Category: 2020

1 –        Turmoil in Turkey on Letter by Gulen
            Recognizing the Armenian Genocide
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         Armenia extends State of Emergency, tightens social distancing codes
3 –        Surp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Church Vandalized in Turkey
4-         Robertson: UK Foreign Office privately admitted
            1915 massacre of Armenians was genocide
5-         Edman Ayvazian: A tribute to the Armenian-Iranian artist

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1 –        Turmoil in Turkey on Letter by Gulen

            Recognizing the Armenian Genocide

            By Harut Sassounian

            Publisher, The California Courier

            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

A major controversy erupted in Turkey last week after a pro-Erdogan
Turkish Islamist magazine “Gercek Hayat” (Real Life) claimed that the
controversial Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen had written a letter on May
6, 1965 acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The letter is included in
a special 176-page edition of the magazine which belongs to the
editorial group of the pro-government newspaper “Yeni Safak,” owned by
the family of the Turkish president’s son-in-law.

Gercek Hayat’s article also accused of collaborating with Gulen, the
Chief Rabbi of Istanbul Isahak Kahleva, Greek Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomew, former Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Shnorhk Kaloustian,
the CIA, NATO, Zionists, Hillary Clinton, Pope John Paul II, and
former Turkish leaders Ismet Inonu, Bulent Ecevit and Suleyman
Demirel.

Gulen escaped to the United States in 1999. Later on, he and President
Erdogan became antagonists after a lengthy collaboration during which
Erdogan had used Gulen’s contacts and resources to come to power. In
2016, after the attempted coup d’état in Turkey, Erdogan accused Gulen
of being the mastermind of the coup. Erdogan jailed and fired tens of
thousands of Gulen’s followers. Since then Erdogan has made repeated
requests to the U.S. Government to have Gulen extradited to Turkey,
where he faces certain death. The United States rejected Erdogan’s
requests. Even those accused of associating with Gulen, who were
living outside of Turkey, were kidnapped by Erdogan’s secret agents
and brought back to Turkey to face harsh charges.

Under these circumstances, when a pro-Erdogan magazine accused the
leaders of religious minorities and others in Turkey of associating
with Gulen, they became rightly concerned about their physical
well-being and possible attacks on their religious and cultural
institutions.

Regarding Gulen’s letter, published by the Turkish magazine, addressed
to the former Armenian Patriarch, it has been published several times
before by the Turkish media.

Here are excerpts of Gulen’s May 6, 1965 letter: “I have known
Armenian families and individuals during my childhood and working
positions. I will not stop cursing the Great Genocide committed
against Armenians in 1915. I know that among the people killed and
massacred were many highly respected individuals, for whose memory I
bow with respect. I curse with great grief the massacre of the sons of
the Great Prophet Christ by ignorant individuals who call themselves
Muslims.”

The Turkish magazine reported that in response Shnorhk Patriarch
thanked Gulen, stating that the country needs preachers like him: “We
believe that the fraternal ties will remain intact in our sacred
country where there are valuable and fair-minded preachers like you.”

Gulen’s purported 1965 letter is typed on a paper that appears
yellowish, making it look authentic. In 2013, while in the U.S., Gulen
issued another statement which said: “The Ittihadists committed the
wrong policy. It is up to us to correct the wrong policy of the
Ittihadists. That is why we should be in a very good dialog with
Armenians and other nations. For the sake of a dialog, we should use
every opportunity in the best possible way.”

The good news is that the religious leaders of minority communities in
Turkey had the courage to harshly criticize the Turkish magazine. The
Armenian Patriarchate issued a statement in which it “regretted the
false accusations against Shnorhk Patriarch. Such writings under the
umbrella of freedom of the press cause pain to us and can lead to
horrible consequences. These falsehoods are worrisome to the Armenian
Patriarchate of Turkey and the Armenian community. Racist
manifestations, as elsewhere, also seen in this country, make it
impossible to escape from their consequences…. Such baseless
mud-slinging is unacceptable to us. We believe that the relevant
authorities will stop this injustice and hope that the rules will be
enforced, taking the necessary steps against the authors.”

