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A 16th-century bath designed by renowned Ottoman-Armenian architect Mimar Sinan has been put up for sale in Turley at 2.5 million euros, Ermenihaber reports.
The bath is located in the historic Balat neighborhood of Istanbul.
Turkish citizens oppose the plan to sell the 437-year-old bath, stressing the historical building should be restored rather than sold.
According to the source, the ancient bath currently serves as a car service center.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked a Senate resolution that would have officially recognized the Armenian genocide following a request from White House officials, he told Axios on Sunday.
Many were perplexed and outraged when, right after clashing with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a heated Oval Office meeting on Nov. 13, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham hurried back to the Senate floor and did something that likely delighted Erdoğan. Graham blocked a resolution that would have formally recognized Turkey’s genocide of the Armenian people.
Behind the scenes: Graham had just scolded Erdoğan over his invasion of Syria and attacks on the Kurds, according to sources in the room.
What happened next, which has not been previously reported: As Graham was leaving the Oval Office, senior White House staff asked him to return to the Senate and block the Armenian genocide resolution — a measure that would have infuriated Erdoğan.
Asked whether he felt uncomfortable blocking the Armenian genocide resolution, Graham replied: “Yeah. Because I like Bob [Menendez]. He’s been working on this for years, but I did think with the president of Turkey in town that was probably more than the market would bear.”
The “next time” happened last week. Menendez and his Republican Senate colleague Ted Cruz introduced the Armenian genocide resolution again. This time, the White House asked another Republican Senate ally, David Perdue, to block it.
The big picture: The Trump administration is pushing Turkey to give up its Russian-made S-400 air defense system. While they’re negotiating, they’re trying to block Congress from calling out Turkey’s human rights atrocities.
WASHINGTON, DC – As part of an escalating bipartisan campaign to pass the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) called for unanimous adoption of S.Res150, a move blocked today by a single Senator, David Purdue (R-GA), reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“If Senator Purdue and a handful of his colleagues want to vote against S.Res.150, they should vote against S.Res.150, but not prevent the vast majority of their Senate colleagues from voting for this bipartisan resolution,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We thank Senators Menendez and Cruz for their escalating pressure for a vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and stand with them – and the growing bipartisan list of cosponsors – in doing all we can to over-ride Ankara’s veto in the U.S. Senate.”
Senators Menendez and Cruz made their request on the floor of the U.S. Senate, using a parliamentary procedure to fast-track consideration of S.Res.150, in the wake of the near-unanimous adoption of an identical resolution in the U.S. House, H.Res.296, on October 29th. Last week, only Senator Graham took to the floor to object to expedite passage of S.Res.150. Senators can present the resolution for unanimous consent as often as needed as part of a coordinated strategy to secure its passage.
In powerful remarks on the Senate floor, Senator Menendez read from State Department cables sent by U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Consul Jesse Jackson, and U.S. Ambassador Abram Elkus describing the events of the Armenian Genocide. “American officials, those with a credible and legitimate understanding of what took place made these statements – they are part of the historical record. They mark one of the prouder moments in the history of the State Department and our diplomacy,” explained Senator Menendez. He also cited that 28 countries – 11 NATO allies – have also recognized the Armenian Genocide, noting “none of them have ruptured their relationship with Turkey; none of them have ended their relationship with Turkey, as it relates to recognizing the Armenian Genocide as a historical fact. Why is the greatest country of on the face of this Earth – the United States of America – incapable, incapable of doing this when 11 other NATO countries have?”
Sen. Cruz, who was among a small group of Senators who met with President Trump and Erdogan last week, noted that affirming the Armenian Genocide is not incompatible to working with Turkey today. “Friends and allies can speak the truth and we are not honoring America and who we stand for if we are afraid to speak the truth and willing to participate in covering it up. We have a moral duty to acknowledge what happened to 1.5 million innocent souls. It is the right thing to do and it’s my hope that the Senate will do so in a bipartisan manner,” said Sen. Cruz.
