Armenian Mirror Spectator Nov. 4, 2021 BERLIN (Combined Sources) — Dogan Akhanli, a fighter for human rights in Turkey and worldwide, and an active proponent of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide died on October 31 from lung cancer. He was 64. In 2018, he was awarded the European Tolerance Prize for Democracy and Human Rights. In 2019, he received the Goethe Medal of the Goethe-Institut for his courage to “assert himself with artistic and journalistic works against political, religious or social resistance”, as the laudatory speech states. Akhanli was born in 1957 in southeastern Turkey, in the province of Artvin near the Georgian border. At the age of 12, he was sent to a school in Istanbul. He studied history and pedagogy, became politically active and later joined the banned Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP). After the military coup in 1980, he went underground. In May 1985, he, his wife and his 16-month-old son were arrested. For two years he was incarcerated in the military prison of Istanbul, while his wife and child were released after one year. In 1992, Akhanli fled Turkey and was granted political asylum in Germany, eventually settling in Cologne. Turkey revoked his citizenship because of his stance on military service. Akhanli began writing in exile in Germany. “Here I found the peace to think about everything I experienced,” he recalls in a conversation at the time. “My wife and I were tortured, our child had to watch. We were injured people when we arrived here. But I did not want to accept these injustices that were done to me, to my family and to society as a whole. I used writing as my weapon. That was the only thing I could do. That was my way of raising my voice and resisting,” he said. In his writings, Akhanli dealt with violence. But not only with the violence he personally experienced, but also with the violence against women, against minorities and with historical violence, the genocide of the Armenians as well as with the Holocaust. Four of his novels have been translated into German. Most recently Madonna’s Last Dream, a search for clues in the Nazi era. “Through writing, I can deal with historical violence in a literary way. For me, writing is a tool with which I want to solve social antagonisms and struggles,” said Akhanli. Akhanli said the Turkish regime had embraced violence as a means of rule. He said this lay at the root of its denial of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and of its handling of Kurdish separatism. He also said the regime’s nationalist ideology created a dangerous environment. He recalled that Turkish generals “publicly threatened” Hrant Dink, a journalist, in 2007 prior to Dink’s murder by a nationalist fanatic. “Under the Erdogan government, the history of violence is not just a story. It is not passive. It is killing people before our very eyes,” he said, referring to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He said Erdogan’s mass arrests of people accused of sympathizing with last year’s failed coup, such as Ahmet Sik, another journalist, were part of the same pattern. “Especially after the failed coup attempt, the violation of human rights and the restriction of freedom of expression have increased sharply,” Akhanli observed. Writers and journalists are particularly affected. “Violence concerns everyone,” Akhanli was convinced, even if it happens in a remote part of the world and is not experienced directly. Because sooner or later anyone can be made a target. “This violence is arbitrary. This was as true for the Jews in Europe as it was for the Armenian genocide. These people were killed by the arbitrary exercise of power.” In order for the past not to repeat itself, these genocides of the 20th century must be dealt with again and again, according to Akhanli. To this end, he is also involved in civil society, for example in the project Flight-Exile-Persecution. Repeated Arrests Again and again he was targeted by the Turkish state. When he wanted to visit his sick father in Turkey in 2010, he was arrested upon his arrival on trumped up charges of being involved in a robbery in 1989. Again he was in custody for several months. In 2017, there is another arrest. During his holiday in Granada, the Spanish police temporarily arrested him in his hotel room on the basis of an Interpol request from Turkey. German politicians as well as the international writers’ association PEN, of which Akhanli was a member, considered the arrests to be politically motivated. After the intervention of German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel he was set free, but he was not allowed to leave Madrid until the court mulled the Turkish extradition request. German chancellor Angela Merkel sharply criticized the Turkish government because of abusing the international institution Interpol. “Turkish power cannot forgive me because I questioned the basic problems of Turkey,” he told the EU Observer then. The writer said his novels had not made him a celebrity. “I’m not a best-seller,” he said. But he said that “Turkish persecution makes me more known year by year and makes my words bigger. It is actually a very stupid policy.” He said Turkey’s latest attempt to deprive him of his freedom had inspired him to write a new book. “I’m trying to write a report about my political-literary journey into the Turkish past, which is also my own past,” he told this website from Spain. “I will take a very subjective view of my unfinished persecution, but I will also reflect on how to deal with the history of violence in German, Spanish, and Turkish society,” he said. (The Mirror-Spectator’s German-based correspondent, Muriel Mirak-Weissbach frequently covered his activities. ( , , ) The current German PEN President Deniz Yücel wrote, “As President, I mourn the loss of the member of the German PEN, as a reader for a great writer, as a companion for a fighter for human rights, peace and the reappraisal of the crimes against the Armenians.” (A column from Deutsche Welle written by Ceyda Nurtsch as well as a piece from the EU Observer were used to compile this report.)
