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Armenian government looks to build $10m+ data center

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Already in talks with several private companies

The Armenian government has approved plans to build a new data center.

Competitive bids for the project, which is expected to cost more than US$10 million, should be submitted by August 2018.

Public-private partnership

“Now we are discussing the possibilities of investing in the center with several private companies,” Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies, Vahan Martirosyan, said.

“According to preliminary calculations, the minimum required amount is $10 million. The government on its part will provide the premises and infrastructure, and the rest will be handled by a private investor.”

Armenian publication Arka Telecom reports that Martirosyan added that the data center is expected to ensure significant economic benefits and additional revenues for the government, and improve the nation’s IT capabilities.

Earlier this month, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan announced that the government had given permission to Welbeck-AM to spend US$2m on a data center in the Alliance free economic zone.

“The company plans to build a data center within two years by introducing server and network equipment that will serve foreign companies,” Melkonyan said.

Armenia has two free economic zones – Alliance, for high tech and IT industries, and Meridian, for the jewelry industry.

Source: http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/content-tracks/design-build/armenian-government-looks-to-build-10m-data-center/99367.fullarticle

Polish Sejm adopts resolution on Armenian community’s 650th anniv.

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The Polish Sejm on Friday, November 24 adopted a resolution on the 650th anniversary of Poland’s Armenian community whish states that King Casimir III gave the Armenians of Lwów in the 14th century the right of setting up a Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

According to the document, the centuries-old relations between the Armenians and Poles could be exemplary for other nations and countries.

The resolution also highlights the Armenians’ role in the history of Poland, expressing deep respect for all those who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence and all those who lived and worked for Poland.

Also, the parliament expressed confidence that the two peoples will continue enjoying friendly relations in the future too.

Armenia’s ambassador to Poland Edgar Ghazaryan, former lawmaker of Armenian originŁukasz Abgarowicz, religious leader of the Armenian Church in Poland Vardapet Tachat Tsaturyan and many others participated in the session.

SÜRYANİLERE İADE EDİLECEK YERLER DEVLETİN DEĞİL, BABALARINDAN MİRAS KALAN YERLERDİR

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Zeynep Tozduman

By Zeynep Tozduman

22 Kasım 2017 günü basına demeç veren Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü’nden Sorumlu Başbakan yardımcısı Hakan Çavuşoğlu,  6 ay evvel Haziran 2017’de KHK ile Süryani halkına ait kilise, manastır, arazi ve mezarlıklarla ilgili önce Diyanet İşlerine Başkanlığına ( Süryani diasposrasının ve Türkiye kamuoyunun baskısıyla) daha sonra Maliye Bakanlığı bünyesinde Hazineye geçen yerlerin; Kabristanlıkların ve diğer yerlerin Süryanilere iade edileceğini CNN Türk aracılığı ile duyurdu.
Söz konusu olan bu yerler bin yıllardır zaten Süryani halkına aittir. Başbakan yardımcısının devr işlemleri sırasında bir yanlışlık yapıldığını itiraf etmesi ve yanlıştan döndüklerini beyan etmesi elbette sevindiricidir. Sevincimiz kursağımızda kalmasın da. Yâda bu açıklama Süryani halkına bir parmak bal çalmak olmasın. Hükümet Süryaniler konusunda gerçekten samimi ise bu yerlerin tapu tescillerini bir an evvel Süryani halkına yani Mor Gabriel vakfına yapmalıdır. Vaat değil icraat görmek istiyoruz artık bizler.
Süryanilere ait bu yerleri detaylıca anlatmadan evvel Mor Gabriel manastırını ( Deyrul Umur) bilmeyenler için bir tanıyalım önce.
 
Mor Gabriel Manastırı diğer adıyla Deyrulumur – Rahiplerin Meskeni dünyanın ayakta duran en eski Süryani Ortodoks manastırıdır. Mardin’in Midyat ilçesine bağlı Güngören köyü sınırları içerisinde, Süryanilerin anayurdu olarak bilinen Turabdin platosunda bulunuyor.
Manastır, 397 yılında Mor Şmuel ve öğrencisi Mor Şemun tarafından, bir Zerdüşt tapınağının kalıntıları üzerinde inşa edildi. Süryanilerin kutsal kudüsü de denilen Mor Gabriel manastırı tıpkı Mardin/ Nusaybin- Gimerli’deki 11 manastırın anası sayılan Mor Augin manastırı v.d. Gibi çok kutsal bir mabettir.
 
