The California Courier Online, July 18, 2019
1 – Turkish Anti-Armenian Lobbying
Extends to City of Armenia in Colombia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Armenia’s iconic Lake Sevan faces algae threat
3 – Turkey: Nuclear weapon material worth $72M seized in car
4- Armenia Mourns Passing of Veteran Diplomat Arman Kirakossian
5- Cultural divisions deepen in Jerusalem amid Israeli election campaign
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1 – Turkish Anti-Armenian Lobbying
Extends to City of Armenia in Colombia
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
The Breitbart website published an article by Frances Martel
describing the Turkish lobbying efforts in the Colombian City of
Armenia which was founded in 1889 and originally called Villa Holguín.
According to Wikipedia, the South American city changed its name to
Armenia “in memory of the Armenian people murdered by the Turkish
Ottomans in the Hamidian Massacres of 1894-97 and later the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-23.” Some scholars dispute this assertion, ascribing
the origin of the city’s name to the Biblical reference to Armenia.
Ece Ozturk Cil, the Turkish Ambassador in Bogota, Colombia, sent two
letters—on December 14, 2018 and January 11, 2019—to the Mayor of
Armenia, Colombia, inviting him and 10 City Councilmembers to visit
Turkey as official guests of the Turkish government.
On February 3, 2019, during a special Sunday night session, Armenia’s
City Council by a vote of 12 to 6 approved the visit of Mayor Oscar
Castellanos and nine City Councilmembers to Turkey, between Feb. 6 and
13, 2019. During the trip, the Mayor and City Councilmembers of
Armenia met with the Mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, the Chairman of
the Turkish Parliament, and visited the Center of Latin American
Studies at the University of Ankara. They also met with Turkish
businessmen and visited the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.
The trip generated a major controversy in Colombia. Many residents of
the city of Armenia objected to the visit, because of the absence of
the Mayor and the nine City Councilmembers at a time when the city was
in economic disarray and mismanaged. Five mayors of Armenia had been
ousted in the past three years due to corruption. The citizens felt
that the new Mayor should have stayed home and taken care of the
business of the city. The Regional Prosecutor General opened an
investigation into the Turkish trip to review the violations committed
by the Mayor and the Councilmembers. They should also be investigated
to establish what bribes or gifts they received from their “generous”
Turkish hosts while visiting Turkey.
The local Colombian publication Semana confirmed the link between
Armenia (Colombia), Turkey and genocide: “…It turns out that the
[city] council of Armenia, [Colombia], decided through Agreement 08 of
2014, to recognize the Armenian Genocide and as such declare April 24
as the official commemorative date, in solidarity with the country
that bears the same name as the Colombian city. Subsequently, the
Council ratified these links in Minutes 075 of 2015, through which
they sought to establish ties of friendship with the Republic of
Armenia….”
In response to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Semana
explained that “everything seems to indicate that the background of
this invitation from the Turkish government is to provide the council
members with the other version of a painful historical episode that
points to that country as responsible for genocide.”
Semana reported: “As will be remembered, what is known today as the
Armenian Genocide happened in 1915 during the First World War and
although the figures are still under discussion, there is talk of a
minimum of 300,000 and a maximum of 1.5 million deaths. The victims of
that extermination were the Armenian people and they point as their
executioner to the Ottoman Turkish Empire, today’s Turkey.”
Semana wondered if as a consequence of the city officials’ trip to
Turkey they may decide to repeal the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.
In the meantime, the only new development since the trip is a mural of
a man wearing Ottoman-era clothing on the side of Armenia’s city
council building. Breitbart reported that the mural has “no historical
correlation to the city” and “is confusing and angering many
residents…. The regional newspaper La Crónica de Quindío reported that
locals appear baffled, and some outraged, by the expensive mural,
which they find irrelevant to their heritage.”
Breitbart quoted a local woman named Maricela Montes telling La
Cronica: “I don’t really understand what Armenia [the Colombian city]
has to do with Turkey. I think that what they need is to pay back
favors for that little trip they took…. It is not logical that
something like this would be painted on such a pretty department.”
The newspaper quoted another resident as saying that he is not angry,
but merely “confused.” Jorge Jaramillo told La Cronica: “We are
confused because we don’t understand what a sultan has to do with
Armenia [the city]. What is happening to us? Please, serious statesmen
have to take the reins of this city. This is truly horrible for our
capital.” City Councilman Luis Guillermo Agudelo told El Tiempo: “the
mural is an absurdity…. This is a public building that has a very
important connotation…. This is where our gallery was, and now they
are totally changing its identity.”
