Category: 2020

BY RAFFI BEDROSYAN

The world recently witnessed how the Turkish state “reconquered” the 1500 year-old Byzantine holy church of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, by converting it from museum to mosque. The chief Turkish Islamic cleric held a long sword in his hand during the first opening prayers of Quran, symbolizing the power of the conqueror and signifying that anything conquered by sword belongs to the conqueror – all churches, buildings, possessions, women and children of the conquered people. If the conqueror allows a few of the conquered people to live, they are called the “Remnants of the Sword,” as I had explained in a previous article. None of the invited foreign dignitaries, more significantly, none of the Islamic country dignitaries attended the opening prayers. Yet, masses of Turkish people rushed to the church/museum/mosque, chanting “Allah-u akbar” in the streets, on buses or subway trains, as if they are literally conquering the church from the Christian enemy right now.

The Turkish state has always relied on manipulating the masses against a real or imagined enemy, based on nationalism in the past and now, combining it with religious fanaticism, creating a Turko-Islamic fascist racist society.

In the eastern provinces of Turkey, the real or imagined enemy has always been the Armenians, and even one hundred years after wiping out the Armenian population in eastern Turkey (Western Armenia), the hatred toward Armenians is kept alive by annual celebrations, organized by the central and local governments, of “liberating” every town or village from the dreaded Armenians.
These liberation celebrations have nothing to do with the 1915 Armenian Genocide operations, but rather, they are about the complicated events that took place in eastern Turkey during 1915-1920. In 1915-17, the Russian army advanced into eastern Turkey already emptied of its Armenian population, occupying many provinces including Van, Erzurum, Erzincan, Bitlis, Mush, Sivas. But with the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Russian military operations ceased and Russian soldiers started returning home, leaving the defence of the front and the vast occupied territories to a few Armenian detachments, headed by General Antranig Ozanian, assisted by Mourad and Torkom. The occupied territories were administrated by Trans Caucasus Comissariat with Armenian, Georgian and Azeri officials, with its capital in Erzurum. It was almost impossible to govern, resulting in complete chaos and confusion. Although the war ended in 1918, the Turkish armies were not disbanded and they started advancing eastward, liberating town after town while General Antranig, severely outnumbered, retreated in an orderly way, thereby providing safe passage to Armenia for several thousand Armenian civilians still alive in these towns. Turks took back Erzurum unopposed in March 1918, continued marching eastward taking other towns until May 1918, when Armenians defeated them at Sardarabad, securing the foundation for the new republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918. Unfortunately, the Turks started attacking Armenia again in 1920, taking more territories until Armenia became a Soviet republic in November 1920.

Liberation of Erzurum and all other towns in eastern Turkey are celebrated every year, with mandatory attendance by all schoolchildren, the parents, various officials and army commanders. In addition to fiery speeches, a theatrical performance is prepared by the government in every town, showing the Armenian occupying forces and the victory of the Turks over the Armenians. The Armenian soldiers and officers are invariably depicted wearing black uniforms with a white cross sewn on their back; they give each other Nazi-style salutes. The commanding Armenian officer is named Arshak Pasha; his sidekick assistant Kirkor brings the local Islamic cleric and young rebellious Turks to Arshak Pasha who beats and executes them, until the ‘heroic’ Turkish soldiers rush to the sound of guns and artillery, murdering or chasing the Armenians out of town. In the past years, the local municipality sanitation workers were ordered to play the role of Armenians, but after several of them were severely beaten up by excited local townsfolk as ‘traitors’, they refused to participate. Then the local governments started advertising to pay anyone who would be willing to play the role of Armenian soldiers; when no one volunteered fully aware that they will be rewarded with a beating, the pay was doubled and tripled. For the past few years, real actors are now hired to participate in these liberation events, with strict orders by the police to the audience not to beat up the actors playing the Armenian traitors at the end of the performances.

