Author: Jagharian Tania

State Dept. fails to address bipartisan demands for Azerbaijan’s release of Armenian POWs

Jagharian Tania
Public Radio of Armenia

The State Department’s response to a detailed Armenian Caucus letter was unresponsive to six specific policy priorities raised by over 100 Congressional signatories – failing to address or even mention the plight of over 200 Armenian prisoners of war still being held, abused, and killed by the government of Azerbaijan, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.

The May 6 State Department letter, signed by Naz Durakoglu, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, came in response to a February 19 Armenian Caucus letter outlining a broad range of bipartisan policy concerns. In the months since the Caucus sent this letter in February, it has forwarded two additional Congressional letters to the Biden Administration, the first calling for Armenian Genocide recognition and the second seeking a robust aid package of at least $100,000,000 for Artsakh and Armenia.

Armenian American community members and coalition partners can call for sanctions on Azerbaijan by visiting www.anca.org/907 and support robust U.S. aid to Artsakh and Armenia by visiting www.anca.org/aid.

The six policy priorities left unaddressed by the Administration’s letter are listed below.

1. Prisoners of War:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter stressed that Azerbaijan has refused to free Armenian prisoners of war and apprehended civilians.

The State Department entirely ignores Congressional concern for the release of Armenian prisoners of war, failing, in this letter, to even cite their existence, despite sustained Congressional pressure.

2. Azerbaijani and Turkish Aggression:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter identified Azerbaijani and Turkish forces as having initiated the September 27, 2020 attack that killed an estimated 5,000 people and forced more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee from Artsakh.

The State Department fails to identify Baku and Ankara as aggressors, choosing instead to speak generically of “last year’s fighting.”

3. U.S. Humanitarian Aid:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter called for “significant U.S. commitments” of urgently needed humanitarian aid for the people of Artsakh, to help them reconstruct their communities and rebuild their lives. (A subsequent Armenian Caucus letter called for at least $100 million in U.S. aid.)

The State Department dismisses Congressional calls for a significant U.S. commitment, citing just $5 million in humanitarian aid it has sent to support affected populations of both Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

4. Section 907:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter supported ending the waiver of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, sanctioning Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders, and ceasing military aid to Azerbaijan through the Section 333 Building Partner Capacity program.

The State Department neglects to mention that the White House officially waived Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, and fails to respond to Congressional concerns about withholding U.S. aid to Baku.

5. Turkish Drones and Prohibited Munitions:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter cited Azerbaijan’s use of Turkish Bayraktar drones utilizing American components and technology, and also Baku’s illegal use of cluster and white phosphorus munitions.

The State Department disregards Congressional concern over Azerbaijan’s illegal use of cluster and white phosphorus munitions, and fails to address Baku’s deployment of Turkish Bayraktar drones utilizing American components and technology.

6. Foreign Mercenaries:  The bipartisan Armenian Caucus letter cited Azerbaijan’s deployment of Turkish-backed foreign mercenaries, many with ties to internationally recognized terrorist groups.

The State Department refuses to address Congressional concerns about the foreign mercenaries recruited by Turkey to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces.

Transport hub in South Caucasus to improve relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Jagharian Tania
Aysor, Armenia

Issues on creation transport hub in the South Caucasus will promote the improvement of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan after recent war in Karabakh, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said at the meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev on Monday.

“We are genuinely interested in the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We consider that the joint work on focusing on economic aspects of going out from this protracted conflict on time creates optimal frames for it,” Lavrov said.

He said people must feel that the situation is really improving in the Karabakh conflict zone.

“Three vice prime ministers – of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – in the sidelines of the task group set by the leaders of the three countries meet regularly, consider the political aspects connected with the arrangements of the leaders on unblocking all the economic and transport communications in the South Caucasus. It is potentially very serious transport hub which will be of significance not only for this region,” Russian FM said.

Criminal investigation underway over fatal negligent discharge at military base

Jagharian Tania

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 17:09, 5 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Military Investigators have launched a criminal case on fatal violation of gun safety rules over the negligent discharge of firearm by a serviceman that killed a fellow soldier at a military base.

