Targeted News Service Tuesday 8:00 AM EST Sen. Reed Issues Statement on 103rd Anniversary of Armenian Genocide WASHINGTON Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, issued the following statement, which was published in the Congressional Record on April 23, on the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian genocide: Mr. President, this week we solemnly observe the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Over a century ago, one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century began when the Young Turk leaders of the Ottoman Empire executed more than 200 prominent Armenians. What followed was an 8-year systematic campaign of oppression and massacre. By 1923, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed, and over a half a million survivors were exiled. These atrocities affected the lives of every Armenian living in Asia Minor and, indeed, across the globe. The U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during this dark time, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., unsuccessfully pleaded with President Wilson to take action and later remembered the events of the genocide, saying, "I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915." Clearly, the suffering of the Armenian people must never be forgotten. The survivors of the Armenian genocide, however, persevered due to their unbreakable spirit and steadfast resolve and went on to greatly contribute to the lands in which they found new homes and communities, including the United States. That is why we not only commemorate this grave tragedy each year, but we also take this moment to celebrate the traditions, the contributions, as well as the bright future of the Armenian people. Indeed, my home State of Rhode Island continues to be enriched by our strong and vibrant Armenian-American community. This genocide has been denied for far too long. To honor the memory of this tragedy, I have joined with several of my colleagues on resolutions over the years to encourage the U.S. to officially recognize the Armenian genocide. As we remember the past, we remain committed to forging a brighter future. We must continue to guard against hatred and oppression so that we can prevent such crimes against humanity. As ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I remain committed to supporting assistance to Armenia to strengthen security, promote economic growth, and foster democratic reforms and development. We must find a way to come together to recognize the truth of what happened and to provide unwavering support and assistance to those facing persecution today.
Category: 2018
Governor Brown Issues Proclamation Declaring Remembrance Day of Armenian Genocide
Targeted News Service Tuesday 6:50 AM EST Governor Brown Issues Proclamation Declaring Remembrance Day of Armenian Genocide SACRAMENTO, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., D-California, issued the following proclamation: Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring as "A Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" in the State of California. The text of the proclamation is below: PROCLAMATION Between 1915 and 1923, Armenians were subjected to torture, starvation, mass murder and exile from their historic homeland. 1.5 million lost their lives. The Armenian Genocide, also known as the "First Genocide of the Twentieth Century," represented a deliberate attempt by the Ottoman Empire to eliminate all traces of a thriving, noble civilization. Armenian communities all over the world commemorate this tragedy on April 24. On this day, we honor the victims and survivors of the genocide, and reaffirm our commitment to preventing future atrocities from being committed against any people. NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim , as "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 23rd day of April 2018. EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Governor of California
Helsinki Commission Announces Briefing on the Protest Movement in Armenia
Targeted News Service Tuesday 7:01 AM EST Helsinki Commission Announces Briefing on the Protest Movement in Armenia The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe issued the following briefing: The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing: REVOLUTION IN ARMENIA? THE POWER AND PROSPECTS OF THE PROTEST MOVEMENT Thursday, 4:00 p.m. Capitol Visitor Center Room SVC 200 Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission Under pressure from a surging popular protest movement, Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned on Monday, less than one week after taking office. The mass demonstrations were sparked by Armenia's transition this month to a parliamentary system from a semi-presidential one. Small-scale protests emerged in mid-April as it became clear that parliament would elect Sargsyan, who served as president since 2008, to the newly empowered post of prime minister, and culminated with tens of thousands of demonstrators in Armenia's central square. Protestors met news of Sargsyan's resignation with jubilation, but after securing its principal demand, the loosely organized, youth-led movement faces uncertain prospects going forward. What will be the outcome of early dialogue between the government and protest leaders? Can the movement achieve more lasting reform of the entrenched power structures in Armenia's political system? Will this collective mobilization translate into sustained political engagement? What are the regional implications of this domestic upheaval? The following expert panelists will address these questions and others: * Elen Aghekyan, Independent Research Analyst * Stephen Nix, Eurasia Regional Director, International Republican Institute Other panelists may be added. Contact: Stacy Hope, 202/225-1901, [email protected] Copyright Targeted News Services MSTRUCK-6261413 MSTRUCK
Sports: Who is Gennady Golovkin’s opponent Vanes Martirosyan, what is his boxing record and has he ever won a title?
