Author: Jagharian Tania

During today’s Ecumenical Encounter at Yerevan’s Republic Square Pope Francis received the model of Noah’s Ark as a gift.

Hs Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and His Holiness Pope Francis blessed the soil and water brought  from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Iran and Turkey. The soil and water were later poured in to the Noah’s  Ark.

Authored by American Armenian designer Michael Aram, the  model of Noah’s Ark will be taken to Vatican.

Armenia has become an “ark of salvation” for thousands of families from the Iraq and Syria. Armenia has provided refuge to about 20 thousand refugees from Syria, mostly the descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors.

On 17 June Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received minister of education and science of the Republic of Armenia Levon Mkrtchyan and delegation headed by him.

The meeting addressed issues related to the development of education and science in Artsakh and correlation between the two Armenian states in this field.

Artsakh Republic minister of education, science and sport Slava Asryan and other officials partook in the meeting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host talks in St Petersburg on June 20 between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which flared up earlier this year, the Kremlin said.

By organising the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Russia is “continuing its mission as a mediator” in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

He emphasized that Russia “will take active steps to assist the sides in the settlement of the conflict.” Ushakov reminded that Moscow already played an important role in introducing a ceasefire in the conflict zone at the start of April 2016.

Putin has already held several telephone conversations with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, visits of defense ministers and foreign ministers have took place, and Chiefs of General Staffs of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been invited to Moscow, the presidential aide reminded. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has also visited Yerevan and Baku at the start of April, he added.

“We will now continue our mediatory mission, of course, in full cooperation with other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the basis of principles proposed in accordance with the statements of the presidents of Russia, United States and France from 2009 to 2013. We will see what results this three-party contact will lead to. Our side will hold the most interested and active dialogue,” Ushakov concluded.

Sargsyan and Aliyev last met in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on May 16.

Photo: Getty Images

 

Russia has been handed a suspended disqualification from Euro 2016 over crowd disturbances at the game against England in Marseille, Sky News reports.

UEFA announced its decision as a group of Russian football fans faced being thrown out of France – and GoPro footage appeared to demonstrate that attacks on English supporters in Marseille before the match were well-planned.

UEFA also fined the Russian football federation €150,000 over violence inside the Stade Velodrome.

The identities of 29 fans were being checked at a hotel near the southern French port city, but authorities told AFP a decision had already been taken to move some of them to a holding centre at the border.

French police are checking to see if any of the Russians are on a list of supporters “considered a risk”, said Francois-Xavier Lauch, a top local official in the Alpes-Maritimes area.

The head of a Russian supporters’ group said a bus carrying fans on their way to Lille – where there are fears of further violence this week – was stopped near Cannes.

Renowned Armenian singer, RA People’s Artist Ofelya Hambardzumyan has passed away aged 91.

She had been the soloist of the Aram Merangulyan Folk Instruments Ensemble of Public Radio of Armenia since 1944.

Her repertoire includes classical Armenian music and folk songs. She is especially recognized for her interpretations of Sayat-Nova’s songs. She has also performed the music of Fahrad, Jivani, Sheram.

In 1959 Ofelya Hambardzumyan was awarded the People’s Artist of the USSR. In 2011 she was awarded the Mesrop Mashtots Medal.

President of teh Czech Republic Milos Zeman will ask the Government and Parliament to officially recognize the massacre of Armenians by Turks as genocide.

“I expressed my stance on the Armenian Genocide, when the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, was visiting Prague in 2014,” President Zeman said in an interview with .

The President said he will reiterate the position during his state visit to Armenia. “But more steps are needed, and after my talks in Armenia I’ll call on the Czech Government and Parliament to follow the example of the German Bundestag,” he stated.

The President recalled that the Armenian Genocide has been recognized not only by Germany, but also a number of other countries, including France, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Italy and others.

President of eth Czech Republic Milos Zeman has arrived in Armenia for a two-day state visit today at the invitation of Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan.

Asbarez – The Vice Chair Michelle Steel of the Orange County Board of Supervisors proposed a resolution that was unanimously supported by her fellow Board of Supervisors to officially designate each April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The reoccurring event will be dedicated to commemorating those who perished during the Armenian Genocide from 1915 to 1923.

“Orange County needs to continue leading the way to ensure that this historic tragedy is never forgotten and the victims of genocide continue to be honored,” said Vice Chair Steel.

“Over one hundred years have passed since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, and there isn’t anyone left to try or convict. But, there is still an opportunity to set the record straight. As a County, we denounce these horrendous crimes against humanity and commemorate the lives of the Armenian men, women, and children lost.” Said Vice Chair Steel

The Armenian-American community of Orange County turned out with representatives from community organizations, churches and school filling the Supervisors’ Chambers.

