Author: Khondkarian Raffi

Mainewhile: A nickname honoring everything left behind in Armenia

Khondkarian Raffi
Press Herald, Maine
By Heather D. Martin

Every family has its favorites. In mine, there is Uncle Armen.

Call to mind Alan Arkin. In any movie, ever, but let’s say “Little Miss Sunshine” because that’s my favorite. OK, got it? Great. That’s my Uncle Armen. Seriously, they could be identical twins, and the voice and accent? Same. Which isn’t really shocking given that even though my uncle is a book-bound mathematics professor and not an actor, they both grew up in the same area of New York at roughly the same time. It delights us cousins.

We all adore Uncle Armen, and I was shocked when, as a grownup, I learned that Armen was not my uncle’s real name! No. He was born with the given name of Humpartsoum.

Right. So, I think we can all agree, that is rather a mouthful, even for New York. Also, let’s face it, a typical “shorten it up” style nickname might not have ended well. But … Armen?

My uncle’s parents emigrated from Armenia to the United States, shortly before the Armenian genocide. They survived and flourished. Not so the friends and family members who remained behind. There sadly came a day when the letters home stopped being answered. “Armen” is a nickname that honors everything left behind.

The horrific events of 1915-1917 have been in the news of late.  Armenian Remembrance Day was April 24, and President Biden became the first U.S. president in decades to use the word “genocide” to describe the killings. The last president to do so was Reagan. Go figure.

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Using the word “genocide” is newsworthy because Turkey, the nation that did the killing, doesn’t like it – and they are a NATO ally. So it is a politically sensitive move.

A genocide is defined as “the deliberate or systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group.” Turkey would prefer the events be contextualized as just one more tragic element of the nightmare that was World War I. Which is understandable. However, it is also incorrect. Even at the time – in the actual moment – these killings were seen as something other and beyond.

To quote the New York Times, “The American ambassador, Henry Morganthau Sr. … would write: ‘When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.’”

A person may be forgiven for wondering why, or if, the word choice matters. After all, the number of people killed is not in dispute. The horrors of their deaths remain the same. Does it matter what we call it? I think it does.

To be a casualty of war is tragic and heartbreaking, no matter what the circumstance. But to be hunted and exterminated on the basis of who you are, to have an attempt made to wipe from the earth all remnants of your ancestors, your culture, your existence … that is something else. It means that even those who escaped are still somehow erased.

What’s more, it deflects from the actual root cause and prevents us from properly understanding, owning and making amends. It comes back to the same conversation we’ve been having in this country around history, bias and accountability.

This moment is yet another demand upon us as humans who share this one, small planet to face history unflinchingly and do the hard work of actually dismantling hate, not simply rebranding it.

Lawmaker Garo Paylan submits Armenian Genocide recognition legislation to Turkish Parliament

Khondkarian Raffi

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 14:36,

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s opposition  Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker of Armenian descent Garo Paylan submitted a bill to the Turkish parliament’s presidency seeking to recognize the Armenian Genocide, remove the names of those responsible for the genocide from public locations and to amend the law on citizenship.

Paylan says the Turkish parliament must recognize the Armenian Genocide and that “106 years later the victims of the Armenian Genocide must reach justice.”

In his April 24 message, Paylan had said that in the issue of the Armenian Genocide justice can only be reached in Turkey.  “If Turkey faces the Armenian Genocide, then it wouldn’t matter any more what the parliaments of other countries would say. The Armenian Genocide is being denied for 106 years, and this is why it remains the subject of discussion of parliaments of other countries.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Azerbaijan: Ready to host trilateral summit with Israel, Turkey

Khondkarian Raffi
Israel Hayom
 By  Dean Shmuel Elmas

 

 Published on  04-25-2021 13:24

Bilateral relations between Israel and Azerbaijan have upgraded significantly over the past year. The process that saw the countries’ security, economic and social ties steadily improve ever since Azerbaijan declared independence in 1991 came to a head during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, in which Azerbaijan secured a resounding victory.

One person whose popularity has skyrocketed since the war is President Ilham Aliyev’s foreign policy adviser, Hikmet Hajiyev. He does not fit the Israeli description of an “adviser.” Rather, he is one of a small handful of officials in Azerbaijan truly dictating Azeri foreign policy. Hajiyev, who was born in the city of Ganja – the country’s second-largest city that came under enemy bombardment during the war – left the safety of his office once the war began to visit civilians across the country to boost their morale.

