Author: Talar Tumanian

Artur Vanetsyan: ‘We are facing a real threat of losing statehood and even annihilation’

Talar Tumanian
Panorama, Armenia

The basis of a strong state is a traditional family, Homeland Party leader Artur Vanetsyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the “Salute of Honor and Respect” bloc, said at the ceremony of signing a memorandum on the formation of the electoral alliance with the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on Saturday, congratulating the Armenian people on the International Day of Families celebrated on 15 May.

Vanetsyan said today is a very important and responsible day for them, noting as a result of long discussions, his Homeland Party and the RPA have decided to team up, form an alliance and jointly run in the upcoming snap parliamentary elections in Armenia, based on a common vision aimed at developing and strengthening the homeland.

“Over the past few days, we talked a lot about the formation of an alliance between the Homeland Party and RPA, what unites us and the possible ways to get our country out of this nightmare. We will talk a lot about this in the future, we will try to do everything possible so that every citizen of Armenia knows what programs we are going to implement after coming to power,” Vanetsyan said.

He noted at the same time that the alliance attaches importance to listing all the problems that concern the Armenian people. According to him, this process will make it possible to include all problems and ways to resolve them in these programs.

“We are sure that the pre-election period is not only for making promises and showing the advantage of a political force against its challengers. I consider it unacceptable to use the election campaign for such purposes, especially in the post-war period,” Vanetsyan said.

“There is an important thing that we all must realize: a significant part of our compatriots is mourning today, and we are all to blame for it – the people, the intelligentsia, the political elite. Due to the mistakes and omissions of all of us, a force came to power in Armenia, which ruined everything. We must clearly realize that we are facing a real threat of losing statehood and even annihilation,” he noted, citing the recent unhindered incursion of the Azerbaijani troops into Syunik and Gegharkunik Provinces of Armenia.

Vanetsyan believes this threat against the Armenian statehood can be overcome only through bringing together all the opportunities of Armenia, using the whole potential of the Armenian people and taking consistent efforts.

“Believe me, until now no one has fully understood and shared the grief of our people. Problems are perceived differently by different strata of our society, we have started not to understand each other and not to take into account each other’s opinions. As a result of manipulations, society has been divided into “black” and “white”, “old” and “new” groups. All this leads to a dead end. This cannot continue any longer. We will bring solidarity to Armenia, the formation of our bloc is a vivid proof of it,” he said, promising to take every effort to resolve everyone’s problems.   

OSCE MG Co-chairs again urge to return all war prisoners

Talar Tumanian

Save

Share

 23:14, 5 May, 2021

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) issued a joint statement, once again urging to fully and expeditiously complete the exchange process for all prisoners, detainees, and remains, ARMENPRESS reports, citing the official website of the OSCE.

”The Co-Chairs welcome Azerbaijan’s release of Armenian detainees Robert Vardanyan, Samvel Shukhyan, and Seryan Tamrazyan and call on both parties to fully and expeditiously complete the exchange process for all prisoners, detainees, and remains, and to respect their obligations to ensure the humane treatment of detainees. 

Recalling their 13 April statement, the Co-Chairs urge the sides to exchange all data necessary to conduct effective demining of conflict regions and to lift restrictions on access to Nagorno-Karabakh, including for representatives of international humanitarian organizations.  The Co-Chairs encourage the sides to take concrete steps to create an atmosphere of mutual trust conducive to long-lasting peace by addressing the remaining areas of concern outlined in the 13 April statement of the Co-Chairs.  This includes resuming high-level political dialogue under the auspices of the Co-Chairs at the earliest opportunity’’, reads the statement.

Avarayr: A Short History of Armenia’s Great Battle

Talar Tumanian
April 16 2021

By Van Der Megerdichian on April 16, 2021

In 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion. Despite Christianity playing a pivotal role in the emergence and maintenance of the Armenian people’s national identity going forward, it created many challenges for the fledgling nation. In 387, Byzantium and Persia partitioned Armenia, which historically found itself caught between conflicting interests of both the East and West, and most of Armenia proper fell under Sasanian dominion. At the time, political loyalty was inseparable from religious conformity, so the Christians in Iran were perceived as a subversive element threatening the safety of the Sasanian state. Since Armenians’ religious traditions were similar to Christian Rome, Persian authorities attempted to disrupt the close relationship between the Armenian and Greek churches. The situation intensified following the collapse of the Armenian Arsacid dynasty in 428 and the rise of the Sasanian monarch Yazdegerd II. A fervent Zoroastrian, he ordered his subjects to abandon their Christian confession and convert to Zoroastrianism. The Armenians bravely refused, and for the next half-century they mobilized in self-defense to restore their right to practice Christianity.

