Category: News

Theatre critic Levon Mutafyan passed away today aged 61. His body was found in of the hotels in downtown Yerevan.

The Police confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia. Probe into the details in underway.

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Last week I spoke at the first conference on the Armenian Genocide in Israel, gave a lecture at the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and attended a meeting with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin.

Pres. Rivlin was a staunch supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition while he was Chairman of the Knesset (parliament). As President, he is now more circumspect, not wishing to contradict his government’s reprehensible silence regarding the Armenian Genocide. However, during his meeting with the scholars attending the genocide conference last week, Pres. Rivlin left no doubt that his position on the Armenian Genocide has not changed. He even used the term “Armenian Genocide” during the meeting. He also recalled his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this year in which he specifically referenced the Armenian Genocide.

I reminded Pres. Rivlin that over two dozen countries have already recognized the Armenian Genocide and that Israel should also acknowledge it simply because it is the right thing to do! I expressed the hope that with his continued support Israel would complete ‘the missing page’ of my book which lists the countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide!

I then handed Pres. Rivlin my book, “The Armenian Genocide, The World Speaks Out: 1915-2015, Documents & Declarations,” a copy of the speech I delivered at the conference, and my newspaper, The California Courier.

The Armenian Genocide conference was organized By Prof. Yair Auron and the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at The Open University of Israel. Among the distinguished speakers were: Jacob Metzer, President of The Open University of Israel; Prof. Yair Auron; Prof. Israel Charny; Prof. Elihu Richter; Prof. Dina Porat, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem; Dr. Stefan Ihrig, author of “Ataturk in the Nazi Imagination”; Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent human rights activist from Turkey; Prof. Ayhan Aktar from Istanbul Bilgi University; Ya’akov Ahimeir, Journalist and Editor of Israel Broadcasting Authority’s weekly international news survey on Channel 1; Benny Ziffer, Editor of the literary and cultural section of Haaretz newspaper; and George Hintlian from Jerusalem’s Armenian community.

In my conference presentation, I expressed regret that The State of Israel has yet to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Here are excerpts from my remarks:

“I must first draw an important distinction between the position of the Israeli government and the people of Israel and Jews around the world who have been some of the leading voices calling attention to the Armenian Genocide and its recognition:

— Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, during the Genocide;

— Franz Werfel, the Austrian Jewish novelist, who wrote in 1933 the international bestselling novel, “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.” His book was translated into Hebrew in 1934 and was widely read by Jews everywhere, particularly in the Warsaw ghetto, as a source of inspiration for survival and resistance to the Nazis during the Shoah;

— Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish lawyer, who coined the term genocide. He disclosed during a 1949 interview on the CBS-TV Program Face the Nation: “I became interested in genocide because it happened to the Armenians”;

— I would add to these historical figures the name of Yossi Beilin, who spoke out on the Armenian Genocide as Israel’s Minister of Justice on April 24, 2000, and as Deputy Foreign Minister in 1994, despite heavy pressures and criticisms from the Israeli government;

— We also fondly remember Minister of Education Yossi Sarid who was the keynote speaker in Jerusalem on April 24, 2000, the 85th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He declared: “I am here, with you, as a human being, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as Education Minister of the State of Israel…. Whoever stands indifferent in front of it [genocide], or ignores it, whoever makes calculations, whoever is silent always helps the perpetrator of the crime and not the murdered.”

— I must include in this list of Righteous Jews, Professors Israel Charny, Yair Auron, Yehuda Bauer, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, and a large number of Jewish scholars who were the trailblazers in writing articles and books on the Armenian Genocide, even before Armenian scholars.

— I must also commend Knesset members and former Knesset Chairman Reuven Rivlin — the current President of Israel — who staunchly supported Armenian Genocide recognition despite his government’s vehement opposition.

As it is well known, the Armenian Genocide was the ‘prototype’ of the Shoah in view of German complicity in the extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. In the process of that criminal cooperation, the German military learned from its Turkish ally practical evil lessons on how to organize and implement the elimination of an entire race! Hitler was emboldened by the silence of the world while Armenians were getting wiped out, to confidently declare on the eve of his invasion of Poland in 1939, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Consequently, The State of Israel should have been the first country, and hopefully not the last, to recognize the Armenian Genocide! Who should empathize more with the victims of a genocide than those who have suffered a similar fate?

Those who give Realpolitik reasons to justify Israel’s reluctance to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, should answer the following question: Would they accept the denial of the Shoah by another country, simply because it is in that country’s strategic interest to do so?

Equally illogical is the claim that now is not the right time to recognize the Armenian Genocide! When is a good time to recognize a genocide? Isn’t 100 years of waiting long enough?

Moreover, for years, we were told that acknowledging the Armenian Genocide would ruin Israel’s good relations with Turkey. Now, we are being told that Israel cannot acknowledge it in order not to make its bad relations with Turkey worse!

It would be immoral to exploit the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a bargaining chip between Turkey and Israel. No political, economic or military interest should override the recognition of any genocide!

Israel should recognize the Armenian Genocide for one reason only: It is the right thing to do!”

Photos:Instagram/David Beckham  

 

David Beckham has made the latest stop on his global tour by reaching Antarctica, where he plans to play what will likely be the coldest football game of his career, according to .

