Author: Hambik Zargarian

Photo: Getty Images

 

European Council President Donald Tusk is due to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to strengthen their joint approach to Europe’s migration crisis, the BBC reports.

Mr Tusk has raised the idea of “shipping back” migrants who arrive in the Greek islands from Turkey.

He said on Thursday that it could break the business model of people smugglers.

Mr Tusk has been engaged in intense diplomatic activity ahead of an EU-Turkey summit to be held on Monday.

French President Francois Hollande is also hosting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Friday to discuss the migration crisis.

Thousands of refugees and migrants are continuing to arrive on the Greek islands every day after setting off from the Turkish coast.

They aim to reach Germany and other countries in northern Europe but are finding their way blocked by increasing border controls.

More than 25,000 are now stranded in northern Greece on the border with Macedonia, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.

“Rivaling even ISIS, the Azerbaijan regime has destroyed countless ancient Christian churches and monuments to erase the ancient history of Christian Armenians, whom despot Aliyev has declared the “enemy,” Bill Barton writes in an article published by the .

The comments come after for “interfaith, harmony and tolerance” last week.

“Instead of absurdly praising Azerbaijan for respecting Christians, legislators should watch the video on  verified with satellite by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, showing how 100 soldiers of Azerbaijan razed the world’s largest collection of medieval Christian cross-stones at the sacred Djulfa cemetery in 2005,” the author writes.

“Even if Davis were not aware of Djulfa’s wipeout, which the mainstream media ignored since the perpetrator is a “secular Muslim” country, he should have looked up reports by International Christian Concern, which calls Azerbaijan “notorious for religious persecution,” or that of the Pew Research Center, which ranks Azerbaijan among the most restrictive countries on religious practice,” Bill Barton writes

According to him, “Azerbaijan’s self-promotion of tolerance would strengthen Azerbaijan’s claim that the Christian country of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) would not suffer if Azerbaijan took over, which they would like to do.”

Artsakh is an unrecognized country twice the size of Luxembourg that has been an Armenian region for millennia. In 1921, Joseph Stalin expropriated it to Azerbaijan as part of the divide-and-conquer strategy to Sovietize the Caucasus. Instead of showing tolerance, Soviet Azerbaijan closed down Armenian schools, ethnically cleansed another historic Armenian region and enabled pogroms against the large and industrial Armenian minority in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. This left Artsakh no choice but to seek independence in 1991, which Azerbaijan answered with a war it ultimately lost, causing thousands of deaths and creating even more refugees on both sides.

“Twisting reality, Azerbaijan has accused Artsakh of demolishing mosques, and claims that Aliyev respects Christian heritage, pointing to capital Baku’s 19th-century Armenian church, now used as the Azerbaijan president’s library, while concealing the fact that all Armenians have been ethnically cleansed from Azerbaijan, followed by the total wipeout of the ancient Christian heritage they left behind,” the article reads.

Utah is home to thousands with Armenian heritage many of whom survived the 1915 Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Turkish government in furtherance of the same pan-Turkic policies now shared with its Turkic brethren in Azerbaijan. Other Armenians are more recent refugees from Azerbaijan. “Any Utah lawmakers who took the free trip to Azerbaijan and fell for their caviar diplomacy should apologize to their constituents and set the record straight,” Bill Barton notes.

“Praising a religious persecutor that has destroyed more Christian monuments than ISIS and is more censored than Iran is an insult to the people of Utah who have long upheld and promoted true interfaith tolerance and religious harmony. Those familiar with Aliyev’s cruel and crafty methods of eliminating opposition then spending millions to rewrite reality would not be surprised. Observers appropriately refer to Azerbaijan as “Absurdistan” — after the novel it helped inspire. Unfortunately, Davis has contributed to this propaganda,” the author concludes.

Bill Barton, whose maternal family survived the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s, is a native West Valley resident and served 12 years in the Utah Senate.

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Now that the two major political parties have begun holding Primaries to select their nominees for this fall’s Presidential elections, Armenian-Americans are weighing the merits of the eight remaining candidates.

I would like to propose that from now on Armenians refrain from asking presidential candidates whether they would recognize the Armenian Genocide once elected. There are two problems in posing such a question:

1) Armenians should know from previous disappointing experiences that they cannot trust promises made by most politicians.

