The California
Courier Online, May 18, 2023
1- Another
Turkish Attempt to Attack Biden
For
Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2- Patriarchate
of Jerusalem Defrocks Father Baret, Accusing him of Fraud
3- AAF
Delivered $1.1 Million of Medicines
to Armenia and
Artsakh in Last 4 Months
4- Commentary: For
Armenians, Past is Indeed Prologue
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1- Another
Turkish Attempt to Attack Biden
For
Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
By Harut
Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
When Turkey and its denialist supporters lose a battle to
block the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, they resort to ridiculous
attacks such as announcing their desire to impeach Pres. Biden after he is no
longer in office, a laughable notion which I disclosed in my earlier article.
In another equally hopeless Turkish attempt to counter the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Attorney Bruce Fein, Counsel for Turkish
Anti-Defamation Alliance, sent a lengthy letter to members of Congress on April
24, 2023, complaining about the statement Pres. Biden had issued earlier that
day.
Fein is president of the law firm Bruce Fein &
Associates in Washington, D.C. Over the years, he has worn many hats
to support Turkey’s
campaign against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He has been Resident
Scholar for the Turkish Coalition of America, Resident Scholar at the Assembly
of Turkish American Associations, columnist for the Turkish Times newspaper,
consultant to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, commentator on Turkish
television, and Counsel for Turkish Anti-Defamation Alliance.
Before I delve into the content of Fein’s letter, I would
like to ask two basic questions:
1) Why did Fein complain about Pres. Biden only after he
recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 24? Shouldn’t he have written his
letter before the President issued his statement? I don’t know if Fein got paid
for his letter as Counsel for Turkish Anti-Defamation Alliance. If he did, the
Turkish Alliance wasted its money.
2) Why did Fein write to Members of Congress and not to
Pres. Biden directly to complain about his April 24 statement? Fein’s letter is
more than three years too late. The House of Representatives recognized the
Armenian Genocide on October 29, 2019 by a vote of 405 to 11, and the Senate
recognized it on December 12, 2019 in a unanimous vote. Pres. Biden issued his
first statement recognizing the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021. Where has
Fein been since 2019 and 2021?
Turning to the content of Fein’s questionable letter, he
shamelessly wrote that “Mr. Biden’s statement was bought and paid for by the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).” Since Fein provided not a shred
of evidence in his defamatory letter, the ANCA has the right to sue Fein for
libel. The ANCA did not even endorse Biden for President. Nevertheless, Fein
went on: “But in politics, truth is helpless when assaulted by lavish campaign
contributions and votes…. The Armenian genocide lie persists because of the
rich backing of ANCA and their bought political toadies. It is contemptible
that Pres. Biden has stooped so low.”
Fein then goes on to make a number of false statements
regarding the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations, and several
scholars, such as the controversial Prof. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University
who had made conflicting statements on the Armenian Genocide. He was a
recipient of the Ataturk International Peace Prize. The ANCA called him “an
academic mercenary.”
Here is what Wikipedia reveals about Lewis:
“The first two editions of Lewis’s The Emergence of Modern
Turkey (1961 and 1968) describe the Armenian genocide as ‘the terrible
holocaust of 1915, when a million and a half Armenians perished.’ In later
editions, this text is altered to ‘the terrible slaughter of 1915, when,
according to estimates, more than a million Armenians perished, as well as an
unknown number of Turks.’ …The change in Lewis’s textual description of the
Armenian genocide and his signing of the petition against the Congressional
resolution was controversial among some Armenian historians as well as
journalists, who suggested that Lewis was engaging in historical negationism to
serve his own political and personal interests…. In a 1995 civil proceeding
brought by three Armenian genocide survivors, a French court censured Lewis’
remarks under Article 1382 of the Civil Code and fined him one franc, and
ordering the publication of the judgment at Lewis’ cost in Le Monde. The court
ruled that while Lewis has the right to his views, their _expression_ harmed a
third party and that ‘it is only by hiding elements which go against his thesis
that the defendant was able to state there was no ‘serious proof’ of the
Armenian Genocide.’”
There are many other claims by Fein in his letter such as:
“the Genocide Convention excludes politically motivated killings.” Thus, Fein
admits that Armenians were indeed massacred, but for political reasons!
By claiming that no court verdict has been issued regarding
the Armenian Genocide, Fein must have forgotten about the death sentences
issued by the Turkish Military Tribunal in Istanbul in 1919 against the masterminds of
the Armenian Genocide.
