By Harut Sassounian,

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) announced last week that on April 14, 2025, a U.S. District Court dismissed a $500 million lawsuit filed by Aynur Baghirzade, an Azeri lawyer based in Laguna Beach, CA, against the ANCA and 29 others.

Baghirzade’s 198-page lawsuit “leveled unfounded accusations,” the ANCA stated. “The court struck the plaintiff’s [Baghirzade’s] Third Amended Complaint, dismissing this action, denying remaining motions as moot, and declaring the case closed.” She later tweeted that she intends to appeal the ruling.

The ANCA noted that for months, Baghirzade had engaged in a “lengthy series of incendiary social media posts,” describing Armenia as “a carcinoma” that “shall be deleted from South Caucasus.” In multiple posts on X, she referred to herself as a “U.S. Immigration and Business attorney…. If the truth scares you I will terrify you….” She also wrote: “You fight a terrorist organization and find out that it has its own judges, police, state officials and even congressmen as members.” She added: “Imagine your power that people go and bribe judges to harm you….” She even ridiculed the Armenian Genocide, claiming Armenians shed “crocodile tears about the events back in 1915.”

In addition to her inflammatory rhetoric, Baghirzade posted numerous tweets raising concerns about her professionalism and mental state. For example, she criticized a policeman who issued her a ticket for traffic violation: “Just got a letter from police ‘fining’ me for illegal stop — another candidate to be a defendant.” She also wrote, “if police watches your steps and then relays this information to the terrorists — this is called a state backed terrorism.” In a direct attack on Federal Judge Robert Huie who dismissed her case, Baghirzade accused him of being “corrupt,” threatening to sue him!

Interestingly, when Baghirzade filed her case on June 21, 2024, she failed to pay the required $350 civil filing fee, claiming “in forma pauperis” — meaning she was too poor to pay the fee. The Judge rejected her request. She submitted a new request on July 2, 2024, which was also denied. The Court noted that her annual income of $50,952 exceeded the federal poverty threshold by 325%. The Judge imposed a $55 administrative fee on top of the initial $350.

Baghirzade sued the following 30 individuals and entities: “Alphabet Inc.; Aram Hamparian; Armen Sahakyan; Armenian National Committee of America; Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region; Attorney Search Network; Coco Su; Estrella Sanchez; Google, Inc.; Jake Baloian; Jeremy Stoppelman; Legal Match; Martindale-Nolo; Los Angeles County Bar Association; Orange County Bar Association; Seth Chavez; Teresa Vuki; Trudy Levindofske; Yelp, Inc.; YouTube; Sundar Pichai; Zartonk Media; Zaven Kouroghlian; Van Megerdichian; Ani Tchaglasian; Legalshield; Parker-Stanbury, LLP; Greystar California, Inc.; Kia America, Inc.; and ARF Eastern USA, Inc.

On Feb. 27, 2025, the Federal Court “dismissed Baghirzade’s Second Amended Complaint [which was 78-pages-long] pursuant to Defendants’ motion to dismiss.” The Court determined that her claims failed to meet the legal standard for federal claims and granted Plaintiff “leave to amend Claims One through Five to address the deficiencies described in this order.” The Court said that her lawsuit “is a failure to adequately plead a single cognizable federal claim against any one of the defendants she has sued.” The Judge further stated: “Plaintiff’s filings to date have consistently failed to comply with the applicable rules, but the Court has accepted them nonetheless — even without a request from Plaintiff to excuse the non-compliance. Failure to follow applicable rules or orders in the future may result in filings being stricken.”

On April 10, 2025, Baghirzade filed her Third Amended Complaint which was 198 pages long. In her latest filing, she had added as a new defendant, the “ARF Eastern USA, Inc., mentioning it 100 times,” even though she was told by the Judge that she could not add any new defendants. She alleged that the ARF had been “plotting for centuries to annex two regions of Azerbaijan” — a baseless claim, given that neither the ARF nor Azerbaijan had existed for ‘centuries.’ The Court stated that Baghirzade had not complied with its instructions. “None of her claims has survived dismissal.”