2) There is no need to ask for such a promise since the Armenian Genocide has been repeatedly recognized by the various branches of the US government for many years:

1. a) Document submitted by the US government to the World Court in 1951;
2. b) Resolutions adopted by the House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984;
3. c) Pres. Reagan’s Proclamation referring to the Armenian Genocide on April 22, 1981.

Furthermore, the continued pursuit of genocide recognition — when it has been already recognized — would simply undermine its acknowledgment and cast doubt on it veracity.

Instead, Armenian-Americans should ask presidential candidates for their positions on more pressing issues such as:

1) Allocating more foreign aid to Armenia and Artsakh (Karabakh);

2) Promoting US trade with Armenia;

3) Pressuring Turkey to lift its blockade of Armenia;

4) Demanding that Turkey return the confiscated Armenian churches to the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul;

5) Condemning Azerbaijan for its repeated threats and attacks on Armenia and Artsakh;

6) Supporting the independence of Artsakh.

Once elected, officials would want to satisfy some of these demands in order to maintain the support of the Armenian community during their future campaign for reelection.

Here are the records of all six Republican presidential candidates on Armenian issues:

Gov. Jeb Bush (Florida)

— Traveled with his son on a humanitarian mission to Armenia on Dec. 24, 1988, shortly after the earthquake;

— Issued an Armenian Genocide proclamation on April 7, 2006;

— Received the Friend of Armenians Award in 2013 from the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church.

Gov. John Kasich (Ohio)

— Received ratings of C, D, and F from ANCA during most of his tenure in the House of Representatives, 1983-2001;

— Cosigned letters to Pres. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev supporting Artsakh’s independence in 1991;

— Cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2000;

— As Governor, issued a proclamation in 2012 to celebrate Armenian Independence Day.

Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas)

— Received a C- rating from ANCA in 2014;

— In 2015, issued statement on the Armenian Genocide and cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida)

— Received a C rating in 2012 and B in 2014 from ANCA;

— Voted for passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2014;

— Cosponsored the Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2015;

— Cosigned letter to Pres. Obama urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2015.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson (Michigan): No statements on Armenian issues.

Businessman Donald Trump (New York): No statements on Armenian issues.

Here are the records of the two Democratic presidential candidates on Armenian issues:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (New York)

— As Senator, cosigned letters to Pres. Bush urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2005 and 2006;

— Cosponsored Resolutions on the Armenian Genocide in 2006 and 2007;

— As Presidential candidate in 2008, made a promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide;

— Later in 2008, spoke at a Turkish Cultural Center banquet in New York City in the presence of then Prime Minister Erdogan;

— During an official visit to Yerevan in 2010, placed a wreath at the Genocide Monument, which the US Embassy in Armenia called a “private” act, even though the ribbon on the wreath carried the inscription: “From Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton”;

— In 2012, as Secretary of State, referred to the Armenian Genocide as “a matter of historical debate,” contradicting her earlier clear stand on this important issue.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont)

— Received an A+ rating in 2012 and C in 2014 from ANCA;

— During his tenure in the House of Representatives (1991-2007), he supported a variety of Armenian issues, including the Genocide Resolution, in 1996, 1997, and 2000;

— Cosigned letters to Pres. Bush urging him to recognize the Armenian Genocide in 2002, 2003, and 2004;

— As Senator, he cosponsored in 2012 two Resolutions on the Armenian Genocide and Return of Armenian Churches by Turkey.

The polls and results of the early Primary elections indicate that no candidate in either party is likely to have an overwhelming majority in the Primaries and the November elections which would encourage the candidates to be more accommodating to all voters, including Armenian-Americans.

Under these circumstances, my suggestion to the Armenian-American community is to refrain from making an early commitment to any candidate. The decision as to whom to support can be made later as the presidential race gets tighter and the candidates get more desperate for votes!

NATO supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai told reporters in Baku Feb.16, APA reports.

“We are not directly involved in the process of resolving [the conflict]. But our position is that we support Minsk Group’s efforts and a peaceful resolution to this conflict,” he added.

Appathurai said he has discussed the current status of the conflict with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

“NATO has a stance with regard to the conflict. The situation along the contact line causes escalation. This is a complicated situation. The Alliance thinks the sides should work to find a peaceful solution,” he stressed.

On January 20, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian  met with Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro.

