arise during campaigning in terms of state resources, noting that this must be avoided.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned on April 25 – a move intended to pave way for snap election. The entire Cabinet also resigned. Holding early elections requires the dissolution of parliament, which in turn can happen when the legislature fails twice to elect a prime minister after the incumbent steps down.
Pashinyan said in his address to the nation that after parliament is dissolved his Civil Contract party will run in the June 20 elections and he will be re-nominated for prime minister.
Pashinyan and his Cabinet are now the caretaker government until the new government is formed.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani land has been acknowledged by the international community as well as international institutions including the United Nations, the Council of the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Turkish parliament speaker Mustafa Şentop stated on Wednesday.
“Who says that Armenia is an occupier? The U.N. Security Council. The European Council. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Thus, it is a proven fact that Armenia was an occupier in Azerbaijani territories according to international law,” Şentop told Turkmenistan’s parliament in an online meeting.
“Beyond friendship and brotherhood, Turkey’s taking the side of Azerbaijan is a matter of Azerbaijan being in the right,” he added.
“Turkey is determined to continue the struggle to work for the safety of everyone and to keep all humanity alive in peace and stability.”
“We do not hesitate to take the initiative to resolve disputes in our region and the world,” he added.
Turkey views Armenia as a threat to Azerbaijan and the region, he pointed out.
Şentop said Armenia’s attacks on civilian targets in neighboring Azerbaijan over the years violated the Geneva Convention.
“Turkey believes that Armenia, which poses a threat to Azerbaijan and the region, is a state acting irresponsibly.”
Telling how Armenian Parliament Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan left the meeting before his speech, Şentop said he was expecting Mirzoyan to hear him out.
“I expected him to not leave this meeting and to listen to the words said in response to his words. If you say something against a country, you should also have the courage to hear out its response,” he said.
Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.
On Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and went on to violate several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
After six weeks of fighting last year, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered cease-fire for the region.
BAKU, April 28. /TASS/. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and expressed concerns over the recent announcement made by US President Joe Biden regarding the events that took place in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, Aliyev’s press service said in a statement on Wednesday.
“During the conversation, President Aliyev touched upon the statement delivered by US President Joe Biden over the so-called Armenian Genocide, underlining that Turkey is a close friend and ally of Azerbaijan. Turkey plays a very important and positive role in the post-war time in the region, while Biden’s remarks were met with concern in the leadership and public,” the statement reads.
Moreover, the sides exchanged opinions on the situation that unfolded after the “Armenian-Azerbaijani war”, the press service noted. Aliyev also stressed the importance of unblocking communications in the region. Aliyev and Blinken also exchanged opinions on the future activities of the OSCE Minsk Group.
In a statement released on Saturday, US President Joe Biden recognized the events in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century as “the Armenian genocide,” despite the fact that his predecessors avoided using the term. The Turkish Foreign Ministry noted in response that Biden’s recognition of the genocide undermines ties between Washington and Ankara. Meanwhile, Aliyev described Biden’s statement as a “historic mistake.”.
00:01,
YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. In 1915, the crime perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians was the first genocide of 20th century. The Armenians worldwide commemorate 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24.
Compared to 2020, this year there will no restriction for visit to the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial. The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Armenian State Academic Choir, conducted by Eduard Topchyan, performed Verdi’s Requiem at 23:00, April 23 at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan as part of the Trilogy of Remembrance events. Then, at midnight, the Armenian National Chamber Orchestra and the Hover State Chamber Choir will perform Mozart’s Requiem at the Komitas Chamber Music House. The concert will be conducted by Alexander Iradyan. At 19:15, April 24, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the Armenian State Chamber Choir and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir, conducted by Robert Melkeyan, will perform Tigran Mansurian’s Requiem at the K. Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex. The attendance of the diplomatic corps is planned for this event. The concert will take place under the patronage of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. More than 10 foreign delegations from various countries have arrived in Armenia for the participation in the Armenian Genocide commemoration events.
The extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the World War I is called the Armenian Genocide. Those massacres were perpetrated by the government of Young Turks in various regions of the Ottoman Empire. The first international response to the violence resulted in a joint statement by France, Russia and the Great Britain in May 24 1915, where the Turkish atrocities against the Armenians were defined as “a crime against humanity and civilization”. According to them, Turkish government was responsible for the implementation of the crime.
When WWI erupted, the government of the Young Turks adopted the policy of Pan-Turkism, hoping to save the remains of the weakened Ottoman Empire. The plan was to create an enormous Ottoman Empire that would spread to China, include all the Turkish speaking nations of the Caucasus and Middle Asia, intending also to turkify all the ethnic minorities of the empire. The Armenian population became the main obstacle standing in the way of the realization of this policy. The Young Turks used WWI as a suitable opportunity for the implementation of the Armenian genocide, although it was planned in 1911-1912.