The Court further accused Baghirzade of suing “over 30 defendants, has amended her complaint more than once, and has failed to state a single claim against a single defendant that is not subject to dismissal. Plaintiff accuses Defendants of extensive criminal conduct, and her pleadings frequently adopt a tone of animus, hostility, suspicion, or sarcasm in referring to Defendants.” Her complaint “repeats and seeks to vindicate her past statements that another ethnic group’s home country is a ‘carcinoma’ and that ‘we have to delete [that ethnic group’s] project as soon as possible.’” Her complaint also “fancifully alleged that all Defendants — most of whom appear completely unrelated to each other, and some of which are public companies — conspired together for the single-minded purpose of harming her.”

The Judge further stated that Baghirzade’s third complaint, “over two-and-a-half times as long, appears to contain similar fanciful allegations while expanding the alleged conspiracy ever wider.” Like her second complaint, the third complaint “continues to ascribe events in her life — such as discovering flies in her apartment on one occasion, finding a cockroach in her hotel room, or having her car towed after parking in someone else’s spot in her building — to the malevolent conspiracy of Defendants without any factual basis for this ascription plausibly alleged.” Her third complaint “now sweeps even more broadly, accusing the Defendants of (among other things) international terrorism as well as engaging the U.S. Congress to persecute her. Plaintiff also adds numerous ‘non-party co-conspirators,’ including seven California state court judges or justices; the implication is that persons who have displeased Plaintiff are thereby part of a criminal conspiracy against her. In other words, Defendants are seemingly required to respond to expanding pleadings that diverge even further from plausibility. This factor weighs in favor of dismissal.”

Federal Judge Robert Huie had no choice but to dismiss Baghirzade’s lawsuit, stating: “Anything short of dismissal in these circumstances would disserve the interests of justice.”

by MEG KINNARD / AP

WASHINGTON — Dozens of Social Security Administration offices across the country are slated to close this year due to actions taken by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency as part of the Trump administration’s unprecedented effort to shrink the size of government.

DOGE has published a list of nearly 800 federal real estate leases that it is seeking to cancel. The Associated Press has obtained an internal planning document from the General Services Administration, which manages federal real estate, which shows when nearly two-thirds of those cancellations are expected to go into effect.

Related: DOGE Lease Cancellations: Which Government Offices Could Close This Year

The offices are closing despite a new requirement that tighter identity-proofing measures be put in place to prevent fraud and abuse. These steps will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with agency employees over the phone.

The AP also obtained more information about each lease on DOGE’s list through other publicly available datasets, including their addresses, the dates the leases had started and were originally expected to expire, and the landlords who own the properties.

Of the 47 Social Security Administration offices listed for closure, only some had anticipated dates for when those lease cancellations would take effect. Here’s a state-by-state breakdown of the 26 offices listed as expected to close this year, along with the termination date for each lease, according to the General Services data:

Alabama

634 Broad St., Gadsden: Sept. 30

Arkansas

965 Holiday Drive, Forrest City: April 25

4083 Jefferson Ave., Texarkana: May 25

Colorado

825 N. Crest Drive, Grand Junction: June 21

Florida

4740 Dairy Road, Melbourne: May 16

Georgia

1338 Broadway, Columbus: Sept. 30

Kentucky

825 High St., Hazard: April 24

Louisiana

178 Civic Center Drive, Houma: April 25

Mississippi

4717 26th St., Meridian: June 1

604 Yalobusha St., Greenwood: June 1

2383 Sunset Drive, Grenada: May 1

Montana

3701 American Way, Missoula: June 21

North Carolina

730 Roanoke Ave., Roanoke Rapids: Aug. 1

2123 Lakeside Drive, Franklin: June 23

2805 Charles Blvd., Greenville: June 24

1865 W. City Drive, Elizabeth City: June 24

North Dakota

1414 20th Ave. SW, Minot: June 21

Nevada

701 Bridger Ave., Las Vegas: June 1

New York

75 S. Broadway, White Plains: May 31

332 Main St., Poughkeepsie: July 31

Ohio

30 N. Diamond St., Mansfield: May 17

Oklahoma

1610 SW Lee Blvd., Lawton: April 25

Texas

1122 N. University Drive, Nacogdoches: May 7

8208 NE Zac Lentz Parkway, May 25

West Virginia

1103 George Kostas Drive, Logan: April 30

Wyoming

79 Winston Drive, Rock Springs: June 20

By Wally Sarkeesian

Pashinyan regime has filed charges against public figure Edgar Ghazaryan, former governor of Vayots Dzor and Armenia’s ambassador to Poland. He faces an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

According to his lawyer, Ruben Melikyan, the prosecution launched a public criminal case against Ghazaryan following a decision by the prosecutor. The charge, filed under Article 490, is based on excerpts from his public statements.

