About 15,000 demonstrators in the Armenian capital held a torchlight march to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians massacred a century ago by Ottoman Turks.
The Saturday evening march comes on the eve of official commemorations of the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide is not just part of the Armenian history, it’s not the pain of a particular country or people, it’s part of world history, George Clooney said at the Second Global Forum against the crime of Genocide under way in Yerevan.
It’s been a long struggle to have things called by their names, Clooney said. He said it’s hard because we live in a complex world, but added that “one cannot deny what has happened.”
“When someone is trying to annihilate a whole human race, culture, people, that’s genocide, there can be no other version of it.”
Time and time again we repeat “Never again” after Germany, but after that we have had Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur. The truth is that it happens over and over again.
“What we are doing today has two objectives. First, we have to look back into the past and remember that it’s not the pain of a particular country or people, it’s part of world history. Second, we need to move forward,” Clooney added.
The essence of the Aurora Prize is that the founders are trying to value the heroism of people, who risk their lives to ensure a better life for others, he stressed.
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today issued the following statement after the Administration failed to call the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government a genocide:
“As we mark the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, I call on the Administration to recognize the murder of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1923 by Ottoman Turkey for what it was: genocide. Recognition of past genocides is crucial for preventing future genocides, so it is long past due to speak honestly about what happened to the Armenians.”
St Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Church, urges us to recognise the evil within us and the world
By Vahan Dilanyan
This Sunday Armenians and people of good will around the world will commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
A century ago millions of men, women and children – including Assyrians and Greeks – were brutally tortured and exterminated upon the direct order and plan of the Ottoman Turkish government, thereby emptying the region of its indigenous populations and deliberately destroying millennia-old Christian heritage.
Armenians were martyred also because of their Christian faith and as recently as last year the Armenian Apostolic Church canonised all the victims of the genocide as saints.
It is tragic that the cycle of genocide continues to this day in various parts of the world. Part of the reason behind it is the impunity of the past crimes and the unwillingness of the international community to undertake meaningful measure to stop it. Only by fully facing the tragedies of the past and dealing with them in a truthful and just manner can the humanity move forward.
These ideas are enshrined in the work of a 10th-century Armenian monk, St Gregory of Narek, whom Pope Francis proclaimed a Doctor of the Church for his invaluable contributions towards the Christian theology and community at-large.
St Gregory of Narek is best-known for his work the Book of Lamentations (also called Book of Prayers), which outlines profound ideas about the purification and sanctification of humanity. The book is a monologue structured as a prayer to God “from the depths of the heart” in which St Gregory ascribes to himself all possible sins, exposing himself and confessing to God.
The saint suggests a way of human perfection through repenting to God. This was a revolutionary idea aimed at dispelling the ignorance of the Middle Ages. Long before Martin Luther, St Gregory advocated direct communication with God. Centuries later this idea was to become the basis of Reformation.
It is worth mentioning that there is not a single mention of “Armenian” or “Armenia” throughout the entire text, which proves the work’s universal nature.
St Gregory’s ideas have a crucial meaning in the modern world full of violence and intolerance. While losing spiritual and moral values in the euphoria of development of civilisation, humanity’s image of divinity has been degraded. St Gregory provides for a path towards salvation through repentance.
The idea of repentance is of particular importance in the context of the recognition of Armenian Genocide, since the 101st anniversary of the genocide serves as a new milestone to dispel the gloom and struggle against the denial of the crime by Turkey in the 21st century. As Pope Francis said, “concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.”
The denial and impunity of a crime enable its repetition in the future, as proven by the cases of the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, as well as the ongoing genocide against Yazidis, Christians and other minorities in the Middle East at the hands of ISIS.
This cycle will continue for as long as the world does not repent of the sins that have remained unacknowledged to this day. Only with the proper recognition and true justice can peace be established in the world. St Gregory’s ideas are as relevant today as they were in centuries past.
Vahan Dilanyan is the Assistant to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. He previously served as the Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. He has a PhD in Political Science
The National Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening on Sunday, April 24 will host supporters and friends of Armenian-Australians from both the Federal and NSW governments, who will gather with the community to honour and remember the over 1.5 million innocent victims of the first Genocide of the 20th Century.
The gathered will hear from Keynote Speaker, prominent Military Historian and Co-Author of the recently-published Armenia, Australia & the Great War, Professor Peter Stanley.
The Member for Bennelong, John Alexander OAM will be in attendance, continuing his full-fledged support to the cause of Federal recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Alexander has been vocal in raising the issues and concerns of the Armenian community in the Australian Parliament.
In recent weeks, he has been vigilant and attentive to the violent aggression by Azerbaijan upon the Armenians of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, and has made a public statement regarding this.
