Author: Tambiyan Samvel

International recognition of Armenian Genocide is a key agenda issue – FM

Tambiyan Samvel

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 14:52, 4 May, 2020

YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide remains one of the most important agenda issues of Armenia, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during the parliamentary hearings on the government’s program.

“Last year several initiatives were held on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the commemoration of victims. France declared April 24 as the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The parliaments of Italy and Portugal adopted initiatives on condemnation and recognition. On October 30 the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution affirming the US position on the Armenian Genocide, and on December 12 the US Senate unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide. On February 13, 2020, the parliament of Syria adopted a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide”, the FM said.

According to him, the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide has long received a universal significance as its recognition is one of the most effective tools to prevent the crime of genocide. “In this respect the recent subtexts on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide are worth noting which are conditioned not only by the friendly relations between the nations, who recognized it, and the Armenian people, but also by the aspiration to prevent the new tragedies in the world and the region. In fact, there is a perception in our region that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a restraining force to the threat to security”, the Armenian FM said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Film: The film about William Saroyan is now available online

Tambiyan Samvel
Panorama, Armenia
April 30 2020
Society 17:32 30/04/2020 World

The film directed by Lusin Dink,  the daughter of renowned Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist Hrant Dink’s brother “SaroyanLand” (2013) is now available online, Ermenihaber reports.

“SaroyanLand” is a documentary drama focusing on the journey of renowned American- Armenian writer William Saroyan to the birthplace of his Armenian family in Bitlis, Turkey in 1964.

Saroyan portrayed himself as an American and a Bitlis-tsi, an Armenian from the city of Bitlis in Turkey. In 1964 he made a long voyage in Anatolia, leading him to his home town Bitlis. The docu-drama road movie “SaroyanLand” tells the story of this voyage, making use of his own memoirs and short stories, as well as the accounts of his travelling companions. In Saroyan’s own words, told by a voice over, we see his anger, passion, longing for his homeland, ability of empathy and love of humankind. The script of the film, based on interviews, reenactment of Saroyan’s stories, and the authors memoirs is a collage of his voyage in Turkey, told in his own words. While replicating Saroyan’s voyage 49 years later, we witness the self-discovery of a man, who by following the traces of his ancestors, also finds himself.


Armenian deputy education minister on distance learning

Tambiyan Samvel
News.am, Armenia
May 1 2020

17:45, 01.05.2020
                  

Sports: AS Roma could swap Cengiz Under for Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Tambiyan Samvel
Panorama, Armenia
May 2 2020

Italian outlet Leggo claim there is ‘cautious optimism’ from AS Roma about bringing Mkhitaryan in this summer, and they could consider a swap deal for Cengiz Under to make it happen, The Daily Sun reports.
As per claims from Gianluca Di Marzio this week, AS Roma are keen to sign Mkhitaryan on a permanent deal. However, they aren’t in contact with the Gunners just yet. They’re planning to first hold talks with the player and his agent to establish his intentions.

The coronavirus pandemic throws a spanner in the works, though. Arsenal wanted around €20m, a figure that seems much less reasonable for a player in his thirties now.

Leggo claim there are a couple of possible solutions. One is another loan, presumably either with an obligation to buy or a year-long contract extension at Arsenal. Mkhitaryan’s deal expires next summer, so that’s the only way a loan could work.

The other is a swap deal for Cengiz Under. Arsenal would need to throw in around €10m to sweeten the deal.

East Bay FBI Agent Took Bribes From Armenian Mob, Feds Say

Tambiyan Samvel
Patch (Danville), California

By Bay City News, News Partner

Apr 26, 2020 11:21 am PT

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — A retired FBI agent arrested Friday near his home in Lafayette accepted more than more than $200,000 in cash bribes and gifts in exchange for funneling sensitive information to Armenian organized crime, federal prosecutors said.

Babak Broumand, who retired from the FBI last year after 20 years as a special agent, was arrested by special agents with the FBI and Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

Broumand was charged in a criminal complaint Tuesday in United States District Court in Los Angeles, with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.

Federal officials said a contact with the Armenian mob allegedly made regular bribe payments to Broumand and gave him expensive gifts, while he was assigned to the San Francisco FBI Field Office working on national security matters and the development of confidential sources.

