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Los Angeles: The signature event of the year Armenian American Museum Gala welcomed a capacity audience of donors, supporters, and public officials, Full Video coverage by Gagrule.net

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By Wally Sarkeesian, Founder of Gagrule.net full coverage of the event

Armenian American Museum Gala 2023

Los Angeles: The signature event of the year Armenian American Museum Gala welcomed a capacity audience of donors, supporters, public officials,

Major Sponsors included Rima & Donnell Cameron, Armen & Gloria Hampar Family Foundation, Avadis & Nancy Tevanian, Jack & Zarig Youredjian, Ayvazian Family Foundation, The GASKA Alliance Foundation, Anonymous, Dr. Vicken & Sossy Aharonian, Ron & Kourtni Arakelian, Bank of America, Gregory & Gina Felikian,

Steve & Sandi Hampar, Nabil & Hanan Karabetian, Berdj & Mary Karapetian, Matthew & Audrey Matoesian, William McMorrow, Nora Tertzag Hampar Charitable Trust Ara & Nina Ohanian, Sarkis & Nune Sepetjian, and Isaac & Frieda Vartanian.

Senator Anthony J. Portantino delivered remarks on behalf of the State of California, which has invested $19.6 million to support the historic project including a new $9.8 million grant in the 2022-2023 State Budget that was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Executive Director Shant Sahakian celebrated the Groundbreaking Campaign that helped the museum reach the historic groundbreaking of the cultural and educational center in the Summer of 2021 and successfully complete the first phase of construction featuring the museum parking garage and building a foundation in November 2022. He announced the launch of the Elevate Campaign to set sights on the next major milestone of the project as the landmark center is elevated to the horizon as a destination for education, enrichment, and inspiration for generations to come.

Master of Ceremonies Kev Orkian delivered a powerful musical performance on the piano with a self-written piece called “Freedom.”

Irvine’s Great Park priority projects include a concert venue, botanical gardens, an aquatic facility & Armenian Genocide Memorial

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Great Park’s next phase of development is set to cost the city approximately $720 million and will be completed by the summer of 2029

By the summer of 2029, Irvine’s Great Park could have ready a veterans memorial garden, 15 acres of lush green botanical gardens, a 14,000-seat amphitheater, a retrofitted Hangar 244 with places to eat, a USA Water Polo aquatics facility, and several more destinations for locals and visitors.

Irvine, California City Council unanimously approves Armenian Genocide Memorial at Great Park

On Tuesday, March 14, Irvine council members deliberated and prioritized the next phase of projects to be completed in the 1,300-acre Great Park within in the next six years. Already it is home to a 194-acre sports complex that is twice the size of Disneyland with ball fields, a soccer stadium and sand volleyball courts; trails; an arts pavilion; and, most recently, Wild Rivers, among other features.

Councilmember Mike Carroll, who serves as the chairman of the Great Park Board (made up of the councilmembers), called the day “one of the most important” as more than $720 million in spending was identified.

About 125 acres at the Great Park’s northern edge, typically referred to as the ARDA site, will house the botanical gardens, which will incorporate a tribute to veterans as well as culturally and biologically themed landscaping, all surrounded by a perimeter park with forests and trails. The Cultural Terrace West is 35 acres that will include a new Pretend City Children’s Museum and the Flying Leathernecks museum.

Orange County Music and Dance, headquartered in Irvine and currently serving nearly 400 students ages 18 months to 18 years, will also have a new home in the Cultural Terrace West to create a space for early education in the arts.

Turkish ambassador to Israel demands not to place Armenian Genocide monument in Haifa

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The Haifa city council’s decision to recognize the Armenian Genocide can be a serious test for Israeli-Turkish relations which were settled in 2022.

As it became known to Ynet, on Monday, the Turkish ambassador to Israel petitioned to the Israeli government, demanding to prevent the creation of a monument in Haifa dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. If Jerusalem refuses to fulfill this demand, the improvement of relations with Ankara may be stopped.

Turkish Ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar’s letter was addressed to Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar, who refrained from replying to this letter, sent it to the Israeli foreign ministry, and the latter held consultations regarding this memorial.

An instruction was given to leave Torunlar’s letter unanswered. If the Turkish side insists on taking measures, they will explain to Ankara that it is about the decision of the local authorities, not the Israeli government or state structure.

How many cities in Cilicia (Western Armenia) now called Turkey will become Ablasta? The works of God are inscrutable

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More than a month has passed since the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023, in Cilicia, Western Armenia. During the whole month, the aftershocks of the February earthquakes,

as well as the new earthquakes, continued and are still continuing in Cilicia. Earthquakes reached magnitude 5.8 in Malatya at the end of February, and earlier magnitudes of 6.4 and 5.8 near Antioch, Sweden (Mt. Musa, Mount St. Simon) in mid-February. New buildings collapsed from new earthquakes, there were new victims and wounded, and thousands of new people appeared on the streets.

