Category: 2020

Turkey on Thursday condemned a resolution adopted on May 20 by the senate of Czechia’s Parliament regarding the 1915 events.

“The fact that the decision was taken in an environment with few members in the senate at a time when the whole world was struggling with the coronavirus pandemic reveals the insidious mentality behind it,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said, “It is not possible to impose more than a historical discussion on the events of 1915, as determined by Articles 173 and 231 of the 2015 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which was repeated by a second decision in 2017.”

“Attempts to define a historical issue in the interests of politics and certain groups are unacceptable,” it said.

“We call on those who want to present a one-sided view of history to consider President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter that expresses an understanding of sharing the common grief sent to Turkey’s Armenian Patriarch on the occasion of April 24.

“We invite the Czech Parliament to respect the provisions of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, international court decisions and the historical and current sources of international law,” it said.

It noted that Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said the decision does not reflect the attitude of the Czech government.

Turkey objects to presenting the 1915 incidents as “genocide,” rather calling them a tragedy in which both Turks and Armenians suffered casualties in the heat of World War I.

Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with the invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to examine the issue.

In celebration of the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Independence and the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia, the Armenian Youth Federation of Western United States, Eastern United States, and Canada will host a virtual event which will be broadcast live on May 28.

The virtual event will premiere on Facebook Live and YouTube Live, giving the Armenian community from North-America’s the three regions an opportunity to unite for an evening of celebratory messages from each AYF region, and cultural performances from AYF members and renowned Armenian artists. The event will debut at 6:00 PM (PST), and 9:00 PM (EST) on the social media platforms of each AYF region.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of countless events, the Central Executives of the three AYF regions cohesively merged efforts to construct a virtual commemoration of the independence of the First Republic of Armenia despite the reality we are faced with; we cannot allow this day to go uncelebrated—whether we gather at an Armenian Center or virtually from the comfort of our homes on Facebook Live.

The victory achieved on May 28, 1918, will forever be regarded as one of the most important events in the history and in the collective psyche of the Armenian nation—without which an independent Armenia, a free and autonomous Artsakh, and a place we can all truly call home would not have been possible. After six-hundred years of oppression and foreign subjugation, our forefathers rose from the ashes of genocide and reclaimed what was rightfully ours; it is for that reason why we are still here today. It is our duty as the children of these heroes to continue to recognize and celebrate this day, each and every year, to carry on the torch and to honor their ultimate sacrifice in whatever way we can.

Founded in 1933, the Armenian Youth Federation has been the largest and most influential Armenian American youth organization; with chapters and affiliated organizations around the world. Inspired by our past and motivated by the needs of the future, the AYF actively strives to advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of all Armenian youth.

Azerbaijani special forces suffered losses on Friday when their attempt to attack a military base in Artsakh was thwarted by Artsakh soldiers, the Artsakh Defense Ministry reported.

“The elite units of the Defense Army immediately detected the advancement of the Azerbaijani special forces and repelled them back to their starting positions by inflicting losses. The Defense Army did not sustain losses during the firefight,” the Artsakh military said in a statement.

“The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Artsakh calls on the Azerbaijani side to refrain from the futile tactics of artificially escalating the situation. Otherwise, the Azerbaijani side will bear the entire responsibility of the tension created at the frontline,” added the military.

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

After months of dillydallying, the United States finally went on record, through its envoy in Armenia, Lynne Tracy, to announce that it was suspending life-saving humanitarian aid for Artsakh de-mining efforts and channeling those funds toward the opaque concept of “preparing populations for peace,” which in Karabakh conflict mediation parlance means forcing a generally pro-Azerbaijani concept down the throats of Armenians in Artsakh, Armenia and around the world.

“We are very proud of the work that we supported through the de-mining program to help in a humanitarian way the people of Nagorno Karabakh. We think the investment of $17 million dollars over nearly the past 20 years [only a fraction of the $4 million annual aid Congress has allocated for Artsakh over the years] has been extremely successful,” said Tracy on Thursday during a Facebook Live chat in response to a question from the audience.

