Armenian News... A Topalian 7 editorials

Los Angeles Daily

Sept 22 2019

In first LA visit, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan addresses thousands of the diaspora community outside City Hall

 

Pashinyan made his first visit Sunday to Los Angeles, the largest Armenian population center outside the Republic of Armenia.

 

By Ariella Plachta

 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed some 10,000 people from the steps of City Hall on Sunday, Sept. 22, in a rally marking his first visit to Los Angeles, the largest Armenian population center outside the Republic of Armenia.

 

Pashinyan was appointed to his post after leading a wave of anti-government protests between March and May of 2018 that led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan — and has been widely hailed as a harbinger of democracy by championing free elections and government transparency.

 

“We have created a new image for Armenia,” said Pashinyan after lauding the warm California welcome in Armenian, the diaspora crowd chanting his name.

 

“We have developed a new slogan: It’s cool to be Armenian,” he said. “And together we have to make it even better, because the Armenian people is one of a great history and past. And our country has a bright future.”

 

Encino councilmember Paul Krekorian, who became the first Armenian elected to city office in 2010, played a leading role in organizing the rally. Burbank Rep. Adam Schiff also addressed the crowd, calling LA the “capitol of the Armenian diaspora.”

 

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti praised Pashinyan’s leadership, saying “A day of sunshine has come to Armenia, a day of openness, of democracy. The day has come to invest and support and help the new Armenia rise, and rise and rise under this prime minister.”

 

The bulk of attendees, clapping and dancing along to traditional music and dance performances on the steps of City Hall, came in predominately from such Armenian community population centers as Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. Buses to downtown LA were made available to the communities.

 

While estimations of the Armenian population in Greater LA vary, the 2000 census reported over 150,000 Armenians in LA County with some 40,000 living in the San Fernando Valley.

 

“We’re here to honor and welcome him, for having led the revolution and cleaning up corruption,” said Hrair Koutnouyan of Glendale, who came to see Pashinyan with his wife. “A government that’s without stealing and cheating isn’t something that’s easily accepted, but he’s proving it can be done.”

 

Sisters Ani and Areni Dergrigorian say they’re optimistic about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s leadership but want to hold him to account. Their signs demand an end to environmentally harmful mining in the Almusar region of Armenia. Photo: Ariella Plachta, SCNG

Some, like 24-year-old Ani Dergrigorian of Glendale, who has lived in Armenia, is “optimistic” about Pashinyan’s leadership but hopes to hold him to account on issues facing every day Armenians. She and her sister, Areni, brought signs that demanded an end to environmentally harmful mining practices in the nation’s Almusar region.

“Maybe we don’t feel the impacts as much here, but it’s more important than ever for us to be engaged in politics in Armenia,” she said. “We’re all facing climate change on the same planet. At the end of the day it impacts us too.”

Monterey Park doctor Jack Der-Sarkissian said he was moved by the “optimism and enthusiasm” in Armenia following the Pashinyan-led protests, what he and his supporters call the “Velvet Revolution.” He’s listening for proof that the leader will be the steward of democracy he said he would.

“A lot of people in Los Angeles will financially invest in their families and Armenia needs it,” he said. “At the end of the day he needs to convince people like myself that it’s the right time to invest in Armenia. He has a lot of work ahead of him.”

RFE/RL Report

Azeri Soldier Killed In Karabakh

September 23, 2019

An Azerbaijani soldier was killed in Nagorno-Karabakh at the weekend in what 

Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army described as a failed incursion on its 

frontline positions.

A statement by the Defense Army said an Azerbaijani commando squad “left behind 

one corpse in the no man’s land” after being repelled by its frontline troops 

deployed southeast of Karabakh on Sunday afternoon.

“The Defense Army suffered no losses. Details of the incident are being 

clarified,” the statement said, adding that the “sabotage incursion attempt” 

was filmed by the army’s surveillance cameras installed along the 

Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” around Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani military on Monday confirmed a combat death within its ranks 

but denied launching any commando raids.

According to the Trend news agency, the Defense Ministry in Baku said that an 

Azerbaijani soldier, identified as Ramin Abdulrahmanov, was shot dead in front 

of Karabakh Armenian positions after accidentally “losing his way.” The 

ministry said it has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to help 

recover his body.

The deadly incident occurred one day before a fresh meeting Armenia’s and 

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministers due to be held in New York. The two ministers 

most recently met in Washington on June 20 in the presence of the U.S., Russian 

and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry described that meeting as “positive.”

