The three Armenian candidates’ bid to run for Turkey’s parliament makes the upcoming elections slightly different others, an Armenian Turkologist said, attributing the trend to the Genocide issue.
Speaking to Tert.am, Ruben Melkonyan, a deputy dean at the Yerevan State University’s Oriental Studies Department, noted no Armenian candidates had won seats in the country’s chief law making body since 1960.
The parliamentary elections in Turkey are slated for June 7.
The expert said he sees that the internalization of the Genocide issue in politics and the media gives the Armenians in Turkey a higher political weight.
“With the exception of the Nationalist Movement Party, all the rest – both the ruling and opposition Kemalist parties, as well as the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party – have nominated Armenian candidates,” he said, pointing out to a high likelihood of several candidates’ success in the polls, judging by their ranking on the election lists.
“The important thing is that the ruling party’s candidate, Margar Yesayan, is known for pro-government views; he is a journalist who, over the course of his professional career, backed Erdogan and his administration. Hence naturally, election to the parliament will add only a new trait to – instead of changing – Yesayan’s image: he will be not only a journalist lauding the Turkish authorities’ general policies but also a lawmaker forming part of and implementing those policies,” Margaryan said, adding that he doesn’t thus expect a revolutionary move by that candidate.
The orientalist said he finds that the same applies also to the opposition Kemalist Party’s candidate, who is thought to have low chances of election.
“The only interesting candidate is Karo Pailian, the People’s Democratic Party’s nominee, who always raises the problem of Armenian schools and brings the Armenian community’s burning issues to the agenda. In case of being elected, he will maintain his image, so we can expect the Turkish parliament to have a member whose statements will differ from the scenarios outlined by the Turkish authorities; they will focus more on the Armenian community in Istanbul,” Melkonyan added.
The expert said he thinks that the Armenian candidates, if elected, will have two main functions in Turkey’s legislative: they will give the Turkish authorities the trump card of looking tolerant to European structures and serve as the Turkish authorities’ tool at critical moments, making statement on their behalf as “messages” to the world.
Commenting on possible speculations over the Genocide as part of the pre-election campaign, the Turkologist said he sees that the issue has simply become part of the country’s political rhetoric. “The question was high on the agenda during the presidential polls. As for the parliamentary elections, it is relatively passive. Only the Kurdish party raises it, but it too, at times avoids the issue as it sees a serious threat of losing votes,” he added.
Turkey Why is AKP losing the Kurds?
By Pinar Tremblay, Columnist
Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party dance near an election campaign spot in Istanbul, May 28, 2015. (photo by REUTERS/Murad Sezer)
Unlike the easily predictable August presidential election, the June 7 elections are rather suspenseful. Pundits agree on a few facts: The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is on the rise and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost the support of some of its loyal allies — most importantly the Kurds — due to campaign mistakes and political and economic failures.
First and foremost, the AKP’s policy failures regarding the Kurdish peace process have been paramount since Recep Tayyip Erdogan became president. Al-Monitor consulted numerous scholars, Kurdish activists and politicians who all agreed that Kurdish support for the AKP is dwindling. Since Al-Monitor columnist Fehim Tastekin’s report on how Kurdish and Arab tribes in the southeast have abandoned the AKP, it has only worsened.
On May 25, in the Kurdish town of Varto in the Mus province, reports surfaced that the entire AKP-dominated city council resigned and declared their support for the HDP. Mehmet Alma, a former AKP member from Diyarbakir, told Al-Monitor, “None of the AKP’s promises were delivered. We waited for 13 years and did everything in the name of peace. So we now work with the HDP that is holding on to the peace process.”
Hatice Altinisik, a member of the HDP’s Central Executive Council who has been campaigning in western cities for almost a year, told Al-Monitor that in the town of Yolkanak, “there are Kurds who had settled there years ago. They used to vote for the AKP, so much so that Erdogan had sent them a thank you placard for their loyalty. Now that the HDP is entering the election as a party, half of them will vote for the HDP.”
Sait Kaya, a spokesperson for Huda-Par, an Islamist Kurdish Party, is running as an independent from the eastern town of Bingol. Huda-Par is not entering the election, due to the 10% threshold, but is running nine independent candidates. “Kurds are disappointed with the AKP’s policies, hence their realignment with other parties, particularly the HDP and Huda-Par,” Kaya said. “The AKP had previously won the Kurdish regions on a borrowed vote. There are significant doubts among devout Kurds about the degeneration of the AKP’s Islamic values, the candidates that the AKP choose for its lists, as well as the reaction of the AKP to the Oct. 6-8 events [Kobani protests].”
Sitki Gungor, senior adviser to HDP chairwoman Figen Yuksekdag, concurred with Kaya’s views on the Oct. 6-8 events. The AKP was seen as pitting Kurd against Kurd, which backfired. “There are too many events, too much pain for the Kurds,” Gungor said. “After Roboski [accidental 2011 aerial bombing of Kurdish smugglers, killing 34] was there justice? A consolation for Kurds? Was one soldier taken to court? To the contrary, Erdogan congratulated the generals for the massacre. This was the first rupture point for the Kurds. Erdogan received the Kurdish vote because in 2005 in Diyarbakir he declared, ‘There is a Kurdish problem. It is my problem.’ That is no longer the case and there is deep anger and resentment, a sense of betrayal, among the Kurds. Then, of course, there is the struggle for Kobani against the Islamic State (IS). The AKP’s attitude during the siege of Kobani took away the last ounce of trust in Erdogan.”
