Category: News

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) issued a on April 18, voicing his concern about the recent referendum in Turkey.

“I am deeply concerned that the results from the referendum in Turkey will move one of our most important allies even further away from democracy and towards authoritarian rule,” read a part of the statement, which also called on the United States government to work to preserve democratic institutions in Turkey and not “serve as a rubber stamp for strong handed tactics that moves Turkey further away from a free, fair and open government.”

Congressman Pallone’s statement can be read below.

The numerous reported voting irregularities also suggests that this narrow victory for the consolidation of executive power lacks legitimacy and does not represent the will of the Turkish people. With most of the free world viewing the results in Turkey with skepticism and concern, it is unfathomable that President Trump called to congratulate President Erdogan. The United States should work to preserve democratic institutions in Turkey and around the world, not serve as a rubber stamp for strong handed tactics that moves Turkey further away from a free, fair and open government.

French presidential candidate François Fillon pledges to commemorate April 24^th if elected. “It is important not to forget the thousands of victims,” he said in an interview with .

“The French of Armenian origin and the Armenian community of France constitute an example of integration, of success, of patriotism. Everyone loves France but all also have a bit of their heart in Armenia. With the law of January 29, 2001, France publicly acknowledged the Armenian genocide of 1915. By recognizing the existence of the first genocide of the twentieth century, the French Republic symbolically gave the Armenian drama a place in the collective memory of mankind,” he said.

“Turkey is very wrong not to look at its past. Every nation has its share of shadow and gains by recognizing it,” Fillon said.

“The French Republic has a duty to protect all its citizens, including our citizens who have found asylum, homeland and freedom in France. It is up to the justice of the Republic to act to ensure respect for its citizens. An important legislative work had to be carried out in order to draw all the legal consequences of this recognition, that is to say, the penalization of denial,” he said.

As for Turkey’s accession to the European Union, François Fillon said: “I have always been consistent. I have never changed my opinion: Turkey’s accession to the European Union is neither possible nor desirable. I regret that France and Europe do not have the courage to say it sincerely to the Turkish authorities.”

“There is no alternative to finding a peaceful and lasting solution to the Karabakh conflict,” François Fillon said.

“In April 2016, for six days, the Southern Caucasus once again flamed. Confirmed by international indifference, Azerbaijan tried to retake Nagorno-Karabakh by force. This murderous offensive ended with a precarious ceasefire. Today our French citizens of Armenian origin are worried and I am also worried because the Nagorno-Karabakh. Let us not forget that the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is due to Stalin, who arbitrarily detached it from Armenia and gave to Azerbaijan in 1921. Now there is no choice but to find a Peaceful and lasting solution through the United Nations,” Fillon stated.

An Armenian textile exhibit is now on display at the Lynn Museum. Museum’s Executive Director Drew Russo describes it as symbolic of an important story, one that perhaps is even more powerful given the current turbulent circumstances both nationwide and throughout the world, according to .

This April 24 marks the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a horrific event in which more than a million Armenians were killed and thousands more forcibly removed from their homeland during the reign of the Ottoman Empire in early 20th century Eastern Europe.

“The magnificent aspect of this display is that it represents the preservation of Armenian culture and traditions and how they were kept alive even after the genocide,” said Russo.

“It demonstrates the heroic efforts of those who were able to escape – how they made sure their traditions were preserved even after being forced to vacate their home,” he said.

The exhibit, entitled “Heartstrings: Embracing Armenian Needlelace, Embroidery and Rugs,” opened in February and is running through June at the museum. The show displays items from the collection of Mary Mooradian, which includes the work of former Lynn resident Abraham Megerdichian, who made “wonderful, artistic creations” using leftover scrap material brought home from his job at General Electric, according to Russo.

Just as Armenians worldwide commemorate the anniversary of the genocide in order to honor those lost, the Lynn exhibit will be further enhanced by the one-day appearance of a seldom-viewed and rare collection of Armenian inscribed rugs from the personal collection of Raffi Manjikian.

The Manjikian collection will be on display, Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m. until noon.

“[The rugs] are devotional and memorial pieces with iconography that marks that period in history. They show the dates and names of people,” Manjikian explained. “As a person of Armenian descent, whose grandparents lost loved ones in the genocide, I belief objects like this that come into our hands have important stories to tell. So much can get lost in times of turmoil. We need to preserve what we can.”

Manjikian said this is a part of his collection that has not previously been showcased publicly.

