Category: News

America must speak strongly and plainly about the facts of the Armenian Genocide and denounce all crimes against humanity, Represntative Adam Schiff (D-CA) says.

“Over a century ago, 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire in the first Genocide of the 20th century. America must speak strongly and plainly about the facts of the Armenian Genocide and denounce all crimes against humanity, if we are to live up to our moral and historic responsibility,” Rep. Schiff said in a Facebok post.

“We cannot take a principled stand against modern day genocides like those carried out by ISIS against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria if we are to pick and choose which horrors to recognize, or shrink from our responsibility because it might alienate friend or foe,” he added.

U.S. Representatives David Trott (R-MI) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) last week joined with their Congressional Armenian Caucus colleagues in introducing a calling on the United States to apply the lessons of the Armenian Genocide in seeking to prevent modern day atrocities across the Middle East

A German state minister on Tuesday accused Turkey of “unacceptable” spying on alleged followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames for a failed coup attempt last year, AFP reports.

“It is notable with what intensity and ruthlessness the people living abroad are being investigated,” said Boris Pistorius, interior minister of the northern German state of Lower Saxony.

“It’s intolerable and unacceptable,” he said at a press conference.

Ankara had asked Berlin to help spy on about 300 alleged Gulen supporters, Pistorius said, adding that the list was handed to Germany’s spy service, which turned it over to state governments.

But Pistorius’s state decided instead to inform the more than 10 targets, including a school and at least two companies, fearing people could suffer “retaliation” if they travelled to Turkey while unaware they were on a watch list.

Turkish authorities were acting with “something close to paranoia,” he said, adding that “all Gulen supporters are assumed to be terrorists and enemies of the state even though there is not the tiniest scrap of evidence.”

“Until today, we have no evidence whatsoever that Gulen supporters have violated any rules in any way.”

Asbarez – The second annual Armenian Genealogy Conference took place at the University of Michigan-Dearborn on March 18, while several related events were held in the Detroit area throughout the weekend. The conference was sponsored by the Armenian Research Center at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and co-sponsored by the Cultural Society of Armenians from Istanbul, the Nor Keghi Association, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). Over 250 people from 18 states attended the conference.

The conference kicked off on the evening of March 17 with an opening reception, where over 150 people of Armenian ancestry gathered at St. Sarkis Lillian Arakelian Fellowship Hall to connect with each other and to enjoy a traditional Armenian buffet, in which each item was identified by its historic origins. Der Hrant Kevorkian, pastor of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, extended a warm welcome to the guests who were seated at tables that mapped the geography of Historic Armenia with each table being designated a particular province. This gave conference attendees the opportunity to connect with others whose ancestors hailed from the same regions of Historic Armenia. Whether Keghitsis, Everegtsis, Adanatsis or Kharpertsis, compatriots made their way for group pictures taken according to regional roots.

On March 18, the conference opened with introductory remarks and a welcome by George Aghjayan and Ani Boghikian Kasparian of the organizing committee as well as by Dr. Ara Sanjian, the director of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Armenian Research Center. The morning sessions touched on genealogy 101 (Tracy Keeney), the hidden Armenians of Turkey (George Aghjayan) and the history of the Palu region (Vahe Tachjian).

In the afternoon, participants went into four consecutive break-out sessions on various themes, including the Armenian Immigration Project (Mark Arslan), genealogy and social media (Tracy Keeney), DNA testing (Janet Achoukian Andreopoulos), Armenian/Ottoman records (George Aghjayan), success stories (Jen Langley), and sources in Armenian research centers (Ani Boghikian Kasparian). Speakers shared “success stories” of genealogical discovery and encouraged those in attendance to start putting together the puzzle pieces of their own family history.

In her presentation, Tracy Keeney, creator of the Armenian Genealogy Facebook page, encouraged conference attendees to become more involved in tracing their family lines, whether it is through genealogy websites, newspapers and national archives, or Google, stating “You never know what you’re going to find and where you’re going to find it.” Keeney also emphasized the importance of connecting with living relatives. “You’re not going to find this all on ancenstry.com,” she said. “There’s so much more to genealogy than names and dates.”

Meline Lachinian, who has been interested in Armenian genealogy for twenty years, described the conference as “a labor of love.” She explained that as a result of a meeting with the director of the Houshamadyan Project Vahe Tachjian at last year’s genealogy conference, he published an article about her family narratives and photos.