Before the battle, in 447, the Armenian nakharars—or nobles—and ecclesia gathered in the Armenian city of Artashat to proclaim to the Persian king that, although they were faithful to Persia, they were also faithful to their church. The pro-Persian faction led by Vasak Siwni, the frontier deputy or marzpan, preferred to remain loyal to their Persian overlords and facilitated dialogue to reach a compromise. Vartan Mamikonian led other Armenians who remained committed to their church and religion, and under his leadership, this group carried out minor acts of resistance.

Although the Georgians aided them, the Armenians sought a stronger ally to guarantee victory. With no Byzantine reinforcements coming, Vasak Siwni and his retinue saw another reason to remain faithful to their Persian suzerain. But the rebellion gained momentum and soon culminated in the Battle of Avarayr in 451, where the army of Vartan Mamikonian suffered an overwhelming defeat at the hands of the Persians. Yet this result was a Pyrrhic victory for the Sasanians and a moral triumph for the Armenians.

Numerous accounts exist describing the undying faith of the Christian Armenian warriors as they prepared for battle, including the recitation of the Psalms as St. Ghevont Yeretz, a notable church figure, held communion. On the battlefield, Vartan Mamikonian addressed his soldiers:

He who supposes that we put on Christianity like a garment, now realizes that as he cannot change the color of his skin, so he will perhaps never be able to accomplish his designs. For the foundations of our faith are set on the unshakeable rock, not on Earth, but above in Heaven, yet by faith we are established in Heaven where no one can reach the building of Christ not made by human hands.

During the battle, Vartan fell along with many other warriors who all became martyrs, but Armenia rose. In the years that followed, his nephew, Vahan Mamikonian, impelled the Armenians to remain staunch adherents to Christianity. As a result, Yazdegerd II and the Persians administered a much more lenient policy toward Christians and the Armenian Church, leading to the implementation of the Nvarsak Treaty in 484 that gave Armenians religious freedom. This history canonized Vartan, not only as a saint but also as a symbol of Armenian purity and resolve, helping to establish an Armenian identity that persists to this day. Even now, Armenians commemorate the Feast of Vartanantz on the Thursday preceding Great Lent. It is a symbol of the conscience, the faith, and the general rebellion of Armenians against tyranny to preserve their national and religious identity.

The Battle of Avarayr serves as the crux of what it means to be Armenian. Renowned Armenian writer Yeghishe recounts this event in his work the History of Vartan and the War, which is one of the quintessential works of the Armenian literary canon. This text outlines a root paradigm that has become the prism through which Armenians cast their struggles to survive and preserve their identity. This episode preserved and cemented Armenia’s place as a Christian nation, venerated and beyond reproach. The event also imparts a polysemic lesson describing an embattled community attempting to defend its autonomy, culture, fatherland, language, religion, history, and existence. Vartanank—the event named after the sparapet Vartan’s actions and the lore associated with his heroics, as a struggle and a cause—has been engrained in the Armenian psyche in the name of preserving and protecting the ancestral traditions and liberties of Christian Armenia. This is precisely why the battle is considered a moral victory despite a military defeat. According to Peter Cowe, the Narekatsi Chair of Armenian Studies at UCLA, the Battle of Avarayr has become the root paradigm for interpreting the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the widespread representation of its victims as martyrs.

