Category: News

“HIV/AIDS is worse than a war. But this war can be won,” Nelson Mandela once said.

“What’s worse – AIDS or war?” Armenian Minister of Healthcare Armen Muradyan asked, addressing the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on ending AIDS.

“Where is the justice, when an innocent baby is born with immunodeficiency? Where is the justice, when children willing to live and study in their Motherland, to learn their language, to believe their God, respect the traditions of their parents and ancestors are being bombarded? Where is the justice, when 90-year old people, willing to live their old age at home, are being killed? I’m speaking about the events in Nagorno Karabakh a month ago. What is worse – AIDS or the infection of inhumanity and hatred that affects even the highest-ranking official, clouds his consciousness, turns a civilized person into a barbarian, who orders to kill children and elderly people? It’s hard to answer this rhetoric question,” Minister Muradyan said.

He noted that the coming generations may not know what AIDS is and what war is, if we give a clear answer to the question.

“I’m confident that the coming generations should compare which one is better – peace or prosperity,” Armen Muradyan concluded.

From June 24-26th,  Pope Francis will visit the land where tradition says that Noah’s Ark stopped after the Flood, at the foot of Mount Ararat.

Armenia is a country of rich and ancient history, full of joys and sorrows like the genocide of 1915. The Pope defined it as the first genocide of the twentieth century. During his trip, he is expected to honor the Yerevan memorial, on behalf the 1.5 million victims who perished as a result of hatred.

“The Armenian nation, the entire Armenian people is preparing to welcome the Pope on this special occasion and show their gratitude for having taken into account and commemorate, as he did the centennial of the Armenian genocide, ” Monsignor Boutros Marayati, Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo (Syria), said in an interview with

In April last year, Pope Francis presided over a mass in St. Peter’s to honor the victims of genocide to mark the centenary. His words infuriated Turkey and even Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who filed a complaint. But for Boutros Marayati, the Pope’s next trip should not be looked at in the light of any political interest.

“The Holy Father will come to Armenia as a pilgrim, as a pastor, as a promoter of unity because he will visit an ancient Apostolic Church. He will also come as an apostle of peace because he will pray for Armenia to be in a place of peace with its neighbors,” the Archbishop said.

Besides the tension with Turkey, the situation on the border of Armenia with Azerbaijan remains committed to the territorial dispute of Nagorno-Karabakh, as it is a site of reoccurring conflict, especially in the last few weeks.

Referring to the recent escalation of tensions at the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Monsignor Boutros Marayati said: “We need to do a reading of peace, openness, a reading that says that everyone should live together. The problem of Nagorno-Karabakh has to do with Azerbaijan, which is a problem because we still don’ know how the Pope is going to face this. It is a very, very delicate problem.”

Rome Reports reminds that Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, even before the Roman Empire with the Edict of Milan in 313 at the hand of Emperor Constantine.

Nagorno Karabakh Republic parliamentarian Lernik Hovhannisyan briefed Members of Congress and their senior aides regarding Azerbaijan’s recent escalation of violence against Artsakh and Armenia, during a full day of meetings on Capitol Hill.

In June 7th meetings with Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Energy and Commerce Committee member Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Robert Dold (R-IL), shared information and insights about the Azerbaijan’s April 2nd offensive, and the dangers that Baku’s belligerence represents to the security of Nagorno Karabakh and the stability of the region.  Among the specific issues discussed during his consultations were:

— The implementation of the Royce-Engel peace proposals

— The dangers of continued U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

— The value of Leahy Law investigations of Baku’s war crimes during the April 2nd offensive

— The importance of U.S. aid programs for Nagorno Karabakh

Hovhannisyan also held detailed consultations on these subjects with senior foreign policy aides to Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), who serves on the Appropriations Committee; Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ); Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), who serves on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees; Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who chairs the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who serves as Ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, and; Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  Hovhannisyan was joined by the ANCA-Eastern Region’s Armen Sahakyan and Raffi Karakashian, the ANCA’s Legislative Affairs Director.