As a result, a month after February 6, about 3 million Turks and Kurds left the territory of Cilicia (together with Commagene, Cappadocia), and another 1.5-2 million people temporarily live on the streets. It is obvious that the liberation of almost 5 million Turks and Kurds from the territory of Cilicia in one month (about 40 percent of the existing population) could only happen with the powerful intervention of nature, which we are witnessing.
In the near future, the tendency of Turks and Kurds to leave Cilicia will probably intensify. If only because every God’s Day dozen of aftershocks of magnitude 3-4, sometimes up to 5, are registered in the north of Cilicia, from Malatia and Marash to Antioch in the south, Samosat in the east, and Adana in the west. People can’t help but feel the 3-4-5 shocks, and the dilapidated buildings can’t help but collapse. After all, it is no coincidence that, contrary to the foolish promises of Turkish President Erdogan to build new buildings, no international media was found to be able to show an area cleared of rubble a month after the earthquake. The reports are the same endless wreckage as a month ago.

According to the UNDP, the volume of ruins and construction debris created by the February 6 and subsequent earthquakes in Turkey reaches 200 million tons, which, according to the UNDP, is the same as if an area of ​​100 million square meters was covered with rubble 1 meter high. In how many years can Turkey clean it up, if at all? Especially since, as far as can be understood from the international news, even in the big cities of Cilicia, the local authorities do not have the necessary equipment to clean up such rubble. Let’s say, in Antioch, where significant technical resources have been moved and concentrated, in the best case, several tens of thousands of tons of rubble can be transported here and there a day.

In such a situation, it is more than natural that more than half of the population left the same Antioch, in general, the Sanjja of Alexandretta, in one month. The mayor of Antioch (Turks call Antioch Antioch) even on March 6 appealed to fellow citizens who had left, that they should swear to return to Antioch, because it is not just a settlement, but their homeland, a very important part of Turkey, an episode of history. which was quoted by one of the Turkish leaders who lived in the 1930s and 40s, who said that he would rather resign than to accept Alexandret Sanjak not being part of Turkey, etc., etc. With such arguments, the Turks try to convince themselves that they or the Kurds have a connection with Cilicia. Meanwhile, the fact is that they are descended from the wild and animalistic tribes of the Far Eastern steppes – Mongols, Seljuks, Uighurs,

The works of God are inscrutable

Perhaps, taken separately, this Turk or that Kurd is neither a criminal nor a sinner who would have received such a cruel fate and punishment as those who died or survived the earthquakes in Cilicia. Humanly, their destiny is cruel, tragic and causes sympathy. But as a collective, the presence of Turks or Kurds in Armenian Tsopk, Armenian-Assyrian Commagen, Armenian Cilicia, Armenian-Greek Cappadocia, Phrygian and Greek Iconia simply defiles those cradles and sanctuaries of human civilization, and God could not tolerate that presence any longer.

The Turks (and the Kurds with them) spread mainly after the Battle of Manazkert in 1071 in the Armenian Plateau, in Asia Minor, in the wider Middle East, but for 1000 years they remained the same savage, undeveloped and foreign element – barbarians who simply invaded the sanctuary, especially Tsopk-Kommagen. -Cilicia-Cappadocia-Pokr Hayk circle, where there are ancient civilizations inherited from the Hittites, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks or created by the latter. Let’s say, Mesrop Mashtots restored the Armenian alphabet from Armenian manuscripts and stone inscriptions preserved in Samosat, the capital of Kommagen, and Edessia 1600 years ago and brought it to Vagharshapat. By the way, the first Armenian sentence in the Mashtotsian alphabet, “To know wisdom and wisdom, to know my language with genius”, was written in Samosat. While now that thought’s burning,

Or as a result of the correspondence between Abgar E, the king of the Armenians of Edesia and Jesus Christ (mentioned by patriarch Khorenatsi), Christ sent one of his disciples, Tadevos, to heal King Abgar, after which he moved from Edesia to Greater Armenia and began to preach and spread the Christian doctrine in the first Christian country, Armenia. : The capital of Cappadocia, Caesarea, was called that way in BC. From the end of the 1st century, in honor of the Roman emperor Gaius Octavianos, before that centuries it was called Mazhak, in honor of the founder of the city, the military leader Bakdak, who was a comrade in arms of the first king of the Armenian state of Urartu, Arame, and on his instructions he built a castle in Mazhak and populated the area. And Armenians have always lived in large numbers in Caesarea and its surroundings, on the eve of the 1915 genocide, about 70 thousand, now there are not only no Armenians in Caesarea, but the name “Caesaria” is distorted – it became Kaiser in Turkish. Let’s not say any more about Mount Nemrut, where the pantheon of Armenian pagan gods is located, built by the Armenian Yervandun kings, that the Turks are trying to ascribe to the Greek kings by forgery, in order not to say a word about the Armenian state of the Yervanduns, the Armenian heritage.

However, regardless of what is said or not said, falsified or revealed, it is a fact that today there are almost no Armenians in the Armenian territories of Tsopk-Commagen-Cilicia-Cappadocia, who were the only civilized nation there (the axiomatic truth of Armenians being the only civilized nation in the Armenian Plateau formulated by UK Prime Minister David Lloyd George at the Versailles Assembly and in his memoir The Truth About Peace Treaties). Today, only the Armenian fortresses in Cilicia are half-destroyed: Romklai, Levonklai, Cornikos, Paghras, Lambron, Vahka and dozens of others… Therefore, whom should God have spared so that the people living in Cilicia would not suffer an earthquake, destruction and death…
Let’s see how God will continue to act. After all, God’s works are inscrutable. However, a symbolic reality in the ancient Armenian city of Cilicia gives the impression of divine management.

