By Harut Sassounian,

Last week, I was asked by Alpha News TV to comment on the U.S. Senate’s decision, by a unanimous vote of 100 to 0, to suspend for two years Pres. Joe Biden’s authority to waive Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act, which prohibits providing assistance to Azerbaijan. Should the House of Representatives also approve this bill, it would then go to the President for his signature which would make it a law. Since 1992, all U.S. presidents, including Pres. Biden in the last two years, have waived Section 907, thus providing tens of millions of dollars of aid to Azerbaijan.

The Senate’s decision angered Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry which described it as a blow to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and cancelled its participation in the planned Washington talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries on Nov. 20.

During my interview with Alpha News, I stated that not a single U.S. Senator objected to the anti-Azerbaijan bill, despite Azerbaijan hiring multiple large lobbying firms to defend its interests in Washington. This means that Azerbaijan has wasted tens of millions of dollars in the last two decades paying for these useless lobbying firms. I would like to add that the person directly responsible for overseeing the work of these lobbying firms is Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Washington, Khazar Ibrahim. Therefore, any government that becomes aware of the waste of such large amounts of money would immediately fire its Ambassador. If Pres. Aliyev does not dismiss Amb. Ibrahim, then he himself would be just as responsible for the waste of millions of dollars on worthless lobbying firms which have not been able to convince a single Senator out of 100 to vote in favor of Azerbaijan’s interests.

Within days of my interview with Alpha News, Azerbaijan’s first English language newspaper, AzerNews, published a lengthy article titled, “Bribing congressmen, Armenian lobby poses threat to future of Yerevan,” attacking me personally for saying that Azerbaijan has wasted millions of dollars on lobbying. This is what shameless people do when they accuse others of doing things they are guilty of.

The whole world knows about Azerbaijan’s notorious Caviar Diplomacy and Azerbaijani Laundromat, bribing politicians throughout Europe with billions of dollars to cast votes in favor of Azerbaijan in order to whitewash Azerbaijan’s severe human rights violations and its fraudulent presidential elections.

Shamelessly, AzerNews falsely states that “Armenia’s lobby organizations abroad, pour millions or perhaps billions into the pockets of congressmen, of course, baseless and biased opinions against Azerbaijan will be voiced from the West.”

There are several grave errors in the above sentence. First of all, the Armenian government has not hired a single U.S. lobbying firm simply because it does not have the huge amount of petrodollars that Azerbaijan has which it wastes on lobbying firms in Washington, instead of taking care of its poor people at home. Secondly, Armenian-American organizations do not have millions, let alone billions of dollars to “pour into the pockets of congressmen.” Armenian-Americans do not need to bribe anyone. When your cause is just, you do not need to pay bribes to convince anyone of the truth. Only when you commit massive crimes, as Azerbaijan and Turkey repeatedly do, you need to spend millions and billions of dollars to cover up your crimes.

AzerNews went on to incriminate Azerbaijan, saying that Baku “is not only interested in participating in this auction of finding partnerships that Armenia is lavishly doing now.” Even though the sentence is not grammatically correct, the Azeri writer seems to admit that Azerbaijan is eager to bribe foreign officials. This is a useless statement since Azerbaijan has been bribing foreign officials for years.

Azerbaijan should be the last country in the world to cast aspersions on Armenia or any other country, since Baku is led by a dictator who jails journalists and human rights activists, and his soldiers commit the ugliest war crimes, such as rapes and beheadings. Azerbaijan invaded Artsakh and committed genocide against its Armenian population. Furthermore, Ramil Safarov, an Azeri soldier, during a NATO-sponsored training seminar in Hungary, chopped the head of a sleeping Armenian soldier with an axe. After Pres. Aliyev bribed the Hungarian government to release him from prison, he pardoned him and recognized him as a national hero.

I commend AzerNews for tracking all the way from Baku my interview in Glendale, California, and writing a baseless and false response. The writer of the article, Elnur Enveroglu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AzerNews, went to great lengths to find not only my TV interview, but also to translate it from Armenian into English.

On November 22, H.E. Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians received the President of the Republic of Iraq Abd Al Latif Jamal Rashid, on an official visit to Armenia, at the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.

Welcoming the visit of the delegation led by the Iraqi President to the spiritual center of all Armenians, His Holiness expressed confidence that the latter’s visit to Armenia will contribute to the rapprochement of relations between the two peoples and the strengthening of interstate ties. Speaking about the Armenian community in Iraq, the Catholicos of All Armenians noted that it makes an important contribution to deepening Armenian-Iraqi relations. In this regard, His Holiness expressed his gratitude to the Iraqi authorities for their attention to the community and its national spiritual life.

During the meeting, the Armenian Patriarch also discussed the military and genocidal actions unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, as a result of which Artsakh Armenians were forcibly expelled, and presented the security and humanitarian challenges that the country faces.