The Sun, UK
Tuesday 12:23 PM GMT
THE NIGHTMARE
Who is Gennady Golovkin’s opponent Vanes Martirosyan, what is his boxing record and has he ever won a title?
With the Saul Alvarez bout off, Golovkin now faces Armenian-born fighter known as the ‘Nightmare’ in California
By Jim Sheridan
GENNADY GOLOVKIN’s rematch with Saul Alvarez is off – but a new opponent has stepped up to the plate.
Vanes Martirosyan will go into the ring with the unified WBA, WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight champ in California.
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The Armenian-American has been a pro for over a decade and is hoping to land a massive shock on GGG.
Who is Gennady Golovkin’s opponent Vanes Martirosyan?
A promising fighter throughout his teens, he made his pro debut in 2005 at the age of 20 after a glittering amateur career which saw him named eight-time National Champion and a Golden Gloves Champion.
Appearing principally around Nevada, Martirosyan fought 25 times in just four years, before contesting and winning the NABF and vacant WBO-NABO light middleweight titles in 2009.
But he suffered his first pro defeat in 2013, going down on a split decision to Demetrius Andrade for the WBO light middleweight title.
Since then he’s won and lost the WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight title, but hasn’t fought since 2016 when he was defeated by Erislandy Lara, again for that illusive world belt.
What is his boxing record?
His current record stands at 36-3-1, with 21 by way of knockout.
Has he ever won a world title?
He first suffered the loss to Andrade, before the loss to Lara three years later.
Lukashenko advises Armenians not to be carried away by change of power
Interfax - Russia & CIS General Newswire Tuesday 5:12 PM MSK Lukashenko advises Armenians not to be carried away by change of power MINSK. April 24 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says that the people of Armenia should not get carried away by the change of power. "I only hope that the Armenian people doesn't get too carried away by the situation. Because it is simple to change power, but then it should produce results. And the nation will be waiting for this result. God grant that the talented and wise people of Armenia cope with the situation," he said in his annual message to the nation and the National Assembly in Minsk on Tuesday. "If it was necessary to change the constitution for someone's sake, that should have been done honestly. One day we took that road when we lifted restrictions for the election of presidents, all presidents. There was no need [for Armenia] to turn a parliamentary republic into a presidential and the presidential into parliamentary and then God knows into what. Now it has backfired," Lukashenko said. He said he discussed the issue with the former Armenian president before and clearly stated his opinion. "One should address the nation and tell it openly and honestly: that's how things are. Why change the foundations of a country, break a country to fit someone's personality? What if that person breaks later?" Lukashenko said.
A blow to the Putin model
The Washington Post Tuesday A blow to the Putin model SERZH SARGSYAN, who ruled Armenia as president from 2008 until this month, was a faithful client of Vladimir Putin. In 2013, after meeting with the Russian president, he abruptly dropped negotiations with the European Union and instead joined Moscow-led economic and security organizations. During a visit to Washington a couple of years later, he frankly told us that his small Caucasian country of roughly 3 million people had little choice, since Armenians working in Russia supplied one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product and Russian companies monopolized its energy supplies. "Armenian cognac can't really be sold in Paris," he explained. Mr. Sargsyan underestimated his own citizens, however, when he attempted to emulate a classic Putin maneuver. Limited by the constitution to two terms as president, he pushed through a constitutional amendment transferring most executive powers to the prime minister, and then - having denied for years that he would do so - had the parliament name him to that post. The result was 11 days of mounting mass demonstrations that, on Monday, prompted Mr. Sargsyan to give up the position. "I was wrong," he said in a statement. It's not clear whether Mr. Sargsyan's departure will prompt a genuine change in Armenia's government or its servile stance toward the Kremlin. Thanks to manipulated elections, the ruling party has a commanding majority in parliament, while the leader of last week's protests, veteran dissident Nikol Pashinyan, controls just nine of 105 seats. The popular revolt nevertheless is a blow to the authoritarian political model promoted by Mr. Putin, which has spread not only to other former Soviet Bloc states in Russia's orbit but also to Turkey, where ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hoping to complete the transition from prime minister to