Hovhannisyan traveled to Washington, DC as part of an educational tour of Eastern U.S. cities organized by the Artsakh Fund of the Eastern U.S. and the Hairenik Association to share timely information with American stakeholders regarding regional developments. He was born in the Karintak village in Shoushi in 1973. After studying at the local secondary school, he continued his studies at the Khrimian Hayrik School and graduated from the Yerevan State University’s History Department in 1996. He served in the 52nd battalion of the NKR Defense Army. In 2000, he completed his postgraduate studies at the Artsakh State University, and worked at the university’s Department of History as senior lecturer on Ethnography and Armenian History from 1999 to 2003. In 2013, Hovhannisyan was appointed Nagorno Karabakh’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs and was elected to the Parliament in 2015 as a member of the parliamentary faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). Since being elected, he has served as deputy chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defense, National Security, and Law Enforcement. Affairs Hovhannisyan, the author of 10 scientific papers and illustrator of 8 maps, currently runs Artsakh Public Television’s “Mer Yerkir” series. He is married and has 3 children.

Germany’s foreign ministry on Tuesday asked in the Turkish charge d’affaires over the row sparked by a German parliamentary vote declaring the Ottomans’ World War I massacre of Armenians a genocide, Agence Prance Presse reports.

German parliamentarians of Turkish origin have received death threats over the vote, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused them of backing “terrorism”.

He added that they should undergo blood tests to see “what kind of Turks they are”.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that these comments were met with “incomprehension” in Berlin.

A German foreign ministry source said that, with the Turkish ambassador currently recalled to Ankara, “today the Turkish charge d’affaires was invited to the foreign ministry for a talk about the events of recent days and the reactions to the Armenian resolution in the Bundestag”.

The talks with the high-ranking diplomat “focused on the traditionally close and trusting relations between Germany and Turkey and made clear that the most recent statements made to German MPs are at odds with this and were met with incomprehension”, the source added.

Erdogan had angrily condemned last week’s vote, charging that the 11 German MPs with Turkish roots who backed it supported “terrorism” by the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).

The June 2 vote further darkened Turkey’s ties with Germany, following recent disputes about press freedom in Turkey and a German TV satirist who insulted Erdogan, at a time when the EU is relying on Ankara to block the flow of migrants into Europe.

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman attended the opening of the Armenian-Czech Business Forum.

Serzh Sargsyan greeted the participants and organizers of the Armenian-Czech Business Forum, which became a traditional event, and expressed hope that the Forum will promote friendly relations of the two countries and further expansion of the economic ties as well as the discovery by the Czech businessmen of Armenia as a land of opportunities.

From the viewpoint of deepening the trade and economic relations, the President of Armenia stressed the importance of the February visit to Armenia of the Czech Minister for Industry and Trade Jan Mládek and the Business Forum organized in the framework of the visit.

The President of Armenia noted with satisfaction that today there are nearly 20 companies with Czech capital functioning in Armenia. According to Serzh Sargsyan, the citizens of Armenia have already had to some extend discovered for themselves Czech companies such as Czech Avto, Chantan, Praha, which imports Bohemian crystal glass, and others.

In his message to the participants of the Forum, Serzh Sargsyan presented in detail the favorable investment climate present in Armenia, current stage of the economy, Armenia’s leading role among the CIS countries in terms of economic freedom and doing business which is also registered in the rating reports of prestigious international structures. From the viewpoint of attraction foreign investments, the President of Armenia stressed in particular two factors – stability and economic interest. He underscored that with this regard Armenia possesses every prerequisite. President Sargsyan also underlined that since independence the macroeconomic stability of the country has been a priority and thanks to wise tax and budget, as well as monetary policies Armenian now has a stable macroeconomic environment.

“Nowadays, it is impossible to attract foreign investments if there is no political stability and predictability. By the way, when we say political stability, unlike some countries of the region, we first of all mean democratic stability based on human rights and the rule of law which allows to keep the country free from political shocks without endangering the future of the investments. Constitutional reforms in our country are also called to serve this purpose,” said the President of Armenia.

