The California Courier Online, August 3, 2017
1 – Commentary
How
Azerbaijan’s
Paid Agents
Manipulate the American Media
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher,
The California
Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2 – Crescenta Valley Church
Hosts Lecture Aug. 6
On
‘Design in Creation or Mere Coincidence?’
3 – U.S.
Administration Officials Open to
Talks
on U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty
4 – Armenians File War Crimes Lawsuits
Against Azerbaijan
5 – Shirak Diocese Primate Among
Istanbul Patriarch
Candidates
6 – Greek Authorities Grant Asylum to
Convicted
Turkish-Armenian Writer
7 – U.S.
General Visits Armenia,
Meets
with Defense Officials
8 – Armenian
Girls’ Team is a Finalist
In
Global Technovation Challenge
9 – Giorgio
Armani is
Armenian
Writes
‘Forbes:
Women’
10-
New York’s
Cutest Zoo Animal:
Sahag
the Armenian Mouflon
11- Azerbaijani
Shelling of Armenia’s
Chinari Village Causes Major Damage
12- Anush
Elbakyan Wins
Second
Emmy Award
13- Advocate
for Armenian Genocide Recognition to
Be
Named U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom
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1 – Commentary
How
Azerbaijan’s
Paid Agents
Manipulate the American Media
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
For several years, dozens of articles have
appeared in U.S., Israeli,
and European newspapers, lavishly praising Azerbaijan
and severely criticizing Armenia.
Most of these articles are written by non-Azeris who are handsomely compensated
by the Azeri government.
One man, Casey Michel, had
the courage to expose this scam in a lengthy article titled, “Azerbaijan’s American Media
Manipulation.” He had done extensive research, linking several of these
pro-Azeri authors to Azerbaijan’s
well-financed lobbying activities.
In an attempt “to whitewash
its dictatorial image… the autocratic government of Ilham Aliyev has unleashed
spin-doctors, duped reporters, and led one of the most brazen pushes to abuse
American lobbying loopholes of any foreign government,” Michel wrote.
Some of these hired pens
sing the praises of Azerbaijan
and mislead the general public by acting as if they are uninvolved third
parties who are making objective assessments of the situation in Azerbaijan.
Whereas, in reality, these writers are on the payroll of the Azeri regime or
its state energy company, SOCAR. Here are some concrete examples:
Former Cong. Dan Burton, who
was paid to serve as head of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, wrote at least
three op-ed articles in the Washington Post, Washington Times, and Daily Caller
on what a wonderful country Azerbaijan
is, without disclosing that he was on Baku’s
payroll! Fortunately, Cong. Burton quit his job, when Azerbaijan stopped paying him!
Michel then mentions Jason
Katz as the most prolific pro-Azerbaijan propagandist, the founder of The Tool
Shed Group, a U.S. lobbying
firm hired by Azerbaijan.
Katz wrote a series of articles in Huffington Post in praise of Azerbaijan’s
“democracy,” claiming the country to be “a progressive, cosmopolitan, open,
secular and Western-oriented society.”
To his credit, Katz
initially disclosed in these articles that he was a “senior advisor to the Republic of Azerbaijan.” However, shortly
thereafter, Katz began to conceal his relationship with the Azeri government.
Since late 2013, Katz wrote at least nine articles in praise of the Aliyev
regime, four of them for Roll Call, and three for The Hill, in one of them
foolishly claiming that “the U.S.
can learn much from a nation like Azerbaijan,” Michel reported. Katz
also wrote an outrageous article in National Review early in 2014, “equating
the Armenian government with the Taliban!” In all nine articles, Katz had
failed to mention that his firm, The Tool Shed Group, was being paid by Azerbaijan!
Michel went to great lengths
to expose Katz by contacting various publications and informing them about
Katz’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Azerbaijan. Most of these
publications, then added corrections after Katz’s articles were published,
noting his close affiliation with Azerbaijan.