The victim is identified as Private Artyom Melkonyan. He was killed on May 4.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Asbarez: Over 65 U.S. House Members Call for $100 Million in U.S. Aid for Artsakh and Armenia

Jagharian Tania

April 27, 2021



65 members of Congress call for $100,000 U.S. aid to Armenia, Artsakh

ANCA Welcomes Congressional Armenian Caucus Efforts to “directly aid the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh to recover and rebuild from the devastating fall 2020 war”

WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group of more than 65 U.S. House members joined in the Congressional Armenian Caucus request for the House Appropriations to allocate over $100 million in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh following Turkey and Azerbaijan’s devastating attacks last year, a key policy priority of the Armenian National Committee of America.

U.S. Representatives sent a letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ranking Member Hal Rogers (R-KY), as the panel begins crafting the FY2022 Foreign Aid Bill.

“We want to thank Armenian Caucus leaders and Congressional cosigners from across the U.S. for supporting U.S. re-engagement through robust U.S. assistance to Artsakh, an immediate cut-off in all U.S. aid to Azerbaijan, and strong support for the sovereignty of Armenia as a pillar of regional security architecture,” said ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan. “We look forward to working closely with House and Senate appropriators to ensure maximum funding reaches Armenians displaced by Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as Artsakh rebuilds from the devastating war.”

“The United States is uniquely positioned to help Armenia that has been shaken by last year’s war in Artsakh and the resulting uncertainty. Providing significant economic assistance to Armenia will help make its people more secure, bolster its democracy, help sustain economic development, stabilize its civil society, and aid its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, most urgently, alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh,” said Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ), who along with Co-Chair Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Vice-Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), led the effort. “This investment will strengthen the U.S.-Armenia relationship, help Armenia rebuild, and solidify democracy in the region,” concluded Rep. Pallone.

In a letter to their Congressional colleagues, Reps. Pallone, Speier, and Schiff  wrote: “The below requests for Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh in the Fiscal Year 2022 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill are critical for assisting the country in helping to make its people more secure, bolster its democracy and sustainable economic development, stabilize its civil society, aid its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, most urgently, alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh,” which included the following budgetary requests:

— Robust funding to directly aid the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh to recover and rebuild, including urgently needed housing, food security, water and sanitation, medical and refugee assistance, rehabilitation, and infrastructure needs.

— $2 million for Conventional Weapons Destruction programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

— $100 million for economic, governance, rule of law, and security assistance to Armenia through State Department and USAID accounts.

— The suspension of all U.S. security assistance for Azerbaijan until it has been verified to have ceased all attacks against Armenia and Artsakh.

Over 50,000 letters were sent through the ANCA March to Justice advocacy portal urging legislators to cosign the Armenian Caucus letter to U.S. House appropriators.

The full list of Congressional cosigners joining Representatives Pallone, Schiff and Speier are Representatives: Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Nanette Barragan (D-CA), Karen Bass (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Joaquín Castro (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), John Garamendi (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Andy Levin (D-MI), Mike Levin (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Katie Porter (D-CA), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), Paul Tonko (D-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), and Susan Wild (D-PA).

The full text of the letter is provided below and the pdf available is available here:

Dear Chairwoman Lee and Ranking Member Rogers:

We write to thank the Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs for its longstanding leadership in support of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). As you prepare the Fiscal Year 2022 foreign aid bill, we ask you to include the below provisions that would enable the United States to re-engage effectively in this region and expand our U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership based upon shared interests and common values.

Humanitarian and Demining Assistance in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)
The people of Artsakh are facing an ongoing humanitarian crisis resulting from the unprovoked Azerbaijani and Turkish attack in Artsakh on September 27, 2020, which led to six weeks of devastating fighting that killed over 5,000 people and forced more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee Artsakh. Azerbaijani forces made rapid advances into the region with the aid of Turkish Bayraktar drones that utilize American components and technology, heavy weaponry including illegal cluster and white phosphorus munitions, and Turkish-backed foreign mercenaries, many alleged to have ties to internationally recognized terrorist groups.

While Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia signed a tenuous ceasefire that went into effect on November 10 that brought an end to the fighting, the destruction and devastation caused by Azerbaijan’s aggression will continue to affect the region for years to come. We believe the U.S. must act in a timely manner to provide a robust humanitarian assistance package for Artsakh. This direct funding will help provide aid for refugees, housing, food security, water and sanitation, healthcare, rehabilitation, and demining/UXO clearance. It will empower the people of Artsakh to reconstruct their communities, rebuild their lives, and resettle in their homes.

An aid package would be consistent with past U.S. investments in humanitarian assistance and a negotiated peace to the Artsakh conflict, including aid for the vital U.S. government-funded landmine and unexploded ordnance clearance efforts in the region. Since 2000, the HALO Trust, which operates the program, has cleared over 500 minefields in Artsakh, saving civilian lives and returning many acres of land safely to their communities. Unfortunately, the recent fighting reversed much of this progress as the Azerbaijani bombing campaign indiscriminately targeted civilians and telecommunications, transportation, health, and energy infrastructure in large population centers like Stepanakert. As a result, there is a continued and demonstrable humanitarian need for funding this important program, which has a long history of Congressional support and was included in the FY21 House-passed appropriations bill. We urge you to include the following provisions in the foreign aid bill:

·    The Committee strongly supports robust funding to directly aid the Armenian people of Nagorno Karabakh to recover and rebuild from the devastating fall 2020 war, including urgently needed housing, food security, water and sanitation, medical and refugee assistance, rehabilitation, and infrastructure needs.

·    Of the funds appropriated by this Act, not less than $2,000,000 shall be made available for Conventional Weapons Destruction programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

Economic, Governance, Rule of Law and Security Assistance
The United States is uniquely positioned to make important diplomatic advances in the South Caucasus at this critical juncture. This is especially true in Armenia, a young democracy that has been shaken by last year’s war in Artsakh and the resulting uncertainty. Providing significant economic assistance to Armenia will help make its people more secure, bolster its democracy, help sustain economic development, stabilize its civil society, and aid its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, most urgently, alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh.

We believe that this critical U.S. investment will strengthen the U.S.-Armenia relationship, aid in rebuilding, and solidify the U.S. presence and influence in the region. This is especially true with concern to the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which has been generous in its support of Armenia and Artsakh in previous Congresses.

·    Of the funds appropriated by this Act, not less than $100 million shall be made available for security, economic, governance, and rule of law assistance to Armenia. An increase in funding to accounts such as the Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia should be made available for these purposes.

Azerbaijan Security Assistance
The United States must hold destabilizing actors accountable to ensure lasting peace in the South Caucasus. There is significant evidence that Azerbaijani and Turkish forces planned the September 27 assault. The invaders stockpiled armaments, including drones that killed many innocent civilians. Azerbaijani troops in Armenia’s Tavush Province initiated provocations as early as July 2020. Azeri and Turkish forces also conducted several large-scale joint military exercises near the Armenian border that foreshadowed the coming attacks.

Shockingly, Azerbaijan received over $100 million in U.S. military assistance in Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 through the Section 333 Building Partner Capacity program. This defies almost two decades of parity in U.S. security assistance between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It also does not send a supportive, pro-democracy signal to our partners in the region. Azerbaijan received significant American security assistance when it was planning the attacks against Artsakh that led to senseless violence and destruction.

Furthermore, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, with the support of Turkish President Erdogan, continues to inhibit the resolution of the Artsakh conflict with his incendiary rhetoric and refusal to release an estimated 200 prisoners of war and civilians currently being held by his forces and subjected to documented abuse and mistreatment. His actions are antithetical to U.S. interests in the region and the pro-peace mission of the OSCE Minsk Group in recent years. Considering his refusal to end his threat of violence, his continuous arms build-up, and ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, we urge the Subcommittee to include the following language into the bill:

·    Suspend U.S. military aid, including under Section 333 Building Partner Capacity Program, to Azerbaijan until its government ceases its attacks against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, and agrees to an equitable resolution of the conflict.

·    Add the following certification requirement to the President’s waiver authority under Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act: ” No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may be provided to the Government of Azerbaijan until the President determines, and so reports to the Congress, that the Government of Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Again, thank you for your leadership on the Subcommittee. The provisions highlighted in this letter will help contribute to democratic values in the South Caucasus and further strengthen the U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership. We appreciate your consideration of these requests.