There were an estimated two million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire before the WWI. Approximately one and a half million Armenians were killed from 1915-1923. The remaining part was either islamized or exiled, or found shelters in different parts of the world.
A genocide is the organized extermination of a nation aiming to put an end to their collective existence. Thus, the implementation of the genocide requires oriented programming and an internal mechanism, which makes genocide a state crime, as only a state possesses all the resources that can be used to carry out this policy.
The first phase of the Armenian Genocide was the extermination of the Armenian population started on April 24, 1915 with the arrest of several hundred Armenian intellectuals and representatives of national elite (mainly in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople) and their subsequent elimination. Hereinafter, Armenians worldwide started to commemorate the Armenian genocide on April 24.
The third phase of the genocide is characterized with the exile of the massacres of women, children, and elderly people to the desert of Syria. Hundreds of thousands of people were murdered by Turkish soldiers, police officers, Kurdish bandits during the deportation. The others died of epidemic diseases. Thousands of women and children were subjected to violence. Tens of thousands were forcibly islamized.
The last phase is the universal and absolute denial of the Turkish government of the mass deportations and genocide carried out against Armenians in their homeland. Despite the ongoing process of international condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey fights against recognition by all means, including distortion of history, means of propaganda, lobbying activities and other measures.
On December 9, 1948 the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, according to which, genocide is defined as an international crime and the signing states are obliged to prevent, as well as punish the perpetrators of the genocide.
Recognition
The fact of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman government has been documented, recognized, and affirmed in the form of media and eyewitness reports, laws, resolutions, and statements by many states and international organizations. The complete catalogue of all documents categorizing the 1915-23 widespread massacre of the Armenian population in Ottoman Empire as a premeditated and thoroughly executed act of Genocide, is extensive.
Below is a brief list of those states and organizations, provincial governments and city councils which have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide
Parliamentary Resolutions, Laws and Declarations
International Organizations
Provincial legislative bodies, governments, city councils
US states
Australia
Argentina
Canada
Switzerland
Great Britain
Italy
Spain
Belgium
Austria
Ukraine
Mexico
Nearing 20 years in power, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now dealing with his fourth United States president. Erdogan is accustomed to building a rapport with new presidents early in their terms. His strategy was successful at the beginning of both the Obama and Trump administrations, before US-Turkey relations took a turn for the worse. After a dizzying last quarter of the Trump Presidency – which included the imposition of CAATSA sanctions for Turkey’s purchase of Russia S400s and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo openly scolding Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu during a virtual NATO summit – Ankara was certainly ready for a fresh start.
Erdogan’s regime was already quite familiar with President Joe Biden and key members of his team. There were plenty of moments on the 2020 campaign trail – including Biden’s scathing critique of Turkey during a New York Times editorial board meeting, his promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide, his criticisms of Turkish moves on Hagia Sophia and Varosha – that should have given Ankara pause. But Erdogan could have been forgiven for assuming that this was election year posturing and that much of it resembled Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign promises on the same issues, which were quickly forgotten once he got into office.
If Erdogan had been counting on his third consecutive “reset” with a US administration, President Biden has disappointed him. During a first 100 days dominated by domestic policy and getting past Covid, the Biden administration has done enough on Turkey to leave Erdogan on edge and off-balance.
The catalogue of specific moves at the outset of the Biden Presidency has exceeded the expectations of even the president’s most loyal supporters. Imagine having to brief Erdogan on the following over the last few months: the appointment of Brett McGurk to the National Security Council; Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s commentary on Turkey during his confirmation hearing and his rebuke of Turkey’s stance on Cyprus during a later appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee; the State Department’s open condemnation of government crackdowns at Bogazici University, the sham prosecution of Osman Kavala and Henri Barkey, and moves against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP); the rollout of the CAATSA sanctions; the legal briefs filed by the Justice Department and State Department that allowed the lawsuit against Turkey in the Sheridan Circle case to move forward. On top of that, imagine having to explain how Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already spoken to President Biden while Erdogan still waits.
Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and African studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, notes the significant departure from the approach towards Turkey over the last several administrations: “It doesn’t seem that quiet diplomacy is in the policy. Ned Price [the State Department spokesperson] has been forthright and strong from the podium.” During the Obama and Trump administrations, the US was often caught sending mixed signals to Turkey. According to Cook, “what has been a surprise [under Biden] is that the signals have not been mixed. The president and his team are not going to overlook American values.”
