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The Three Monkeys of Gallipoli

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By Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan

By Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan

By  Len Wicks,

Privates Key, Turnbill and Cameron are deaf, dumb and blind, while WWI allies Canada, France and Russia (and even the Ottoman’s allies Austria and Germany) have the courage to recognise the worst of crimes – genocide.
Turkey effectively blames invading nations like New Zealand, Australia and the UK for the deaths, saying it had to ‘deport’ its Christian citizens in case they supported the Allies (‘deport’ means to kill more than 1.5 million Armenian children, women, aged and unarmed male citizens by burning, crucifixion, bayonets and other gruesome means, steal their property and crush more than 2,000 churches).
The truth is that Turks have been massacring indigenous Christians since they invaded Asia Minor in 1064 because of their Christian faith, while New Zealand, Australia and the UK shamefully appease Turkey, instead of defending human rights.
Lest we Forget (the genocide of Christians – Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks).
Note to veterans: the NZ, Australian and British cartoon figures are representing political leaders, not courageous Gallipoli soldiers, many of whom recognised this crime against humanity.
Note to publishers: the cartoon may be freely reproduced but must have the following credit: Len Wicks/Tigran Hakobyan. A larger image is available at http://originsdiscovery.com/Cartoon.JPG.

 

Washington: Obama’s reconciliation moment, Both Armenia and Azerbaijan could use a peace dividend

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3_3_2016_b3-sobh-armen-azer-8201_c1-0-2933-1710_s885x516By S. Rob Sobhani – – Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Washington Time President Obama will host and convene the Fourth Nuclear Security Summit beginning on March 31 at the Washington Convention Center. Among the scheduled attendees are two leaders who rarely get together because their nations have been at loggerheads for decades.

While it is important for world leaders to agree on how best to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of rogue nations or terrorist groups, the presence of Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia offers a rare yet historic moment for President Obama to take the lead in solving one of the most troublesome conflicts left from the break-up off the Soviet Empire. Regional experts have taken to calling a seemingly intractable dispute between the two nations over ownership of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh the “frozen conflict.” In 1991, full-scale war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan and despite a cease-fire in 1994, border skirmishes and fighting continues to this day, over a million people have been displaced and Armenian forces occupy close to 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory.

The United States, along with Russia and France, co-chairs the Minsk Group tasked with resolving this conflict. Moscow has treated Armenia as its own and provided her government military support that has prolonged the conflict while Washington has been too busy with distractions in the Middle East to take a lead role in establishing a lasting peace between Yerevan and Baku.

President Obama may well be in a position to craft a breakthrough while the two leaders are in Washington that could create a new beginning for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan by leading a robust diplomatic initiative to find a permanent solution fair to both sides.

As one of the few countries that have recognized the Armenian genocide of the last century, France is in a position play a key role in a U.S. diplomatic initiative. Indeed, Washington and Paris are very well positioned to serve as honest brokers urging Armenia to vie for a permanent peace with its neighbor. The message from President Obama — and President Francois Hollande — to the Armenian people is simple: the best way to remember the memory of those 1.5 million killed by the Ottoman Empire is to build a vibrant, dynamic and inclusive Armenia at peace with its neighbors.

Indeed, despite millions of dollars that continues to flow into Armenia from its diaspora, Armenia’s GDP per capita is stagnant. Today it stands at $3500 and its GDP and would be much lower but for some $10 billion in diaspora remittances. Azerbaijan’s economy meanwhile, fueled in part by its oil, has grown at an average annual rate of 12 percent, allowing millions of Azeris to enter the middle class with the nation’s poverty rate plummeting from 47 percent to 8 percent according to the UNDP.

Despite these differences, both Armenia and Azerbaijan would benefit from a peace dividend. An American-led diplomatic resolution of the conflict would unleash growth in a post-conflict environment. Trade and commerce between Armenia and Azerbaijan — two cultures with a deep entrepreneurial spirit written into their DNA — would have an immediate impact on the lives of millions.

George Clemenceau once said: “It is far easier to make war than to make peace,” a fact that is clear in the Middle East. But the inability to solve all problems everywhere shouldn’t lead to unwillingness to solve those that can in fact be solved.

Mr. Obama should work with the two leaders to craft a plan that will lead to the withdrawal of Armenian forces from territories it occupies within Azerbaijan, an agreement from both sides to provide autonomy to the region of Nagorno-Karabakh so that Armenians within the region will not have to fear Baku even if U.S., French and Russian peacekeepers are needed at least in the short term with the costs of such a force paid by cash-rich Azerbaijan.

