Category: News

Earlier this year, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia’s Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute awarded William S. Parsons with the Ambassador Henry Morgenthau Medal on behalf of the government of Armenia, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly).

In a formal ceremony at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia on the evening of December 10, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Tigran Sargsyan presented the award to Parsons for his exceptional service to humankind through education on the Armenian Genocide and the defense of human rights.

William S. Parsons worked at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) for 25 years where he served as chief of staff and director of education. Prior to joining USHMM, he co-founded Facing History and Ourselves, an organization that specializes in training teachers in human rights education in order to help students confront the lessons of genocide and the Holocaust, and learn the value of tolerance. Facing History and Ourselves developed the first national curriculum on the Armenian Genocide in the U.S., which serves as the template for all educators today.

“It was my great honor to participate in the awarding of a longtime friend of the Armenian people,” stated Armenian National Institute (ANI) Director Dr. Rouben Adalian. “Perhaps no other person in the United States has done more and achieved more as a human rights educator than William Parsons,” added Dr. Adalian.

Parsons has reached thousands of teachers across the United States and around the globe. He co-authored the teachers’ resource book Facing History and Ourselves: The Holocaust and Human Behavior. He also co-edited, along with other significant educators, Centuries of Genocide: Essays and Eyewitness Accounts, which has gone into its fourth edition and sold tens of thousands of copies, making it the most popular college textbook on human rights and genocide.

The Secretary of the Republic of Armenia State Commission for the Centennial sent a letter accompanying the award.

“I am very pleased that William Parsons has received this significant award and recognition from the Armenian government for his pioneering efforts in Armenian Genocide and Holocaust education,” stated Assembly Board of Trustees Vice Chairman and Counselor Aram Kaloosdian. “I had the pleasure of serving with him on the ANI Academic Council and will always remember his dedication and perseverance in the fight against denial of the Armenian Genocide,” Kaloosdian said.

At the Armenian Embassy reception, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the U.S. Tigran Sargsyan also honored Maryland entrepreneur Boris Ghazaryan with the Prime Minister’s Medal.

In addition to the award ceremony, Ambassador Sargsyan welcomed the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan to the United States. Mirzoyan was visiting Washington as part of a 3-day working trip where he spoke at the annual Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh independence celebration on Capitol Hill and met with U.S. government officials, Members of Congress, and the Armenian Assembly of America.

Artak Barseghyan
Public Radio of Armenia

NATO highly values the participation of Armenian peacekeeping units in peacekeeping operations, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai said in an Internet press conference for Armenian media.

Question – How can the aggravation of Russian- Turkish relations affect NATO‘s cooperation with the countries in South Caucasus, namely the cooperation between NATO and Armenia, and NATO and Azerbaijan? Can the acute manifestation of geopolitical interests contribute to Georgia’s actual NATO membership any time soon? On the whole, taking into account the various geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus countries, how do you see the prospects of the regional policy pursued by the Alliance?

Answer – We recognize of course that each of the three countries in the South Caucasus has chosen its own security policy, and we respect that. To be a partner of NATO is fully compatible with aspirations to seek NATO membership, but also with membership of the CSTO, with membership of the Eurasian Union, with membership in the Non-aligned Movement or with other forms of regional cooperation. Indeed, more regional cooperation seems to make a lot of sense for the South Caucasus both from an economic and strategic perspective. In this context, I am pleased to see that occasionally NATO can provide the framework for more cooperation between Armenia and Georgia, or Georgia and Azerbaijan. However, each of our partnership relations is individual in nature. In the case of Armenia, our basic document is the Individual Partnership Action Plan that anyone can find on the internet at

. It covers a two-year period. A similar plan has been agreed with Azerbaijan, whilst we have other mechanisms for Georgia in recognition of their membership perspective. All these partnerships are approved and supported by our 28 Allies, i.e. also Turkey, and they have their characteristics and logic. This also means these relationships are not a subset of our relations with Russia, and I do not see an immediate impact of the current tension between Turkey and Russia on our individual relations with the three countries of the South Caucasus

Question – Does NATO have new proposals on the expansion of Armenia’s participation in peacekeeping missions, how do you assess the participation of the Armenian military in peacekeeping missions under the auspices of NATO? What events is NATO is planning to hold in South Caucasus in 2016?

