Author: Jane Topchian

Asbarez – The Armenian American Museum and Ararat-Eskijian Museum will co-host “Curator in the Spotlight: Illuminating the Armenian Middle Ages” at the Brand Library & Art Center at 7pm on Thursday, May 26. The event will present a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Morrison, Senior Curator of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Dr. Elizabeth Morrison will discuss the fascinating world of medieval Armenian manuscript illumination, which is admired across the world for its delicacy, vibrancy and sheer beauty. The luminous colors and complex figures of these precious relics made entirely by hand delight the eye and engage the senses. In addition to giving an overview of the illumination tradition, Dr. Morrison will focus on the work of T’oros Roslin, the most celebrated Armenian artist of the Middle Ages, whose innovations were integral to the conception of the painted page for centuries to come.

Dr. Elizabeth Morrison received her Ph.D. in the History of Art from Cornell University and began work at the Getty in 1996. She has curated numerous exhibitions and published articles on both Flemish and French illumination. She has served on the Board of Directors of the International Center of Medieval Art and is currently a counselor for the Medieval Academy of America.

This program is one in a series taking place in conjunction with “Armenia: An Open Wound” an exhibition presented by The City of Glendale and the Library, Arts & Culture Department in partnership with the Armenian American Museum and curated by the Museo Memoria y Tolerancia [Museum of Memory & Tolerance] in Mexico City. The exhibit will be on view at the Brand Library Art Galleries through June 11, 2016 during the library’s regular hours: Tuesday and Thursday 12-8pm, Wednesday 12-6pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10am-5pm. Docent-led tours are available every Tuesday, 6:30 PM and Saturday, 10:30 AM on a walk-in basis. All events are free and open to the public.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met with Jean Bize, Chairman of the French Senate European Affairs Committee, in Paris.

The sides discussed efforts towards overcoming the consequences of large-scale military actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, possibilities of resumption of the negotiations.

Regarding that, Edward Nalbandian attached significance to addressed statement, issued by Jean Bize on April 7, assessment of the situation and proposed steps towards settlement of the issue. Necessity of implementation of a mechanism for investigation of the cease-fire violations was stressed.

During the meeting, Armenia-European Union relations, negotiations on a new legal framework for cooperation, start of the dialogue on visa liberalization were reflected on.

On the same day, Edward Nalbandian met members of Parliamentary Friendship Groups of the Senate of France and National Assembly of Armenia, with whom discussed a range of issues on the development of the Armenian-French relations, cooperation between legislative bodies of the two states, cooperation within Parliamentary Assemblies.

Overcoming of consequences of Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh was in the center of the meeting. Edward Nalbandian thoroughly presented to the French Senators efforts exerted by Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in this direction.

During the meeting, developments unfolded in the Middle East, fight against terrorism, migration crisis were touched upon

Serj Tankian, who is best known as the spasmodic vocalist and surrealistic lyricist for art-metal group System of a Down, has always held a deep respect for film soundtracks. “When I’m exercising or driving, a lot of what I listen to is soundtracks,” he says. “I think it’s great that people are paying attention to the value of scores. It’s very important,” Tankian said in an interview with the .

He finally got the chance to write a soundtrack of his own last year for a film that addressed a subject near to him, the Armenian genocide.

The movie, 1915, takes place in the present as a theater director attempts to stage a play about the genocide, and the actors begin feeling a visceral, realistic connection to those who died a century earlier. Its tagline is “You can’t escape the past,” and it takes surrealistic turns accordingly. The music that Tankian composed is at once traditional, otherworldly and urgent. A soundtrack album, which contains bonus tracks and extended versions of the music, came out late last month around the 101st anniversary of the day the genocide began.

Tankian has spent a good portion of the past decade writing classical and classical-inspired music, when he wasn’t writing rock or jazz albums. He turned his 2007 solo debut, Elect the Dead, into the orchestral Elect the Dead Symphony and his 2013 release, Orca Symphony No. 1, was wholly classical. He scored the video game Midnight Star and now he has begun work on another score for a film called The Last Inhabitant, slated to come out in Armenia this year. It’s a discipline he says, during a lively interview with Rolling Stone, that has come naturally to him.

Some of the music on the 1915 soundtrack sounds like traditional Armenian music, specifically the first track, “Ari Im Sokhag With Guitar.” “I’m not an Armeno-ethnic musical-expert musicologist , but it is my culture, so it definitely has that vibe. It has the melancholy and kind of traditional nuances and chord progressions,” Tankian says.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will stand down at an extraordinary congress of his ruling AK Party later this month, the BBC reports.

Speculation about his resignation has been rife since Mr Davutoglu met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

He is long thought to have disapproved of Mr Erdogan’s plans to move Turkey to a presidential system of government.

The congress will be held on 22 May, reports say.

The reports emerged after Mr Davutoglu held talks with senior party leaders.

Earlier on Thursday, presidential aide Cemil Ertem appeared to confirm the speculation when he said there would be no snap elections following the appointment of a new leader.

He also told Turkish TV that the country and its economy would stabilise further “when a prime minister more closely aligned with President Erdogan takes office”.

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan received today Iran’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Seyed Kazem Sajadi. The parties discussed issues related to bilateral cooperation and regional security.