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate also condemned the Turkish magazine
calling the published information “completely false and biased…. The
publication of these claims cause distress among Christians, Jews and
Muslims and are particularly serious and irresponsible, because they
undermine the unity of our people…. Such information is extremely
dangerous and could be the cause of dangerous acts of racism and
intolerance. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew feels very bitter
and resentful for the accusations that have been made against him,
despite his efforts for the good of our country.”

The Jewish community in Istanbul also criticized the Turkish magazine:
“We condemn the discrimination and provocation caused by these
publications, with baseless accusations against our Chief Rabbi. These
hate publications are damaging Turkey. For our part, we hope for an
immediate restoration of the truth against these publications of
hate—through correct information and legal means—as they influence our
Turkey, of which we are an integral part.”

Meanwhile, the Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament, Garo Paylan,
referred the controversy to the Parliament by writing to the Vice
President of the country, Fuat Oktay: “Can’t the expressions of hatred
used periodically by the news media close to the Turkish President
result in crimes based on hatred?”

I would like to conclude with three key points:

1) Fethullah Gulen was the ally of Erdogan before the latter asserted
his dictatorial powers. The publications close to Erdogan, rather than
blaming the leaders of minority religions and others, should first of
all blame Erdogan for his long years of association with Gulen.

2) If Gulen’s letter is authentic, he has done nothing wrong. He has
simply acknowledged the truth about the Armenian Genocide. Erdogan is
the one to be blamed for lying about the Armenian Genocide.

3) The minority communities in Turkey are terrified by the article in
the Turkish magazine because they know that there are plenty of
extremists in Turkey who will resort to horrible acts of violence
against Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Jews and Kurds. Their fear is
justified. These minority community leaders should be commended for
boldly speaking out against the threatening article in the Turkish
magazine.

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2-         Armenia extends State of Emergency, tightens social distancing codes

            By Raffi Elliott

YEREVAN— Coronavirus cases in Armenia have grown to 4,823, the
republic’s Health Ministry reported (as of the publication of The
California Courier on May 18). There are 2,718 active cases; 2,019
have recovered. A total of 61 people have died of the coronavirus in
Armenia since the start of the pandemic. On May 14, following the
Government’s decision to extend the State of Emergency (SOE) for one
more month (until 5 p.m. on June 13), the National Assembly held a
special session to discuss the decision. Tigran Avinyan, the Warden of
the Special Commission, noted that in March and April, when
restrictions on movement and economic activities were in place, the
number of confirmed cases remained quite consistent. That changed in
the beginning of May, when some of the restrictions were lifted and
the testing capacity increased.

Avinyan presented the strategy moving forward. According to him, as of
May 18: Public transportation will being operating; Kindergartens and
preschools will reopen; all restaurants/cafes will be able to serve
customers in their indoor seating areas; all retail outlets will
reopen.

As of May 18, wearing masks outdoors and indoors and on public
transport will be mandatory; all those violating this regulation will
be fined by police. Avinyan also said that parliamentarians and
government members will also be required to wear masks to serve as an
example to citizens.

Avinyan also said that a third flight bringing medical supplies and
equipment from China is being organized. The flight is being realized
by Armenia’s Ministry of Defense through the efforts of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.

Regular flights from Russia will resume on May 15, allowing Armenian
citizens to return. Since March 13, more than 2,000 citizens have
returned from Russia thanks to the government’s efforts.

On May 14, Suren Papikyan, the Minister of Territorial Administration
and Infrastructure and Arsen Torosyan, the Minister of Health, were
tested for COVID-19 and the results came back negative. In a Facebook
post, Torosyan said that he has no complaints and he will further
minimize his personal contact so as not to put anyone at risk.
Papikyan is in self-isolation and will continue working remotely.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told viewers in a Facebook Live
broadcast on May 13 that the latest figures demonstrate that “the
dangers of this virus seem to have dropped out of public interest” as
citizen compliance with social distancing guidelines remains sporadic.