For the Armenian nation, St. Vartan Mamikonian is among the most sacred and beloved figures, embodying and typifying the national spirit. Vartanank has become an event that applies to each Armenian generation that endures and struggles for its sacred cause of preserving their identity. Root paradigms are part and parcel of every people’s history and existence, and the Battle of Avarayr serves as the script for a distinct Armenian identity rooted in collective ideals that determine a unique Armenian culture. Highlighting the ideals of vasn Hayrenyats, vasn gronki (for fatherland, for religion—as in, for Armenia, for Christianity), this thread can be applied to later historical events, including the national liberation movements of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Armenian Genocide, the battles that led to the First Republic of Armenia in 1918, and the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Wars. Concurrently, while a historically significant event for the Armenian people, the Battle of Avarayr represents a symbolic epitome of the spirit of Christian resolve when facing adversity, no matter how dire. Irrespective of the odds, the Christian faith has persevered, as it did and will continue to do for the Armenian people. In its own fundamental way, Vartanank laid the foundation for other subsequent battles in defense of Christianity on a global scale.


New war unlikely, says Artsakh FM

Talar Tumanian

Save

Share

 16:57, 4 May, 2021

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh’s foreign minister David Babayan says there is “little likelihood” of a new war given the role of Russia and their peacekeepers as guarantors of security.

“In this situation any attack will be an attack against Russia,” Babayan said during a meeting with the academic staff and students of the Artsakh State University.

In his speech he highlighted the need for preserving the “entity-ness” of Artsakh and attached importance to the factors of Armenia and the Diaspora in this context.

“We must keep our national resistibility high, keep our value system strong. Any difficulty creates also opportunities. We must be able to use these opportunities wisely and correctly,” he said.

He said that the international recognition of Artsakh will remain the foreign ministry’s priority.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Turkey summons US ambassador over Biden’s genocide recognition

Talar Tumanian
France 24

Turkey summons US ambassador over Biden’s genocide recognition


Text by:
NEWS WIRES



Turkey on Saturday accused the United States of trying to rewrite history, resoundingly rejecting US President Joe Biden’s decision to formally recognise the Armenian genocide.

From the streets of Istanbul to the halls of power, Turks were united in anger at Biden’s decision to side with Armenia, France, Germany, Russia and numerous other countries in their interpretation of the horrific World War I events.

“Words cannot change or rewrite history,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden announced his decision.

“We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.”

The Turkish foreign ministry later summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to express its displeasure, noting that Biden’s decision caused “a wound in relations that is difficult to repair,” the Anadolu state news agency reported.

Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary of the 1915 to 1917 massacre, which happened as the Ottoman Empire unravelled.

Trying to soften the inevitable blow to the pride of the strategic NATO ally, Biden on Friday placed the first phone call since his election to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The two leaders agreed to meet on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June, and Erdogan — who has spent his 18 years in power trying to fight the US decision — carefully calibrated the weight of his response.

In a message to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, Erdogan accused “third parties” of trying to politicise the century-old debate.

“Nobody benefits from the debates — which should be held by historians — being politicised by third parties and becoming an instrument of interference in our country,” Erdogan wrote.

On a more conciliatory note, Erdogan said Turkey was “ready to develop our relations with Armenia based on good neighbourhood and mutual respect”.

‘Very bad step’

But the message from Cavusoglu’s foreign ministry was strident.

“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups,” the foreign ministry said in a separate statement.

“It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence,” it said.

The Armenians, supported by many historians and scholars, say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed under the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting tsarist Russia in areas that include present-day Armenia.

Turkey accepts that both Armenians and Turks died in huge numbers during World War I, but vehemently denies there was a deliberate policy of genocide — a term that had not been legally defined at the time.

Ordinary Turks said Biden’s recognition of the genocide underscored the troubled nature of Turkey’s current relationship with Washington, which had once benefited from Erdogan’s personal friendship with Donald Trump.Turkey puts the Armenian death toll at around 300,000.

“It’s a very bad step. Our relationship is already really bad with the US, and this will only worsen it,” said Istanbul resident Dilek Mercin.

“During a war, things happen to both parties, so it is meaningless to call it like that,” added Selda, a pensioner.

(AFP)

After Biden acknowledges Armenian genocide, Israel stops short of doing the same

Talar Tumanian
Times of Israel
By TOI staff and Agencies
| The Times of Israel

Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it recognized the “terrible suffering and tragedy of the Armenian people,” but stopped short of recognizing the early 20th century massacres carried out by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

“In these days in particular, we and the nations of the world have the responsibility to ensure that events like this do not again occur,” it said in a statement.