In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Hajiyev discusses his immense admiration for Israel and its citizens, says Baku deems Israeli-Turkish rapprochement as highly important, notes his criticism of Washington, Azerbaijan’s position on the nuclear deal with its neighbor Iran, and explains why Azerbaijan doesn’t have an embassy in Tel Aviv.

Q: Hikmet, is President Aliyev interested in hosting a trilateral summit with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at bridging the divisions between the two countries?

“Turkey is a sister country of Azerbaijan and Israel is our strategic partner. We want our friends to be friends with each other. If the sides agree to such an initiative, then Azerbaijan will always welcome them.”

Q: Are the recent developments in relations between Israel and Turkey due to President Aliyev’s mediation efforts?

“We believe that Israel and Turkey share similar interests. We believe that cooperation between them also serves these interests. Azerbaijan does everything it can to improve this relationship.”

PM Netanyahu with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev (Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)

Q: What makes Israel-Azerbaijan relations unique?

“Our relationship is not predicated on words. It is strategic. We understand one another. I think the backbone of the relationship is actually the connection between the peoples. Israeli-Azeri relations are built on honest historic understanding. There have been many attempts to harm our cooperation, even though good relations with Azerbaijan are an interest of the Jewish people across the globe.”

Meanwhile, similar to Israel, Azerbaijan doesn’t truly know what the Biden administration’s red line is in regards to Iran. “We are waiting for messages” from the US administration, says Hajiyev, adding that “the past two American administrations didn’t do a complete job in the Caucasus. On the contrary, the Obama administration erred in its conduct with its friends, including Israel. The same applies to Azerbaijan.”

A main issue for the Azeris is the Biden administration’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide. On this matter, Hajiyev’s position is unequivocal. “If this is a historic mistake,” he says, “nothing can be compared to the Holocaust.”

Q: Are you in contact with the Jewish lobby in Washington?

“Our relations with Israel are excellent, in all fields. At the same time, Israeli-Azeri relations are also founded on the friendship between the Jewish people and the Azeri people. For us, there’s no such term as lobby; Jews living in the US are friends of Azerbaijan and our friendship is based on the same friendship with Jews as everywhere else in the world.

“Jewish organizations in the US are a great help to us in conveying Azerbaijan’s message – which is that we are trying to build new areas of cooperation in the region, peace and stability in the southern Caucasus. In Azerbaijan, different cultures and religions have lived together for many years. We are proud to see Jews living in Azerbaijan and the Jews across the globe help us.”

Q: What is your country’s position regarding the nuclear deal with Iran?

“We always support negotiations. The talks could be useful and be conducive to understandings between the peoples.”

Q: Why doesn’t Azerbaijan have an embassy in Israel?

“When Israelis come to Azerbaijan they see the message of peace and there are Israeli flags all over the country. This came from the heart of the people in Azerbaijan and expresses the appreciation for the value of the relationship between the countries. We have excellent understandings and wonderful diplomatic ties. Israel was among the first to recognize Azerbaijan when we declared independence. Sometimes a diplomatic mission can exist but relations aren’t as good as the one [Israel and Azerbaijan] have.”

One of the events that deeply impacted the Azeri people, beyond just the government in Baku, was the delegation of Israeli eye doctors who went to Azerbaijan to treat the casualties of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. “I was grateful,” says Hajiyev. “They came to Azerbaijan, even though they were obviously busy back home, and performed 10-15 surgeries per day. This is the reverence the Jewish people have for life and this concern is part of the Jewish DNA. It relates to the Jewish desire to help. We intend to implement other similar initiatives and we use Israel’s experience to help our wounded.”

Q: Do you intend to incorporate Israeli companies in the rehabilitation of Karabakh?

“We are in contact with Israeli companies and are exhausting inter-governmental ties. The potential of the Israeli companies to help us is considerable. We are interested in the help of Israeli companies in building smart cities and in the water sector.”

Q: To summarize, what message do you want to send Israel?

“I want to wish Israel peace and convey my belief that the Azeri and Israeli peoples are historical friends. The Israeli people have always suffered due to not having peace. We wish them peace and ongoing Israeli success. The start-up nation is our friend and I wish it tremendous success.”