The Prime Minister defended his government’s decision to begin the
process of phased loosening of civil and economic restrictions as
necessary for avoiding a recession and concomitant social anxiety, as
new infections are projected to continue until a vaccine becomes
widely available in the coming months. Economic activities in some key
export-oriented industries resumed on April 15 following nearly three
weeks of visible slowdown in the infection rates since the strict
stay-home rules were announced on March 24. By then, Armenia had
recorded a higher rate of recoveries (54) than new cases (28) for the
first time since the crisis began—a milestone upon which most other
countries have set conditions to loosen restrictions.

However, in the following weeks, the rate of new infections continued
to creep steadily upwards. Since the second phase of restrictions was
relaxed on May 4, the infection rate has leveled out somewhat at an
average of 133 daily cases, while the average recovery rate over the
same period was 47. This phenomenon mirrors that of several other
countries, including Germany and South Korea, which having
successfully “flattened the curve” are now witnessing an uptick in
infection rates immediately after loosening movement restrictions.

Some have blamed these figures on uneven enforcement of the lockdown
as well as a general disregard for social distancing convention by
many among the public and several businesses. Epidemiologist Hasmik
Ghazinyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that supermarkets are
partially to blame for their refusal to abide by the Health Ministry’s
guidelines or regularly disinfecting the premises.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the public needed to take this
responsibility seriously by respecting social distancing rules and
maintaining basic hygiene (a statement which was met by accusations of
“passing the buck” by some critics). “By following the three simple
rules of social distancing—wearing masks when speaking to strangers in
confined spaces, avoiding touching the face and disinfecting tools
before use,” Pashinyan told viewers, “you could help stem the tide of
infection and avoid the need for yet another round of lockdowns.” He
also retorted that no amount of police enforcement would succeed if
the people didn’t appreciate the need of adapting social behavior to
the realities of the pandemic.

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan said earlier that despite the worrisome
trend, the healthcare system remains capable of caring for all
infected patients, whether they require hospitalization or show no
symptoms at all. But during a weekend visit to the Saint Gregory the
Illuminator Medical Center, he noted the lack of vacancies in the
intensive care unit. A total of 1,500 ICU beds has been made available
throughout the country with room for an additional 3,500 in other
wards or converted hotels. That’s up from 350 beds in March when the
pandemic first reached Armenia. A little over half this capacity is
currently being occupied by 2,149 patients, while 1,500 patients have
already been discharged. The virus has claimed the lives of 48 out of
the 3,718 total cases registered in the country so far.

Pashinyan later live-streamed himself walking through the streets of
the Armenian capital surrounded by his security detail (all of whom
were wearing masks and gloves) exchanging pleasantries with passers-by
and inspecting local businesses for compliance. Addressing nearly
10-thousand live viewers, the Prime Minister warned that conspiracy
theories questioning the lethality of the pandemic and a false sense
of security stemming from Armenia’s relatively low number of cases
have led many to unwisely disregard social distancing protocols.
“Please try to keep a two meter (6 feet) minimum distance, brother,”
he told an enthusiastic onlooker. “God forbid, you accidentally catch
something and then infect an older loved one,” he said.

This article appeared in The Armenian Weekly on May 13, 2020.

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3 –  Surp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Church Vandalized in Turkey

The Surp Asdvadzadzin (St. Mary) Church in Istanbul was vandalized
late last week when an arson attempt was made to try to burn the
church down. The Istanbul Patriachate issued a statement last week
saying that an individual set fire to the church in an attempted arson
attack calling a hate crime.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing
the People’s Democratic Party—or HDP—called on Turkey’s Parliament to
investigate the incident and addressed an inquiry to the country’s
interior ministry,

In his complaint, Paylan cited Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s May 4 speech, in which he called the use of the word
“remnants of the sword” as derogatory to Armenians.

