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Armenia commemorates 29th anniv. of devastating earthquake

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Armenia commemorates the 29th anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit the northwestern regions of the country on December 7, 1988.

29 years ago today, at 11:41 am local time, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia followed by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock four minutes later. In the epicenter, the village of Nalband, the tremors were reported to measure 10 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake leveled the cities of Spitak and Gyumri, as well as about 60 villages, leaving al least 25,000 people dead, 100,000 wounded and 500,000 homeless.

All material, financial and labor opportunities of the USSR were mobilized for reconstruction work, as 45 thousand builders from all the member states arrived to help reconstruct the areas destroyed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the restoration program was suspended.

A lot of families still live in inadmissible conditions, spending cold winters in dilapidated buildings or metal containers.

U.S. house Representative Adam Schiff Commemorates 29th Anniversary of Sumgait Pogrom

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Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Wednesday released a statement commemorating the Sumgait Pogrom, Asbarez.com reports.
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the massacres of Armenians that took place on Feb. 27-29, 1988 in the predominantly Armenian-populated city of Sumgait in Azerbaijan, where Azeri OMON forces went door to door and hunted down Armenians only to barbarically murder and massacre them.
Rep. Schiff’s full statement is below:
Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. 29 years ago Azerbaijani mobs assaulted and killed their Armenian neighbors. When the violence finally subsided, hundreds of Armenian civilians had been brutally murdered and injured, women and young girls were raped, and victims were tortured and burned alive. Those that survived the carnage fled their homes and businesses, leaving behind everything they had in their desperation.
The pogroms were the culmination of years of vicious anti-Armenian propaganda, spread by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Azerbaijani authorities made little effort to punish those responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities in Sumgait to this day, as well as denying the role of senior government officials in instigating the violence. Unsurprisingly, it was not the end of the violence, and was followed by additional attacks, including the 1990 pogrom in Baku.

The Sumgait massacre and the subsequent attacks on ethnic Armenians, resulted in the virtual disappearance of a once thriving population of 450,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan, and culminating in the war launched against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. That war resulted in thousands dead on both sides and created over one million refugees in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Time has not healed the wounds of those murdered in the pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. To the contrary, hatred of Armenians is celebrated in Azerbaijan, a situation most vividly exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who savagely murdered an Armenian army lieutenant, Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept. The two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise at the time in Hungary. In 2012, Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead, he was pardoned, promoted, and paraded through the streets of Baku as a returning hero.
The assault on ethnic Armenian civilians in Sumgait helped touch off what would become a direct conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. And today, Azerbaijan’s dangerous behavior on the Line of Contact threatens peace and stability in the region. Artillery and sniper fire across the Line of Contact has become a fact of daily life for civilians in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, causing numerous casualties. In April of last year, Azerbaijan launched its most aggressive attack in many years, resulting in the loss of many lives over the course of three days of intense fighting.
Along with other Members of Congress, I have consistently called for a direct international response to Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior through deployment of international monitors and technology to monitor ceasefire violations. Azerbaijan’s continued rejection of these simple steps speaks volumes, but I believe they should not prevent the installation of these technologies within Nagorno-Karabakh. The anniversary of Sumgait is a reminder of the consequences when aggression and hatred is allowed to grow unchecked.
Mr Speaker, this April we will mark the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an event the Turkish government, Azerbaijan’s closest ally, goes to great lengths to deny. We must not let such crimes against humanity go unrecognized, whether they occurred yesterday or 29 years ago or 100 years ago. Today, let us pause to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Sumgait pogroms. Mr Speaker, it is our moral obligation to condemn crimes of hatred and to remember the victims, in hope that history will not be repeated.”

 

France: MARSEILLE County Council Commemorates #ArmenianGenocide

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France 125133-480x360The president of the County Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, Martine Vassal, inaugurated on April 19 evening a banner in memory of the 1915 genocide.

The sentences were well constructed and the words chosen were strong. President South CCAF, Simon Azilazian set the tone for an evening where Armenians Bouches du Rhône were invited to County Council in Marseille for the unveiling of a banner in memory of the genocide victims.

“Despite the centenary of the many tragic events of 1915 marked by actions in France, Europe and around the world, led by Erdogan Turkey continues its disinformation campaign, and denial-fixing. It approves the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. Today, Jihadism and Pan-Turkism are one. With Erdogan, Turkey has become an Islamo-fascist state that imprisons journalists. Between Daesch and Europe, Turkey has to choose. Our duty of memory beyond the framework of the Armenian Genocide. Our values are: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. We say yes to peace and no to war “insisted Simon Azilazian during his speech applauded at length.