The statement came after US President Joe Biden recognized the Armenian genocide, the first American president to do so.

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid praised the move, saying that it was “an important moral statement by Biden.”

“I will continue to fight for Israeli recognition of the Armenian Genocide, it is our moral responsibility as the Jewish state,” Lapid added.

Biden’s move was a watershed moment for descendants of the hundreds of thousands of dead as he defied decades of pressure by Turkey.

Biden had informed Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the decision a day earlier.

“We remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said. “We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.”

The statement is a massive victory for Armenia and its extensive diaspora. Starting with Uruguay in 1965, nations including France, Germany, Canada and Russia have recognized the genocide, but a US statement has been a paramount goal that proved elusive under previous presidents.

Members of the Armenian- American community join religious leaders at a religious ceremony remembering the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Montebello Armenian Genocide Monument in Montebello, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Erdogan, in a statement to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, said debates “should be held by historians” and not “politicized by third parties.”

“Words cannot change or rewrite history,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden’s statement. “We will not take lessons from anyone on our history.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Saturday night summoned US Ambassador David Satterfield to protest Biden’s use of the term.

Meanwhile, Armenian Americans celebrated the news, saying the recognition was long overdue.

His action came after decades of activism, most of which was centered in California, home of the largest Armenian community in the nation.

“He’s the first American president to have the guts to talk about it. I never understood why the US waited this long when they knew the truth about what happened. It’s amazing and I’m very happy he did what he did,” said Varoujan Kioudjian, 74.

He was among hundreds of people who streamed to a hilltop monument in Montebello, about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Armenian-Americans hold a rally to commemorate the Armenian genocide in Beverly Hills, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Dressed in black for the solemn ceremony, they laid flowers around a tomb and said prayers for the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the events beginning in 1915 known as Metz Yeghern.

Kioudjian said for as long as he can remember his late father, whose parents were killed in the genocide and who grew up in an orphanage, took him to memorials and demonstrations every April 24. That was the day in 1915 when Ottoman authorities began arresting Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul.

“The day April 24 comes around, tears flowed from his eyes, from his heart. It was that sad,” he said.

The White House had avoided using using the term genocide for decades for fear of alienating Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. Biden followed through on a campaign promise to make human rights a central guidepost of his foreign policy. He argued last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities.

Biden’s call with Erdogan was his first since taking office more than three months ago. The delay had become a worrying sign in Ankara; Erdogan had a good rapport with former president Donald Trump and had been hoping for a reset despite past friction with Biden.

Armenian-American march to a rally to commemorate the Armenian genocide in Beverly Hills, California, Saturday, (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Erdogan reiterated his long-running claims that the US is supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria who are affiliated with the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK. The PKK has led an insurgency against Turkey for more than three decades. In recent years, Turkey has launched military operations against PKK enclaves in Turkey and in northern Iraq and against US-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters. The State Department has designated the PKK a terrorist organization but has argued with Turkey over the group’s ties to the Syrian Kurds.

According to the Turkish government statement after the call, Erdogan also raised concerns about the presence in the United States of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup attempt. Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, denies involvement in the coup.

Biden, during the campaign, drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with The New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkey’s opposition against “autocrat” Erdogan. In 2019, Biden accused Trump of betraying US allies, following Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. In 2014, when he was vice president, Biden apologized to Erdogan after suggesting in a speech that Turkey helped facilitate the rise of the Islamic State group by allowing foreign fighters to cross Turkey’s border with Syria.

Acting President of Supreme Judicial Council hosts Defense Minister

Talar Tumanian

Save

Share

 10:37, 21 April, 2021

YEREVAN, APRIL 21, ARMENPRESS. Acting President of the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia Gagik Jhangiryan hosted on April 20 Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan, the SJC told Armenpress.

The officials discussed the need for maintaining reasonable timeframes of the investigation of military cases in the courts, as well as a number of other issues.

