Category: 2023

A new program for record-breaking Camp Haiastan Teen Session

Arbi Tashjian
 Camp Haiastan Community News, Diaspora, Youth 0

FRANKLIN, Mass.—The summer program and activities of AYF Camp Haiastan are reviewed and discussed at length during the off-season (September-May), and last year was no exception.

The Board of Directors decided to update the Teen Session schedule to introduce additional activities, ranging from challenging, educational and entertaining. Teen Session is limited to campers who are ages 15 and 16, along with 14-year-olds who are entering their sophomore year of high school.

With a record-breaking 123 teen campers this year, the new activities reached a large group of youth. Although many campers live in the heavily Armenian-populated states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, 13 other states, including Texas and California, were also represented. Campers also traveled from England, Brussels and France.

The board welcomed AYF Camp Haiastan Program Coordinator Seran Tcholakian to prepare and implement the new teen program. Tcholakian brought her professional background as a longtime teacher at the Alex and Marie Manoogian School in Southfield, MI, and her many years of involvement with Camp Haiastan to her role. Tcholakian has been a camper, a staffer and a summer director, as well as the mother of campers and counselors.

“We wanted to select someone who understood the needs of the camp’s current campers and staff to ensure the continuation of a positive, developmentally appropriate and special experience,” Board of Directors chairperson Hratch Najarian stated. “Digin Seran was asked to develop a new program to address the needs of the different age groups.”

The age and education level of the teens allowed for a varied number of activities, both in and outside of camp.

On the second day of the two-week session, 150 campers and counselors boarded buses and headed to Watertown, Massachusetts, home to many Armenian churches and institutions. The Boston suburb has played a significant role in the American-Armenian community.

Teen Session campers touring the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown with guide and director of finance Berj Chekijian

The campers visited the Armenian Museum of America located in Watertown Square, where they were greeted by the staff, including executive director Jason Sohigian. They then traveled to the Hairenik building where they received a tour of the Archives by director George Aghjayan, learned about the newspapers the Armenian Weekly and Hairenik Weekly from their editors Pauline Getzoyan and Zaven Torikian, respectively, and concluded with the Armenian Relief Society, Eastern Region (ARS) executive director Vart Chiloyan. The ARS has been a benefactor and supporter of Camp Haiastan since the property was acquired in 1940.

The Armenian Preference Day cooking class option was elevated to a manti class. Michael and Susan Guzelian, longtime supporters and volunteers, demonstrated the fine art of making manti. The enthusiastic campers quickly learned how to prepare the labor-intensive Armenian delicacy. Later that evening, the manti was baked and served with yogurt and tomato sauce to the hungry campers.

Campers learning about the ARS of Eastern USA programs from executive director Vart Chiloyan

Thursday’s professional day brought the largest number of outside volunteers to camp during a single session. The teens took part in one-and-a-half hour seminars on a topic of their choice. The areas offered were marketing, cooking, jewelry design, basketball, football, soccer, engineering, politics and art.

“We were thrilled that we had 10 groups with 15 different professionals in the particular fields presenting at our Thursday afternoon seminar,” Tcholakian stated. “Our goal was to engage these 15- and 16-year-olds in the discussion of an area that interests them and perhaps they may want to pursue in the future,” she added.

This activity allowed the teenagers to meet specialists in various professions, but it also provided a unique opportunity for the presenters to participate in Camp Haiastan life. All were impressed and inspired by the concentration of so many young Armenians in one place. In a letter thanking the Board and Tcholakian for inviting her to participate in this Professional Day, Ani Babaian, who led the art class, wrote, “The overall atmosphere of Camp Haiastan spoke volumes about its efficient management, and the happy and enthusiastic campers reinforced this impression. Their engagement and enjoyment confirm that your efforts have had a positive impact. I am genuinely impressed by the teens in my workshop. They are talented, educated, well-behaved, and energetic.”

Teen Session campers have a conference call with Artsakh youth

Hye Jahm (Armenian Hour) classes focused entirely on one subject. The topic selected was Artsakh. In addition to its history, current affairs, and the social and political life of the region, all teen campers learned a traditional Artsakh dance. However, the highlight of the week was the video conference call between the AYF Camp Haiastan campers and the ARF youth of Artsakh.  It was a memorable event for youth from the Diaspora and the homeland. Later, the teens wrote letters to their counterparts.

Campers write letters to their Artsakh counterparts

“Overall, we are pleased with the introduction of new activities to the camp schedule while maintaining and improving the decades-old traditions of Camp Haiastan, such as the Peanut (now Starburst) Carnival, Vartevar, Detective Game, Back Breaker, Alphabet Games and many other games and programs that three generations have now experienced,” stated Najarian.

