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American and Greek Officials Discuss the Extension of American Military Presence in Greece

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By Nick Kampouris

According to the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, the Greek authorities have started discussions with the American Pentagon regarding the issue of the extension of the American military presence in Greece.

According to officials in the US, Greece is ready to give permission for American military operations on Greek soil and the expansion of its facilities both for the Navy and the Air Force.

The American officials also added that there are political and geostrategic reasons why Greece is becoming more and more important for the United States, as the two countries have excellent relations and they both worry about the future of their NATO ally, Turkey.

The article mentions that Greece’s position is ideal for the training of the American troops and pilots, while the political leadership of the ruling government as well as the opposition both support the American presence in the region.

The topics still have to be discussed under the spectrum of NATO’s broader strategy. The Alliance’s Commander for Europe Curtis Scaparotti, who is taking part in these discussions is not in favor of a permanent deploy of American forces and equipment as this is not part of the current strategy of NATO for the region.

At the same time, the Americans try to preserve a balance regarding Turkey as they point out that all these developments do not intent to put at risk the significance of NATO’s air base of Incirlik in Turkey’s Adana region.

Armenian American community leaders salute Artsakh President’s successful week in Washington

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Armenian American community leaders from across the U.S. gathered in Washington, DC to congratulate Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) President Bako Sahakyan on his successful visit to the nation’s capital this week, celebrating the growth of Artsakh’s ties to America, its enduring commitment to peace, and its thriving democracy, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“In honoring President Sahakyan today, we honor his generation – some of whom are still with us and some of whom are not,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “A generation, starting in the late 80’s, that turned the tide of a thousand years. The tectonic plates of the Armenian nation pivoted on the shoulders of people like President Sahakyan. We went from losing land, from losing hope to a rebirth. The debt that we owe cannot be repaid and in some ways, its true scope cannot yet be fully understood.”

Hamparian went on to note that, “It’s what we do after we leave tonight that matters the most. We honor the President and those that serve under him by what we do — with our words, but ultimately with our hearts and hands. If they are the first army of the Armenian nation, we must be the second.”

“The Armenian community of America is one of the strongest and well-established segments of our Diaspora. You carry out great work to develop and deepen Artsakh-US and Armenian-American relations, cooperation, and friendship,” said President Sahakyan.

Expressing thanks to the United States for serving as safe-haven – a second homeland – to survivors of the Armenian Genocide, President Sahakyan noted the similarities between the Republic of Artsakh and the U.S. “The principles of freedom, democracy, initiative, are typical to our peoples. A no less significant factor for enhancing our cooperation is the geopolitical reality and its imperatives. Artsakh is open to such cooperation and we see the same willingness in our American friends, some of whom are here today.”

“We have chosen freedom and independence,” continued President Sahakyan. “We are building a democratic country and are able to defend it – and we will spare no efforts in this direction, with the support of Mother Armenia and Armenians worldwide, and our friends in different countries, including the support of people here today.”

Michael Rubin: What is American policy toward Kurdistan?

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The poster of Massoud Barzani, whose term as President of Kurdistan region ended on August 20, 2015, but refused to step down and remains unofficially in office, in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, September 2017. Photo: AP

By Michael Rubin

The Kirkuk crisis seems largely over. With the exception of a pocket here or there, Iraq has regained areas lost or abandoned in 2014, while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) retains control of those regions which the Iraqi constitution assigns it. Stripping away the propaganda, polemics, and disinformation of the past week, what happened is clear:

Masoud Barzani overstepped. He might have compromised, but he spurred all offers in his own nationalist frenzy and efforts to distract from the political and economic malaise which his dictatorship had wrought. He forced a confrontation, and he lost. It’s that simple. Had he compromised, Kurds would still retain daily control over disputed areas in Diyala, Nineveh, and Kirkuk. The decision and responsibility for it was Barzani and Barzani’s alone. There was no 1975-style betrayal, for the United States was very transparent in what would happen.

So what happens next with regard to US policy toward the Kurds?

US policy must be cognizant of the complexity of the region. While it’s easy to be sympathetic to the Kurdish narrative, there should be some soul-searching for those who took part in KRG propaganda tours and only now are surprised by what Kurds and regional minorities say when freed from the watchful eyes of Kurdish militias and intelligence.