El Tiempo reported that “the council is not only considering cultural
favors to Turkey. They are now openly debating amending the 2014
declaration the city passed recognizing the Armenian genocide,”
according to Breitbart.
So far, the Turkish invitation has backfired on Turkey because it has
generated a lot of discussion about the Armenian Genocide in the
Colombian media and has gotten the Mayor and the City Councilmembers
in legal trouble.
It is incumbent on the Armenian Republic’s Ambassador to Brazil, who
is also accredited to Colombia, to initiate an immediate action to
counter the Turkish lobbying efforts. A similar action has to be
undertaken by the Armenian communities in South America. They should
also ensure that the City Council does not repeal its earlier decision
to recognize the Armenian Genocide and gets rid of the Ottoman mural.
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2- Armenia’s iconic Lake Sevan faces algae threat
By Martin Morgan
Armenian environmentalists are warning that the country’s largest lake
is facing a serious threat from algae and falling water levels. They
told reporters that unless the authorities take action “the lake will
turn into a swamp” through waterlogging, the Aysor news site reports.
The group is led by Karine Danielyan, a veteran ecologist and head of
the Environmental Committee of the government’s advisory Public
Committee.
It was the government’s publication of satellite images of the algae
earlier this month that prompted public concern.
Environment Minister Erik Grigoryan tried to put the algae bloom in
the broader context of climate change, noting similar phenomena in
Russia’s Lake Baikal and the Black Sea.
He said it would “be gone within a fortnight”, but campaigners insist
that specific local factors are at play in Armenia.
Sevan also saw an algae bloom last year, prompting the health ministry
to advise swimmers against venturing into the lake, and Grigoryan
recalled an algae scare back in 1964, but this year’s satellite images
show almost half of the lake colored green.
Water resources analyst Knarik Hovhannisyan puts the blame firmly on
drawing too much water for agriculture irrigation, which has led water
levels to fall on four registered occasions since 2012 when they
should have risen.
She also told Radio Liberty’s Armenian Service that pollution from
booming tourism resorts on the shore, as well as dumping wastewater
into tributary rivers, “could mean losing the only freshwater basin in
the region”.
The immediate measures she proposes are installing modern wastewater
treatment plants at lakeside hotels and restaurants, as has been a
legal requirement since 2006, and carefully monitoring water levels.
“I am sure that the 170 million cubic metres (37,395 million gallons)
of water flowing into the lake annually is now an over-estimate, given
global warming,” she told Radio Liberty.
Grigoryan assured the public that a tender is under way to clean up
the shore and rivers, so that “by 2020-2021 this whole area will be
completely clean” and water levels should rise again.
Water Committee Chairman Vardan Melkonyan also told reporters that
significantly less water has been drawn from Sevan so far this year—29
million cubic metres (6,380 million gallons)—than the 43.5 million in
the same period of 2018.
But campaigners still doubt the government’s sense of urgency.
“We warned them about this two months ago. All the measures may be in
place, but we are still destroying Lake Sevan through our thoughtless
actions,” Karine Danielyan told Aysor.
This article appeared in BBC News on July 8, 2019.
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3 – Turkey: Nuclear weapon material worth $72M seized in car
Turkish police have taken five people into custody over the smuggling
of a highly-radioactive substance used to build nuclear weapons and
power nuclear reactors. The 18.1-gram haul was found in a car.
Police discovered a vial of the material after they pulled over a car
in the northwestern Bolu province. The substance, believed to be
californium, was found stashed under the gear stick wrapped in a bag.
Officers had to cut the upholstery to get to the parcel, which is
estimated to be worth $72 million.
Five suspects were detained in the raid, and the mixture was taken to
the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) for a detailed analysis.
Californium is named after the place where it was synthesized back in
1950 – a laboratory at the University of California. Apart from being
used to manufacture nukes and nuclear-powered reactors, the element
also has a range of rather innocuous civilian applications. It can be
used as part of metal detectors and is used in cancer treatment as
well as oil, silver, and gold mining operations. Still, the substance
is highly dangerous and its production, distribution, and
transportation is restricted. Currently, only the US and Russia
synthesize the isotope.
It is not the first time Turkish police have reported a major bust
involving californium.