Despite these powerful entreaties, Sen. Perdue, citing Erdogan’s meeting with President Trump last week, and the meeting between Secretary of State Pompeo and Turkish leaders in Belgium yesterday, objected to the unanimous consent request and argued that it is not the right time for the Senate to take up the measure. The ANCA has issued a nationwide call alert to share disappointment with Sen. Perdue’s opposition and encourage him to allow a vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. \
By Harut Sassounian,
It is difficult to know where to start commenting on the ridiculous press conference between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US Pres. Donald Trump at the White House on November 13, 2019. Unfortunately, we do not know what was discussed when the two presidents met earlier behind closed doors.
Before Erdogan came to Washington, several Democratic and Republican members of Congress had signed a joint letter advising Pres. Trump not to invite the Turkish President to the White House which Trump ignored. This was not surprising given the fact that he had repeatedly called Erdogan “a friend” and “a tough guy who deserves respect.” Furthermore, Trump, as a presidential candidate in 2015, confessed that he had a financial interest in Turkey: “I have a little conflict of interest because I have a major, major building in Istanbul. It’s called Trump Towers — two towers, instead of one. … And I’ve gotten to know Turkey very well. They’re amazing people. They’re incredible people. They have a strong leader.” During the joint press conference, Pres. Trump described Turkey as “a great NATO ally,” “a strategic partner of the United States,” and “I am a big fan of the President [Erdogan].”
Trump refused to impose legally required sanctions on Turkey for the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles. NBC News reported last week that former National Security Adviser John Bolton stated during a speech in Miami “that he believes there is a personal or business relationship dictating Trump’s position on Turkey because none of his advisers are aligned with him on the issue.” The House of Representatives had adopted two resolutions a week earlier reaffirming the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the overwhelming bipartisan vote of 405 to 11, and placing sanctions on Turkey and some of its leaders, including Erdogan, by a vote of 403 to 16, after Pres. Trump withdrew US forces from Northern Syria, abandoning the Kurdish partners and allowing the Turkish military and its jihadist allies to murder hundreds of Kurdish civilians and deport around 200,000 Kurds and others from the area South of the Turkish border.
At the White House press conference, there were several astonishing moments. First of all, Erdogan expressed his anger at the Armenian Genocide Resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on October 29, 2019. Erdogan repeated the usual Turkish propaganda line that there should be a historical commission to study the facts of the Armenian Genocide, while Pres. Trump silently looked on. Neither Erdogan nor Trump is probably aware that this issue has been studied by scores of historians, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars, which issued a joint statement confirming the veracity of the Armenian Genocide.
During the joint press conference, Pres. Trump encouraged Erdogan to call on a Turkish journalist for a question. Trump told Erdogan: “Would you like to pick somebody? A friendly person from Turkey, friendly. Only friendly reporters. We like to see, there aren’t too many of them around.” There are no journalists left in Turkey who are not friendly to Erdogan. This year alone, 68 journalists were arrested in Turkey which has jailed more reporters than any other country in the world.
Trump then proceeded to whitewash Erdogan’s crimes against Kurds by stating: “And, by the way, I think the president [Erdogan], he may have some factions within Kurds, but I think the president has a great relationship with the Kurds. Many Kurds live currently in Turkey, and they’re taken care of.” This is an absolute lie! Over 30,000 Kurdish citizens of Turkey have been killed by the Turkish military in the last few decades. Furthermore, 15 elected Kurdish mayors were dismissed by the Turkish government and arrested on trumped up charges.
During the White House press conference Erdogan made another scandalous statement saying that he returned a letter that Pres. Trump had sent him on Oct. 9, 2019, by leaving it on the President’s desk during their meeting. In that letter, Pres. Trump had told Erdogan, “Don’t be a tough guy! Don’t be a fool!”
Erdogan made one more idiotic comment on November 13, 2019, during his visit to the Washington Center of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs. Erdogan claimed that Armenians were “nomads” during the Armenian Genocide. Armenians “used to travel in different places as nomads. The forced deportation took place while they were living the same way as nomads in Turkey,” Erdogan falsely alleged, ignoring that Armenians were natives in their lands where they had lived for thousands of years before the Turkic tribes came from East Asia and conquered their homeland.
