Author: Karapet Navasardian

Armenian Community, State Department Split Over California Release of Turkish Diplomat Assassin

Karapet Navasardian
GV WIRE
March 12 2021

David Taub
March 11, 2021

An Armenian immigrant, who has served 38 years in state prison for the 1982 assassination of a Turkish diplomat, could soon be freed.

Hampig “Harry” Sassounian — a Lebanese immigrant of Armenian descent living in Pasadena nearly 40 years ago — was convicted for the murder of Turkish Consul General to Los Angeles Kemal Arikan in 1982. Sassounian, now 58, was initially sentenced to life in prison at his 1984 trial, but a federal court reduced it to 25 years-to-life in 2002.

After a Los Angeles County judge last month overruled Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempt to block Sassounian’s parole, Newsom will no longer stand in the way. His office has waived any further appeals.

“Judge (William) Ryan vacated the Governor’s parole reversal on February 24, 2021. The Governor has carefully weighed the factors in this case and will not pursue an appeal,” his media office told GV Wire℠.

The killing was called “an apparent act of terrorism” by then-President Ronald Regan.

The move received praise from the Armenian community.

“We are truly grateful to Governor Newsom and his team for keeping the lines of communication open with us, for listening to our concerns, and for making the humanitarian decision to allow Hampig Sassounian’s parole to stand. We look forward to witnessing his long overdue release from prison,”  ANCA-WR Chair Nora Hovsepian told Asbarez — a Los Angeles-based newspaper covering Armenian issues.

Sassounian’s attorney Susan Jordan referred comment to another lawyer, Caspar Jivalagian. Jivalagian declined when reached by GV Wire℠.

Sassounian has been up for parole six times. The Board of Parole denied Sassounian of early release four times (2006, 2010, 2013, 2015) before a 2017 approval. That was reversed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

In December 2019, the board again granted Sassounian parole. According to the hearing transcripts, Sassounian and an accomplice, identified as Krikor Saliba who is still at large, wanted revenge on a Turkish official for the Armenian Genocide.

“Why are we thinking about going to Europe to kill a Turkish officer over there while, Mr. Arikan, you know, he’s a Turkish official and he’s doing exactly the same thing here in LA,” Sassounian testified.

Sassounian said he felt no remorse at the time. He does not feel the same way now.

“That no matter what anybody does, that murdering a human being is never justified no matter what they did as a human being or as government, regardless, that, uh, I am deeply ashamed and remorseful for what I did,” he said.

The two parole commissioners, Dianne Dobbs and Edward Taylor, granted parole.

“You represent a low risk for violence,” Dobbs said. “You have clearly demonstrated positive change over the last 35 years when we look at your entire record.”

Dobbs said at the time there was a chance Sassounian could be returned to Armenia after parole.

But five months later, Newsom reversed the parole board’s decision.

Newsom blocked parole on May 25, 2020.

“I commend Mr. Sassounian for his rehabilitative efforts in prison, but I find they are outweighed by negative factors that show he remains unsuitable for parole at this time,” Newsom wrote in his letter.

“Mr. Sassounian may feel ‘done with politics’ but because he chose to commit a political crime and targeted a high profile victim, Mr. Sassounian’s actions will always carry outsized political import and be subject to manipulation for political purposes,” Newsom wrote.

But, on Feb. 24, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan reversed Newsom’s decision. Ryan said the governor did not provide support that Sassounian “is not suitable” for parole.

“The Governor used an improper standard upon Petitioner when considering both the ‘import’ of his offense and the notoriety of his victim,” Ryan wrote in his 19 page ruling.

Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, issued a statement opposing Sassounian’s release.

“The Department of State is deeply disappointed by the expected grant of parole in the State of California of Hampig “Harry” Sassounian, who was convicted of the 1982 murder of Turkish Consul General to Los Angeles Kemal Arikan.

“Attacking a diplomat is not only a grave crime against a particular individual, it is also an attack on diplomacy itself.  To ensure the safety of the dedicated U.S. diplomats serving around the world, it has been the longstanding position of the United States to advocate that those who assassinate diplomats receive the maximum sentence possible, and that they serve those sentences without parole or early release.