For example, the National
Review, after hearing from Michel, put a new note under Katz’s name, disclosing
that Katz is a consultant to foreign states, “including the Azerbaijani
government.” The Hill also inserted an editor’s note after Katz’s name,
revealing that “Katz is paid to provide strategic advice to Azerbaijan. This note was added
after Katz’s foreign agent registration was brought to the attention of The
Hill.”
These articles not only
mislead the American readers about Azerbaijan, but cause a further damage when
reprinted in the Azeri press as evidence of the high regard Americans had for
Azerbaijan!
Switching tactics, Katz’s
wife, Mallory Moss, began to write similar anti-Armenian articles on the
Artsakh (Karabagh) conflict in mid-2014. She wrote one for the Capitol Weekly
and two for the Hill, under the guise of being a nurse! Michel discovered that
Mallory Moss had registered under her name the website BakuWoman.com which was
reregistered under the name of Jason Katz. “The registrant organization listed
for Moss was The Tool Shed Group,” Michel reported. Mallory Moss’s op-eds
should have been filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of the U.S.
Justice Department! When Michel reported to The Hill about Mallory Moss’s association
with Jason Katz and The Tool Shed Group, The Hill added an editor’s note under
her article: “A firm that is paid to provide strategic advice to Azerbaijan
submitted this op-ed. The note was added after information was brought to the
attention of The Hill.”
Finally, Michel mentions the
case of Prof. Brenda Shaffer who had written pro-Azerbaijani articles for the
New York Times and the Washington Post. In both cases, she had failed to
mention that she was an advisor or consultant to Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company,
SOCAR. Subsequently, both newspapers published an editor’s note exposing her
financial relationship with SOCAR!
There are many others who
are hired by Azerbaijan
to write propaganda pieces in the Western media on behalf of the “Caspian
kleptocracy” as Michel describes the country. Unfortunately, we are unable to
name these propagandists without a solid evidence of their payoffs from Azerbaijan!
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2 – Crescenta Valley Church
Hosts Lecture Aug. 6
On
‘Design in Creation or Mere Coincidence?’
LA CRESCENTA, CA – On August 6, the Educational Committee of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley will host a lecture on the “Design in
Creation or Mere Coincidence?,” presented by Dr. Kenell Touryan. The lecture
will begin at 1:00 p.m., at the conclusion of Divine
Liturgy, at the Prelacy “Dikran and Zarouhie Der Ghazarian” Hall, 6250 Honolulu Ave,
La Crescenta, CA.
Recently the world celebrated the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s “On the
Origin of the Species’, considered as the greatest scientific theory of all
time regarding biological evolution. The definition of biological evolution
using a methodological naturalism is considered today the only valid scientific
approach; it works without plan or purpose; it is random and undirected.
According to the philosopher Michael Ruse, this approach is “…actually
an alternative to religion”. Are answers available to challenge this
purely secular interpretation of the origin of all life on earth, for
a person who claims to have faith in a Creator God, and looks at creation
as his handiwork”
PowerPoints will be used to review the philosophical underpinnings of such a
position and show two other equally valid explanations that do not deny the
scientific/mechanistic description of evolutionary processes, but do not negate
the Divine role behind it either. A short video will compare several specific
human inventions that are purposeful and require design, with a
corresponding ‘design’ in nature, which naturalists call mere
coincidences.
Dr. Touryan was born in Beirut, Lebanon and did his undergraduate work in
engineering at the American University of Beirut
and received his Ph.D. degree in Aerospace Sciences from Princeton University.
Dr. Touryan managed Aerophysics and Alternate Energy Departments at Sandia
National Laboratory in Albuquerque,
New Mexico (1962-1978).
In 1978 he joined the Solar Energy Research Institute of the US Department of
Energy as Deputy Director of the Institute. From 1981 to 1991, he worked
helping to commercialize wind and solar energy technologies. During this
period, he served as adjunct professor of nuclear engineering, physics and
astronomy, first at the University of New Mexico and then at Colorado School of Mines in
Golden, Colorado.