Garo Madenlian, representing the Armenian National Committee of America Orange County chapter addressed the meeting, voicing his support and extending his gratitude to the Board of Supervisors.

Also taking turns at the dais were pastor of the Forty Martyrs Armenian Church, Rev. Karekin Bedourian; pastor of the St. Mary’s Armenian Church, Rev. Mushegh Tashjian, Orange County Superior Court Judge Gasia Apkarian; and Brea City Councilman Marty Simonoff.

On May 10, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Karen Mirzoyan, during his working visit to Yerevan, met with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber.

During the meeting, Karen Mirzoyan briefed Herbert Salber on the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against the NKR in early April, as well as on its consequences, stressing that it had become an unprecedented violation of the trilateral ceasefire agreement of 1994.

Karen Mirzoyan noted that striving to undermine the negotiation process and by rejecting all the initiatives aimed at the stabilization of the situation, Azerbaijan had attempted to resolve the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict by military means.

The NKR Foreign Minister drew the attention of the Special Representative of the European Union to the fact that the Azerbaijani aggression against the NKR was accompanied by numerous war crimes, as well as a gross violation of the laws and customs of war and norms of international humanitarian law.

Karen Mirzoyan also recalled that the NKR authorities had repeatedly warned the international community that the lack of decisive and targeted condemnation created a false sense of permissiveness in Baku and paved the way for new military ventures.

The NKR Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of visits by diplomats and representatives of international organizations to the NKR for getting the objective picture of the current situation and obtaining comprehensive information about the causes and consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression.

 The sides noted the importance of efforts aimed at the exclusion of further attempts to destabilize the situation and creation of necessary conditions for the resumption of the peaceful settlement process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on a range of issues of mutual interest.

Violent tension between lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) descended into a brawl during a plenary session on April 27, delaying efforts to pass legislation on an EU migration deal,  the reports.

Deputies threw punches, pushed and tried to restrain each other in the assembly late on April 27 in a row over deadly operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeast.

Fighting erupted after HDP Şırnak deputy Ferhat Encü “commemorated all civilians and children massacred by the security services.”

“I remember the civilians recently massacred by shelling in [the southeastern district of] Silopi. I remember the 34 people, including children, who were brutally bombed by Turkish warplanes in Roboski four years ago,” said Encü.

Turkish warplanes killed 34 villagers, Encü’s relatives, in late 2011 on the border with Iraq in the eastern district of Uludere in the Roboski Massacre.

The acting speaker announced at the end of the April 27 session, following the scuffles, the parliament would not meet again in a full session until May 2.

Lawmakers had been expected to work on April 29 and April 30 on legislation needed for Turks to secure visa-free travel to Europe, a key part of Ankara’s deal with the European Union on stopping uncontrolled migration to Europe.

“You may not like it, but unfortunately these things are true,” he added.

During the speech, AKP deputies reacted angrily and started shouting, declaring Encü a supporter of the PKK. “You are a murderer. You support murderers. You are despicable. You are a terrorist and a defender of murderers. You should be in jail. You came from the mountains,” the AKP MPs were heard shouting, referring to the Kandil Mountains that are known as the PKK’s headquarters in northern Iraq.

In response, Encü said “those accusing him of being a terrorist are the real terrorists.”

After the fight erupted between the MPs, Parliamentary Speaker Ahmet Aydın declared a break in proceedings.

Encü later wrote on his Twitter account that he was “not afraid” of the AKP deputies who targeted him in parliament.

“They attempted to lynch me for commemorating the civilians massacred by the security services. They think that Turkish officers don’t kill. Is that so? If you’ve had just a little honor, you wouldn’t say that to me, as 34 of my own relatives were massacred by law enforcement,” he also wrote.

The fight broke out during debates on a draft bill to establish a supervisory commission to oversee law enforcement officers’ compliance with the law, which was opened on April 27.

The drafts suggested the commission would be led by the Interior Ministry’s undersecretary and have seven members work to enhance the law enforcement complaint system, as well as make it function transparently, improve its credibility, and centralize the recording of processes initiated against law enforcement officers for their alleged crimes and offenses.

While the general assembly was shut, there were scuffles again on April 28 during a meeting of a constitutional commission which was discussing legislation on lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.

Since interest from both members of parliament and journalists on deliberations over the government-led provisional change in the constitution that would allow parliament to lift legislative immunities was high, the meeting began with a large number of attendees standing in order to follow the debate. The HDP objected to an attempt to usher journalists out of the commission room and asked for a change of the venue.

Tension rose when AKP deputies opposed the HDP’s proposal.

