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Turkey main staging point for illicit goods: Europol report

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THE HAGUE
A new Europol report on organized crime says that Turkey is the main staging point for illegal goods and irregular human trafficking to the EU. The report, which points out drug trafficking as the biggest threat to Europe, says that the vast majority of heroin in the EU transits through Turkey.

n_43340_4Turkey is the main staging point for illicit goods and irregular migrants travelling to the EU from parts of Asia, a new report by Europol, European Union’s law enforcement agency, said March 19.

The reports said an estimated 3,600 organized crime gangs were active in Europe and that they were mainly trading in illegal drugs, including supplying 124 tons of cocaine annually.

The agency warned that Turkey’s borders with the EU remain vulnerable despite intense law enforcement focus. “The country connects supplier countries to consumer markets in the member states. The vast majority of heroin in the EU continues to transit through Turkey and is trafficked by Turkish organized crime groups from its origin to destination markets,” Europol said in a statement as it released its “Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment” report from its headquarters in The Hague.

“International drug trafficking remains the most active organized crime activity,” it said.

Around 30 percent, or 1,080, of criminal groups were involved in drug trafficking to the continent, but other crimes linked to the ongoing economic crisis and the Internet were also on the rise, Europol said. Cannabis was the most popular drug in Europe with 23 million users smoking an estimated 1,300 tons of cannabis resin and 1,200 tons of herbal cannabis every year.

Most-detailed study ever

Cocaine remained second-most popular, with an estimated 4 million users consuming 124 tons of powder every year, Europol said. The 46-page report, which Europol said was its most detailed study ever into organized crime, warned of a new breed of criminal gang on the rise, spurred on by the eurozone crisis and online activity.

‘The epitome of our new globalized society’

“These groups are no longer defined by their nationality or specialization in one area of crime but by an ability to operate on an international basis, with a business-like focus on maximizing profit and minimizing risk,” Europol’s chief Rob Wainwright said. “They are the epitome of our new globalized society.”

The economic crisis has seen gangs shifting their activities from counterfeiting luxury items to daily consumer goods including food, detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It has also given rise to increased human trafficking as “growing demand for cheap products and services stimulates the expansion of a shadow economy in which migrant labor is exploited.”

Wainwright warned that cost-cutting as a result of the cash crunch, especially when it came to law enforcement, will allow organized crime groups to operate more easily and remain undetected for longer. Europol’s latest report will be sent to its 27-member states to help it define crime-fighting priorities in the coming four years, the organization said.

Diyarbakır: Nevruz celebrations attended by a quarter of a million Kurdish people. Without Turkish Red flag (Video)

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Nevruz celebrations attended by a quarter of a million people. Without Turkish flag

festival of NevruzIn comments on the Nevruz celebrations, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed frustration with the absence of Turkish flags. “The lack of Turkish flags was contrary to Öcalan’s message,” said Erdoğan, speaking during an official visit in the Netherlands.

People from 85 different parts of Diyarbakır gathered at Nevruz Park, where the celebrations take place. They were carrying posters of Öcalan and Kurdish flags, while there were no Turkish flags flying.

Steven Simpson: If there has ever been a country in the Middle East guilty of committing crimes against humanity, it is Turkey

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Below is an article by Steven Simpson, published in The American Thinker, in which he presents the crimes committed by Turkey.  
Turkey’s Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is once again engaging in his favorite political pastime – Israel-bashing.

American ThinkerLate last month at a U.N. convention held ironically to promote religious tolerance, Erdoğan lambasted Israel by calling Zionism “a crime against humanity.” Indeed, Erdoğan even outdid the biggest anti-Israel institution in the world – the United Nations – which in 1975 passed its infamous “Zionism is Racism” resolution.