In July 2006 Dr. Touryan retired from National Renewable Energy Laboratory in
Golden, Colorado
where he was Chief Technology Analyst. In addition, he directed the Initiatives
for Proliferation Prevention Project for the U.S. Department of Energy in the
former Soviet Union. The goal for this program
is aimed at development of non-military applications for defense technologies
in many of the weapons related institutes in these Republics.
From 2003 through June 2011, Dr. Touryan acted, part time, as Vice President of
R&D and Director of the Engineering
Research Center,
at the American University of Armenia (AUA). At
present he is a visiting professor at the College of Science Engineering of AUA
and is on the strategic planning committee of the College.
In 1981, Dr. Touryan received the first Energy Systems Award of the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). In 1986, he was
presented with the Distinguished Service Citation by the Ministry of Higher
Education of the Armenian SSR. He has published over 90 papers in refereed
journals, holds four patents and is the author of three books. He lives with
his wife near Denver, Colorado.
The event is free of charge to the public.
****************************************************************************************************
3 – U.S.
Administration Officials Open to
Talks
on U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty
WASHINGTON, DC – David Kautter, the incoming Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
for Tax Policy, expressed willingness, during his Senate confirmation process,
to engage with Congressional stakeholders and professional Treasury Department
staff regarding a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty, an economic accord, backed by
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), aimed at removing barriers
to the growth of bilateral trade and investment.
Kautter’s comments were reinforced on July 25 by
Acting Assistant Secretary of State John Heffern, who, in response to questions
posed by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) during a Congressional hearing, testified
that a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty is “under active consideration”
by the Department of State.
Kautter’s nomination, which was unanimously
approved by the Senate Finance Committee on July 18th, has been sent to the
full Senate. During his confirmation timeframe, he was asked about a
U.S.-Armenia Tax Treaty by Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who sits on the Finance
Committee, and Representative Brad Sherman, a member of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, who is widely recognized as a top Capitol Hill expert on
international tax policy. Responding to Congressional inquiries, Kautter
committed, if confirmed, to study how to “adequately address any
impediments to U.S.-Armenia economic relations.” In response to
separate questions, he specifically expressed his willingness to examine the
“pros and cons of a Tax Treaty with Armenia,” and, more broadly,
to “learn more about the barriers to U.S.-Armenia economic
relations.”
Heffern, who served as Ambassador to Armenia from 2011 to 2014, is widely credited
for the pivotal role he played in supporting Armenia’s aid to trade transition,
including through a variety of bilateral initiatives, including the
U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement finalized in May of 2015.
“We are gratified to see that both our
Treasury and State departments are increasingly open to negotiating a
U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty, a long overdue bilateral accord that will, once
ratified, remove a major barrier to the further growth of the U.S.-Armenia
economic relationship,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“We look forward to continuing our work with stakeholders in
Washington and Yerevan to pursue mutually-beneficial, job-creating initiatives
across IT, healthcare, tourism, finance, education, and other sector-specific
drivers of economic growth.”
*******************************************************************************************************
4 – Armenians
File War Crimes Lawsuits Against Azerbaijan
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Hundreds of
Armenians have filed government-backed lawsuits in the European Court of Human
Rights accusing Azerbaijan of beheading Armenian soldiers and committing other
atrocities during last year’s heavy fighting around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ara Ghazaryan, an Armenian legal
expert involved in the unprecedented legal action, said on Tuesday that the
Strasbourg-based court has already requested official information from Baku on over 20 of the 359 lawsuits filed from Armenia
and Karabakh.
“We expect a just compensation,”
Ghazarian told a joint news conference with Armenia’s and Karabakh’s human
rights ombudsmen. “It could be both a recognition of the violations [of the
European Convention on Human Rights] and subsequent compensation for material
and moral damages. But first and foremost, we must ensure that the European Court
recognizes that there were violations.”