Invited to speak, the MP Valérie Boyer said that “Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian land” and denounced “the indifference of the media that does not treat Azerbaijani aggression with the complicity of Turkey against the Armenians of this Republic.

President of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône, Martine Vassal, believed “we need to have the United Armenian associations to demand the recognition of the Genocide of 1915. It is encouraging to see the new generation represented by Scouts continue this fight. I salute the spirit of resistance of the Armenian people and its dignity, courage and strength. We must combat Holocaust denial and must awaken consciences. It is time that the Turkish state is changing. I think the French government is cautious about what is happening in Karabakh, “concluded Martine Vassal which stated that on May 23, the County Council of the Bouches du Rhône will receive Charles Aznavour. In June, she will visit Armenia with a delegation of elected officials and members of the Chamber of Commerce French Armenian.

We noted in the audience attendance Maurice Di Nocera, Deputy Mayor of Marseille and Departmental Councillor Didier Parakian, Deputy Mayor of Marseille. JAF was represented by the President and by Pascal Julien Harounyan Chamassian. FRA Dashnaksoutioun was also represented. Raffi Delanian and Karen Khurshudian headed the delegation of the Apostolic Scouts. It also noted the presence of Pastor Gilbert Leonian and Father Aram, representing the Prado Cathedral.

Thursday, April 21, 2016,
Claire © armenews.com

US House Rep Adam Schiff commemorates Sumgait pogroms

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f56d17d1dd9215_56d17d1dd9250.thumbRe-published from Asbarez
Rep Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Friday entered the following statement into the Congressional Record:
“Mr Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the pogrom against the Armenian residents of the town of Sumgait, Azerbaijan. On this day in 1988, and for three days following, Azerbaijani mobs assaulted and killed Armenians. When the violence finally subsided, hundreds of Armenian civilians had been brutally murdered and injured, women and young girls were raped, and victims were tortured and burned alive. Those that survived the carnage fled their homes and businesses, leaving behind everything they had in their desperation.

“The pogroms were not an accident. They were the culmination of years of vicious anti-Armenian propaganda, spread by the Azerbaijani authorities. The Azerbaijani authorities made little effort to punish those responsible, instead attempting to cover up the atrocities in Sumgait to this day, as well as denying the role of senior government officials in instigating the violence. Unsurprisingly, it was not the end of the violence, and was followed by additional attacks, including the 1990 pogrom in Baku.
“The Sumgait massacre and the subsequent attacks on ethnic Armenians, resulted in the virtual disappearance of a once thriving population of 450,000 Armenians living in Azerbaijan, and culminating in the war launched against the people of Nagorno Karabakh. That war resulted in thousands dead on both sides and created over one million refugees in both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Time has not healed the wounds of those murdered in the pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku. To the contrary, hatred of Armenians is celebrated in in Azerbaijan, a situation most vividly exemplified by the case of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani army captain who savagely murdered an Armenian army lieutenant, Gurgen Margaryan with an axe while he slept. The two were participating in a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise at the time in Hungary. In 2012, Safarov was sent home to Azerbaijan, purportedly to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Instead, he was pardoned, promoted, and paraded through the streets of Baku as a returning hero.
“The assault on ethnic Armenian civilians in Sumgait helped touch off what would become a direct conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karbakh. And today, Azerbaijan’s dangerous behavior on the Line of Contact threatens peace and stability in the region. Artillery and sniper fire across the Line of Contact has become a fact of daily life for civilians in the Nagorno Karbakh Republic, causing numerous casualties. I have urged the OSCE Minsk Group to deescalate the situation by ending a policy that equates unprovoked attacks by the Azerbaijan with the defensive responses of Karbakh and Armenian troops, and by pressuring Azerbaijan to

accept the installation of technological monitoring devices along the border. The anniversary of Sumgait is a reminder of the consequences when aggression and hatred is allowed to grow unchecked.
“Mr Speaker, this April we will mark the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an event the Turkish government, Azerbaijan’s closest ally, goes to great lengths to deny. We must not let such crimes against humanity go unrecognized, whether they occurred yesterday or 28 years ago or 100 years ago. Today, let us pause to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Sumgait pogroms. Mr. Speaker, it is our moral obligation to condemn crimes of hatred and to remember the victims, in hope that history will not be repeated.”