 

Biden tells Erdogan he plans to recognise Armenian ‘genocide’

Khondkarian Raffi
Al- Jazeera, Qatar

In a phone call, the two reportedly discussed what will be a first for a US president: calling the 1915 mass killings a ‘genocide’.

| Genocide News | Al Jazeera

23 Apr 2021

United States President Joe Biden told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he plans to recognise the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as an act of “genocide”, Bloomberg and the Reuters news agencies reported Friday, citing people familiar with the call between the leaders.

The two spoke Friday for the first time since Biden became president in January, a day before Biden’s expected remarks designating the killings as “genocide”, an action that will further strain already fraught ties between the US and Turkey.

Keep reading

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“When it comes to the Armenian genocide, you can expect an announcement tomorrow,” US Department of State Deputy Spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters Friday, while declining to reveal details.

Biden would be the first US president to formally recognise the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 as genocide.

Turkey has acknowledged the deaths of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, but has steadfastly denied that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide.

Some 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children lost their lives during World War I and the final years of the Ottoman Empire [File: AP Photo]If Biden follows through on recognising the mass killings as a genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday, that will further harm ties between the NATO allies.

Turkish presidential spokesperson Fahrettin Altun on Tuesday called a genocide designation “a slander that has no connection with the facts and is only fuelled by political calculations. It is an emotional, irrational and illegitimate accusation.”

Meanwhile, Biden and Erdogan agreed during their call to meet in June when both men will be in Brussels for the NATO summit, the White House announced Friday.

The three-month delay in Biden making his first outreach to Erdogan is widely seen as a cold shoulder to the Turkish president, who had enjoyed close ties with former President Donald Trump.

The White House account of Friday’s call made no mention of the Armenian issue.

“President Biden spoke today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, conveying his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements,” the White House said in a statement.

It said the two leaders agreed to meet on the margins of the NATO summit in June to have a wider conversation about their two countries’ relations.

“Both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration has stepped up pressure on Turkey by frequently expressing its discontent over Ankara’s human rights track record, and a gap remains between the two sides over a host of issues including Turkey’s purchase of Russian weapons systems and policy differences regarding Syria.

Commentary: Grandfather’s life inspires advocacy for Armenian Genocide survivors

Khondkarian Raffi
Commentary:
Grandfather’s life inspires advocacy for Armenian Genocide survivors

Opinion

Mainline Media News
Apr
14, 2021, Updated Apr 15, 2021

By Steven Keytanjian

Sharing family stories is a tradition in most American homes
around the country. But hearing my grandfather’s childhood recollections came
with a sense of responsibility – as a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, he
taught me at an early age about the importance of overcoming difficult
challenges and the significance of legacy.

My
grandfather, Dr. Charles Nerses Mahjoubian, was born in Konya, in present-day
Turkey, and arrived in Philadelphia by way of Ellis Island in 1923 after
escaping the mass atrocities against Armenians – where 10 of his family members
perished during the inhumane deportations. The atrocities inflicted upon
Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish Empire are, by definition, a genocide,
according to multiple statements by the eminent International Association of
Genocide Scholars. Upon settling in Philadelphia, my grandfather taught himself
English in order to attend West Philadelphia High School, from which he
graduated in 1928. He continued on to Temple University, successfully receiving
his B.A. and D.D.S. from Temple University School of Dentistry in 1934. He
worked in his father’s shoe repair shop throughout his schooling.

 

Over the years, my grandfather
established a loving family with his wife Dorothy and their children, while
building a flourishing dental practice in Bala Cynwyd. Despite his busy
schedule, he immersed himself into the fabric of the greater Philadelphia
region and was an active citizen in the public life of the community: he served
as President of the Ard-Wood Civic Association, the Main Line Lions Club, Scout
Master, Head Scout Master for the local Boy Scouts Troop, The Main Line
Toastmasters Club, and the Sunday Morning Toastmasters Breakfast Club. He and
my grandmother Dorothy introduced Armenian foods to these groups by hosting
annual picnics in the backyard of their home, welcoming everyone with their
warm hospitality and savory Armenian dishes.


My grandfather took his dedication to community a step
further when he was elected to office as a Lower Merion Township Commissioner
from 1958-1962. One of his most cherished acts of civic engagement, however,
was initiating a school dental program for Darby Township’s 1,600 students, who
he examined – without discrimination – from 1936-1946. Giving back to a country
that provided a safe haven, without the fear of being killed for his ethnicity
or religion, was crucial to him.