Turkey needs to realize that Israel’s debate is only remotely related to ties with Ankara, but rather holds a special place in the broader debate about the Holocaust and Jewish victimhood.

By Louis Fishman

Once again the official day commemorating the 1915 Armenian Genocide, April 24, has passed without Israel issuing a statement of official recognition. As a country that inherited the legacy of the European genocide of Jews — the Holocaust — its recognition of the systematic killing of Ottoman Armenians would not only amount to a historically just move, but would also be an important step in promoting the study of comparative genocides, giving a special meaning to the important motto of “never again.” Further, it could lead to the understanding of how Turkish denial has only prevented the country from moving forward, showing Israel the need to end the denial of its own injustices.
Israel’s choosing not to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide is directly related to its attempts to maintain ties with Turkey, in good days and bad. At the height of Turkish-Israel relations in the 1990s, Israel maintained this policy in order not to risk jeopardizing its strong ties with the Turkish state, not to mention its arms deals. Shamefully, U.S. Jewish lobbies were coopted as a way to block American recognition of the Armenians’ tragedy as well.
Simply, Turkish tank deals trumped the moral and historical obligation of genocide recognition. Despite this, the internal debate surrounding the non-recognition emerged in 2000 when the liberal leftist education minister, the late Yossi Sarid (Meretz), attended Jerusalem’s 85th Armenian Genocide memorial ceremony. There he stated, “The Armenian Memorial Day should be a day of reflection and introspection for all of us, a day of soul-searching. On this day, we as Jews, victims of the Shoah [Holocaust] should examine our relationship to the pain of others.” In this speech he mentioned the word genocide no less than 10 times.
Despite years of strained relations that hit a pinnacle with the 2010 Gaza Flotilla affair, Israel still has not recognized the genocide. Ironically, the new reason was that Israeli policy makers believed this could lead to a full break in relations. However, before reaching this conclusion, U.S. Jewish lobbies had already opted out of taking their usual role in blocking Armenian Genocide recognition, and the Knesset debated the matter. While both groups denied this was related to the Flotilla, the message was clearly one of punishment for Turkey’s role. Even I argued against this, since recognition as a punishment against Turkey equaled no less of a farce than the previous situation.
In the summer of 2014 however, after Reuven Rivlin, a longtime advocate of Armenian Genocide recognition, became Israel’s president, it seemed that Israeli recognition would finally come at the 2015 centennial commemoration of that genocide. However, this too fell through due to pressure from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Despite this, Rivlin came quite close to offering official recognition, saying “the Armenian people were the first victims of modern mass killing,” and stressing that many Jewish people in Ottoman Palestine witnessed the horrors of the killings, a known fact. Rivlin’s words reiterated the fact that among the Israeli public, few doubt that it was a genocide – it is known in Hebrew as the Hashoah Ha’armenit, the Armenian Shoah (holocaust).
Perhaps now that Israel and Turkey have made numerous statements that they are close to renewing full diplomatic ties, Israel should make clear that its relations cannot be held hostage to Turkey’s intractable stance towards this topic, and that Armenian Genocide recognition is not about being a friend or enemy of Turkey. Further, Turkey needs to realize that in Israel the debate is only remotely related to Ankara, and rather holds a special place in the greater debate of the “uniqueness of the Holocaust” and the question of Jewish victimhood, which hits at the heart of Israeliness and the question on how to memorialize the Holocaust.
With April 24 falling during Passover this year, it also important to remember that denial is also inherent in the Israeli narrative. Passover, a holiday that celebrates the ancient Israelites’ liberation from slavery, embeds within its modern meaning the sense of freedom, and sets into motion the national days of Holocaust Memorial Day, moving on to Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers, and finally culminating in Independence Day. However, for Israel, freedom and independence amounted to the Nakba — the Catastrophe — for the Palestinians.
Even if different in scope, it can be argued that Israel has adopted Turkey’s stance of denial as a model toward the Palestinian Nakba — the 1948 ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from the land — denying not only the existence of the event itself, which led to the forced expulsion or flight of 750,000 Palestinians, but also subsequently the erasing of the memory of a Palestinian past and the physical erasing of their presence in the geographical landscape of the country. In both countries, this has also included the use of legislation and courts to block the memory.
It is time that Israel take the moral high ground and recognize the Armenian Genocide. No less important is the need to do away with its denial of the Palestinian Nakba. Otherwise, like Turkey, it will remain raveled in conflict. In both cases, the long road to reconciliation starts with the recognition of the crimes that paved the way for the founding of these subsequent nation-states. Only by recognizing this will it allow Israel – and Turkey – the much needed opportunity to move forward.
Louis Fishman is an assistant professor at Brooklyn College who has lived in Turkey and writes about Turkish and Israeli-Palestinian affairs.