Armenian Genocide Museum Commemorates Near East Relief

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genocide-orphans-band-1YEREVAN (ArmRadio)—The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) has launched a project, dubbed “The Star of the Near East Relief,” dedicated to the mission and legacy of the world’s first large-scale humanitarian effort, Near East Relief, a campaign by the people of the United States during and after the Armenian Genocide.

Director of the AGMI, Dr. Hayk Demoyan, said, “We proudly can say that the collection of the Armenian Genocide Museum comprises hundreds of unique and rare original photos, documents, memorabilia and other items related to the history of the American Near East Relief. Within the last seven years, AGMI’s collection has been enriched with amazing museum quality items. The story of the Near East Relief is another unique episode in world history when hundreds of Americans were working on the territory of the Soviet Union before both countries officially recognized each other. But first of all the story of the Near East Relief is a powerful history of philanthropy and amazing mobilization to help others living thousands [of] miles away from the American continent.”

AGMI has scheduled several commemorative events for the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and the Near East Relief in 2015. First and foremost the core of the project will be a travelling exhibition with original items and multi-language catalogues. In addition to a photo exhibition depicting the sites of former Near East Relief orphanages, there will also be historic memorial postcards and stamps on display. Memorial events dedicated to Henry Morgenthau, the US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time of the Genocide, who inspired American humanitarian involvement in the Near East, are on the schedule as well.

Deputy Director of the AGMI Lusine Abrahamyan who currently is one of the curators of the project said, “The history of the relief during and after the genocide yet is another proof of the scale and consequences of the unprecedented preplanned Genocide the whole world was dealing with. The relief provided by the American people and American government played a crucial role for saving tens of thousands of lives at the beginning of the 20th century. And this is a fact supported by ocean of evidence.”

Currently the collection of the Armenian Genocide Museum has more than 700 items related to the American Near East Relief Committee including posters, postcards, fundraising booklets, stamps, pins and medals, as well as diaries of relief workers, memoires of the orphans, orphanage items and personal belongings. Almost 500 original photos related to Near East Relief activities make the collection of the AGMI one of the world’s largest.

The travelling exhibition on the American Near East Relief is one of twenty travelling exhibits the AGMI plans to launch for worldwide display within in 2015 and 2016, covering all episodes of the Armenian Genocide

AGMI Publishes First Peer-Reviewed Journal
The AGMI also announced the publication of the first issue of the International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies (IJAGS), its first peer-reviewed, academic journal in English.

Demoyan, who is also Chief Editor of the Journal, said, “At the threshold of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the publication of this journal can be conceived as a long term initiative enabling the next generation of genocide scholars to develop new insights and research approaches in the study of all genocides and their consequences. IJAGS aims to secure a firm place in the global fight against the crime of genocide and the scourge and grave danger of denial. IJAGS will fight against denial of any genocide. We envision this endeavor as part of the challenge of establishing early warnings and working towards prevention for the sake of global security.”

According to deputy Director of the AGMI Suren Manukian, the publication of this journal is to promote the academic study of the Armenian Genocide. It is a double anonymous peer-reviewed journal; each article has passed the examination of two prominent experts in the field and fits all the requirements for an international academic journal.

IJAGS will publish articles and reviews related to the Armenian Genocide and other genocides in general. The preference is given to articles related to history, political science, anthropology, sociology, literature and law. Articles of other themes will also be included in the journal, if they are somehow related to genocide studies.

AGMI Releases Russian Translation of Sarkis Torosian’s Memoires
The AGMI has also published a Russian translation of “From Dardanelles to Palestine,” the memories of Sarkis Torosian, an Armenian officer in the Ottoman Army.

The memories narrate the odyssey of the Armenian officer in the Ottoman Army who endured the horrors of WWI and the Armenian Genocide. Presenting the history of the Armenian Genocide from an unexplored point makes the narration of Sarkis Torosian more interesting and exciting, which leaves an indelible impression on readers.

The story of Sarkis Torosian is not just memories, but a unique monument and a living testimony of the Armenian Genocide. Being a participant in Battle of Dardanelle, one of the bloodiest sessions of the war, Sarkis Torosian was awarded by the Ottoman Government. Nevertheless, his family and relatives were exiled and brutally murdered by the same government.

The story of the author is about the ever-developing events that took place in European and Middle Eastern military and political fields, mixed with the drama of his personal journey and experiences.

The hero survived the Genocide, but remained a victim of one of the greatest crimes of the twentieth century.