In a scare in March of last year, police in Ankara said they had
seized a whopping 1.4kg of the same substance in a car following a
tip-off. It turned out to be false alarm, as the haul was later found
to have no trace of nuclear or radioactive material, and was, in fact,
organic matter.
This article appeared in RT on July 6, 2019.
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4- Armenia Mourns Passing of Veteran Diplomat Arman Kirakossian
Aram Kirakossian, one of the most seasoned diplomats since Armenia’s
independence and Armenia’s former ambassador to the United States
passed away Saturday, July 6. He was 62.
Kirakossian died in London, where he was serving as Armenia’s
Ambassador to the United Kingdom, a position to which he was appointed
in 2018.
“Our diplomatic family lost a great man. We lost a great friend. Arman
Kirakossian’s wisdom, dedication and patriotism are our inspiration,
his memory is our guidance,” said Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
in a Facebook post.
“From the first day of the newly independent Armenia [Kirakossian] has
stood by and has been at the vanguard of diplomatic service and
establishment of [Armenia’s] foreign policy and has had his unwavering
input,” said Armenia’s Foreign Ministry in announcing Kirakossian’s
passing.
“I feel excruciating pain: I have lost my old friend, the Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Doctor of
History, Professor Arman Kirakossian,” said President Armen Sarkissian
in a condolence message posted on the president’s website. “Our family
has lost a true friend and a wonderful person, meetings with whom were
always appreciated, happy, and productive. Our people and state have
lost a worthy son, a meticulous scientist-historian, a professional
diplomat, an honorable citizen dedicated to the homeland.”
“I was saddened to learn of the death of Ambassador Arman
Kirakossian,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was on an official
visit to Vietnam at the time Kirakossian’s death, tweeted. “Ambassador
Kirakossian was standing at the forefront of the newly formed Armenian
diplomatic service and has contributed to the resolution of our
foreign policy challenges. My sincere condolences to the family and
friends of Arman Kirakossian.”
From 1991 to 1994, Kirakossian held served as the First Deputy Foreign
Minister, and, from October 1992 to February 1993, served as Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. He held the diplomatic Rank of
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
From 1994 to 1999 Kirakossian was Armenia’s Ambassador to Greece. He
also assumed the duties of the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Athens.
Kirakossian was also accredited to Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Kirakossian served as Armenian Ambassador to the United States from
1999 to 2005. He was also Permanent Observer of the Republic of
Armenia to the Organization of American States from 2001.
In 2005 he was appointed again as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia.
Kirakossian assumed his role as Ambassador to Austria and the OSCE in
2011. Since November 2018, he was Armenia’s Ambassador to the United
Kingdom.
Kirakossian received his bachelor’s degree in history and geography in
1977 and a master’s degree in History of the Armenian Question and
International Diplomacy in 1980 from the Armenian State Pedagogical
University. In 1999, he earned the degree of Doctor of Sciences in
History from the Institute of History of the National Academy of
Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.
Before embarking on a diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Armenia, Kirakossian held several high-level academic
positions at the National Academy of Sciences. He was Project Director
at the Center of Scientific Information for Social Sciences from 1980
to 1986, then Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Armenian
Diaspora Studies Department from 1990 to 1991.
“Our D.C. team had the honor and pleasure of working with Ambassador
Kirakossian on common issues of concern during his time as Armenian
Ambassador to the U.S. He was always the consummate professional and a
thoughtful representative of the Armenian state,” said Armenian
National Committee of America communications director Elizabeth
Chouldjian.
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5- Cultural divisions deepen in Jerusalem amid Israeli election campaign
By Lauren Gelfond Feldinger
As Israel’s right-wing leaders emphasize Jewish history, rights and
demographics in the run-up to new elections on 17 September, Christian
cultural organizations in East Jerusalem say their communities are
increasingly being marginalized. Yet a series of heritage initiatives
shine a light on their historic connections to the city.
While renovating his small East Jerusalem museum, the master tile
artist Neshan Balian is preparing two exhibitions marking the
centenary of Armenian ceramics in the city in September—one in Armenia
and one at Jerusalem’s Rockefeller Archaeological Museum. His
grandfather and namesake was one of three artisans invited in 1919 by
Mark Sykes of the British Mandate government to repair the tiles of
the Dome of the Rock Islamic shrine and to introduce a new art to
Jerusalem. Balian has also been commissioned by the municipality to
renovate the city’s calligraphy-tiled street signs in English, Arabic
and Hebrew. Hand-painted tiles with motifs designed by his late
mother, Marie Balian, can be seen on murals, doors and wares across
Jerusalem.