all-powerful president in June. No doubt Mr. Putin will misunderstand the rebuff. Consumed by cynicism, the Russian ruler and his clique are incapable of accepting that spontaneous political uprisings by outraged publics are possible. They assume that they must be, like Russia's own interventions in Western democratic elections, the result of state-directed conspiracies. Mr. Putin blamed the CIA and other intelligence agencies for the revolts that overturned pro-Moscow governments in Ukraine and Georgia, and when thousands of Russians protested election fraud and his own shuttle from prime minister to president in 2012, he held Hillary Clinton personally responsible. In truth, it's safe to say that the Trump administration had nothing to do with events in Armenia. The only U.S. response to the demonstrations was a weak statement from the embassy in Yerevan asking the government for "restraint" while calling on the protesters to "prevent an escalation of tensions." What drove Armenians to the streets was not foreign provocations but the fact that Mr. Sargsyan's bet on Russia failed to deliver. During his decade in office, the economy stagnated. About 10 percent of the population abandoned the country, while 30 percent of those who remained fall below the official poverty line. Mr. Putin can be expected to squeeze whoever succeeds Mr. Sargsyan as prime minister; in addition to its economic levers, Russia maintains a military base in the country. That, however, won't improve the lives of Armenians. More likely it will increase their resistance to the thuggish, corruption-ridden and economically failed model that is Putinism.
Commemorations mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
NRT TV – Kurdish Media
SULAIMANI — Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with commemorations taking place around the world in an effort to raise awareness and gain recognition of the atrocity in which approximately 1.5 million people died.
This year’s events on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day hold a special significance given the stunning developments in the country over recent weeks, where massive public protests forced Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan to step down as Prime Minister.
Large commemorations are expected in Armenia itself, with some smaller, unsanctioned events to be held in Istanbul, reports the Voice of America.
Tuesday (April 24) is the culmination of a week of commemorations in cities across the world.
On April 21, a candlelight vigil was held in front of the White House, in Washington, DC. The US government has stopped short of recognizing the events as genocide.
On April 22, Armenians in Aleppo rallied to mark the anniversary of the Armenian genocide, by burning Turkish goods on a bonfire, according to Al-Masdar News. One participant said, “these activities and pleas are a union of voices raised to the international community, until Turkey is condemned and asked to stop the crimes against the people of the world”
A march was held in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday (April 23) night. Israel does not formally recognize the genocide.
The Armenian Genocide began on April 24, 1915 when the Ottoman Empire rounded up 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders. Eventually, this would lead to the deaths of approximately 1.5 million Armenians through murder, deportation, and forced labor.
Modern-day Turkey disputes this, actively forbids discussion of it within its borders, and aggressively lobbies against recognition abroad.
Nevertheless, 29 countries (mostly in Western Europe and South America) and numerous international organizations and international figures, such as Pope Francis, recognize the events as genocide.
(NRT)
For Justice, Recognize Armenian Genocide
Georgetown University – The Hoya
For Justice, Recognize Armenian Genocide
by Nareg Kuyumjian —
Since 1915, the Turkish government has denied that the forced relocation and slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians constitutes a genocide. Georgetown University has been part of the silence allowing the Armenian genocide to go largely unacknowledged.
Moreover, the Turkish government has exported this denial abroad through lobbyists, bribes and geopolitical coercion to keep governments, such as that of the United States, from recognizing the Armenian genocide. For example, in 2008, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed H.R. 106, but the bill never made it to the House floor after multiple letters from high-profile officials, including then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, expressed their belief that the measure would “severely harm our relationships with Turkey.”
Although U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide would not in any way reconcile its horrors, this acknowledgement would build the accountability of all countries to their peoples. Denial is the last step of a committed genocide and the first reason for other countries to perpetrate new ones.
