Author: Maral Chavushian

Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
 Friday
Delegation of Georgia's ministry of internal affairs visits Armenian
Genocide memorial complex
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. The delegation of Georgia’s ministry
of internal affairsvisited the Armenian Genocide memorial complex. As
ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Police of
Armenia, deputy Prime Minister of Georgia, Minister of Internal
Affairs Giorgi Gakharia put a wreath at the eternal fire, got
acquainted with the materials of the Armenian Genocide
Institute-Museum, and planted a fir tree at the Memorial Alley.
The delegation of the ministry of internal affairs of Georgia led by
deputy Prime Minister of Georgia, Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi
Gakharia arrived in Armenia on an official visit on February 23, the
Armenian Police told Armenpress.
The delegation included deputy minister Levan Kakava, director of the
Georgian MIA Central Criminal Police Department Tornike Mushukudia and
other officials.
Chief of Police of Armenia, Colonel-General Vladimir Gasparyan and
high-ranking police officers welcomed the guests at "Zvartnots"
airport.
To welcome the Georgian counterparts the Armenian Police held a solemn
ceremony during which the honor guard held a demonstration
performance.
Thereafter, Police Chief of Armenia Vladimir Gasparyan had a working
meeting with the delegation of the Georgian Internal Ministry.
Welcoming the guests, Vladimir Gasparyan highly appreciated the
traditional partnership between the police structures of Armenia and
Georgia and underlined the tangible results that have already been
achieved by the joint efforts of law enforcement officials of the two
friendly countries.
Expressing his gratitude for the warm reception, Giorgi Gakharia
expressed a conviction that the close cooperation of the police
structures in fighting against crime would deepen, being conditioned
by the necessity of counteracting the challenges together.
Vladimir Gasparyan reiterated the determination of the leadership of
Armenian Police to further strengthen the well-established
partnership; the Police Chief highlighted the importance of the direct
and daily interaction between the relevant departments of the two law
enforcement structures is the best way for that.
During the meeting, the two sides also discussed other questions of
mutual interest. Vladimir Gasparyan awarded Minister of Internal
Affairs of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia with a medal "For strengthening
cooperation”.
English – translator/editor: Tigran Sirekanyan

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Website: www.agbu.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
RETREAT LAUNCHES INSPIRING CONVERSATION ON ARMENIAN SPIRITUALITY
AGBU WELCOMES NEW INITIATIVE INSPIRED BY THE AGBU FOCUS CONFERENCE 2017
Over 30 young professionals from across the United States gathered in New York 
from February 3 to 4 for a thought-provoking retreat on the Armenian faith and 
spirituality.  The topic, along with issues related to human rights and women’s 
empowerment, was raised by participants of the inaugural AGBU FOCUS conference 
last summer as an area of interest. 
“One of the takeaways from this past summer’s international conference was that 
we could leverage the AGBU network to continue thought-provoking conversations. 
This urban retreat aimed to create a safe environment for young professionals 
to learn more about Armenian spirituality through our history, culture music 
and traditions and facilitate our generation's spiritual journey.” said 
mezzo-soprano Solange Merdinian who convened the retreat together with Michelle 
Nahabedian and journalist Lara Setrakian.
 
The retreat explored the Armenian faith from various perspectives, ranging from 
monastic educational traditions and heritage to personal journeys and Christian 
meditation. Moderated by Setrakian, the retreat featured Father Daniel 
Findikyan, director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Center; Eric Vozzy, a deacon 
at St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral; Dr. Roberta Ervine, professor of Armenian 
Studies at St. Nerses Armenian Seminary, and Father Mersrop Parsamyan, the 
director of ministries at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of 
America. 
Father Findikyan identified one of the challenges for the continuation of 
Armenian religious education in the diaspora, exploring the decline of Armenian 
monasteries in the Ottoman Empire and how it affected the modern-day Armenian 
theological instruction.  “The Armenian monasteries were the theological 
engines of the Armenian church. They were the intellectual engines of the 
Armenian people,” said Findikyan stressing that monasteries provided a network 
of religious scholars who kept a dialogue with the communities and maintained 
the continuity of traditions. Intrigued by Findikyan’s speech, attendees posed 
important questions on youth involvement, church modernization and creationism. 
  
The retreat also served as an open forum for personal sharing and created an 
opportunity for attendees to explore otherwise new topics. Dr. Roberta Ervine 
notably spoke about six noble women from the historical Armenian Kingdom of 
Syunik who channeled their faith into action and supported the construction of 
several monasteries, some of which became jewels of Armenian architecture. 
Participants were treated to a short meditation session with Fr. Parsamyan, who 
presented the basic techniques of Christian meditation and offered his insight 
on the topic. 
“The forum provided participants an opportunity to share their spiritual 
journeys and make suggestions on ways of bringing the Armenian church closer to 
youth,” said Merdinian. “It is the beginning of continued opportunities for 
such discussion and contemplation.”
Established in 1906, AGBU (www.agbu.org) is the world's largest non-profit 
Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and 
promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and 
humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 500,000 Armenians 
around the world.
 