***

The Staff and Management extend their deep appreciation to those who participated in Professional Day 

Peter Alemian ● Ani Babaian ● Taline Badrikian ● Steve Elmasian ● Grace Eziglioglu ● Daron Hamparian ● Theresa Jelalian ● Katherine Kazarian ●  Anto Keshgegian ●  Talar Malkadjian ● Steve Mesrobian ●  Billy Manzo ● Garo Tashian ● Sasoun Tcholakian ● Mher Tcholakian ● Dave Tikoian ●  Berge Zobian

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Located in Franklin, Massachusetts, AYF Camp Haiastan, was founded in 1951 and is the oldest Armenian camp in the United States. The Camp prides itself on providing a healthy and safe experience to Armenian-American youth to help them foster their Armenian identity and establish lifelong friendships.


AW: Descendants of 150 Armenian orphan refugees mark centenary of Georgetown

Greg Madatian
 Mansoor Tanweer Diaspora 0

Centennial remembrance of the Georgetown Boys and Girls at Cedarvale Park, June 24, 2023 (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

GEORGETOWN, Ontario—July 1 is a day bordering on the religious in Canada. On this day in 1867, the nation as we know it was born. But to a select few from the Armenian community, July 1 means something more than barbecues and fireworks. 

Cedarvale Park as it appears today (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

On June 24, several descendants of close to 150 refugees who escaped the Armenian Genocide converged in a little town 20 miles west of Toronto called Georgetown. Those refugees were, out of charity and nothing else, rescued by Canadians. They were brought to the town to learn to become farmers and good citizens. 

Those descendants gathered in a greenspace called Cedarvale Park, which at that time was a farm where their forebears lived and were educated. 

Hamilton City Councillor Tom Jackson offers his remarks (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

The somber occasion marked the centenary of the arrival of the orphans, who were dubbed the Georgetown Boys. However, it should be noted that 39 of them were women and girls. Roughly 300 or so people were present at the remembrance. 

One of them was Tom Jackson, who serves as City Councillor for Hamilton, about an hour west of Toronto. His father Missak Toumajian was also a Georgetown Boy. 

Jackson called the ceremony “a very emotional day.” 

“To think we’re standing on hallowed ground. A hundred years ago, over 100 boys and girls left behind a wartorn country and a genocide,” he continued. “Many of them were here on their own without any support system whatsoever.”

Bob Adourian, a descendant of Georgetown Boys, addresses the crowd (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

Toronto-based lawyer Bob Adourian was also present. He is the son of Pavloss Adourian and nephew of Onnig Adourian—both Georgetown Boys. “My dad and my uncle both served in the military. My uncle was a war hero. He was wounded at Dunkirk and he survived,” Adourian told the Armenian Weekly. 

A lot of the orphans, according to Adourian, “just didn’t want to talk about” the Genocide. Some, like Pavloss Adourian, simply couldn’t. “My father was seven when he came here. He had no memory of any childhood horrors,” Adourian said. 

Canadian newspapers during the period of the Genocide were filled with headlines about the plight of Armenians. A plan was hatched by a newly-formed organization called the Armenian Relief Association of Canada (ARAC) to rescue as many orphaned survivors of the Genocide as possible. By working with American and British counterparts, 109 boys were selected from an orphanage in Corfu, Greece.

Cedarvale Park as it appears today (the pictured building is not the original living quarters of the Georgetown Boys and Girls) (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

A group of 50 was the first to arrive on July 1, 1923. Many others would soon follow. 

Their teacher, Aris Alexanian, was also a survivor of the Genocide. “He was a survivor at the peak period of the Genocide,” said John Farr, who married Alexanian’s granddaughter Alene. Both were present at the June 24 ceremony.

“He and all his school colleagues were taken out away from the school, tied together and taken to a plateau and shot,” Farr added. 

Alexanian did a lot for the boys. In an attempt to teach them English, he had them compile a newsletter called Ararat Monthly. The absence of the boys means that we will never hear their voices again…except through this newsletter. Issues of Ararat Monthly are preserved in various archives and online. Historians are compiling the letters into a book, which will come out in the fall.

Alexanian himself achieved a sort of cultural status in Canada. He went on to found the Alexanian carpet and flooring retailer, whose company jingle is well-known to Canadians. 

Lorne Shirinian speaking at the remembrance (Photo: Mansoor Tanweer)

It should be noted, however, that the boys tend to overshadow the Georgetown Girls. There is little accessible information about the girls, making it difficult to tell their story. 

We are aware of mother and daughter Nevart and Pailoon Dermijian. We know about Mariam Mazmanian, who married Georgetown Boy Mampre Shirinian. Their son Lorne Shirinian spoke at the 100th anniversary commemoration. We also know about Koharig Bedrossian, who married Georgetown Boy Krikor Kasparian. Their granddaughter Jessica Kasparian was also present at the ceremony. 

Historians are working to give voice to these women and girls, whose lives were no less important than those of the boys. 