Sarkissian sends Independence Day greetings to President of South Africa

Jagharian Tania

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 11:58,

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian congratulated President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day, the Armenian presidency said in a news release.

In a telegram sent to Ramaphosa, President Sarkissian expressed certainty that the relations between Armenia and South Africa will develop and strengthen through joint efforts for the benefit of the two nations.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Canada taking active measures to ban sales of UAV equipment for Turkish producers – Ambassador

Jagharian Tania

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 19:17,

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan received Ambassador of Canada to Armenia Alison Mary LeClaire on April 26 (residence in Moscow) and Colonel Craig Fowler, the Canadian Embassy’s Military Attaché (residence in Moscow).

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, during the meeting issues related to the regional security were discussed. The Armenian Defense Minister presented details over the military operations against Artsakh and the situation following  the aggression, mentioning new security challenges that have emerged in the region.

The Ambassador of Canada informed that Canada seriously examines the issue of  limitations on sales of equipment to Turkish UAV-producing companies.

During the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, Turkey actively supported Azerbaijan, including by using UAVs with Canadian equipment.




Biden’s Armenian Genocide Declaration Is a Message to Turkey

Jagharian Tania
The Bulwark
If Turkey wants to be treated as an ally, it has to start acting like one.
by Shay Khatiri
5:30 am

Armenians march from the Turkish Ambassador’s Residence to the Turkish Embassy on the 106th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide during a protest in Washington, DC on . – President Joe Biden’s recognition of the Armenian genocide was met Saturday by tempered satisfaction from the nation’s US diaspora, with some saying the words need to result in more pressure against Turkey. Marchers gathered in Los Angeles, home to one of the largest Armenian communities in the world, to mark the day with Armenian flags and calls for accountability. (Photo by Samuel Corum / AFP) (Photo by SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)
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Over the weekend, President Biden recognized the World War I-era Armenian genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire, the precursor to modern Turkey. Previous administrations had avoided the topic because Turkey is a treaty ally of the United States as a member of NATO. Biden’s recognition signals a new era of U.S.-Turkey relations.

Though recognizing the genocide is a formal declaration with only symbolic value, Turkish nationalists have long fought against it (including through government-funded online trolls), while Armenians have fought for international acknowledgement of the crimes perpetrated against them. While most of the world’s advanced democracies have recognized the genocide, the United States was slow to join them because of Turkey’s value as an ally. Armenia, a former Soviet republic, has enjoyed closer relations with Russian than the free world since independence.

This is beginning to change. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been the head of the Turkish government for 20 years. Once a secular and “imperfect democracy,” Turkey is now an Islamist autocracy. Erdoğan’s government has been increasingly cozying up with U.S. adversaries such as Iran and the Taliban. It even supported the Islamic State on its border with Syria, as much for ideological affinity as battlefield advantage, while targeting the United States’s Kurdish allies there. Turkey is warming its tepid relations with Russia, a historical adversary. In 2020, Turkey completed the purchase of the Russian S-400 anti-air missile system, which could potentially expose U.S. military secrets to Russia, over strenuous American objections. Consequently, the United States imposed sanctions on Turkey and kicked it out of the F-35 fighter program.

The Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations all tried to repair the relationship, and all failed because Erdoğan is simply not interested. He holds the United States in contempt, which became most visible (and, for America, most humiliating) when, in 2017, his bodyguards attacked and beat up peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., as the Turkish strongman was about to meet Trump—and got away with it. It symbolized U.S.-Turkey relations: Turkey does what it wants, the U.S. suffered what it thought it must.

By formally recognizing the Armenian genocide, the Biden administration seems to be rebalancing the relationship, which shouldn’t be a surprise. In 2018, Biden’s current assistant for national security affairs, Jake Sullivan, co-authored an op-ed with the former American ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman, arguing that the United States should stop treating Turkey as an unconditional ally. Rather, the authors wrote, the relations should become more “transactional.”

Most commentators portray the Middle East and the Caucasus as a set of coalitions—a pro-U.S. coalition, a Russian coalition, an Islamic Republic coalition, etc. In reality, the region is a circular firing squad. The United States’s efforts to remake the Middle East as it remade Europe and much of East Asia after World War II have failed. Now, Iran, Turkey, and Russia are all trying to restore their lost empires, while other states are pushing back. With the United States’s self-imposeddiminishing influence in the region, this is going to get worse. And so will America’s relationship with Turkey.

