Having served as the spiritual leader for Catholic Armenians in Turkey for 78 years, Archbishop Hovhannes Tcholakian has passed away, Agos reports.
The spiritual leader of Catholic Armenians in Turkey Hovhannes Tcholakian has passed away at 97. He had served as the Archbishop of Istanbul for 78 years.
The funeral ceremony will be held in Surp Hovhannes Vosgeperan Church in Istanbul on September 23 at 2.30 pm.
President Serzh Sargsyan visited today the Made in Armenia-2016 Exhibition, which will be opened in the Meridian Exhibition Center in Yerevan on September 19-22. The main goal of the exhibition is to present Armenia’s existing industrial potential, opportunities for development, and assist in entering new markets.
The traditional exhibition of the Armenian goods and services this year brought together over 300 companies from Armenia and Artsakh engaged in food, jewelry, alcoholic beverages production, products of light industry, pharmaceuticals, mining, construction materials, precise machinery and information technologies. The exhibition is attended also by the business delegations from the countries which can be perspective for the Armenian economy.
The President of Armenia toured the Exhibition and inquired about the products and services of the companies represented at the Exhibition and conversed with the representatives of the companies about their problems and development programs.
President Serzh Sargsyan visited today the RA Prosecutor’s Office and introduced to the leadership of the Office – members of the Board, prosecutors from the marzes and garrisons and heads of the subdivisions the newly appointed Prosecutor General Arthur Davtian.
At the beginning, the President of Armenia thanked the former Prosecutor General for his efforts and noted that during his tenure there has been register certain progress in the upholding the rule of law in the country, as well as in the fight against crimes and abuses, including in the system of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The President wished all the best to the Prosecutor General Arthur Davtian and the employees of the Prosecutor’s Office headed by him in furthering their activities. Serzh Sargsyan underscored that Arthur Davtian possesses all necessary knowledge, experience, willpower so that our country could register success with the assistance of the employees of the Prosecutor’s Office. The President of Armenia stressed the importance of bringing together efforts and giving a new impetus to the activities of the Office and noted that in any country there can be no success in the economic or public and political areas as long as there is no progress in the judicial system.
Gevork Kostanian thanked the President for the assessment of his work and assured that combined efforts of all employees of the Office allowed the structure to make a step forward. The former Prosecutor General expressed confidence that works aimed at the establishment in our country of law and order and strengthening of the legal system will continue with the same principled stance, consistency, and energy. He wished every success to the newly appointed Prosecutor General.
Prosecutor General Arthur Davtian thanked for the trust vested in him. He assured that the staff of the Prosecutor’s Office is well aware of the problems facing the country as well as of the importance of solving the tasks set before the Office and will do his best to find the most efficient avenues to solve them and meet everyone’s expectations.
By Robert Fulford
A question Adolf Hitler once asked still haunts the history of political atrocities: “Who remembers the Armenians today?”
He was confident that in a few years no one would care that he killed a multitude of Jews. After all, the Ottoman Empire and its successor state, Turkey, murdered more than a million Armenians, beginning in 1915. Less than three decades later, Hitler believed that crime was already forgotten.
In fact, much of the world ignored the Armenian tragedy as it was occurring. The First World War seemed more important than fragmentary news from remote Anatolia. But ever since, Armenians around the world have done their best to recall what happened. Every April 24 they commemorate the day in 1915 when the Turkish government began the genocide by arresting 200 Armenian community leaders in Istanbul. They were imprisoned and in most cases executed.
Armenians particularly want governments to acknowledge what happened as genocide, the conscious attempt to obliterate an ethnic group. The government of Turkey is just as anxious to deny that genocide occurred. The official story is that the people involved were deportees, leaving Turkey by foot, under harsh circumstances. That would explain the deaths.
Within Turkey it’s forbidden to name this a genocide. Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s winner of the Nobel prize in literature, was prosecuted for “insulting Turkishness” by referring to the killings in an interview with a Swiss magazine. Protests from around the world got Pamuk’s case dismissed. But there are still Turks who believe Pamuk expressed anti-Turkish opinions just to promote his career.
This decades-old dispute has taken an interesting turn with the appearance of the first ambitious and expensive movie about the genocide, The Promise. It’s a U.S.-Spain co-production recently given its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival. The director, Terry George, who had a success with Hotel Rwanda, embraces the story as told by most Armenians and most historians. He depicts masses of Armenians of all ages trying to escape Turkish rule, travelling across deserts and mountains as Turkish soldiers harass and shoot them. These sections of the film are convincing and moving.
But there’s also a wearying romantic triangle involving Michael (Oscar Isaac), a medical student, Chris, a U.S. journalist sympathetic to Armenians (Christian Bale) and the woman they both love, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), a painter. This badly over-written, too-familiar tale takes up much of the film’s foreground.
The Promise does not attempt to explain why the Turks hated Armenians. Turks were Muslims, Armenians were Christians, both living under Ottoman rule. The Armenians tended to be better educated and more prosperous, creating envy.
They were also said to be close to their neighbours, the Russians, and Turks suspected them of treason. In the First World War, Turkey sided with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire while Russia was allied with Britain and France. Turkey justified the forced deportation of the Armenians as a “wartime measure of military security.” Armenians were also victims of the passionate nationalism of Turkey. The cause of independence brought with it a desire to “Turkify” the new nation-state.
If the genocide was little noticed by the world, it was recorded by many witnesses. Henry Morgenthau, American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, described it as “a campaign of race extermination” in a 1915 telegram to Washington. In his memoirs he wrote, “When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race. In their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.”