Category: 2021
Funding for ministry of labor and social affairs to increase over 15% in 2022
10:23, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. The budget of the Armenian ministry of labor and social affairs will increase by more than 15% in 2022, comprising 580 billion drams, Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan said at the joint session of the parliamentary standing committees dedicated to the debate of the 2022 state budget draft.
“According to the state budget draft, the total funding for the ministry of labor and social affairs, according to the structures responsible for our budget, is the direction involving the largest funding volume”, the minister said.
He considered this normal, as he stated that all issues of social significance which are being solved by this ministry are among the most important ones both in their scale and significance.
The ministry is going to implement 16 projects which involve 93 measures.
“580 billion dram funding is envisaged by the 2022 budget draft. In 2021 this funding was 503 billion 670 million drams, the increase is 15.1%”, the minister added.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Biden requests Armenia at Summit for Democracy, Azerbaijan and Turkey not invited
11:11, 5 November, 2021
WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. U.S. President Joe Biden did not invite either Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to his upcoming Summit for Democracy.
The list of invited governments has not been made public, although POLITICO managed to obtain it.
Armenia is among the invitees.
The Armenian National Committee of America called Biden’s decision not to invite Erdogan and Aliyev “a sharp but unsurprising rebuke to Azerbaijan’s petro-monarchy and Turkey’s neo-Ottoman dictatorship.”
On December 9-10, 2021, President Biden will host the first of two Summits for Democracy, which will bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action, the U.S. State Department said.
Editing by Stepan Kocharyan
COVID-19: Armenia reports 1835 new cases, 50 deaths in one day
11:22, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. 1835 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 316,839, the ministry of healthcare reports.
11,553 COVID-19 tests were conducted on November 4.
1987 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 276,865.
The death toll has risen to 6582 (50 death cases have been registered in the past one day).
The number of active cases is 32,069.
The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 but died from other disease has reached 1323.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Senator Menendez introduces amendment to revoke US presidential waiver of Section 907 restrictions on aid to Azerbaijan
11:37, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a powerful amendment that would end U.S. presidential waiver authority of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, an Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) -backed measure that would effectively block U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan.
The amendment (#4177) is one of three amendments to the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that deals with U.S. aid to Azerbaijan as well as Azerbaijani and Turkish war crimes committed against Artsakh and Armenia during the 2020 war. The amendment removes all references to presidential waiver authority of Section 907, a provision first put in place in 2001, and utilized by successive U.S. presidents – including President Biden, even in the wake of Azerbaijan’s 2020 brutal aggression against Artsakh in Armenia. Since 2016, the U.S. has provided over $120 million in U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, in the face of objections by Members of Congress and the ANCA, which has long raised alarms about the Aliyev regime’s belligerence in region.
Senator Menendez also offered a second amendment (#4150) to the NDAA which calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department report on Turkey’s use of U.S. technology in its Bayrakdar drones, with a special focus on whether their sale to third countries, like Azerbaijan, violates U.S. export laws. The ANCA has identified a number of U.S. parts used in Bayrakdar drones that targeted Artsakh and Armenian civilians during the 2020 Artsakh war. In addition to the ANCA, Amendment #4150 also has the support of a coalition of ethnic, civic, and faith-based groups including the Hellenic American Leadership Council, American Friends of Kurdistan, the Hindu American Foundation, and the Middle East Forum.