“We again offer our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Arikan and our colleagues at Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their loss,” Blinken said.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Newsom’s decision against appealing the court’s action.

“We strongly condemn this approach, that deeply hurts the conscience of the Turkish nation. This grave decision, that could not be reversed despite all attempts of the US Administration, is in conflict with the universal principles of law and the understanding of justice,” a news release posted on Twitter said.

Azerbaijan, a Turkish ally, also condemned the decision.

“Releasing admitted & unreformed terrorist H.Sassounian convicted of murdering a diplomat would send a very wrong message & surely harm interests of diplomacy, especially in a state w/one of the world’s largest diplomatic corps,” the nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter.

State Sen. Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, who is a member of the California Armenian Legislative Caucus, said Sassounian’s release is proper.

“The genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Turks is a haunting example of unaccountable injustice,” Borgeas said in an email. “In this unfortunate instance, Mr. Sassounian has served his time and paid his debt to society under our criminal justice system. His eligibility for parole is therefore appropriate.”

Sassounian is currently housed at San Quentin State Prison. The date of his release is unclear.

Moscow Declines to Comment on Aliyev’s ‘Zangezur is Armenian’ Comment

Karapet Navasardian



The Gates of Zangezur in Armenia

Putin Holds Phone Conversation with Aliyev, Pashinyan

The Russian foreign ministry of Friday declined to comment on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s revisionist and threatening declaration that Armenia’s Zangezur is a “historic Azerbaijani territory.”

Aliyev made the statement on March 5 during a speech at an economic summit, saying that a so-called corridor linking mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhichavan would run through Zangezur.

A reporter for Armenia’s Public Television channel on Friday asked Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharove whether Moscow considered Aliyev’s statement about Zangezur a gross violation of international law and an infringement of Armenia’s sovereignty, and whether it was a violation of the tripartite statement signed on November 9 on the unblocking of regional transport communications and routes, reported the Arka news agency.

Zakharova sidestepped the question and instead praised the “generally constructive approach demonstrated by both Baku and Yerevan within the framework of the trilateral working group chaired by the vice-premiers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Arka reported.

Zakharova stressed that the main task of the working group has been to find ways for unblocking all economic and transport links in the region.

“We hope that the same focus on positive and mutually acceptable points of contact will prevail both in official comments and in Armenian and Azerbaijani mass media,” added Zakharova.

With such a provocative statement, calling Zangezur an ‘historic Azerbaijani territory’ and making reference to an imaginary corridor, the President of Azerbaijan deliberately undermines the implementation of the November 9 and January 11 trilateral statements,” said Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan last week. She stressed that “Article 9 of the November 9 trilateral statement does not mention the establishment of a corridor.”

“Such rhetoric contradicts Azerbaijan’s obligations. It is a blatant challenge to international law, and in no way does it contribute to the stability of the region and threatens all states in the region,” added Naghdalyan last week.

 

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephone conversations with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Aliyev.
The Kremlin reported that Putin discussed practical aspects of the implementation of the November 9 and January 11 agreements on Karabakh and observed that the ceasefire was strictly being respected and the regional situation remained stable and calm.
The Kremlin statement added that Pashinyan and Aliyev reportedly praised “the productive activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the contact line and along Lachin corridor.”

Issues related to unblocking economic and transport links in the South Caucasus were also discussed, with the sides saying they were satisfied with the activities of the working group co-chaired by the deputy prime ministers of the three countries.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A readout of the call from Pashinyan’s office also added that he and Putin discussed Armenia-Russia cooperation issues.

Rally of opposition forces kicks off at Baghramyan Street

Karapet Navasardian

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 16:05, 6 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. The rally of the opposition forces – Fatherland Salvation Movement, has kicked off at Baghramyan Street near the National Assembly building. ARMENPRESS reports the rally is entitled “Nation, Army, Victory”.