They agreed to continue the discussions of issues of mutual interest.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Turkey warns Biden’s genocide recognition could derail reconciliation with Armenia

Talar Tumanian
Middle East Eye
Senior Turkish official says US recognition of Armenian genocide would sabotage reconciliation efforts with Yerevan after Nagorno-Karabakh war
The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church attends a ceremony commemorating the 105th anniversary of the beginning of the killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915, at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial in Yerevan (AFP)
By Ragip Soylu
 in Istanbul
Published date:  

Turkey has warned the United States that recognising the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide may have ramifications, saying that the move could impede possible reconciliation efforts with Armenia.

Several US newspapers reported earlier on Thursday that US President Joe Biden would reveal the symbolic designation on Saturday, the 106th anniversary of the beginning of the killings, becoming the first American president to do so. Biden has yet to hold any phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The US Congress voted to describe the mass killings as genocide in 2019, a move that came after Nato ally Turkey’s military incursion in Northern Syria, which angered US government officials and elected representatives in Washington.

‘If Americans call the 1915 events as genocide in such circumstances, this could sabotage the entire process in the Caucasus’

-Senior Turkish official

Turkish officials believe the US move would be counterproductive and diminish already ties already damaged by a set of disagreements, including Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.

One senior Turkish official said that after the end of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh last year, there was a real chance of a reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia in the coming months.

Before the war, Azerbaijan had been blocking any Turkish attempts to open the border with Armenia, saying that Yerevan must first withdraw from the occupied territories. However, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last year that their stance on this issue has changed.

“We would like to normalise ties with Armenia. If we see a positive momentum, we could open the borders,” the senior Turkish official told Middle East Eye. “If Americans call the 1915 events as genocide in such circumstances, this could sabotage the entire process in the Caucasus.”

The official said Erdogan’s chief foreign policy adviser Ibrahim Kalin transmitted the same message to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan last month.

“We reminded them that any event could be construed as genocide after a court establishes the facts as it has happened in Rwanda and Srebrenica,” the offıcial said. “So there is no legal basis for this possible US declaration. The terminology was also coined after the Second World War, decades after the 1915 events.”

US and Turkey set to meet at Nato summit in first talks under Biden

Read More »

Even though Erdogan has commemorated the date and sent messages of condolences to the Armenians in the past few years, the Turkish government claims that Turkish citizens were also killed by Armenians during the war. Erdogan for years called for the establishment of a joint historical committee with Armenia to establish the facts on the issue.

Over 30 countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, and the Netherlands recognise the Armenian killings as genocide, along with the Catholic Church and European Council.

Historians say an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Ottoman-controlled territory through systematic deportations, starvation and murder.

While Turkey acknowledges that many Armenians died during the conflicts, the Turkish government denies that the killings were part of mass systemised murder.

Both Turkey and Armenia were close to setting up a history committee in 2009 when they signed a normalisation protocol.

However, the protocol was never enforced due to Azerbaijani pressure and the Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision in 2010, which legally necessitated Turkey’s recognition of the genocide as a primary rule for normalisation. The court also described the East of Turkey as “Western Armenia,” a designation that did not go down well in Ankara. 

US officials maintain that the recognition of Armenian genocide is a “moral duty” that trancends bilateral interests, yet there is also a sizeable Armenian community in the US, which has been lobbying US presidents for some time. 

On the other hand, the sensitivity of referring to the events of 1915 as a genocide has decreased over the years, as bilateral Turkish-American relations have gone through a downward spiral.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier this week that the United States should show respect to the international law, as UN decisions define what is or is not deemed a genocide. 

“We need to liberate ourselves from such fears. I don’t mean that I don’t care what America says. But as a state that knows its history, we have to be sure of ourselves. If the US wants to worsen the relations, that’s their own choice,” he said.

Armenia ruling party MP refers to citizens of Syunik Province as gang

Talar Tumanian
News.am, Armenia
17:32, 21.04.2021

What we witnessed in Agarak and Meghri today were citizens’ provocative actions. This is what deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Arpi Davoyan told Factor.am.

According to Davoyan, the 30 members of the gang led by the mayor of Meghri, for instance, are obscene and obnoxious. “Those people mainly work at the municipalities of Meghri or Agarak and are guided. They’re not letting other citizens approach the Prime Minister,” she added.

Asked what the Prime Minister meant when he said “that issue will also be solved”, the deputy stated that “nobody will remain unpunished in that Syunik”.