Armenian News... A Topalian... The Bastard of Istanbul - Eli Shafak

Reminders for 28 January: 
BBC Radio 3 at 18:45:
Sunday Feature: The Forty Days of Musa Dagh
It was 1929 when an encounter with Armenian refugee children
proved the spark for Franz Werfel's meticulous and vast novel
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. The book was viewed as both a
tribute to Armenian resistance and a waning to Jews of the Nazis.
Nazis Maria Margins tells its story. 
BBC Radio 4 at 15:00: 

The Bastard of Istanbul , Eli Shafak


Video on the Mekhitarist Congregation (in Armenian) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irlDuzpu4pw 

News.am, Armenia
Jan 25 2018
There are 3 Armenian families in Syria's Afrin 
At the moment, there are three Armenian families in Syrian Afrina, which is exposed to attack by the Turkish army, Zarmig Chilaposhyan-Poghigian, Editor of the Aleppo-based Kantsasar periodical told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to her, three families of Armenians live in Afrin. The day before, one Armenian was wounded in Afrin. During the actions of the Turkish

Armed Forces against the Kurds in Afrin, one of the shells fell into a house belonging to an Armenian.

Before the military operations many Armenians have been living in Afrin, as well as in the nearby village of Azaz. Now they are no longer there, and the previously acting Armenian church and cultural houses were destroyed.


Panorama, Armenia
Jan 26 2018
Around 19,500 people from Syria received Armenian citizenship 

in 2012-2017 
The government of Armenia has initiated an integration strategy for the Syrians displaced during the war in the Arab country and those who have requested shelter in Armenia. The draft strategy, named “The 2018-2022 Strategy on Integration of Persons Compulsorily Displaced and Seeking Shelter in Armenia due to the Syrian Conflict,” was posted today at E-draft.am for public discussion.

The explanation note of the draft document reads that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict more than 22,00 people with majority of them ethnic Armenians have found shelter in Armenia with 20,000 of them still living in the country.

The draft under consideration stresses the need for a switch from short-term support to long-term integration policies to facilitate full integration of the displaced people in the country.

It is noted that the Republic of Armenia provides citizenship to Syrians-Armenians through simplified procedure. According to the statistics, in 2012-2017 around 19,500 people from Syria received Armenian citizenship, while 2,000 received the right of residence.


RFE/RL Report 

 Karabakh Reports Azeri Incursion Attempt
January 25, 2018
Naira Bulghadarian
Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian-backed military claimed to have thwarted
an Azerbaijani commando raid on its frontline positions early on
Thursday, the first such incident reported by it in the last seven
months.

In a statement, the Defense Army said that shortly after midnight an
Azerbaijani "reconnaissance and sabotage group" was spotted by its
forces while attempting to attack one of its outposts in Karabakh's
southeastern Martuni district.

"As a result of preventive measures, the Azerbaijani special forces
were pushed back," said the statement. "According to preliminary data,
the enemy suffered casualties. Details are being clarified."

A senior aide to Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, said no
Karabakh Armenian soldiers were killed or wounded as a result. "No
other extraordinary incident has occurred since then," Davit Babayan
told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry was quick to deny the claim,
however. According to the APA news agency, it said that Azerbaijani
forces observed the ceasefire along the "line of contact" around
Karabakh and did not suffer any casualties there overnight.

The authorities in Stepanakert alleged the attempted Azerbaijani
attack hours before a small team of officials from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitored the ceasefire regime
at another section of the frontline lying just north of Karabakh. No
truce violations were reported from that area.

The longtime head of the OSCE monitoring mission, Andrzej Kasprzyk,
also took part in the regular monitoring. Kasprzyk met with Karabakh
Armenian leaders in Stepanakert earlier this week.

The Karabakh army had previously reported attempted Azerbaijani
incursions in June and February last year. At least five Azerbaijani
soldiers were shot dead in front of a Karabakh Armenian position in
the Martuni district in February 2017. They were detected by
night-vision surveillance devices before crossing the frontline.

Tensions on the frontlines eased considerably in the second half of
2017 amid the resumption of high-level Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
negotiations. Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Elmar
Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan held fresh talks in Poland as recently as on
January 18. Mammadyarov described them as "positive."

One of Nalbandian's deputies, Shavarsh Kocharian, suggested on
Thursday that the overnight incident reported by Stepanakert may be
connected with the talks. He said Baku is still reluctant to agree to
the expansion of Kasprzyk's team which is strongly advocated by
international mediators and Yerevan.