But despite recognition, Balian, like his East Jerusalem neighbors, is
still ethnically profiled and often subjected to full-body searches by
Israeli airport security, he tells The Art Newspaper. “I just turned
61; you get tired of pulling down your trousers to a 21-year-old
[guard] who knows nothing of the sacrifices you have made to the
Israeli art scene,” he says. “More and more I feel like a second- and
third-class citizen. There is a lot of emphasis on making Jerusalem as
Jewish as possible. I’ll never be fully part of this city or
country… I don’t think the elections make any difference.”
Feelings of estrangement have intensified in East Jerusalem after
Israel’s Supreme Court approved the sale of three historic Greek
Orthodox church properties to a Jewish settler group, Ateret Cohanim.
The ruling in June ended a 14-year legal battle by the church, which
argued that the contracts must be nullified as they were arranged by a
corrupt official and aided by bribes and front groups. In an unusual
step, 13 heads of churches in Jerusalem signed a joint statement in
support of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, calling the court’s
decision “an assault on the status quo protections for all Christians
in this holy city”.
Days later, the International Crisis Group released a report
criticizing Israeli plans to excise Palestinian-populated areas from
East Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries, to add East Jerusalem
properties to Israel’s Land Registry and to induce its schools to use
Israeli curricula. Such policies “would exacerbate the conflict in and
over Jerusalem” and should be abandoned by the next government, the
NGO warned.
Although most of the international community considers Israel’s 1967
annexation of East Jerusalem a violation of international law, Israeli
law claims East Jerusalem and its 350,000 Muslims and 13,000
Christians as part of the Israeli state. Yet 93 percent of East
Jerusalemites do not have Israeli citizenship and residents cannot
vote in national elections. A few thousand who apply for citizenship
every year find it very difficult to obtain.
Amnon Ramon, an expert on Jerusalem’s minorities at the Jerusalem
Institute for Policy Research, says that while Israel’s Palestinian
Arab citizens have low voter turnout because they feel increasingly
alienated, non-Jewish residents of East Jerusalem face even more
discrimination. “On one side they aren’t Israeli, and on the other
they live under Israeli rule [but] Israel doesn’t embrace them,” Ramon
says.
Although the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate has had a presence in
Jerusalem since the fourth century, church leaders are disturbed that
Armenian Christians in East Jerusalem “don’t enjoy equal rights”, says
the chancellor, Father Koryoun Baghdasaryan. The Patriarchate wishes
the police would treat it as a hate crime when its clergy, students
and teachers are spat on by the Old City’s Haredi Jewish population,
and that clergy who have lived in the Armenian monastery for decades
would be granted residency. Without it, they must pay as tourists for
public services such as healthcare.
“The most shameful thing,” Baghdasaryan says, is that a memorial to
the Armenian genocide on church property remains closed to visitors
because the municipality has delayed approving construction of the
entrance. An official in the mayor’s office says a proper plan has not
been submitted, but according to the Patriarchate, all the necessary
papers have been repeatedly filed over many years.
Israel has never officially recognized the genocide of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks from 1915, likely because of concern for diplomatic
relations with Turkey. Baghdasaryan says there is a “moral obligation”
for Israel, being home to around 200,000 Holocaust survivors, to
recognize the genocide.
Still, the Armenian Patriarchate continues to honor its own history. A
fundraising campaign is under way to renovate its Armenian Museum
before 2020 and to open a new gallery space in the Armenian Quarter,
raising awareness about the community’s history in Jerusalem.
According to Nora Kort, the founder of the Wujoud Museum for
Palestinian heritage and the president of the Arab Orthodox Society,
“the [Israeli] government will never represent us. Because of national
rights, if you are a Jew, you have more rights than anyone
[non-Jewish] who was born here.” Kort’s family, who fled the 1948
Arab-Israeli war from West Jerusalem to relatives in East Jerusalem,
lost their property under Israel’s “Absentee Property” law. Today, she
exhibits Palestinian photographs, clothing, furniture, musical
instruments and other objects in a 14th-century Greek Orthodox
building in the Old City. Kort is seeking funds to raise awareness of
Palestinian history as a way to combat discrimination.
“The museum is an _expression_ that we are here, that we are part and
parcel of the community,” she says. “Until 1948 we lived together and
now the politics are divisive—especially lately.”
This article appeared in Art Newspaper on July 10, 2019.
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