But Erdoğan’s continuous contempt for Israel shows the arrogance and hypocrisy of Turkey. For if there has ever been a country in the Middle East guilty of committing crimes against humanity, it is Turkey. Indeed, next to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, 20th-century Turkey ranks right up there when it comes to massacres, rapes, expulsions, and rapine perpetrated against ethnic and religious minorities – namely Armenians, Greeks, and Kurds.

Before documenting Turkey’s crimes against other people, it should first be noted that today’s Turkey has for all intents and purposes become an Islamic republic in everything but name only. The so-called “Turkish-Israeli” alliance has been in tatters since Erdoğan came to power in 2003. Aside from veering Turkey on an Islamist course – and cause – the Turks (even with Obama’s “apology tour” that began in Turkey back in 2009) remain extremely anti-American. This writer back in 2010 documented Erdoğan’s democratic ascent to power, his ideology and goals, and what an Islamist Turkey means to America, Israel, and the West in general.

Regrettably, Israel allowed herself to once again be verbally slapped down by the vitriolic and sanctimonious Erdoğan. With Erdoğan’s latest diatribe, all Israel could weakly say was “that it was a sinister and mendacious comment.” America, fearful of losing its only Muslim NATO “ally,” also was quite quiet when it came to Erdoğan’s latest bombastic tirade.

Ironically, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Turkey to meet with officials when Erdoğan had his latest verbal apoplectic attack against Israel. Though the mainstream media made it out that the U.S. was furious with Erdoğan, Kerry simply called the comments “objectionable.” Indeed, Erdoğan upbraided Kerry when Kerry had apologized for being late to a dinner with the Turkish prime minister after holding talks with Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu. Mr. Kerry had commented to the prime minister that he had held lengthy discussions with Mr. Davutoglu. An irritated Erdoğan then acerbically stated to Kerry that they “must have spoken about everything so there is nothing left for us to talk about.” Kerry meekly responded “that there’s a lot to talk about.” However, it remains unknown what the two actually discussed, and if Kerry raised any objections to Erdoğan’s statements on Israel, no one has yet reported on the event.

This now leaves us with Erdoğan’s hypocrisy in lecturing Israel about supposed “war crimes” and leads us to actual war crimes perpetrated by Turkey during the 20th century – crimes that still go on today against the Kurds. It is a record that not only has caused of blood to be spilled, but still has repercussions felt to this day.

Probably the most well-known war crime that Turkey engaged in was the slaughter – if not genocide – perpetrated against the Armenians in the first two decades of the 20th century. In fact, the Turks were already slaughtering Armenians in the late 19th century in what has come to be known as “the Hamidian massacres.” Estimates of the slaughter range from hundreds of thousands to millions. In any event, Turkey has consistently and constantly denied that such crimes against the Armenians took place. Turkey is so sensitive to the charge of genocide that when the U.S. Congress in 2010 finally passed a resolution condemning this crime, Turkey threatened “serious consequences” to the “partnership” between America and Turkey. Ironically, Barack Obama, who had the audacity to say back in 2007 that “nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,” sought to stop the congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide.

Continuing with Turkish war crimes, and the hypocrisy of the neo-Ottoman crypto-Sultan Erdoğan, there were the massacres and expulsions of the Greeks from their ancestral homelands. This is another Turkish crime against humanity that is little-known, and even less spoken or written about. “The Pontian Genocide” took place between the years of 1916 and 1922. Again, estimates vary in the casualty rate, but the slaughter could have been as close to 1,000,000 Greeks killed. This doesn’t even take into account the surviving 1.5 million Greeks who lived in Asia Minor (Anatolia) for millennia before being expelled by the Turks to European Greece during this era.

Finally, there are the Kurds. If there was ever an authentic Middle Eastern minority of Muslims that deserves a nation-state, it is the Kurds. While Islamist governments in Iran and Turkey (as well as the Arab world) talk about “Islamic solidarity” when it comes to the so-called “Palestinians,” there is not even a syllable of talk regarding the plight of the Kurds. The Kurds have been killed and suppressed by Arab, Persian, and Turk for centuries, all of whom see the legitimate aim of the Kurds to establish their own state as a threat to the status quo of continuous Arab, Persian, and Turkish imperialism.