An incredible conversation took place a week before Erdogan arrived in the United States. Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that during a phone call between the Turkish and US presidents on November 5, 2019, Erdogan said Pres. Trump asked him “whether it would be more suitable to use the word ‘war’ instead of calling it ‘genocide’?” Surprisingly, Erdogan said he rejected Trump’s suggestion on the grounds that “a war is between two states and that Armenians had in fact been subject to forced migration.”
Erdogan told Trump that “there are efforts to intimidate us with the so-called Armenian bill and sanctions threat.” Pres. Trump then asked Erdogan how previous US presidents handled the Armenian Genocide issue, to which Erdogan replied: “Until now, I have worked with Bush and his son, and in the same way with Obama. Now I am working with you. At that time, they would refer this [genocide resolution] to the [House] committee and the committee would send it back. This time they bypassed the committee and sent it to the Congress.” Erdogan said Trump replied: “I will study it and talk to friends.”
Of course, Erdogan gave false information to Pres. Trump. The Armenian Genocide resolution had been approved by the full House of Representatives twice before in 1975 and 1984, and had passed through the House Foreign Affairs Committee several times.
It is ironic that Pres. Trump is asking Erdogan for advice on what to call the Armenian Genocide and how previous US presidents handled the genocide issue. All those ‘proud’ Armenian-American supporters of Trump should initiate immediate steps to educate the US president on the facts of the Armenian Genocide so he is not fed lies by the likes of denialist Erdogan!
Immediately after his meeting with Erdogan and the joint press conference on Nov. 13, Pres. Trump invited a small group of Republican Senators to the White House to meet with Erdogan at Trump’s presence. This was an obvious ploy on the President’s part to dump the responsibility on the Senate for any action the Senators may take against Turkey.
Following this meeting, when the Senators returned to the Senate floor, Sen. Robert Menendez (Dem.-N.J.) proposed to suspend the rules and bring the pending Armenian Genocide resolution directly to the full Senate bypassing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Lindsey Graham (Rep.-South Carolina) objected to Sen. Menendez’s request for consent. Under Senate rules, all it takes is one Senator to object, to prevent the Resolution to bypass the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Graham, in his Senate remarks, explained: “I just met with President Erdogan and President Trump about the problems we face in Syria by the military incursion by Turkey. I do hope that Turkey and Armenia can come together and deal with this problem.” Sen. Graham added that he was objecting “not because of the past but because of the future.” Those remarks made his objection even worse.
Sen. Graham’s rejection has confused some people into believing that the Armenian Genocide resolution is dead in the Senate. It is not. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee now has to consider the resolution and then, after approval, forward it to the full Senate.
The Egyptian delegation taking part in the “Armenia and the Transforming Middle East” international seminar organized by the Armenian National Academy of Sciences visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on November 20th.
Egypt’s delegation – General Mohammad Ibrahim, Doctor Mohammd Al Zayat and Doctor Mohammad Farahat – are representing the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies (Cairo).
Ambassador of Egypt to Armenia Bahaa El Din Bahgat Dessouki accompanied the delegation during the visit.
They laid flowers at the Eternal Flame in honor of the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The delegation then toured the Armenian Genocide Museum.
YEREVAN. — Armenian Genocide survivor Gunya Markosyan died at the age of 110 in Tatul village of Aragatsotn province, Armenia.
During the Genocide, Gunya Markosyan was forced to flee her native Nakhichevan village in Kars province and moved to Tatul village.
She was “Armenian Genocide Centennial” medal and one million drams by president Serzh Sargsyan in 2015.
Istanbul-Armenian MP Garo Paylan representing the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has reacted to the Washington statement of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about Armenians, Ermenihaber reports.
Speaking about the Armenian Genocide resolution overwhelmingly adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives on October 29, the Turkish president called Armenia “a state born yesterday” and described Armenians as “nomads”.