Asbarez.com
Sarkisian Blasts Baku on Distorting Facts Surrounding Khojaly Events
January 25 2018

During a questions and answer session following his remarks at the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe on Wednesday, President Serzh Sarkisian blasted a member of the Azerbaijani delegation for distorting the truth surrounding events in Khojaly at the height of the Karabakh war in the 1990’s.

For decades, Azerbaijan has mounted a campaign to bill the events at Khojaly as “genocide,” blaming Armenians of committing that act.

On Wednesday, during the PACE session, Samad Seyidov, a member of the Azerbaijan delegation, attacked Sarkisian for failing to mention the so-called “Khojaly genocide,” to which Sarkisian responded by first urging the Azerbaijani representative to “calm down.”

“I was a participant in the just struggle of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Why did I not mention the incidents in Khojalu, that you call a genocide? It was for the simple reason that immediately after those painful events, Ayaz Mutallibov, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, stated in great detail and an informed way, facts that clearly showed who actually organized and carried out those massacres,” explained Sarkisian.

“It is unfortunate. Genocide is not a good thing. Carrying out or suffering a genocide is not an honor; it is a suffering. I think there is a trend in Azerbaijan to want whatever the Armenians have had. This is impermissible. Why do you need to call something that never occurred and was never carried out by the Armenians a ‘genocide’?” added Sarkisian.

Seyidov went on to ask about so-called United Nations resolutions, which allegedly Armenia has violated—another talking point that Azerbaijan uses to distort the truth.

“There is no international organization that would have adopted a decision that would have been rejected by Armenia. You tried to recall the United Nations Security Council resolutions. My advice to you, when you go into a topic, you had better study it. The world knows that the United Nations Security Council has never discussed the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted four resolutions on stopping hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh area. After each resolution, Azerbaijan said it would not stop the fighting. It attempted new offensives and attacks, but as usual it suffered losses. In those four resolutions, the only commitment of Armenia was to use its reputation, authority and influence to get the hostilities to stop. To the credit of the then Government of Armenia, we honored this one commitment. Azerbaijan – the number one responsible for the hostilities – failed to stop the fighting,” explained Sarkisian.

“As you know, in 1994, the cease-fire agreement was signed, but it was signed under the influence of other factors, not the United Nations Security Council resolution. Unfortunately, the provisions of that cease-fire agreement are not being honoured. The agreement clearly states that the hostilities need to stop, and for a political solution, an extensive process of talks must be launched. As your own words clearly illustrate, you want the most in this process of negotiation – you want what is impossible. You want to return Karabakh to Azerbaijan,” said Sarkisian.

“Unfortunately, xenophobia in Azerbaijan has got to the point that you are explicitly saying that you need Karabakh, but without the Armenians. That is impossible. It is never going to happen.
“The essence of the struggle of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh is very simple. It is a struggle for liberty, a struggle self-determination, and I am sure that that struggle cannot have anything but a positive outcome,” added the president.


Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
January 25, 2018 Thursday
Agos Editor-In-Chief considers Armenian Patriarchate's statement in
current nationalist atmosphere in Turkey understandable
Edward Danzikian, Editor-In-Chief of Istanbul’s Armenian Agos 

newspaper, says in the circumstances of the current heated 

nationalist atmosphere in Turkey, the statement of Istanbul’s 

Armenian Patriarchate over the ongoing Turkish military
operations in Syria’s Afrin is understandable.

In an interview with ARMENPRESS, Edward Danzikian commented on the
fact that several members of the Armenian community negatively reacted
to the statement of the Armenian Patriarchate. “At the moment there
are strong nationalists winds in Turkey, and in such circumstances if
any national minority structure makes a statement supporting the
state, the remaining structures as well as feel a duty to do the
same”, Edward Danzikian said.

He stated that they have witnessed a lot of similar statements in
1980-1990, the violence period following the military coup attempt in
Turkey. “In this sense it seems nothing has changed in Turkey. Of
course such statements cannot be supported by everyone, but on the
other hand, we should not forget that even those people are arrested
in Turkey who announce by social media that they do not want war”, he
said, reminding that dozens of people, who opposed Turkey’s military
operations in Afrin, are currently arrested or detained.

“Therefore, it is both incorrect to say that “Armenians support the
Patriarchate’s statement” and make a generalization stating that
“Armenians do not support it”. In such circumstances usually the
Patriarchate has supported the state. But also it’s an undeniable fact
that many consider the Patriarchate’s statement on this topic as
wrong”, Edward Danzikian said.

The Turkish armed forces launched military operations, called Olive
Branch, against the Kurds (PYD) in Syria’s Afrin.

The Armenian Patriarchate issued a statement expressing support to
these operations and adding that they will pray for “peace and calm
the humanity needs so much”.