One of the repeated themes at the commemoration was the role this piece of history played in the development of Canadian humanitarianism. This was one of the earliest, if not the first, times Canadians came together to save lives abroad. This “noble experiment,” as the rescue of the Armenian orphans has been called, solidified Canada’s role abroad as a helping hand. Whether it was helping the Vietnamese boat people or Syrians, Canada took the lead. 

The Armenian Ambassador to Canada Anahit Harutyunyan called the events of July 1, 1923 and onward a “noble act of compassion.” 

She added: “By offering a safe haven, education and opportunities, Canada became a beacon of hope for these young souls, allowing them to heal, thrive and rebuild their lives.”

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Mansoor Tanweer is a Canadian journalist from Mississauga, Ontario. He got his start covering the city of Brampton's housing, transportation and healthcare issues, among other topics. He now works for HaltonHillsToday doing much of the same. Recently, he wrote a series about Cedarvale Park, a former farm where more than a hundred Armenian orphans were brought and trained after the Armenian Genocide.


RFE/RL Armenian Service – 07/13/2023

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Thursday, 


Armenia Blames Azerbaijan For Deaths Of Karabakh Children

        • Susan Badalian

Nagorno-Karabakh - The photos of Leo and Gita, Karabakh children found dead in 
Martakert on July 8, 2023.


Armenia on Thursday blamed Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh for last 
week’s deaths of two young Karabakh children whose mother had to leave them 
unattended to get some food.

The 3-year-old Leo and his 6-year sister Gita were found dead in a car in the 
town of Markatert on July 8 one day after disappearing from their home in the 
nearby village of Aghabekalanj.

Their single mother, Vera Narimanian, left them home alone to go to Martakert to 
receive sunflower oil and sugar as humanitarian aid. They were gone after she 
returned to the village about two hours later.

“I spent the whole night searching for them with the police, firefighters and 
army but didn’t find them,” Narimanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on 
Wednesday.

“I will be devastated for the rest of my life,” she said.

The infants were caught on security cameras going to Martakert on foot late on 
July 7. A town resident found them dead in his car the following morning. He 
said that one of the car’s doors was not locked.

The Karabakh police suggested that Leo and Gita died in their sleep from 
vehicular heatstroke. But the spokesman for another law-enforcement body 
cautioned on Wednesday that this is just one of the theories considered by 
investigators.

“Necessary forensic tests have been ordered … and intensive investigative work 
is underway,” he said.

“The 7-month blockade of the Lachine Corridor and total siege of 
Nagorno-Karabakh people is having an irreversible and devastating impact on the 
lives of people: [Nagorno-Karabakh] resident children 3 y/o Leo and 6 y/o Gita 
died as a consequence of the serious humanitarian situation,” tweeted Armenian 
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. “In the 21st century. This should not be 
tolerated.”

Azerbaijan tightened the blockade on June 15, completely blocking emergency 
supplies of food, medicine and other essential items to Karabakh which were 
carried out, in limited quantities, by Russian peacekeepers and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross. It thus significantly aggravated the 
shortages of basic foodstuffs in the Armenian-population rationed since January.

Officials in Stepanakert say they are especially concerned about growing child 
malnutrition resulting from the blockade.

“When I tell our kids to draw anything they want, they draw fruits because they 
miss them,” the director of a local kindergarten told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service 
on Thursday.




Arrest Warrant Issued For Former Armenian Defense Chief

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian speaks during a press conference in 
Yerevan, June 28, 2017.


Armenian prosecutors have issued an international arrest warrant for Vigen 
Sargsian, a U.S.-based former defense minister and opposition figure facing what 
he sees as politically motivated charges.

The move comes five months after he was charged with abuse of power in 
connection with the distribution of government-funded housing to Armenian army 
officers and their families.

The Office of the Prosecutor-General claims that in early 2018 Sargsian 
illegally ordered a Defense Ministry commission to allocate 26 apartments in 
Yerevan to military personnel and ministry officials who were not on an official 
waiting list for those homes.

Sargsian strongly denied that right after being indicted in February. He said 
that the apartments were given in accordance with rules set by the Armenian 
government and based on their recipients’ “combat background and merits.” He 
challenged the current government to release the list of those officers.

Sargsian, who has lived in the United States since 2019, claimed that Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration ordered his “political persecution” to 
keep him from returning to Armenia. He also complained that investigators have 
not tried to question him despite knowing his phone number and e-mail address.

A prosecutor overseeing the case countered at the time that “in the materials of 
the criminal case there is no information about where he lives now.”

Armenia - Vigen Sargsian, the Republican Party's top election candidate, speaks 
to reporetrs outside a polling station in Yerevan, December 9, 2018.

Norayr Norikian, a lawyer representing eight other military officers who missed 
out on free apartments because of the alleged wrongdoing, brushed aside the 
prosecutor’s claim on Thursday.