Fein also distorted the exile of Ottoman leaders to Malta by the
British in 1919 in order to try them for their crimes. Great Britain
released the 144 Turks in exchange for 22 British prisoners, stating that one
British prisoner is worth a shipload of Turks.
Finally, Fein’s ‘brilliant mind’ can be demonstrated by
referring to his ridiculous article published on Nov. 25, 2022, in “The Hill,”
suggesting that Congress “can end the war in Ukraine
… by enacting a statute withdrawing the United States from NATO”!
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2- Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Defrocks Father Baret, Accusing him of Fraud
JERUSALEM—The
Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced on May 6 that
earlier that day “Father Baret Yeretsian was defrocked by the unanimous vote of
the Synod of the Patriarchate by the order of Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, the
Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem.”
The Patriarchate stated that the 77-year-old Fr. Baret was
“defrocked for his disloyalty towards the rules and procedures of the Holy See
and especially the series of frauds and deceptions he had committed regarding
the contract of the ‘Goverou Bardez’ property.” He was declared to be a
layperson by his baptismal name, Khachik Yeretsian.
The Patriarchate did not provide further details regarding
the alleged “frauds and deceptions committed” by Father Baret. The reference to
the ‘Goverou Bardez’ (Garden of Cows) was to the contract that the Patriarch along
with Fr. Baret and one other clergyman had signed last year to lease a large
tract of land owned by the Patriarchate in Jerusalem to an Australian-Jewish businessman
for 99 years, on which a luxury hotel is to be built.
In a letter addressed to the Patriarch on May 6, Fr. Baret
stated that he was shocked by the news of “the scandalous decision to defrock
him.”
Fr. Baret reminded the Patriarch that he had voluntarily
signed the contract for the lease. He also wrote that the Patriarch was using
him as a scapegoat and demanded a clarification of the alleged frauds he had
committed.
Fr. Baret told The California Courier that he will probably
file a lawsuit against the Patriarchate for accusing of committing frauds.
The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem vowed to protect the
interests of the Armenian Church on Friday, May 12, a day after the governments
of Jordan and Palestine said they were distancing themselves from the
Jerusalem Patriarch Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, whom they blamed for ignoring
the historic heritage of the Armenian Church in the Holy City.
The Jerusalem Patriarchate voiced its “deep concern” regarding the decision by Jordan and Palestine
and to explain that the individual responsible for initiating a real estate
deal involving the grounds of the Armenian Church had been punished, and in
fact defrocked.
“The urgently convened Holy Synod meeting on May 12th, 2023
expresses its deep concern regarding the news circulated on May 11th through
social media and the publication of various Jordanian and Palestinian news
sources, in which both the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Palestinian
government have decided to freeze the Patriarchal recognition of the Armenian
Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian,” the
Patriarchate said in a statement posted on Facebook by Father Aghan Gogchian,
chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate on Friday.
“The most disconcerting aspect to this decision is its timing.
Notably, becoming public just after the Holy Synod leveled the strictest
punishment against the main person responsible for the ‘Cows Garden’
issue. That person is Khachig Yeretsian (formerly Archimandrite, Very Rev.
Father Baret), who previous held the position as the former Director of Real
Estate Department. Per the directive of the Holy Synod, this individual has
been defrocked of his priestly rites, banished, and is no longer living on the
premises of the Patriarchate,” the statement added. “The Armenian Patriarchate
of Jerusalem and the Holy Synod will do their best to protect the interests of
the Armenian Church and the community,” said the statement.
Jordan
and Palestine on May 11 issued a joint
statement, announcing their decision to suspend their recognition of Archbishop
Nourhan Manougian as the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem,
the holy land and Jordan.
This decision comes after numerous unsuccessful attempts to address the
patriarch’s handling of properties in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter, which hold
cultural, historical and humanitarian significance, the Jordan News Agency,
Petra, reported.
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3- AAF Delivered $1.1 Million of
Medicines
to Armenia and
Artsakh in Last 4 Months
GLENDALE—In the first four
months of 2023, the Armenia Artsakh Fund (AAF) delivered to Armenia and
Artsakh six shipments of medicines valued at $1.1 million of which $152,000 was
for Artsakh. All six shipments of medicines were donated by Direct Relief of Santa
Barbara, California, at the request of the AAF.