The new Member for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman will also be attending the Commemoration for the first time in his capacity as a Member of the Australian Parliament since taking over his seat from Joe Hockey, now Australia’s Ambassador to the United States.
On March 2, Zimmerman gave his maiden speech in Australia’s House of Representatives, calling on Turkey to recognise and atone for the Armenian Genocide.
Senator Lee Rhiannon will be joining the Commemoration. Rhiannon became the first Federal member of the Greens Party to declare support for formal acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide, and has been a prominent advocate in the Greens ranks, making speeches in the Upper House of Parliament.
NSW Treasurer and prominent Armenian-Australian, Gladys Berejiklian will be in attendance representing the Premier of NSW, Mike Baird.
From the NSW Parliament, the Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea, who is the Chair of the Armenian-Australian NSW Parliamentary Friendship Group, will be present to be a part of the remembrance.
O’Dea has been a champion for all issues and concerns of the Armenian community, and has continuously called on the Australian Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide. In recent weeks, he has also been vocal in condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression, and remembered the innocent victims of Sumgait.
Also joining Armenian-Australians on the night will be the Hon. Reverend Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the NSW Christian Democratic Party, who continues to pursue his party’s policy of full recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Australia. Rev. Nile famously introduced a Motion to the Legislative Council, recognising the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides. This motion was passed unanimously. Rev. Nile is also a member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group.
The Hon. David Clarke MLC will also be in attendance. He has been a long time supporter of Armenians, advocating for recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Federal Government and has also travelled to Armenia with other members of the Parliamentary Group.
Also in attendance will be the Hon. Courtney Houssos MLC from the NSW Upper House and member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Arin Markarian of the organising Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee said: “It is great to see our good friends join us on this very important occasion to remember and honour those 1.5 million innocent lives that perished during the Armenian Genocide.”
“It is with their continued support, that we will one day finally see Australia recognise the Armenian Genocide, like other countries have.”
The National Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening will take place at The Concourse in Chatswood from 7pm on Sunday, April 24th.
The Melbourne Armenian Genocide Commemoration Evening will take place on Satuday, April 23rd from 6pm at the Mazenod College (5 Kernot Avenue, Mulgrave). The Keynote Speaker will be the other Co-Author of Armenia, Australia & the Great War and prominent researcher at the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Vicken Babkenian.
The Armenian-Australian communities of Sydney and Melbourne have organised the following events to mark the occasion of the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:
“We believe that any document discussed and developed without the participation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, is simply not viable, NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan said at the Q&A session at the National Assembly.
He added that “this is not only а conviction, but also a logical conclusion.” “That is why we insist, and you know our official view, that the Karabakh party should return to the negotiation table as full-fledged party to the negotiation process. And by saying the negotiation process we mean all its stages; from putting forward certain ideas to the development of a common philosophy of negotiations, also, if possible, the joint discussion of the arrangements reached, agreeing upon them, and, why not, also their implementation, i.e., putting them into effect,” Mirzoyan said.
George Clooney, Co-Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, visited the Ararat Legendary Armenian Brandy factory today together with 100 LIVES Co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan.
In the evening of April 24, Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Aurora Prize Selection Committee Co-Chair, George Clooney, will present the $100,000 grant to the inaugural Aurora Prize Laureate.
The Laureate will then invite his or her nominated organization(s) to the stage to receive the $1 million award.
On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Prize celebrates the strength of the human spirit that compels action is the face of adversity.
The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually on April 24 of each year in Yerevan, Armenia.
Romania has been expelled from the Eurovision Song Contest after its national broadcaster failed to pay outstanding debts dating back to 2007, the BBC reports.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) claimed the Romanian public service broadcaster Televiziunea Romana (TVR) owes 16 million Swiss francs.
The EBU described the action to exclude Romania from next month’s contest in Sweden as “regrettable”.
Romania has never won the contest, but came third in 2005 and 2010.
The EBU had called on the Romanian government to make satisfactory arrangements to repay the debt by Wednesday (20 April). The organisation regards the Romanian State as legally obliged to underwrite TVR’s debt.
“I’m gravely disappointed that President Obama will now leave office without fulfilling his commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide,” Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement.
“For a President who knows the history so well, who spoke so passionately about the genocide as a Senator and Presidential candidate, and who has always championed human rights, the choice of silence and complicity is all the more painfully inexplicable. Remaining silent in an effort to curry favor with Turkey is as morally indefensible as it will be ineffectual,” Rep. Schiff said.
“How many administrations must be intimidated into silence before we realize that it never changes Turkish behavior for the better and only emboldens the increasingly authoritarian regime? Recognition of the Armenian Genocide could have been a proud part of the President’s legacy; instead this decision will be just another sad milestone in the struggle to prevent genocide by exposing genocide and its perpetrators,” Adam Schiff said.