The videos show these annual “liberation” celebrations, from Erzurum (Garin) and Bayburt (Papert). No translation is necessary; just watch how Armenians are shown to be cruel, sadistic and despicable, while the Turks are innocent victims or heroic martyrs. Suffice it to say, these performances help brainwash generation after generation of Turks to hate the Armenians.

BY MICHAEL SOSIKIAN

The Lausanne treaty signed on July 24,1923, was a very limited treaty between the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Great Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Romania and Serb-Croatia-Slovenia to put and end to the conflict between them, (Conflict = “state of war between armed group”), while the Sèvres Peace Treaty was an international peace treaty which put an end to World War I. (War=”hostility between sovereign nations of governments”).

The Sèvres Peace Treaty was signed between high contracting parties: the Allied and Associated powers (Great Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Romania, Poland, Portugal, The Croat-Slovene State, Czecholovakia, Armenia, Dominion of Canada, Commonwealth of Austrlia, New Zealnd, India, South Africa and the representatives of the Ottoman Empire).

Since the Sèvres Peace Treaty was signed by High Contracting Parties, “the treaty is enforceable whether it is ratified or not” (according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969, Article 2-F)

On May 11, 1920 The Supreme Council of the Allied powers gave the draft of the peace treaty to the Ottoman Empire on behalf of the Allied Powers and associates. On July 22, 1920 Sultan Mehmed VI, the head of the Ottoman Empire, as legitimate ruler who represented the Ottoman Empire according to Article 3 of the Ottoman constitution, and having the vested power and authority to sign peace treaties according to Article 7 of the said constitution, means he (Ottoman Empire) accepted Article 89 of the peace treaty and signed, “ Turkey , Armenia as well as all the High Contracting Parties agree to submit to the arbitration of the President of the United States the question of the frontier to be determined between Turkey and Armenia in the Vilayets of Erzrum, Van, Bitlis and Trabizoned, and to accept his decision thereupon, as well as any stipulations he may prescribe as to access for Armenia to the sea, and as to the demilitarization of any portion of Turkish territory adjacent to the said frontier”. The acceptance of Article 89 and the submission to the arbitration means “compromise,” “ A formal document, executed in common by nations submitting a dispute to arbitration, that defines the matter at issue, the rules of procedure and the powers of the arbitral, and the principles for determining the award.”

President Woodrow Wilson, the arbitrator, issued his arbitration award on November 22, 1920 which included the determination of the frontier between Armenia and Turkey, and by which granted to Armenia 40,000 square miles of land from the regions of Bitlis, Van, Erzrum and Trabizon as an access to the Black sea.

Award was and will remain governed by International law; therefore the Lausanne treaty did not discuss the frontier between Armenian and Turkey, while the same treaty drew the frontier between Turkey and each of Bulgaria, Greece, Syria and Iraq “ articles 2 and 3”. However, because the Sèvres Peace Treaty and Lausanne treaty are successive treaties, “ the treaty where both Parties signed is the one that governs the mutual rights and obligation between the Parties ,” (Vienna convention of 1969 Article 30-b).

Although Lausanne treaty map includes territories as Turkish lands encompassing the vilayets of Bitlis, Van, Erzrum and Trabizoned (which is Armenian land as per the arbitration) , but it is not mentioned in the said treaty’s text, therefore that map is not valid according to Article 4 of the said treaty which states that “ In case of divergence between the text and the map, the text will prevail.”

In the Lausanne Treaty text there is no mention of Armenia and Turkish borders, because the border was drawn and issued by Woodrow Wilson by his arbitration award on November 22,1920 , and the said arbitration award was governed by International law, it is final and cannot be appealed.

http://asbarez.com/195742/sevres-treaty-supersedes-any-other-esepcially-lausanne/?fbclid=IwAR1Q7dO2MArJQ4nCyJTt2S3JZHnT_RTgA2PKN2eZ2cvA1TKJvMVMTylP3dg

If you want the full text in English of a number of relevant treaties, please visit:

Yerevan Says Baku Will be Held Responsible for Further Provocations

A soldier of the Armenian Armed Forces was killed in the early hours of Monday by Azerbaijani sniper fire at the northeastern section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry reported that Ashot Mikayelyan was killed at around 1:10 a.m. local time Monday when Azerbaijani forces used sniper fire against Armenia.