Serzh Sargsyan spoke about the comprehensive reforms carried out in Armenia and underscored that along the way the role of
the European Union – one of Armenia’s most important partners – has been significant. With the assistance of the EU,
trade regulations, food security, and intellectual property rights have been brought in compliance with the European standards.
The President of Armenia assured that Armenia will continue resolutely to move forward the agenda of reformation.

Serzh Sargsyan presented also new opportunities for the development of the Armenian economy and foreign investments and
favorable conditions which have appeared with the accession of our country to the Eurasian Economic Union. He underlined that Armenia has a preferential access regime to other economic areas, such as the EU, the US, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Norway and some other countries. According to the President, thanks to the preferential trade regime offered by these countries, Armenia can export goods of the Armenian origin to these markets with considerably low or zero tariffs.

“We are confident that enhancement of the high-class education and human potential are the most important guarantees of our country’s development, and we pay special attention to them. We have high-quality, educated labor force which can adapt to the requirements of modern labor markets,” said the President of Armenia.

President Serzh Sargsyan thanked the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman for his participation at the Yerevan Business Forum and expressed confidence that thanks to diligent and efficient work, Armenia and the Czech Republic can register considerable results, defining new areas of bilateral cooperation.

United Nations agencies congratulate Belarus for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis and Armenia and the Republic of Moldova for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, respectively.

During a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, elimination validation certificates were presented to the ministers of health of the three European countries, who are attending the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on ending AIDS.

“To ensure children are born healthy is to give them the best possible start in life. It is immensely encouraging to see countries succeed in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of these two diseases”, said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “This is a tremendous achievement – a clear signal to other countries that elimination is possible and that the world is on the way to an AIDS-free generation.”

Ending the epidemics of AIDS by 2030 is a key target of the Sustainable Development Goal on health and well-being.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working in Armenia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova since 2010 with the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

“This is a success for these countries and a celebration for children and families. We expect that these achievements will inspire many other European countries to seek validation that they have ended mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis”, added Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “It is only by ensuring truly universal access to HIV and syphilis prevention, treatment and care for all, while respecting individual rights, that the HIV and syphilis epidemics in children will be eliminated”.

“After two decades of intensive efforts in the Region, we now have validated proof that it is possible to realize the right of all children to be born HIV-free,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. “As we move forward, it is important that children have equitable access to services that can help them thrive and develop in a supportive family environment, with their mothers alive and nurturing their well-being.”

Armenia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova have worked to ensure early universal access to free services for antenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing for pregnant women and their partners, treatment for women who test positive, early diagnosis in infants, free infant formula and community engagement. These services are provided as part of an equitable, accessible, universal health system in which maternal and child health programmes are integrated with programmes for HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

“The remarkable achievements of these countries in eliminating HIV and syphilis transmission to infants underscore the importance of robust maternal health services,” according to Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, UNFPA. “Only by offering pregnant women integrated HIV and syphilis care as part of a rights-based, comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, can we truly keep the mother–baby pair alive and thriving.”

The validation process for the three countries was conducted by WHO in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNICEF and UNFPA.

Two privates of the Armenian Armed Forces, identified as Vardan Karapet Ghrmajyan and Armen Pavel Ghazaryan were reported missing as a result of the floods caused by heavy rain and strong wind at about 00:30, June 8, the Investigative Committee informs.

The bodies of the two soldiers were later found in the nearby area.

Probe into the details of the incident is under way.

In April 2016 the European Union extended final assistance of €3.75 million to enhance Armenia’s vocational education and training (VET) capacity. The disbursement was allocated out of €6 million (of which 5 million budget support, 1 million technical assistance), earmarked under 2012 Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation (EaPIC) programme. The programme aims to open up new horizons and foster job creation for youth, which will help maximise youth involvement in local development, curb labour migration to urban areas and support poverty alleviation in regions and across the country.

The outcomes of the assistance include reform implementation across the whole VET sector of the country, provision of equal access to quality VET education for youth with special needs, recognition of non-formal and informal learning and review of VET qualifications and lists of VET professions to meet the swiftly evolving labour market needs.