Going forward, as the Biden administration considers what it wants to do with Turkey, it needs to keep in mind that relations with Turkey have disproportionate ramifications for our interests in Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. Turkey remains an important country to U.S. interests. It is a member of NATO with access to information we cannot afford for Putin to have. But we also cannot afford to keep ignoring Turkey’s actions against U.S. interests.

Turkey has been strengthening ties with the Taliban, and, this week, Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with a top Taliban leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. It has helped Iran to evade sanctions. It has attacked U.S. allies in Syria. It has jeopardized NATO. It has committed war crimes against civilians. And yet the United States has treated it like any other unconditional ally.

The previous administrations weren’t stupid, but they were risk-averse and cautious. A transactional relationship with Turkey requires a strong will and a tolerance for risks. A more transactional relationship is a big risk—but worth taking.

As long as Erdoğan remains in power, relations will get worse. If Turkey were behaving resoponsibly, whether or not to recognize the Aremnian genocide would remain a more nuanced and diffuclt question. But as long as relations are bound to get worse, we might as well acknowledge what actually happened.

‘Erdogan, Assassin,’ shout French Armenians on genocide anniversary amid security concerns

Jagharian Tania
France 24

Issued on: 25/04/2021 – 11:26

France’s Armenian diaspora takes to the streets of Paris on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on . © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24
Text by:Charlotte WILKINS
8 min

France’s Armenian diaspora took to the streets of Paris, Lyon and Marseille on Saturday to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on the heels of a war with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan and amid fears for their security at home.


Father Gilbert Leonian was fast asleep when they came to burn the church. It was 6am on a Sunday morning in the Paris suburb of Alfortville and he would not be holding a service at the Armenian Protestant church for another few hours. But his wife heard a noise – the sound of a rubbish bin filled with petrol being hurled against the front door – and woke him. By the time he’d opened the window of their first-floor room, directly above the church, it was already lit up by the flames.

“I thought the church had caught fire, that the stairs were on fire, and that we were going to die,” he said.

Luckily for Father Leonian, the flames only blackened the front door of the church. But it was the second attack on his church in a week, coming days after the 2017 visit from the pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Baghdad, and forms part of a growing number of attacks against the Armenian community in France.

“I feel less and less safe in France,” said Veskan,* at a rally in Paris on Saturday to mark the 106th anniversary of the 1915-1918 genocide, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire.

Sevag and Veskan were among those concerned by last year’s violence towards the Armenian community in Décines, at a rally in Paris on . © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24

France formally recognised the World War One massacres as a genocide in 2001. In February 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron declared that April 24 – the day in 1915 that the killings of Armenians began – would be a “national day of commemoration”.  

More than a century after the massacres, the crowd gathered by a statue of the Armenian composer Komitas in Paris’s affluent eighth arrondissement (district) shouted, “The genocide continues”, as they prepared to march along the Seine to the Turkish embassy.

“Erdogan, Assassin,” they chanted amid indignation over the Turkish president’s vehement refusal to recognise the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of the Armenians.

Three generations of families, young parents with prams and teenage girls wrapped in the Armenian flag milled around in the bright sunshine ahead of the march. Some carried photos of Armenian resistance heroes; others held banners depicting Erdogan as a devil or a murderer. “Hitlerdogan,” read a banner.

Protesters were indignant at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s refusal to recognise the Armenian genocide, on . © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24

Last year’s conflict over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan was also the cause of grief among protesters.

Anger at Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev has been growing after Armenia suffered a crushing defeat and lost vast swathes of territory. “Aliyev, Erdogan get out of Artsaskh,” read one banner, using another name to refer to the disputed territory.

‘Erdogan gives them confidence’

But amid the despair of Armenia’s defeat, and anguish over Azerbaijan’s treatment of up to 300 Armenian political prisoners, there was anxiety over the violence stirred up by Turkish ultra-nationalist militias at home in France.