It was the most serious Azerbaijani incursion attempt reported by the Karabakh 

army since five Azerbaijani soldiers were killed near Karabakh in February 2017 

in an overnight incident caught on Armenian surveillance cameras. Their bodies 

lying in the no-man’s land were retrieved with the ICRC’s help.

Deadly ceasefire violations on the Karabakh frontlines and the 

Armenian-Azerbaijani border have decreased significantly since Armenian Prime 

Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met for the 

first time in September 2018.

JAM News

Sept 21 2019

Azerbaijan offers prisoner exchange, Armenia has its doubts

The discussion continues. Details about each side’s position. 

Azerbaijan offered Armenia a four-prisoner exchange – two from each side. Armenia has not yet responded, but will most likely refuse. The main reason is because officials in Baku and Yerevan have different ideas about how these people became prisoners in the first place.

Azerbaijanis Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev were sentenced to life imprisonment and 22 years in prison in Karabakh on charges of murder, espionage and abduction, and in Azerbaijan it is believed that they traveled to Armenian-controlled territory to visit the graves of their ancestors. 

And on the other side, Karen Ghazaryan (sentenced to 20 years in prison in Azerbaijan) is considered a saboteur in Azerbaijan, but is called “mentally ill” in Armenia.

As for the young soldier Araik Ghazaryan, the Azerbaijani side says that he escaped from the military due to inhuman treatment, while Armenia believes that the guy just got lost.

The Armenian side has already rejected Baku’s offer to exchange prisoners and other detainees, saying they’ll only exchange on an “all for all” basis. 

In addition, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced a few months ago that “there will be no exchange if the detained Azerbaijani individuals committed murder.” 

The Armenian Minister of Defense, however, does not exclude the possibility of an exchange. On September 20, David Tonoyan commented on the exchange of citizens between Armenia and Azerbaijan:

“Yesterday I met with an Armenian Red Cross representative. They gave me Azerbaijan’s official offer for an exchange. I cannot disclose all of the details of our discussion now…when we receive new information from Azerbaijan, then we will respond…

In principle, we are not against returning Armenian citizens home and we will assist in this process. This is a purely humanitarian act,” said Tonoyan.

Press Secretary of the Armenian Prime Minister Vladimir Karapetyan announced:

“Given the delicate nature of the issue, we will publicly announce our position when we are closer to making decisions.”

Information from Baku

The Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons once again cites the fact that Azerbaijan insists on an “all-for-all” exchange policy. Azerbaijan announced that it was prepared to exchange Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev for Karen Kazaryan and Araik Kazaryan on September 11. In response to the Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about the impossibility of exchange, Coordinator of the Azerbaijan Information Center for the Exchange of Hostages and Prisoners of War Ahmed Shahidov said:

“In light of the current tense situation in the country, Pashinyan cannot make a final decision about prisoners and hostages. But despite this, the Azerbaijani side is adamant about its decision and does not intend to back down.”

Meanwhile, the European Court must decide on the case of Guliyev and Askerov within a year. The plaintiffs are relatives of the prisoners who complain that they are unable to contact the prisoners and that their relatives were unlawfully convicted, because if international law does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, then the decisions of the court in Khankendi (Stepanakert) have no legal force.

Information from Stepanakert

Press secretary for the President of Nagorno-Karabakh David Babayan called Azerbaijan’s offer absurd, insisting that the Armenian prisoners did nothing wrong, while the Azerbaijani prisoners are criminals.

Stepanakert’s cautious response to the Azerbaijani proposal is explained by the fact that the “unequal” status of the citizens offered for exchange can lead to undesirable consequences:

“It’s possible that, in order to secure the return of terrorists, [Azerbaijanis] may start abducting Armenian hostages, including abroad. Preventing such possibilities requires even greater coordination among government agencies, organizations and partner countries,” said the press secretary for the President of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh occurred in 1991-1994. Since the ceasefire, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has been a de facto independent republic, not recognized by any state in the world, including Armenia.

Panorama, Armenia

Sept 23 2019

Armenian Armed Forces launch large-scale military exercises

In accordance with the 2019 preparation plan of the Armed Forces, large scale military exercises will launch on September 24 in the territory of Armenia entitled “The expansion of the Armed Forces: Combating the adversary’s aggression”. As the defense ministry reported in a press statement, representatives of state and local self-governmental bodies will be involved in the drills.

According to the source, the military exercises are aimed at practical inspection of the advancement of the Armed Forces and implementation of combat plans, the test of involved equipment and forces, exchange of practice among the representatives of state and self-governmental bodies to the command circles of the Armed Forces and military call-up resources. It also aims at synchronization of all units.

During the exercises, different units of the Armed Forces will exercises trainings in near-combat conditions with use of live fire. An information center will be launched at the ministry's administrative headquarters during the exercises, the source added.

Armenpress.am

, 21 September, 2019

‘Time to come back home’ – President Sarkissian calls on all Armenians to return to homeland

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian handed over an award to carpenter Samvel Gasparyan during the award ceremony of the Hero Of Our Time in Gyumri’s Sev Berd on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the Independence of Armenia.

Before handing over the award, the President congratulated everyone on the pan-Armenian holiday – the Independence Day.

“I sincerely want to thank the Prime Minister firstly for this wonderful idea, its implementation and for the fact that today we all gathered here, in Gyumri to honor our heroes of today. Each of them is really a hero with his/her activity. They are different individuals, but each of them are true masters of their job. I also was happy to see that there were also repatriated persons among today’s heroes”, the President said.

In his remarks the President also called on all Armenians to return to the homeland. “It’s time to come back home”, he said.

The President noted that Gyumri and its resident are also the heroes of our time. “Losing half of his city, population, understanding that our people are in fight and it’s not his time, he bore his difficulty with dignity. Time has come, and I think, Mr. Prime Minister, today is the first day of the future of Gyumri and its resident, its new, free and creative life”, he said.

Today, the Third Republic of Armenia is celebrating its 28th anniversary of Independence.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

Aysor, Armenia

Sept 23 2019

Stable economy necessary to bring Diaspora Armenians to homeland: political analyst

The incumbent authorities have not undertaken any step during the past one and a half year that will raise the desire of Diaspora Armenians to return to Armenia and settle here, political analyst Gagik Hambaryan told Aysor.am, referring to PM’s statement in Los Angeles that all the Armenians of the world must have RA passport.

“Such statements are like catching fish in dirty water. When the incumbent authorities undertake steps in that direction only that time we may say whether it will give results or not. As of now the statement of having RA passports is just an idea voiced by Nikol Pashinyan,” Hambaryan said, adding that he has not seen any step undertaken by either incumbent or previous authorities.

“It was in the program of the incumbent authorities. They should have done something in that direction during the past year and a half. Let’s see what Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will do after returning from Los Angeles,” the political analyst said.

Gagik Hambaryan said to return the Diaspora Armenians to homeland it is necessary to ensure a few pre-conditions and first of all stable economy.

The political analyst also stressed the importance of granting them the same rights as all the other citizens of Armenia have.

AHVAL News

Sept 22 2019

Hrant Dink memorial a rare effort in Turkey confronting its past - AW 

           

A recently opened memorial site paying homage to Armenian-Turkish journalist and intellectual Hrant Dink was assassinated in 2007, is a rare effort in the country confronting its past and fighting hatred and bigotry, wrote Arab Weekly columnist Constanze Letsch on Saturday

Dink, the founder of Turkey’s Armenian bi-weekly Agos newspaper, was killed in Istanbul in front of his office on  Jan. 19, 2007, in an attack that made international headlines. 

The slain journalist was outspoken on the Armenian genocide and prosecuted three times for violating Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it a crime to insult Turkishness, the Turkish nation or Turkish institutions.

The “23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory,” is named after an article written by Dink in 1996 that alludes to his life-long struggle to conciliate Turkey and Armenia, the article said.

An artist and programme coordinator at the site, Sena Basoz, says the projects is unique in that it Turkey has a long history of sweeping trauma under the rug.

“One trauma immediately follows the next. Unfortunately, there is no culture of confronting the past and the things that have happened,” Basoz said

For programme coordinator Nayat Karakose, the project also serves the purpose of inspiring visitors to open similar sites at other places.

Efforts for similar projects in other parts of Turkey have failed, including one featuring the infamous prison in the Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır, which was effectively transformed into a centre for martial law for political prisoners following the Sept. 11, 1980 coup, the article recalled. 

Neither is there a memorial site in the central Anatolian city of Sivas, where on July 2, 1993 a mob of Islamic fundamentalists burned a hotel where a convention was being held, killing 35 people, mainly intellectuals and artists from the Alevi faith.

The Hrant Dink Memorial site projects began in 2013 and experts visited 15 countries and similar projects in South Africa, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Poland, Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States, among others. It is the result of hundreds of archived texts, audio and video recordings collected over the years.

The site takes visitors on a journey as Dink narrates the painful history of the Armenian minority in Turkey, including discrimination, hate, expropriations, the military coup in 1980, torture and genocide.

“In Turkey, we are being taught not to remember but to forget — by the state discourse, by school curricula and by media narratives. We have just begun to learn what it means to actively and critically remember the past,” Karaköse said.