Saturday evening, the banquet participants enjoyed the culturally rich program with traditional songs and dances of historic Armenia. Harry Kezelian III, accompanied by Dickran Callan, sang songs from various regions, explaining the occasion of when they used to be sung, while playing the oud. The Hamazkayin Arax Dance group of Detroit, led by Nayiri Karapetian, performed dances from Vasbouragan, Shirak, Kessab, and Sepastia. They invited the guests to join them in an effort to reintroduce some of the original steps.

Conference attendees on Sunday morning had an opportunity to attend mass at the local Armenian churches.  In the afternoon, everyone was shuttled to St. John’s Armenian Apostolic church for a tour of the Alex and Marie Manoogian Museum. As everyone was gathered in the art gallery, Lucy Ardash, the director of the museum, highlighted some of the special artifacts from the collection. With docents in each of the six galleries of the museum, the guests went through at their own pace, identifying with artifacts from their ancestral towns and villages.

The tour was followed by the farewell reception with a warm welcome by Hayr Aren Jebejian, pastor of St. John’s Armenian Apostolic Church. Guests enjoyed more Armenian pastries and more time with newly discovered family and friends. Participants thanked the organizers, George Aghjayan, Janet Achoukian Andreopoulos, Mark Arslan, Luc Baronian, Ani Boghikian Kasparian, Tracy Keeney, Jen Langley, Marc Mamigonian, and Shoghig Shahinian for a worthwhile conference and left with great anticipation for its next installment.

Armenian Patriarch Locum Tenens and Armenian Primate of Germany Archbishop Karekin Bekciyan has been in Germany for a while. He announced that he’ll be in Istanbul soon and stay in the patriarchate, reports.

Karekin Bekciyan wrote a letter from Germany. He reminded that he is still the Armenian Primate of Germany and has some appointments related to this seat.

He also stated that any cleric assigns a deputy when he leaves for a while, and he assigned Bishop Masalyan as his deputy to deal with the works of değabah while he is away.

He also added that he’ll be in Istanbul soon and stay in the patriarchate.

Officers of the Central Criminal Police Department of Georgia have detained Robert A. (born in 1977) wanted by the Armenian law enforcers, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.

The man was detained on the basis of a relevant notice from the Armenian law enforcers. He was wanted under the articles 235, paragraph 2, and 235.1, paragraphs 2 and 1of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

The arrest is connected with the case of alleged illegal smuggling of parts for Igla antiaircraft missile complex.

Former Artsakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayn was arrested last week on weapon smuggling charges.

On 28 March Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan received the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office and accompanying them officials.

At the beginning of the meeting President Sahakyan congratulated newly-appointed French and American co-chairmen Stéphane Visconti and Richard Hoagland on taking the responsible positions, wishing them success in their mission.

Issues related to the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict settlement and recent developments were discussed during the meeting.

President Sahakyan noted that Azerbaijan kept maintaining its unconstructive stance violating the ceasefire regime and continued to pursue anti-Armenian policy.

The Head of the State highlighted the necessity of elaborating the mechanisms of maintaining ceasefire regime and revealing violations considering it among pivotal components of the peace process.

Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan reaffirmed the commitment of the official Stepanakert to the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict within the frameworks of OSCE Minsk group.

Belarus and Armenia are close peoples, and will remain so, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia, Armenia’s permanent representative at the CIS Armen Khachatryan on the occasion of the completion of his diplomatic mission in Belarus.

The President emphasized that Belarus and Armenia have absolutely identical positions on all issues on international agenda. “We understand the policy that is pursued by the current leadership of Armenia and was pursued by the previous leadership,” the head of state continued.

The President also remarked: “There are issues of concern for Armenians and Belarusians. For example, Nagorno-Karabakh. I will openly say that it is not our issue, not my issue. We have nothing to do there. There are conflicting parties that must handle the issue. We have a univocal position: Armenia and Azerbaijan should sit at the negotiating table and solve this problem without any strong or weak mediators. If they want to use someone as a guarantor, they must make this decision together. It is the right time to solve this issue today.”