In turn, Iraqi President Abd Al Latif Jamal Rashid informed that his delegation’s visit to Armenia aims to strengthen and further develop cooperation between the two countries in various fields. The President discussed the current situation in Iraq and the measures taken by the authorities to overcome the existing challenges. On this occasion, the Iraqi president underlined with satisfaction that the Armenian community of Iraq also plays an important role in the development of the country’s progress.

Some Western powers still do not realize that with the Karabakh war, a new era has begun in our region, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“The Armenian people and their leaders should seek security not thousands of kilometers away, but in peace and cooperation with their neighbors. Those who received payment by inciting Armenia have actually caused the greatest harm to Armenians,” added the head of Turkey in his address to the people after the government’s Cabinet session.

Arda Aghazarian,

With speed and determination, the Armenian community of Jerusalem has organized itself to stand up to Israeli attempts to seize historic and vital Armenian communal property.

Jerusalem Story has published several stories about the standoff between Israel and Jerusalem’s Armenian community regarding control of Armenian church property. Since that reporting earlier in November, aggressive moves by Israeli entities have forced the Armenian community to respond quickly and collectively to defend their rights. At stake is not only the rights of the Armenian community but also the very presence of the Christian community in Jerusalem. 

The Armenian property at the center of this drama is estimated to extend over 11,500 square meters, which makes up 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter of the Old City.1 Since 2021, the hotel development company Xana Gardens Ltd. has claimed that through an agreement with the Armenian Patriarchate, it now has the right to develop it.

However, over the summer, a delegation of Armenian local and international lawyers2 was finally able to obtain the contract, and they discovered a number of serious irregularities.

On November 1, 2023, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced that on October 26, 2023, it informed Xana Gardens Ltd. of its decision to cancel the 2021 agreement it had signed with the company regarding the property.

The Patriarchate said that an extensive legal review post-signing found that the contract had been unlawful, falsely represented, and with undue influence, and that it disregards the Patriarchate’s legal position.3 Moreover, its legal team filed a case in Israel courts to cancel the agreement on October 31, 2023.

Feature StoryArmenians Launch Legal Battle to Cancel Controversial Cows’ Garden Land Deal

The land lease deal between the Armenian Patriarchate and the Jerusalem municipality, concluded in secrecy, is now in the courts.

At stake is not only the rights of the Armenian community but also the very presence of the Christian community in Jerusalem.

Spiralling Out of Control

On November 5, Xana Gardens majority shareholder Danny Rothman/Rubinstein, an Australian-Jewish investor, and his deputy, Israeli Palestinian citizen George Warwar, brought in about 15 settlers armed with assault rifles and trained attack dogs to provoke, harass, and intimidate the Armenian community—as well as to create facts on the ground.

At least one person present among the settlers, an investigation by The New Arab found, is a known extremist member of the Israeli settlement movement who identifies himself as a “hilltop settlement activist,” is associated with right-wing Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Gen-Gvir, and had previously been placed in administrative detention by Israel in 2005.4

About a week later, Armenians were shocked to see bulldozers in the area. Because the case has not yet been decided in the courts, the company has no legal standing to do anything in the area. Yet the Xana bulldozers proceeded to demolish parts of the Armenian Quarter’s parking lot area and threatened to cause more harm.

Feature StoryClash Over Armenian Quarter Land Lease Deal Turns Physical

The team from Xana Capital Ltd. tried to stake its claim to a large area of the Armenian Quarter by force in the wake of the Patriarchate’s filing of intention to cancel a controversial land lease deal. 

Demolitions Underway

On Sunday, November 12, 2023, a Xana Gardens bulldozer attempted to demolish a stone wall by the Armenian parking lot. The Armenian community immediately organized themselves and set up a barricade to block access to the site.

At 7:00 a.m. the next day, two bulldozers showed up and attempted to tear down the barricade. They were confronted by community members who created a human fence, preventing the bulldozers from moving.

The community members were joined by the Patriarch, and again they erected a tent to maintain a physical presence on the site.

Substantial Escalation

Despite the valiant efforts of Armenian community members, some of the area has been bulldozed, and more settlers with heavy arms showed up.

On Wednesday, November 15, things got especially tense when around 20 Israeli police forces showed up. Although the community argued that no legal decision had been made about the property and no permits had been secured for the demolition work, the police demanded the premises be vacated and threatened that they would detain and arrest the community members. They then did in fact detain three people—one of them a minor—for answering back to them, presumably to intimidate the group; the three were soon released. The two adults were ordered to stay away from the site for 15 days.5

Hagop Djernazian, an active member of the Armenian community and a spokesperson on this issue, has noted that the Israeli police has been cooperating with the company to remove the community members and take possession of the land. In a public statement dated November 17, he described the armed people who barged into the area as “mafia” that were hired to harm and provoke the community members and priests.