An elderly couple was brutally murdered by
Azerbaijani soldier during last year’s April War (Photo by hetq.am)
The war crimes alleged by the
plaintiffs stem from the April 2016 hostilities in and around Karabakh which
left least 180 soldiers from both warring sides dead. The authorities in
Stepanakert and Yerevan
say that three Armenian soldiers were beheaded by Azerbaijani troops at the
time. They claim that one of them, the 31-year-old Major Hayk Toroyan, was
still alive when his Azerbaijani captors began cutting off his head.
The headless body of another
soldier, Kyaram Sloyan, was handed over to his family and buried on April 4, 2016,
two days after the Azerbaijani army launched an offensive at two sections of
the Karabakh “line of contact.” The family living in a village in central Armenia
received the 19-year-old’s severed head later on.
According to Karabakh
prosecutors, 15 other Armenian soldiers had their ears cut off after being
killed by Azerbaijani forces.
Another Armenian lawsuit filed in
Strasbourg
stems from the violent deaths of three elderly members of a family in Talish, a
village in northern Karabakh that was devastated by Azerbaijani shelling in
April 2016. They were reportedly murdered by Azerbaijani commandos that burst
into their home located on the outskirts of Talish.
**********************************************************************************************
5 – Shirak
Diocese Primate Among
Istanbul Patriarch
Candidates
By Armenuhi Mkhoyan
GYUMRI, (Armenpress) – The Armenian patriarchal
elections of Istanbul will be held in December,
2017, and there are already 8-9 candidates: Garegin Bekchyan, Aram
Ateshyan, Sahak Mashalyan, Sepuh Chuljyan, Khajak Parsamyan, Sevan Gharibyan,
Navasard Kchoyan.
Primate of Shirak Diocese Bishop Mikayel
Ajapahyan is also among the likely candidates for the upcoming patriarchal
elections, patriarchal locum tenens Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan said during a
recent visit to Armenia.
“Any bishop can be a candidate for any seat. In
case of Turkey,
the circle of those candidates is somewhat narrow since you need to have roots
there, either you or your father should have been born there. In my case, my
father was born there. There is a list of candidates, and all from this list
can be elected. It’s not that if we are candidates, we will definitely be
elected. At the moment there are 9 candidates, one from them will be elected”,
Bishop Ajapahyan said.
Commenting on the difficulties of the Istanbul’s Armenian
Patriarchate, the Bishop said there are difficulties. “It’s not easy anywhere,
there are difficulties, but if I am elected, I will serve”, he added.
***************************************************************************************************
6 – Greek
Authorities Grant Asylum to
Convicted
Turkish-Armenian Writer
YEREVAN (Armenpress) – Greek authorities granted a
temporary residence permit to Sevan Nishanyan, the Istanbul-based scholar who
recently escaped from a prison in Turkey
and requested asylum in Greece.
The Greek asylum agency granted the permit for 6
months. Nishanyan said he had applied
for asylum in Greece.
“I have always thought of Greece
as my second or third homeland, this is a very beautiful and civilized country.
I’ll be very happy to spend the new phase of my life here”, he said. Nishanyan
also mentioned he would like to travel to Armenia as soon as he is able to.
“I got a lot of support and love from my friends in Armenia when I was in prison. There
are many people whom I’d like to thank”, he said.
Nishanyan was arrested, falsely incriminated and imprisoned in Turkey
for carrying out “illegal” construction in his own garden in 2014. He was
sentenced to 17 years in prison.
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7 – U.S. General
Visits Armenia,
Meets
with Defense Officials
By Emil Danielyan
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am) – A U.S. general
overseeing the Kansas National Guard is visiting Armenia for a third time in
less than a year shortly after his troops trained more Armenian soldiers as
part of growing U.S.-Armenian defense cooperation.
Major General Lee Tafanelli, the Kansas adjutant general,
met with Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian on July 24. He reportedly pledged to
continue training programs for Armenian military personnel mostly serving in a
special brigade that contributes troops to multinational peacekeeping missions
around the world.
The Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade has received
considerable technical assistance from U.S. Army Europe and the Kansas National
Guard. In particular, U.S.
instructors have been training the brigade’s medical personnel and demining
experts. The Armenian military inaugurated a U.S.-sponsored paramedic school in
October last year.
Tafanelli’s department reported earlier this
week that more soldiers of the Peacekeeping Brigade have undergone training at
a Kansas National Guard facility in Salina, a
small city in the U.S..
The U.S.
has also helped Armenia
to recruit and train more non-commissioned contract officers. As part of that
effort, 25 Armenian army sergeants underwent further training in Kansas in August 2016.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry,
Sargsian and Tafanelli discussed these training programs at their meeting. “The
American side expressed readiness to continue cooperation in these directions
through long-term programs,” read a ministry statement.
Despite its military alliance with Russia, Armenia
has deepened defense cooperation with NATO and the United States in particular since
the early 2000s. It currently contributes troops to NATO-led missions in Kosovo
and Afghanistan and regularly
participates in multinational exercises organized by U.S.
forces in Europe. U.S.
military assistance to Armenia
has totaled about $50 million since 2002.
Tafanelli said that U.S.-Armenian military ties
are now “as strong as they have ever been” during his previous visit to Yerevan in January. “Each
year continues to get better and better with the quality of the engagements and
partnership between our two countries,” he said.
Tafanelli as well as a deputy commander of U.S.
Army Europe, Major General John Gronski, also attended last September official
ceremonies in Armenia that marked the 25th anniversary of the country’s
independence. A military parade in Yerevan
was the main highlight of those celebrations.
In addition, the Kansas National Guard has been
assisting Armenia’s
Ministry of Emergency Situations. Emergency Situations Minister Davit Tonoyan
praised that assistance when he met Tafanelli on Thursday. In a statement,
Tonoyan’s office said the two men discussed ongoing training courses for
Armenian firefighters and rescue workers organized by the Kansas Guard and the
British military. The ten-day courses began on July 18 at two different
locations in Armenia.
*****************************************************************************************************
8 – Armenian
Girls’ Team is a Finalist
In
Global Technovation Challenge
SAN
JOSE, CA – From 3,000
global teams representing 105 countries, 12 final teams were selected in a
Global Technovation Challenge with the directive to develop an innovative
mobile application. Technovation is a global organization that promotes girls
in STEM.
Five girls, ages 10-18 representing Armenia
participated and won first place in the Technovation Global Challenge.
As a guest of the Technovation Finalist, the
Armenian team was officially invited to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Two more events will close the competition at
the Goggle Campus, Building TBD, Mountain
View, CA on Aug. 9,
from 5:30 pm to 8:30 p.m. Admission is free.
The second and concluding event is the Global
Technovation Award Ceremony on August 10, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the same
location
Iridescent, together with Google’s Made with
Code, invites everyone to join them at the Global Technovation Awards Ceremony!
The 12 global Technovation finalists come from
Hong Kong, Kazhakstan, Cambodia, India,
Armenia, Kenya, Canada
and across the US.
You can learn more about how they tackle problems around peace, poverty,
equity, environment, health and education. This event is the culmination
of Technovation’s annual World Pitch Summit, said AIWA-SF Christine Soussa. She
also invited Armenians to attend the event and cheer the Armenian girls’ team.
**************************************************************************************************
9 – Giorgio
Armani is
Armenian
Writes
‘Forbes:
Women’
NEW
YORK (Slag.am) -The world-famous “Forbes Women”
magazine confirms the rumors that fashion giant Giorgio Armani is Armenian.
In its article on the story of Armanit, the
magazine writes that Giorgio, now 83, was born in an Armenian family barely
escaped from the Armenian Genocide. The father of fashion has never been
married.