Mikaeyelyan is the the sixth soldier who has been killed since Azerbaijan launched a brazen attack on civilian and military targets in Armenia’s Tavush Province on July 12.

Last week, 19-year-old private Artur Muradyan, who was severely injured during the heavy fighting in the week of July 12, died. Armenia’s Defense Ministry had reported the deaths of Major Garush Hambardzumyan, Captain Sos Elbakyan and privates Smbat Gabrielyan and Grisha Matevosyan a week earlier.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry was quick to condemn Azerbaijan’s continued provocations at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, saying Baku was undermining the efforts of international mediators who are attempting to de-escalate tensions.

“It should be stressed that Azerbaijan resorted to this provocation a few days after a statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, which specifically emphasized the importance of strictly adhering to the ceasefire and refraining from provocative actions in this period,” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said Monday.

“At the same time, Azerbaijan announced joint large-scale military exercises to be held with Turkey. This demonstrates that the leadership of Azerbaijan, through its provocative actions, is undermining the efforts of the international mediators aimed at de-escalating the situation and resuming the peace process, thus bearing the responsibility for the consequences of further destabilization,” emphasized Naghdalyan.

“Azerbaijan should publicly renounce the use of force, abandon its maximalist approaches, and take credible steps to strengthen the ceasefire, which will make possible the resumption and advancement of the peace process,” added Naghdalyan.

On July 26 and 27, 1994, the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen, signed a document, in which they confirmed their strong determination to continue to fulfill their commitment under the ceasefire agreement, which ended the Artsakh War on May 12, 1994.

This trilateral document, as well as the agreement of May 12, 1994 and the agreement of February 6, 1995 on strengthening the ceasefire created the required conditions for finding a settlement to the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict through negotiations, and they serve as a basis for the peace process so far.

“Being the key elements of the process of not only settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict, but also for ensuring regional security in the South Caucasus as a whole, these agreements are the best evidence of the efficiency of the trilateral negotiation format, within which they became possible,” Artsakh’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

“Unfortunately, we periodically witness attempts by Azerbaijan to relinquish its commitments to maintain peace in the region and to endow itself with an imaginary right to unleash war, as well as to undermine the agreements that serve as the basis for the peaceful settlement process. However, such attempts always have been met with a sharp negative reaction from the international community,” added the ministry.

“In 2016, in response to the situation that arose as a result of a new war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and the attempts by official Baku to denounce the Agreement on the full cessation of fire and hostilities of May 12, 1994, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states – Russia, the United States and France—as well as the Secretary General of the United Nations, the OCSE Chairperson-in-Office and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe called for the strict adherence to the commitments to maintain the ceasefire, thereby recognizing the binding nature of the aforementioned agreements of 1994-1995,” explained the Artsakh Foreign Ministry.

Against the backdrop of Azerbaijan’s direct armed aggression unleashed on the Tavush section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on July 12, 2020 and the subsequent targeted escalation of the situation, Artsakh’s Foreign Ministry stressed the need for the international community to take practical measures to ensure the irreversibility of the peace process and to exclude the possibility of resumption of the hostilities becomes increasingly urgent. The escalation of tensions on July 12 serves as yet another reminder of the imperative nature of the immediate establishment of mechanisms for the international ceasefire control.

“The Republic of Artsakh reaffirms its adherence to the commitments assumed to fulfill the agreements on the full cessation of fire and hostilities. At the same time, the authorities of Artsakh will continue to take all necessary measures to strengthen the country’s security, and they are ready to eliminate any attempt by Azerbaijan to launch a new aggression against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Artsakh,” the Artsakh Foreign Ministry stated.