Welcoming Foreign Minister of Armenia, President of Montenegro attached significant importance to the first high-level official visit from Armenia to Podgorica, expressing confidence that the agreements reached during the visit would advance the bilateral cooperation in different areas. “I have had number of meetings with Serzh Sargsyan, President of friendly Armenia on the sidelines of international conferences and I hope this visit will result in the further activation of mutual visits and cooperation.”

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Edward Nalbandian conveyed to the President of Montenegro the greetings of the President of Armenia and the invitation to visit Yerevan.

During the meeting, the sides stressed that traditional friendship between the peoples of Armenia and Montenegro creates solid basis for the development of relations and the use of their entire potential.

Ways on organization of high-level visits, intensification of trade and economic ties, holding of business forums, development of decentralized cooperation were discussed. In this regard, the interlocutors attached importance to the revision of Cooperation Agreement signed back in 1978 and establishment of ties between administrative units of the two states.

Negotiations between Edward Nalbandian and Igor Lukšić, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro took place in Podgorica.

Tête-à-tête negotiations were followed by talks in the extended format.

Welcoming the Foreign Minister of Armenia, the Foreign Minister of Montenegro considered quite symbolic the fact that Foreign Minister of friendly Armenia is the first foreign minister to pay official visit to Podgorica in 2016, and expressed confidence that the visit would give new impetus to bilateral relations.

Thanking Igor Lukšić for the invitation to visit the country and the reception, Minister Nalbandian said, “Your visit to Armenia in 2013 established basis for continuous political dialogue between two friendly countries. I am glad to be in Podgorica now, paying first official visit from Armenia to Montenegro.”

During the talks, the interlocutors discussed a number of issues on bilateral agenda, attached importance to the organization of high-level visits, expansion of the legal framework, promotion of trade and economic ties, visa facilitation, activation of people-to-people contacts, development of cooperation in the areas of education, science, culture, tourism, high technologies.

In the context of decentralized cooperation, the two touched upon the necessity of revision of Cooperation Agreement between the two capitals.

Issues on holding regular consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of two states, developing cooperation within international organizations, promoting inter-parliamentary cooperation were discussed.

Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro presented priorities of his country’s foreign policy, ongoing processes in the Balkan Peninsula and his country’s stance on them.
Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Montenegro exchanged thoughts on pressing regional and international issues, particularly, implementation of agreements reached over Iran nuclear program, developments in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism.

Foreign Minister of Armenia presented to his colleague the efforts of Armenia and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

The meeting of the Ministers was followed by a press conference.

Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro hosted an official dinner in the honour of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

On the same day Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Ranko Krivokapić, President of the Parliament of Montenegro.

During the meeting views were exchanged on the development of cooperation between two states, promotion of collaboration between legislative bodies, importance was attached to the establishment of Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

The Minister touched upon the tightening of cooperation within parliamentary formats of international organizations was outlined.

Foreign Minister of Armenia presented to the President of the Parliament of Montenegro events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide held across the globe and their message.

Minister Nalbandian presented to Ranko Krivokapić recent developments in the negotiation process on exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue within the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.

Iran “has opened a new chapter” in its ties with the world, President Hassan Rouhani said, hours after international nuclear sanctions were lifted, the BBC reports.

The move came after the international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said Iran had complied with a deal designed to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.

UN, US and EU sanctions have hit Iran hard for years.

Most Western governments hailed the move but Israel accused Tehran of still seeking to build a nuclear bomb.

Sanctions on Iran

• The economic sanctions being lifted now were imposed progressively by the US, EU and UN in response to Iran’s nuclear programme
• The EU is lifting in full restrictions on trade, shipping and insurance
• The US is suspending, not terminating, its nuclear-related sanctions; crucially, Iran can now reconnect to the global banking system
• The UN is lifting sanctions related to defence and nuclear technology sales, as well as an asset freeze on key individuals and companies
• Non-nuclear US economic sanctions remain in place, notably the ban on US citizens and companies trading with Iran, and US and EU sanctions on Iranians accused of sponsoring terrorism remain in place

A flurry of Iranian economic activity is anticipated:

• Nearly $100bn (£70bn) of Iranian assets are being unlocked
• Iran is expected to increase its daily export of 1.1m barrels of crude oil by 500,000 shortly, and a further 500,000 thereafter
• Iran is reportedly poised to buy 114 new passenger planes from the Airbus consortium

Mr Rouhani said everyone was happy with the deal, apart from those he described as warmongers in the region – Israel and hardliners in the US Congress.