Further, a settlement might well include an Armenia-Azerbaijan Reconciliation and Reconstruction Fund that would invest in infrastructure projects between the two countries and Azerbaijan-financed extension of its gas export pipeline to Europe through Armenia.

And finally, a Cross-Culture Fund perhaps headed by the first lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva and the first Lady of Armenia, Rita Sargsyan, with the explicit goal of rebuilding the religious tolerance that existed between Armenians and Azerbaijanis before 1991.

The key is to such a deal is American leadership. Mr. Obama needs to persuade the presidents of both Armenia and Azerbaijan that the United States won’t turn its back on them and that a workable solution can satisfy both nations, allow their citizens to live in peace and allow them to at long last develop the trust to be good and cooperative neighbors in a troubled region of the world.

Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel once said that “peace is not God’s gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.” By being a leader of consequence, President Obama can give the gift of peace to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Hrant Dink murder in Trabzon Gendarmerie It was 5 minutes from intelligence

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Hrant DinkJournalist Hrant Dink murder in Trabzon Gendarmerie Intelligence officials ‘suspicious’ movement entered the investigation file. The report on the HTS record phone at Trabzon Gendarmerie Intelligence officers of Dink’s murder was found that 9 to 11 August 2006 Previously signaled 5 minutes from the Dinka’s house. The report was included in the photo provided by the office block phone signals.

Agos newspaper chief editor Hrant Dink’s murder in Trabzon omissions on foot, one of the first ring of the chain murders of the gendarmerie intelligence officers appeared to be in contact instigator Yasin Hayal. 9 imagine, according to documents in the folder additional annual cases of husband Coskun workers still on 13 May 2013 in Istanbul under investigation were interviewed by the TEM Branch. In his statement Igci, Yasin Hayal from friends in the summer of 2006, stating that he would kill a journalist, “I met with Yasin Hayal on this. ‘There was an Armenian writer Hrant Dink said.

back and forth about writing articles in the Turkish newspaper Agos. Therefore I will kill Hrant Dink, “he said,” he said. İğci, noting that imagination ask if you can find him a gun, “who after leaving my acquaintance with the name of Yasin and Master Sergeant Veysel Şahin I know as I called Peters. I’ve escalated the situation. We met in a park in Aqaba Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin. Okan Şimşek noted the information in detail. ‘You take the money, we will get back to you’ and we left, “he said.

‘Transition Yassin’

After receiving the money İğci imagine explaining meet again with the Gendarmerie Intelligence officers, “I told them Yasin information and documents shown to me and asked what I would do with the money I got from Yassin. Okan Şimşek told me ‘you can keep the money, we’ll let you know, we follow Yassin and his friends, “they said. I met with Search Search gendarmes after this date.

You’ve always thought that under control themselves Yassin, saying I was going to find the weapon they say gloss over Yassin my work, “he said. İğci, in September 2006 saying that Yassin himself compress the gendarmerie intelligence officers, they also told him “returned the money saying it can not find the gun”, he said, too. İğci when these officials in later interviews with the Imagination is now asking the state of the negotiations themselves, “Yasin Hayal will not do the job. under our supervision. We have done that job, “he said he had to say.

‘Post is going piercing’

İğci Dink after he was killed on January 22, 2007 the Gendarmerie Intelligence officer Sergeant Major Okan Şimşek, the NCO said said they came to Veysel Şahin and Önder Araz’s work: “In the case Okan Şimşek police to take me were definitely separated from said and workplace should not mention these issues. By calling me at work the next day and left a note in the form they want to meet me.

I then called them the number they gave me and I went to the bus station in Trabzon January 24, 2007, evening. They invited me into the van. We went for a while until cubits from the bus station. Okan Şimşek car that I should not tell anyone this event otherwise would be bad for me, this is the life that is threatening emergency, if I tell you what I know in a covered manner, saying it would jeopardize my personal safety was threatened me. They left the bus station in Trabzon, where they take me. Do not let me come right after a black pickup stopped next to me.

male party found in the pickup me ‘hemşerim almost piercing post of going,’ he said and left. I was quite surprised and could not make sense of this situation. “

‘Denied the expression’

Again after the murder of the gendarmerie intelligence officers Gazi Günay who often came to him stating that İğci, “I can not tell you what I know at this point commute warned many times. He was showing up in places I never expected. In these interviews, I refute me safety and I gave expression in the prosecutor’s office, given that I have already expressed the scenario is made up of the police results put pressure on me in my ezberleterek me he wanted me to say I gave this statement, “he said.

transferring the İğci receive the testimony of investigators from the Ministry and the Gendarmerie General Command, “the gendarmerie inspectors during phrase Süleyman Dogan and Jesus that fit its insistence police have told Ozturk, I could not construct it have told, but they said I talked to that scenario the police can be edited and lies. Colonel Suleiman nature to me, ‘This job is not your job, the job of the police, you are doing with the pressure of police work. Goodness should not freak out until you will do something, do not worry, “he said,” he said.