The participants of the movement have been setting up tents on Baghramyan Avenue for several days now, between the building of the National Assembly and the National Academy of Sciences, some of them are spending the night there. The Movement demands the resignation of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

Photos by Tatev Duryan, Hayk Manukyan


Armenpress: Situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border remains stable

Karapet Navasardian

Situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border remains stable

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 18:32, 1 March, 2021

YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. A stable operational situation with no incidents has been maintained along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact of the Armenian state border overnight February 28-March 1, the Defense Ministry of Armenia told ARMENPRESS.

According to the information provided by the Armenian National Security Service, no border incidents were registered in Vorotan-Davit Bek section of the Goris-Kapan inter-state road which is under the responsibility of the NSS border troops.

The Armed Forces of Armenia and the NSS border troops confidently control the border situation along the entire borderline.

Why didn’t Onik Gasparyan and Armen Sarkissian attend Armenia Security Council session?

Karapet Navasardian
News.am, Armenia
March 1 2021
Why didn’t Onik Gasparyan and Armen Sarkissian attend Armenia Security Council session?
13:58, 01.03.2021

President Armen Sarkissian was invited to the session of the Security Council, but he didn’t attend the session since he wasn’t feeling well. This is what Assistant to the President of Armenia Hasmik Petrosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Today Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired the session of the Security Council which wasn’t attended by the President of Armenia and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan.

Although President Armen Sarkissian isn’t a member of the Security Council, he was attending the sessions recently. Asked why Gasparyan wasn’t attending the session, Spokesperson of the Prime Minister Mane Gevorgyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that “he was informed about the session”.

CivilNet: A Reporter Documents Impact of Azerbaijan’s White Phosphorus Munitions in Karabakh

Karapet Navasardian
CIVILNET.AM

21:52

Warning: this video contains sensitive content.

Canadian freelance journalist Fin dePencier is traveling through hospitals in Armenia to document the impact of white phosphorus that was used on soldiers and civilians in the Second Karabakh War.

During the 44-day war, when the battles moved from the southern flatlands into the thick forests, Azerbaijani forces fired white phosphorus munitions throughout Karabakh. From October 29 to 31, the villages and towns were lit with white phosphorus, which, when in contact with flesh, kills the victims by burning the bone. The environmental damage to the area has yet to be assessed. 

According to Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons against military objectives within a concentration of civilians is prohibited and can be classified as a war crime.

Armenia PM Nikol Pashinyan accuses army of attempted coup

Karapet Navasardian
BBC News
Feb 25 2021


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has warned of an attempted military coup, after the country’s armed forces said he and his cabinet must resign.

The army “must obey the people and elected authorities,” he told thousands of supporters in the capital Yerevan. His opponents held a rival rally.

The military’s top brass was angered by the PM’s sacking of a commander.

Mr Pashinyan has faced protests after losing last year’s bloody conflict with Azerbaijan over a disputed region.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but which had been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 truce.

During the six-weeks of fighting late in 2020, Azerbaijan not only recaptured areas around the enclave but also took the key town of Shusha inside it.

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Under the Russian-brokered deal that emerged shortly afterwards, Azerbaijan keeps the areas it has captured. Hundreds of Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the disputed area.

In a Facebook video post on Thursday, Mr Pashinyan, 45, said he considered a statement by the military earlier on Thursday an “attempted military coup”.

He urged his backers to gather on Republic Square in the heart of Yerevan, and was seen shortly afterwards surrounded by thousands of supporters on the streets of the city.

“The army is not a political institution and attempts to involve it in political processes are unacceptable,” he told his supporters.

But he invited the opposition to hold talks on how to resolve the crisis, stressing that any change in power must take place “only through elections”.

Meanwhile, opposition supporters staged a rival demonstration in the capital, insisting that Mr Pashinyan must go.

Vazgen Manukyan, one of the opposition leaders, urged the crowds to start blocking the parliament, saying lawmakers should be brought in to vote for Mr Pashinyan’s dismissal.

“Get ready, we will stay here all night and will block the street with barricades,” he was quoted as saying by the Armenpress news agency.

Mr Pashinyan, a former journalist, took office after leading a peaceful 2018 revolution in the post-Soviet state.