“Vigen Sargsian periodically gives interviews, makes comments,” Norikian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Armenian law-enforcement bodies are well aware of 
his place of residence and, I think, address as well.”

The arrest warrant issued for Sargsian this week means that they have to 
formally start looking for him. The criminal investigation will be suspended in 
the meantime.

Sargsian, 48, served as defense minister from 2016-2018 in the administration of 
President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter was forced to resign in April 2018 amid 
nationwide protests led by Pashinian. Vigen Sargsian stepped down immediately 
after Pashinian was elected prime minister in May 2018.

Sargsian topped the list of the former ruling Republican Party’s candidates in 
snap parliamentary elections held in December 2018. According to their official 
results, the party narrowly failed to clear a 5 percent vote threshold to enter 
the Armenian parliament.

The prosecutors indicted Sargsian on February 8 just as the parliament allowed 
them to bring separate corruption charges against Seyran Ohanian, another former 
defense minister who now leads the parliamentary group of the main opposition 
Hayastan alliance.

Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian asked the National Assembly to lift 
Ohanian’s immunity from prosecution on January 20 one day after 15 Armenian 
soldiers died at their makeshift barracks destroyed by a major fire. Hayastan 
says that the case against Ohanian is aimed at defusing public anger over the 
deaths.




Next Aliyev-Pashinian Meeting Slated For July 15

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Belgium - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and European Council President Charles Michel pose for a picture in 
Brussels, May 14, 2023.


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian expressed hope on Thursday that he and 
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev will move closer to a peace treaty between 
their countries at their next meeting slated for Saturday.

“My meeting with the president of the European Union Council [Charles Michel] 
and the president of Azerbaijan is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 
Saturday, July 15,” Pashinian told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

“I have confirmed my participation in the meeting and hope to make progress 
towards the peace treaty during the meeting,” he said.

The Brussels meeting was originally scheduled for July 21. It is not clear why 
it was brought forward.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Pashinian and Aliyev by phone 
earlier this week. He said he told them that the United States remains committed 
to facilitating an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.

According to the U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, during his 
call with Aliyev, Blinken stressed “the need for creativity, flexibility, and 
compromise in the negotiations” and reiterated U.S. calls for the lifting of 
Azerbaijan’s seven-month blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Washington hosted late last month another round of peace talks between the 
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers. Pashinian cautioned last week that 
progress made by them was “not significant.”

“Unfortunately, the text of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan is 
not yet ready for signing,” he said.

Speaking in Baku on Tuesday, Aliyev underscored the significance of Armenia’s 
recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh which was declared by 
Pashinian in May. “Now, however, the time has come to put those words to paper,” 
he said.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

California State Senate Passes Holden’s Resolution Condemning Azerbaijan’s Blockade of Artsakh

Aram Torosian
PASADENA NOW
Published on Thursday, | 4:57 am

The California State Senate passed a resolution by Pasadena area Assemblymember Chris Holden condemning Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh with a unanimous vote of 39-0. 

“This resolution reaffirms California’s solidarity with Armenia and our 200,000 strong community of California-Armenians,” said Assemblymember Holden. “There is power in our solidarity and there is even more when we acknowledge the wrongs committed and urge for justice.”

Holden added that the resolution, known as AJR 1, sets a precedent for the future and creates long-lasting ties toward a better tomorrow.

The bill has passed both houses of the California Legislature with bi-partisan support. The resolution calls on the Biden Administration to work to immediately facilitate the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance by way of airlift to Armenians in Artsakh.

“Armenians in Artsakh are facing extermination by the Azerbaijani government, with their illegal blockade.  Mr. Holden and his colleagues in the California Legislature have stood up for humanity by condemning Azerbaijan’s barbaric acts,” said ANCA National Board Member Aida Dimejian.

“The Armenian American community is thankful for this resolution calling on the Azeri government to end its illegal blockade and to hold Azerbaijani government accountable for its relentless aggression against the innocent men, women and children of Artsakh.”  

Today, there are nearly three million Armenians living in the Republic of Armenia, which consists of a portion of the Armenians’ historic homelands. The United States has the second largest diaspora of Armenians.  California has the largest population of Armenians in the country.

https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/california-state-senate-passes-holdens-resolution-condemning-azerbaijans-blockade-of-artsakh

Education Under Siege: Dreams and Dilemmas of Nagorno-Karabakh Students

Sonya Jalatian

07/13/2023 Armenia (International Christian Concern) – In the darkness of her room, Mila Dolukhanyan shows the works submitted for admission to the Paris School of Fashion and Design on her phone. Among them, she proudly shows a T-shirt sewn on the theme of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.  

“The carpet piece symbolizes Artsakh, the torn part – the enemy’s attempt to obliterate us. The threads represent our blood and roots, which mean that no matter what, we will preserve our tradition and culture,” said Mila.  