Answer – We highly value the participation of Armenian peacekeeping units in NATO operations. Armenia’s commitment is steady and substantial, both in Kosovo, where Armenian units currently serve within the US contingent, and in Afghanistan, where your units serve mostly within the German contingent. Your contributions to these operations, as well as those in Mali (with the EU) and in Lebanon (with the UN), are very tangible contributions by Armenia to international security. At the same time, working together with forces from Allies nations has been a driving force to bring the Armenian armed forces closer to Western standards. As a result of over a decade of hard work, a number of Armenian units were certified to meet the highest NATO standards this autumn (in accordance with what we call NATO Evaluation Level Two). Armenia and specifically its armed forces can be proud of this achievement. I understand that Armenia now intends to broaden the set of units that meets these criteria.

As to our broader cooperation with Armenia, we intend to continue our support to Armenia’s defense reform efforts, provide assistance to the reform of Armenia’s defense education institutions, share best practice on how to reduce corruption in the security sector, support Armenia’s efforts to develop a concept of women in the armed forces, etc. The recently adopted constitutional amendments will have far-reaching implications for the way Armenia’s security sector is organized. I believe they should also create opportunities to strengthen parliamentary oversight over the armed forces.

Looking at our engagement with the South Caucasus region as a whole, we are of course very actively engaged with Georgia in recognition of its membership aspirations. We are currently focused on the implementation of the package of measures agreed in autumn 2014, called the Substantial NATO Georgia Package. These measures include the establishment of a Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (inaugurated this summer), the conduct of regular NATO exercises in Georgia and the provision of expertise in a dozen different domains related to the defense sector with the aim to strengthen Georgia’s self-defense capabilities and to prepare it for future membership. Clearly the aim is also to make sure that these initiatives contribute to regional security, and we are frequently considering to what extent other regional partners can participate in, or benefit from, these activities.
As to our partnership with Azerbaijan, this is organized in a similar way as with Armenia through what we call an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) agreed between NATO and Azerbaijan. This Action Plan we renew roughly every two years. Although the partnerships with Armenia and with Azerbaijan are not identical, there are substantial similarities, with Azerbaijan also contributing to our operation in Afghanistan and engaged in various aspects of defense reforms.

The hotly-anticipated latest addition in the Star Wars franchise, The Force Awakens, has had its world premiere in Los Angeles, the BBC reports.
Stars from the original series Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were joined by newcomers like John Boyega and Daisy Ridley at the event.

Security was tight, with a giant tent shrouding the red carpet.
The plot of the film remains a closely-guarded secret and a media embargo on reviews is in place until Wednesday.
But this did not deter fans camping out for days outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, which along with other LA venues screened the seventh Star Wars instalment.

Stormtroopers joined robots C-3PO and R2D2 on the red carpet as the human stars arrived.

“Now we have to live up to what the first films delivered,” said Harrison Ford, who is returning to his role as Han Solo.

Star Wars’ creator George Lucas said of the new entry in the series “it’s a film about families and what one generation leaves behind another generation has to deal with”.

Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé, 82, has been sentenced to six months in prison for tax evasion after taking a deal in which she plead guilty to the charges, reports.

The Spanish opera star, who rose to fame after duetting with Freddy Mercury on the 1987 hit Barcelona, did not declare her earnings in 2010, listing her official residence as being in the tiny Pyrenean country of Andorra “for the sole purpose of not paying her taxes” according to the prosecution.

She appeared via video link in the Barcelona court on Tuesday morning, from her living room, allowed to plead from home by the judge because of “health reasons” according to Europa Press.

As well as accepting the six month suspended sentence, the singer was also ordered to pay a fine of €254,231 ($280,000) and was banned from receiving any public subsidies for a period of 18 months.

During the brief video conference, the soprano admitted that despite living in Spain in 2010 she registered in Andorra to avoid paying tax in Spain.

Asbarez – The closing night film at the Lake Van International Film Festival, the psychological thriller 1915 received a resounding ovation from the Kurdish and Turkish audience in attendance—and earned the Special Jury Prize at a ceremony in downtown Van on December 11, 2015. The film, co-directed by Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian, had been at the center of much controversy in the lead-up to the screening, as local anti-Armenian groups condemned the festival and threatened the festival organizer for inviting such a film to what is considered Eastern Turkey.