He has recently survived several attempts in parliament to dismiss him.

By Ilya Barabanov, BBC Russian, Yerevan

This is the first time since the end of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh that Nikol Pashynian called on his supporters to come out on to the Republic square in the centre of the Armenian capital.

While the prime-minister’s supporters were gathering, the opposition assembled a rival rally nearby – in the Freedom square. The opposition’s plan was to later head to parliament building, where some of the factions were attempting to start an emergency session to approve a call for an early general election.

Neither of the rallies managed to gather considerable numbers. The opposition tried to set up some tents next to the parliament but their efforts were not that impressive, considering there were fewer than a thousand people in the vicinity.

Around ten tents, a few wood-burning stoves, some makeshift tables with tea and biscuits for the protesters did not look like the sort of threat that might force the authorities to make any concessions.

Opposition supporters said they were setting up barricades with rubbish bins. But the police had blocked all traffic in the area and kept the parliament building cordoned off, while not engaging with the protesters. A few hours later the police started leaving the area.

The General Staff of Armenia’s military issued its statement soon after Mr Pashinyan had dismissed armed forces deputy chief Tiran Khacharyan.


Mr Khacharyan had ridiculed Mr Pashinyan’s claims that Russia-supplied Iskander missiles failed to hit targets during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia has a military alliance with Armenia and an army base in the country, but it did not intervene during the conflict. It also has close ties with Azerbaijan and has sold weapons to both countries.

Azerbaijan was openly backed by Turkey during the fighting.

In its statement, the military’s top brass said “the prime minister and the government are no longer able to make reasonable decisions”, according to the Armenpress.

“For a long time, the Armenian armed forces were patiently tolerating the ‘attacks’ by the incumbent government aimed at defaming the armed forces, but everything has its limits.”

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The statement accused Mr Pashinyan’s government of making “serious mistakes in foreign policy” that resulted in the Armenian state being on the verge of destruction.

Soon after the statement was issued, Mr Pashinyan also sacked armed forces chief Onik Gasparyan.

It is unclear if the two fired top commanders have left their posts, as President Armen Sargsyan first needs to approve the prime minister’s orders.

Mr Sargsyan – who holds a largely ceremonial role in the country – urged all sides to “show restraint and common sense”.

Two Armenian opposition parties backed the military’s demand for Mr Pashinyan and his government to resign, calling on the prime minister to avoid a civil war.

In a statement, Armenia’s National Security Service urged all sides to “refrain from actions that threaten national security”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “We strongly condemn the coup attempt in Armenia.”

Russia has expressed concern and called for calm.

The US called on “all parties to exercise calm and restraint and to de-escalate tensions peacefully”.

Participants of rally paralyze streets in Armenia’s capital Yerevan, say hence protest actions to be conducted every day

Karapet Navasardian
Aysor, Armenia
Feb 20 2021



The participants of the rally are paralyzing the downtown Yerevan. Homeland Salvation Movement coordinator Ishkhan Saghatelyan told the reporters that disobedience actions will be conducted in all directions.

“It will be continuous. From Monday protest actions will be conducted every day until government resigns. Each citizen is free to show his dissatisfaction in a way he/she wants,” Saghatelyan said.


Turkey: “We’re not going anywhere either”

Karapet Navasardian 
Amnesty International
 – Activists pledge
solidarity with prominent human rights defender
Feb. 15, 2021
Responding to the conviction and sentencing of veteran human rights
lawyer, Eren Keskin to six years in jail on absurd grounds of
‘membership of an armed terrorist organization’, Amnesty
International’s Turkey Campaigner, Milena Buyum, said:
“Today a human rights lawyer who has spoken out against injustice for
more than three decades, has become the victim of injustice herself.
“Eren Keskin has dedicated her life to defending the rights of women,
prisoners and fought for justice for the families of the disappeared.
This verdict is yet another shocking example of anti-terrorism laws
being used to criminalize legitimate, peaceful activities.
“’I have been prosecuted many times and jailed for my thoughts. I’m
still here. I’m not going anywhere,’ Eren Keskin tweeted after she was
sentenced.
“We are not going anywhere either.”
Background
Eren Keskin is a prominent human rights defender and lawyer in Turkey.
She is the Co-Chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD).
Today, four defendants in the case concerning Özgür Gündem, a daily
newspaper that was shuttered in 2016, received prison sentences on
"terrorism-related" charges.
The court sentenced Zana Kaya, the newspaper's editor-in-chief to one
year and 13 months in prison for "making propaganda for a terrorist
organization."
The newspaper's grant holder Kemal Sancılı, managing editor İnan
Kızılkaya and attorney Eren Keskin have been sentenced to six years
and three months in prison for "being a member of an armed terrorist
organization." They remain at liberty pending their appeals.