Mila is one of dozens of Artsakh graduates who share the desire to advance their educations in Armenian and foreign universities. The blockade presents significant challenges that hinder their dreams. 

The ongoing seven-month blockade imposed by Azerbaijan has taken the population of Nagorno-Karabakh hostage. The crisis was exacerbated on June 15, as Azerbaijan imposed a ban on the entry of humanitarian cargo to Artsakh and restricted the movement of citizens through the Lachin Corridor.  

The consequences of the blockade have profoundly affected every aspect of life in the country, and the sphere of education has not been exempt from its impact. 

Due to the impossibility of leaving Artsakh and the absence of international exam centers in Nagorno-Karabakh, local applicants are deprived of the opportunity to take entrance exams to be admitted to their desired universities.  

Nagorno-Karabakh Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Youth Affairs, Hasmik Minasyan, mentioned in an interview with us that to solve these issues, they have agreed with the relevant universities of Armenia the ad-hoc opportunity for the applicants to take the exams online and through video recording. 

“We organized exams in ten subjects for these applicants. Oral exams were conducted through the Zoom platform, and the performance of the applicants to the theater and singing departments was audio-recorded and sent to the relevant institutions in Armenia.” According to the deputy minister, this process was also challenging because it was carried out during rolling blackouts and Internet connection disruption. 

Margarita Kiziryans, 19, graduated from Stepanakert Music College and intends to study at Yerevan State Conservatory. As an ad hoc solution, she passed the exam by recording the works and sending them to the examining committee. But even when admitted to the conservatory, her getting from Stepanakert to Yerevan by closed road is questionable. 

For Margarita, Mila, and other students crossing the road is not the only problem. The 2020 war and now the blockade have significantly affected their studies. 

The blockade cut off the only gas supply from Armenia to Artsakh. It led to the regular interruption of the 118 schools operating in Artsakh and kindergartens and primary and secondary professional education institutions during the winter. 

Margarita is from the city of Shushi, which came under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the 2020 war. Now she has become an internally displaced person (IDP), living in Stepanakert with her family. Through music, Margarita tries to escape the reality of war and blockade. 

According to the deputy minister, after the examinations are over, their next step will be transferring students admitted to Armenian and foreign universities, and the ministry will meditate and find solutions to transfer them to realize their educational rights.  

Mila is also struggling to focus on her studies in these conditions. “I want to study abroad and bring fashion culture to my home place, but it is so vague today that I don’t know if I will be able to follow my dream if I can return to Artsakh and implement what I have learned.” 

According to the special report of the Nagorno-Karabakh ombudsman, the worsening food scarcity partially closed all 41 kindergartens and 56 preschool groups, as a result of which 6,828 children could no longer attend educational institutions in general, being deprived of adequate care and nutrition. 

Hundreds of local students who study in universities in Armenia and abroad face obstacles in fully realizing their right to education. They are deprived of seeing their family members and spending the holidays with their families, even during summer vacations. 

During the blockade, the disruptions in the electricity supply from Armenia to Artsakh and the Internet also affected technological education, causing their suspension. 

Exams Under Fire 

Chankatagh village of Martakert region is located 67 kilometers from Stepanakert. Two weeks ago, two servicemen were killed by the weapons used by the Azerbaijanis on the military unit near the village, and two more were killed in the positions of Martuny region. 

Chankatagh residents live under daily fire. Varsenik Arushanyan, the school’s deputy headmaster, says that they spent the class under fire. Several classrooms are directly under the enemy’senemy’s sights, 500 meters away. Often during the school year, when shootings start, teachers are forced to move children to a safer part of the school. 

On June 22, during the final exam in the school, when the students took assignments to start for the exam, another round of fire was opened from the Azerbaijani positions. 

“We seem to have adapted to lessons undershooting, but is it possible to adapt to it?” the teacher asks herself. 

To the question of whether they are not afraid to have classes and exams in such conditions, Arushanyan answered that, of course, there is fear, but they see no other acceptable way. “Sometimes the senior school children themselves reassure us not to be afraid. I am a native language teacher, my first job is to instill a sense of belonging in my students, and I think they learned that lesson well.” 

Arushanyan, looking at the commemorative plaque of the graduates who fell victim to the war, added that perhaps the hardest thing for a teacher is when a student you teach dies at a young age. 

While negotiations on the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh are being held on various international platforms and resolutions are being made to unblock the Lachin Corridor, Mila from Stepanakert, Margarita from Shushi, and students from Chankatagh are facing real challenges not only to realize their right to education. They and the entire Christian population of Nagorno-Karabakh face ethnic cleansing and the danger of losing their homeland.   

https://www.persecution.org/2023/07/13/education-under-siege/

Memorials for slain Armenian journalist ‘evidence’ against Osman Kavala, Can Atalay

David Nargizian
2:03 pm 13/07/2023
A A

Turkey’s Court of Cassation cited a gathering in memoriam Hrant Dink as criminal activity, and as evidence against philanthropist Osman Kavala and newly elected MP Can Atalay in its assessment of the case against the Gezi Protests.