“They used to travel in different places as nomads. The forced deportation took place while they were living the same way as nomads in Turkey,” Erdogan said
“The Armenian people, along with other peoples, have lived in these lands for thousands of years. They have created civilizations in all places they have lived,” Paylan said.
“[Erdogan] says Armenians were deported when they were wandering as nomads. Shame on you! Denying the genocide, Erdogan glorifies it,” the MP stressed.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked a resolution on Wednesday that would have formally recognized the Ottoman Empire’s genocide against the Armenian people. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) asked for consent to pass the resolution that would have provided “official recognition and remembrance” of the Armenian genocide. “The United States foreign policy must reflect an honest accounting of human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide. We cannot turn our backs on the Armenian victims of genocide,” he said.
Menendez noted that he listened to President Trump‘s press conference Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Turkish president scolded a House-passed resolution recognizing the genocide and instead promised to “establish a history commission.” Graham objected to passing the resolution in the Senate, saying senators shouldn’t “sugarcoat history or try to rewrite it.” Under the Senate’s rules, any one senator can ask for consent to pass a bill or resolution, but any one senator can block it. Graham’s objection came hours after he took part in a White House meeting with Trump, Erdoğan and a group of GOP senators. “I just met with President Erdoğan and President Trump about the problems we face in Syria by the military incursion by Turkey. I do hope that Turkey and Armenia can come together and deal with this problem,” he added on the Senate floor.
Graham added that he was objecting “not because of the past but because of the future.” The resolution passed the House in a 405-11 vote. Turkey does not recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. The House vote came in the wake of Ankara’s military incursion into northern Syria after the Trump administration pulled troops from the area.
Declassified report reveals Turkish president Erdogan’s bodyguards sprayed an “unknown aerosol” on protesters during May 2017 attack in Washington, DC, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.
The Agent-in-Charge of the State Department’s Dignitary Protection Division, in an official “Situation Report,” reported that: “MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] officers stated that Turkish security offers used some sort of unknown aerosol on the protesters which they are investigating further.”
The Agent-in-Charge, whose name is redacted in the report, was responsible for the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s detail protecting the Turkish President during his visit to Washington, DC.
The ANCA has formally requested that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo release the findings of any investigation into the deployment by foreign security forces of aerosol agents against Americans in our nation’s capital.
By Harut Sassounian,
It is amazing the lengths to which the Turkish government went to include Istanbul Armenian clergy and laymen in its propaganda campaign.
On November 5, 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Communications Office organized an exhibit in New York City featuring photos of the Armenian Holy Cross Cathedral located in Western Armenia, today’s eastern Turkey, near Van, on Aghtamar Island.
The opening of the exhibit was not only attended by Alper Aktas, Turkey’s Consul General in New York, but surprisingly, by several Armenian leaders as well as other Christian clergymen from Istanbul. Among the attendees were Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate’s Locum Tenens Bishop Sahak Mashalian; Shirvan Murzoyan, an Armenian priest from Istanbul; Yessayi Demir, Chairman of St. Kevork Church in Samatia, Istanbul; Mesut Ozdemir, Chairman of Dsnount Sourp Asdvadsadsni Church; Yetvart Ayvazian, Chairman of Sourp Krikor Lousavorich Church in Kouzgounjouk, Istanbul; Tamar Karasou, Director of the Turkish Branch of Sourp Krots Association; Aram Kouran from “Louys” biweekly; Chairman of the Board of Sourp Prgich Armenian Hospital in Istanbul, Bedros Shirinoglu and his wife; Turkish Minority Community Foundation Representative Moris Levi; Syriac Ancient Church Foundation President Sait Susin; American Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis; and members of the Turkish and Armenian communities. I am pleased that none of the clergy from the Armenian Church in the United States (Prelacy and Diocese) attended the opening of the exhibit in New York.