Armenian gov’t backs away from early elections

Karapet Navasardian
JAM News
Feb 8 2021
    JAMnews, Yerevan

The ruling My Step parliamentary faction in Armenia has decided not to hold early parliamentary elections, although Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan himself at the end of last year suggested that the country’s political forces begin consulting on the idea in 2021.

My Step said its decision was justified by the fact that “the proposal of the Prime Minister to hold early parliamentary elections did not receive a positive reaction from the parliamentary opposition, there is no request for early elections among the general public.”

And the very proposal of the authorities to hold elections was an attempt to resolve the internal political crisis in the country immediately after the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh.

The signing of the trilateral ceasefire agreement, signed in November 2020 by Pashinyan with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, has been assessed by the Armenian opposition as a ‘treacherous conspiracy and the voluntary surrender of territories.’ In this regard, protests began demanding the resignation of the government headed by Nikol Pashinyan.

The My Step parliamentary faction also said in a statement that it “continues to support the prime minister and the government in the implementation of the roadmap presented on November 18, 2020”, referring to Pashinyan’s plan to reform the cabinet of ministers and its activities after the war, which he presented in response to the demand for his resignation.

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Opposition plans

The plan of the opposition consists of three points: the resignation of the current government including Pashinyan, the formation of a temporary government and then the conduct of snap elections.

Vazgen Manukyan, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, has been nominated for the post of head of the interim opposition’s “Movement for the Salvation of the Homeland”, while other opposition parties remain scattered in their support for specific candidates.

Opposition groups called for a boycott of the elections without delay, and said that the authorities could not justify their actions and disqualify themselves.

The opposition’s reaction

The ruling bloc refused to hold early elections for three reasons, said Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Supreme Body of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party.

“The first is that the one who is holding onto the prime minister’s chair has understood that he has no chance of being elected through elections. It’s just impossible.”

The second reason, according to Saghatelyan, is that the elections will lead to serious problems in the very team of the prime minister, as they “realized the danger of irrevocable loss of mandates.”

The third reason put forward by the oppositionist is the ‘false assessment of the situation by the authorities.’ Believing that the protest movement has already weakened, the authorities hope to “distract society with a false agenda.”

Saghatelyan says that now even more people will take to the streets, including those who wanted to free themselves from the current government through elections.

Naira Zohrabyan, MP of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party, also commented on the ruling bloc’s statement: “I thought that Nikol Pashinyan would not go to the early elections. He would have taken this step if he had reached a clear agreement with the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Gagik Tsarukyan and the leader of Bright Armenia Edmond Marukyan, which would have been expressed in a joint memorandum that neither Prosperous Armenia nor Bright Armenia”[the two opposition parties represented in parliament] will not nominate their candidates for the post of prime minister after his resignation.”

According to Zohrabyan, Pashinyan’s proposal was rejected, and the Prosperous Armenia Party “will not agree to any agreements with Nikol’s government.”

The leader of the Enlightened Armenia party, Edmon Marukyan, is confident that the authorities will soon return to the idea of holding elections.

He believes that one should not take the ruling faction’s statement seriously. The politician is convinced that early elections will definitely take place. The demand for the prime minister’s resignation, he said, remains on the opposition agenda, and the authorities’ statements are an attempt to divert the attention of the country’s residents from the problems that arose in the post-war period.