Barzani is an illegitimate leader. Under Kurdish law, his term in office expired more than two years ago. The State Department and Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk erred by continuing to engage him. They may have thought it was easier to engage a dictator than deal with a more complex Kurdish political landscape, but they were wrong. By law, Yusuf M. Sadiq, the speaker of parliament, should be recognized by Washington as Iraqi Kurdistan’s interim president until elections can be organized. Those elections should be organized by a commission independent in more than just its name and observed professionally by credible groups like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Carter Center, or the National Democratic Institute, among others.

Prior to the September 25 referendum, the KRG and its proxies in Washington and London invited former officials, think tankers and academics to “observe” the referendum and promised that all expenses would be covered by the KRG. Most smartly demurred and stayed home. They were right. I saw some of the invitations and the proposed schedule: They included just about two hours of observation at hand-picked voting centers but were heavy on meetings with KDP bigwigs and entertainment. That sort of nonsense delegitimizes neutral observation; it is frankly what dictatorships do, not democracies.

When new elections occur, it is time for Kurdish leaders to address an issue they have ignored for 25 years: Do the properties in which top leaders live belong to the individuals, parties, or government? Let us hope that it is the latter. What this means is that if Barzani steps down, he should vacate his palace and his mountaintop complex in Sar-e Rash. Let him purchase a house in Erbil but, if he doesn’t want to mix with ordinary Kurds, then let him return to his village or go abroad. His father once fled to Moscow but Barzani may prefer Turkey or Dubai. Frankly, it is long past time the KRG abandoned its mountaintop complex, once a popular resort until confiscated first by Saddam Hussein and, after 1991, the Barzani family.

The hands of America — or, more accurately, Americans — are not entirely clean. In the weeks before the referendum, Kurds with whom I spoke suggested that despite all the official statements coming from Washington, they had been assured by other Americans that the United States would accept the referendum. Who were these Americans who gave the Kurds such false assurances? It’s time for the Kurds to say. Did they misinterpret outspoken congressmen? Or did they listen too much to former US officials who had leveraged their former positions into business opportunities in the region? It does a huge disservice to American statecraft in Iraq and elsewhere when former ambassadors effectively use their title to bolster their local importance long after their terms have expired.

It is also time for the United States to be transparent with regard to the Syrian Kurds. In early 2014, long before US government officials would deal with Syrian Kurds, I visited the homeland they had carved out for themselves against the backdrop of fighting Islamist radicals in Syria. It was impressive. Little did I know that was only the start. The People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces were, hands-down, the most capable and effective local fighting force against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. They should be rewarded. It’s time for a real debate about de-listing the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which, frankly, has long seemed more an insurgency than a terror group. Turkey — to whom the State Department has for too long deferred — has no basis for complaint given President Erdogan’s own outreach to the group in years past as well as Turkey’s open embrace of Hamas.

Simply put, the United States should guarantee Syrian Kurdistan (or Rojava as Kurds call it) be considered a federal region within Syria. Syrian Kurds should not be betrayed. Preventing betrayal means not only deterring potential Turkish aggression, but also engaging with Rojava’s leaders so that they shed the personality cults that so undercut their Iraqi Kurdish cousins.

The Kurds in both Rojava and Iraqi Kurdistan are capable of democracy. Democracy, however, is about accountability, not backroom deals to divide the region along preordained lines hashed out by party bosses. It means accountability to the rule-of-law regardless of family name. No one should be able to murder a journalist with impunity nor should they be able to leverage their political offices to augment family fortunes. Indeed, against the backdrop of so much financial hardship, it is well past time Kurds demanded the return of stolen assets. The true peshmerga who fought on the frontlines (rather than those who claimed to be peshmerga but traded oil with the Islamic State) deserve no less.

The article first published at American Enterprise Institute.

Armenian American Orphans Christmas Telethon strives to be most successful one yet

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Ovanes Balayan during the 17th annual Armenian American Orphans Christmas telethon. (Photo courtesy of Alex Kojababian)

By Jeff Landa

For almost 20 years, Glendale resident and TV show host Ovanes Balayan has raised money to help disadvantaged children in Armenia by organizing the Armenian American Orphans Christmas Telethon, which is set to be held Thursday.