********************************************************************************************************
10 – New
York’s Cutest Zoo Animal:
Sahag
the Armenian Mouflon
By Allie Healy
After asking numerous zookeepers and park
managers across the region to submit their cutest critter, we put all the
adorable contestants into a poll and asked our readers to vote on
their favorite. After a week-long run, the winner has been decided.
The winner of Upstate New York’s cutest zoo
animal is … Sahak from the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.
Sahak is a baby Armenian Mouflon, a species of
wild sheep that is threatened in its native habitat the mountains of Armenia, Northern Iran and Azerbaijan.
Photo courtesy of Cassie Guerra | Rosamond
Gifford Zoo
Sahak was born on May 18 at the Richmond Zoo in Virginia. The Syracuse zoo keepers named
him Sahak, which is Armenian for Isaac. He’s currently on part-time exhibit in
the barn next to the Explorer’s Outpost. The ultimate plan is for Sahak to join
the Takin exhibit. Takin are Himalayan mountain goats, so the exhibit will be a
mixed-species space.
Sahak allows the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to help
save his declining species through participation in a Species Survival Plan
(SSP) overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo hopes to
acquire a young female Mouflon in the future to form a breeding pair and become
directly involved in this special breeding program.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is currently in charge
of coordinating the Mouflon SSP breeding program, a release from the zoo says.
The studbook is currently managed by one of the zoo’s own primary Zookeepers,
Seth Groesbeck.
Sahak is being hand-reared and zoo-goers may see
keepers bottle-feeding him on exhibit. His midday feeding takes place around
noon.
What will Sahak grow up to be?
Armenian Mouflon are generally a shade of brown
with males having a dark ruff extending from the front of the lower neck to the
chest, the zoo says. An adult Armenian mouflon can grow to about 3 feet
tall with males generally being larger. Adult males average from 120 to
155 pounds.
Visitors to the Rosamond
Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park in Syracuse can
see literally hundreds of animals — about 730 representing roughly 200
species, not including insects. The animals are spread across 43 acres.
On each visit, you may see new animals — the
zoo is constantly adding to its collection. It welcomes visitors year round.
Address: One Conservation Place, Syracuse.
********************************************************************************************************
11- Azerbaijani
Shelling of Armenia’s
Chinari Village Causes Major Damage
YEREVAN
(Panorama.am) – the Azerbaijani army’s incessant shelling of Chinari village in
Armenia’s Tavush Province
has caused millions of drams in damage and threatened the civilian population
there, according to village officials who estimated that damage at exceeding 12
million drams {$1=481 drams]
The attacks on villages in the Tavush Province
of Armenia began on July 20 morning and
continued through Friday and into early Saturday morning, when Armenian civilian
positions in Barekamavan village, also in Tavush province also came under fire.
“The Azerbaijani shooting damaged several houses, the roof of the kindergarten
and a tractor. In addition to that, a barn was burnt down, with forage stored
inside. One of our villagers suffered 12-13 million AMD in damages,” said
Chinari village chief. Samvel Saghoyan.
He also reported that Azerbaijani snipers shot
at a 17-year-old boy near the village cemetery. The boy managed to find shelter
for two hours behind a grave stone and avoided injury.
The Investigative Department of Tavush province
is conducting a forensic examination of the area and has launched a criminal
case over the shelling of the Chinari village, which caused heavy damage
including destruction of residential areas and damaging the local kindergarten
building.
Armenia’s
Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan held a phone conversation on July 24 with
the representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of
Europe over the most recent of breach of the Armenian border by Azerbaijan.
Tatoyan expressed concern that the Azerbaijani
armed forces are targeting mainly civilians and their property, shelling
schools, kindergartens and houses.
The Ombudsman stated that the international
community must publicly condemn the targeted actions against civilians.
According to the agreement reached between the
Ombudsman and the Office of the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, the data on
the recent shelling of bordering Chinari, Barekamavan villages of Tavush province
and their consequences will be summed up and submitted to the commissioner.