That office block

In addition to the folders on the report prepared for the HTS record Trabzon Gendarmerie graphics also took place about the relationship with the intelligence officer Yasin Hayal. In the report, the Gendarmerie Intelligence officials gave the phone to the Dink Dink signal 5 minutes walk from the house in Bakirkoy 9-11 August 2006 before the murder was detected.

In the report, the office block given signal was given to the photo of the phone. The report, which dates from the Gendarmerie Intelligence officers Okan Simsek, Ergun Yorulmaz was noted that the signal from Istanbul Gazi Günay phone. This date in Zechariah Catering behalf they are connected with the registered number, which turned one of these numbers before coming to Istanbul and were found to be used only in Istanbul.

Ads Ligatus – BEGIN Siyaset This is where the Ligatus ad should appear after page loading

Source: http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/siyaset/491762/istihbaratci_5_dakika_mesafedeymis.html

Charles Aznavour and Real Madrid support 13 homeless families of Armenia’s Gyumri

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6550-charles-aznavour-637x0-1YEREVAN. – Armenian-French world-renowned singer Charles Aznavour has responded to the fundraising initiative by SOS program director Hayk Barseghyan on helping Gyumri’s homeless families in buying apartments for them.

On his Facebook page, Charles Aznavour posted the video by Hayk Barseghyan telling about the 13 homeless families and describing the disastrous earthquake in the second largest city of Armenia.

President of Gyumri’s Journalists Club “Asbarez,” Levon Barseghyan, told Armenian News – NEWS.am that Charles Aznavour didn’t provide financial support to the Gyumri homeless: he expressed his support through reposting the link telling about the fundraising.

In his words, the fundraising initiators have also got in touch with Real Madrid. According to the preliminary agreement, the team leaders will send their T-shirts with signatures and inscriptions in support of the Gyumri homeless. The sale of the T-shirts will take place at the charity auction to be held on March 19.

The “Barcelona” flag with the signatures of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Thierry Henri and 10 team stars will also be presented during the auction.

Famous musician Serj Tankian, who is lead singer of the world-renowned American Armenian rock band System of a Down (SOAD), has also joined the ongoing fundraiser to purchase apartments for thirteen homeless families in Gyumri

On February 28, Gyumri’s famous jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan gave a charity concert in one of Gyumri’s shack-filled districts in support of the homeless.

The initiator of this project is photographer Hayk Barseghyan.

France: 750 km mountain bike: project of an association to help children in Armenia

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helping children armeniaSince 1993, social Children’s homes in Pas de Calais undertake, through their educational projects, in solidarity actions towards Armenian children boarding. They are launching a major project for this summer: “Mountain biking solidarity” that is to say to raid 750 km mountain bike with 40 French and Armenian adolescents. The purpose: besides the cultural and human enrichment, humanitarian aid to orphanages in Armenia 2.

All details here: https://www.mymajorcompany.com/raid-vtt-armenie-2014-projet-sociohumanitaire

Ex-U.S. Congressman Dan Burton Quits Azerbaijani Lobby Group, Citing Nonpayment

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Former U.S. Representative Dan Burton said he did not engage in lobbying during his time with the Azerbaijan America Alliance, but that he would occasionally invite members of Congress to “social functions” staged by the group. (file photo)

Former U.S. Representative Dan Burton said he did not engage in lobbying during his time with the Azerbaijan America Alliance, but that he would occasionally invite members of Congress to “social functions” staged by the group. (file photo)

By Carl Schreck

March 02, 2016

RFE/RL WASHINGTON — A former U.S. congressman has resigned as chairman of a central player in the multimillion-dollar Azerbaijani lobbying effort to court American support for the ex-Soviet republic’s authoritarian government, saying he has not been paid for his services “in a year.”