“These are pieces I usually share only with close friends but Mary asked if I’d be willing to display them at this exhibit,” he said. “I’m an enthusiastic collector and I’m fortunate to have these items in my collection. It’s part of an immigrant story, really, and it reinforces the importance of highlighting and showcasing works from people of all cultures.”

Russo said the exhibit is a way of keeping memories and history alive – a powerful reminder to never forget.

“I think the exhibit has an important story to share, a story we need to be reminded of, especially at a time like this in our history,” he said. “There’s so much richness and hope yet so much tragedy wrapped up in the work [on display]. We’ve been fortunate to be able to work with Mary and Raffi to help bring this story to life.”

The Armenia Airline will start direct flights between Yerevan and Tel-Aviv under an agreement reached between the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Armenian Government and the relevant authorities of Israel.

The flights will be launched on May 17, 2017 and will be operated twice a week – on Thursdays and Sundays.

The Armenian side is confident the flights will have a positive impact on the development of tourism and economy.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday in the garden of his residence in the Vatican, Mater Ecclesiae, Vatican Radio reports.

On a sunny Roman day he drank a mug of beer and listened to traditional Bavarian music in the company of visitors from his native Bavaria in Germany, including the region’s Prime Minister.

His brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, also attended the party.

The Pope Emeritus was born on April 16, 1927, in southern Germany. But since the birthday coincided this year with Easter Sunday, Benedict celebrated the milestone event on Monday.

He resigned from office in 2013.

President Donald Trump congratulated Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his referendum victory, a sharp departure from the critical reception many European officials have given the vote to expand Erdogan’s powers, AP reports.

The White House said the leaders also discussed the war in Syria, which has complicated ties between the two countries.

The White House said the two leaders discussed the campaign against Islamic State, including “the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends.”

A​n historic event took place at the Rhode Island State House on April 13​,​ as the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust were recognized together in a resolution introduced by ​​State Representative Katherine Kazarian. ​State Representative J. Aaron Regunberg collaborated​with Rep. Kazarian to ​​introduce the joint resolution, the reports.

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello​ ​read the names of the representatives ​in support of the resolution and ​concluded with the following words, “​T​he resolution passes unanimously.​” This is the first time a resolution commemorating both devastating crimes against humanity has been introduced and passed in the R.I. State Legislature, and it coincides with the fact that both the Armenian Genocide and Jewish Holocaust are being remembered on the same date this year, April 24.

​Rev. Fr. Shnork Souin of St​s​. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian ​Apostolic ​Church opened the session with a prayer, thanking the State of Rhode Island for always doing the right thing ​in recognizing the horrific crime of genocide​. He was joined by ​Rev. Fr. Kapriel Nazarian of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian ​Apostolic ​Church​,​ as well as a large ​number​ of Armenians​,​ including Armenian National Committee of R.I. (ANC-R.I.) Chair​,​ Ani Haroian​,​ and the Honorable Aram Garabedian. ​Many members of the newly formed Holocaust and Genocide Education Committee were also in attendance.​

The Providence Homenetmen Scouts served as flag bearers.

It was noted by the Speaker that both the Armenian and Jewish communities have contributed to the betterment of ​the State of Rhode Island in spite of such tragic histories.

The ​S​tate recently passed a ​law requiring that the schools in R.I. teach about the Holocaust and Genocide, includ​ing​ the Armenian Genocide.

Horizon Weekly – Garo Paylan, one of three ethnic Armenians in the Turkish Parliament, will engage in a discussion of recent developments in Turkey and the Armenian community on April 30 and May 1 at the Armenian Community centers in Montreal and Toronto.

The program is sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of Canada, with the co-sponsorship of the Union of Armenian Associations in Quebec and the Union of Armenian Organizations and Churches of Toronto.

In this presentation, his first in Canada, Mr. Paylan will discuss recent developments in Turkey and the region, the challenges faced by Turkey’s Armenian community, Turkish-Armenian relations, and the Kurdish issue. Mr. Paylan will speak in English.

Garo Paylan is a founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and is a deputy representing the third district in Istanbul. Mr. Paylan is also a member of Turkey’s Armenian community and has long been an activist on human rights, Kurdish, and Armenian issues.

Prior to joining the parliament, Mr. Paylan served on the central committee of HDP and also served on the management of Armenian schools in Istanbul. He has long promoted bilingual education and minority rights in Turkey and has been actively engaged in raising awareness on discrimination towards minorities, the rights of the Armenian community in Turkey, Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, and especially on the Hrant Dink murder case. Mr. Paylan is from a family originally from Malatya and was elected to the Turkish parliament in 2015.