Official Ankara welcomed the Patriarchate’s statement.


ARKA, Armenia
Jan 25 2018
Armenia’s exports total $2 242.9 million in 2017 hitting record high 

since 1991 
Armenia’s exports totaled $2 242.9 million in 2017 hitting the record high since its independence declaration in 1991, the National Statistical Service reports.

Exports have grown 25.2% in 2017, compared to the previous year.

Imports in 2017 reached their 2011 indicator ($4.14 billion), but they still didn’t exceed their 2014 result ($4.4 billion) – they totaled $4 182.7 million in 2017 after growing 27.8%, compared with the previous year. This is the highest indicator for the last eight years.

In 2017, Armenia’s trade turnover amounted to $6.4 billion (26.9% growth) hitting the record high.


News.am, Armenia
Jan 25 2018
Armenia 54th in world human freedom ranking 
Armenia is ranked 54th from among 159 countries in the annual Human Freedom Index, which is published by the Cato Institute (USA).

The index assesses various aspects of individual and economic freedom, such as rule of law, freedom of religion, security, currency stability, etc.

From Armenia’s neighbors, Georgia is 40th, Azerbaijan is 128th, Turkey is 84th, and Iran is 154th in this index.


Panorama, Armenia
Jan 25 2018
Baroness Caroline Cox welcomes Armen Sargsyan’s nomination for Armenia’s next president 
Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the British House of Lords, has addressed a video message welcoming the decision of the Republican Party of Armenia to nominate the candidacy of Armenian Ambassador to the UK Armen Sargsyan for Armenia’s next president.

“I just heard the excellent news that the present Ambassador of Armenia to the UK Armen Sargsyan has been invited to stand for the presidency of the Republic of Armenia. I am absolutely delighted. I have known Mr Sargsyan for many-many years, since he was the Prime Minister of Armenia, he has been three times the Ambassador of Armenia in the United Kingdom. So he brings wonderful experience and knowledge and he has so much to offer in terms of his diplomatic skills and his many-many other areas of expertise and relationships. I think he has been a wonderful Ambassador for Armenia,” she said in the video message.

Baroness Caroline Cox added she is delighted to see Armen Sargsyan in the post of the Armenian president.


Panorama, Armenia
Jan 25 2018
Armenian church in Georgia to receive $250,000 compensationThe Georgian cabinet adopted a decision to provide financial assistance to the religious minorities of the country named “compensation for the damages” inflicted on the church during the Soviet period. Blagovest-Info reports, according to the decision of the government-affiliated State Agency for Religious Issues, in the scope of the assistance, the Armenian Apostolic church will receive $237,000.

According to the source, the Muslim community will receive $800,000, the Catholic Church - $180,000, and $118,000 will be provided to the Jewish community.


From Dr Ara Nahabedian,
A Holocaust Memorial Day event occurred in Derby which was publicisedin advice to the UK community.. 
Russell Pollard presented an excellent Power point presentation, again as every year, about the Armenian Genocide. The 90 min commemoration was about The Bosnian massacres, The Holocaust, The Armenian genocide and The Ukranian Holodmor genocide of 10 million Ukranians 1932-34 by Stalin.

There were 6 people from the Manchester area, driving 2 hours to the venue , and Vahan Krikorian from London.

As the Armenian Genocide is an urgent and important event in our British lives, and this occasion is the ONLY event where a non-Armenian event in UK is hosting about the Armenian Genocide, it should have been attended by more Armenians from all over UK. Specially when there was plenty notice of this date.

Moreover, every year the T urkish embassy works very hard to silence the Derby Council mentioning the Armenian Genocide by ringing, writing and using the UK government on a weekly basis prior to the HMD. Even at the last minute they try to bargain not to use the word Genocide if the presentation will go on. However the Derby council with Russell Pollard refuse to give in to the turkish embassy pressure and blackmail.

How many times did the Armenian community manage to host in a non-Armenian event about the Armenian genocide?
How much effort would we need to get our Armenian genocide hosted by non-Armenians in UK?
Would the above be possible at all given the past history of UK?

It was another HMD occasion that the Armenian embassy could not manage to send any representative to this rare and URGENT event, which was planned many months ago as every year. Any one representative would have been equally effective for the present occasion and for the future. It is a failure in this context for whatever reasons behind it. It was an opportunity missed by the Armenian embassy and obviously a disappointing lack of action.

The diaspora communities are weakening every year and there is no effort to fight this trend by the vast majority and the people in the leadership position. I do not know what does it take to mobilise the Armenian embassy and leadership when the Turks are working actively so frequently?

The next HMD is 29th of Jan 2019.
Respectfully