“We Iranians have reached out to the world in a sign of friendliness, and leaving behind the enmities, suspicions and plots, have opened a new chapter in the relations of Iran with the world,” he said in a statement to the nation on Sunday morning.

The lifting of sanctions was “a turning point” for Iran’s economy, he added, saying the country needed to be less reliant on oil revenues.

Photo: Reuters

Iraqi forces have retaken a former government compound in Ramadi from where Islamic State (IS) group militants have been resisting an army offensive, the military has said, the BBC reports.

The complex was “under complete control” and there was no sign of IS fighters, a spokesman said.

He said this heralded the defeat of IS in the city, although he admitted there could be pockets of resistance.

The government has been trying to retake Ramadi for weeks.

The mainly Sunni Arab city, about 55 miles (90km) west of Baghdad, fell to IS in May, and was seen as an embarrassing defeat for the army.

On December 10 Turkish publisher, human rights defender Ragip Zarakolu was awarded PL Foundation Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts in the areas of freedom of thought and expression. Zarakolu is an author of a number of works on Armenian Genocide.

The prize amounting to 100 thousand Danish krone is awarded to organizations and people who struggle for democracy without resorting to violence within the scope of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

President of the PL Foundation Paul Sogaard noted in his opening remarks that Ragip Zarakolu was chosen as a recipient of the prize for his long struggle for the freedom of thought and human rights, as well as for his efforts targeted at raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide committed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire 100 years ago. Zarakolu has been persecuted and arrested several times for his activity.

Zarakolu said, in turn, he dedicates the award to the memory of Hrant Dink, the slain editor-in-chief of the Turkish Armenian Agos weekly, and Armenian linguist and architect Sevan Nisanyan, who’s currently serving a term in Turkey.

He urged to do the utmost to speak out against and condemn the radical intolerance in Turkey and contribute to the release of detained intellectuals.

The event was attended by First Secretary of the Armenian Embassy in Denmark, a number of Turkish intellectuals and human rights defenders living in different countries, who have been exiled from Turkey for their activity.

Russia has banned sales of tour packages to Turkey, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Monday. All charter flights to Turkey are prohibited, regular air travel will be regulated, he added, Sputnik News reports. 

– A delegation comprising members of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, the ARF Bureau representative Hagop Der Khatchadourian, Fr. Keghart Kosbakian, pastor of the St. Nshan Armenian Apostolic church of Cambridge, and members of the Vancouver Armenian community were joined by members and representatives of the local Winnipeg Armenian community at an event organized by the Canadian Human Right’s Museum dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. To commemorate the anniversary, the museum had organized a special evening, which took place on Wednesday, November 25, with renowned Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan and actress Arsinée Khandjian.

The museum is the realization of the dream of Canadian philanthropist Dr. Israel Asper, who aspired to create a place where Canadians could learn and promote human rights issues. The Armenian National Committee of Canada, the largest and most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots organization, had been collaborating with the museum since the project was first initiated. The event marking the centennial of the Armenian Genocide was an initiative from the Museum to commemorate the memory of one of the first human right’s largest calamities of the 20^th century, which acted as precedence to later genocides and atrocities around the world.

The event began with a guided tour of the museum, which encompasses 10 galleries that contain both parts of Canadian and International history presented through a high-tech, multi-media based interactive portal. During the guided tour, a large portion was spent accentuating the Breaking the Silence gallery, which focuses on the importance to break the silence about world human rights violations and atrocities and explores the role of denial and secrecy in the promotion and continuation of genocides. It includes a focused examination of the Ukrainian Holodomor, the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide and the Srebrenica Genocide in Bosnia. In the gallery, there was a greater emphasis placed on the importance of education of the Armenian Genocide, as mentioned by the museum tour guide.

Before the beginning of the official event, Svetlana Gharagyozyan of the Manitoba Opera gave a live musical performance for those present in the Bonnie and John Buhler hall.

John Young, director of the Museum gave the opening remarks and hosted the evening.

Armenian National Committee of Canada representative Shahen Mirakian spoke on behalf of the organization thanking guests for attending the event and emphasized the importance of the ANCC grassroots movement in making a change in the world by collaboration with different communities to fight against all forms of human rights violations. He also thanked Dr. Asper for this visionary undertaking, as well as the Museum and fellow Canadians for standing up and raising awareness for human rights issues.