This clear commitment to democracy and human rights is notable, argues Alan Makovsky, senior fellow for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress. “The Biden administration has Turkey covered like a blanket like no administration before. So far it’s mostly rhetorical, but it is comprehensive. If you are a democrat in Turkey, you are happy that you seem to have a friend in the White House.”
This more clear-eyed policy on Turkey is not necessarily a surprise to those who have been following Washington closely. Congress had already adopted a more aggressive stance than the previous two administrations. Over its last two sessions, Congress forced the issue on CAATSA sanctions and on ejecting Turkey from the F-35 program, unanimously adopted the Armenian Genocide resolution through the Senate, passed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, and has instituted an informal arms embargo on Turkey. In this latest session, Congress has issued wide-ranging written critiques of Turkey’s record on human rights and democracy, with more than 50 senators and 170 representatives signing letters.
For Makovsky, this backdrop signals a bigger problem for Turkey. “With Trump’s departure, Turkey has no real supporters left in Washington. Even at State and Department of Defense, where there is still appreciation for Turkey’s strategic potential, there is ever growing doubt about its willingness to be a partner and there is also a strong sense that the worst is yet to come in term of human rights abuse. Turkey’s stock in Washington is in free fall, and nobody is expecting Erdogan to do what is necessary to reverse that trend.”
No one should take all this as any type of signal of a full rupture in US-Turkey relations. There seems to be a new Washington consensus that while a loving relationship with Turkey will not be re-established, a working one must be found. And thus the US is arranging for talks on Afghanistan to be held in Turkey and urging the EU to hold off on a more aggressive posture with regard to sanctions on Turkey.
Cook points to Turkey’s ability to compartmentalize relations with other countries (like Russia) and argues that the US can adopt a similar approach to Ankara: “Work with Turkey where you can, work against it where you must, and where the stakes are low stay out of each other’s way.”
Makovsky sees two key upcoming milestones – whether the Biden administration recognizes the Armenian Genocide (he believes it will) and whether Turkey bans the HDP. A rupture in the bilateral relationship will not necessarily ensue, but Turkey may finally realize how politically and diplomatically isolated it really is in the United States.
Erdogan has long operated under the assumption that the US will blink first in a stare-down with Turkey. But in 2021, he is staring down a president and administration that has more experience, a clearer world view, and more political cover to “not blink” than any he has ever faced. It is still early, and the Biden administration has to maintain consistency, but when it comes to US-Turkey relations, blunt diplomacy is on track to replace the failed quiet diplomacy of the past. Will this result in Erdogan changing behavior or Turkey moving on from Erdogan?
Endy Zemenides is the executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC).
FOX 11
LOS ANGELES – Dozens of people gathered outside the Consulate General of Azerbaijan on Wilshire Blvd. Thursday to protest against the countless Armenian prisoners of war being held by Azerbaijani forces.
For many Armenian-Americans who attended the silent protest, their message was clear… release all Armenian POWs.
Similar protests where held throughout the world including Toronto, Paris, Rome, Houston, Sacramento, Montréal, New York, Warsaw, and many other cities.
Video posted online by The US Armenians shows several protesters outside the UN office in Geneva and at the UN office in Yerevan, Armenia’s capitol.
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Several Armenian POWs are currently being held captive by Azerbaijan following a war in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan ended in early November but over hundred POWs have still not returned to Armenia, and it has left many families in fear.
During a hearing for the House Armed Services Committee, California Rep. Jackie Speier urged the Department of Defense that the US get involved and put pressure on Azerbaijan to release all POWs.
“I think we are sending a terrible message to Armenia and because we did not engage in terms of getting the parties to the Minsk Group table for negations, Russia stepped in and now has another foothold in that region,” Speier said during the hearing.
“Violence & instability are not in U.S. interests. We cannot reward Azerbaijan for its all-out assault & enable further violence against the Armenian people,” she wrote online.
According to Speier, over 5,000 people died during the recent war, over a thousand were displaced from their homes and 200 POWs are still being held captive by Azerbaijan.
Today’s global protest occurred just about a week before the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. On April 24th thousands of Armenians in California and around the world will commemorate the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.
BAKU, April 13. /TASS/. Azerbaijan expresses its concern regarding Armenia’s talks with Russia on the modernization of its armed forces, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday.
“We are very much concerned about the fact that Armenia is in talks with Russia on modernizing its army, and we have notified Russia of our concern. Any opportunity for revenge will only create unnecessary tension,” he said at the conference titled “A New Look at the South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development and Cooperation,” which is being held in Baku.
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, 2020, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku and Yerevan have disputed sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region declared secession from the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had maintained, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin Corridor that connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.