Mor Gabriel manastırı; Biz Türklerin bu gün Anadolu denilen bu topraklara 26 Ağustos 1071’den gelişinden çok daha eskidir. Süryaniler bu toprakların gelmiş geçmiş en eski halklarından biridir. Anayurtları Turabdin ( Süryani mitolojisine göre Mardin’den Cizre’ye kadar uzanan bölgenin adı) olan Süryaniler, 7 bin yıldır bu topraklarda yaşadılar, yaşıyorlar.

Yaşadığı toprakları cennete çeviren Süryani halkı; İslamiyet’in gelişinden, Osmanlı dönemine 1842- 1844 Mir Bedirhan Katliamları, 1894-1896 Hamidiye katliamları ve 1915’de ki büyük katliamlar ve Cumhuriyetle birlikte süre gelen 1924’de Hakkâri’de yaşatılan baskı ve katliamlar sonucu Ana yurdunda neredeyse yok olmak üzereler.
 
Ne acıdır!
 
Yaklaşık 7 bin yıllık ana yurdunda bu gün demografik olarak 3000 civarında kalmışlardır. Süryaniler sadece demografik olarak mı azaldılar? Süryani halkına ait emval-i metruküler gasp, işgal ve talan edilerek kültürleri de yok edildi. Barış sürecinde Köye dönüş projesi kapsamında köylerine dönen yeniden evlerini inşaa eden Süryaniler; son iki yıldır bölgede yaşatılan baskılar ve can güvenliği olmaması yüzünden gelenlerin tekrar Avrupa’ya döndüklerine şahit olduğumuz bir süreçten geçiyoruz.
 
Başbakan yardımcısı geçtiğimiz Haziran ayında masa başında yapılan bir yanlışlığın düzeltilmesi konusunda samimi ve içten ise Haziran 2017’de 50’ye yakın parça Süryanilere ait kilise, manastır, arazi ve Kabristanlıkların derhal tapuları Süryanilere tescillenerek iade edilmesi gerekiyor diye düşünüyorum.
 
Yine hükümet Süryanileri ait yerleri iade etmesi konusunda samimi ise Mor Gabriel Manastırının 2008 yılında komşu köyler tarafından dava açılan 30 parçalık yerin politik nedenlerle bu güne değin 3/1’i yani 12 parçası iade edildi. Hala Midyat mahkemesinde süren henüz sonuçlanmayan 2 mahkemesi 3/2’lik arazilerini de geri verin.
 
2017 Haziran’ın da 50’ye yakın yer Hazineye devredildi. Midyat’ta 3, Midyat Doğançay Köyü’nde 2, Midyat Bağlarbaşı Köyü’nde 1 kilisenin yanı sıra, Süryani cemaatine ait 20 parça arazinin devlet kurumlarına tahsisi yapıldı. Ayrıca 
Mardin Midyat İlçesine bağlı Hapisnas (Mercimekli) Köyü: Mor Lo’ozur Manastırı
Mardin Nusaybin ilçesine bağlı Marbobo (Günyurdu) Köyü: Mor Dodo Kilisesi
Mardin Nusaybin ilçesine bağlı Harabale (Üçköy) Köyü: Mor Malke Manastırı
Mardin Nusaybin ilçesine bağlı Harabamishka (Dağiçi) köyü: Mor Aho Kilisesi
Mardin Nusaybin ilçesine bağlı Badibe (Dibek) Köyü: Mor Yakup Manastırı. 
 
Yineliyorum Hükümet Süryaniler konusunda samimi ise yukarıda adlarını yazdığımız yerlerin tapularının Mor Gabriel vakfına tescilini bir an evvel yapmalıdır. Yoksa söz uçar gider. Yazılı kağıt yani tapu tescillidir asolan.
 
Süryanilerin ana yurdunda sorunları bitmek bilmiyor. Bir türlü bitirmiyoruz. Süryaniler; ya komşu Kürt köyleri ve korucular tarafından ya da devlet tarafından masa başında yanlışlıklar yüzünden acı içinde acı yaşıyorlar. İsa’nın yaralı kuşları,  yaşadıkları coğrafyalarda radikal İslamcı terör grupları tarafından hep hedef hale gelmiştir. Irak ve Suriye’de yaşayan Süryani halkına savaşta İŞİD’in neler yaptığını gören Süryaniler söylemeseler de bir yandan da İŞİD korkusu yaşıyorlar.
 