Paylan asked whether the use of the phrase by Erdogan enflamed the
attack on the church.

In a speech on May 4. Erdogan said:“Although they are now very few in
numbers, we don’t let the pursuit of terrorists that are remnants of
the sword…”

“On May 8, a hate crime was committed against the Armenian Church in
Bakirkoy, Istanbul when its gate was set on fire. It has been reported
in the press that after the suspect who launched the hate attack was
caught, he said, ‘I burned it because they caused the coronavirus—the
plague.’”

“Recurring hate attacks are recently launched against churches in
Bakirkoy and other districts. Discriminatory remarks and hate speech
were written on the walls of places of worship. There were attempted
armed attacks,” Paylan said in his complaint.

Paylan called on the the Turkey’s interior minister to say whether the
Erdogan’s inflammatory speech was what prompted the perpetrator to
attack the Armenian church.

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4-         Robertson: UK Foreign Office privately admitted

            1915 massacre of Armenians was genocide

(Public Radio of Armenia)—The UK Foreign Office has privately admitted
that the 1915 massacre of Armenians was genocide, but they cannot say
so, Geoffrey Robertson, a distinguished human rights barrister,
academic, author, and broadcaster said in an interview with the
Harvard Political Review.

In his book “An Inconvenient Genocide” Robertson suggests that proving
that this was an act of genocide is “inconvenient” for the world.
Because, he says, “in this case, Turkey is “neuralgic” — the word that
the British Foreign Office used to describe it in some secret
memoranda I obtained under our Freedom of Information Act.”

“The Foreign Office privately admitted that it was genocide, but they
could not say so because Turkey would take diplomatic and economic
reprisals. Turkey is a NATO member of great strategic importance, and
for that reason, the U.S. government cannot admit the truth either,”
the barrister told the Harvard Political Review.

“President Obama always said that he would call it a genocide, but he
quailed when he became president and called it “Medz Yeghern” — an
Armenian phrase which means a great catastrophe. Donald Trump, for all
his bravado, dare not speak the truth either by calling it “genocide.”
Turkey is too strategically important, and its neuralgia must not be
stoked by honest description of its history,” Robertson said.

In 2015 Geoffrey Robertson and Amal Clooney represented the Armenian
Government at the European Court of Human Rights in Perincek vs.
Switzerland case.

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5-         Edman Ayvazian: A tribute to the Armenian-Iranian artist

            By Razmig Bedirian

There is something almost chemical about Edman Ayvazian’s landscapes.

The green color of his hills has a phosphoric glow to it, and the sky
that hangs over his mountains are lit fluorescent blue.

The paintings border on the abstract, with a few hand-picked details
grounding them as natural scenes—a couple of crisp blades of grass, a
lone house on a hill, or a particularly detailed face of a mountain.

You would be hard-pressed to find the original inspiration for these
landscapes. They could be inspired by the mountains of Iran or the
hills in the Armenian countryside, both countries that Ayvazian had
roots in.

The painter—who died aged 89 late last month from Covid19-related
causes—left few clues about where the real-life locations of his
landscapes were. Some of his work clearly indicates the scenery
inspiration—such as the painting titled Gilan, named after the Iranian
province—but most are cryptically named.

Perhaps because Ayvazian knew that the landscapes of his homes could
not be found anywhere other than in memory, after years of travelling
and living abroad. But, this is merely conjecture.

One basis for my reasoning is that Ayvazian’s marine paintings have
titles that clearly indicate their location. There are paintings that
show the moored boats of Maldon, an English town on the Blackwater
Estuary, or beach-goers in the shadow of a pier in Santa Monica,
California.