“It’s terrifying,” said Sabrina Davidian, 39, who carried a banner saying ‘Turkey, get out of Armenia’, “that Turkey’s tentacles can reach as far as France. It’s as if Turkey’s hate campaign against the Armenians never ended.”

‘It’s as if Turkey’s hate campaign against the Armenians never ended,’ said Sabrina Davidian, 39. © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24

Many at the Paris rally were also troubled by attacks last year in Décines, a suburb of the southeastern city of Lyon.

On October 28, as the Nagorno-Karabakh war raged, hundreds of supporters of the Turkish far-right Grey Wolves militia took to the streets of Décines, calling “Death to Armenians”.

“Where are the Armenians?” the attackers cried as they marched through the town, wielding iron bars and national flags and shouting pro-Erdogan slogans as they smashed up Armenian shops.  

“It’s as if we were in 1930s Germany,” said Veskan’s friend, Sevag,* a wiry, animated third generation Armenian, who like many at the rally asked not to give his full name.

“They would never have dared to do that 10 years ago,” he said in the run-up to the commemoration.  

France’s Armenian diaspora took to the streets of Paris on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, on . © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24

“Erdogan gives them confidence, he finances them, the Turkish embassy here is his backyard,” said Sevag, adding that the Armenian community had begun beefing up security at schools and associations, and started using bodyguards. 

Sevag was outraged that the ringleader of the attacks in Décines, Ahmet Cetin, 23, who publicly incited violence against Armenians on social media, was given just a six-month suspended sentence and a €1,000 fine.  

“Imagine a 16-year-old hearing his words, seeing there’s an Armenian school and thinking, ‘Well I’ll do the job’,” said Sevag. 

Tigrane Yegavian, a journalist and researcher at the CF2R (French Intelligence Research Centre) think tank, warned that the flames of an ancient conflict are being instrumentalised in France.

“What’s happening is very dangerous,” he said. “If nothing is done in France – we’re practically headed for a civil war,” he said, adding that the Armenians have never had problems integrating anywhere, only in Azerbaijan and Turkey. 

“I have nothing against the Turks – nothing,” said the writer Ian Manook, 71, whose latest novel was inspired by his grandmother, who was sold to the Turks as a slave when she was 10.

“We share the same food, the same music … nearly the same dances. I blame the Turkish state … and Erdogan is playing with fire.”

France banned the Grey Wolves in November 2020 but no-one at the rally believed they had melted away.

France’s Armenian diaspora took to the streets of Paris on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide on . © Charlotte Wilkins, FRANCE 24

“They’re still out there,” said Pierre*, who wore a T-shirt in support of Artsakh, adding that he was followed in December by a car with the Grey Wolves insignia, and that the driver made the Grey Wolves salutation in the rearview mirror.

But amid concerns that France was not doing enough to prevent attacks against Armenians, there was hope that US President Joe Biden’s recognition of the genocide would lead to broader international support for Armenia.

Macron was the only Western leader to acknowledge that Azerbaijan started the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and accused Turkey of sending 2,000 Syrian mercenaries to participate in the fighting, a move he said “which changes the situation”.  


“We know that intellectually France is behind us. But France has got a financial relationship with Turkey,” said Sevag, adding that France has got to make its mind up. “Either it’s the country of human rights or it’s the country of money.” But he stopped short of taking a side, facing criticism and protests at home from the Armenian diaspora – which numbers between 400,000-600,000 people – that he didn’t do more to support Yerevan.

Turnout at the rally, held amid tight security, was lower than last year because of the Covid-19 restrictions in place – France is still officially under its third national lockdown to stem the spread of the virus – but there was no denying the resolve of those gathered.  

“The Armenians are not an aggressive people,” said Sevag. “But if we’re going to be massacred even in France, we’ve got to do something.” 

*Protesters who asked not to give their surnames

Plans for Russian-Armenian military-technical cooperation discussed at the Defense Ministry

Jagharian Tania
Panorama, Armenia

On April 16, Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Artak Davtyan  received Ambassador of  Russia to Armenia Sergey Kopirkin and the military attaché of the Russian Embassy Colonel Andrey Grischuk.

As the press service at the Ministry of Defense reported, the interlocutors touched upon issues of Armenian-Russian bilateral cooperation in the defense sector as well as future plans for military and military-technical cooperation.