The alleged scheme started in early 2015 and continued through most of 2017, according to a release from the Department of Justice. Broumand allegedly accepted bribe payments averaging approximately $10,000 per month, paid by a man who became a licensed lawyer in 2016. The criminal complaint refers to the lawyer as CW1, or cooperating witness 1.

Cash deposits were made to several banks accounts, as well as various gifts, including hotels, transportation and escort services, that totaled over $200,000, federal officials said.

“Broumand and CW1 conspired and agreed that Broumand would perform official acts and omit to do acts, query law enforcement databases, provide CW1 with non-public law enforcement sensitive information and protection, and assist CW1 in CW1’s efforts to evade detection by law enforcement,” according to the affidavit in support of the complaint.

One bribe payment was a $30,000 cashier’s check made payable to a company called Love Bugs, a hair lice treatment business that Broumand owned with his wife, the complaint alleges. Federal officials said Broumand used the money, which he later attempted to falsely characterize alternatively as a boat sale or a loan, as part of a down payment on a $1.3 million vacation home near Lake Tahoe.

“Our nation is based on the premise that public officials – especially federal law enforcement officials – place the country and her people above their own self-interest. This former FBI agent stands accused of violating this sacred trust by providing help to criminals simply to fund his lavish lifestyle,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna.

CW1 met Broumand at a private cigar lounge in Beverly Hills in fall 2014 and later that year CW1 invited the FBI agent to a party he was hosting at a rented house in Las Vegas.

The affidavit states that CW1 noticed Broumand’s “expensive tastes…and his affinity for luxury goods and services,” including the Rolex watch and Gucci belt that he was wearing, and saw it as an opportunity to recruit the FBI agent.

In 2015, CW1 told Broumand that he was engaged in criminal activity and asked the agent if he was interested in doing “something on the side.” Broumand accepted and CW1 then began paying Broumand approximately $10,000 per month “for information and protection,” the complaint states.

CW1 initially asked Broumand to search for his name in an FBI database and to “defuse” any law enforcement interest in him, the complaint alleges. In return, Broumand allegedly informed CW1 that he had been the subject of an FBI investigation into credit card fraud in 2008 or 2009 — something that would only be known if Broumand had searched for CW1 in a law enforcement database.

CW1 also allegedly asked Broumand to query the FBI database for Levon Termendzhyan, an Armenian organized crime figure for whom CW1 had worked. The database search revealed an FBI investigation in Los Angeles, according to the affidavit, which notes that Broumand accessed the FBI case file on Termendzhyan repeatedly in January 2015. Broumand also allegedly accessed the Termendzhyan FBI case file in May 2016.

Termendzhyan, who is also known as Lev Aslan Dermen, was convicted last month in federal court in Salt Lake City on charges related to a $1 billion renewable fuel tax credit fraud scheme.

After providing information on another client to ensure that person was not involved in terrorist activities, CW1 purchased a Ducati motorcycle and accessories valued at $36,000 for Broumand as a “bonus,” according to the affidavit.

In exchange, Broumand allegedly queried between 10 and 20 names provided by CW1 because CW1 was going to engage in legal or illegal business with them. Broumand warned CW1 to “stay away from” a person who also was a member of the cigar lounge, and this information was validated when that person was arrested in a health care fraud case, according to the affidavit.

The complaint also alleges that Broumand obstructed an FBI investigation into Felix Cisneros Jr., a corrupt special agent with Homeland Security Investigations who also had ties to Termendzhyan.

Broumand allegedly also engaged in structured cash deposits to conceal the cash bribes, failed to report income from both the bribe payments and the lice salon business on his federal tax returns, made false statements to the FBI, and made false statements on loan applications.

Broumand is set to make an appearance by phone from jail on Monday in federal court in San Francisco. The conspiracy charge alleged in the indictment carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

An ongoing investigation into Broumand is underway, by the FBI, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation.