“These conversations show that the Open Society Foundation has transferred money to Anadolu Kültür in a continuous manner during the Gezi Events, and that the process was conducted in communion,” daily BirGün cited the top court as saying in its letter of notification on Thursday.

Kavala founded Anadolu Kültür in 2002, and has supported civil society initiatives through the foundation ever since.

In the conversation the court cited, Kavala says the foundation can “arrange something” as a small budget for the 19 January 2014 memorial service for Dink, who was murdered by a Turkish nationalist with ties to the deep state in 2007. Dink was the editor in chief for Agos newspaper, one of the few Armenian language publications left in the country.

Kavala’s conversation was with Çiğdem Mater, a film maker and activist who is currently behind bars for attempting to overthrow the government over her role in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, when a small sit-in to protect an urban park in Istanbul was targeted by police brutality and snowballed into the largest anti-government protest in the country’s history. The protests continued for several months and drew four million people to the streets in 80 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.

Another activist convicted in the so-called Gezi Trials is lawyer Can Atalay, who was elected to parliament in the elections in May. Atalay should have been released from prison upon his election, but remains behind bars unlawfully and in violation of past rulings by the Constitutional Court.

The Court of Cassation cited another conversation, this time between Atalay and Mater, as evidence of criminal activity. In the snippet, Atalay asks Mater where the organisers meeting for the 19 January memorial will take place.

“It appears that the case that attempts to put Gezi on trial also tried to criminalise memorials and the search for justice for 19 January,” the Dink family said in a statement condemning the court’s citation.

“This means nothing but proof that they have no evidence to speak of, because there is no crime to speak of,” the family continued.

Mater and Kavala were among the group called Friends of Hrant who fought to bring the Dink murder to light, the family said.

“The people they are putting on trial are people who have no dreams outside of democracy, justice and equality for this country. We hope and demand that justice prevail,” they said.

The court’s letter “contains more grave slanders and demonstrates an even more blatant disregard for legal principles”, Kavala said in a statement he sent from prison.

“As per the Prosecutor’s Office, even in the absence of evidence that a crime has been committed, the court can convict a person solely based on the determination of their intent to commit a crime. Manifestation of this trend of interpreting intent in criminal law, which starkly contradicts the principles and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, at the level of the Court of Cassation constitutes a dangerous development for our nation,” Kavala said.

Mater said the possible disregard of international conventions and the Turkish constitution by the Court of Cassation “will open very dark doors for the law”.

Mater and Atalay have been under arrest since April 2022 to serve 18-year prison sentences, while Kavala has spent more than five years behind bars despite several ECHR rulings for his immediate release. In December, an appeals court upheld the convictions. The case is currently under assessment at the Court of Cassation.

Apart from the assessment of the appeal, the Court of Cassation “must issue a ruling today under normal circumstances” regarding Atalay’s release due to parliamentary immunity, his lawyer Deniz Özen said in a live broadcast on Thursday. According to Turkish law, appeals for any prisoner’s release must be answered within three days.

https://medyanews.net/memorials-for-slain-armenian-journalist-evidence-against-osman-kavala-can-atalay/

Simplified visa-free travel between Georgia, Armenia comes into force today

Andranik Taslakhchian
AGENDA, Georgia
Agenda.ge, 13 Jul 2023 – 19:37, Tbilisi,Georgia

A deal between Georgia and Armenia came into force today, allowing their nationals to cross the border using biometric identification cards. 

  • Georgian, Armenian PMs sign deal to further simplify visa-free travel

The agreement was signed by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan on January 12 in Yerevan, which replaced the agreement on visa-free movement of citizens of Armenia and Georgia through their territories concluded on May 19, 1993.

  • Georgia and Armenia simplify visa-free travel, further deepening people-to-people relations –  Georgian FM

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said the new deal aimed to establish “even more” favourable conditions for Georgian and Armenian citizens.

https://agenda.ge/en/news/2023/2750

Nagorno-Karabakh authorities warn of "critical" situation as Azerbaijan bans Red Cross vehicles

Emil Karabekian
Lilit Shahverdyan Jul 13, 2023

Azerbaijan has barred the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from using the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world.

The State Border Service made the announcement on July 11 citing "repeated attempts to smuggle various types of contraband" on Red Cross trucks coming from the Armenian side through the Lachin corridor. These items reportedly included cigarettes, telephones, and gasoline.

The agency said it had opened a criminal case over the matter and denied the Red Cross access to the road "until necessary investigative measures have been completed."