While the Kurds are spread out over Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, it has been in the last country that the Kurds have basically been written out of history by the Turks. The Turkish quest to deny any semblance of a Kurdish existence has been so bizarre that Turkey even banned the Kurdish language during the years 1983-1999 and routinely referred to them as “mountain Turks.” To this day, Turkey routinely crosses the Syrian and Iraqi borders to fight against “Kurdish terrorists.”

This background on Turkish war crimes is just a brief sketch of the brutal actions that Turkey has committed over the decades (if not centuries). The next time the arrogant, bellicose, and venomous Erdoğan along with his fellow Islamists lectures Israel about “crimes against humanity,” they should look in the mirror and admit to true war crimes.

Indeed, Israel – and America, for that matter – would do history a great justice if they reminded Turkey in the strongest language possible, of the Turks’ bloody crimes against their own minorities, instead of sitting back and allowing Turkey to pontificate about Israel’s nonexistent “crimes against humanity.” Continued silence will only strengthen bullies and thugs like Erdoğan, lend credence to his outlandish slander, and allow Turkey to continue to rewrite history in its own image.

Source: Panorama.am

Shirak Torosyan: Mikheil Saakashvili’s regional policy pays tribute to Turkey-Azerbaijan tandem

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Georgian Armenians, particularly Armenians of Javakhk, connected great hopes with the Georgian Dream party, the first political force in the history of post-Soviet Georgia that visited Javakhk on the eve of the election day as part of its election campaign, raised the problems faced by the region and gave clear promises, MP, head of Javakhk union Capture1Shirak Torosyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

“Currently, there is the following situation in Javakhk: violence has stopped, there is no atmosphere of fear, people can communicate freely and they are not afraid to talk about politics,” Torosyan said.

“I think it is important that during his official visit to Yerevan Bidzina Ivanishvili confirmed his promises concerning Georgian Armenians and announced that all promises should be kept,” Torosyan said.

According to him, the initiatives of leader of Georgian Dream party and Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili are sharply criticized by President Mikheil Saakashvili. One of such initiatives is Ivanishvili’s statement on the necessity to solve the issue of Abkhazian railway, Torosyan noted.

“Thus it was proved that Mikheil Saakashvili’s regional policy pays tribute to Turkey-Azerbaijan tandem,” he stressed.

The mystery of British SS Armenian and the Armenian Genocide

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13:54, 21 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS: The fact that SS Armenian once sailed the high seas and worked the cargo routes of the North Atlantic is news to most people, including Armenians. Brithish SS Armenian was built during the Hamidian massacares and sunk during the Armenian Genocide.
712259Built as a freighter, the SS Armenian was a valuable transportation vessel in the profitable cargo service that existed between Great Britain and North America at the turn of the 20th century. The exact location of its final resting place remained a mystery until 2008, when its wreck was discovered off the western coast of England and it was seen for the first time since World War I, reports Armenpress citing English language The Armenian Mirror-Spectator weekly.
For a ship born during the Hamidian massacres, it was perhaps inevitable that it would meet its doom in that darkest of years – in 1915 – at the same time as the people with whom she shared her name were being slaughtered.
The SS Armenian was built in 1895 by Harland & Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that would later become famous for making the legendary trio Titanic, Olympic and Britannic. The vessel was 156 meters long and had a displacement of 8,825 tons.
With very little contact between Great Britain and a nation called Armenia, the clue behind the sudden name change lies in the events inundating the British press throughout 1895. During this time, the sultan and the ruling elite of the Ottoman Empire were diligently putting into action their final solution to the ‘Armenian Question,’ a solution which required the destruction of the empire’s Armenian minority as a cohesive unit and its dispersal throughout the country .
In October 1895, reports of the slaughter of hundreds of Armenian men in the town of Erzurum provoked shock and indignation across the world. Newspaper articles regularly depicted the sultan as a bloodthirsty tyrant, a butcher of women and children, and sympathy for the Armenians was widespread. Leading newspapers such as the Times, Morning Post, Daily News, New York Times and Le Petit Parisien published articles and editorials by prominent public figures condemning the Turkish crimes.  With the constant flow of news reports causing outrage and clamors for justice, it is understandable why the people behind the building of the SS Armenian would choose to rename the vessel. It may have been a small but significant gesture, an expression of solidarity with the Armenian people in their hour of torment and agony.
While heading northeast off Trevose Head, Cornwall, a watchman on the Armenian sighted a German submarine in June 1915. In what proved to be an erroneous decision, Captain James Trickey ordered the ship ahead full-steam in an attempt to outrun the U-boat, which turned out to be the U-24. The captain was signaled to stop and surrender after two shots were fired across the ship’s bow, but he refused.
The Armenian was then sunk by two torpedoes fired into its stern.
While the propaganda war raged in the newspapers, President Woodrow Wilson considered the Armenian incident before making any official pronouncements, preferring to wait until the investigation was over. His procrastination proved expedient. The ship was undeniably engaged in the transportation of contraband to England.
The furor caused by the sinking of the Armenian eventually abated because of the circumstances surrounding the event, and the US did not declare war on Germany until April 1917.
The SS Armenian was finally located and identified by wreck hunter and archaeologist Innes McCartney in 2008.

European court fines Turkey over torture claims

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The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey guilty of violating Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in the case of Ayhan Mimtaş, who applied to the Court over claims that he was tortured during his transfer to Kandıra high-security prison.

n_43311_4The court fined Turkey over 40,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage, as well as costs and expenses for violating Article 3 through the ill-treatment of Mimtaş and the legal proceedings that followed the incident.

Mimtaş filed a complaint with the public prosecutor following the transfer, but was turned down by the Kocaeli Governor, who believed Mimtaş’s injuries had been sustained during violent riots in the prison that were frequently occurring at the time.

Several months later, however, the prosecutor went ahead with the case, trying five Kandıra prison guards and acquitting them after a two-year trial.

Turkey violated Article 3 both in Mimtaş’s treatment and in the investigative steps that followed, the Court said. Article 3 states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Mimtaş’s transfer had taken place as part of the severe security operation called “Back to Life,” which was met with violent clashes in over 20 prisons nationwide. Some 32 people, 30 of them inmates, were killed during the clashes.

Notorious Genocide denier James H. Holmes Turkish American Consol president: US is misreading Turkey’s ties with northern Iraq

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19 March 2013 /SİNEM CENGİZ, ANKARA
James H. Holmes, head of the Washington-based American-Turkish Council (ATC), has stated that Turkey’s energy ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are not correctly perceived by the US government, which is concerned that Turkey’s close ties with the KRG may pose a threat to the territorial integrity of Iraq.

200901“I think the US has somewhat misplaced its understanding on what moves Turkey to cooperate with the Kurdish government in northern Iraq. Turkey’s approach is perfectly reasonable over the issue,” said Holmes in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman.

The former US ambassador spoke to Today’s Zaman about several issues ranging from Turkish-US relations, the Syrian crisis and Turkish-Armenian relations to Turkey’s partnership with the KRG.

Turkey’s economic ties with the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq have raised eyebrows in Baghdad and Washington in recent years. Growing ties in the area of energy between Turkey and the Kurdish region have attracted the criticism of the US, which is concerned that bypassing the Iraqi central government could serve to increase the already high tensions between the KRG and the central government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. These tensions would then pose a significant risk to the country’s stability, in Washington’s view.

“The issue has now focused on hydrocarbons, and I frankly don’t blame Turkey at all for looking out for its own interests with respect to access to hydrocarbons,” remarked Holmes, adding that Turkey believes that doing business with northern Iraq would be much more stable than doing business with Baghdad.

As a growing country, Turkey desperately needs energy, and the KRG appears to be one of the best options for Turkey’s energy needs. The US has been trying to convince Maliki to pass a hydrocarbon law which would provide more advantageous conditions for energy companies in Iraq.

Holmes added that American hydrocarbon companies are interested in the territorial integrity of Iraq. “I am sure that Turkey is interested in hydrocarbons coming from Basra as much as from Arbil, but that’s not the reality now,” Holmes claimed, describing Turkey-KRG energy ties as an issue that Turkey and the US do not agree on but set aside in the interest of the relationship.

Difference between Turkey and US on Maliki

There is a difference in the stances held by the US and Turkey toward Maliki, who is currently at odds with the Turkish government. Washington believes that Maliki offers the best chance for stability in Iraq at the moment, while Turkey has criticized the Iraqi Shiite-led government’s monopoly of power at the expense of other groups in the country.

“I believe that the US has less influence on the Maliki government than it pretends to have. The US has lost a lot of influence in Iraq. However, the relationship between Turkey and Iraq is enormously important for the US. If we look five years back, no one would have bet that Turkey would have had this kind of relationship with the KRG or Baghdad,” said Holmes.

Due to energy and several other thorny issues, ties between the Ankara and Baghdad have deteriorated to an all-time low.

From time to time, US officials have reiterated their displeasure with Turkey’s efforts to knit closer ties with the KRG. “We don’t support oil exports from any part of Iraq without the appropriate approval of the Iraqi government,” stated Victoria Nuland, State Department spokesperson, a while ago.

However, Turkish officials clearly confirm that the country will go ahead and forge deeper energy ties with the Kurdish authority in an effort to more meet Turkey’s ever-increasing energy needs.

Turkey-US relations outstanding despite differences in policies

Turkish-US ties have experienced perhaps one of their brightest periods since Barack Obama was first elected president in 2008, with the two NATO allies finding common ground on most foreign policy challenges rising from the troubled Middle East. However, ties between Turkey and the US have been tested amidst deepening crises in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. Holmes believes that Turkey and the US enjoy outstanding relations despite policy differences.

“What Obama and [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan is trying to do is to develop a very close personal relationship, like [Former Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton and [Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu have done — in a way that they can identify issues they disagree on and say, ‘OK, let’s put these issues aside and speak about topics we share complete agreement on.’  I am very happy that both countries can openly discuss the topics they cannot agree on,” said the former US ambassador.

Holmes said his prediction is that an Obama-Erdoğan meeting will take place within a few months. “My understanding is that we will probably hear simultaneous announcements from Washington and Ankara of an agreement on a visit by Erdoğan in the first four months of this year,” Homes predicted.

The head of the ATC added that both countries make efforts to prevent topics of disagreement from affecting relations. “Not all administrations were able to do this. [Former US President] George Bush was clearly saying ‘You are either my friend or my enemy.’ But Obama’s approach is ‘You don’t need to be my enemy or doctrinaire. We can work together despite our differences.’ This approach facilitated a closer relationship,” iterated Holmes.

Asked whether the Syrian crisis of two years had become an apparent topic of disagreement between Ankara and Washington, Holmes replied that the Turkish government, which very much wanted the US to take a leadership role in the conflict, has been disappointed by the US’s stance, although Turkish officials don’t say this publicly.

“Turkey was disappointed to see that Obama did not express the will to do that. The US didn’t want to get further involved in the crisis. But Turks do understand this position and, indeed, there are elements of political leadership in Turkey which themselves are quite nervous about getting more deeply involved in the military aspects in Syria,” said Holmes.

Although Turkey and the US have shared the same discourse on the resolution of the Syrian crisis, with both calling for the establishment of a transitional government, Syria has become a potential challenge and issue of dispute between the two NATO allies.

At the start of the Syrian crisis, the US encouraged Turkey to take a harsh stance against the Syrian regime. However, Turkey no longer feels the open backing of the US it has in the past and has found itself increasingly isolated.

“I place the Syrian crisis as an issue on which the two countries disagree. The Syrian issue is not serious in terms of deteriorating relations such as Iraq. Iraq is a much more serious disagreement. But in both cases, the two countries have managed to overcome issues and keep talking in a way that preserves their relationship,” said Holmes.

While Washington sees Turkey as a pivotal player in backing Syria’s opposition, Turkey, which is anxious to avoid going into Syria on its own, views the US as vital to any operation in Syria. However, the US fears that a military intervention in Syria could ignite a wider conflict.

Involvement of Turkish community in US politics increasing

Holmes also touched upon the status of the Turkish community in US, saying the Turkish lobby is becoming more active when compared to the past in terms of effective participation in American politics as a reaction to the Armenian lobby in the US. The Armenian lobby has made great efforts demanding the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by the US Congress and is making preparations for 2015, the centennial of the events Armenians refer to as genocide in 1915.

“There is recognition that they [the Turkish community] can’t sit and do nothing if they really care about strengthening the Turkey-US relationship. So, there is a much more willingness to become involved in the politics of America. Yet, it is still not enough,” remarked Holmes.

Holmes noted that the Turkish lobby in the US has historically been passive in political participation and said Turks in the US should participate more fully in US politics to make their voices more widely heard.

“It is not a large group, but still a decent-sized community. The Turkish community, or Turkish diaspora, has not played a significant role in American politics until very recently. They came to the US as professionals, engineers, doctors, etc. But they didn’t get involved in the city councils or local municipalities much. There has never been a representative of Turkish descent in Congress. There are very few states where there is a representative of Turkish descent. And that is a reflection of the fact that Turks never regarded politics as something they wanted to be involved in,” the former ambassador explained.

Holmes said the Turkish lobby is now going to great lengths to form relationships with members of Congress to win support for the Armenian issue. “But this is only in the last three or four years. However, it is leading to positive consequences in terms of the awareness of American officials not only on the Armenian issue but also other issues concerning Turks,” said Holmes.

When asked whether their passivity was due to their Muslim identity, Holmes replied in the negative. “Americans don’t pay much attention to whether you are a Muslim or a Hindu. It would be a big mistake for people to believe that there is any sort of a discrimination against Muslims, much less Turks,” said Holmes.

Genocide issue has potential to strain Turkey-US relations

Holmes stated that the so-called Armenian genocide issue has the potential to be a very destructive issue between the US and Turkey, adding, however, that it depends on how Washington handles the issue.

“We need to be very alert, nimble and ready for the critical consequences if Turkey and Armenia are not able to make progress that softens this issue prior to 2015,” said Holmes.

“Turkey can take steps which may soften the issue significantly but I personally believe that there is pretty broad and accurate awareness in the [Obama] administration. Congress is much closer to pressure from their local constituencies, and this is where the risk is. The risk is that Congress may somehow take a step which might only answer to pressure coming from local constituencies,” Holmes warned.

As the head of the ATC, a leading business association in the US that works to enhance US-Turkish ties, Holmes stated that his organization was constantly following the Armenian issue. “We understand and we are perfectly prepared to go to Congress and say: ‘Wait a minute. Let me make sure that you have got an accurate understanding of this issue. Let me make sure that if you proceed on this line which is unfair for Turkey, it will lead to serious consequences in business and commercial relations with Turkey’,” said Holmes.

When asked what are likely to be the key issues discussed in ATC’s annual conference this year, which is to be held in Washington in June, Holmes replied that the whole spectrum of US-Turkish relations including business, national security and political and cultural relations will be discussed. “Apart from US-Turkey relations, the problems surrounding Turkey will also be discussed. These problems include Turkey’s relations with Iran, Iraq, Syria, Cyprus, Israel and Armenia. We are a business organization, but we have been involved in Turkey for a very long time. With these conferences we bring together political, business and military leadership,” commented Holmes.

Participation in the ATC’s annual conference is diverse, from members of Congress, senior US administration officials and the US military to high-ranking government and military officials from the Turkish side.

Holmes, who has headed the ATC for eight years, stated that Turkey and the US attach importance to these conferences as they are the one occasion on which the full range of issues concerning the two countries are discussed by senior representatives of the country’s various institutions.

Grand Sacristan of Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem will participate in Obama’s reception in Israel

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12:41, 20 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. The President of the United States of America Barack Obama will pay a three-day official visit to Israel on March 20. The “Armenpress” reporter in Jerusalem, member of St. James Convent Archimandrite Koryun Baghdasaryan states that the Grand Sacristan of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, His Eminence Archbishop Sevan Gharibian will participate in the ceremony of official reception in Ben Gurion Airport.

Within the framework of the visit President Obama will also pay visit to the Church of Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine.

Archbishop Sevan Gharibian (baptismal name Hovhannes) was born in 1940 in Beirut, Lebanon. He received his primary education at the Abgarian and Roupinian school in 712109Beirut.

In 1961 he entered the Jarangavoratz Theological Seminary at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and graduated, becoming a member of the Brotherhood of St. James.  He was ordained as a celibate priest in 1968, by then Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Archbishop Yeghishe Derderian and given the priestly name of Sevan.

Father Sevan received the rank of Archimandrite (Vardapet) in 1972, by then Patriarch Yeghishй Derderian.  He was consecrated as a Bishop in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, by the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Vasken I, of Blessed Memory.

In 1990 he received the rank of Senior Archimandrite (Dzayraguyn Vardapet) by Patriarch Torgom Manoukian of Jerusalem.

In 2006 Bishop Sevan was elevated to the rank of Archbishop by the Pontifical Encyclical of the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II.

During his priestly ministry, Archbishop Sevan has held different scholastic and administrative positions at the St. Hagop Monastery. He currently serves the Armenian Church as the Finance Director and Chairman of the Council of Directors at the Monastery.

American Student Composes Symphony dedicated to the Armenian Genocide

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12:50, 20 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS: After learning about the Armenian Genocide for the very first time, Francis Norton decided to vent his anger over the tragedy. As reports Armenpress referring to The Armenian Weekly,  inspired by  genocide studies classes the Wilmington High senior sat behind a computer and composed an Armenian 712103symphony he so aptly calls “Hellfire.” He debuted it inside a genocide studies class called “Facing History and Ourselves,” being taught by Lisa Joy Desberg and Maura Tucker.

The two-minute piece is full of ritualistic movement done with cello, violin, piano, and brass with multiple key and tempo changes, much like an early Alan Hovhaness work.

“It’s a dark theme that inspired the Armenian Genocide,” says Norton. “I thought of the mood and subject matter. In some instances, I had to stop writing when I thought about the torment and depression this nation faced. I felt the pain of the victims.”

Members of the Armenian Genocide Education Committee of Merrimack Valley have been making repeated visits to the school for each semester, as well as other communities throughout Greater Boston and Merrimack Valley.

While student essays on the subject of the Armenian Genocide are nothing unusual, the fact that it comes from a totally non-Armenian classroom setting taught by sympathetic instructors remains tantamount to our cause.

“They have a sincere desire to learn from outsiders who’ve approached our school with such motivation as the Armenians,” Desberg pointed out. “They want to be students who make a big difference in the world.”

Tucker’s symphony will be performed during a Merrimack Valley genocide presentation at local churches.

“I told them to pick their means of expression,” said Tucker. “Never did I expect a musical interlude on genocide.”

The results were vast and varied. Out of the assignment came an eclectic poem over an Armenian khatchkar done by Michelle Soel and Katie Finn.”

Another class at Melrose Middle School reciprocated by making a generous donation to the Armenian National Committee of America.