The President also spoke about the extradition of blogger Alexander Lapshin. “Does Armenia have anything to do with it? Armenia has never told me anything about Lapshin. Only one country, Azerbaijan, put him on the wanted list. When he was apprehended here I though why it happened right here. He could have gone anywhere else. Belarus would not have been involved in it. But he was. Interpol caught knew about it. We had to report and we did it as law-abiding people. What did we have to do with him? We had to extradite him to the country which had put him on the wanted list. Moreover, I will say it in public for the first time: no one wanted to take him back. They started to play this card later. He is the citizen of three countries, and neither of them needed him. They just wanted to get rid of this problem. Therefore, there are always subtexts in all issues which will be always used to someone’s advantage.”

The head of state continued: “You should know the main thing: we have been close people and will remain so. Armenia may have a different attitude to Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijan is also a close state and close people for us. We lived in one country some time ago. Why should we quarrel with Azerbaijan or Armenia? Perhaps, we will be useful for Azerbaijan and Armenia someday. Not as mediators. Therefore, I do not want to interfere. This position derives from the wisdom of the Belarusian and Armenians peoples.”

Charles Aznavour says diligence is his ‘most Armenia’ feature. “I don’t believe in inspiration, I believe in sweat,” the legendary French-Armenian singer said in an interview with Russian ahead of his visit to Moscow.

“I forge every word and hone every phrase. If I need days, weeks or months to find the necessary phrase, I stubbornly seek it out,” Aznavour said.

Aznavour is known for his charity, particular his support to Armenia after the devastating earthquake in Spitak.

“This is how my sister Aida and I have been brought up. The fate of our parents, who fled the Armenian genocide, and their behavior, served a role model to us. They often recalled the courage and kindness of an Italian captain, who saved them from death, when they were fleeing Constantinople.  They were already on the ship, when one of the Turkish soldiers heard Armenian speech and ran after them. The captain, however, rushed to protect my parents. I believe they managed to escape due to support and kindness of many people, that’s why they tried to help everyone throughout their lives,” the singer said.

“We lived very modestly, but our doors were always open. My parents were sharing everything they had. During the Second World War they hosted Jews and opponents of the regime,” he added.

Charles Aznavour describes his life as ‘self-conquest.’ “I started from the scratch. I had to learn everything myself. One had to pay for education then, while our family’s means were scarce, that’s why I had to leave school early. From that moment on I have had to achieve everything on my own.

Charles Aznavour will perform in the Kremlin Palace on April 5.

Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge

 

Georgian nationals may travel without a visa to Europe’s vast borderless Schengen area from March 28.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili was among government officials who attended a two hour long gala concert on Europe Square Monday marking the end of two days of celebrations, according to DFWatch.

From Tuesday, Georgian nationals may visit Europe’s vast borderless Schengen area for up to 90 days in any 180 day period. Also Georgian passport holders living in the breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia qualify for the visa waiver system.

Customs personnel have been given special instruction to give advice about procedures and check people’s documents, the interior minister said at a special briefing.

Although negotiations started as far back as 2013 with a so-called visa liberalization action plan (VLAP), it took until March this year until Georgia finally signed the agreement. The document was published in the EU journal on March 8 and enters into force on Tuesday.

Armenian-Turkmen relations have been progressing over the past few years, Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said at a meeting with visiting Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that Turkmenistan is interested in and attaches great importance to the implementation of mutually beneficial projects and programs in various fields aimed at furthering and strengthening of cooperation with Armenia.

“Our peoples enjoy historically warm relations and ties. I am confident that your official visit can best contribute to the further development of our fraternal relations in various spheres of economy – energy, transport, agriculture, engineering, and industry. We have great potential for cooperation and stand ready to discuss your proposals and ideas,” the President of Turkmenistan said.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov asked to convey warm greetings to President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Karen Karapetyan thanked the President of Turkmenistan for the warm welcome and, in turn, conveyed President Sargsyan’s greetings to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

Hailing the current level of Armenian-Turkmen relations, the head of the Armenian government noted that the economic cooperation does not correspond to this level.

“The purpose of my visit is to discuss in detail various issues and projects of economic cooperation that will make it possible to intensify economic interaction, increase trade turnover using the existing great potential,” the Prime Minister of Armenia said, expressing confidence that the two peoples’ friendship might provide a good basis for further development of exchanges between Armenia and Turkmenistan.

The Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Turkmenistan discussed various issues of the economic sphere. Karen Karapetyan and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed conviction that economic cooperation could stimulate the growth of bilateral trade turnover.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed support for the implementation of mutually beneficial programs discussed between the two countries. The parties agreed to continue the discussions in April in Yerevan at the level of the working groups.