While it is understandable that given the tense relations between the United States and Turkey, the Turkish government would want to carry out a propaganda campaign in the US to improve its stained image, much less acceptable is the participation of the Armenian laymen and clergy as well as Syriac and Greek leaders. One can excuse the attendance of the Istanbul leaders given the fact that they are hostages in the hands of the oppressive Turkish regime. In the case of Bishop Mashalian, however, he may have come willingly, as he is one of the two candidates for the December election for the position of the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey. The Bishop knows well that any disobedience to the wishes of the Turkish government will cost him the seat of the Patriarchate.
Despite the strong desire of Erdogan’s government to carry out propaganda in the US, it failed to capitalize on this opportunity. Turkey spent a fortune to fly the 88 photographs of the Holy Cross Church to New York, pay for the rental of an exhibit hall in Manhattan, fly and accommodate over a dozen guests from Istanbul to New York City, and pay the expenses of making a film on the Holy Cross Cathedral, “The Hidden Monuments of Anatolia Coming to Light: Akdamar,” shown at the exhibit. Yet, the highly-paid US lobbying firms hired by Turkey either were not asked or failed to disseminate the exhibit propaganda to the American media. Secondly, the Turkish government did not think of delaying the opening of the exhibit by one week so Pres. Erdogan, who will be in the US this week, could attend the official ribbon cutting ceremony. In September, Pres. Erdogan was present in New York at a similar opening of the exhibit of the photos of Ara Guler, a Turkish Armenian, which was also sponsored by the Turkish President’s Office.
Here are the reasons why I consider the Holy Cross Church photo exhibit a manifestation of Turkish propaganda:
1) The Turkish government has designated Holy Cross as a museum, not a church, allowing Armenian liturgy to be performed only once a year by special permission. Much more important than organizing an exhibition in New York would have been the designation of the Holy Cross edifice as a church, not a museum. What are the Armenian and other clergymen doing celebrating the exhibit of a museum? If they had any guts, they would have refused to attend the exhibit until the museum is designated as a church which was completed in 921 AD, under the sponsorship of Armenian King Gagik Ardsruni. Visitors have even to pay a fee to enter “the museum.”
2) After the Holy Cross Cathedral was repaired in 2007, the Turkish government did not allow a cross to be placed on the dome of the church, giving the excuse that the cross was too heavy for the dome. Finally, after much criticism, in 2010 the Turkish government allowed a cross to be placed atop the Holy Cross Cathedral.
3) The Turkish government turkified the name of the island by changing it from Aghtamar to Akdamar (which means “White vein” in Turkish).
4) In his remarks, Bishop Mashalian praised Pres. Erdogan for organizing the exhibit in New York: “Under the leadership of the president’s vision, special attention and interest was shown in the Akdamar Church…. This is a cultural initiative to overcome the difficulties of communication between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, as well as a bridge to a better future and understanding based on goodwill.”
5) Chairman of the Board of Sourp Prgich Armenian Hospital in Istanbul Bedros Shirinoglu stated that “President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made great efforts for minority communities…. We would like to express our gratitude to him for all his help and to the {President’s] Communications Office for this exhibition.
6) American Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis reinforced the Turkish propaganda by underlining the significance of the photos at the exhibition in terms of showing the importance attached to the Christian minority in Turkey, saying: “Turkey is going in the right direction and it is good to tell the whole world about this.”
7) Pres. Erdogan proudly told the Turkish media last week that 17 representatives of Turkish minority groups are in New York at this time for the photo exhibit of the “Akdamar Church.”
If the Turkish government was truly sincere in promoting the Armenian Church in Aghtamar, why did it allow a group of Azeris recently to visit the church and claim it to be a Caucasian Albanian Christian church? This is the usual lie that the Azeri government uses to describe all historic Armenian churches in Azerbaijan. The Azeri visitors displayed inside the Holy Cross Church the Azeri and Turkish flags with an “Azeri priest” claiming to say prayers. In a statement made outside the front door of the church, an Azeri representative accused Armenians of invading Azerbaijan and committing vandalism. The Turkish government should apologize to Armenians for allowing the perpetration of such a gross lie!