The ICRC acknowledged that four of its hired drivers had transported commercial goods through the corridor. It said the drivers, who were not staff, had their service contracts terminated immediately and urged Baku to let it resume its "strictly humanitarian" work.

Azerbaijan shut down its border checkpoint on the road to all traffic on June 15 following an armed clash in the area. Ten days later Baku granted the ICRC exclusive access to the road, primarily for patient transfers but also for provision of some basic supplies.

Nagorno-Karabakh's human rights ombudsman, Gegham Stepanyan, said the situation in the Armenian-populated region, which has been under total or near-total blockade for seven months, is getting "critical." 

"The Russian peacekeepers transport cargo for their maintenance by helicopters, while the entire population of Artsakh is under the threat of starvation, and the international actors do not take any steps other than statements," wrote Stepanyan.

"I demand from the International Committee of the Red Cross to light the red alarm button of the danger of genocide. You can do it. My people are betrayed by everyone's criminal indifference."

Both the EU and U.S. have urged Azerbaijan to reopen the road, and not just to the Red Cross. 

"The EU strongly supports the crucial role of the ICRC in the region, and reiterates its call for Azerbaijan to ensure the unrestricted movement of people and goods via the Lachin corridor," tweeted the spokesperson for the EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

In a July 12 phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken "underscored the need for free transit of commercial, humanitarian, and private vehicles through the Lachin corridor."

Shortages exacerbated

As supplies dwindle further and the region is increasingly dependent on its own resources, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities are making cutbacks wherever they can.

A government decree set restrictions on public food services from July 5. Wedding feasts can be held for no more than 50 people while the limit is 30 for funerals.

Local officials also limited the amount of humanitarian aid to be distributed "due to limited volume of state reserves." Now only families with children receive free sugar and cooking oil, in the amount of 0.5 kilograms per child.

The local dairy processing plant suspended work as raw products from Armenia are no longer making into Karabakh. The region is now fully dependent on its own farmers for dairy, and fruits and vegetables. But even these are hard to transport internally given the acute shortage of gasoline.

The supply of natural gas from Armenia has been obstructed by Azerbaijan since March 22. It was, inexplicably, restored on July 9 to be shut off again the next day. 

Electricity shortages remain acute as the reservoir feeding the local hydropower plant remains at critically low levels. Residents currently experience daily 6-hour blackouts.

Lilit Shahverdyan is a journalist based in Stepanakert. 

https://eurasianet.org/nagorno-karabakh-authorities-warn-of-critical-situation-as-azerbaijan-bans-red-cross-vehicles

Why deepening Russia-Azerbaijan ties should worry the United States

Talar Tumanian

By Sheila Paylan

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has left it with few friends, but Azerbaijan is an important exception. In fact, Moscow and Baku are effectively allies now. Just two days before the February 2022 invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a wide-ranging political-military agreement, following which Aliyev declared that the pact “brings our relations to the level of an alliance.” A few months later, Azerbaijan signed an intelligence-sharing agreement with Russia.

This has proven catastrophic for Armenia, which has maintained close security ties with Russia since joining the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in 1992. In September 2022, Azerbaijan launched what the European Parliament called a “large-scale military aggression” against Armenia and, according to Armenia’s foreign minister, took over 150 square kilometers of Armenian territory. But the CSTO—to which Azerbaijan does not belong—refused to intervene on Armenia’s behalf. Washington stepped in to broker a ceasefire, and the European Union (EU) followed suit by sending a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, much to Russia’s and Azerbaijan’s discontent.

The Putin-Aliyev partnership has also spelled disaster for the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, whose remaining 120,000 ethnic Armenians live under Russian protection after Azerbaijan’s 2020 offensive to reclaim the territory. Forty-four days and thousands of deaths later, Russia brokered a ceasefire stipulating the five-year deployment of 1,960 Russian armed peacekeepers along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and in control of the “Lachin Corridor,” the only road linking it to Armenia. At the time, analysts opined that Putin’s imposition had cemented Russia’s role in the region. According to the decree authorizing the deployment, Russia’s reason for sending peacekeeping troops was to “prevent the mass death of the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

But the deployment has not prevented Azerbaijan from continuing to try to expel ethnic Armenians from what’s left of Nagorno-Karabakh. Last December, a group of Azerbaijanis set up a roadblock along the Lachin Corridor claiming to advocate for environmental rights in the region. But the roadblock in effect slowed the flow of goods into Nagorno-Karabakh, creating a humanitarian crisis. The United States and the EU, as well as Human Rights Watch and others, have called for Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Azerbaijan to do the same.