Balayan’s nonprofit organization, the Armenian American Orphans and Disabled Children Fund, will host the 18th annual telethon and ask viewers to donate toward the renovation of an existing facility in Spitak, Armenia, into a kindergarten, recreation center and gymnasium.

According to telethon spokesman Alex Kojababian, the renovated site will serve more than 1,000 children and will take approximately 11 months to build. Last year’s telethon helped secure enough funds to build two schools from the ground up in Gymuri, Armenia, where about 600 children now attend.

“I love kids no matter if they are Armenian or not. I started this for Armenian kids, but if I can help any kids, I will,” Balayan said.

That money went toward a three-day Christmas celebration for children at Aram Khachaturian’s event hall in Yerevan, Armenia. Since it began, the telethon has raised money to construct nine orphanages and schools throughout Armenia, Kojababian said.

“Our annual telethon raises more than $250,000, and every year that amount is growing,” Balayan said in a statement, adding that he’s confident this year’s telethon will be the most successful one yet.

The Armenian American Orphans Christmas Telethon will be held from 5 p.m. to midnight Thursday at the ARTV station, 4401 San Fernando Road. The event will be broadcast on AABC, High Vision and ARTV.

Balayan also hosts a Sunday TV show on AABC.

“We need support, so we can help those in need,” Balayan said. “For many years, we have been able to complete our goals due to the generosity of everyone that has contributed.”

jeff.landa@latimes.com

UCLA lecturer harmonizes Armenian, American cultures through song

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Karenn Chutjian-Presti’s recently published book, “My First Armenian Songbook,” is a bilingual collection of 16 nursery rhymes and children’s songs translated from English to Armenian. (Hannah Burnett/Assistant Photo editor)

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Karenn Chutjian Presti began translating nursery rhymes and American folk tunes into Armenian about 6 1/2 years ago, when her first daughter was born.

“A lot of people talk about having a baby and your brain turning to mush and it wasn’t like that at all,” she said. “I was learning new words, I was learning new vocabulary and I realized how many words I was missing, being born in the U.S.”

The Herb Alpert School of Music lecturer published her translations in “My First Armenian Songbook,” a bilingual collection of 16 children’s songs on Aug. 17. Chutjian Presti said music has helped her raise her children in a multilingual environment because it makes it easier for them to break down the sounds of various languages.

Although Chutjian Presti and her husband are raising their children to speak Armenian, German, Italian and English, she said she feels particularly passionate about Armenian. The dialect of Armenian that Chutjian Presti speaks, Western Armenian, is classified as definitely endangered by UNESCO, and is a minority language in every country where it is spoken in.

“It’s not a language that’s spoken (officially) in any country – in Armenia, they speak Eastern Armenian,” she said. “So, we have this sense of responsibility growing up Armenian to keep the language strong.”

Chutjian Presti also said Armenian speakers of her generation had less access to supplementary materials in Armenian, such as television shows and books, than children today do. As a result, her Armenian vocabulary was somewhat limited, and she didn’t know basic terms she wanted to use with her children, such as playground vocabulary.

Now, Chutjian Presti speaks to her children almost exclusively in Armenian, only addressing them in English when they have monolingual friends around.

“I think one of the drawbacks of (being bilingual) is you’re not really part of one culture completely, you have one foot in one culture and one foot in the other. At least, this is my experience,” she said. “They are American and yet they are Armenian, so I wanted to find a way to connect these two things.”

Chutjian Presti also created piano and vocal arrangements for her translations, which her sister, Stephanie Betjemann, sang on a CD recording that accompanied the book. Chutjian Presti said she chose to use western instrumental arrangements, rather than traditional Armenian instruments, to retain the familiarity of the songs.

“That’s the bridge I wanted to have, the Armenian words with the American melodies,” she said.

Betjemann, who also studied linguistics in college, said music and singing can help improve a child’s skills in a given language because the brain processes and stores words set to music differently than words that are not.

She added that one of her favorite songs to sing is “The Zoo,” because it helped her learn the Armenian names of some animals she would not have known otherwise.

“It helps keep the language relevant,” Betjemann said. “A language is only as good as its applicability or function in a person’s life.”