As of 2016, about 4,500 students at 17 pilot colleges in all regions of Armenia and Yerevan benefited from the EU-supported reforms and the number is envisaged to grow in the near future.

Commenting on the outcomes of the EU support in the VET sector, one of the programme beneficiaries, graduate of Yerevan regional state college N2 Tehmine Sahakyan said, “The knowledge and skills I gained at the college helped me pursue higher education at Armenian State University of Economics. They largely impacted my further achievements and career. I currently work at one of Armenia’s top insurance companies as a marketing expert and agent. I recommend all those, who are still undecided on their further specialisation to choose the VET sector as solid foundation for further career development.”

Director of the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training Development Tatevik Gasparyan in turn, noted, “The VET sector unlocks a range of opportunities for youth. State educational standards aimed at capacity building for the VET qualifications, educational programs and curricula are developed to meet the current labour demands.”

Within the frames of the final phase of the programme, five VET colleges, specifically those located on the border, were rehabilitated and equipped, with two more upgraded with facilities for physically impaired students. Another essential outcome of the programme is the development of 3-year business plans and conduction of own market research at all regional colleges. Development of business plans has been hailed by college managers in terms of sustainable financial management of VET institutions.

The assistance programme incorporates international best practices and visions for innovation and enhancement of VET education aligning them with the local market needs.

The EU has been actively supporting educational reforms in Armenia for the past 14 years with a clear focus on VET. Shortly after Armenia joined the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2006, the Government of Armenia and the European Commission agreed to focus €30 million of 2007 and 2009 Budget Support assistance of the European Union to Armenia on further reforms in the VET sector. The overall objective has been to support sustainable development in Armenia, by boosting the quality of VET sector to align it with the needs of the labour market.

Following the 2012 review of the ENP Progress Reports, €15 million assistance was allocated to Armenia under this programme. €6 million out of the allocation was earmarked for support in the VET sector.

The main directions of reforms as defined in the VET Reforms Programme and Action Plan of 2012-2016 adopted by the Government of Armenia in July 2012 are integration of the Republic of Armenia’s vocational education and training system into the European vocational education area, enhancing the VET system management efficiency, boosting reputation and prestige of VET system and development/strengthening of social partnership in the VET sector. Implementing partners of the programme are the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and social partners.

In addition to VET-focused assistance, the EU has been steadily supporting development of higher education in Armenia. “Empowerment of the Tertiary Level Education of the RA for European Higher Education Area IntegrationEHEA” Twinning (2014-2016) aims to contributes to Armenia’s full membership in the EHEA and improve the quality of higher education to the benefit of students, graduates and employers.

“Strengthening Integrity and Combating Corruption in Higher Education in Armenia” project, co-funded by the EU and Council of Europe, aims to strengthen integrity and fight corruption at higher education institutions by fostering effective implementation of the Armenian Government’s Anti-Corruption Action Plan 2015-2018.

Erasmus+, the new EU programme targeting Education, Training, Youth and Sport for the period 2014-2020, brings together seven existing programmes, including Tempus and Erasmus Mundus. 21 ongoing Tempus and 5 Erasmus+ Capacity Building projects with involvement of 22 Armenian universities and 31 other organisations including enterprises, ministries and non-governmental organizations.  There are also 17 ongoing Erasmus Mundus projects implemented across Armenia. Overall, around 800 students and staff of Armenian universities participated in Erasmus Mundus projects and Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Programs in the period of 2004-2014.

At the invitation of President Serzh Sargsyan, in the evening of June 7 the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman arrived to the Republic of Armenia on a state visit.

Today, at the Presidential Palace there took place high-level Armenian-Czech negotiations. After a tête-à-tête meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and the Czech Republic, the meeting continued in the extended format with the participation of the official delegations of the two countries. At the conclusion of the negotiations, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Miloš Zeman signed a Memorandum on the Bilateral Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Czech Republic.