By Chris Bohjalian
Friday morning, Rep. Jim Costa will lay a wreath in Fresno’s Masis Ararat Cemetery at the grave of an Armenian who died peacefully in San Francisco 56 years ago.
Most Americans are more familiar with the Peloponnesian War than they are with the fellow Costa will remember. Even in the San Joaquin Valley, home to roughly 50,000 Armenian-Americans, most Californians would be hard-pressed to pronounce the man’s name correctly.
And yet for Armenians around the world, Soghomon Tehlirian’s name inspires pride and awein equal measure. On a March morning in 1921, in broad daylight and on a main street in Berlin, he shot and killed Mehmed Talat Pasha, one of the three rulers of the Ottoman Empire during World War I and the architect of the Armenian genocide. That year he would be tried for murder and the German jury would find him innocent. The New York Times would announce the verdict with the headline, “They had to let him go!”
This Sunday marks the 101st anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide. It was on that night in 1915 that the Armenian intellectuals, professionals, editors and religious leaders in Constantinople were rounded up by the Ottoman authorities, and almost all of them were executed. In the years that followed, three out of four Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were systematically annihilated by their own government: 1.5 million people. The majority of Armenians alive today are descendants of those few who survived.
I knew bits and pieces of the Tehlirian story growing up, but it wasn’t until last year whenEric Bogosian published “Operation Nemesis” that I understood what a remarkable and complex tale it really is.
Bogosian, an award-winning actor, playwright and novelist, did monumental research to piece together how a reserved, young Armenian from a village in what is today northeastern Turkey would become a central figure in the plot to exact revenge on the masterminds of the slaughter.
Bogosian’s story is as riveting as any spy thriller, and all the more remarkable because it’s true. (In two photos of Tehlirian taken in the 1920s, the nattily dressed assassin looks more like a silent film star than a man who had grown politicized in 1915 while rounding up the orphans of butchered Armenians and trying desperately to get them help.)
As the individual chosen to execute Talat Pasha – a man the first postwar Turkish government had sentenced to death in absentia for his monumental crimes, and was hiding in Berlin under an assumed name – Tehlirian no doubt hoped he would be acquitted of the crime, but knew also that he was risking his own life and freedom.
Obviously Talat Pasha’s death could not bring back the dead or return the Armenian homeland. If you want to see the definition of ethnic cleansing, visit the eastern half of Turkey where the Armenians once lived. Today there are remnants of Armenian churches and monasteries and unmarked mass graves, but you will find no living Armenian communities.
But Tehlirian took the risk and he succeeded. With a single bullet, he had done what the victorious allied nations had failed to do: punished a war criminal. David had slain Goliath.
After the trial, Tehlirian would move to Serbia and, later, San Francisco, where he would die in 1960. (He is buried in Fresno because at the time Masis Ararat Cemetery was the only Armenian cemetery in America.) He understood he was viewed as a hero by his people, but he and his wife lived without ostentation. Nevertheless, his grave in Fresno is magnificent, a monument befitting a war hero: a 22-foot-high obelisk with an eagle on top and a pair of cypress trees behind it.
Invariably, the 101st anniversary of any event is a shadow of the centennial. That’s especially true when it is the anniversary of an occasion as solemn as the commencement of a genocide.
But there are links between the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Cambodian killing fields, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, and the violence that ISIS has unleashed on the Armenians and Yazidis in Syria.
The last stage in a genocide is often the first stage of the next one. Moreover, Turkey still refuses to acknowledge the crimes of the Ottoman Empire, leveraging its geographic and geopolitical clout to bully its allies – including the United States – into euphemism or silence. The fact is, the Armenian nation is statistically a diaspora nation, with seven of every 10 Armenians in this world living outside the nation state.
Consequently, the genocide is, as Pope Francis eloquently described it last year, an open wound for Armenians. We all know what happened to our ancestors – our own parents, grandparents or great-grandparents.
And so while we are now at the centennial plus one, remembering the Armenian genocide is as important as ever. Friday’s wreath-laying and remarks at the Tehlirian grave are especially meaningful. It may not mark the first time that a U.S. congressional representative has visited the monument, but it seems to be the first time in memory. Speaking and standing beside Costa will be Raffi Hamparian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America.
Whenever we speak of genocide, we begin first with the numbers. The 6 million. The 1.5 million. But it is not merely the souls that are lost; it is the stories. It is the sense of self. It is the dignity that comes with being human.
My sense is there will be a good crowd Friday – as there should be. Tehlirian, after all, is the closest thing the Armenians have to an avenging angel. Tehlirian gave something to the Armenian people that was taken from even the survivors: a small taste of the pride that walks hand in hand with justice.