Former U.S. Representative Dan Burton (Republican-Indiana) this week resigned from the Azerbaijan America Alliance, a group founded by tycoon Anar Mammadov, son of the oil-rich Caucasus nation’s transport minister, that has paid U.S. lobbyists more than $12 million since 2011. 

“As I have not heard from you or Anar, and have not been paid for a year, please consider this e-mail as a letter of resignation as Chairman of the Azerbaijan American Alliance,” Burton wrote in a March 1 e-mail to James Fabiani, whose Washington-based firm lobbies for the group in the United States. The e-mail was seen by RFE/RL. 

Fabiani did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment or to a voicemail left with his office, and no one answered the phone at the number listed on the Azerbaijan America Alliance’s website.

Mammadov, a recent business partner of U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for the construction of a 33-floor, sail-shaped luxury hotel in Baku, did not respond to a Facebook message, and no one answered the phone at the number listed on his website. 

Burton’s resignation follows months of speculation about the fate of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, a prominent pillar of a broader Azerbaijani lobbying campaign in the United States to portray Azerbaijan as a stable energy and security partner for the West. The lobby involves both private and state money. 

Baku’s detractors accuse President Ilham Aliyev’s government and its proxies of trying to paper over an abysmal human rights record with “caviar diplomacy,” using gifts, vacations, and other expensive incentives to gain friends and curry favor with foreign officials.

Aliyev recently removed broad powers from the Transport Ministry, overseen by Mammadov’s father, suggesting the family’s influence in the government is waning. 

Several reports in the Azerbaijani media since August have cited unidentified sources as saying that Mammadov planned to shutter the Azerbaijan America Alliance due to financial difficulties amid the broader economic crisis Azerbaijan is grappling with due to plunging energy prices. 

Burton’s predecessor as the group’s chairman, Azerbaijani businessman Khayal Sharifzadeh, denied those reports, saying the organization “continues its activity as usual and even in a larger scale.” 

Wining And Dining 

Over the past five years, the Azerbaijan America Alliance has poured a total of $12.3 million into U.S. lobbying efforts, according to the public-interest website Opensecrets.org, having wined and dined Washington’s elite and pushed Baku’s interests in meetings with senior members of Congress. 

Fabiani & Company’s work for the group has made the Top 10 list of priciest U.S. lobbying contracts every year since the organization’s launch in 2011, according to rankings compiled by Opensecrets.org.

The organization, which is not formally affiliated with the Azerbaijani state but has hewn closely to the Aliyev government’s line, has continued this spending, paying $1.46 million for U.S. lobbying services in 2015, most of which went to Fabiani & Company, according to public lobbying disclosures.  

Precisely how that money is being spent remains unclear. The group’s public activities appear to have ground to a halt. It has not updated its social media accounts or the news feed on its website since November, and it did not stage its lavish annual gala dinner in 2015 as it had the previous three years.

The group spent $430,000 for its 2012 dinner, which was attended by then-House of Representatives speaker John Boehner (pictured with Mammadov at left) and 15 other members of Congress, including Burton, according to a 2013 filing under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

In 2013, the Azerbaijan America Alliance terminated its FARA registration, which had required it to provide detailed accounts of its expenditures and contacts with government officials, journalists, and other individuals while lobbying.

Its spending is now reported under the U.S. Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires a far less detailed account of a lobbying activities than FARA. Fabiani & Company’s filings reporting its work for the Azerbaijan America Alliance in each quarter of 2015 indicate only that contacts were made with the U.S. State Department and both houses of Congress.
‘I Didn’t Want To Be Involved Anymore’ 

Burton was named chairman of the Azerbaijan America Alliance in February 2013, a month after he left office after a 30-year career in Congress. He told RFE/RL this week that Fabiani introduced him to Mammadov, chairman of Garant Holding, a conglomerate with interests that include construction firms, hotels, and insurance companies. 

Investigations by RFE/RL have previously revealed that Anar Mammadov’s business interests are tied to the ministry overseen by his father, Ziya Mammadov.

Burton said that he did not engage in lobbying during his time with the Azerbaijan America Alliance, but that he would occasionally invite members of Congress to “social functions” staged by the group.

He also published opinion articles supporting the Azerbaijani government. One such piece in The Washington Times was singled out by Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple, who noted that it failed to mention Burton’s affiliation with the Azerbaijan America Alliance. 

In his resignation e-mail, Burton said that while he believes “it is very important that there be a strong business and government relationship between the United States and Azerbaijan, I still must resign” due to nonpayment.

He declined to say how much he was paid as the organization’s chairman.