Cilicia, Ablasta…

On February 6, 2023, as we know, there were 2 earthquakes in Cilicia, one near Aintap and the other near Marashi. The first move of the Turkish authorities was to hide the true picture of the disaster, for example, the mayor of Aintap announced on the morning of February 6 that there were only 12 victims in his city, when the city was completely destroyed, 12 standing buildings would not be counted. Just like now, the Turkish government declares that half a million apartments collapsed, but there were 50,000 victims. The opposition Turks abroad, who are safe from Erdogan’s persecution, count the number of victims at 200,000. The real number is probably even higher, it will be known in the end, but more important here are the efforts of the Turkish government to falsify the real picture of the earthquake. In this regard, it was one of the exceptional cases that an Al Jazeera journalist was able to go to the epicenter of the Marash earthquake. which is a beautiful city 160 km from Marash and Malatya. The city is called Eblistan with a Turkish twist, the Armenian name is Ablasta. Ablastan was a city even before Armenian Urartu, it was part of the Hittite empire, BC. In the 15th-14th centuries, it later declined and became a flourishing city again in the 11th century, becoming part of the state of Pilartos Varazhnu (1070-80s), on whose foundation the Rubinian princes founded the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. During the Cilician kingdom, the city flourished and the majority of the population were Armenians. Over the centuries, however, being displaced, in the end in 1915 only 3-4 active Armenian churches remained in Ablasta, the same number of schools and 5-6 thousand Armenians. they were also deported in 1915. As of February 6, 2023, 143 thousand Turks and Kurds lived in Ablasta.
Willy-nilly, you think that maybe this is exactly how the divine administration is, maybe cruel, but divinely just and kind.

Lusine Petrosyan

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Truth is Stranger Than Fiction: Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan is an Armenian

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By Harut Sassounian

When I first heard that Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan, George Deek, is an Armenian, I thought that it can’t be true. However, I was astonished to find out that it was correct. As Mark Twain said: “Truth is stranger than fiction!”

George Deek Armenian – Ambassador of Israel to Azerbaijan

Long before he became Israel’s Ambassador to Baku, Deek tweeted: “My father’s grandmother’s name was Antaraan Hambarian, an Armenian. She is a survivor of the Armenian tragedy of… http://fb.me/2WQnyz9Vu. 8:43 AM. Apr 12, 2015.”

The Facebook link Deek included in his tweet was significant because it referred to an April 12, 2015 article titled: “Turkey angry at pope after ‘genocide’ remarks.” So Deek was aware that there was an Armenian Genocide, his father’s grandmother was a survivor of that Genocide, and her name was Antaraan Hamparian, even though he misspelled her first name which was most probably Antaram.

After Deek became Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan in 2019, several Armenians angrily criticized him for referring to the Armenian Genocide as a ‘tragedy’ in his 2015 tweet. Here are some of the disparaging replies: “Will you survive the betrayal of your ancestors?” “She would be proud of you… serving two countries actively denying the very thing that robbed her of her own family,” “Probably she would be greatly ashamed of you,” “Your poor grandmother is turning in her grave, sorry you condone ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and genocide,” “I can’t believe you have Armenian roots! SHAME ON YOU 1,500,000 times then, for SUPPORTING TERRORISTS Azerbaijan and Turkey! IT’S A SHAME FOR US THAT YOU HAVE ARMENIAN BLOOD IN YOUR VEINS!” and “Your great grandmother will spit on your face if she would hear what you say!”

On Sept. 30, 2021, the ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America) posted on its Facebook page: “Most shameful diplomatic appointment in the history of diplomacy. Genocide survivor state Israel sending George Deek (a self-described ethnic Armenian descendant of Armenian Genocide survivors) as its ambassador to Azerbaijan, a country openly working to complete this crime.”

In July 2021, Deek angered Armenians again by tweeting: “Together with the diplomatic corps in Azerbaijan, I had the historic privilege of being the first Israeli Ambassador to visit the remarkable city of Shusha,” a noteworthy Armenian town captured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war.

In an interview with The Times of Israel on January 13, 2023, Amb. Deek described himself as ‘an Arab and an Israeli.’ His father was an Orthodox Christian of mixed Armenian and Palestinian roots. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

The Times of Israel: “When you meet Azeris and they discover you’re an Arab Christian, what kind of reactions do you get?”

Amb. Deek: “Naturally, it’s surprising and confusing for most Azeris. The sense of surprise is great for helping me explain about the diversity of Israeli society. But frankly, at this point, I’ve stopped correcting them because it gets tiring. It’s still funny when on December 24, they still wish me a Happy Hanukkah rather than Merry Christmas.”

The Times of Israel: “As an Israeli Christian, what’s your perspective on the Armenian community — which consists mainly of fellow Israeli Christians — and the challenges they face in Israel, both in connection with the Jerusalem-Baku relationship and with other non-related issues?”

Amb. Deek: “I have deep sympathy for the Armenian community in Israel, and specifically in Jaffa, where I grew up. We share the same faith and many cultural traditions. Many of my friends from school and from youth movements are Armenian. I had teachers who influenced me immensely who are Armenian, and I consider them as close friends.”

On January 5, 2023, the Azeri Caliber.az website quoted Amb. Deek as declaring: “Israel is proposing its assistance to Azerbaijan in the setting up of ‘smart cities’ in Armenian districts occupied by Azerbaijan.”

On January 12, 2023, Amb. Deek was interviewed by Caliber.az on video which was titled, “Beyond the visible: Excavating the depths of Israeli-Azerbaijani ties with Ambassador George Deek.”

In that interview, Amb. Deek made the following alarming statement: “The most important event is when Azerbaijan entered the second Karabakh war and we [Israel] have been here standing shoulder to shoulder with our partner and friend Azerbaijan. Our strategic cooperation continued and intensified during that period but also on the humanitarian field. The fact that I took the risk to go to Ganja in the middle of the attacks on the city and to talk to the local community, to meet them, to provide humanitarian support with equipment like basic things from blankets and heaters and so on to people who lost their homes and everything they could. And I think that created also the connection in the hearts, not just in the minds, so I think the second Karabakh war showed Azerbaijan what we mean when we say friend, what we mean when we say partner. For us these are not empty words of diplomats…. These are things that come from the heart and they actually have a strong meaning for us…. Israel’s position has been clear about the Karabakh issue for a long time. Israel supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. It has done so in words and in deeds before the second Karabakh war and after the second Karabakh war.”

He also wrongly added that “practically, the Arab-Israeli conflict is basically over.” Amb. Deek not only does not have respect for his Armenian heritage, he also has no respect for his Palestinian heritage. He must have sold his soul to the devil for his job.

The most astounding aspect of Amb. Deek’s appointment is that Israel’s Foreign Ministry officials sent an envoy with an Armenian background to Azerbaijan! Despite Amb. Deek’s effusive words about Azerbaijan, I doubt if Pres. Aliyev and the people of Azerbaijan fully trust him. In Azerbaijan, they have nothing but hatred and contempt for any Armenian, even those who are partly Armenian.

Conversation with Vic Gerami: Fights The Information War For Armenians Truth And Accountability League (TAAL) Video

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During the last thirty years while Azerbaijan and Turkiye systematically planned their invasion of Artsakh and genocidal campaign against the Armenians, they also unleashed an information war just as dangerous as the drones, missiles, and mercenaries on the battlefield.

As part of the Azerbaijan Laundromat, a complex money-laundering operation and slush fund that handled $2.9 billion over a two-year period through four shell companies registered in the UK, Aliyev’s agents used the secrete slush fund to pay off European politicians, journalists, academics, and other stakeholders.

TruthAndAccountabilityLeague.org

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan ramped up its public relations campaign with Caviar Diplomacy, employing not one but six of K Street’s heavy-hitting firms, including the Livingston Group, Stellar Jay Communications, BGR, The Podesta Group, and DLA Piper. In just one year, the country spent $1.3 million on lobbying. While some of these firms have since distanced themselves from Azerbaijan, the damage has been done. 

In an article in ‘Medium,’ journalist Casey Michel wrote that in the past two years there have seen a flurry of analyses on Azerbaijan’s moves to whitewash its dictatorial image for American audiences. Slathered in hydrocarbon profits, the autocratic government of Ilham Aliyev has unleashed spin-doctors, duped reporters, and led one of the most brazen pushes to abuse American lobbying loopholes of any foreign government.

Elkhan Suleymanov, an Azerbaijani parliamentarian who Italian prosecutors say is responsible for implementing an aggressive plan to improve the country’s image, is the nation’s de facto publicist-general.

The primary phenomenon that has seen certain, cursory coverage, deals with lobbyists on Azerbaijan’s dole penning op-eds on Baku’s greatness — on its stability, on its secularism, on its propensity to provide energy security to a West scouring for non-Russian fuel sources. To be sure, there is, on its face, nothing of necessity wrong with lobbyists pushing op-eds. This remains their prerogative, so long as they can find an acquiescent editor.

However, those lobbying on Azerbaijan’s behalf — and those with ties to Baku’s state energy firm, SOCAR — have built up an impressive track record not simply for pushing their essays on Azerbaijan’s appeal. Rather, they’ve done so without any requisite reveal of their ties to Azerbaijan. Instead of disclosing their financial interests in enhancing Azerbaijan’s reputation, they’ve misled editors and readers alike, posing as disinterested observers instead of those paid to whitewash a country whose civil rights record places it at the bottom of the list of nations.

With unlimited resources, Azerbaijan’s agents set out to distort facts about Artsakh and Armenia, revise history, and launder their authoritarian regime’s reputation. Azerbaijan’s cyber war on Armenians continues with a campaign of hate, dehumanization, and violence on Armenians. And the effects are very obvious everywhere you look.

TAAL FIGHTS THE INFORMATION WAR FOR ARMENIANS

Following the 2020 invasion of Artsakh, journalist, radio host, and documentary filmmaker, Vic Gerami, founded the Truth And Accountability League (TAAL). TAAL is a 501©3 non-profit advocacy organization that monitors and confronts bias, disinformation, propaganda, and defamation of the Armenian people and culture at the level of media, including social media, academics, intelligentsia, and public policy. Gerami modeled and structured the organization after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the LGBTQ+ Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

TALL had big wins from the beginning. A week after Artsakh invasion on September 27, 2020, Gerami and his colleague Nicole Muj produced the celebrity public service announcement (PSA), ‘I Stand with Artsakh & Armenia,’ with Kim Kardashian, Serj Tankian, Congressman Adam Schiff, Ed Begley Jr., Sally Kirkland, Lawrence Zarian, Andrea Martin, and several other stars. 

Next, Gerami petitioned the City of West Hollywood and Mayor Pro Tempore Sepi Shyne to sponsor a resolution for WeHo to recognize the Independent Republic of Artsakh. The resolution passed unanimously on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Next, he petitioned the City of Burbank to create a resolution to formally recognize the independent Republic of Artsakh. The resolution passed unanimously on March 2, 2021.

Gerami sent his multi-award-winning documentary film, ‘Motherland,’ to all the members of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, members of the British House of Lords and House of Commons, members of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The documentary is an ‘Official Selection’ in (76) film festivals, has won (38) awards, was shortlisted for Film Independent’s ‘Spirit Awards,’ and Oscar-qualified and available in The Academy’s ‘Screening Room.’

‘Motherland’ is an investigative documentary feature film that he wrote, produced, and directed, and was also made under the auspices of TAAL. It’s about Azerbaijan’s, Turkey’s unprovoked genocidal attack on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2020, the massacre of 5,000+ people, and the two nations’ ongoing campaign of hate violence, and disinformation against the indigenous Armenians.

Gerami interviewed and featured seven (7) leading members of Congress, including Congressman Adam Schiff (D–CA), Sen. Bob Mendez (D–NJ), Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA), Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Baroness Caroline Cox, Life Peer Member of the British House of Lords.

TAAL has taken confronted many Azerbaijani offensive actions such as working with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), and Transport for London (TFL) to have Azerbaijan’s propaganda posters removed from London subway stations in March 2021.

To address Azerbaijan’s comprehensive assaults on everything Armenian, the group has collaborated with the Pan-Armenian National Emergency Committee to organize demonstrations in front of the Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles and secure media coverage and the American Armenian National Security Institute on their projects. 

Making sure to involve mainstream organizations, TAAL’s has partnered with Lindsay Carlson, president of the Heart of LA Democratic Club, and Jon Katz, president of the Santa Monica Democratic Club, to issue statements supporting Artsakh and the Armenian community. They recently worked with the West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne to release a statement about the anti-Armenian flyers posted in the City of Beverly Hills and neighboring areas. Mayor Shyne also passed a resolution reaffirming the City’s support for the people of Artsakh and the imposition of sanctions and consequences against Azerbaijan on January 23, 2023.

On January 25, the City of Irvine, with the invitation of Vice Mayor Tammy Kim, CA, screened Gerami’s film, ‘Motherland,’ followed by a panel discussion. As a result of the screening, the City Council passed a resolution unanimously to build an Armenian Genocide Memorial in Irvine’s Grand Park.

Anti-Armenian hate crimes, defamation, and Armenophobia are at an all-time high, including in the greater Los Angeles area. But despite working around the clock, and the overwhelming demand to confront Azerbaijan’s aggression, TAAL has had success stories. Just last month, anti-Armenian flyers calling for genocide were posted all over Beverly Hills. Due to Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse’s lackluster and dismissive response, TALL got involved and with strong advocacy, the Mayor agreed to meet with the Mayor of Glendale, Ardy Kassakhian.  

TAAL and other organizations were able to get New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to revise information on artist Ivan Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Aivazian) to Reflect his Armenian Identity.

But there are countless ongoing challenges and initiates that the organization is busy addressing. They include New York’s Caviar Diplomacy beneficiary Mayor Eric Adams’ directive that no signs about Armenia or Artsakh can be brought to this year’s Armenian Genocide demonstration in Times Square. TAAL also monitors and re-edit Wikipedia listings that have been previously edited by Azerbaijan with disinformation and propaganda. They confront media organizations such as the BBC, CNN, and The New York Times for having ‘strategic partnerships’ with the Azerbaijani government whose objective is to whitewash and control the narrative with the media giants. Azerbaijani Consulate Generals approach local government and fund ‘Azerbaijan Day,’ when they commemorate the so-called Khojaly Genocide in the hands of the Armenians. They also employ full-time American, British, and European journalists to write propaganda articles and do paid placements in various publications. The most prevalent being Azerbaijan’s army of trolls on social media that promote disinformation, hate, and Armenophobia through fake accounts boosting the popularity of anti-Armenian hashtags.

In the last three years, Gerami has also been busy granting interview to various media outlets and publications regarding Armenia and Artsakh, including the Los Angeles Magazine, KUCI 88.9 FM ‘Ask A Leader,’ News of the World, Daily Kos, The Immigrant Magazine’s TV program, Bionic Buzz, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, BEONDTV, Brave New Hollywood, and was featured in Keghart’s ‘Heroes and Villains 2022’ List.

Although a national news and politics program, Gerami has dedicated a great deal of his radio show, THE BLUNT POST with VIC (TBPV), on KPFK 90.7 FM (Pacifica Network) to topics related to the Armenians. His guests have included members of the Congress including the Congressional Armenian Caucus, other high-profile elected officials, and heads of organizations.

Gerami has interviewed many members of Congress and other high-profile elected officials and put them on record about Artsakh and Armenia. Some of them are Senator Bob Menendez, Congressman Adam Schiff (7.19.21) Congressman Adam Schiff (10.19.20), Congressman Adam Schiff (3.30.20), Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Congresswoman Katie Porter, Congressman Tony Cardenas, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Congressman Mark Takano, Congressman Jim Costa, Congressman Gil Cisneros, Congresswoman Norma Torres, Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, Congressman Raul Ruiz + Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, Congressman Alan Lowenthal, as well as Marianne Williamson.   

To find out more about TAAL and to donate so they can continue to fight the information war for Armenians, please visit TruthAndAccountabilityLeague.org

Azerbaijan’s Genocidal Intent Threats Against Armenians by Azerbaijani Authorities, Including President Aliyev (2004 – 2023) 

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“Our goal is the complete elimination of Armenians. You, Nazis, already eliminated the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s, right? You should be able to understand us.” 
 2005 remarks of Hajibala Abutalybov, the mayor of Baku, to a municipal delegation from Bavaria, Germany

“I am sure that there will come a time when our compatriots from Western Azerbaijan, their relatives, children and grandchildren will return to our historical land, to Western Azerbaijan [Armenia]…Western Azerbaijan is our historical land, which is confirmed by a number of historical documents, historical maps and our history itself. Work should be done focused and based on a single concept and policy… And the primary objective is our return. Now the Great Return Program for Karabakh is being implemented. Inshallah, there will come a time when we will develop a second Great Return Program.” 

December 24, 2022 remarks of President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting with self-proclaimed representatives of so-called “Western Azerbaijan,” an expansionist term for the Republic of Armenia.

Brief Background

Throughout the course of its decades-long authoritarian rule, the Aliyev regime has made anti-Armenian hatred part of Azerbaijani state policy. During the 20th century, Azerbaijan not only played a role in the Armenian Genocide perpetrated during the Turkish Ottoman Empire and then ethnically cleansed Armenians from the Nakhichevan region during the Soviet era, but also began the process of eliminating Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and Armenia. This policy has included both physical aggression against Armenian civilians and the destruction of their cultural heritage, as well as rhetoric aimed at legitimizing racism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, which is well-documented. This has intensified with support from the Erdogan regime in Turkey and jihadist mercenaries imported to aid the effort. This fact sheet includes only a selection of representative, public quotes revealing genocidal intent and the establishment of a racist culture by top leaders. 

Statements

  • On January 10, 2023, President Aliyev told journalists that 2023 is “the last chance” for Armenia, because “2024 is coming, and then Russia’s peacekeeping mission ends in 2025. They need to see a little further than their nose.”

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  • In a September 19, 2022, Facebook post which he later deleted, Tural Ganjaliyev, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament purporting to represent Stepanakert, wrote: “The Goycha-Zangazur Republic [encompassing the Armenian provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik] will be a vital element in achieving a just peace and stability in the region. Long Live the Goycha-Zangazur Republic!” 

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  • On September 15, 2022, Turkish parliamentarian Mustafa Destici stated at a press conference in Turkey: “We say to the Armenian administration, make up your mind. I remind you once again that the Turkish nation has the power to erase Armenia from history and geography, and that they stand at the limit of our patience.” 

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  • On August 12, 2022, President Aliyev stated during an interview on Azeri public television that “Armenians living in Karabakh will not have any status, independence or advantages.”

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  • On June 22, 2022, President Aliyev stated: “If Armenia still clings to its old tactics in the process of demarcation and tries to prolong it, it will regret it. We are closely watching the actions of revanchist forces in Armenia. Let them know that too. My words are written at the top of that mountain: ‘The Iron Fist is in place; let no one forget about that.’”

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  • On August 16, 2021, President Aliyev made the following remark during an interview with CNN Turk: “Armenia’s new Minister of Defense made very reckless statements that if the Azerbaijani side trespassed Armenia’s border by one centimeter, then they would open fire. In other words, it seems that the Second Karabakh War has not been a lesson for everyone yet. If this is the case, then we are ready to teach them another lesson.” 

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  • On July 22, 2021, President Aliyev stated: “The Azerbaijani people are rightly unhappy to see statements … made in France and America to the effect that the conflict must be resolved. I am again telling them that I, the president of Azerbaijan, have already resolved that issue, period. There is no Nagorno-Karabakh.”

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  • In an October 4, 2020 televised address, President Aliyev stated: “We are driving them away like dogs! Azerbaijani soldiers drive them away like dogs!”

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  • In 2020, Nurlan Ibrahimov, the Public Relations Manager for the Qarabag FK Soccer Club, one of the most popular sports teams in Azerbaijan, made the following statement on social media: “We must kill all Armenians – children, women and the elderly. We need to kill them without making a distinction. No regrets. No compassion.” 

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  • On January 29, 2015, President Aliyev tweeted that “Armenia is not even a colony, it is not even worthy of being a servant.”
     
  • In 2004, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev stated that “Within the next 25 years there will be no state of Armenia in the South Caucasus. These people have no right to live in this region. Modern Armenia was built on historical Azerbaijani lands. I think that in 25-30 years its territory will again come under Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction.

Source: https://www.armenian-assembly.org/azerbaijangenocideintent

Western Armenians in Serbia and Soghomon Tehlirian’s father, During the Second World War

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History:

Armenians were recorded in Serbia in 1218 when Saint Sava invited constructors to build a Serbian Orthodox monastery after he had been to Armenia and seen the Armenian architecture there. The Armenians were to build Vitovnica Monastery, which has preserved a bilingual sacral text in Serbian and Armenian dating to the building.

Armenians were a small part of the Ottoman Turkish army when they invaded Serbia prior to the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. However, upon hearing that they would attack a Christian people, they fled the Ottomans to the other side to fight alongside the Serbs. After the battle, the surviving Armenians settled in the hills of Sokobanja where they built Jermenčić Monastery.[2]

Evliya Celebi registers an Armenian “district” of Užice in the 17th century.[3]

Remains of an Armenian graveyard lie in Kalemegdan fortress, which was last used in the 17th century after the Ottomans destroyed it. Only a few tombs are left in good condition. In 1810, the Turks destroyed the Celije Monastery, and the Serbs rebuilt it in 1811 with the help of wealthy Armenians. One of the benefactors had his idea of an Armenian style dome included in the work, so the monastery today can be considered an outcome of Byzantine/Serbian-Armenian architecture.

In the 1880s, merchants from the Gamakh region in Armenia settled in Valjevo (Tehlirians). Among the Tehlirians was Soghomon Tehlirian‘s father.[4] During the Second World War, many Armenians moved to North America and France.

In the past, there used to be an Armenian Catholic church in Novi Sad (built in 1746, razed in 1963).

Some 500 female Serbian descendants of Armenians married Serbs in the 1990s.[2]

Monument of Armenian family Černazi in Novi Sad

Armenia and Serbia established diplomatic relations in 1992. Armenia is represented in Serbia through its embassy in Athens, Greece. Serbia is also represented in Armenia through its embassy in Athens. The “Armenka” association of ethnic Armenians in Serbia which holds community affairs is led by Gohar Harutyunyan-Sekulic.

On 28 July 2009, Boris Tadic arrived in Armenia, becoming the first Serbian head of state to visit Armenia. The presidents wished to improve the spiritual, cultural and economic relations of the two countries stressing that the centuries-long friendship between the peoples was a good basis for boosting their bilateral relations. Armenia has not recognized the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo.[5]

Serbian president, Tomislav Nikolić, was one of the heads of state to visit Yerevan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.[6]

Armenian president, Armen Sarkissian, visited Serbia in October 2019 to discuss ways in which the two countries can increase ties.

SOURCE: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Serbia

THE ARMENIAN STUDIES PROGRAM AND THE ARMENIAN MUSEUM OF FRESNO PRESENT 66THE SHADOWS OF 1915

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WITH AUTHOR DR. JERRY BURGER
IN A DISCUSSION WITH DR. ROBERT VARTABEDIAN,
EMERITUS PRESIDENT OF WESTERN MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY (ST. JOSEPH)

How long is the shadow of genocide? How does it affect the offspring
of the survivors? And how do survivors and their families retain a
JERRY BURGER
belief in justice when atrocities go unpunished? These are some of the
seed in Jerry Burger’s novel, The Shadows of 1915. The story takes place in Central California in 1953 where Armenian immigrants and their families live one generation removed from the 1915 murder of more than a million Armenians at the hands of the
Turkish government. An encounter between the sons of a genocide THE SHADOWS
characters to make difficult decisions that pit loyalty to family and community against personal and legal standards of right and wrong. It is a story about a displaced group of people and the consequences of real historic events that have rarely been examined in
fiction. It is also a story about culture, family, recovery from tragedy, and the nature of justice.
Jerry Burger is Professor
Psychology at Santa Clara University, where he was a member of the faculty from 1984 to 2018. He is an internationally recognized expert on the psychological processes that contribute to inhumane acts like atrocities and genocide. His research in this area was the subject of a New York Times editorial and was featured in a 60-minute broadcast of ABC News’ Primetime and in the Discovery Channel documentary, How Evil Are You? His
short stories have appeared in many literary magazines. His first novel, The Shadows of 1915, was published in 2019.
Friday, February 17, 2023, • 7:00PM
University Business Center • Alice Peters Auditorium • Fresno State
(5245 N. Backer Ave., Fresno)
Free Admission. Free parking in Lot P6 near the UBC. PERMIT NOT REQUIRED.
Also streamed on YouTube on the Armenian Studies channel:
bit.Iv/armenianstudiesvoutube Dr. Jerry Burger’s book The Shadows of 1915
will be on sale at the lecture. For more information about upcoming events contact

Can you Trust the Turks? when Armenian Agop Dilâçar Created the Turkish alphabet, the Turks turn the favor by Massacring 1.5 million Armenian

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Wikipedia Agop Dilâçar (Armenian: Յակոբ Մարթայեան Hagop Martayan, Istanbul, 22 May 1895 – Istanbul, 12 September 1979) was a Turkish-Armenian linguist who specialized in Turkic languages and the first Secretary General and head specialist of the Turkish Language Association. He created the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet[1] and was proficient in 12 languages,[2] and in addition to Armenian and Turkish, Dilâçar knew English, French, Greek, Spanish, Azerbaijani, Latin, German, Russian and Bulgarian.

Biography

Of Armenian descent, Agop Dilâçar was born Hagop Martayan in Constantinople in 1895. His father was Vahan Martayan and his mother Eugenie Martayan (née Sarafian). He studied English in the local American School editing the school’s publication “School News” (1907). In 1910, Dilâçar studied at the Robert Collegewhere he also learned German, Latin and Classical Greek, graduating from Robert College in 1915. After completing his studies, he served as an officer in the Ottoman Army‘s Second Division in Diyarbakır. Dilâçar was awarded for his bravery and continued serving in the Ottoman Army reserves. Because of his knowledge of English, he worked as a Turkish Army interpreter for the British prisoners of war held after the Siege of Kutsouth of Baghdad. Dilâçar was arrested and escorted to Damascus for alleged secret extrajudicial contacts with the British prisoners. In Damascus, he was introduced for the first time to Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later known as Atatürk). Mustafa Kemal Pasha was then the Commander of the Ottoman Army’s Seventh Division. Mustafa Kemal was impressed by Dilâçar’s intelligence and secured a pardon for him and took him into his headquarters.

In 1918, Dilâçar moved to Lebanon, where he became the headmaster of Beirut’s Sourp Nshan Armenian National School. In Lebanon, he established Louys, an Armenian periodical (in Armenian Լոյս, meaning The Light). In 1919, he returned to Istanbul where he worked as a lecturer of English at the Robert College. In 1922, he married Méliné Martayan and the couple moved to Bulgaria where he taught Ottoman Turkish and ancient East languages at Sofia University in Sofia, Bulgaria. In Sofia he also published the Armenian weekly Mshagouyt (in Armenian Մշակոյթ, meaning Culture) and the monthly Armenian periodical Rahvira (in Armenian Ռահվիրայ).

Dilâçar published a study of Turkish language in Istanbul’s Arevelk (in Armenian Արեւելք, meaning The East). A translated copy of the article gained the attention of Mustafa Kemal Pasha who invited him to return to Turkey where he lectured in Faculty of Languages, History and Geography.

On 22 September 1932, Dilâçar was invited as a linguist to the First Turkish Language Congress held in Dolmabahçe Palace supervised by Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, together with two other linguists of Armenian ethnicity, İstepan Gurdikyan and Kevork Simkeşyan. He continued his work and research on the Turkish language as the head specialist and Secretary General of the newly founded Turkish Language Association in Ankara. Following the issue of the Law on Family Names in 1934, Mustafa Kemal Pasha suggested him the surname Dilaçar (literally meaning language opener), which he gladly accepted. Nevertheless, he continued to use the surname Martayan to sign his articles in the Armenian language. In return, Agop Martayan openly proposed the name Atatürk to Mustafa Kemal Pasha in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.[3]

Dilâçar taught history and language at Ankara University between 1936 and 1951. He also was the head adviser of the Türk Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Encyclopedia), between 1942 and 1960. He held his position and continued his research in linguistics at the Turkish Language Association until his death on 12 September 1979, in Istanbul.

Armenian publications

In addition to his work in the Turkish language, Dilâçar also published in Istanbul’s Armenian media, in particular with the Armenian daily Marmara (in Armenian Մարմարա).

In 1922, Dilâçar published his literary work Aratchin Portsutyun (in Armenian «Առաջին Փորձութիւն» meaning First Try). Also in 1922, he translated Armenian playwright Levon Shant‘s play Hin Asdvadzner (in Armenian «Հին աստվածներ» meaning Old Gods) to English. In 1929 he published his Armenological study “Kri Dzakoume yev Daradzoume” (in Armenian «Գրի ծագումը և տարածումը» meaning the origin and spread of language) and in 1929 “Hapetapanoutyun” (in Armenian «Հաբեթաբանութիւն») in addition to an Armenian translation of a collection of English poetry under the title Albyoni Bardezen (in Armenian «Ալբիոնի պարտէզէն» meaning from the garden of Albion) also in 1929.

In 1951, Dilâçar published his book Hazar Hink Harur Amyagi Khoher («1500ամեակի խոհեր» – meaning Thoughts on the 1500th Anniversary). In 1956 he published his book Asdvadzashountche yev Ashkharhapare (in Armenian «Աստուածաշունչը եւ Աշխարհաբարը» meaning The Holy Bible and Modern Armenian language).

Dilâçar had numerous written works in linguistics, literature, studies and translations in Armenian. For example his literary work Salin Vra (Kragan Portser)(in Armenian Սալին Վրայ (գրական փորձեր), a collection of poems Khonchadz Yerazner (in Armenian «Խոնջած Երազներ»), a theatrical piece Tsaykatiter (in Armenian «Ցայգաթիթեռ») and studies like “Levon Shant, Ir Pilisopayoutyune yev Kegharvesde” (in Armenian Լեւոն Շանթ՝ Իր Փիլիսոփայութիւնը եւ Գեղարուեստը, meaning Levon Shant, his philosophy and artistry) and “Hay Tyutsaznavebe, Pakhtadadagan Himi Vera” (in Armenian Հայ Դիւցազնավէպը Բաղդատատական Հիմի Վրայ meaning The Armenian heroic epic novel on a comparative basis).

Armenian descent[edit]

After his death in 1979, in a news coverage, the then only Turkish TV channel TRT concealed the first name “Agop”, which would suggest an Armenian descent, and instead mentioned “A. Dilaçar”, using only the initial of his forename together with his surname.[4][5][6][7][8] However, in a TV program in TRT, which Dilaçar joined, his first name was pronounced and spelled as well, crediting him “Agop Dilaçar”.[9]