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid man is currently jetsetting across the planet as he looks to play a game of football on all seven continents as part of a BBC documentary on grass roots football across the globe.

And the 40-year-old has taken to Instagram to post a selfie, where the wrapped up former England skipper marvelled at his latest setting.

“Just marked the pitch out … Anyone see the corner flag behind me ?? game 5 Antartica WOW no words !!!!,” he wrote.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday against French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, deciding that freedom of speech did not protect “racist and anti-Semitic performances,” reports.

Dieudonne, as he is commonly known, was protesting a fine he received from a French court in 2009 for inviting a Holocaust-denier on stage.

He was fined 10,000 euros ($11,000) for what that court referred to as “racist insults”.

Dieudonne argued the fine amounted to an infringement of his freedom of speech.

During a show in December 2008, Dieudonne appeared on stage with Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson at the Zenith theatre in Paris and presented him with an award. He later defended himself in court, saying: “It was very funny.”

On November 7, under the auspices of H.E. Armen Yeganian, the Ambassador of Armenia to Canada, the concert of world-renowned Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian took place at the Arts Center of Toronto. The concert was dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and was conducted by the distinguished Nurhan Arman with the participation of famous violinist Nune Melikyan.

Ambassador Armen Yeganian, spiritual leaders, social and political figures, journalists, representatives of the Armenian community and many Canadians attended the concert.

In his remarks Ambassador Yeganian thanked Hasmik Papyan and other participants of the event. He emphasized the importance of this concert, noting that it plays a special role amongst the events organized in Canada on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, because it raises the public awareness of events dedicated to the Centennial.

During the concert, the “Sinfonia” orchestra performed works of AramKhachaturyan, Alexander Harutyunyan, Edvard Mirzoyan, Vache Sharafyan and Tigran Mansuryan.

Getty Images

 

Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas’ achievements in football have been honoured with the awarding of the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sports Merit, Daily Mail reports.

The Spain international, accompanied by long-term partner Sara Carbonero, received the award during a ceremony at the Palace of Moncloa in Madrid.

Casillas, who left Real Madrid to join the Portuguese runners-up in the summer after more than 15 years involved with the first team, was presented with the award by the Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy.

The 34-year-old is in line to make his 165th cap for the Spanish national team this week when they face England in Alicante on Friday night.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will hold consultations in Germany today, US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick has tweeted.

The meeting comes ahead of the forthcoming German presidency of the OSCE.

“We look forward today to consultations with Germany, the incoming chairman-in-office of OSCE. Let’s work together for Nagorno Karabakh peace,” Warlick said.

The Media Center, in cooperation with the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, held a panel discussion on how the geopolitics of the South Caucasus will be affected by the emergence of new Iranian-Russian ties in the energy sector.

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has been talking to Tehran about potential investments in Iran’s natural gas sector in the event the sanctions on Iran are lifted. Possible deals include a swap where Russia would supply gas to northern Iran via pipelines running through Armenia or Azerbaijan and  take a share in liquefied natural gas exported from Iran’s Gulf terminals in return.

Expert on Iran Sevak Sarukhanyan is not optimistic about the perspectives of this cooperation. He says that “when speaking about joint Russian-Iranian energy projects, one should keep in mind there are more difficulties than opportunities.”

“The difficulties first of all come from the economic situation in Russia. The second problem is Iran’s legislature, which seriously restricts foreign investments in the oil and gas sector,” he said.

The expert added there is another important factor that should be taken into account. “Iran uses its oil and gas factors in its negotiations with the EU and is more interested in seeing European companies investing in the country, as it will reinforce Iran’s positions in Europe, accelerate the process of elimination of sanctions and bring high technologies to the country. However, this will not prevent some kind of cooperation beyween Russia and Iran.” Sevak Sarukhanyan added, however, that it’s hard to predict how this will relate to the South Caucasus.”

A new energy axis between Russia and Iran envisages serious changes for the countries of the South Caucasus, at the same time affecting the political relations in the region. Sergey Minasyan, head of the Political Studies Department at the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan considers that with absolutely matching problems and interests in the Middle East, Russia and Iran are actually in a “situational military-political alliance.”

“It’s obvious that the problems and interests of Moscow and Tehran are more than similar. Moreover, a “situational military-political alliance” has been formed in the face of Iran, Iraq, Assad’s administration and Moscow,” he said.

According to the political scientist, “this geopolitical rapprochement between Tehran and Moscow has contributed to two developments: Russia’s decisive role in solving the puzzle around Iran’s nuke program and Russia’s actions in Syria.” However, Sergey Minasyan agrees that speaking of Russian-Iranian economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector, is still untimely.

Photo by Mikhail Fomichev/Sputnik

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave instructions to sign an agreement with Armenia on creating a united regional air defense system in the Caucasian collective security region, according to a document posted on the government’s legal information web portal on Wednesday, TASS reports.

‘I decree to accept a proposal by the Russian government on signing an agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia on creating a united regional air defense system in the Caucasian collective security region,” the president’s instruction said.

“I hereby instruct the Defense Ministry of Russia to hold negotiations with the Armenian side with the involvement of Russia’s Foreign Ministry and sign the said Agreement on Russia’s behalf upon reaching consent and permit making minor amendments to its draft approved by the government,” the document said.