He told RFE/RL that he has not been paid for his services since February 2015.

“I hope they don’t have my name still as chairman of the Azerbaijan America Alliance. I told them that I didn’t want to be involved anymore,” he said in a March 1 telephone interview. 

As of March 2, Burton was still listed as chairman of the Azerbaijan America Alliance on the organization’s website.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service

Austrailan MP Zimmerman calls Turkey recognize Armenian Genocide during maiden Parliamentary speech

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Trent Zimmerman MP calls for recognition of Armenian Genocide

Trent Zimmerman MP calls for recognition of Armenian Genocide

CANBERRA: On Wednesday, 2nd March 2016, newly-elected Federal Member for North Sydney, Trent Zimmerman gave his maiden speech in the Australia’s House of Representatives, calling on Turkey to recognise and atone for the Armenian Genocide.

Zimmerman was elected at a recent by-election, taking the seat vacated by Joe Hockey MP (now Australia’s Ambassador to the United States), a long-time advocate for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian National Committee of Australia’s (ANC Australia) Executive Administrator, Arin Markarian commented: “We thank Mr. Zimmerman for proving he will continue Mr. Hockey’s fine work on the advancement of recognition and justice for the Armenian Genocide.”
In his speech, Zimmerman acknowledged the “great historical injustices” that the Armenians have suffered, particularly through the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

He said: “The Armenians are a people who have suffered great historical injustices. They are one of the few people against whom genocide has been attempted, and the awful legacy of those events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire is deeply felt in their community today.”

Zimmerman added: “We know such horrific events are best healed through reconciliation, recognition and atonement. I hope that we will see a day when Turkey, indeed the global community through the United Nations, properly recognises the Armenian Genocide.”

ANC Australia has written to Zimmerman, congratulating him on his maiden speech, wishing him a fruitful career representing the electorate of North Sydney and the greater Australian community.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PORTION OF MR. ZIMMERMAN’S MAIDEN SPEECH

Moscow: 4,500 Guests Attend Special Armenian Genocide Program in Kremlin Hall

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Harut-SassounianBY  HARUT SASSOUNIAN

The 10th annual Armenian Music Awards (AMA) program was held on February 27, at the Kremlin’s Kevorkiev Hall in Moscow, with 4,500 guests in attendance. Many of Armenia’s top stars entertained the large crowd with patriotic songs and musical performances for more than four hours.

This year’s program, organized by Valeriy Saharyan, recognized the important contributions made by 12 individuals and organizations on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, including:

— Vladimir Zhirinovsky (member of the Russian Parliament),

— Harut Sassounian (Publisher of The California Courier and President of Armenia Artsakh Fund),

— Armenia Futura,

— Sergey Smpatian (conductor).

Other honorees, some of whom could not be present, appeared by video or through a representative:

— Valerie Boyer (member of the French Parliament),

— Vigen Sargsyan (Armenian President’s Chief of Staff and Coordinator of Programs organized by the State Centennial Committee of the Armenian Genocide),

— Armenia’s Minister of Culture,

— Archbishop Ezras Nercessian (Primate of Moscow and Nor Nakhichevan),

— Serj Tankian (System of a Down),

— Rouben Vartanian (benefactor and businessman),

— Artur Janipekyan (Gazprom Media Holding),

— Ara Vartanyan (Hayastan All-Armenian Fund).

In receiving his award, Zhirinovsky had strong words for Turkey. Here are excerpts from his remarks:

“The day will come when Armenians will celebrate their festivals in the territory of liberated Western Armenia. That could be a festival bearing the name of your holy mountain — Mount Ararat — and could take place in Kars, Ardahan, Sassoun or Trabizon…. After the downing of the Russian jet, I would have ordered a powerful attack on Turkey. Today, very little would have remained of Turkey…. I wish the dream of Armenians worldwide would become a reality; that those who committed that horrible genocide on April 1915, during World War I, would be punished.”

Zhirinovsky continued his aggressive words stating that Turkey attacked the Armenians who “were living in their homeland, in their land. But the Turks were nomads; their homeland is in Central Asia, in Tashkent. They should go there and leave Anatolia to Armenians, Kurds, and Greeks. And Constantinople should be a free city. Times are changing. It is possible that shortly this would become a reality. Armenians, no one will bother you. Therefore, the descendants of Western Armenia should prepare their documents to get back their lost lands and properties. I am not talking a lot of ‘hot air.’ I am convinced that Armenians will shortly commemorate not the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, but celebrate the liberation of Western Armenia. And the Armenian flag will fly in Kars, Ardahan, on Ararat, Sassoun, and Trabizon.”