Mr. Haig Vanlian took the podium on behalf of the Winnipeg Armenian community, thanking Canada for being an exemplary country and a beacon of compassion and humanitarian work. In his speech, he remembered the Georgetown Boys, Canada’s first act of humanitarian aid on an international scale, which brought orphaned Armenian boys and girls to a farm in Georgetown, and who later became model citizens that contributed to the Canadian society. He emphasized that the Armenian Genocide is still denied to this day by the Turkish Government, however with such endeavors as the Canadian Human Rights Museum in Manitoba, the demand for recognition and reparation is foreseeable. He stated that: “As we listen to the news these days, the Syrian refugee stories, the Syrian Armenian minority refugee stories, we remember the victims of the past…ethnicity and religion are being used as basis of percussion. Preventing genocide is the personal responsibility of every individual around the world.”

Fr. Keghart Kosbakian spoke on behalf of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He shared a short anecdote about knowing and coming to terms with the truth and reality of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the impact it still has on people today. He said that our efforts and mandate should be concentrated on educating on the matter and as such, the Museum offers the Canadian perspective by remembering the past and transmitting the education to the present. On behalf of the Prelate Bishop Meghrig Parikian, he thanked the Museum for their commitment.

In a short speech, Museum director John Young affirmed: “we want to educate our visitors to examine facts”. He went on to say that in the section in the Museum dedicated to the Armenian Genocide has photos shot by German soldier Armin T. Wagner, who went against direct orders and took pictures of the atrocities he witnessed. Examples of such facts are found through the Armenian Genocide section. The Breaking the Silence exhibit is followed by Actions Count gallery, which promotes visitors to think about concrete actions to counter understand and prevent genocide. It exemplifies Raphael Lemkin who coined the term genocide, based on the atrocities committed against the Armenian people, as well as his own family during the Second World War. It also shows the Canadian government’s first international humanitarian act of bringing in orphaned Armenian young boys and girls, which later came to be known as the Georgetown Boys. Mr. Young also stated that a short film is in the works, set to release in Spring 2016 about the Armenian Genocide, which will be screened in the Breaking the Silence gallery for visitors to see.

Atom Egoyan took the podium and opened a conversation about the Armenian Genocide. In his speech he thanked the Museum for taking on this massive order of representing human right’s issues. While speaking about his 2002 critically acclaimed filmArarat, which won Best Canadian film at the Genie Awards, he said his role was not to prepare a documentary about the Armenian Genocide. His intent was to get the viewer think and draw different lessons tied in the memory of genocide. By using scenes from the film within the film, he did a parallel between two scenes to demonstrate the very-present stereotype found in the descendants of genocide survivors. He pointed out the importance of narratives, and the important role education plays in transmitting knowledge from generation to generation. In the film, the role of the actors portraying Turkish generals represents the view of modern day Turkey, one of complete denial and lies. He ended his speech stating that without compassion we cannot have hope for reconciliation, and as long as denial is present, there is no place for compassion.

Arsinée Khandjian then continued in the conversation. She thanked the Museum, and stated how happy she was for finally having the opportunity to visit the Museum, with the different galleries. She noted that Canada has welcomed people form all over the world and this Museum pays homage to that. She pointed out that this year marked the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, which arose a sense of urgency in many to actively commemorate and remember. She stated that Armenians are always reminded through memory, stories, testimonies, academic literature, different proofs of the reality of the genocide, and cannot abandon their cause. This is not only a history proper to Armenians, but it belongs to the pages of world history and as such, the international community has its role to play and bares universal responsibility in the fight against denial. She mentioned that Hrant Dink stood up for the recognition in a country where at the time, there was little support within the Turkish community to openly speak about this topic. Now, one hundred years later, citizens in Turkey are standing up on the right side of history, and standing up for Hrant Dink and the proper recognition. She mentioned the twelve first occurrences of how denial takes over and shadows reality and stated that Armenians, Turks and the international community together hav
e to stand up and combat this silence and denial, not only to honor the past, but also to create a better now. If not, she stated humankind simply ceases to be kind.

The event ended with a Question period from attendees address to both Atom Egoyan and Arsinée Khandjian, which inquired about any repercussions felt during and after the release of the filmArarat, as well as the importance story telling plays in the continuation of remembrance. Both Arom and Arsinée took the time to answe all questions with great pleasure.