For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit 
www.agbu.org.
*************************************************
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
NY-Retreat01.jpg: Over 30 young professionals from across the United States 
gathered in New York from February 3 to 4 for a thought-provoking retreat on 
the Armenian faith and spirituality.  
NY-Retreat02.jpg: Dr. Roberta Ervine, professor of Armenian Studies at St. 
Nerses Armenian Seminary, speaks about six noble women who fostered church 
architecture.

NY-Retreat01.jpg

NY-Retreat02.jpg
NY-Retreat02.jpg

Retreat Launches Inspiring Conversation on Armenian Spirituality.doc
Retreat Launches Inspiring Conversation on Armenian Spirituality.doc

Voice of America News
Kurds Say Turkey Plans to Reshape Demographics in Northern Syria
by Jamie Dettmer
 11:47 AM
Turkey's latest military incursion into northern Syria which it says
is aimed at reining in Kurdish separatists will speed up the return of
Syrian refugees to their homes, Turkish officials say. But Kurds are
fearful Ankara plans to use the returnees to displace them and
engineer a population shift.
Kurd officials say Ankara wants to re-shape the demographics of the
borderlands in a bid to establish a "corridor of stability" populated
by fewer Kurds and with Sunni Arab refugees currently in Turkey taking
their place.
That would weaken the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which
Ankara dubs an affiliate of Turkey's outlawed Kurdish separatists, the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Kurdish political activists and YPG propagandists have been mounting a
Twitter and social media campaign highlighting the danger, claiming
"ethnic cleansing" is one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's key war
aims in the offensive, which is now in its second week, and named
Operation Olive Branch.
Fear of ethnic cleansing
Former U.S. officials have also expressed alarm. Michael Rubin, a
former Pentagon adviser and currently an analyst at the American
Enterprise Institute, says, "What Turkey seeks to do in Afrin is not
eradicate terrorism, but rather to engage in ethnic cleansing."
Former U.S. envoy Alberto Fernandez picked up on remarks made last
week by Erdogan in which he talked of settling Syrian refugees in the
Kurdish enclave of Afrin, which is bearing the brunt of Turkey's
operation.
In a tweet, Fernandez warned, "If true, this would mean the ethnic
cleansing of #Afrin right before our eyes is looming."
Turkish officials dismiss the claim they intend to reorder ethnic
populations in northern Syria. But they say they expect once the
Turkish military offensive has secured territory that tens of
thousands of Syrian refugees will flood back to their homes, much as
thousands did in the wake of the 2016 Turkish incursion northeast of
Aleppo.
Turkey is hosting more than three million Syrian war refugees.
Thousands are fleeing Afrin or trying to. U.N. officials say flight is
being restricted not only by the hostilities, including continuous
shelling, but also by local Kurdish authorities, who closed exit
points between the enclave and Syria government-held areas in Aleppo
province. Syrian soldiers have also been reported to have sent some
refugees back.
Erdogan has prompted the rising alarm about a planned mass population
displacement. On January 24 he told a meeting in the presidential
complex in Turkey's capital Ankara that one goal of Operation Olive
Branch is to return Afrin to its "rightful owners."
"First, we will wipe out the terrorists and then make the place
livable. For whom? For 3.5 million Syrians who are our guests. We
cannot forever house them in tents," he said. He dismissed the idea
that Afrin is a Kurdish enclave. "In Afrin, 55 percent are Arabs, 35
percent are Kurds and the rest are Turkmens." That may be the case now
as the population has been swollen by thousands of refugees, the
majority Arabs.
But traditionally Afrin has been seen as Kurdish territory, with a
peppering of other minorities, including Turkmens, Alawite Kurds,
Yazidi Kurds and with some Armenians and Circassians, say analysts.
Yazidi activists last week urged the United Nations to protect their
21 villages in the Afrin pocket, saying they are at serious risk
because of Turkey's military operation. A Yazidi advocacy group,
Yazda, warned they will hold Turkey and Syrian rebel militias fighting
alongside the Turks, responsible "if any persecution of cleansing
takes place against our people."
Population displacements
All sides in the vicious Syrian war, with its seemingly endless cycles
of sectarian and ethnic revenge, have engaged in war crimes and
population displacements. That includes the Kurds, who rights groups
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accuse the of forceful
displacement and razing Arab villages, prompting fierce Kurdish
denials.
But VOA interviewed dozens of Arab residents from a string of
traditionally Sunni Arab villages east of Afrin, including Tell
Rifaat, who say the YPG blocked them from returning home after the
Kurds seized the territory as a Russian-backed Syrian government
offensive against the rebels was underway in 2016.
Population displacements have long been employed by the region's
rulers to shape demographics to suit their purposes. Syrian autocrat
Hafez al-Assad shifted populations around for collective punishment as
well as for strategic reasons, including moving Arabs into Kurdish
territory in northeast Syria. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did the
same during his 24-year rule. Historically the Ottomans, along with
Russia's Stalin, have been responsible for some of the biggest
forcible ethnic displacements.