Category: News

 

 

 

Turkish author Pinar Selek’s book titled “Because they are Armenian” has been published in Armenian. The book reflects the author’s stance on the Armenian Genocide and the approaches of the Turkish public.

The French translation of the book was released in Strasburg in February.

“In the book I have written what it means to be Armenian in Turkey,” she told a press conference in Yerevan today.

In 1998 Pinar Selek was prosecuted in connection with an explosion that occurred at the Spice Bazaar, but was acquitted by the Istanbul High Criminal Court of Istanbul 16 years later. She had to move to France because of persecutions in Turkey.

The author said she faced the 1915 massacre of Armenians too late. “There can be nothing more precious than the struggle for truth,” Selek said.

When writing the book she was inspired by her late friends, who lived in Turkey. “They can’t speak today, and I’m speaking for them.”

“I have problems with justice, and I’m struggling for my own justice. That’s why I know how important every testimony is for achieving justice,” the author said.

“Believe, I’m not alone. I’m a representative of a whole generation, which questions many truths we have been taught in Turkey,” Selek added.

Florida Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL) have signed a letter that will be sent to U.S. Ambassador James Warlick later this week calling for increased security measures and confidence building mechanisms along the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan border, reported FLArmenians.com. Congressman Bilirakis serves as Co-Chair of the Hellenic Caucus, Co-Chair of the Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus, and Vice-Chair of the Armenian Caucus.

“When violence and aggression become a pattern in a historically turbulent region, we, as American policy leaders, should speak out strongly to dispel further hostilities,” Congressman Bilirakis told FLArmenians.com.  “That is why I joined my colleagues in a letter to James Warlick, U.S. Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group urging a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. Azerbaijani aggression must stop so that peace and security can return to the region as swiftly as possible,” he said.

Congressman Deutch, whose Palm Beach County district is home to the largest Armenian community in Florida, serves with Bilirakis as the Co-Chair of the Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus.

“I want to thank our Florida Representatives, Gus Bilirakis and Ted Deutch, for their support in calling for an end to the escalating violence against Armenia and Karabakh,” stated District 21 resident and Florida Armenians Boca Raton Chair George Sarkisian.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) are circulating a bipartisan letter asking their Congressional colleagues to support renewed U.S. leadership in the South Caucasus.

The two senior legislators are currently collecting signatures on a letter addressed to Ambassador James Warlick, U.S. representative to the OSCE Minsk Group which is responsible for mediating a resolution of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. The Royce-Engel letter specifically calls for the U.S. and OSCE to abandon the failed policy of false parity in responding to acts of aggression, noting that: “The longstanding U.S. and OSCE practice of responding to each new attack with generic calls upon all parties to refrain from violence has failed to de-escalate the situation. Instead, this policy of artificial evenhandedness has dangerously increased tensions. There will be no peace absent responsibility.”

The legislators propose three concrete steps that would, “in the short-term, save lives and help to avert war. Over the longer term,” the letter says, “these steps could contribute to a comprehensive and enduring peace for all the citizens of the region:”

Specifically, the letter calls for:

1.     An agreement from all sides not to deploy snipers along the line of contact;

2.     The placement of OSCE-monitored, advanced gunfire-locator systems and sound-ranging equipment to determine the source of attacks along the line of contact; and

3.     The deployment of additional OSCE observers along the line of contact to better monitor cease-fire violations.

According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the governments of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh have both pledged their support for these confidence-building measures, while Azerbaijan has repeatedly opposed them.

Over fifty-five members of Congress have signed the Royce-Engel letter to Ambassador Warlick. In addition to the House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership, the letter has the support of House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA), U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY), and former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Steve Israel (D-NY).

Congressman Schiff wrote a separate letter to Ambassador Warlick earlier this month warning, “unwillingness to speak plainly about the aggressor in this conflict sends the message to Azerbaijan that it can act with impunity.” “I do not believe the cause of peace is served by ignoring Azerbaijan’s increasing belligerence and the suggestion that both parties are equally to blame for violence along the Line of Contact when that is not the case,” Schiff’s letter states.

Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia has launched the new round of Acceleration Program, targeting startups with innovative solutions. 14 teams, presenting various solutions have been selected out of more than 50 applicants in the result of strict selection and interview. In line with the tendencies, currently dominating in the international market, teams in Armenia offer solutions in such areas as e-commerce, B2B solutions, video editing, social solutions etc.

Artashes Vardanyan, the head of Acceleration Program of Microsoft innovation center mentions that the startups, involved in the program are at different stages of development. There are teams at the idea or prototype stage, at the same time under the Acceleration Program assistance will also be provided to startups, which already have users and ensure stable retention rate, as well as have managed to attract their first investments.

Under the 12-week acceleration program startups will work on the development of their products, powered by mentorship from experienced specialists. This round of the program will involve specialists from Silicon valley, Israel, Australia, Russia, who have huge experience in turning idea into a product. Armenian experts will work with the teams and provide professional and business consultancy. In addition, the participating teams will receive working space and other facilities in the center. They will be able to participate in all events, training courses and seminars, organized by MIC Armenia. Taking into account that some of the teams have already their products developed, the Acceleration program will try to make some connections with investors and venture funds. The program will culminate in the MIC Demo Day, where a global audience will witness the product demonstrations and startups will receive feedback from experts. 4 startups: Solo Learn, Forkize, Flaxton և Penny, involved in the previous rounds of the Acceleration program attracted more than 350,000 USD for the further development and marketing of their products.

The teams, participating in this round of the Acceleration program are the following:

• BeeCart – an online system of on-demand grocery delivery
• Archimedes – a solution, intended to automate lessons scheduling process at higher educational institutions
• Challenger – an app, intended to help people to achieve their procrastinated goals, by creating challenges and competing with each other
• CPU panda – an online CPU retailer with worldwide shipping
• Follow My Youtube – a web solution, allowing to watch youtube videos together with friends at the same time but from different places
• Friendhub – a mobile application, intended to help people to socialize in real life
• Homesweet – an on-demand cooking order of your favorite food
• Helpie  – a solution to make better UX and to help and support communications
• gShop – an automated delivery of household goods, based on consumption behavior
• Masoor solutions –  a smart medical scheduler to help patients to take medicine and treatment in time
• NeedChange – an app, that will help to avoid inconvenience while visiting places of entertainment and make reservations.
• Renderforest – a free online video making tool
• New life – an e-commerce platform/aggregator of clothes stores
• Filmer – a mobile app intended to help you find your next favorite movie for watching

Three people have been shot and one is reported to be critically wounded at Tennessee State University in Nashville, US police say.

The entrance to the university is reported to have blocked off. There is no indication that an attacker is still active, AP news agency reports.

The gunfire is reported to have started on Thursday night.

The latest incident comes a week after three people were wounded by gunfire at an off-campus party near the college.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) gives an additional motivation for the development of economies of its member states, Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan said on Friday, TASS reports.

“We assume that four freedoms underlying the EEU — movement of goods, services, capitals and workforce — offer an additional impetus for the development of the economies of its member states,” the foreign minister told an international forum of graduates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) University.

“Economic integration processes are in the focus of close attention of the international community,” he added, saying there were some 20 economic unions in the world at the moment.

Azerbaijan’s claims to Nagorno Karabakh are void of any historic, legal, political or moral ground, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the Third Forum of International Forum of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) Graduates.

“The people of Nagorno Karabakh are struggling for their indisputable right for self-determination, a right enshrined in the UN Charter and other founding documents of international law,” the President said.

“Nagorno Karabakh has proven its right to exist through a persistent centuries-long struggle. Nagorno Karabakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan,” he added.

“A new formation called Azerbaijan appeared on the political map of the South Caucasus after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918. Therefore, the claims that Nagorno Karabakh belonged to Azerbaijan before 1918 are absolutely improper, since the state never existed before. The League of Nations turned down newly-formed Azerbaijan’s bid for membership because of the uncertainty of its borders. Azerbaijanis tried to annex Karabakh by force. Between 1918 and 1920 the Azerbaijani military units committed a massacre of the Armenian population. Over 40 thousand Armenians were killed or deported from Shushi, the regional cultural center, only in March 1920. This terrible massacre left a deep and bleeding wound,” the Armenian President said.