Unlike governments, universities are free from gag rules and political games. They are independent entities with the goal of pursuing objective, unbiased research and scholarship. Yet Georgetown, an institution that claims to pursue justice and academic excellence, is complicit in Turkish denial efforts.
Georgetown is home to the Institute of Turkish Studies, which, until 2015, was funded directly by the government of Turkey to propagate a version of history in accordance with Turkish national interests, according to HuffPost. By virtue of its work, the ITS was tasked with a very special obligation: to actively deny the Armenian genocide within academic scholarship in the United States and to ensure that the first genocide of the 20th century was erased from collective memory.
Two distinct events stand out as clear-cut examples of how Georgetown nurtured genocide denial.
The ITS first opened its doors at Georgetown in 1982, after receiving a $3 million grant from the Turkish government. Within three years, in what French historian Yves Ternon calls the “Lewis Affair,” the ITS paid off 69 U.S. scholars to sign a letter demanding that Congress not recognize the Armenian genocide. The letter was sent and published in the May 19, 1985 editions of The Washington Post and The New York Times. Georgetown kept quiet.
The second incident involved Binghamton University professor Donald Quataert, one of the scholars paid to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. Quataert was head of the ITS from 2001 to 2006 and was considered a staunch proponent of the ITS’ denial campaign. However, in 2006, Quataert published a review of a Donald Bloxham’s book titled “The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians” in which he conceded that “what happened to the Armenians readily satisfies the U.N. definition of genocide.”
As one may imagine, this assertion did not sit well with those in Ankara, Turkey. Soon after Quataert professed his change of heart, he was forced to resign from the ITS by Turkey’s ambassador to the United States at the time, Nabi Şensoy. Again, Georgetown kept quiet.
As a result of this scandal, Quataert’s colleague, Mervat Hatem of Howard University, wrote a letter to University President John J. DeGioia, Şensoy and the ITS board questioning “the reputation and integrity of the ITS,” emphasizing that this scandal constituted “government interference in and blatant disregard for the principle of academic freedom.” Yet DeGioia decided it would be best to allow the ITS to continue pursuing its politically biased and morally bereft agenda here at Georgetown.
Twelve years later, the ITS has remained operational under the auspices of the university. Georgetown has not only failed to hold the ITS accountable for its complete disrespect of academic freedom, but it has also failed to speak out against the ITS’ denial of the Armenian genocide. Georgetown’s neglect puts into question the moral foundation of its Jesuit values.
On April 24, Armenians all around the world commemorate the Armenian genocide. However, the day is not exclusively for Armenians, but rather a time in which we should all unite under the name of justice to voice our demands as the human race, call out prejudice and hatred and build an empowering springboard from which we will be able to make a positive difference in this world.
Georgetown gave the Armenian genocide–denying ITS a home and a platform. The university is long overdue to correct this wrong. I call on the president’s office and the ITS to release a joint statement joining Pope Francis, 29 countries — including Canada, Greece and Italy — 48 U.S. states, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and many other institutions in recognizing the atrocities of 1915 as genocide.
Nareg Kuyumjian is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service.
Filipinos in Armenia urged to avoid political activity
PhilStar, The Philippines
Filipinos in Armenia urged to avoid political activity
France President on Armenian Genocide: We will never forget
News.am, Armenia
France President on Armenian Genocide: We will never forget France President on Armenian Genocide: We will never forget
10:32, 24.04.2018
Emmanuel Macron issued a message to President Armen Sarkissian of Armenia, on the 103rd anniversary of this tragedy.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday issued a message to President Armen Sarkissian of Armenia, on the 103rd anniversary of Armenian Genocide.
“We remember, at your side, April 24, 1915 in Constantinople and 600 Armenian intellectuals’ slaughter, which attests to the beginning of the first genocide of the 20th century,” the message reads, in particular. “We will never forget those killed men, the women and children who found their end on the roads of exile—from starvation, cold, and exhaustion.
“Back on May 25, 1915, France, together with Great Britain and Russia, had described these massacres as a crime against humanity and civilization.
“The recollection of genocide and the meaning of its lessons refer to each and every one of us.”