One of the key statements cited in the case was made after a Constitutional Court ruling that, in Ghazaryan’s view, undermined the Declaration of Independence. He allegedly claimed that the judges responsible were either ignorant or traitors. The indictment also references his assertion that Vahe Grigoryan was appointed as a Constitutional Court judge illegally.

Melikyan stressed that Ghazaryan’s remarks were purely critical, without profanity or insults.

As a preventive measure, Ghazaryan has been barred from leaving the country, and a motion has been filed to place him under administrative supervision. This measure, according to Melikyan, could impose broad restrictions, including limitations on his activities or the amount of time he can spend outside his home each day.

A court hearing on the administrative supervision request is set for tomorrow.

Ghazaryan’s case is not an isolated incident. Previously, Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, hosts of the Imnemnimi podcast, were arrested for their public statements, detained, and held in custody for two months.

Garen Yegparian: In California’s 30th congressional district, an Armenian is running as a Republican against the Democratic party’s candidate.

In this district, voter registration is more than 3-to-1 Democratic-to-Republican, and it’s about the same if the minor parties are factored in based on their ideological proximity to the two major parties. Plus, over 23% of registered voters are unaffiliated, and they tend to break down in about the same proportions as those who are affiliated when considering which way they lean, Democratic or Republican. Armenians who are registered in the district constitute something under 20% of the total.

Why all these numbers? To show that no Republican can be elected from this district, barring some earth-shattering scandal involving the Democratic candidate. In this case, even if all the Armenians in the district voted for the Republican Armenian candidate, he still would not get elected. Do the math yourself, remembering that if Armenians are registered 50-50 in each of the parties, you should only add about half the Armenians to the Republican tally since half are already included there!

The ANCA has received a lot of criticism for endorsing the Democratic candidate over the Republican Armenian one. The implication here is that the ANCA should act irresponsibly and support an Armenian candidate at the cost of losing the ability to pursue Armenian concerns with the candidate who is assuredly going to win.

I hope I have made clear how important it is to think rationally, informedly, and practically about whom we should support as a community.

By Wally Sarkeesian

Why Trump Might Be More Beneficial for the Armenian Cause than Kamala Harris

There are several reasons why a Trump administration could be more advantageous for the Armenian cause. If re-elected, Trump is expected to include three prominent pro-Armenian figures in his circle: Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. All three have previously expressed their support for Armenian issues on multiple occasions.

With these allies potentially influencing policy, there’s a stronger likelihood of Trump taking action in favor of Armenia. For those viewing this from an Armenian perspective, this is a compelling reason to consider supporting Trump.

“I don’t even know if he will come or not. We are going to Sardarapat to traditionally celebrate May 28, like September 21, like the day of Mount Musa,” Bagrat Srbazan, leader of the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement, told reporters, answering the question if RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would celebrate May 28. When he goes to Sardarapat, are they going to take action? Bagrat Srbazan answered, “If Nikol Pashinyan enters the Sardarapat Memorial, what will they do?” “Let him try.” The journalists were interested in what the reaction of the law enforcement officers would be, Srbazan said. “They are not law enforcement officers; they are police officers.” To clarify, if you succeed and become the prime minister, how will you solve the problem from the legal side, Bagrat Srbazan answered that it is not a question to be answered on your feet. Journalists reminded that there were people on the side of the movement who were there at the beginning, but then did not appear, for example, Arman Tatoyan, Bagrat Srbazan responded: “Arman Tatoyan is my brother, he is always present from the beginning and the end of the movement.” To the question of how he will overcome the constitutional ban on dual citizenship in order to become prime minister, Bagrat Srbazan answered: “Now, what does that have to do with going to Sardarapat?” The Bishop responded to the journalist’s observation, which is one of the most important questions. “The most important issue is the removal of this person, which will happen. the rest is derivative. After the removal, there will be a very good job.”

Yerevan: On Sunday, thousands of Armenians gathered to protest against the government, calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation due to territorial concessions made to neighboring Azerbaijan.