Urgent Pleas

On November 16, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem released an urgent communique, saying “The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest existential threat of its 16-century history,” which “fully extends to all the Christian communities of Jerusalem.” The statement concluded, “We plead with the entirety of the Christian communities of Jerusalem to stand with the Armenian Patriarchate in these unprecedented times as this is another clear step taken toward the endangerment of the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the holy land.”6

On November 17, the Armenian National Committee issued a statement on the matter:

The Armenian National Committee–International, working in concert with the global network of Armenian National Committees, strongly supports the Armenian community of Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate in protecting their millennia-old rights.The settlement of this matter must be made exclusively on the basis of local and international laws, without the threat or use of force.The rights of Armenians in Jerusalem are a matter of concern to all Armenians, hence a threat to the Armenians of Jerusalem represents a threat against all Armenians and will be dealt with accordingly.

“The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is under possibly the greatest existential threat of its 16-century history.”

Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Source: https://www.jerusalemstory.com/en/article/armenian-community-steps-resistance-land-deal-xana-gardens-intensifies-violent-takeover

Anyone who says: “What do we care about Syria, Iraq, [Artsakh] Karabakh, Libya, Bosnia and Jerusalem” is consciously or unconsciously hindering the great march of Turkey, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the 62nd General Assembly of the National Turkish Students’ Union, Anadolu reports.
“As Turkey became stronger and defended its interests in all directions, the level of hostility towards it began to increase,” he said.
“If every terrorist group supported by powers such as the United States and Europe kills people at will, then the world order will be completely disrupted,” the Turkish President added.

BREAKING: The International Court of Justice of the United Nations orders provisional measures against Azerbaijan. Armenia submitted the claim on September 28, during the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry already commented on the verdict, stating “We commit ourselves to fulfill these commitments and focus on building a peaceful and prosperous region.” According to the verdict, Azerbaijan is obligated to ensure the safe, unimpeded, and expeditious return of the persons who have left Artsakh after 19 September 2023 and who wish to return to Artsakh.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan is mandated to ensure a safe and swift departure for those who opted to remain in Artsakh after the forced displacement and now wish to leave. Azerbaijan is tasked with safeguarding individuals who choose to stay in Artsakh post-September 19, 2023, or return, ensuring their freedom from coercion or threats. The decision necessitates Azerbaijan to comply with its obligations outlined in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

This involves safeguarding registration, identity, and property documents, acknowledging them as foundational in administrative and legislative practices. Azerbaijan must submit a report to the Court within 8 weeks of the decision being published. This report should outline the planned measures for carrying out these temporary directives. This legal action falls under the ‘Armenia vs. Azerbaijan’ case based on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

READ HERE: the full text of the #ICJ Order indicating provisional measures in the case concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (#Armenia v. #Azerbaijan) https://t.co/n008RsIsJV pic.twitter.com/XI97moyVs8

— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) November 17, 2023

Ara Krikorian,

What the #West did to #Armenia – and, by extension, #Artsakh – will definitely be (or already is) a Langley case study for how effective it was to leverage and weaponize Soft Power.

Just this week, it was clear that out of 368 judges elected before the 2018 Velvet Color Coup, only 14 remain in office. The judiciary has been completely culled and replaced with regime loyalists. This is the same culling and replacement as Armenia’s military, diplomatic corp, and education system saw. For over a decade before Velvet, foreign-funded media, NGOs, and their local jackals in Armenia constantly droned on about #corruption and framed everything as if the average Armenian would become an overnight millionaire and Armenia would become Switzerland if it weren’t for its government and #Russia. Before 2018, Armenia had a burgeoning #democracy and economy – especially compared to its post-Soviet peers and region, but these groups consistently demeaned it. Neither the exaggerated, excessive, and usually fabricated claims about corruption, outright defamation against leaders and institutions, nor the discrediting of its democracy were substantiated – they didn’t need to; if every English-language media company and unqualified talking head with a steady paycheck said so, it just had to be true. There is a beautiful Armenian word that I believe describes our people perfectly, “օտարամոլ”. This translates to xenomaniacal. From

@RFERL‘s own

@azatutyunradio, to

@CivilNetTV,

@evn_report, and

@Hetq_Trace, Armenians gobbled up what they assumed was credible information from foreign sources, while ignoring their actual educated and qualified experts, who were systematically dismissed, maligned, and undermined. These methods were not unique to Armenia, they have been used by the West and their local mercenaries to compromise and lay the groundwork for every Color Revolution before – but Armenia had many examples to learn from and avoid the same detrimental path. Today, we ignore and/or make excuses for the rampant

@civilcontractam corruption and their police state. Every day that

@NikolPashinyan clings to power, which has produced a new low and nightmare situation that doesn’t seem to end. We must end the foreign occupation of Armenia. Now, not later.

Armenia “learned the lesson of the Karabakh war and got smarter.” This was announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as he drew parallels with the current war between Israel and Hamas.

According to him, “Armenia dreamed about our territories” for many years.

“[But] it learned the lesson of the Karabakh war and got smarter. Now the leaders of Israel have started to express such delusions. Don’t get excited, they are in for a disappointment, just like many other dreamers over the millennia,” said the Turkish president.