For the book’s imagery and design, Chutjian Presti turned to her friend Alastair Sadler, a professional illustrator. Sadler took on the project, despite having no familiarity with Armenian culture or language prior to working on the project.

“That’s sort of one of the pleasures of the project, is having to deal with something that is completely new to me,” he said. “I had to go through a bit of a learning process with (Chutjian Presti’s) help, to figure out which of the words in Armenian corresponded to the words in English.”

He said the first song that appears in the book – “Zoom Zoom Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon” – was one of his favorites to illustrate because it reminded him of when he first introduced the song to Chutjian Presti at a toddler’s music group meeting when their kids were younger.

Now as Chutjian Presti reads the book to her own children, she said she wishes she had a similar songbook for herself as a child growing up in an Armenian-American household. She added she hopes the songs can serve as a bridge between Armenian and American culture.

“It was just more of a practical concern – why shouldn’t they think that we have … all of these songs in Armenian tradition?” she said.

source: http://dailybruin.com/2017/09/10/ucla-lecturer-harmonizes-armenian-american-cultures-through-song/

Anti-Americanism reaches new peak in Turkey

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Members of the Youth Union of Turkey (Turkiye Genclik Birligi, TGB) hold signs and Turkish flags as they stage an anti-US protest outside the Parliament before a visit by the US Secretary of Defence in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 21, 2016.
ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Imagesan

Pinar Tremblay August 22, 2017,

As much of the world watched anger spiraling out of control Aug. 11-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia, some Turks were rather pleased with the events. Even before US President Donald Trump fully indulged white supremacists with his words and before US media outlets mentioned fears of a possible civil war, several pro-government voices in the Turkish media said they were certain the United States is destined for a civil war or is even on the brink of one.

In the pro-government Turks’ commentaries, three features are evident. First, most of these statements are brewing with a rather new type of anti-Americanism, rejoicing in the possibility of American suffering. Second, the statements reflect limited knowledge of US politics, and that knowledge sometimes is intentionally distorted. Last, the comments don’t mention white supremacists’ hatred of Islam or Turkish-Americans; rather, the focus has been mostly on the supremacists’ slogan “Jews will not replace us.”

Here are a few examples:

The most provocative piece came Aug. 14 from Hilal Kaplan, a columnist for the pro-government Sabah daily. The piece, titled “To the privileged, equality is torture,” claims that white supremacists are similar to “White Turks.” White Turk was a term coined by a journalist in the early 1990s to define the rich, secular ruling elite of Turkey. On the other side, then, are Gray or Black Turks, who are the poor, pious Muslim majority. In her piece, Kaplan struggles to explain how the White Turks and American white supremacists resemble each other, as she further claims white supremacists are middle or lower class — therefore logically more like Gray Turks of the 1990s. Then she says they are also WASPs, branding white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants as racists.

Kaplan writes in sound bites, posing a series of questions highlighting white privilege. She claims the United States has not been this close to civil war since the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Her conclusion is that, to overcome domestic tension, Trump may become more aggressive in the international arena. Her bitterness against the United States on the social level comes out, particularly toward white Americans. Hence, she announces the approaching civil war without any proof other than the events in Charlottesville.

Another interesting example is an Aug. 14 piece by columnist Melih Altinok, also writing for Sabah, asserting hypothetically that an attempt to overthrow Trump would result in a civil war. After offering a muddled explanation of US domestic politics, Altinok says the possibility of a US civil war doesn’t bother him because the busier the United States is with internal matters, the less energy it will have to stage coups in places like Turkey. Altinok concludes, “I cannot help but say it is a good thing that Trump, not [Democratic presidential candidate] Hillary [Clinton], won the election.”

On the same day, the English version of Sabah published a piece from Ilnur Cevik, a senior adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Cevik had made headlines in May for saying, “Turkey may hit US forces in Syria by accident.” Cevik now argues that US domestic problems such as Charlottesville arose as the United States meddled abroad, and because of what he says is US support for terror organizations. In a way, this piece was a softened version of several other columns expressing that the United States being on the brink of collapse would be a sort of heavenly justice. Cevik finishes his column, which was based solely on the rhetoric of extreme-right movements, by saying, “Those who preach high values in the US seem to be at a loss [regarding] the white supremacist movement.”