Mischa Wegner (son of Armin T. Wegner) writes in memory of the Armenian Genocide. (in Italian)

Tambiyan Samvel
Gariwo, Italia
24 aprile 2020

Armin T. Wegner

Pensando a mio padre, cercando di vedere, attraverso i suoi occhi e nella sua memoria

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Così oggi scriverebbe mio padre: …è passato più di un secolo dal genocidio degli armeni. Popoli anche più grandi hanno sofferto grandissimi dolori. Pieno di vergogna il testimone è là…nei deserti dell’Anatolia e della Siria… ha visto qualche cosa che nessuno avrebbe potuto vedere senza rischiare la vita. Ma anche attorno a lui si è creato il silenzio, in qualsiasi direzione si rivolga bussa a porte chiuse: …“abbiamo il nostro dolore, perchè dobbiamo angustiarci del dolore degli altri da lungo tempo dimenticato?

Forse oggi non è più così. Un giorno, un mese, un anno, i giorni della memoria ritornano, ma per la prima volta ci sentiamo anche noi fuori dal tempo, sospesi, chiusi nelle nostre case senza comprendere il perché di quanto avviene, e forse siamo più disposti a pensare e a condividere il dolore degli altri.
Ci sembra di subire una violenza senza speranza per il futuro, come avvenne per gli Armeni in quel 24 Aprile 1915.

Il male del presente, ma soprattutto l’incertezza del futuro creano un legame forte con quel passato anche se avvertiamo l‘impossibilità di una comparazione. Si tratta di stati d’animo.
Per la prima volta viviamo la paura, sappiamo chi è il nemico ma difendersi è difficile, talvolta impossibile e possiamo soltanto cercare di non incontrarlo. Non comprendiamo, non sappiamo perchè la minaccia ci sovrasta, non viene concesso di chiedere il senso di tale accanimento e siamo trascinati in un percorso di cui non conosciamo l’esito.
Per la prima volta in questi giorni le giovani generazioni vivono direttamente nel loro animo la paura di quando, per eventi non previsti, ci si trova a metà tra il passato e il futuro e si scopre che nulla ritornerà come prima.

Nei genocidi chi deteneva il potere decreteva chi aveva il diritto di vivere e chi andava sterminato, con la sua storia e il suo passato. Uomini, donne, bambini,anziani strappati alla vita, persi per sempre, finiti nel dolore.

Oggi all’improvviso un membro della famiglia viene portato via sorretto da sconosciuti, non si sa verso quale destino. L’unica speranza, oggi come allora, è riposta nei Giusti nascosti che combattono per la vita, per fermare il male.

Mai come in questi giorni di confinamento possiamo aprirci al dramma del popolo armeno dimenticato e negato, sentire vicino il racconto del destino tragico di tanti esseri umani. Il nostro dolore e le nostre difficoltà possono far sorgere pensieri di condivisione e di solidarietà, prima di tutto rivolti a chi ci sta vicino, ma poi allargati al presente e al passato del mondo, ad una più vasta umanità.

Avvertiamo che questa volta non è solo commemorazione, celebrazione, ma la consapevolezza che gli armeni, gli ebrei e tanti altri popoli sono stati in un mondo di sofferenza e di male, che il male si ripete nei modi più inverosimili e inattesi e che ancora una volta mancano le risposte.

Armin T.Wegner, mio padre, un Giusto per gli armeni e per gli ebrei, un testimone di verità che ha parlato per “una più vasta invisibile comunità“, con la consapevolezza di non avere potuto completare l’opera avviata: la consegna a noi per un altro tratto di strada.

Analisi di Mischa Wegner, figlio del Giusto Armin T. Wegner

24 aprile 2020

Armenia starts gradually easing lockdown

Tambiyan Samvel

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 10:01,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian authorities have lifted the ban on interprovincial travel and also allowed the operations of certain types of businesses.

Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan, who leads the Pashinyan Administration’s Coronavirus Response Task Force, said that the checkpoints at provincial entry points will be removed and they will focus their efforts in the direction of implementing heightened control towards the remaining restrictions.

Avinyan said they will consider potential lockdowns in individual communities in the event of risks. “The remaining restrictions concerning the movement of people and public transportation will remain in force,” he said.

The types of businesses that are allowed to resume operations are some operations in the process manufacturing branch, wholesale trade, certain types of retail, automobile renovation, real estate operations, book publishing and others.  Safety rules are defined for the business operations.

Businesses not covered by the decision are entitled to apply for the possibility of being granted exception from the ban at .