****************************************************************************************************
12- Anush
Elbakyan Wins
Second
Emmy Award
BOSTON (Armenian Weekly) – Award-winning
producer and multimedia journalist Anush Elbakyan has received the New England Emmy Award in the “Societal Concerns
Program/Special” category.
Elbakyan won the award for the film “Spotlight
Investigation: Private Schools, Painful Secrets,” which she produced and
edited. The documentary tells the story of hundreds of students who – after
decades of remaining silent -spoke about their sexual abuse by staffers at New England
boarding schools.
Las year, Elbakyan received the New England Emmy
Award in the “Outstanding News Report – Serious Feature” category for the
documentary short, “A Day in Life of Leo.” The film tells the story of a boy
who was badly burned during a fire, and was later transformed by his devoted
caregiver.
Additionally, Elbakyan had participated in The
Boston Globe’s coverage of the Boston
marathon bombings and their aftermath, for which she won a Pulitzer Prize and
the Online News Association’s “Online Journalism Award” for Breaking News
Coverage.
Elbakyan is an Emmy Award-winning producer and multimedia journalist.
Additionally, Elbakyan is the Senior Video Editor and Video Director for The
Boston Globe. Elbakyan oversees the production and distribution of The Boston
Globe’s original video content, while also managing video business operations
and leading digital video strategies. She manages a team of video producers and
coordinates the daily video news operations. Elbakyan also launched and served
as executive producer for the political digital video series “Ground Game,”
“Live Political Happy Hour,” and the food series “Smart Cooks.”
*****************************************************************************************************
13- Advocate
for Armenian Genocide Recognition to
Be
Named U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom
WASHINGTON, DC (Armenian Weekly) —The White House announced on July
26 that Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, a longtime advocate of
Armenian Genocide recognition in the U.S., will be nominated to serve as
Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.
“The failure to realize a just resolution for
the Armenian Genocide plays out tragically in Turkey
every day as Armenians and other indigenous religious minorities face
government policies that threaten their very existence,” said Armenian Legal
Center’s Executive
Director Kate Nahapetian.
“Their sacred sites continue to be desecrated,
with thousand-year-old churches long predating the Turkish Republic
being used as barns where animals defecate. As a Senator who was a lead sponsor
of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, who recognized the
importance of applying the lessons of the Armenian Genocide in our contemporary
policies, Governor Brownback appreciated religious freedom as not only a
fundamental U.S.
value but also an important foreign policy objective. We hope Governor
Brownback, if confirmed, will forcefully defend religious freedom, sacred
sites, and churches of Armenians and minorities in Turkey,” Nahapetian added.
In 2010, then-Senator Brownback placed
a hold on President Barack Obama’s nominee for the
post of U.S. ambassador to Turkey,
Ambassador Frank Ricciardone. While Brownback did not say why he placed the
hold, a spokesperson at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told Fox News,
“I’m not going to get into it. It’s all about Armenia.”
Over the years, Brownback has co-sponsored the
Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress.
“Senator Brownback’s hold on Francis
Ricciardone’s nomination as U.S.
ambassador to Turkey
underscores the challenges the administration is facing as it seeks to manage
an increasingly complex, strained, and unpredictable U.S.-Turkey relationship,”
said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA), back in 2010. “More broadly, this action highlights the
pressing need for the U.S. Congress—and all concerned elements of American
civil society—to carefully reexamine whether our national interests and
international standing are served by constantly caving in to Turkey on human
rights, regional security, and genocide denial.”
Brownback has been Governor of Kansas since
2011. Previously, he served as a U.S. Senator (1996-2011) and a member of the
House of Representatives (1995-1996) from Kansas. While a member of the Senate, he
worked actively on the issue of religious freedom in multiple countries and was
a key sponsor of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. He also
served as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture (1986-1993) and was a White House
Fellow in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (1990-1991). Brownback
was a private attorney in Kansas and taught
agricultural law at Kansas
State University;
he has co-authored two books on the subject. He holds a B.S. from Kansas State
University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas.
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