Executive produced by Armenia’s first foreign minister, Raffi Hovannisian, starring Simon Abkarian and Angela Sarafyan, and featuring an original score by Serj Tankian, the film is a tribute to the legacy of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Representing the film in Van, Garin Hovannisian took on Turkey’s century of denial and spoke out forcefully about the Armenian Genocide—at the same time recognizing the courage of those intellectuals and organizers who have initiated such a discussion 100 years later. In an interview with Van TV at the Holy Cross Church on Akhtamar Island, Hovannisian said: “This is the spiritual and symbolic heart of the Armenian kingdom. We do not feel like strangers in this land. We feel that we have come home.”

The Kurdish interviewers, in their turn, apologized to the Armenian people on behalf of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. Even on national television, they did not mince words about “the genocide” and added: “We hope that we can have a common life here. We wish the past did not exist.” Similar sentiments were conveyed all through the week in Van, where a movement to recognize the Armenian connection to this land is well under way.

1915 was produced in partnership with the Armenian Center for National and International Studies and the RVVZ/IDeA Foundation.

Photo:  Donat Sorokin/TASS

 

The Russian military base in Armenia has received new Orlan-10 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and started testing Navodchik-2 drones invisible from the ground, a Southern Military District spokesman told on Tuesday.

The drones are being tested at the high mountainous Kamkhud training range in Armenia by the servicemen who have undergone special retraining at the training facility in the Moscow Region, the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, “reconnaissance units will use Orlan-10 UAVs for the first time to track extended and point targets in high mountainous areas”.

“The UAVs will be also involved in combat training of the military base’s units,” the spokesman added.

“The military base’s servicemen will also learn to deploy the Navodchik-2 reconnaissance system, prepare it for launching, use the catapult for aircraft takeoff and landing, the spokesman said.

The modern Navodchik-2 and Orlan-10 systems “will boost the volume of tasks accomplished in high mountainous areas in Armenia in the interests of reconnaissance and special units by five times,” the Southern Military District’s spokesman said.

The Russian military base is located in Armenia under an inter-governmental treaty signed between Moscow and Yerevan in 1995.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow for talks to try to bridge gaps with Russia over the political process to end Syria’s civil war, the BBC reports.

He is due to have meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The US and Russia have long disagreed on what role Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should play in the process.

The US wants Mr Assad to stand down but Russia says only the Syrian people can decide his fate.

Mr Kerry is to try to prepare the ground for an international meeting on Syria mooted for later this week.

French police have arrested a man in the Paris region as part of the investigation into the 13 November attacks in the city, sources say, the BBC reports.

Some 2,700 raids have been conducted since the attacks, with 360 people placed under house arrest across France, the AFP news agency reports.

Police have also arrested two people in northern France suspected of supplying weapons to one of the gunmen in the January attacks, reports say.

They were taken in for questioning.

More than 20 years after the ceasefire agreement, families still do not know what happened to relatives who went missing during the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says.

As part of efforts to find answers, the ICRC has handed the parties to the conflict an updated list containing the names of 4,496 people registered as missing by its delegations in Baku and Yerevan and its mission in Nagorno Karabakh.

The previous edition of the list dates from 2004, and since then the ICRC has worked closely with the Commissions on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing People and with families of missing persons, registering and following up the cases of people who disappeared during the armed conflict.

Under international humanitarian law, the parties to a conflict must do all they can to clarify the fate of missing persons. The ICRC believes that the new version of the list will help the authorities to consolidate information and intensify their efforts towards this objective. As a neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organization, the ICRC will continue to support the parties with its expertise, and by acting as a neutral intermediary between the sides.

The ICRC has been active in the region since 1992, and clarifying the fate of people missing in relation to the conflict is one of the organization’s priorities.

Photo: Sasha Arutyunova for The New York Times

 

World-known pianist Evgeny Kissin said in an interview with that he would not perform in Turkey until its government acknowledges that the mass murder of Armenians in 1915 was a genocide.

“I personally believe that if people in such countries learn that some musicians refuse to play there because they are dismayed by what their rulers do, that will make intelligent-thinking people more aware,” he said.

He hastened to add that he does “not judge or condemn colleagues who perform in totalitarian countries. — it’s a personal choice.”

Kissin will perform in a concert devoted to Jewish composers on Wednesday at Carnegie Hall.