Even though Azerbaijan
has blockaded the Lachin Corridor which links Artsakh to Armenia for
more than four months, the International Committee of the Red Cross was able to
deliver the urgently-needed six AAF shipments of medicines to Artsakh. The
medicines sent to Artsakh included 350 bags of Metronidazole, 118 bottles of
Isoflurane (Forane), 4230 vials of Tranexamic Acid, 12,500 vials of
Dexamethasone, 15,080 bags of Sodium Chloride, several cases of Olmesartan,
Amlodipine Besylate, Colesevelan, Naproxen and N-95 Masks. In addition the
shipments to Armenia
and Artsakh included 1,568 cans of Similac infant formula, and 1,670 units of
Vital oral nutritional supplement, both of which are desperately-needed,
particularly in Artsakh.
“We highly appreciate the life-saving medicines donated by
Direct Relief for Armenia
and Artsakh and the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross
to deliver them to the 120,000 Armenians blockaded in Artsakh,” said AAF
president Harut Sassounian.
In the past 34 years, including the shipments under its
predecessor, the United Armenian Fund, the AAF delivered to Armenia and
Artsakh a grand total of $973 million worth of humanitarian aid, mostly
medicines, on board 158 airlifts and 2,555 sea containers.
For more information, call the AAF office: (818) 241-8900;
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4- Commentary: For Armenians, Past
is Indeed Prologue
By David Davidian
Sadly, instead of encouraging an ethos to embrace the values
needed to build a secure state, there is a predominant desire for individual
wealth with state-building and existential security not equally valued, thus
not coequally pursued. Such endeavors must not be mutually exclusive.
The following is a partial listing of outcomes that have
been disastrous for the Armenian state and people. They are the result of
individualistic thinking and aspiration for selfish pecuniary gain and power,
which has produced a strategic crisis in the Republic of Armenia
and Artsakh.
Not having the best and brightest local Armenians in
positions of strategic importance while excluding diasporan experts, negating
the creation of a leadership culture, with individual interests trumping
competence. The result is the Armenian government is characterized as a
kakistocracy.
A never-ending process of selling off of Armenian strategic
infrastructure to foreign interests following the wholesale theft during the
immediate post-Soviet period.
Not having established a competent diplomatic corps serving
long-term goals.
Not having a regulated media to ensure it caters to the
broader public interest rather than solely benefiting oligarchs.
Not having established a state-of-the-art state intelligence
system.
Not engaging in modern state public relations and
counter-intelligence.
Not encouraging a disciplined educational system serving
both national, economic, and individual goals.
Not creating a military serving the national defense that
does not rely on anachronistic leadership.
Not having a police system that protects the individual
rather than serve the whims of the ruling class.
Not maintaining a judicial system that serves the state
constitution, not those who appointed the cadre of judges.
Having a government that views strategic legislation as
nothing more than a temporal transaction.
Never having creating a society demanding public
accountability and responsibility by government bodies.
Having encouraged a lack of utility in national cultural
pride.
No end to economic determinism devastating the environment,
public safety, food, health, and consumer safety, etc., contrary to the mandate
of a constitutional republic.
To counter these self-created depravities requires the adoption
of a clear grand national strategy. Nation-states, like individuals, can only
achieve goals if they are clearly articulated and supported by plans to attain
them. Neither states nor individuals can achieve long-term goals by making
haphazard, impulsive, transactional decisions, especially in the modern era of
accelerated change. Not all nation-states have grand national strategies, but
those who expect to survive the rest of this century without being culturally
and politically dominated do. While the items listed above define conditions in
many nation-states, for Armenia,
they represent an existential threat given its perilous geopolitical status. If
not remedied, a line may be crossed where aspects of Armenian state sovereignty
will be on the auction block—if not already. Armenia could disappear forever as
other nations, societies, and cultures have.
Implementing a grand strategy where one never existed, and
countering the interests of those who have comfortably established themselves
as part of the ruling elite, is an enormous challenge.
History is replete with forces that have opposed the status
quo, ranging from violent revolutions to quiet referendums. But without a
comprehensive national strategy, true reform is effectively impossible to achieve.
Should Armenia fail to realize that reform and secure its
sovereignty, society, culture, and legacy of historical achievement, it will
suffer at the hands of the global powers with agendas detrimental to Armenia,
and, Armenia will yield to its past.
Some will find this
analysis imprudent for a public forum.
Yet there are forces internationally that understand
Armenians better than themselves and who are taking advantage of the
shortcomings within the Armenian ethos.
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