I had a hard act to follow after Zhirinovsky’s powerful words. In accepting my award, I made the following brief remarks:

“Genocide is a monstrous crime which has no statutes of limitations. The Turkish government should well know that the Armenian nation will never give up its just rights. Although 100 years have passed, even if 1,000 years should pass, we will continue to demand, and struggle to regain everything that we lost. Turkey must return all our personal and communal properties — and more importantly — our historic lands of Western Armenia. In other words, we demand our confiscated possessions, and compensation for the murder of our 1.5 million holy martyrs.”

I then urged the audience not to despair: “One hundred years ago, the powerful and vast Ottoman Empire collapsed and broke apart, turning into the Republic of Turkey within much smaller borders. With God’s help and our persistent efforts, I am convinced that the day will come when today’s Turkey would also collapse due to internal and external pressures. We must be prepared to take advantage of such an opportunity to liberate our historic lands. Until then, Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora should be united into one fist, so that our homeland would become a strong economic, political, and military power. Only such a powerful Armenia can take ownership of its just rights rather than begging for them.”

This uplifting four-hour program was broadcast live by Armenia’s public television to Armenian communities throughout the world. I am confident that the 4,500 guests at the Kremlin Hall and millions of TV viewers felt a renewed sense of determination to pursue their national goals until their eventual realization.

WESTWOOD, Calif: MOU Signed with UCLA for Mapping of Armenian Genome

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Sevak-and-Tom-MoU-2BY FEDRA DJOURABCHI

WESTWOOD, Calif.—As 2015 marked the 100th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and global attention was focused on Armenia, a group of Armenian investigators set out to launch a research program that would map the Armenian genome. This initiative was made possible with a monetary gift generously donated by Sara Chitjian, a UCLA alumna whose father had witnessed and survived the Armenian genocide.

On Friday, February 19, Dr. Thomas Coates, director of the UCLA Center for World Health; Dr. Wayne Grody, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, pediatrics, and human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and Drs. Sevak Avagyan and Evgeni Sokurenko, co-founders of the ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust, Yerevan, Armenia, signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) sealing the research partnership between the two organizations.

The main objective of this research project is to better understand the genetic roots of Armenian people. The timing of this project is also fortuitous as Armenia still has a large number of centenarians that could participate in this genetic mapping while they are alive. At the signing ceremony,  Chitjian stated that her hope is that the findings from this genome project would be useful in historical studies of the Armenian population.

This MOU fits well with UCLA’s legacy of working towards the advancement of global health, education, and collaborative medical research. Not only will this genetic mapping have a great impact on the life sciences and offer enormous benefits in terms of better general health care for the Armenians worldwide, but the study could also lead to important findings on Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a genetic disorder that is more prevalent among Armenians than any other nation.

The project builds on UCLA’s 60-year-old FMF program — one of the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere — and provides comprehensive interdisciplinary expertise. Dr. Wayne Grody will be one of the principal investigators, performing the molecular work.

Salpy Akaragian, RN-BC, MN, director of the UCLA International Nursing Program, who was instrumental in connecting UCLA to the co-founders of ArmGenia Research Charitable Trust, Drs. Avagyan and Sokurenko, coordinated the all-day celebration. A number of VIPs, such as the Honorable Ara Najarian, esq. the Mayor of Glendale; the Honorable Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, esq.; and Consul Armela Shakaryan from the Consulate of Armenia in Los Angeles, were also present to witness this historical moment.

Armenia, EU talk Karabakh, Syrian refugee crisis

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207204Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian met Tuesday, March 1 with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Yerevan.

At the meeting, the parties thoroughly discussed Armenia-EU ties and negotiations on forming a new legal basis for relations, also dwelling upon Armenia’s participation in projects on political dialogue, human rights, mobility, economic reforms among other things.

The Armenian foreign policy chief thanked EU for its continuous support to the country, having played a significant role for reforms implementation and institutional capacity building.

Analyzing the situation in the Middle East, Nalbandian stressed that Armenia has so far hosted around 20,000 Syrian refugees, adding that EU’s possible assistance in this context would be quite appreciated.

Minister Nalbandian also briefed Mogherini on the latest developments of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship. Mogherini, in turn, reaffirmed the EU’s support to the mediators’ efforts towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

At the end of the meeting, Nalbandian restated Armenia’s determination to go for an exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.