These paintings touch upon realism much more than his phosphoric
landscapes. The colours in them are nowhere near as fantastical. The
scenes are presented in high detail, the figures in them, clear and
crisp: the water shimmers with a photographic representation.

Maybe it is because Ayvazian actually stood in front of these places
as he painted, and had a scene to refer to.

There are a few pictures of him online that show him by the beach,
standing behind an easel, brush in hand.

Maybe, for his landscapes rather than seascapes, he had to refer to
memory, painting through the wistful lens of nostalgia.

Ayvazian’s works can be found in museums around the world, including
Armenia, England, Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine. His Thuluth and Kufic
calligraphic designs have decorated the interiors of several mosques
in Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He also designed the interiors of
Armenian churches in Iran and Europe.

Little is publicly known about the man himself, beyond a biographical
broad stroke.

He was born in Tehran in 1931 into an Armenian family, and began
painting at the age of 13. As a young artist, he participated in group
exhibitions and solo shows that explored Iran’s vast country on
canvas. He travelled to Europe and, in 1971, moved to London via Rome,
where he studied at the Academy of Arts.

“In my formative years I studied Persian art at Isfahan, a cradle of
Islamic art and design,” Ayvazian wrote on his website. “I designed a
250-metre calligraphy frieze, which was installed in Riyadh Airport in
1985. More recently, I was commissioned to design a 50-metre mural for
the King Abdulaziz National Museum, Riyadh.

In 2002, Ayvazian joined the Wapping Group of Artists. The collective
was founded in 1946 with the aim of recording the busy life of
London’s arterial river. They met every Wednesday between April and
September to paint the Thames and the land on either side of it.

On his website, Ayvazian wrote he felt very much at home with the
group and in “the company of like-minded painters, who are dedicated
to recording the essence of the Thames and the human activity that
this great river supports on its banks.”

Ayvazian was not a fan of selling his artwork. He preferred his pieces
to be hung in people’s homes as opposed to in the galleries of art
collectors.

During the 2016 opening of one of his last exhibitions, Colours of the
Homeland, at the Niavaran Cultural Centre in Tehran, he said: “Selling
an artwork is like selling one’s own child. I am financially secure
and therefore I prefer my works to be hung on the walls of houses.
That way instead of having to dust my paintings, other people do the
dusting.”

However, he believed that art exhibitions could help forge connections
between an artist and their audience, saying they presented an
opportunity for artists to learn from people in ways they could not if
they were isolated.

“When you hold an exhibition, you can find your way to people’s hearts
and there is no place where you can hide something there,” he said.

Besides his landscape and marine works, Ayvazian was also a skilled
portrait painter.

He frequently painted members of the Saudi royal family. One of his
paintings of King Abdulaziz Al Saud shows the monarch sitting barefoot
in his office with a child on his lap. The painting is perhaps the
most intimate portrait of the founder of Saudi Arabia that I have ever
seen, showing him more as a family man than a monarch.

Admittedly, I did not know much about Ayvazian before his death. A few
years ago, I saw his portrait of Aram Khachaturian – who Ayvazian met
and painted in 1977 – while visiting the Armenian composer’s
house-museum in Yerevan.

The portrait is stunning, it faithfully captures the Sabre Dance
composer’s feverish conducting style with minute scratch-like lines.
It shows the conductor with his hands high up in the air, his ghostly
hair slicked back and a subtle frown on his face that will make you
think someone in the orchestra was not playing on time, or was
slightly out of tune.

That portrait of Khachaturian is the only one of Ayvazian’s works I
have so far seen in person.

Had the artist’s death not been announced by Iranian media on March
25, I probably would not have scoured the web to find more information
on him.

As stunning as Ayvazian’s portrait work and marine paintings are, it
is his brightly coloured landscapes that drew me to him most, and had
me regretting that I had not stumbled on more of his works earlier.

Death is, perhaps, the greatest publicist.

This article appeared in The National, UAE on April 9, 2020.

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