The protests began last month after the Armenian government agreed to cede territory to Azerbaijan, land it had controlled since the 1990s. This area is strategically significant for Armenia, a landlocked country, as it includes key sections of a vital highway to Georgia.

Residents of nearby Armenian settlements argue that this decision isolates them from the rest of the country and accuses Pashinyan of relinquishing territory without any benefit in return.

Bagrat Galstanyan, a charismatic and outspoken clergyman who has become the leader of the growing anti-government movement, was named on Sunday as the opposition’s preferred candidate to replace Pashinyan as prime minister.

Gurgen Melikyan, a former dean at Yerevan State University and a well-known public intellectual, announced the news to tens of thousands gathered in Yerevan’s central Republic Square.

“For a month, we held meetings with representatives from all sectors, including political parties and public entities, to select a candidate for prime minister. The vast majority agreed that person should be Archbishop Bagrat,” Melikyan said. Galstanyan then urged his supporters to engage in acts of civil disobedience across Yerevan starting Monday morning to paralyze city traffic.

Galstanyan stated that he had asked Catholicos Garegin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to “freeze my 30-year spiritual service” so that he could enter politics.

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the church’s governing body, has not yet commented on the matter.

Following the rally, Galstanyan led thousands of demonstrators to the gated residential area where Pashinyan and his family live, demanding a private meeting with the prime minister.

By Նաիրի Հոխիկյան

In the spring of 1992, Azerbaijan was a chaos of power struggle, and Armenians of Artsakh were liberating new settlements one after another. On May 8, 1992, Shushi was liberated, and 10 days later, on May 18, Lachin. Armenians opened the way for Karabakh to have a land connection with Armenia.

On the day, when under the pressure of Abulfaz Elchibey and Heidar Aliev, President Mutalibov finally left the post of Azerbaijan, the same day the father of 6-year-old Nairi, who followed the flames of war, entered the house with wet eyes from Sevan, and hugging him, said: “Did you know that our people took Lachin?”

At that time this Armenian historical settlement had not yet been named Berdzor. Then Berdzor was sealed after Berdadzor.

The next day, on May 19, at Vienna’s historic Hofburg Palace, European “justice” institutions launched a special session discussion on the capture of Lachin, blaming Armenians. Since there was no normal president nor functioning government in Azerbaijan, the Turkish authorities took upon themselves the role of representative of Azerbaijani interests in the Council of Europe.

“Yesterday Armenian troops captured Lachin,” the statement of the main reporter of the session sounded.

The session was translated into 6 languages. The French translator solemnly delivered the French version: “Hier l’armée de l’Arménie a occupée la Chine (Yesterday the Armenian army occupied China… )”.

Seconds later, the fight broke out in the hall. The Chinese representative began to approach and worriedly asked how it happened. The scandal was escalating, the Chinese diplomat got up and ran to the door. The session had to be interrupted. In the aisle, the officials rushed to call their countries. International stock exchange prices began to rise rapidly, within seconds Oil prices reached astronomical highs. China doesn’t exist, a new world order is being formed. A small country, whose place is not yet known, has suddenly been able to capture China, which seeks world domination.

Weidun Zhou, an experienced diplomat who left for Europe as deputy head of the Chinese delegation from Beijing, could hardly breathe, it became dark before his eyes. Walking down the aisle, for a moment, he even grabbed the wall to prevent it from falling down. He could not imagine that his homeland, which had finally declared its independence, had lost it again. How could he? it happened and so fast.

With these thoughts, somehow he reached the office, asked the assistant to contact Beijing quickly. And while on the other side of the phone, they managed to take the hearing aid, Weydun was thinking, how to save the family, where to go? He managed to think about options. need to organize self-defense battles quickly, probably guerrilla wars will break out all over China… maybe he will approach the Armenian representative and try to understand how it will be possible to settle disputes peacefully… and what dispute? What dispute can giant China have with small Armenia… How was it possible to conquer all of China in a few hours? Didn’t notice in these thoughts that they answered the call from Beijing.

Weidun Zhou’s voice was trembling. He couldn’t formulate the question to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Finally, he found the strength to say the terrible news in the form of a question. “How China was conquered?”

There was a few seconds of silence on the other side of the telephone. Then the Deputy Minister briefly said that he had guests and couldn’t spend time on every joke. Weydoon also advised not to make such stupid jokes in Europe.