President Sargsyan added that at the moment of collapse of the Soviet Union, there were two independent and equal subjects formed on the territory of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan – the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”

“Azerbaijan, which had a second chance to create an independent state, repeated the attempt of 1918, launching an aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, shelling peaceful cities and villages, killing and deporting Armenians,” he said.

The President reminded that the negotiations on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict are being held within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group – the only body authorized with an international mandate. He noted, however, that Azerbaijan constantly turns down any proposal on the resolution of the conflict and the confidence-building measures.

Bu inciting tensions at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan not only violates the international commitments to refuse from the use of forces or the threat of use of force enshrined in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Declaration on Principles of International Law, but also the commitments assumed under a trilateral ceasefire agreement, ignoring the numerous calls of the heads of state of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries.

To conclude with, Serzh Sargsyan reiterated Armenia’s commitment to solve the Karabakh conflict exceptionally in a peaceful way.

Armenian National Assembly Speaker Galust Sahakyan met with the Chairman of the Syrian Parliament Mohammad Jihad al-Laham on the sidelines of the 133^rd assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Galust Sahakyan said it’s a great pain for Armenia to see the developments in Syria.

“We are more than friends with Syria. We never forget that Syria opened its doors for Armenians that fled genocide,” he said.

Speaking about the Armenian-Syrian inter-parliamentary cooperation, Mr.Sahakyan noted that Armenian MPs periodically visit Syria to learn about the situation on the spot and report detailed information.

Galust Sahakyan noted that wars with features of genocide continue today because the Armenian Genocide was not properly condemned by the world at the time.

The Speaker reiterated Armenia’s willingness to stand by brotherly Syria on all international platforms.

Mohammad Jihad al-Laham invited Galust Sahakyan to Syria.

The Chairman of the Syrian Parliament expressed gratitude for the meeting and said: “The Russian-Syrian coalition has already achieved serious progress.  We are grateful to you for supporting us. Please, convey President Bashar al-Assad’s thanks to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.”

Speaking about the assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham said “it’s sad the international community is using double standards with regard to Syria.”

The has published an article titled “Armenian Genocide and Beyond: The Road to Deir al-Zor,” in which author Benny Morris refers to the Armenian Genocide, the comemoration of its centennial, Turkey’s move to mark Gallipoli anniversary on April 24. Below is an excerpt form the article:

This year Turkey moved its Gallipoli anniversary commemoration, traditionally marked on April 25—the day the Allies landed on the peninsula just west of Istanbul—to April 24. April 24, of course, is the day on which Armenians around the world have traditionally commemorated the slaughter of their forefathers by the Ottoman Turkish government. That day, in 1915, the police in Constantinople rounded up some 250 Armenian leaders for deportation and death. This act was followed by systematic mass deportations and massacres.

This year was the centenary of both World War I events. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with his wonted crudity and cynicism, moved the Gallipoli remembrance by a day in order to overshadow the Armenian commemoration and divert international attention away from the Turks’ crime against humanity, considered by most historians to be the first genocide of the twentieth century.

All Turkish governments since World War I have denied Turkish responsibility for the mass murder and, indeed, have usually denied that it actually took place, explaining that a much smaller number of Armenians had died (much, incidentally, as Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian “president,” in his PhD thesis claimed that “only” several hundred thousand Jews had died during the Holocaust). Instead, Turkish governments have claimed that the Armenians, a disloyal people, had rebelled against the country and tried to stab it in the back during the war; that the Armenian victims were the result of clashes between armed rebels and the empire’s security forces; and that, if massacres occurred, they were the doing of overzealous local officials and/or Kurdish tribesmen, rather than a product of the policy of the central government, which had merely ordered the removal of Armenians from war zones.

Few, if any, of the foreign dignitaries who attended Erdogan’s festivities at Gallipoli, including princes Charles and Harry from Great Britain and the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, whose troops had participated in the landings on the peninsula, were probably aware of the grim irony that undercut the Turkish celebrations.

Click for the full article.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire about 60 time last night, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The rival fired more than 900 shots from weapons of different caliber, including 60 mm mortars in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army have given a worthy response to the rival’s actions and confidently continue with their military duty all along the line of contact.