Then she declared: “And so what we are starting to look at now as the de-mining—our involvement in the de-mining – has concluded is to turn to another area—preparing populations for peace, which is in support of the work of the Minsk Group, to see what kind of activities we can conduct in this space to help toward that goal of achieving a lasting peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

This means that our hard-earned tax dollars will now go toward causing injury or possible death of innocent civilians in Artsakh, a fraction of whom were actually engaged in the daily de-mining efforts carried out by The HALO Trust.

Instead, we, as Americans, will be paying for the nebulous concept of “preparing populations for peace,” in a climate where despite a call for a global cease-fire during the COVID-19 crisis, the Azerbaijani armed forces have not only not ceased their attacks on Artsakh military targets, but have continuously shelled civilian ones in Armenia, injuring soldiers, children and causing damage to property. At the same time, our tax dollars also will be spent on a $100 million increase in U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, a fact omitted by Tracy during her presentation.

Of course, Ambassador Tracy, as a representative of a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group, had no words of condemnation toward official Baku, which at the time of the Facebook Live presentation, was wrapping up a four-day large-scale military exercises—war games—amassing heavy military equipment on its border with Artsakh and Armenia. On Monday, the Eurasia Daily Monitor reported that the official YouTube channel of Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry featured a video showing Turkish-manufactured multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) stationed on the border of Armenia and Nakhichevan.

Why should that surprise anyone? Successive administrations have paraded a slew of diplomats with dubious ties to Turkish, Azerbaijani and Russian interests as the U.S. co-chairs of the Minsk Group. Matthew Bryza, James Warlick and Richard Hoagland come to mind as disgraceful representatives Washington appointed to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Since the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, representing the U.S., France and Russia, took over the mediation of the Karabakh conflict settlement almost three decades ago, the “principles” or the proposals based on which the negotiations have advanced, all have aimed at cornering—or bullying—Armenia to make concessions, while Azerbaijan has fine-tuned a strategy of military build-up and rhetoric that saw its president, Ilham Aliyev, claiming on numerous occasions that Yerevan was part of historic Azerbaijan—a country that doesn’t appear on any map of the world until 1918.

This brings us to the extremely dangerous—and rather absurd—“Madrid Principles,” based on which the Karabakh talks have been taking place for the better part of a decade and a half. These principles call for among other provisions the “return of territories” to Azerbaijan; the return of “displaced” Azerbaijanis to their homes in Artsakh-proper; “preparing populations for peace”; and (time permitting) a determination of a status for Artsakh. (Incidentally, this is the very solution official Ankara was calling for as a pre-condition to signing the even more dangerous Turkey-Armenia Protocols). All of these provisions ignore the free will of the people of Artsakh.

At the time the sides agreed to use the “Madrid Principles” as a basis for the Karabakh settlement talks. Since then, however, we have seen that this formula simply doesn’t work. Not only does it not work, it provides the co-chairing entities—U.S., Russia, Europe—with ammunition to advance their regional agendas, most often knowing full-well that by doing so they will be sowing domestic instability, which again is preferable for these powers to push their plans forward.

Since the introduction of the Madrid Principles, Azerbaijan has paraded the ax-murderer Ramil Safarov as a national hero; has continually violated the cease-fire agreement resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Armenian soldiers; and staged a full-throttle attack on Artsakh in April 2016, the ramifications of which are still felt on the ground every day. Azerbaijan has also bolstered its military by upping its defense spending. The $100 million the U.S. is allocating for military assistance to Azerbaijan dwarfs in comparison to the $5 billion Baku is spending to acquire arms from Israel.

This September, Artsakh will mark the 28th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Despite all our war and daily military threats, the people and authorities of Artsakh, with the engagement of all Armenians around the world, have adopted and strengthened democracy in Artsakh (without any financial assistance by the U.S.), the most recent example of which were the presidential and parliamentary elections that saw the inauguration of a new president and a convening of a new National Assembly on Wednesday.

Artsakh was liberated—fair and square—by our fellow Armenians who sacrificed their lives for the homeland. Today, the Artsakh borders are being protected by a new generation of soldiers, some of whom are the same age as those here who are upset that their high school graduation has been interrupted by COVID-19. These soldiers told me when I visited the border post in Talish, Artsakh a few years back that they were born on that soil and they will die for it and on it. One of them might have been Taron Poghosyan, the unlucky soldier who died a few weeks back because he stepped on a mine.

I am prepared for peace. Aren’t you?