In forcing the victims to reach its border, Turkey made no provisions for them. They were allowed only what they could carry. Starvation killed many. There were many massacres. Those Armenians not shot were reduced to a famished mass. Having inhabited the Armenian highlands for 3,000 years, survivors eventually settled in about two dozen countries around the world. Those who eluded deportation formed a small enclave, Russian Armenia. By late 1920, the Soviet Army arrived and their region became the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Freed finally by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the current Republic of Armenia appeared.
Today Armenians remain intent on getting more countries to recognize the genocide — so far 28 have done so. Recognition passed Canada’s parliament in 2004, after vigorous lobbying by Sarkis Assadourian, an Armenian-Canadian Liberal MP from Toronto — and over objections from the Turkish ambassador in Ottawa. He said Canada would suffer because Turkey would not buy Candu reactors or Canadian-made trains.
This year, Germany infuriated Turkey for a special reason. In June the Bundestag passed a resolution labelling the event a genocide, causing Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to recall his ambassador. Worse, for Turkey, 11 Bundestag members who voted for the resolution had a Turkish background. Several received death threats. Erdogan attacked them by suggesting they take blood tests to see “what kind of Turks they are.”
Erdogan loses most of these battles, despite his skills in diplomacy. He lost conceivably the biggest one, with Pope Francis. The pope has publicly used the word genocide in connection with the Armenians and says he has always done so.
In a tweet to her 3,000,000+ followers, Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian) welcomes “The Promise” – this epic human drama, a compelling, must-see film, set against the Armenian Genocide, and starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac.
She graciously thanks the late/great Kirk Kerkorian for making this movie possible.
Been long time coming(Lonsman)Eric.I’m Proud, Kirk would be Proud..You will Finally Give Armenians Around The?Their Voice??
— Cher (@cher)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s agent insists Manchester United fans have not seen the best of the midfielder because he is not fully fit, according to .
The 27-year-old summer signing from Borussia Dortmund was left on the bench by Jose Mourinho for the first three games of the season.
He was handed his first start in the 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City but was substituted at half-time.
Mkhitaryan picked up a thigh injury while on international duty with Armenia in the build-up to the derby and missed the defeat to Watford on Sunday with the same problem.
But his agent, Mino Raiola, insists he will show why United shelled out more than £25m to sign him when he returns.
He told the Daily Mail: “Mkhi was the best player in the German league the last two seasons. He has a strong mentality and will be an asset once fully fit.”
Raiola also revealed United beat off competition from another Premier League club to sign the former Shakhtar Donetsk man.
Hr added: “We had almost agreed with another Premier League club but Dortmund wouldn’t let him go, then United pushed it over the line.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a statement on the occasion of Armenia’s Independence Day. The message reads:
On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I want to extend my congratulations to the people of Armenia as you celebrate the 25th anniversary of your nation’s independence on September 21.
The United States deeply values its warm friendship with Armenia and with all of you. In the past quarter century, Armenia has made great progress, and my government looks forward to continuing to work closely with you in support of shared prosperity, strong democratic institutions, the rule of law, and regional peace. We appreciate Armenia’s consistent support for effective international peacekeeping operations and its leading role in responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. We are also grateful for the presence in the United States of a vibrant and highly-accomplished Armenian-American community.
On this special day, I offer best wishes to all Armenians for a peaceful and prosperous year to come.
On September 18, political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran were held in Tehran. The Armenian and Iranian delegations were headed by Shavarsh Kocharyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, and Ebrahim Rahimpour, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour of Iran, respectively.
A wide range of issues aimed at the further development of the Armenian-Iranian relations was discussed.
The sides emphasized the importance to maintain security and stability in the region.
A special attention was attached to the implementation of bilateral and multilateral economic projects. Issues related to the cooperation in the legal field, in cultural and humanitarian areas, as well as within international organizations were discussed.
Shavarsh Kocharyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, also had a meeting with Morteza Sarmadi, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran. During the meeting the sides summarized the negotiations on the issues of mutual interest and outlined the future steps.
The “Generation of independence” – a pan-Armenian orchestra and choir – will perform at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex on September 21. The concert, featuring more than 1,000 musicians aged 10-25 will be dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Armenia’s independence. Works by Armenian composers created during the years of independence and before will be performed.
Author of the project, conductor Sergey Smbatyan says “the concert is a huge responsibility for all participants.”
“It’s very important that Armenia has chosen to celebrate the 25th anniversary of independence with a classical concert. It’s a great honor, a source of inspiration and a great responsibility for my colleagues and me,” Sergey Smbatyan told reporters today.
He added that “many countries lack what Armenia has.” “We have musicians able to perform with best orchestras in the world,” he told reporters today.
The project brings together musicians, singers and choirs from Yerevan, the provinces of Armenia and Artsakh, as well as best young performers from different parts of the world that have been representing Armenia with honor during the 25 years of independence.
CBSLA.com — Reality television star Kim Kardashian is getting political.
The 35-year-old Kardashian took out a full-page, paid advertisement in the New York Times Saturday.
In it, she denounced the Wall Street Journal for running an ad paid for by Turkic Platform denying the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in the year 1915.
In the article titled, “Genocide Denial Cannot Be Allowed,” Kardashian writes:
“My family and I are no strangers to BS in the press … but when I heard about this full-page ad that ran in the Wall Street Journal denying the Armenian genocide, I couldn’t brush it off.”
At the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, several Armenian protesters gathered to voice their concerns over corruption in the Armenian regime.
Their take on Kardashian’s advertisement?
“My first reaction … she’s right on point,” said one man, while another said: “Media should be careful in what they print, what message they are trying to give society.”
The advertisement mentioned the WSJ’s response was, “We accept a wide range of advertisements, including those with provocative viewpoints.”
Back in April, when the ad surfaced in the WSJ, Kardashian took a similar stance.
Coincidentally, monument in remembrance of the Armenian genocide was unveiled Saturday in downtown LA’s Grand Park.