By Hannah Hess

From Ankara to Istanbul, Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff took 159 privately sponsored trips to Turkey during the 113th Congress, putting the nation second only to Israel in popularity as a foreign destination.

But a recent report suggests hidden sources, never vetted by the House Ethics Committee, footed the bill for five-star hotels and dining during some members’ all-expenses-paid jaunts.

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., accepted an $8,700 nine-day trip, paid for by the Council of Turkic American Associations, according to documents filed with the Ethics Committee. She flew business class in May 2013 and stayed at Istanbul’s Crowne Plaza & Hagia Sophia and the Rixos Grand Ankara.

Clarke’s itinerary included a three-day conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which later attracted the attention of ethics investigators and became the focus of a probe into alleged state-funded travel.

The New York-based nonprofit also paid for Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., to travel in Turkey before attending the conference. He stayed at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski, a former palace converted into a luxury hotel with suites that promise “the exclusive ambiance that was once enjoyed by the majestic Sultans of the Ottoman Empire.”

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., and her fiance accepted a similar package, paid for by the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians. In addition to hotel stays, the nonprofit spent $1,500 on meals and taxis for the couple and the congresswoman’s plane ticket. The TCAE did not cooperate with ethics investigators.

The Office of Congressional Ethics talked to the CTAA’s president, Furkan Kosar, and three other nonprofit group leaders, who admitted they used the Bosphorus Atlantic Cultural Association of Friendship and Cooperation (BAKIAD) to arrange and finance domestic expenses for the side-trips some members and staffers took to Turkey.

“The sponsors believed that BAKIAD’s funding comes from donations from Turkish nationals,” stated the report released by the OCE on Oct. 7. “One sponsor thought BAKIAD might receive commissions from hotels and restaurants for using their services.”

BAKIAD handled transportation to and from the airport, currency exchange, hotel reservations, guides and sightseeing, without asking for repayment from the nonprofits. But BAKIAD’s involvement was not disclosed in pre- and post-travel documents submitted to the House Ethics Committee for vetting.

“Some red flags were missed,” said Public Citizen’s Craig Holman, alleging the committee did not ask enough questions of the nonprofits.

After an interview with OCE, Kosar disclosed the Istanbul-based BAKIAD’s involvement. He later wire-transferred $2,280 to repay BAKIAD for the amount listed on the disclosure forms.

House Ethics Committee staffers appear to have done their due diligence, under the rules and laws Congress has created to vet privately sponsored travel. The committee’s own report on Azerbaijan shows staffers emailed reported travel sponsors to confirm statements and itineraries on pre-travel forms.

“The committee’s report was very clear that they appear to have been lied to, and they’ve referred it to [the Justice Department] for criminal prosecution,” said Dan Schwager, former chief counsel of the House Ethics Committee. “I don’t know how much more seriously you can take it.”

“Do they want the committee to polygraph sponsors?” Schwager chided, in response to watchdogs’ concerns. He said auditing the books of any group who wanted to sponsor a trip is not a “reasonable exercise” under current rules.

According to its biennial report, the House Ethics Committee received 4,593 travel requests during the 113th Congress.

BAKIAD was established in 2006 to oversee and coordinate trips and events related to North America. According to the OCE, the group may have funded and coordinated the privately sponsored congressional travel within Turkey dating back several years.

Groups that admitted coordinating with BAKIAD have paid for at least $136,000 in travel and 38 trips for members and staff, according to a travel disclosure database maintained by LegiStorm.

A 2007 overhaul of congressional travel rules, prompted by the scandal that sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison, put stricter rules in place to prevent special interests from footing flying lawmakers around the world. But the rewrite left one “loophole” in place, said Campaign Legal Center’s Meredith McGehee.

While lobbyists, lobbying firms and foreign principals are prohibited from arranging or financing trips, members can accept free travel paid by nonprofits, who are not required to disclose their contributions.

But the Azerbaijan case “is like drawing a roadmap about how to evade the limits in the law for who can pay for travel,” McGehee said in an interview.

Holman suggested Congress needs to carefully review how nonprofit sponsors plan to pay for overseas journeys, like the heavily scrutinized trip to Azerbaijan.

“Members and staff who go on these trips are going to suffer the political consequences,” Holman said.