Turkey shifts to presidential system of governance after the Constitutional referendum narrowly passed on Sunday. The 18 constitutional changes were passed by a 51-to-49 ‘Yes’ vote in favor. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now gets direct control over the army, the general staff and the government. The Prime Minister’s post gets eliminated, and the President actually becomes the head of government and can now manage the country’s budget. In fact, Erdogan theoretically has an opportunity to remain in post until 2029.

At the same time Erdogan’s policy strengthens national and religious sentiments inside the country. To put it differently, nationalism and Islam are becoming a serious political factor. “This cannot but affect the foreign policy,” says Bagrat Estukyan, Armenian editor for Agos daily. According to him, Turkey is becoming more unpredictable and Erdogan might adopt a more aggressive foreign policy in relation to both the South Caucasus and the Middle East to divert public attention from domestic issues and consolidate the society,” Estukyan told a press conference at the Media Center today.

Expert of Turkish studies Levon Hovsepyan noted that all facts indicate Turkey’s foreign policy is going to become more aggressive. “Ankara’s foreign policy is widely dependent on the logic of domestic policy and interests. Therefore, when political Islam and nationalism reinforce here, it cannot but affect the regional policies,” he said.

Hovsepyan considers that Turkey will maintain its anti-Armenian policy and there are no grounds to speak about the perspectives of improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations.

Bagrat Estukyan believes that the lack of relations with Turkey is better for Armenia under the current circumstances. According to him, Turkey has grown into a center of regional instability and there are huge dangers coming from Ankara. “Along with Saudi Arabia, it is one of the main forces destabilizing the Middle East. Turkey rouses the flame of war in Syria. Closed borders reduce the risks for Armenia,” he stated.

$20 million of proceeds from the upcoming Armenian Genocide movie “The Promise” will be used to create a new institute within UCLA’s law school, reports.

The Promise Institute for Human Rights “will put our law school and this university at the forefront of human rights education and advocacy,” said Jennifer L. Mnookin, dean of the law school in announcing the institute Monday. The $20 million is the largest donation the law school has ever received to create an institute, Mnookin said.

“We hope that by moving out of the darkness that is the Armenian Genocide, we can move to the future and really lead through education, research, advocacy and scholarship in the realm of human rights,” said Dr. Eric Esrailian, a co-producer of “The Promise” and co-chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at UCLA’s medical school.

UCLA law professor Asli Bali will be the first faculty director for the new institute.

The announcement at law school conference on human rights came a week before Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24, when members of the Armenian diaspora commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

“My great-grandparents were genocide survivors, so the story of the Armenian Genocide is personal for my family,” Esrailian said after the public remarks at UCLA Monday.

It was philanthropist and billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who died in 2015, who envisioned the movie and got Esrailian involved, Esrailian said. They spent two years researching the Genocide and governments’ efforts, including by the United States, he said, to suppress a movie being made about the event, before forming a production company to make the movie. Kerkorian didn’t live to see the filming, but he did see the creation of the story.

Kerkorian wanted the film to be epic, and a love story, on the scale of classics like “Dr. Zhivago,” Esrailian said. “He didn’t want it to be a history lesson or for it to be preachy,” he said. “Unlike the general awareness of the Holocaust, there is a lack of general awareness about the Armenian Genocide. … We wanted also it to appeal to everybody, not just Armenians, of course.”

The story centers around a love triangle: Christian Bale plays an American photojournalist who comes to Constantinople at the eve of World War I and the Genocide and falls for an Armenian artist played by Charlotte Le Bon. At the same time, an Armenian medical student, played by Oscar Isaac, also falls in love with Le Bon’s character. Terry George, director and co-writer for “Hotel Rwanda,” directed and co-wrote “The Promise.”

“Hopefully, from this story, people will be moved and feel a desire to go and learn more,” Esrailian said. “Ironically, if you look at this modern world, it’s equally barbaric to the world of 102 years ago.”

The same tools are being used now as then to target certain groups: marginalization, fear, forced migration and violence. Adolf Hitler drew on the tactics of the Armenian Genocide, Esrailian said. Later examples came in Bosnia, South Sudan, Cambodia and Rwanda.

“Armenians are not just focused on our own history,” he added. “We want people to learn from our history so that others can benefit from that knowledge.”