The Presidents of Armenia and the Czech Republic recapped the results of the meeting in the Declaration which they made at the joint press conference for the representatives of the mass media.

 

Statement by President Serzh Sargsyan for press following the meeting with the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman

Your Excellency Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today we are honored to welcome the President of friendly Czech Republic and my good counterpart Mr. Miloš Zeman for a state visit. This is the first visit of the president of the Czech Republic. Indeed, it will leave its footprint on the history of bilateral relations.

Today we had a fruitful discussion on a large range of bilateral, regional and international issues, like we had in Prague, during my state visit to the Czech Republic. We noted with satisfaction that we had matching viewpoints over those issues, creating an environment of mutual understanding and trust on the ways of deepening of our relations.

Only since 2014 over two dozens of high level visits have taken place. Following our last meeting the Embassy of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Armenia was established and the first resident ambassador was appointed. Inter-parliamentary relations, decentralized cooperation and collaboration in international fora have intensified. Within this context, undeniably, the continuous assistance of the Czech Republic to advance the Armenian-EU cooperation has a distinct place and we highly value it. As a result, the Czech Republic is one of our stable and reliable partners in Europe and our bilateral cooperation is at the highest level ever.

With President Zeman we thoroughly discussed bilateral economic cooperation which is one of our priorities. It is not in vein, that almost all high-level bilateral meetings are followed by business forums. Later today president Zeman and I will give a start to another business forum. Surely, we have positive developments in this field, yet there is a lot to achieve. In this respect, we discussed new opportunities derive both from Armenia’s membership to the EEU and reopening of the market in Iran, our traditional partner country. At the same time, attaching importance to the bilateral economic ties, we were unanimous with President Zeman that the pillar of our relations was not merely economic interest, rather it is the common values, having led our people through history up to the 21st century.

We highly value the position of the Czech Republic concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is in line with the general stance of the EU and is in full support of the efforts of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs. I extended my special gratitude to Mr. President and the government of the Czech Republic for this attitude. We both attached importance to the implementation of the arrangements agreed upon in Vienna in May, including the agreements on the ceasefire from 1994 and 1995, establishing monitoring and incident investigation mechanisms and adding the capacities of the team of Personal Representative of the OSCE chairperson- in- office as an anchor for the long-lasting peace in the conflict zone. Unswerving implementation of these steps is the least to be done to pave way for the constructive and, which is more important, result-oriented negotiations.

Certainly, I also informed Mr. Zeman about the possibility of new meetings with the President of Azerbaijan mediated by the Minsk Group co-chairs. And I thanked him for his offer to use the capacities of Prague, Czech Republic for the meetings. In the meantime, I surely expressed my concerns over Ilham Aliyev’s recent unbalanced behavior, signs of which were apparently not visible in Vienna. Particularly with his speech at the “Fourth Conference of World Azerbaijanis”, where he was cynical about the Armenian state, made personal offenses against the President of the country, with whom by the way he is going to talk on certain issues, articulating thoughts that mock history, he shaped a clear perception about his inappropriateness.

I hope that this is a temporary problem; sort of machismo and it will disappear very soon as we have the commitment to get to serious work in the nearest future. Hopefully, this is not a conscious behavior intended to abort Vienna arrangements.

I expressed the satisfaction of the Armenian side about the unanimously adopted resolution on the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies as well as unambiguous attitude of the Czech President on the matter. The historic resolution on recognizing the Armenian Genocide by the German Bundestag on these days comes to prove that the process of recognition is irreversible – falsifying history, denying facts and spouting intimidation cannot stop it.

We are thankful to the Czech Republic for favorable disposition to the Armenian community. The fact of transferring the Catholic Church of Holy Spirit in Prague to the parish of the Armenian Apostolic Church is a vivid example of that. It was a major event in the life of the Armenian community of the Czech Republic in terms of preserving national identity. I would also like to deeply thank cardinal Duka in this respect.

I believe that our interstate relations will continue to successfully develop, since it is based on the unselfish friendship between Czech and Armenian people, mutual understanding and the strive to build a common future.

Thank you.

It is my pleasure to give the floor to my friend President Milos Zeman.

By Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

Despite ‘Sultan’ Erdogan’s insults and threats, the German Parliament went boldly forward last week and recognized the Armenian Genocide. In retaliation, Turkey immediately withdrew its ambassador from Berlin.

The historic Bundestag resolution, adopted with a near unanimous decision (1 vote against and 1 abstention), is titled: “In remembrance and commemoration of the genocide of Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire 101 years ago.” According to ARD television, 74% of the German population agrees that genocide was committed against Armenians. Another revealing survey cited by “Der Spiegel” magazine found that 91% of the German public does not trust Erdogan!

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fed up with Erdogan’s repeated blackmails, decided to put Turkey’s megalomaniac dictator in his place, while Pres. Obama has to muster the courage to do so! The German leadership had to fend off not only the Turkish regime’s attacks but also sharp criticism from many of the three million Turks living in Germany.

After the Parliament’s decision, Erdogan arrogantly declared: “We have nothing in our past to be ashamed of, but those countries that often accuse Turkey of ‘Armenian genocide’ have the blood of millions of innocent victims.” Turkey’s minister of justice Bekir Bozdag was just as brazen, as he told Germans: “First you burn the Jews in ovens, and then you come and accuse the Turkish people of genocide.” Erdogan and Bozdag must be reminded that Germany, unlike Turkey, long ago admitted the Nazi-era crimes, apologized for the Holocaust, and paid billions of dollars in compensation.

It remains to be seen if ‘big mouth’ Turkish leaders would dare to take punitive actions against Germany, besides the routine withdrawal of their ambassador, as they do each time another government acknowledges the Armenian Genocide. Should Erdogan decide to go beyond making empty threats, such steps would backfire on Turkey as Germany is its largest trading partner. Turkey’s economy is already in serious trouble after Russia banned the import of Turkish goods and discouraged its citizens from going to Turkey as tourists because of the downing of a Russian jet by the Turkish military near the Syrian border last year.

Turkish leaders have already damaged their country’s interests by making provocative and scandalous announcements which have helped to publicize worldwide the German Bundestag’s action on the Armenian Genocide. Thousands of newspapers, websites, TV and radio stations covered the German decision and the Turkish outbursts. It is noteworthy that the international media paid particular attention to the German Parliamentarians’ admission that their country, a military ally of Turkey during World War I, was complicit in the Armenian Genocide.

The New York Times and The Times of London, two of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, published powerful editorials on June 3 reaffirming the facts of the Armenian Genocide, supporting the German’s Parliament’s decision, and urging Turkey to confront its dark past.

In an editorial titled, “Yes, It’s Genocide,” The New York Times wrote: “… It was a genocide, the first of the 20th century…. The Armenians are fully justified in their quest for a historical reckoning…. President Obama, who as a candidate in 2008 pledged to recognize the events of 1915 as a genocide, has failed to do so…. The Germans, who have admirably confronted the terrible genocide in their own history, did the right thing in defying Mr. Erdogan’s threats.”

The London Times’ editorial, “Genocide Denial: The mass slaughter of Armenians needs to be acknowledged by Turkey,” was just as impactful: “The German resolution is right not only in its message but also in diplomacy. Turkish pique is regularly directed at allies who recognize the Armenian genocide. That response is worse than undignified and ahistorical: it is a denial of suffering on an unspeakable scale that poisons the politics of Europe to this day, and it needs to be challenged. The slaughter of Armenians was not, as Turkish apologists maintain, one of the unplanned but inescapable tragedies that happen in wartime. It was a specific campaign of deportation and mass killing by the Ottoman regime.… Modern Germany and its statesmen have expressed repeatedly their nation’s remorse for genocidal barbarism in the last century. It is long past time for Turkey to do the same.”

Having recognized the Armenian Genocide and acknowledged its own share of responsibility and complicity, Germany now has to make appropriate amends to Armenians, thus setting a venerable example for Turkey, not only in recognition, but also in restitution!