Dilerim bu kez Süryani halkının sevinçleri kursağında kalmaz TV ve medyada Vakıflardan sorumlu Başbakan yardımcısının söyledikleri hayat bulur. Seçim süreçlerinde Mor Gabriel manastırı içinde yine TV ve medyaya Mor Gabriel’in topraklarını iade ediyoruz dediler lakin mahkemelik olan 3/2 lik arazi hala iade edilmedi. Yalancı bahar gibi olmasın diye sevinçleriniz, tapular üzerinize tescil edilinceye kadar şimdilik bizler sevinçlerimizi saklı tutuyoruz.
 
Son dönemlerde bölgede özellikle korucuların ve güvenlik güçlerinin Süryani halkını tehdit ve baskıları gittikçe artmaktadır. HDP Mardin milletvekili Erol Dora; 9 Kasım 2017’de İçişleri Bakanlığına, Süryanilere ait Derkube köyündeki köylüleri tehdit eden korucularla ilgili İç İşleri Bakanlığına bir soru önergesi verdi. Sonuç ne oldu?
 
Bu korucular yargılandı mı? Suç, cezasız kalmamalı. Suç, cezasız kaldığı sürece hep bir yenisi ekleniyor bizim ülkemizde. Yine son dönemlerde bölgede güvenlik gerekçesiyle korucular bölgeyi özellikle Süryani halkına ait yerleri, ağaçları gasp, talan, işgal ediyorlar. Bölgeyi çöle çeviriyorlar. Hükümet bu konuyla ilgili Bölgede en yakın zamanda çalışmalar yapmalı.
 
”Çavuşoğlu’nun açıklamasını değerlendiren Mor Gabriel Manastırı Vakfı Başkanı Kuryakus Ergün, kararın sevindirici olduğunu söyledi. Ergün, “Çok olumlu, sevindirici bir açıklama olarak görüyoruz. Açıklama ile birlikte tapuların da gelmesini bekliyoruz. Tapuları aldığımız gün sevincimiz katlanacaktır. Tabiki bir yanlış olmuştur. Bu yanlışlığın ortaya çıkması ve bizzat sayın bakanımızın ağzından duymuş olmamız, bizi sevindirdi’demiştir.
Sevgili Kuryakos bilmelisiniz ki sevinciniz sevincimiz, acınız acımızdır. Sizinle ağlayan yüreklerimiz siz gülerseniz sevinir ancak.
İnanın bana bu topraklarda gülmeyi en çok hak eden halklardan biridir Süryaniler. Engin hoş görüleri ve barışsever duruşlarıyla belki de bu toprakların en sevgili halkıdır. 
Süryani halkına ait emval-i metruklerin Süryani halkına iade edinceye kadar Süryani halkının dostları olarak susmayacağız

Süryaniler,  inatla ve sabırla Hükümet ten binlerce yıldır kendilerine ait olan bu yerlerin tapularının iadesini istiyor. Bu da Süryani halkının en tabii hakkıdır.

Yine bizler pekâlâ biliyoruz ki ağlayanın malı, gülene yaramaz. Ünlü Edebiyatçı Yaşar Kemal’in diliyle Zulüm tarlasında zulüm biter. Belki de bu yüzden o topraklarda hiç huzur olmuyor. Kim bilir?

 

Armenian-American jazz producer George Avakian dies at 98

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George Avakian, a Russian-born Armenian jazz scholar and architect of the American music industry who produced essential recordings by Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and other stars has died at age 98, the Associated Press reported.

Avakian’s daughter, Anahid Avakian Gregg, confirmed that her father died Wednesday morning at his home in Manhattan. No further details were immediate available.

Avakian, an executive at Columbia Records and Warner Bros. among other labels, helped popularize such consumer standards as liner notes, the long-playing album and the live album.

Avakian started out as an Ivy League prodigy rediscovering old jazz recordings and became a monumental industry figure and founder of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, presenters of the Grammys. Through the artists he promoted and the breakthroughs he championed, Avakian helped shape the music we listen to and the way we listen to it, the AP wrote.

His contributions date back to the late 1930s, when he was an undergraduate at Yale and a jazz fan frustrated by the limited availability of his favorite music. He wrote to numerous companies and finally convinced Decca to let him compile “Chicago Jazz,” widely regarded as the first jazz album and among the first jazz records to include liner notes, written by Avakian.

“Decca said in essence, ‘We don’t know quite what jazz in those cities is about but you seem to know so why don’t you go ahead and produce them,’” Avakian told JazzWax in 2010.

Avakian was soon working on new and old music, documenting and making history, and jazz’s stature was changing from popular entertainment to art. He prepared a series of reissues at Columbia that featured recordings by Armstrong, Ellington and Bessie Smith and helped launch the inclusion of alternate takes of individual songs. He produced the classic “Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy” and one of Dave Brubeck’s most popular albums, “Dave Digs Disney.” He also signed up Davis for Columbia and co-produced “Miles Ahead,” the 1957 album that began Davis’ collaborations with arranger Gil Evans and established him as among the first jazz superstars of the post-World War II era.

Avakian’s other achievements ranged from producing Bob Newhart’s Grammy-winning debut “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” and Sonny Rollins’ comeback album “The Bridge” to managing Keith Jarrett and teaching, at Columbia University, one of the first courses on jazz.

He was born in 1919 in the Russian city of Armavir, the child of wealthy Armenians who fled from the civil war that followed the 1917 revolution.

EU may include Armenia on blacklist of tax havens: Bloomberg

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The European Union may include Armenia on a blacklist of tax havens as soon as next month, Bloomberg reports citing people familiar with the matter and a draft summary table dated November 21.

Also included in the list of possible tax havens is Turkey, as an EU working group tasked with screening “non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes” concluded that Turkey’s commitments to address transparency issues and abolish sweetheart tax regimes are so far “not sufficient.”

Ambassadors representing EU governments are due to discuss the list ahead of the finance ministers meeting.

As many as 36 countries could be blacklisted, including Serbia, Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Panama and Tunisia.

According to earlier reports, European officials have told 53 countries and territories that they risk being blacklisted as tax havens after the UK earlier delayed warnings to a dozen jurisdictions with ties to Britain.

Related links:

Bloomberg. EU Mulls Including Turkey on Blacklist of Tax Havens

Azerbaijani soldier’s body found near Armenian military post

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The body of an Azerbaijani soldier was found near one of Armenia‘s military posts on Thursday, November 23 morning.

According to the defense ministry press service, the serviceman is a Captain of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces who defected after a crime was committed in the military unit.

The Armenian defense ministry said it is ready to facilitate the transfer of the body to the Azerbaijani side through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

An investigation into the details of the incident is underway.

ETHIOPIAN PRINCE PRAISES ETHIOPIA-ARMENIA RELATIONS AT ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY ANNUAL HOLIDAY RECEPTION

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Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Grigor Hovhannissian with his wife Victoria, Armenian Assembly Board Member Annie Totah, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie of Ethiopia, Armenian Assembly Capital Region Council Co-Chairs Doris George and Clara Andonian, and Artsakh Permanenet Representative to the U.S. Robert Avetisyan with his wife Elvina

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) and its Capital Region Council hosted its Annual Holiday Reception this month, with special guest His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie of Ethiopia. Prince Ermias spoke highly of the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Armenia that date back centuries.

“At this point, it is both important and gratifying to know our two people – Ethiopia and Armenia – have been colleagues longer than most of the nations on this planet. Indeed, the Imperial Family has taken note of the active trade and civil relationships between Ethiopians and Armenians, extending back to the 3rd Century A.D. Moreover, Armenians and Ethiopians share a rich and historic connection as members of the same branch of Orthodox Christianity, as well as perhaps lesser known stories of the invaluable Armenian contributions to Ethiopian history,” Prince Ermias said.

Prince Ermias, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, recalled the story of his grandfather, Emperor Haile Selassie I, and his encounters with Armenians. In 1924, when the Emperor was visiting Jerusalem, he came across a marching band of forty Armenian youngsters. When he asked who they were, he was told that they were all orphans who had escaped Ottoman Turkey during the Armenian Genocide. After listening to the band play, the Emperor was “struck by the band’s musical talent.” Thereupon the Emperor asked for permission from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to adopt and bring the musicians to Ethiopia.

The Armenian musicians were then known as the “Arba Lijoch,” which means forty children in Amharic, and were trained in Ethiopia by musical director Kevork Nalbandian. Nalbandian was an Armenian Genocide survivor, originally from Aintab in the southeastern region of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The Armenian musicians came to form the Royal Imperial Brass Band, beginning a tradition in modern Ethiopian music of heavily using brass instruments. Amazed by their progress and skill, Emperor Selassie asked Nalbandian to compose a national anthem for Ethiopia. On November 2, 1930, the Emperor’s coronation day, the Arba Lijoch unveiled the Imperial National Anthem, Marsh Teferi, which was Ethiopia’s official anthem from 1930 to 1974. Prince Ermias told the audience that these Armenians became known as the “forerunners in the modernization of mainstream music in Ethiopia.”

Assembly Board Member Annie Totah expressed her gratitude to Prince Ermias, her personal friend, for his kind words about the Armenians. “We thank you so very much for joining and educating us about the situation in Africa, and thank you for having presented to us the history about Armenians in Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie welcomed us – the Armenians – and we have an ideal, mutually beneficial and fantastic relationship between both countries,” Totah said.

Over 100 guests attended the Holiday Reception, including Armenian Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Grigor Hovhannissian with his wife Victoria and Artsakh Permanent Representative to the United States Robert Avetisyan with his wife Elvina.

In his remarks, Ambassador Hovhannissian noted that Ethiopia has a special place in the hearts of Armenians. He also recognized the Assembly’s advocacy work, as well as the grassroots activism and dedication of its members.

“We are very mindful and cognizant of the tremendous effort that the Armenian Assembly of America has been making towards the development of Armenia and towards building and strengthening relations with the United States,” Ambassador Hovhannissian stated. “You have many, many dedicated members, and Armenia is blessed to have them among its most committed friends,” he added.

Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny briefed the audience on the Assembly’s accomplishments this past year and explained the challenges ahead. He emphasized the continued efforts to increase membership in the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, which is currently at 113, as well as urging Members to withdraw from the Turkish and Azeri Caucuses. Both Ardouny and Totah encouraged the audience to contact their Representatives and educate them on the importance of strengthening U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Artsakh relations.
Following the speeches, Dr. Naira Babayan, a member of the Armenian Assembly, performed an Armenian musical selection, including Krunk (Stork) by Komitas, Six Dances by Komitas, and Dance of Sasun by A. Arutiunian.

“We would like to especially thank Assembly Capital Region Council Co-Chairs Clara Andonian and Doris George with Host Committee Members Naira Babayan, Nadya Carson, Natalie George, Anahid Ghazarian, Takuhi Hallajian, Anahid Nishanian, and Marguerite Satian for donating and hosting the reception, as well as our volunteers Kyra Chamberlain and Nicole Merullo, who are currently with George Washington University’s Armenian Student Association,” Totah added.

 

Iraqi forces unearth another Yazidi mass grave in Sinjar

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Iraqi security officials say government forces have found a mass grave in the country’s northern province of Nineveh, containing the bodies of dozens of members of Yazidi minority, who are believed to have been executed by Takfiri Daesh terrorists when they were in control of a terrain.

Local official Chokor Melhem Elias told AFP on Wednesday that “the mass grave contains the bodies of 73 people, men, women and children executed by Daesh terrorists when they controlled… Sinjar.”

He said Iraqi forces made the latest discovery in the Rambussi area near the town of Qahtaniyah, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Mosul.

Back in August 2014, Daesh terrorists overran Sinjar, killing, raping, and enslaving large numbers of Yazidi.

The region was recaptured in November 2015, during an operation by Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Izadi fighters.

The Office of Kidnapped Affairs in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk said earlier this year that around 3,500 Izadi Kurds were still being held captive by Daesh extremists, adding that a large proportion of the abductees were women and children.

The Endowments and Religious Affairs Ministry of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government announced in early August that Daesh’s genocide against Izadis had forced nearly 360,000 members of the minority to flee their hometowns, and another 90,000 had left Iraq and taken refuge in others countries.

It added that Daesh militants have kidnapped 6,417 Izadi Kurds, including 1,102 women and 1,655 children, since 2014.

Additionally, 2,645 children have lost their first line of protection, and the number includes 220 kids whose parents are still being held captive.

Harut Sassounian: Turkish PR agent Ronn Torossian’s father and grandparents are Armenians

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Last week I wrote a column about Ronn Torossian, President of 5W Public Relations firm in New York City, who had signed a contract for $60,000 to do PR work for the Republic of Turkey in the United States.

I wrote that I did not know if Torossian was an ethnic Armenian or simply had an Armenian last name, since some Jews and Iranians also have Armenian last names. Before writing the previous column I had attempted to contact him and had left two voice mail messages at his office. But, he did not return my phone calls.

After writing that column, I received several emails and phone calls from Mr. Torossian. However, he requested that our phone conversations be off the record. I also received many emails and phone calls from Armenians around the world who knew the Torossian family.

I also noticed that several readers had posted comments under my column in various websites, insisting that Mr. Torossian was not an Armenian, but simply Jewish or Iranian who carried an Armenian last name. These commentators were basing their presumptions on the fact that all of the articles about Mr. Torossian on the internet referred to him as being Jewish and mentioned his extensive record of activism and involvement in Jewish causes and organizations.

However, I was informed by a Canadian Armenian, a former resident of Jerusalem, that he grew up in that city with Ronn’s father, Harout Torossian, who now lives in New York City. Ronn’s grandfather was Voskan Torossian and the grandmother was Mariam.

Voskan and his family lived in the Convent of Jerusalem’s Armenian Patriarchate. Voskan worked as a handyman at the Patriarchate. Ronn’s father attended Saints Tarkmanchats Armenian School in the Convent. Both Ronn’s father and grandfather were members of Homenetmen (Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts). Voskan was also a devoted member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Since Ronn’s father was married to a Jewish woman, Ronn is considered by the Jewish community to be Jewish. He was raised as a Jew and considers himself to be Jewish and not Armenian. From Ronn’s family friends and his father’s former classmates I have learned a lot more about his relatives and their personal lives, but to protect Ronn’s privacy I decided not to divulge any more details. I only mentioned his father and grandparents to prove that he is partly of Armenian heritage, and not Iranian or fully Jewish.

Interestingly, in one of the emails Ronn Torossian sent me after my first article, he stated: “I am Jewish. I am American born and raised in a Jewish home, and proudly educate my children in Jewish day schools. I do not and never have considered myself to be Armenian. You are conducting a comical, ridiculous and destructive ugly litmus test.” He asked that the rest of his email be considered off the record.

I answered Torossian in an email: “Thank you for finally contacting me. I wish you had responded to the two phone messages I left for you in the past month. I respect that you feel Jewish. That is your choice and decision. However, being Jewish does not exonerate you from the unacceptability of doing PR for a country that denies Genocide whether you are Jewish, Armenian or any other nationality. Being of both Jewish and Armenian ethnic ancestry makes you a descendant of survivors of both the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide which places the double burden on you to be especially sensitive to Genocide deniers. Just because you are making money spinning for Genocide deniers does not justify your professional activities. As I pointed out in my column, you yourself have criticized those who do PR for dictators. Yet you are paid to do PR for the dictator Erdogan. If you don’t consider Erdogan to be a dictator, then you are one of the few individuals in the world who thinks so!”

Ronn Torossian replied to my email: “Criticize me all you wish. Please don’t raise my family or your perceptions of my ethnicity. I have never considered myself Armenian all my life.”

I must inform Ronn Torossian that over the years I have written dozens of columns criticizing all those who have been hired by the Turkish government for the purposes of lobbying or public relations, regardless of their nationality. It is unacceptable to represent Turkey for money, a country that is run by a dictator, violates the human rights of its citizens, and denies the Armenian Genocide.

Ironically, back in June 2010, before Torossian signed a PR contract with Turkey, he had organized an anti-Turkish protest in Manhattan after the Israeli military attacked a Turkish humanitarian flotilla. Torossian was quoted as stating: “what these so called peace activists on the Turkish vessel pulled off was nothing short of a cleverly devised anti-Semitic lynching.”

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Turkey Erdogan military dismissed 150 generals 4,630 officers over links to Gulen movement

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Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli spoke about the officers and generals who had been dismissed from the army after an attempted coup in the country last year.

According to the website of the Turkish newspaper BirGun, speaking at the parliament, Canikli stated that 8,570 employees:  150 generals and 4,630 officers were dismissed from the army.

Earlier, Turkish authorities blame Fethullah Gulen and his supporters for a coup attempt.