On Aug. 15, Islamic daily Yeni Akit featured a stunning headline — “Bells of Civil War in the US” — claiming that white supremacists are demanding a return to slavery. The report starts with the accusation that the United States has helped provocateurs in Venezuela and Pakistan turn their streets into war zones, and now it is being pulled into a civil war.

Several pro-government social media accounts also helped spread this idea of fast-approaching civil war in the United States. For example:

One Twitter account echoed a common sentiment among a determined, bitter group on the social media network. Replying to prominent columnist Umit Kivanc’s tweet highlighting the realities of the Ku Klux Klan, someone using what most likely was a troll Twitter account said, “We want civil war in the US, long live the racists, long live the resisting blacks, fight for your honor.”

Another message that was retweeted hundreds of times was about US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s comments on how Alevis are discriminated against in Turkey. The tweet said, “His country [US] is on the brink of civil war and division, still he is trying to divide Turkey. How many endless enemies we have [internally and externally].”

Another post that was retweeted more than 180 times said, “They [protesters] burned the US flag. We are waiting for a civil war and division of the US. We will give all our support [for that].”

Several social media users were in awe of the body armor and guns of the white supremacist groups, noting they are civilians. One wrote, “The US is ready for a civil war. God willing, they will start consuming each other … I support the Yankees.”

In all of these posts we see a deep pleasure derived from US domestic problems. An expat American social scientist who has been living in various Turkish cities for the past two decades spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. He said: “For years, Pew [Research Center] polls indicated persistent anti-Americanism here; however, there is also another dimension. A few years ago it was mostly directed against US government policies. Now we see a more intense hatred toward the people of the US and this is, sadly, coming from mostly those who have lived in the US and who are still connected. They make special shopping trips seasonally or even go to the US to give birth, so that their kid can be a US citizen. But then you see them brewing with strong hatred against all things American in social media or during your daily interactions.”

Indeed, over the last year several Americans have mentioned similar encounters in Turkey from vendors or acquaintances.

The scholar continued: “They do not hide their wish and even prayers for the US to experience civil unrest or turmoil, if not an all-out civil war. One technocrat joked how fast the US is becoming Syria. He openly declared his wish to see Americans suffer. The vengeance is real and deep. Once I confronted him saying, ‘But look, your family [son and grandchildren] lives in the US.’ He shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Well, they will move to Canada or the UK — we have money.’ And indeed this is a common sentiment across the board. The US is an easy target and US bashing has no consequences.”

Until the Qatar crisis erupted in early June, pro-government media were careful not to direct their criticism toward Trump. But now, Turks see the United States as working with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others against Qatar. Anything American has become fair game for blame in Turkey. In previous years, people would say, “Well, we criticize the American government, not the people.” But white supremacists make them feel justified in hating all Americans openly.

Tremblay is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse and a visiting scholar of political science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is a columnist for Turkish news outlet T24. Her articles have appeared in Time, New America, Hurriyet Daily News, Today’s Zaman, Star and Salom. On Twitter: @pinartremblay

The Great Crime: forgotten American diplomat resisted the #ArmenianGenocide.

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A poster by Douglas Volk for the American Committee for Relief in the Near East.

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How a forgotten American diplomat resisted the Armenian Genocide.
Edward White’s The Lives of Others is a monthly series about unusual, largely forgotten figures from history..
Brief though it was, Henry Morgenthau’s career as U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire marked one of the most astonishing chapters in American overseas diplomacy. In January 1916, he left Constantinople having served for little more than two years and headed home to New York, determined to help Woodrow Wilson win a second term. “I could imagine no greater calamity,” he later recollected, “for the U.S. and the world than that the American nation should fail to heartily endorse this great statesman.”

Morgenthau was convinced that Wilson was the best candidate to reshape an international order that had descended into savagery. In the preceding nine months, he had seen it with his own eyes, as the Ottoman government carried out an unspeakable offense against its people, slaughtering more than a million ethnic Armenians. Protected by American neutrality during the first three years of World War I, Morgenthau was the fulcrum of a network of American diplomats, missionaries, and businesspeople who gained an eyewitness perspective of the massacres. Their testimony constitutes a compelling body of evidence about what happened to the Armenians: an outrage for which the term genocide was invented.

News of the massacres reached Washington through Morgenthau, but it was U.S. consulate officials in more remote regions who saw up close what’s known in Armenian as Medz Yeghern, “the Great Crime.” Leslie Davis was U.S. consul in the province of Harput, an area of Turkey in which Armenians accounted for about a third of the population. Seated amid the Anatolian highlands, Harput was roughly seven hundred miles from the capital, necessitating a twenty-one-day journey: eighteen on horseback to a railway station, then three on a train. Davis himself described the Harput consulate as “one of the most remote and inaccessible in the world”; the urban splendor of Constantinople seemed as distant as the moon. 

Until 1910, Davis had worked in a presumably well-paid but sedate job as a lawyer in the Manhattan financial district. On entering his thirties, and fearing that life was passing him by, he applied to join the State Department, likely with romantic dreams of intrigue and exotic adventure in faraway lands. His first posting was to Batumi, in what is now Georgia, where his taste for outdoors pursuits earned him a reputation as a very American type of eccentric: a Teddy Roosevelt of the Black Sea who took every opportunity to make life more rugged and uncomfortable than it needed to be.

In April 1914, just two months before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, he was transferred to Harput. Surveying his new jurisdiction, Davis was full of optimism: “the country was peaceful and the people were hopeful of progress.” Railroads were under construction; the ethnic and religious populations existed in apparent harmony. He reported “nothing but good feeling between Mohammadean and Christian,” after attending a ceremony at a college run by American missionaries, “and the Turks and Armenians appeared to be on friendly terms … Who could have then foreseen,” he wondered, “amid those peaceful surroundings … what is probably the most terrible tragedy that has ever befallen any people in the history of the world?”

Read More : https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/02/03/the-great-crime/

American Armenian Rose Float Association 128th Tournament of Roses Parade 2017

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American Armenian Rose Float wins 2017 “Past President’s Trophy”

The American Armenian Rose Float Association, Inc. (AARFA) is proud to announce that it has been accepted for the third time into the Tournament of Roses Parade. The 128th Tournament will be held on January 2, 2017. Though a tremendous challenge, this project is a great vote of confidence for AARFA. With skilled and talented members and supporters, the float is sure to be a success, again this coming year.

PASADENA, Calif.—The American Armenian Rose Float Association, Inc. (AARFA) presented “Field of Dreams,” the 2017 float which was the winner of the “Past President’s Trophy” for the most creative design and use of floral and nonfloral elements. “Field of Dreams” depicts this year’s 128th Tournament of Roses Parade, themed Echoes of Success, is comprised of about 18,000 plus white and red roses and other flowers, placed on the artistic rendering of Mount Ararat with thousands of other non-floral elements such as pomegranates, artichokes, nuts, lentils and more that covered the Artsakh Stallion. This is the third year that the American Armenian Rose Float Association, Inc. presents a float in the Tournament of Roses, which takes place annually in Pasadena, California.

In continuation with now a yearly tradition and to honor the role of the American Armenian community in the United States, the AARFA unveils a float to represent the strength, beauty and symbols of the Armenian community to the world. The three children upon the Artsakh stallion represent the echoes of success of the American Armenian community in science, literature and music.

A few of the float riders included Houry Gebeshian, gymnast; Michael Aram, artist; Claudette Stefanian, TV news Personality; Sarkis Mazmanian, Caltech Medical Microbiologist; Ralph Winter, Producer  of Armenian Genocide movie The Promise.

AARFA is able to create and present this float only with the help of the community. The cost to manufacture and create the float is approximately $250,000, and with all of the events and donations we conducted in 2016, we remain with a balance of a little over $50,000 to be paid by the end of the month. AARFA is a nonprofit organization for the sole purpose of presenting to the world the American Armenian community’s achievements. Please help us complete this tradition annually and donate today at AARFA.org.

For more details about “Field of Dreams” and the 2017 Riders, please see our prior press releases at AARFA.org.
The Tournament of Roses began as a promotional effort by the distinguished Valley Hunt Club of Pasadena. In the winter of 1890, the club members invited their former East Coast neighbors to warmer California for a mid-winter holiday, where they would watch games like jousting, chariot races, polo, foot races and tug-of-war. Thanks to the warmer California weather and the abundance of fresh flowers, even in winter, the club decided to add another event to these festivities: a parade of carriages decorated with hundreds of blooms. This was the start of the world-famous Tournament of Roses Parade.
On January 2, 2017, floats will be showcasing “Echoes of Success” down Colorado Blvd. along with high-stepping equestrian units and spirited marching bands. AARFA has decided to share ‘Echoes of Success” as a podium of the American Armenian diaspora success story. It is an honor to share Armenia as an sucess story in the world during the 2017 Rose Parade.

Armenian Americans congratulate Donald Trump

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armenian-american-back-trumpWASHINGTON, DC – Over 93% of the Congressional candidates backed by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) prevailed in yesterday’s hard-fought elections, as U.S. voters elected Donald Trump President and maintained Republican majorities in the Senate and House.

“We congratulate Donald Trump on his victory, commend Secretary Clinton on a hard-fought campaign, and thank Armenian American voters who went to the polls in record numbers to back federal, state, and local candidates who champion issues of special concern to our community,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  “We look forward to getting to work right away in engaging with the Trump Administration and the incoming Congress to make progress on the full range of the Armenian American community’s public policy priorities.”

“We were greatly gratified to see such a large percentage of our Congressional endorsees win their races, including powerful advocates such as Maryland Senator Elect Chris Van Hollen, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, Representatives Adam Schiff, Frank Pallone, David Valadao, Jackie Speier, and many others.”

On the Senate side, 7 out of 11 ANCA endorsed candidates emerged victorious, including Senior New York Senator Charles Schumer, a long-time advocate of Armenian Genocide justice, who is slated to replace the retiring Harry Reid (D-NV) as Senate Democratic Leader.

On the House side, the ANCA endorsed 122 candidates, of which only 5 were reported to have lost their election bids. Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA) and David Valadao (R-CA) won their elections comfortably, while Illinois Congressman Robert Dold (R) lost re-election in a tightly contested race. Armenian Caucus Vice-Chairs Adam Schiff (D-CA) and David Trott (R-MI) won re-election handily.

The two Armenian American Members of Congress – California Democrats Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier – each won broad support of the electorate, but Republican Danny Tarkanian, who sought election in Nevada’s third Congressional district fell short by 1%.

US warns extremists ‘may attack, kidnap or blow up’ Americans in Istanbul

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us-waren-istanbul-terrorThe US consul-general in Turkey has called on US citizens in Istanbul to steer clear of crowded public places and locations popular with tourists due to an imminent threat of attacks on US and other foreign nationals by extremist groups.

The security memo was published on the official consulate page on Saturday. While elaborating on the nature of the possible attacks that Americans can fall prey to, it listed “armed attack, attempted kidnapping, bombing, or other violent acts,” adding that they could be “pre-planned” and come “with little or no warning.”

For the sake of their safety, the consulate urged US citizens to reconsider their traveling plans, especially, if they are going to visit “locations where the westerners are known to frequent or reside.” Of particular concern are the major cities located in southeastern Turkey, in the border region with Syria.

Americans have been also cautioned to shun political gatherings and rallies as well as to avoid visiting places that attract large crowds and staying vigilant while visiting tourist spots.

Meanwhile, one policeman was killed and 16 people, including six officers, were injured in a car bomb blast in the eastern Turkish city of Bingöl, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported Saturday.

A car bomb went off as an armored police vehicle passed. While no one has claimed responsibility, Turkish police said the armed wing of the banned Kurdistan’s Workers Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey, could be behind the assault. An operation to arrest the perpetrators is under way.

Turkey has been experiencing a wave of terrorist attacks attributed either to the PKK or to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). On October 9, 18 people, including 10 policemen, were killed and 27 people injured in a car bomb explosion in the southeast Turkish town of Semdinli, located in an area that sees occasional heavy fighting between the Turkish army and Kurdish militias.

The deadliest terrorist attack this year took place at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in June, killing 43 people and injuring 239. It was blamed by the Turkish authorities on Islamic State.