 

Editing and translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Entire Armenian nation is waiting for re-establishment of justice and truth – President Sarkissian

Tambiyan Samvel

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 18:04,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS.  President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian issued a message on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the message runs as follows,

”Dear Compatriots in Armenia, Artsakh and Spyurk,

This year, the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is commemorated in accordance with a protocol forced on us by the pandemic. However, our tribute to the memory of our holy martyrs has never been measured by the visits to the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan or other memorials dedicated to the Armenian Genocide.

We remember our victims all the time and everywhere, no matter where in the world we are. We pray for them in our souls and minds, name by name. Remembrance and the pain of loss, intertwined with our resolve to win and achieve justice by being alive, has been with us for the last 105 years.

The Armenian Genocide took place more than one hundred years ago; the Armenian people were deprived of their possessions and of their fatherland. But the entire Armenian nation is waiting for the re-establishment of justice and truth.

Many historians and analysts, state and political figures of the day, considered one of the greatest injustices of the world created after the WW I the total neglect for the rights of the Armenian people.

The loss of 1.5 million lives had a substantial impact on the reproductive abilities of our nation: today our numbers should have been not 10-12 million but at least its double.

The issue of recognition of the Genocide, which the Armenians raise before the international community and Turkey, has a number of components: duty of remembrance, prevention of the repetition and condemnation of such crimes, elimination of the consequences of the Genocide.

It is unacceptable to view the recognition of the Armenian Genocide from the standpoint of momentarily economic or political interests related to Ankara.

Such an approach will stop the world in its advancement.

We cannot on one hand declare that we are going to fight together against xenophobia, discrimination, intolerance, anti-Semitism, denial and other all-human vices, and on the other hand “play diplomacy” with Turkey on the Armenian Genocide.

Many of the states, which have huge interests in Turkey, have overcome that barrier, and we are grateful to them.

We are also grateful to the countries which after the Genocide opened their doors and gave refuge to those who had survived that catastrophe.

We are grateful to the missionaries, military doctors and nurses, diplomats and to the nations and individuals who in those desperate days often put their own life and safety in harm’s way and lent a helping hand and saved many Armenians.

The stance of the successive Turkish governments, which have been carrying out the denial policy on the state level to escape the recognition of the Genocide is unacceptable.

Statute of limitation does not apply to the crime of genocide. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey and elimination of its consequences is a matter of security for Armenia, the Armenian nation, and the region.

We will not forget the Armenian Genocide; we will not submit to its consequences.

Dear Compatriots,

Today, along with painful memories, we ought to speak also about tenacity and heroism of our people.

The Genocide was also a story of daily survival and struggle of the Armenian nation, a story of strong spirit and unbending will. It was a struggle for life. Struggle for the preservation of the national identity, a struggle for the right to preserve national memory and pass it to the next generations.

The Genocide was also a story of a daily heroism when life and survival became a struggle. We strived, struggled, and triumphed.

We were able to triumph over death; we survived and reemerged. Today’s independent Armenia, the free Artsakh, as well as the well-organized and successful Diaspora testify to that and give us new opportunities.

Opportunities to unite as a nation and people, to combine our efforts and abilities to achieve our national aspirations.

I am sure of that.

I remember and demand.

God bless the Armenian people”.

Armenia coronavirus cases reach 1473

Tambiyan Samvel

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 11:12,

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. 72 coronavirus cases were diagnosed in the past 24 hours in Armenia, bringing the total number of infections to 1473, NCDC reported.

24 people recovered in the past day, raising the number of recoveries to 633.

As of 11:00 the number of active cases is 816.

The total number of fatalities is 24.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Artsakh cancels April 24 commemorative procession due to coronavirus fears

Tambiyan Samvel

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 15:27,

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. The annual April 24 mass procession in Artsakh commemorating the Armenian Genocide victims has been cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, Artsakh has only 7 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and the authorities have declared a state of emergency and restrictions to prevent a potential outbreak.

Mass gatherings are banned in the country.

The authorities called on citizens to refrain from visiting in large groups the Armenian Genocide memorial in Artsakh on April 24.

Armenia also cancelled the traditional commemoration events for April 24, and instead online remote events are set to take place.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan