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The relatives of the fallen servicemen of the D20 artillery division of the Tsor military unit in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) are in front of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia.
Anahit Manasyan, a relative of one of these fallen soldiers, Hayk Melikyan, said that they are here to submit a report on a crime.
Harry Mazadoorian,
Visitors browse through an exhibit and interactive art project called “witness” about the Armenian genocide of 1915 at Grand Park in Los Angeles in 2015. Michael Robinson / TNS
On April 15, Armenians in Connecticut and all over the world will commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915, when more than 1.5 million Armenians perished in a vicious and unthinkable state action by the Ottoman Empire.
Despite overwhelming and virtually incontrovertible evidence of that horrific tragedy, the government of Turkey continues to shamelessly deny it. The United States, which had sidestepped the recognition issue for many years so as not to offend its NATO ally, formally recognized and condemned the genocide in 2020 with resolutions of both houses of Congress and then by President Joe Biden’s statement in 2021, courageously recognizing the genocide, which said of the victims, “We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history … The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide.”
Efforts for continued condemnation of all genocides is important to honor those who perished during those horrible times but equally to deter the ongoing threats of future genocides. Continued vigilance is needed as the world today witnesses an escalation of brutality in Ukraine, which the government now condemns as genocide. Continued atrocities in the historic Armenian region known as Artsakh further demonstrate the need to watchfully condemn ongoing genocides.
In addition to the increasing number recognition of the Armenian genocide by scholars, journalists and governments have been another event that has uplifted the hearts and souls of Armenians all around the world: In 2015, the year of the 100th commemoration of that tragic event, the Armenian Church took an unprecedented and truly remarkable step: The canonization of the martyrs of the genocide by the Armenian Church. The Synod of Bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, under the auspices the Armenian Catholicos, formally recognized those who perished in the Genocide as martyrs and canonized them as saints of the Armenian Church.
The event was reported to be the largest canonization service in history. It was an occurrence of enormous consequence. It had been some 500 years since the last time the Armenian Church had canonized a new saint. While not widely reported in non-Armenian communities, the historic event was reverently and proudly proclaimed throughout Armenia and the diaspora. It was a monumental event filled with hope and symbolism.
His Eminence Archbishop Daniel Findikyan, primate of the Armenian Diocese of the Armenian Church in America, Eastern Region, before his ordination, produced a magnificent monograph titled “From Victims to Martyrs.” In it he wrote: “Never in (the) history of the Armenian Church had new saints been proclaimed with greater splendor, excitement or inclusiveness — every hierarchical jurisdiction of the Armenian Church was represented, as were a few sister churches throughout the world. … Unprecedented as well was the Armenian Church’s readiness, after one hundred years, to discern God’s redeeming grace from within the darkness and evil of that great crime against humanity.”
The Genocide victims are now martyrs. They can now provide intercession. Instead of praying for them, we now pray to them. It is something of incredible mystery and relevance. In the words of Father Untzag Nalbandian, pastor of Trumbull’s Holy Ascension Armenian Church “Many of us are the sons and daughters of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, who gave us a new life in this country and or wherever they went. Since 2015, our generation became the children of saints, which puts on us a greater responsibility to be good, caring, helpful, and compassionate towards others. Genocide against one ethnic group is genocide against all humanity. We remember our martyrs, but now we also can ask for their intercession.”
Along with the canonization of the martyrs came the consecration and anointment of a new icon depicting the Holy Martyrs. It is present in all Armenian churches.
The canonization has proved to be an inspirational event for the entire Armenian community, and for the world. It is a reminder that despite the passage of time, helpless victims of the Armenian Genocide will be never be forgotten, but rather will be remembered for their faith and will forever serve to intercede on behalf of all of their descendants.
Harry Mazadoorian lives in Kensington. His parents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide in which three of his grandparents perished.
There are aspects of his Armenian heritage that Berj Najarian would have never learned in school or through his own research.As many different cultures have evolved with time, one as ancient and rich as his was attacked throughout its history and almost eradicated completely in the first genocide of the 20th century.Through first-hand stories from his maternal grandfather, Najarian learned about the tragic plight and resilience of those who kept his culture from extinction. With that, comes a shared pride felt by him and other Armenians across the world —
one that could only be cultivated from a responsibility to keep their culture alive.In his own attempt to do just that, the Patriots’ longtime director of football/head coach administration will run the 2022 Boston Marathon on Monday to raise money for Who We Are, the non-profit he founded in 2021.”There absolutely is a survival mentality and that exists within the Armenian people,” Najarian said. “I mean, I’m here in this country because my grandparents and great grandparents survived hell. What they had to go through just to live is hard to imagine, which is why we owe it to the people who came before us to carry on the things, the traditions, the culture, and the identity that they’ve provided us.
“Who We Are is committed to preserving those cultural identities and passing them on – celebrating every diverse background and ethnicity.Najarian grew up in an Armenian-American household surrounded by the language, traditions, music, cuisine, and religion of his ancestors. He has an ethnic name, as do his brothers, and as a teen, he even attended (and now sends his children to) the same Armenian summer camp where his parents met in Franklin, Mass.His mother grew up in Watertown, Mass., where many Armenians initially landed after fleeing to the United States to escape Ottoman oppression in the early 1900s. His grandfather, Papken Kechichian, was among several members of his family who survived the Armenian Genocide, where more than 1.5 million were killed. Kechichian made the harrowing journey through the Syrian desert to an orphanage in Aleppo.
The family eventually went on to Paris before settling in the Greater Boston Area.Conflict never completely subsided in the Caucasus, though.To this day, Armenian cuisine shows the influence of the regions that surround it, a reminder of the wars and invasions that made their people so resilient. Yet, many don’t learn about the systematic deportation and destruction of Armenians relative to genocides that followed. Ancient churches and one of civilization’s oldest alphabets still exist in Armenia, the first state to declare Christianity its official religion, but they remain threatened.
“The Armenian Genocide was the first of the 20th century,” Najarian said. “It was a crime on a massive, unmeasurable scale, and unlike many other genocides, there were no repercussions. No accountability, no punishment, no sanctions — nothing.”People have survived, physically, and they’ve managed to keep their cultures alive as well. That’s where Who We Are is coming in — to try and aid in that however we can.”The idea for the non-profit stemmed from 2020, as conversations about social justice took front and center across the country and NFL locker rooms alike.Simultaneously, ongoing conflict at the Armenian border escalated that fall, with attacks from neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.It lit a fire under Najarian that incentivized him to get on social media and raise awareness about the war. He didn’t quite know the power of his platform at the time, having spent most of his career behind the scenes. But support was overwhelming, and his Armenian-inspired cleats were auctioned off for $40,300 as part of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign.
“To see the bidding go crazy like it did was surprising in a sense, but also, knowing on the other hand how Armenians feel about being Armenian, it didn’t shock me but it did blow me away at the same time.”That money supported the Armenia Fund, but Najarian wanted to come up with a way to make a continued change, controlling what he can control in a complicated geopolitical issue while not limiting the impact to only Armenian causes.”I really kind of looked at well, why is this so important to me?” Najarian reflected. “What is it about my heritage, why is this so important? It comes back to culture. As an Armenian, I think I speak for most Armenians out there — especially the ones I know in this country — is that you have this sense of heritage and culture ingrained in you from the beginning and all the way through, whether it’s art, music, dance, food, religion, knowing history, just having this feeling of identity and purpose.
“That exists for me as an Armenian and I know that it exists for lots of other people from other backgrounds. So that was really the motivation to start this foundation called Who We Are — to support and promote all these great things that we all have, and make sure they’re preserved and strengthened and live on in our communities.”For Najarian, keeping his culture alive is a responsibility. Initially, it was Armenian political activists, intellectuals, and community leaders who were rounded up, deported, or killed. What other ideas and technologies were lost along with them?”I think about what would have become of those people if that hadn’t had happened,” Najarian said. “If approximately 1.5 million out of about 2.2 million weren’t wiped out? What would have become of this population 100 years later? That’s a hard thing for me to wrap my head around. Not just the lives lost, but the future lost.”The sneakers Najarian auctioned off are now displayed at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown – a city symbolic of safety and prosperity for Armenians. Because of Watertown’s connection to his family and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, he felt compelled to run the marathon for the first time the following year.The second time around in 2022, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine prevalent in news coverage, Najarian runs it again to benefit his own mission.”For my whole Patriots career, I’ve been behind the scenes — that’s just my role and that’s great,” Najarian said. “But that war, and me really having a fire lit, coincided with our team and players and organization really getting involved with a lot of social justice causes and speaking up, raising awareness, and shining lights on things, and really getting personal. Thankfully I had the opportunity, given by our players, to express myself about something that was important to me. I’m forever grateful to be able to do that.”After the marathon, Najarian is motivated to brush up on his Armenian, and with the initiative of Who We Are, perhaps help kids learn the language of their ancestors, too.
By Tigran Grigoryan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing the country’s parliament on April 13, once again made a number of startling statements about the Karabakh conflict settlement process. Pashinyan’s most controversial statement referred to the international community’s insistence to lessen Armenians’ demands on the status of Artsakh. In that part of his speech, Pashinyan in particular mentioned:
“Today, the international community is telling us again: slightly lower your bar on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure greater international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh. Otherwise, the international community says, do not rely on us, not because we do not want to help you, but because we can not help you.”
Pashinyan’s latest speech is part of a strategy that started in the summer of 2021. The ruling Civil Contract party’s Artsakh agenda was quite bold in the June 19 snap parliamentary elections last year. The party spoke about Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination through the application of the principle of remedial secession.
The program also mentioned that the Republic of Armenia will continue to be the guarantor of the security of the people of Artsakh. The ruling party promised to keep the de-occupation of territories of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region on its agenda.
However, just two months after Pashinyan’s Civil Contract’s victory in the snap parliamentary elections, two of the three provisions listed above – Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-determination through the principle of remedial secession and the de-occupation of territories – were not included in the government program.
Between the snap elections and the adoption of the government program, a number of events took place that changed the approach of the ruling party to the Karabakh settlement process by 180 degrees. It was during this period that Armenia was offered to abandon its previous stance on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and “lower the bar.”
First, the Foreign Ministers of Romania, Austria and Lithuania arrived in the South Caucasus on June 24-26, 2021. During a press conference concluding the visit, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu stated that further modernization and democratization of the country should become Armenia’s new strategic goal.
The unspoken part of this statement implied that Yerevan should gradually reconsider its priorities, renouncing some of its demands and positions on the Artsakh issue. This was a widely circulated point of discussion in the West after the end of the Second Karabakh War.
Following the Foreign Ministers’ visit, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi arrived in the region on July 8-9. At a press conference in Yerevan on July 9, Várhelyi announced that the EU would provide 1.6 billion euros to Armenia for a number of priority special programs and that another 1 billion euros would be raised from other sources for Armenia.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel visited the region on July 17-18. This visit kicked off the EU-Armenia mediation mission in the Armenian-Azerbaijani context.
During their visits to Yerevan, the EU officials most likely tried to explain to the Armenian authorities that raising the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independent status after the defeat in the second Karabakh war was unreasonable.
Instead, it is likely that Armenia was offered to soften its stance and agree to any status of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan. And the consolidation of the international community around Armenia and Artsakh, which Pashinyan mentioned in his speech on April 13, would be expressed in the form of 2.6 billion euros in financial assistance and promises of economic development.
The Armenian authorities have obviously accepted these EU conditions, as they did not see any particular prospects for Nagorno-Karabakh to achieve an independent status.
What has been happening in Armenian public discourse on the Karabakh issue over the past six months has been a direct consequence of this process. Various government officials regularly tried to convey to the public the idea that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan should be an acceptable option for the Armenian side.
The same goal was pursued by Nikol Pashinyan at a scandalous press conference at the end of last year, during which the Prime Minister simply repeated a number of Azeri theses on the conflict. On April 13, Pashinyan spoke more openly about his goals. His speeches on this issue are likely to become more honest in the near future.
This position of the European Union is understandable. Brussels is guided by strictly pragmatic principles. The EU first needs peace and tranquility in the South Caucasus. European officials are not so interested in which side’s interests will be trampled in the process of establishing peace.
By the way, hours after Pashinyan’s speech, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, wrote on his Twitter page, noting that many challenges still remain on the road to a comprehensive settlement, but it is important to move forward. “Armenia has the EU support in the search for a just peace.”
In this case, it is important to understand Azerbaijan’s stance in the process. At this stage, Baku seems to have adopted a more maximalist approach; it is not ready to even discuss the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status within Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani authorities continue to insist that the Karabakh conflict is over and that there is not even an administrative unit called Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, it can not be ruled out that Baku may temporarily soften its approach in the presence of various promises from the EU. However, Moscow’s position on this issue will be crucial. In conclusion, it should be noted that, if this process succeeds, Nagorno-Karabakh will face a complete ethnic cleansing of Armenians. The Armenians of Artsakh are not ready to accept any status within Azerbaijan. In case of such a development, they will simply leave their homes on their own volition. The era of peace will settle in the region alongside the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
Translated by Zara Poghosyan
Tigran Grigoryan is a political analyst based in Yerevan. He holds a Master’s degree in Conflict, Governance, and International Development from the University of East Anglia.
Irvine, California, April 12, 2022 Speaker after Speaker exposes and condemns Mayor Farrah N. Khan’s disturbing 2020 video that has surfaced showing Mayor Farrah Khan attending an event with members of the Turkish community.
In the video, Mayor Khan is seen joking with Ergun Kirlikovali — a notorious Armenian Genocide denier — about making Armenians “disappear.”The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website explains that the Armenian Genocide took place from 1915-to 1916 during World War I in the Ottoman Empire when the Turkish government rounded up and executed between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenian people. During the Genocide, tens of thousands of Armenian children were forcibly removed from their families and converted to Islam.
Not only did Khan joke with Kirlikovali about making Armenians disappear, but the video also shows her telling the group that she stands with the Turkish community “no matter what.” Khan then appointed Kirlikovali to her newly-formed Mayor’s Advisory Council. Since becoming Mayor of Irvine in 2020, Khan has been seen at a number of events with Kirlikovali by her side.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the brutal massacre of the civilian population of Maragha settlement of the Martakert region of Artsakh committed by the Azerbaijani army on April 10, 1992. As a result of the massacre, about 50 people, including 30 women, were tortured and brutally killed, and dozens, mostly women and children, were taken hostage, and the fate of 19 remains unknown to this day.
The assault of the armed forces of Azerbaijan on Maragha was not caused by military necessity and was aimed exclusively at seizing the territory and annihilating the people living there. Dozens of Maragha residents were killed for the sole reason that they were Armenians. The massacre in Maragha, planned by the Azerbaijani authorities and conceived by them also as an act of intimidation, demonstrated Baku’s genocidal plans towards the entire population of Artsakh.
The fact that the commander of the Azerbaijani armed forces’ units, which committed the war crimes in Maragha, Shahin Tagiyev, was awarded the title of the national hero of Azerbaijan, leaves no doubt that the mass killings of civilians were among the main tasks of the Azerbaijani armed forces. With this step, the Azerbaijani authorities confirmed that they bear full responsibility for the internationally wrongful acts committed in Maragha.
The massacre of civilians in Maragha is an integral part of the genocidal policy systematically pursued by the Azerbaijani authorities for over 30 years, starting from the brutal pogroms in Sumgait up to the war crimes committed during the 44-day armed aggression in 2020.
Only a strong and prosperous Artsakh that develops its statehood, has a status of an international legal subject and unites all Armenians around itself, can become the best guarantee of non-repetition of the tragedy of Maragha.
Artist Gaspar Gharbyan finished the meticulous restoration process after the memorial outside the Colorado Capitol was damaged during the summer of 2020.
Author: Corky Scholl, Wilson Beese (9NEWS)
DENVER — As another humanitarian crisis unfolds thousands of miles away in Ukraine, it serves as a reminder of all the times before we promised to never forget.
The ‘khachkar’ memorial at the Colorado State Capitol is dedicated to the Armenian genocide that took place before World War I. The sculpture, which was first unveiled in 2015, was vandalized in the summer of 2020.
This week, artist Gaspar Gharbyan flew out from California and restored the memorial.
Gharybyan had to work meticulously to avoid causing even more damage to the memorial, which was also caused by good Samaritans who tried to clean off the graffiti.
Gharybyan said he takes pride in restoring a monument that carries significant meaning for many.
“While I’m renovating it, cleaning it, I’m feeling very touched,” he said. “Especially when I understand people will see it and it will touch their feelings as well.”
RELATED: Biden recognizes atrocities against Armenians as genocide
A total of 77 people, including police officers and intelligence agents, have been accused of involvement in Dink’s murder since 2007. A series of trials have been held, which, according to critics, had no clear or satisfactory conclusion because of hidden links between the state and the masterminds of the murder.
A Turkish citizen who was sentenced to 12 years, six months in prison for his role in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was detained by Kyrgyz authorities and extradited to Turkey, where he was incarcerated, Turkish Minute reported, citing BBC’s Turkish service (BBC Türkçe).
The 52-year-old Dink, editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian bilingual Agos weekly, was shot dead with two bullets to the head outside the newspaper’s headquarters in central İstanbul on Jan. 19, 2007 by Ogün Samast, a then-17-year-old jobless high-school dropout.
Ahmet İskender was convicted of aiding in the murder by hiding the murder weapon after the assassination, giving Samast money to use in the execution of the murder and using his mobile phone as a means of communication for carrying out the murder.
Kyrgyz authorities detained İskender at Turkey’s request on Feb. 26 and handed him over to Turkey on March 26 after due process, BBC Türkçe quoted Turkish law enforcement as saying.
Dink received many death threats for writing about the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, which Turkey still denies.
After murdering Dink in front of his office in İstanbul’s Şişli district, the ultranationalist Samast was caught, tried and sentenced to 22 years, 10 months in prison by the 2nd Juvenile High Criminal Court on charges of “premeditated murder” and “possessing an unregistered firearm.” The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld Samast’s sentence in March 2012.
A total of 77 people, including police officers and intelligence agents, have been accused of involvement in Dink’s murder since 2007. A series of trials have been held, which, according to critics, had no clear or satisfactory conclusion because of hidden links between the state and the masterminds of the murder.
Armenia must remain a guarantor of Artsakh’s (Nagorno-Karabakh) security and refrain from signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan that would undermine the right of Artsakh Armenians to self-determination, Armenia’s two opposition blocs Hayastan and Pativ Unem (With Honor) said in a statement at a rally in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Tuesday, outlining their demands on the authorities.
The full text of the statement shared by the Hayastan alliance is provided below.
“We, the participants of the rally held in defense of Armenia and Artsakh, regardless of our ideological and political differences, resolutely reject the agendas imposed by the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem.
To create preconditions for peace, Azerbaijan must return Armenian prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons as well as those given prison sentences, withdraw its troops from the sovereign territory of Armenia, and return to the positions held in Artsakh as of November 9, 2020.
We, the participants of the rally, declare that we are committed to the following fundamental principles:
– to affirm that the Republic of Armenia is the guarantor of the security and right to self-determination of the Artsakh people with all its components;
– to exclude any status of Artsakh within Azerbaijan;
– to exclude an enclave status of Artsakh without a reliable land link with Armenia;
– to take steps to restore the negotiation process in line with the format and objectives enshrined in the 1994 OSCE summit decision;
– to exclude the provision of corridors under the pretext of “unblocking communications” at the expense of Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity;
– to exclude the signing of any interstate treaty and any process of border delimitation and demarcation under the conditions of use or threat of force by Azerbaijan;
– not to sign any agreements with Azerbaijan which would undermine the exercise of Artsakh’s right to self-determination without restrictions;
– to rule out any agreement in Armenian-Turkish relations which would call into question the Armenian Genocide as well as the right to be the bearer of the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage.
These principles stem from the vital interests of the Armenian people, thus any government must be guided by this agenda and ensure its implementation. Promoting this agenda does not entail war, but rather a willingness to establish a true, just and dignified peace that meets the vital interests of the Armenian people.
Failure to adhere to these principles will inevitably lead to a nationwide and legitimate uprising by all possible means and methods.
The individuals, civil society organizations and parties who share the agenda unveiled are free to join the statement.
Liberty Square, 5 April 2022.”
Irvine Community News & Views, Expose Irvine Mayor Khan is seen joking with Ergun Kirlikovali — a notorious Armenian Genocide denier — about making Armenians “disappear.”
As publisher of Irvine Community News & Views, from time to time I feel the need to weigh in personally on important community matters. Over the past week, the Voice of OC and Irvine Watchdog has reported on a disturbing 2020 video that has surfaced showing Mayor Farrah Khan attending an event with members of the Turkish community. In the video, Mayor Khan is seen joking with Ergun Kirlikovali — a notorious Armenian Genocide denier — about making Armenians “disappear.”The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website explains that the Armenian Genocide took place from 1915-to 1916 during World War I in the Ottoman Empire when the Turkish government rounded up and executed between 664,000 and 1.2 million Armenian people. During the Genocide, tens of thousands of Armenian children were forcibly removed from their families and converted to Islam.
Not only did Khan joke with Kirlikovali about making Armenians disappear, the video shows her telling the group that she stands with the Turkish community “no matter what.” Khan then appointed Kirlikovali to her newly-formed Mayor’s Advisory Council. Since becoming Mayor of Irvine in 2020, Khan has been seen at a number of events with Kirlikovali by her side.
Khan initially released a statement saying the video had been “doctored” by campaign rivals. However, that became problematic for the Mayor when multiple sources confirmed the authenticity of the video. Moreover, in recent days Kirlikovali has taken to Twitter to double down on his denial of the Genocide and to hurl a new series of hateful comments aimed at the Armenian people, including the following post, which has been removed by Twitter because of its incendiary content: “Lies, slanders, deceiving, falsifying, threats, harassment, bullying, terrorism, screaming, begging. Have I covered all Armenian traits? Oh yeah, and backstabbing and assassinating. Have I said fraud?”After Kirlikovali’s latest round of tweets became public, Khan was forced to admit the video was not doctored and she issued a public apology.
Another source of political turmoil for Khan is that just two weeks ago, she failed to secure the early endorsement of the local Democratic club in Irvine (Democrats of Greater Irvine). Khan is currently running for a second two-year term as Mayor.
At the endorsement meeting, Irvine Democratic club members expressed their anger with Khan on a number of issues: her lack of support for district elections; her undemocratic “Rule of Two”; and her continued efforts to shut off public participation at Council meetings. Members also voiced their disgust at Khan’s continuing refusal to implement the Irvine voter-approved, State-funded Veterans Memorial Park & Cemetery at the Great Park. In this election year, the Mayor’s political problems should be matter of concern for our entire community. It’s time for all of us to speak up. As a publisher, I certainly intend to do so.