Instead, Azerbaijan solidified the blockade by installing an armed checkpoint at the mouth of the Lachin Corridor, thus effectively seizing control over it. The move was further condemned by the United States and EU, and led Armenia to seek renewed intervention from the ICJ. Russia issued tepid statements and then replaced its peacekeeping force commander in Nagorno-Karabakh. But such a fundamental change in the regime over the Lachin Corridor could not possibly exist without approval—however tacit—from the Kremlin. Video footage taken last month purports to show Russian peacekeepers accompanying Azerbaijani forces to install a concrete barrier near the checkpoint and hoist an Azerbaijani flag in adjacent Armenian territory.

Since the blockade began, traffic along the Lachin Corridor has been reduced to an all-time low. This makes it more difficult for essential humanitarian aid to pass into Nagorno-Karabakh. In the last seven months, Nagorno-Karabakh has turned into an open-air prison, with ethnic Armenian inhabitants increasingly deprived of food and medicine, and energy resources almost entirely drained. They may soon be forced to flee their ancestral homeland for good just to survive.

In May, Aliyev demanded the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, suggesting that he might offer them amnesty should they accept Azerbaijani rule. Oddly, the US State Department praised Aliyev’s remarks on amnesty, glossing over other parts of his speech in which he threatened violence if the authorities did not surrender: “[E]veryone knows perfectly well that we have all the opportunities to carry out any operation in that region today… Either they will bend their necks and come themselves or things will develop differently now.”

But Washington’s seemingly tactful acquiescence to Azerbaijan’s growing aggression against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in fact hurts US efforts to curb malign Russian influence and end Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The Russo-Azeri pact provides for enhanced economic ties, including in the gas and energy sectors, and has proven successful in helping preemptively circumvent Western sanctions against Russia. A deal between Baku and Brussels in July 2022 to double the flow of gas to Europe to wean it off Russian gas was soon followed by a deal in November 2022 between Baku and Moscow to increase gas imports from Russia to enable Azerbaijan to meet its new obligations to Europe.

In May, Russia and Iran agreed to complete a railroad that would link Russia to the Persian Gulf through Azerbaijan, thus providing a route through which Iran can directly send Russia more weapons and drones. One week later, during a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, in which Aliyev participated as a guest for the first time, Putin stated that cooperation on developing this North-South railway is carried out “in close partnership with Azerbaijan.” Baku knows it can play both sides because it has backing from Moscow, while the West is blinded by non-Russian energy imports and dreams of regional stability.

If the West seeks to reduce tensions in the South Caucasus, it needs to step up its pressure on Azerbaijan. In the short term, this might include the threat of sanctions in response to further military action against Armenia and the continued refusal to unblock the Lachin Corridor, as well as lending support to Russia. By law, Azerbaijan cannot receive US military or foreign assistance unless it eschews military force to solve its disputes with Armenia, but the White House keeps letting Azerbaijan off the hook by waiving Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act and sending millions of dollars in military aid to Baku. Washington should treat Baku’s actions against Armenia as attempts at coercion, just as it does with Russian aggression against Ukraine.

For its part, Armenia has sought to unwind some of its security arrangements with Russia. Yerevan has refused to host CSTO military drills, send a representative to serve as CSTO deputy secretary general, sign a CSTO declaration to provide defense aid to Armenia, or accept the deployment of a CSTO monitoring mission in lieu of the EU-led mission. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has even threatened to terminate or freeze Armenia’s CSTO membership.

Even so, the West cannot reasonably expect Armenia to leave the CSTO and break with Russia without significantly helping Armenia diversify and mitigate its security, energy, and economic reliance on the Kremlin. As part of this, the United States may want to consider inviting Armenia to become a Major Non-NATO Ally. Washington should provide training and equipment to enhance Armenia’s defense capabilities and help it develop a more robust and independent security apparatus. The United States could also push forward on the prospect of building a small modular nuclear power plant in Armenia, providing an incentive for Armenia to decide against partnering with Russia on energy.

The West has stepped up its diplomatic efforts to facilitate a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is good, but these efforts should not come at the cost of abetting the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh. Now is the time to compel Baku to cease its bellicose rhetoric and consent to an international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh to mediate dialogue with residents there and promote a more meaningful transition from war to lasting peace.

Sheila Paylan is a human rights lawyer and former legal advisor to the United Nations. She is currently a senior fellow in international law at the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia.


Visa-Free Travel Agreement Between Georgia and Armenia Enters into Force

Babken Chilingarian
Civil Georgia

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the agreement “On bilateral visa-free movement of citizens between the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Armenia” has officially entered into force. The agreement had been signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on January 12, 2023.

According to Foreign Ministry, the purpose of the agreement is to create more favorable conditions for the mutual movement of Georgian and Armenian citizens. It grants citizens of both countries the right to travel from Georgia to Armenia and vice versa through authorized border crossing points for international travel using a biometric identity card. This agreement replaces the previous agreement on visa-free travel “On visa-free travel for citizens of the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Armenia in their territories” signed on May 19, 1993.

https://civil.ge/archives/552118