It could have been easy for my grandfather to become
submerged in his new life, reaching the pinnacle of the so-called American
Dream, surrounded by comfort and safety. But the searing pain of the Armenian
Genocide never left him – especially since the Turkish government continued to
deny the veracity of the 1.5 million lives lost between 1915 and 1923, when the
Young Turk party implemented the massacres and deportations. My grandfather
wrote thousands of letters to newspapers, elected officials, and several
presidential administrations, between the 1940s and early 2000s, to bring
awareness to the issue of the Armenian Genocide. His eyewitness testimony remains in the Congressional Record.

My grandfather passed away in 2004. I wish he could have
witnessed both chambers of the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly pass resolutions
reaffirming the Armenian Genocide in late 2019. The advocacy efforts of his
generation, when combined with ours, brought to light official recognition a
century in the making. But now the time has come for the Executive Branch to do
the same. President Joe Biden has a documented, 30-year history of
acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as an elected official. As he tries to
restore U.S. credibility in the foreign arena and bring human rights back to
the forefront, an official affirmation of the Armenian Genocide by the
President would certainly align with American values and guiding principles. On
April 24, we ask President Joe Biden to unequivocally affirm the Armenian
Genocide as a genocide – to not only honor the memory of the victims, but to
recognize the contributions that survivors like my grandfather made to America,
a country held so dear in their hearts.
 

Steven Keytanjian is a resident of King of Prussia and earned
his master’s degree in International Relations & American Government at
Temple University. He is a deacon and parish council member of St. Sahag &
St. Mesrob Armenian Church of Wynnewood, and a leader of the Armenian Assembly
of America in PA.

Joe Biden must recognize the genocide of Armenians — both in the past and present

Khondkarian Raffi
The Denver Post, CO

By Cole Wist and Simon Maghakyan |
PUBLISHED: at 10:36 a.m. | UPDATED: at 1:15 p.m.

Following …

Despite being widely considered by academia as the first modern genocide and the Nazis’ template for the Holocaust, the WWI-era Armenian Genocide remains officially unrecognized by the White House.

This is largely because of decades of persistent protest by the government of Turkey, which categorically denies the monumental crime committed by its Ottoman predecessors in erasing the existence of the indigenous Christian peoples of Asia Minor, consisting of several million Armenians, Assyrians, and Anatolian Greeks in 1915-1923.

AP Photo

Medical workers transport a wounded in a hospital during shelling by Azerbaijan’s artillery in Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Nagorno-Karabakh officials said Azerbaijani forces hit Stepanakert, the region’s capital, and the nearby town of Shushi with the Smerch long-range multiple rocket systems, killing one civilian and wounding two more.

This month, however, President Joe Biden, a long-time advocate for Armenian Genocide awareness, has a unique opportunity to formally recognize the first modern genocide. Such recognition would be a welcome move beyond the obvious moral and historical reasons to acknowledge the atrocity.

Just months ago, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, encouraged and aided neighboring Azerbaijan to attempt — and partly succeed — at repeating the Armenian Genocide in a post-Soviet region called Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

Starting on September 27, 2020, amid a global pandemic and the U.S. presidential election, Turkey-aided Azerbaijan launched a full-scale invasion on Artsakh, which Azerbaijan considers an occupied territory, ethnically cleansing much of the region from its indigenous Armenian community. This recent assault on Armenians arguably triggered other aggression in the name of “territorial integrity” against minorities, including the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. (Despite Azerbaijan’s insistence that Artsakh is its territory, Colorado rightfully recognized the Republic of Artsakh in 2019.)

During the 2020 onslaught on Artsakh, Turkey supplied Azerbaijan with combat UAVs, F16 fighter jets, Syrian mercenaries, and military personnel. War crimes included the precision air bombing of the main Holy Savior Cathedral of Shushi, twice, where civilians had taken refuge. While capturing and ethnically cleansing much of the region, Azerbaijan’s Turkey-supported army beheaded elderly Armenian civilians who hadn’t escaped.

It is not too late for President Biden to support Artsakh’s right to existence, including by advocating for a humanitarian aid package. Despite winning the war in early November and ethnically cleansing Armenians from every square inch of lands taken over, Turkey-backed Azerbaijan has doubled down on its belligerence against Armenians, including by refusing to release nearly 200 Armenian prisoners of war and by engaging in the systematic erasure of Armenian monuments.

Cultural destruction is particularly painful for Armenians, who have spent the last 1,700 years creating a unique Christian culture, including the majestic khachkar (cross-stone), an intricately carved statuesque memorial. The world’s largest collective of medieval khachkars was the renowned cemetery of Djulfa (Jugha), once home to 10,000 medieval headstones, which was placed under Azerbaijan’s domain by a 1921 Turkish-Soviet treaty.

In December 2005, Azerbaijan deployed army platoons to remote Djulfa to eradicate the sacred site. Turkish and Azerbaijani officials claim that Armenians are not indigenous peoples. So Djulfa, they now say, never existed to begin with.

Denver residents and visitors have a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of what one of the 10,000 medieval khachkars of Djulfa looked like. The Colorado state Capitol khachkar on the northeast grounds of the statehouse is a Djulfa replica. It was unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015 and commemorates the victims of all crimes against humanity — from genocide to slavery.

AP Photo

Men examine a bomb crater near the Holy Savior Cathedral after shelling by Azerbaijan’s forces during a military conflict in Shushi, outside Stepanakert, the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh continued on Thursday, as the latest cease-fire agreement brokered by the U.S. failed to halt the flare-up of a decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Colorado has a long history of recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide. In 2018, Colorado designated a portion of Arapahoe Road in Arapahoe County as the Sardarapat Armenian Memorial Highway. Colorado K-12 schools will soon require teaching regarding the Armenian Genocide, along with the Holocaust. This is not just world history. It’s also our own, American, history because in 1915-1930, scores of Americans volunteered for the Near East Relief, the first U.S. international humanitarian outreach, created to save and nurture over 100,000 orphans of the Armenian Genocide.

Ahead of April 24, the day when Armenian communities across the world and in Colorado will commemorate the Armenian Genocide for the first time since the recent Artsakh war, President Biden is uniquely positioned to right the bipartisan White House wrong of playing immoral politics with the first modern genocide. The Congress, which officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2019, has made such acknowledgment by the White House easier.

For President Biden’s recognition to truly matter, it must include both acknowledgment of and effective actions addressing the Armenian Genocide’s ongoing consequences, including Turkey-Azerbaijan’s intent genocidal intent to end Armenian existence in Artsakh. President Biden should recognize the Armenian Genocide’s past and present.

Cole Wist is an attorney with the law firm Squire Patton Boggs and a former Republican state representative from Arapahoe County. Simon Maghakyan is a lecturer in international relations at CU Denver and a community leader.

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ANCA supporters send over 1 million messages to White House and Congress on Armenian Genocide

Khondkarian Raffi
Public Radio of Armenia
   

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has rallied Armenian Americans from all 50 states to send over 1,000,000 messages to the White House and Congress over the past several months – generating powerful momentum for President Biden to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide this April.

ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian, in a video message issued today, expressed his thanks to community and coalition partners for reaching the million message milestone in the ANCA’s strategic campaign to secure a long-awaited reset in U.S. Armenian Genocide policy by the Biden Administration. “On behalf of the Armenian National Committee of America, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for your faith, thank you for your dedication. Working together, we will move mountains. Working together, we are on the #MarchToJustice.”

In letters addressed to President Biden, Vice-President Harris, Senators, and Representatives, advocates argued that “a principled American stand for the truth – alongside a dozen of our NATO allies – will help impress upon Ankara that it must abandon its denials, acknowledge its guilt, and reckon with its present-day responsibilities for the consequences of its crimes.” They stressed that “with Turkey and its ally Azerbaijan pursuing new genocidal ambitions against the Armenian homeland, it is more urgent than ever for the White House to stop using evasive language and euphemistic terminology in its annual April 24th statements.”

In March, a bipartisan group of 38 Senators, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), called on President Biden to follow the lead of Congress in fully and formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide. “We join the Armenian community in the United States and around the world in honoring the memory of these victims, and we stand firmly against attempts to pretend that this intentional, organized effort to destroy the Armenian people was anything other than a genocide,” wrote the Senators.  “You have correctly stated that American diplomacy and foreign policy must be rooted in our values, including respect for universal rights. Those values require us to acknowledge the truth and do what we can to prevent future genocides and other crimes against humanity.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is leading the Congressional Armenian Caucus letter, circulating in Congress now, calling on the President to honor his pledge as a candidate and recognize the Armenian Genocide. “Mr. President, as you said last year in your April 24 statement, “Silence is complicity,” states the U.S. House letter to President Biden. “The shameful silence of the United States Government on the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide has gone on for too long, and it must end. We urge you to follow through on your commitments, and speak the truth.”

Pro-Armenian advocates can contact their U.S. Representative to cosign the Armenian Caucus letter to the Biden Administration, support a $100 Million allocation in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh, and urge cosponsorship of H.Res.220, demanding Azerbaijan’s return of Armenian captives by visiting ANCA’s website.

During his confirmation process, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, responding to questions by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) regarding the Biden Administration’s policy on the Armenian Genocide, answered “Our administration will be committed to prioritizing human rights and ensuring such a tragedy is not repeated. The Administration will determine the wording for the White House statement to mark Remembrance Day once in office and will consult with Congress on this important issue.”

President Biden referenced the Armenian Genocide multiple times during his presidential candidacy.  In his April 24, 2020, statement, he noted, “during my years in the Senate, I was proud to lead efforts to recognize the genocide against the Armenian people. Last year, I was pleased to endorse bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate that officially recognized and established an ongoing U.S. commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. If elected, I pledge to support a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide…”

On September 16, 2019, Presidential candidate Joe Biden, in a letter to the ANCA, stated that “The United States must reaffirm, once and for all, our record on the Armenian Genocide. We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination that resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children and the mass deportation of 2 million Armenians from their homes. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words ‘never again’ lose their meaning. The facts must be as clear and as powerful for future generations as for those whose memories are seared by tragedy. Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities.”

U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide – alongside growing global condemnation of this crime – isolates Turkey and undermines its denials, increasing pressure upon Ankara to end its campaign of lies, cease its obstruction of justice, and open the door to a truthful, just, and comprehensive resolution of present-day Turkey’s legal, moral, political, and territorial responsibilities for this still unpunished crime against all humanity.

The U.S. first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 through a filing which was included in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Report titled: “Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: “The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide.”

President Ronald Reagan reaffirmed the Armenian Genocide in 1981. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted legislation on the Armenian Genocide in 1975, 1984, and 1996.  In 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate overwhelmingly adopted Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.220 / S.Res.150).

MEPs, the EAFJD and the Armenian Ombudsman urge the EU to take concrete steps for the release of the Armenian captives

Khondkarian Raffi
Public Radio of Armenia

A conference addressing the legal and political aspects of one of the most urgent humanitarian issues after the 2020 Karabakh war, that of the Armenian captives and prisoners of war (PoWs) held in Azerbaijan was hosted by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Loucas Fourlas (Cyprus, EPP). The executive director of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) Heghine Evinyan was one of the key-note speakers of the conference. The other panelists were MEP Marina Kaljurand – the Chair of the delegation for relations with the South Caucasus in the European Parliament and Arman Tatoyan – the Human Rights Defender of Armenia. Five months after signing the ceasefire statement of the war in Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh there are still at least 188 Armenian captives in the prisons in Azerbaijan, despite the obligation of the latter to return all the captives, detainees and prisoners war.

In her speech, the EAFJD executive director Heghine Evinyan stressed that keeping the Armenian captives months after the end of the war is an act of prolongation of the war from the psychological perspective by Azerbaijan. “It is the continuation of the destructive consequences of the war. Human beings even if they are in captivity cannot be used as an object of political trade-off in order to elicit more gains”, said Evinyan.

“The silence and the rather passive stance of governments on the European level concerning a humanitarian issue such as the release of the prisoners of war, has been disheartening for the Armenian diaspora across Europe and in fact for anyone who cares about the issue and about human dignity, ” further elaborated Evinyan.

“Europe can and has to do better, also for the sake of its own credibility, strength and viability. We do hope the European Parliament as an entity finally also expresses its position concerning the Armenian captives and calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release the Armenian captives and prisoners of war”, the EAFJD executive Director concluded.

In his speech MEP Loucas Fourlas, who is also the Chair of the Friendship group with Armenia in the European Parliament, emphasized: “The tragedy of missing persons, like the one affecting Cyprus since 1974, must not be repeated in Nagorno Karabakh. The international community must ensure the return of all the prisoners quickly. ”

During the conference it was stressed that the detention and ill-treatment of the Armenian captives by Azerbaijan is a war crime, as all the Armenian captives are legally considered as “Prisoners of War” in accordance with the 1949 Geneva convention. By blatantly violating the Convention and basic human rights principles, Azerbaijan uses this overly sensitive humanitarian issue for gaining political benefits. The release of all prisoners of war, hostages, and other detainees is stipulated by the ceasefire concluded on 10 November 2020 by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. The Armenian side has returned all the prisoners of war.

The conference entitled “The Fate of the Armenian captives in Azerbaijan”, took place in an online format, considering the restrictions due to the global health emergency.

Armenian expert: Azeri-edited Yerevan map can be corrected through complaints

Khondkarian Raffi
Panorama, Armenia

The recently edited map of Armenia’s capital Yerevan with Azerbaijani street names should not come as a surprise, Armenian information security expert Samvel Martirosyan said on Saturday.

As reported earlier, Azerbaijani internet users have edited a number of street names in Yerevan on the Google Maps, renaming them after their army heroes.

In a public post on Facebook, the expert said such things are a common practice and should not be considered an unprecedented phenomenon.

“Most of the objects on the Google Maps have been added by individual users. Anyone can propose editing on the map, for instance, add a new location or change the name of an existing one. The Google system then takes into account how much the editor has already contributed to the maps. Other users may also suggest whether the change is a good one. And based on all this, the system can add a location, Martirosyan wrote.

“Likewise, an arbitrary person having a Gmail account can report an error. It is possible to correct the map through complaints. Also, try to enrich the map of Armenia!” he said. 

Russian peacekeepers deny foreign reporters access to Nagorno-Karabakh – Reporters Without Borders

Khondkarian Raffi
Panorama, Armenia
April 9 2021

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Russia, whose peacekeepers have controlled access to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia since the end of last autumn’s war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, to stop denying entry to foreign reporters. RSF also urges the UN and Council of Europe to ensure respect for the right to the freedom to inform.

As the organization said in a a released statement, since last February, at least ten foreign journalists have been denied entry by the Russian peacekeeping troops controlling access to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia via the so-called Lachin corridor.

They include the French photographer Christophe Petit-Tesson, who said: “I spent several days there in January but the rules have changed since then.” Vincent Prado, a reporter for the Enquête Exclusive current affairs programme on the French TV channel M6, has had his requests to visit the territory refused several times by the Russians without any explanation.

It is noted that similar unexplained refusals have been received by Neil Hauer, a Canadian freelancer for the Guardian and CNN, and Mark Stratton, a British journalist who described his frustration in an interview for the BBC. The photographer Kiran Ridley received permission to visit the enclave but was turned back at the Russian checkpoint on 4 April. 

With some difficulty, reporters Jonathan Walsh and Mohamed Farhat from the French TV news channel France 24 managed to get in at the start of March thanks to a privileged contact on the spot, but they are among the very few journalists to have succeeded.

“A growing number of foreign journalists are being systematically refused entry by Russian soldiers,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “There are no objective grounds for this obstruction. The reporters do not pose a threat to the territory’s safety, which is guaranteed by peacekeeping troops.” 

Cavelier added: “Without international media, Nagorno-Karabakh is liable to become a news and information ‘black hole.’ We call on the Russian authorities to allow journalists access, regardless of their nationality. And we call on the UN and Council of Europe to ensure respect for the right to the freedom to inform, which is all the more essential in a conflict or post-conflict situation.”

According to the statement, the cease-fire agreement that the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed under Russia’s aegis on 9 November 2020 has no specific provision for the entry of journalists. Press accreditation is issued by the consulate of Nagorno-Karabakh’s unrecognised Republic of Artsakh or by the Armenian foreign ministry but it is the Russia peacekeepers who grant or refuse entry to foreign citizens, who are notified of the decision on the eve of their planned visit. Armenians and Russians just need to show their passports in order to enter.

It notes that Access to Nagorno-Karabakh is also restricted via Azerbaijan, which is ruled by the authoritarian President Ilham Aliyev. TV crews from France 24 and the European channel Arte made highly controlled visits from Azerbaijan and were not able to report freely.

It is reminded that at least seven journalists were injured during the Nagorno-Karabakh war from 27 September to 9 November. Three journalists who were injured when missiles were fired on the town of Martuni on 1 October – Armenia TV’s Avetis Harutyunyan and Aram Grigoryan and the Armenian news agency ’s Sevak Vardumyan – and the brother of a fixer who was killed the same day filed a case against Azerbaijan at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on 26 March.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2021/04/09/Reporters-Without-Borders-Nagorno-Karabakh/2483620