With weak legs, Weydun entered the room of the head of representatives. The man with a wide forehead and bald hair quickly arranged the papers. The papers spilled here and there in the room showed that the diplomat-chief had nervous experiences. He quickly said that they had to go to the hall, as if something had become clear.

Something had already been revealed. The diplomats returned to the hall and tried to continue the session with artificial smiles, but nervous tension was stamped on everyone’s faces. The French translator was changed. It turned out that he had misunderstood the verbal text of the declaration and had translated it wrong, making a global noise because of his one word. People say slip of language, The deep end of life. A young French girl translator was fired. Now, behind the glasses, sat an experienced woman with a sharp gaze and unsecured figure.

The host of the session announced that the French side had a statement to make, stressing that the new translator would make the corrections. The woman solemnly stood up. All the delegates in the hall turned on the French translation channel to listen to the Paris clarification. “Excuse me, please, it’s not the Armenian army that occupied China, it’s the Nagorno Karabakh army that occupied China… Excuse me, please. The Armenian army has not conquered China. It is the Nagorno-Karabakh army that conquered China).

In fact, the pronunciation of the word “Lachin” is very similar to the French word “China”, la Chine. This also put the translators in a misunderstanding. This tragicomic touch of the Council of Europe stayed for a long time in the memory of the present.

Lachin’s liberation was also printed in Nairi’s memory as a way of life for Karabakh.

A few weeks later, Abulfaz Elchibey became the main presidential candidate of Azerbaijan. The unbalanced man with a crumbling voice could speak convincingly and unite the crowd around him. “I love you all, you are my pride.” these sentences on his lips Abulfaz passed through the settlements and captured the hearts of ordinary Azerbaijanis.

By Wally Sarkeesian,

Never before in the history of mankind have Street thugs taken power in the streets by deceiving citizens with claims of corruption. This individual seizes control, forms his own police force akin to a personal army, and corrupts them. He then partitions the country, making decisions without debate, referendum, or election, ruling as a dictator and acting solely in his own interest and that of his enemies. This is unprecedented in human history. He turned 120,000 Armenians of Artsakh into refugees struggling to survive, and now he’s even giving part of Armenia to Azerbaijan. Look at those police officers—they’re all in their twenties and only care about their pockets. This must be stopped. By any definition, this is treason. This man is a total criminal, recruited by the Turks, and is furthering Turkish interests.

These three yellow journalists will distort history, much like Tatul Hakobyan, to align with the narrative of Nikol Pashinyan, the current Prime Minister of Armenia, and Eric Hacopian, a front-line deceptive liar. Among others, they helped bring Turkish Agent Pashinyan to power. Now, they are desperately trying to link Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan to Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. How much dirtier can they get? Bishop Bagrat did not come to preach Christianity to a nation that has been Christian since 301 AD; he came to save the Armenian Nation from the current Turkish ruler who, over the past six years, has destroyed Armenia and Artsakh, creating a second genocide.

Here is an article written by William Bairamian on X.

This article was written by William Bairamian on X.

Ever wonder how Eric Hacopian manages to be consistently wrong yet still works at CivilNet?

As an old friend of Salpi Ghazarian, the cofounder of CivilNet, who many believe still pulls the strings, Hacopian was placed in his position to convey specific messages.

He’s also friends with Zareh Sinanyan and his former assistant, Sara Anjargolian, founder of the foreign-funded Impact Hub. I’m not sure how relevant that is, but it’s worth noting.

What messages are these, you ask? To understand, you need to look at CivilNet’s funding sources, which include substantial sums from foreign governments and others. You can either accept their claims of “independent journalism” (lol) or question if that money comes with strings attached.

Hacopian, like many at CivilNet over the years, acts as a mouthpiece, saying what he’s instructed to say. Don’t believe me? Ask Tatul Hakobyan, a longtime CivilNet contributor and recipient of grants promoting Armenian-Azeri friendship. Hakobyan eventually found CivilNet’s suppression of his ability to speak the truth about Armenia so unbearable that he quit (or was he fired?).

So, Hacopian sits there, trying to stay awake on camera, and makes absurd comparisons, like equating an Archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church to an Iranian mullah. This is the level of “analysis” provided.

And what’s more, no one at CivilNet challenges him or demands a real analysis. The message must be delivered, and for some of CivilNet’s audience, it will resonate.

Money well spent, right, @USAID?