The Armenian Defense Minister informed the Ambassador about the agreements reached in Moscow with his Azerbaijani counterpart.

Minister Ohanyan also briefed Ambassador Sajadi on the situation around Nagorno Karabakh and the recent aggressive actions of Azerbaijan.

Seyed Kazem Sajadi expressed his concern over the current situation and pledged his willingness to make all efforts to maintain peace and stability.

The Iranian Ambassador emphasized the importance of bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere.

German Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier had a meeting with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs James Warlick, Igor Popov and Pierre Andrieu and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Discussions focused on the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker has called on Azerbaijan to stop shooting.

Jean-Claude Junker addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg today.

Azerbaijani delegate Pashaeva asked a question on Azeri refugees and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

President of the European Commission was very short and clear “One thing that I can say to Azerbaijan is ‘Stop shooting, stop fighting’ followed by applauds by the Assembly members.

By Harut Sassounian 
Publisher, The California Courier

In last week’s large-scale attack on Artsakh (Karabakh), the Azeri military killed and injured dozens of Armenian soldiers and civilians, using the sophisticated weapons purchased from Israel and Russia for billions of dollars.

The Armenian government and Armenians worldwide accused both Israel and Russia of responsibility for the innocent Armenian lives lost in the recent Azeri invasion.

Prof. Israel Charny, a righteous Jew and a staunch defender of human rights, could not remain silent knowing that his country — Israel — had a bloody role in the Armenian killings. As Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, Dr. Charny sent a scathing commentary to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, under the provocative title: “Would Israel Sell a Used Drone to a Hitler?” Here is what he wrote:

“If the Nazis were not at all murdering Jews but ‘only’ were murdering say hated Slavs, Gypsies, and Jehovah’s Witnesses; and if our beloved State of Israel were in existence; would you agree to our selling arms to the Nazis?

“Israel is reported to have sold billions of dollars of arms including to governments that are killing or threatening to attack victim peoples. Last week, there came reports that an Israeli drone in the hands of Azerbaijan — a huge arms customer of ours — was responsible for the deaths of six Armenians in the Armenian enclave Nagorno Karabakh.

“I am ashamed!

“The Armenians were the victims of a major genocide 100 years ago that has even been called the ‘Armenian Shoah’ by some Israeli scholars, including from Bar Ilan University. A great deal of their national and cultural concern continues to focus passionately on the memory of that genocide (does that sound familiar to us Jews?). For many years now, we Israelis — whether led by Labor or Likud — have insulted and hurt the Armenian people by failing to recognize their genocide officially and formally. Would we ourselves tolerate another government — say the U.S. or England — failing to recognize the Holocaust because of their realpolitik interest with the perpetrator government?

“One senior Armenian official has written several of us in Israel to express his deep pain as well as indignation now not only at our cowardly and self-serving denials of the Armenian Genocide, but also at our thick military trade alliance with Azerbaijan. I am reminded of the prophet Nathan crying out to King David for an earlier though more delectable murderous act of self-interest: It’s bad enough that you killed him, are you also taking a profit from the sordid affair? The Azeris are a Turkic people who adhere to Turkey’s bizarre and fascist tradition of rewriting history and denying the Armenian Genocide.

“In general, how much do we Israelis want to strengthen our economy by lucrative arms sales? Of course, ‘everyone’ in the world is doing it, but do we have to also? Have we given up the image/dream of Israel as a moral leader of peoples on this planet? Is this idea tiresome, naïve, and childlike in a madly destructive and self-destroying world?

“An alternative concept could be that along with our building arms first and foremost for the defense of Israel, that we sell — or contribute — arms only to underdog peoples who are facing mass destruction, and/or to allies like the U.S., who are essentially committed to shared democratic values and peace. Of course, we will still be making some mistakes, but at least our conscience will be more clear that we have not delivered used arms to the ‘Nazis.’

“To my Armenian colleagues and friends, I can only say that as a Jew and as an Israeli, I am mortified — and angry.”

Prof. Charny’s harsh words are fully justified as both Israeli and Russian officials have shamefully pledged to continue shipping more weapons to Azerbaijan!

Dr. Charny has never shied away from expressing his critical views on Israel’s immoral policies on Armenian issues. In a scathing letter in 2001, he told Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres: “You have gone beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass…. As a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian Genocide, comparable to denials of the Holocaust.”

Prof. Charny should be highly commended for his bold and righteous stand, taking to task the callous leaders of his own country!

The Armenian and Azerbaijani sides exchanged bodies of those killed in action near the Bash Karvend settlement.

The bodies of eighteen soldiers were handed to the Armenian side, Spokesman for the NKR President David Babayan told Public Radio of Armenia.

The exchange was carried out with the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman–in-Office.

Photo: AP

Iraqi forces have launched an operation to retake the northern city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State (IS), officials say, the BBC reports.

The first part of the long-awaited offensive has recaptured several villages, the Iraqi military has said.

The operation has been supported by air strikes from the US-led coalition, Kurdish Peshmerga troops and a Shia-dominated paramilitary force.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, has been under IS rule since June 2014.

An offensive to retake the city, where two million people lived before IS took over, has been in preparation for months.

Officials say the aim is to seize it within the year, but experts have questioned the ability of Iraqi forces to do so.