A third amendment (#4251) introduced by California Senator Alex Padilla (D) calls for a joint State Department and Defense Department report, in response to Azerbaijani war crimes during the 2020 Artsakh war, including the use of U.S. technology during the attacks; the use of white phosphorous, cluster bombs, and other prohibited munitions; and the hiring of foreign mercenaries.
“We thank Senators Menendez and Padilla for their principled leadership in holding Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We are working – in Washington, DC and across each of our fifty states – to secure the adoption of their ANCA-backed amendments enforcing Section 907, investigating Azerbaijani war crimes, and demanding answers about the U.S. parts discovered in the Turkish drones deployed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh.”
Minimum wage expected to rise in Armenia up to 85,000 drams
11:44, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Minimum wage is expected to increase in Armenia, reaching 85 thousand drams, Deputy minister of labor and social affairs Ruben Sargsyan said at the parliamentary standing committees’ debate of the 2022 state budget draft.
“It is envisaged to raise the minimum wage up to 85 thousand drams by 2026”, he said.
He informed that they will take the first steps from 2023, now discussions are underway with their colleagues of the finance ministry.
The current monthly minimum wage in Armenia is 68,000 drams.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Artsakh State Minister meets with Armenia’s Ambassador to US
12:25, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. On November 3, a reception was organized in honor of the State Minister of the Artsakh Republic Artak Beglaryan at the Embassy of Armenia in the USA. A meeting was held with Ambassador Lilit Makunts.
The State Minister and his Chief Adviser Davit Hakobyan presented the current situation in Artsakh, the current problems, the vision of the future on the development of Artsakh and the involvement of the Diaspora in it. Artak Beglaryan stressed that the expectation from the Diaspora is not so much material, supporting the development of long-term capacities in Artsakh with the huge human resources of the Diaspora is more valuable.
During the meeting with Ambassador Lilit Makunts, a number of issues related to the visit of the State Minister and the protection of the rights and interests of the people of Artsakh in the USA were discussed.
Artak Beglaryan also met with the heads of the Armenian National Committee of America, the Armenian Assembly of America, and its offices in Washington, presented a vision for the future of Artsakh, and discussed the prospects for effective cooperation.
The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Artsakh to the United States Robert Avetisyan also took part in all the meetings.
PM Pashinyan receives President of Russian Academy of Sciences
15:43, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Alexander Sergeev, the PM’s Office reports.
Pashinyan highlighted the development and expansion of cooperation between Armenia and Russian in the field of science. He hoped that during Mr. Sergeev’s visit the opportunities of implementing joint projects will be discussed. The PM noted that science and education sectors are among the priorities of the Armenian government. He informed that the funding for science in 2022 will increase 85%.
Alexander Sergeev said they are interested in expanding the partnership with Armenia’s scientists, researchers, adding that discussions are currently underway on concrete proposals. He said that during the Soviet times the cooperation between Armenian and Russian scientists has been on the high level, and the Armenian scientists had a significant contribution to the development of the field.
PM Pashinyan welcomed the initiatives aimed at expanding the Armenian-Russian ties in science field and stated that the government will assist their successful implementation with all possible means. According to him, science field could also become one of the key directions of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Artsakh’s president decrees winter conscription for mandatory military service
15:54, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan signed an order on organizing the regular winter draft for mandatory military service among men who are turning 18 years old by December 31, 2021 and those whose deferment is ceasing by December 31, 2021.
Servicemen who’ve completed their mandatory military service will be discharged in January 2022.
The winter conscription will be held January-February 2022, the Artsakh presidency said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Georgian Constitutional Court President visits Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan
16:29, 5 November, 2021
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. President of the Constitutional Court of Georgia Merab Turava visited today the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
He was accompanied by President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Arman Dilanyan.
Merab Turava and his delegation arrived in Armenia on November 4 on an official visit at the invitation of Mr. Dilanyan. The purpose of the visit is to give a qualitatively new impetus to the further development of the bilateral relations, as well as contribute to the deepening of inter-court cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan