Armenian Church in Turkish Eruh city being converted into Islamic school

May 1, 2013 By administrator

12:00, 1 May, 2013

YEREVAN, MAY 1, ARMENPRESS: The historical Armenian Church Saint John, located in Dih District of Eruh city in Turkey, without any permission is being converted into an Islamic religious school for girls. As reported by Armenpress, quoting the Turkish Demokrathaber.net, this was announced by the representatives of the Siirt branch of the Human Rights Protection Company at the press conference.

“This is violence towards the religion and the right to live of the Armenian people. It is necessary to launch administrative and criminal investigation against the responsible people”, – said the representatives of the Company. One of the representatives of the branches of the Human Rights Protection Company Serdar Batur showed the corresponding photos and stated that the stones with Armenian encryptions and crosses are used to build other structures.

Another member of the Human Rights Protection Company Zana Aqsun spoke about the Armenian graves in Eruh-Siirt region, which are being discovered during the construction works of the roads. “During the works about 100 square meters of graves have been discovered. The villagers gathered the bones ad put them into their places. But the authorities have done nothing on that issue”, – said Zana Aqsun, highlighting as well the necessity to face the historical tragic events of 1915.

Pope Francis: Great powers “washed their hands” during Armenian Genocide

May 1, 2013 By administrator

12:28, 1 May, 2013

YEREVAN, MAY 1, ARMENPRESS: During the Holocaust the great powers “washed their hands”, as they knew more than talked about. They did not state that during the Armenian Genocide as well they “washed their hands”. As reported by Armenpress, quoting the Diario Armenia, this was stated by Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the current Pope of Rome Francis in the book “Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra”, published jointly with the Argentinean rabbi Abraham Skorka in 2010. The book was recently republished.

The Pope of Rome Francis noted that in the 20^th century they destroyed villages, considering themselves to be gods. “Turks did that with Armenians, Germans – with Jewish people, Stalin’s communists – with Ukrainians”.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote: “If thinking about the paradise a person does not struggle for his rights, he is under the influence of opium. People, who overcame persuasion and massacres, as during the three largest genocides of the last century towards Armenians, Jewish and Ukrainians, struggled for their freedom”.

The book reveals the viewpoints of the Pope of Rome Francis about the church, religion and belief. It also touches upon atheism, death, abortion, Holocaust, homosexuality and capitalism.

ASUCR senators proclaim official day for Armenian Genocide

May 1, 2013 By administrator

13:47, 1 May, 2013

YEREVAN, MAY 1, ARMENPRESS: During the ASUCR senate meeting April 24, fourteen senators unanimously passed the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Resolution thereby establishing that day as the official Remembrance Day of Armenian Genocide on campus, reports Armenpress referring to Highlander.

Students from the Armenian Student Association (ASA) and the Armenian sorority Alpha Gamma Alpha (AGA) convened at the ASUCR senate meeting to petition for UCR’s recognition of the Armenian genocide that occurred from 1915 to 1923.

“By honoring the survivors and consistently commemorating and forcefully condemning the atrocities committed against the Armenian people with regards to the repetition of the crime of genocide, ASUCR encourages the awareness of such atrocity in order to prevent reoccurrence of the crime,” stated the resolution. “Therefore, let it be resolved that ASUCR 2012-2013 acknowledges the commemoration the 1.5 million Armenians who fell victims.”

Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of alleged terror suspects in Boston, apologizes to Armenian community

May 1, 2013 By administrator

22:18, 30 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of alleged terror suspects, Tamerlan and Djokhar Tsarnaev, contacted the Mirror-Spectator directly to issue an apology to the Armenian community for his recent statements referencing Armenians in his discussions of the Boston Marathon bombings, reports Armenpress referring to Mirror-Spectator.

“Armenia has a very strong culture, therefore, I want to stress that his [Misha’s] ethnicity has nothing to do with it,” Tsarni said. “I wish I had never said it.”

Tsarni added, “I felt for you [Armenians] and wish I had never done it.”

He once again apologized for connecting the Armenian community “to this evil event.”

In previous media statements, Tsarni had discussed a recent convert to Islam named “Misha” – now reported as Mikhail Allakhverdova – stressing that he was of “Armenian descent” while implicating the man in the possible “brainwashing” of Tamerlan Tsarnev with notions of violence against non-Muslims.

Tsarni spoke briefly on the matter via phone, but said he was unable to comment further or answer additional questions. A reverse phone number search traced and confirmed that the phone call came from a Maryland cell phone issued to Tsarni.

(Australia) Parliament of NSW Recognizes Assyrian, Greek, Armenian Genocide

May 1, 2013 By administrator

May 1, 2013 – 13:13 AMT

On May 1, in a historically unprecedented move at the request of the Assyrian Universal Alliance, the Australian Hellenic Council and the Armenian National Committee of Australia, the Legislative Council of the NSW parliament passed unanimously a motion recognizing the Assyrian, Greek and Armenian genocides, AINA reports.

Mr. Hermiz Shahen, the Deputy Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance said; “this constitutes an extraordinary moment in the history of the Assyrian nation. The Assyrian nation is struggling for years to gain the International recognition of the genocide perpetrated against them by the Ottoman government under the leadership of a chauvinistic party, the Young Turk between1914 – 1923. This recognition will act as a powerful counter to those, especially in present-day Turkey, who still ignore or deny outright the genocides of the Ottoman Christian minorities. Assyrians in Iraq, Syria and Turkey are continuously paying the price as a consequence of the denial of their genocide.”

The motion reads that the NSW Parliament “joins the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks communities of New South Wales in honoring the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocides.”

It “recognizes the importance of remembering and learning from such dark chapters in human history to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not allowed to be repeated.”

Collection of digital photos on Genocide prepared

May 1, 2013 By administrator

May 1, 2013 – 14:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Institute and Armenian Genocide Museum of America (AGMA) have prepared a collection of digital photos, maps and other documents about the Armenian Genocide.

The album mainly comprises digital photos, taken by photographers of German Empire and Austria-Hungary.

According to the director of Armenian National Institute, historian Dr. Rouben P. Adalian, the photos were mainly taken in Deir ez-Zor and in the territory of historic Armenia, particularity in the suburbs of Tigranakert, Yerznka and Erzurum.

“The fact that the photos were taken by soldiers of the allies of the Ottoman Empire makes their documentary value indisputable,” the author of the album, Mr. Adalian said.

The album is available in PDF format in the websites of Armenian Assembly of America and Armenian National Institute. According a museum trustee Van Krikorian, Armenian Americans are searching for new ways to raise awareness on Genocide ahead of the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, with new measures to be taken in the future.

Film on Genocide may be screened at Istanbul festival

May 1, 2013 By administrator

May 1, 2013 – 16:54 AMT

Nubar Alexanian, 62, has spent the past 35 years working as a photojournalist and filmmaker. He’s traveled to more than 40 countries shooting for magazines such as Life, Newsweek, Time, National Geographic, Fortune and Geo, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator reports.

He has published five books and rubbed elbows with some of the most influential people throughout the musical world like Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis and Garth Brooks.

Alexanian’s daughter, Abby, 24, is a recent graduate of Vassar College. Over the past decade, she has spent summers and vacations working on her dad’s still photography and film sets.

Together, they are a father-daughter team uniquely positioned to make a film that speaks to the challenges that Armenian families face today.

The Alexanians’ film is titled, “Journey to Armenia: Three Generations from Genocide.” It is the story of how a young woman’s curiosity propels her reluctant father to join her in finally confronting their family’s dark past and discovering how the denial of the 1915 Armenian Genocide affects them today.

The Alexanians explain that the film is different than other films of a similar variety. “There are no others I have seen about the effects of denial and the silence that has incurred over three generations,” said Nubar Alexanian. “It’s a feature length documentary about the scars of silence and how a staggering act of inhumanity has forever changed what it means to be Armenian.”

The Alexanians have set a release date of December 2014. The film will run 55-75 minutes and they have added Errol Morris to their production team. Morris’ film, “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara,” won the Academy Award in 2004 for Best Documentary Feature.

Nubar Alexanian hopes to share not only his own family’s perspective, but also the shared experiences of those of Armenian heritage.

“The film tells a story that is deeply personal but also reflects the intergenerational experiences of immigrant families in America,” he said. “It explores larger questions about the devastating effects of denial, the scars of silence and the healing power of curiosity. It echoes the story of families all over the world who suffer tragedies, flee, create new lives with old traditions and search for their place and search for their place in a heritage they only half understand.”

The film incorporates DVD home video footage of Armenians visiting their ancestral land, shown over the past decade by Aroyan, who has been guiding tour groups for more than 20 years. The Alexanians have big plans for the film and hope to show it in movie theaters, film festivals, television and international broadcasts. The International Istanbul Film Festival has already expressed an interest.

“Beyond that, we plan to market our film for home viewing with a special emphasis on educational venues,” Nubar Alexanian said.

ANC starts rally in Armenia’s capital

April 30, 2013 By administrator

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) party has started its rally in Yerevan’s Freedom Square.

ANC leader, Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Vahagn Khachatryan (who tops the ANC list in the elections to Yerevan’s Council of Elders) and other members are to speak at the rally.

Moles, informants and double agents in Boston Marathon bombings

April 30, 2013 By administrator

The bizarre circumstances and dubious names in the Boston Marathon bombings have raised many questions that have yet to be answered by government officials and journalists.

The most mysterious character is ‘Misha’ whom Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the Boston bombers, described as an Armenian convert to Islam who had supposedly brainwashed and radicalized Tamerlan, the elder of the suspected Tsarnaev brothers. Ruslan described ‘Misha’ as a heavy-set bald exorcist with a long reddish beard!

Initially, no one could find ‘Misha.’ While his alleged affiliation with Tamerlan and Armenian origin was prominently and repeatedly mentioned in the media, it took the authorities 10 days to announce that they knew who ‘Misha’ was and that he had no connection to the terrorist acts!

Last Sunday, Christian Caryl of the New York Review of Books, was finally able to locate and interview the elusive ‘Misha’ in his Rhode Island home. Even though Caryl disclosed that ‘Misha,’ a native of Baku, Azerbaijan, is the son of an Armenian father and a Ukrainian mother, and that his last name is Allakhverdov, the media continues to refer to him as an ‘Armenian.’ Notably, neither Caryl nor anyone else mentions the fact that ‘Misha’ or ‘Mikayel’ — a common Christian name — cannot be the name of a Muslim! Moreover, after the break up of the Soviet Union, many Muslim Azerbaijanis applied for asylum in Europe and the United States, under the pretext that they were persecuted Christian Armenians! It is odd that ‘Misha,’ supposedly a Christian, would flee from Islamic persecution in Baku, only to convert to Islam in America!

Interestingly, Caryl reports that ‘Misha’ had nothing to do with the Boston bombings, which is exactly what government investigators had earlier announced. Could it be that US officials had put Caryl in contact with ‘Misha’ in order to confirm their declaration of his innocence, leading some analysts to speculate that ‘Misha’ may have been an FBI informant whose cover is now being meticulously protected!

The next suspicious character is Uncle Ruslan who has accused ‘Misha the Armenian’ of having a powerful influence over Tamerlan. Ruslan himself has had a checkered past, having worked for USAID and several Caspian Sea energy companies, while married to Samantha Ankara Fuller, daughter of Graham Fuller, a retired top CIA official. Because of Ruslan’s close relationship to the bombers’ family, his employment with Central Asian oil companies including Halliburton, and marriage to the daughter of a high-ranking CIA official, some analysts have suggested that the enigmatic uncle warrants a closer look.

Last week, prominent Armenian-American attorney Mark Geragos blasted Ruslan Tsarni on CNN, suggesting that “somebody needs to give this uncle a field sobriety test, because I think this guy is under the influence of something.” Geragos was furious that Ruslan had linked the Boston bombers to the ‘Armenian Misha,’ while Armenians worldwide were commemorating the 98th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide! Ruslan then tried to reach Geragos by telephone, seeking “to clarify” his earlier statement. Geragos refused to take his call.

Some analysts suggest that Tamerlan may have been recruited by the Russian secret services (FSB) to spy on Chechen extremists during his six-month stay in Chechnya and Dagestan last year. Having informed the FBI and CIA of Tamerlan’s links to radical Islamist groups, and not receiving a satisfactory response from US officials, it could be that the FSB took matters into its own hands and recruited the unemployed and penniless young Chechen during his lengthy stay in Russia.

Other analysts speculate that Tamerlan may have been an informant for the US government. Such a supposition is much more credible than assuming that the FBI and CIA were too incompetent or too busy to conduct a thorough investigation of Tamerlan’s background after the Russian FSB brought his name to their attention. It could be that US authorities knew Tamerlan only too well and may have even encouraged him to travel to Russia as their mole in Jihadist circles.

Finally, there are those who believe that Tamerlan ended up betraying both the Russian and American intelligent services, deciding instead to support radical Islamic groups, “out of anger over US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” according to his younger brother Dzhokhar’s jailhouse confession.

Of course, these speculations are advanced by various analysts based on preliminary information, pending a thorough Congressional investigation to uncover the true facts. Americans killed and maimed in the Boston bombings deserve an honest answer!

Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Armenian Genocide commemoration at Pasadena City Hall

April 30, 2013 By administrator

Hundreds of Armenian Americans gathered under cloudy skies at the front steps of City Hall on the morning of Wednesday, April 24th, in Pasadena to commemorate the Armenian Genocide and calling for the official recognition of the atrocities committed by the Turkish Government on April 24, 1915, Asbarez reported.

A crowd of almost 500 Armenian Americans, community leaders, dignitaries and State Officials assembled for the event organized by the local chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America, where city officials from Pasadena, Sierra Madre and La Crescenta Town Council were present for the momentous occasion. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was among those officials who spoke and conveyed his heartfelt message at the event, as did Former State Assemblyman, Anthony Portantino and Pasadena City Councilmember Gene Masuda, who presented ANCA – Pasadena Chapter’s Chairperson, Shoghig Yepremian, the city’s official Armenian Genocide Commemoration Proclamation recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

ANCA – Pasadena Chapter Chairperson Shoghig Yepremian reminded those present of the day’s significance in the history of humanity and that this crime of genocide has gone unpunished for far too long and that the time has come to put things right.

ACF Member Hovig Saliba’s speech reminded the Armenian Community that there’s much work to be done and we as Armenians can never rest until reparations, restitution and the recognition of the heinous crimes the Turkish Government committed against the Armenians and Humanity is fully, utterly and unequivocally accounted for.

Former Pasadena Mayor and Chairperson of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, Bill Paparian took the podium and grabbed the crowd’s attention by saying, “The scars are not healed.” “We are still haunted by the emptiness that comes from losing entire families. When a loved one disappears, the disappearance lasts forever. Before former Mayor Bill Paparian concluded his remarks, he’d introduced the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee Members after which he introduced the Art Center student who designed the memorial, Catherine Menard.

Catherine Menard, the Environmental Design student at the Art Center College of Design, whose well-researched and brilliant design of the Armenian Genocide Memorial has taken the city by storm since she was the Design Panel’s pick out of 17 submissions. Catherine’s deep and sincere words expressed her feelings as she researched the genocide and atrocities the Turkish Government committed, even quoting the famous Armenian poet, Siamanto, whose words clearly had an impact on Menard as she prepared her award winning design.

Describing the Armenians, as one of the most “vibrant communities in Southern California,” Menard took on the challenge to come up with a masterful memorial design worthy of the accolades that have been bestowed upon it so far, so that it would find its place in Pasadena’s Memorial Park by the time the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide turns up on April 24th, 2015.

In the days leading up to the Armenian Genocide Commemoration on April 24th, The City of Sierra Madre City Council, at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, presented a Certificate of Recognition to the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) – Pasadena Chapter for the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

This is the first year that the City of Sierra Madre City Council has issued a proclamation declaring that the city acknowledges the April 24, 1915 atrocities perpetrated by the Turkish Government against the Armenian people, that as a community they stand together and join the Armenian community to memorialize their fallen ancestors, and to ensure that such horrible acts are not repeated ever again. John Harabedian, a current Council member, presented the proclamation to Shoghig Yepremian, the Chair of Pasadena Chapter ANCA.

Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Board, on April 23rd, 2013, also acknowledged the Armenian Genocide by adopting Resolution 2244, in part the resolution reads as follows:

Remembrance – Armenian Genocide, in which the Armenian Genocide is commemorated on April 24, the date in 1915 when the Turkish government arrested 200 Armenian leaders in Constantinople, thus beginning the wholesale slaughter, imprisonment and forced deportation of millions of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

PUSD Board President Ms. Renatta Cooper, board members and School Superintendent, John Gundry, were all present along with ANCA – Pasadena board members for the passing of the Resolution.