Indeed, several Turkish-language Kurdish news outlets are convinced that the AKP supports, arms and even controls IS and other groups in Syria and northern Iraq to mobilize against the Kurds. The heroes and legends of Kobani may just be tales for western Turkey to consume, but in Diyarbakir, prominent journalist and author Nurcan Baysal shared her observations with Al-Monitor.
“Every day we saluted young martyrs being brought back home for burial from Kobani, Sinjar [Sorani] and the region,” she said. “People here are upset because the border is closed for the Kurds to take medicine, water, food and blankets to our relatives. They see that it is not only IS that is targeting them, but that the AKP supports IS to get rid of the Kurds.”
Economic hardship has exacerbated these major policy failures. Turkey’s eastern and southeastern regions, home to the majority of the country’s Kurds, have lagged behind on all economic and industrial progress variables when compared to other parts of Turkey. Unemployment is also highest in the southeast, with 15.6% of the population unemployed in 2014, nearly double the countrywide average of 9.9%.
Zeynep Bozdas, Huda-Par’s foreign relations adviser, pointed out the lack of investment in the region and how youths suffer from drug addiction. “There are Kurdish parliamentarians in the AKP,” Bozdas said. “People voted for them and hoped for economic recovery in the region. They are disappointed.”
Kaya added, “My constituency in Bingol has supported the AKP blindly for the last 12 years, and it is the fifth least developed province in the country. There are incomplete roads, a 250-bed state hospital that was planned five years ago but is still under construction. Health services are so horrible that every month people from Bingol die just trying to reach hospitals in other cities.”
Uygar Gultekin, a journalist from Agos Daily, has reported from Kurdish cities on how financial hardships have increased in border towns, particularly Urfa, which witnessed a sudden influx of Syrian refugees. Life has become more expensive as demands for housing and cheap labor exploded.
To top this off, the AKP has made significant failures in its campaign. “AKP candidates are running a low-key and tense campaign, while HDP candidates are relaxed,” Gultekin said. “If nothing else, you can always spot the heavily armed police protection around the AKP candidates’ homes and buildings. There is still the shadow of guns in the region.”
Most AKP candidates are known as elders of tribes or “feudal landlords who will win votes from their own clans but not from anyone else. In other words, the AKP made wrong choices in the Kurds it picked to be candidates,” said Aliza Marcus, the author of “Blood and Belief,” a widely acclaimed book on the Kurdistan Workers Party.
Over the past two months, despite all forms of censorship, local media outlets have documented peaceful protests against the AKP. People are protesting in creative ways. One particularly effective form of protest has been individuals turning their backs on AKP convoys and whistling, as seen with Erdogan’s May 4 convoy in Mardin and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s May 6 convoy in Mus.
Erdogan has been actively campaigning all around Turkey, but in Kurdish regions where the mayors belong to the HDP, these officials have refused to greet and roll out the red carpet for him. Erdogan did not take it well. At a May 15 election rally in Van, Erdogan told the dwindling crowds, “We are dedicated to you, but you guys fail to understand me. I am not saying it for those of you here, but the ones who didn’t attend.”
Meanwhile, news has leaked that government employees have been ordered to attend AKP rallies. While Erdogan’s election posters hang even in the corridors of the state hospital, strict bans and confusing regulations are imposed upon opposition parties.
The AKP has been running a cruel and negative campaign against the opposition, particularly the HDP and its chairman Selahattin Demirtas. The AKP has accused Demirtas of consuming pork and being a Zoroastrian. Despite tenacious AKP efforts to discredit the HDP and provoke them into street fights, the HDP has employed savvy campaign strategies. While pundits debated how a “Kurdish” party can run a countrywide election campaign, Al-Monitor reported in June 2014 that the HDP had reached out to populations outside Kurdish regions. It is crucial to remember that thousands of Kurds were forced to migrate to western cities, hence Demirtas’ May 23 rally in Izmir, which proved that the HDP could garner strong support in the west.
Sultan Ozcan, the HDP’s candidate in Kayseri, an AKP stronghold, told Al-Monitor, “We are campaigning door to door, face to face, avoiding any potential tension. It is working smoothly so far. We display a pleasant positive attitude and people respond to that.” Indeed, people respond to more positive, colorful campaigning. They are tired of bickering, fear mongering with an Islamic tone and Erdogan’s waving of Kurdish Qurans at rallies.
The AKP was assured that they would continue to receive 50% of the Kurdish vote, but with the HDP’s decision to enter the race as a political party, the AKP is panicking. The AKP has gone on the offensive publicly, declaring its wish to not see the HDP as a party in parliament.
When this was not enough, it has engaged in negative campaigning and even attacks on HDP offices. Yet, it all seems to have backfired. Calling the HDP a terrorist party and a menace to the peace process has robbed the AKP of its widespread Kurdish support.
At this point, campaigning for Kurdish AKP candidates is like “climbing a greased pole” one taxi driver in Diyarbakir told Al-Monitor. Perhaps the Kurds, along with others in Turkey, are also suffering from “Erdogan fatigue.”
Pinar Tremblay is 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, Todays Zaman, Star and Salom. On Twitter: @pinartremblay
Turkey election: Kurds, women, gays put faith in upstart party
Once a week they gather, beneath the same tree in the same park – to remember.
For years it has been their ritual – women who lost children and husbands in 30 years of armed conflict between the Kurds and the Turkish state.
I meet them in Diyarbakir – the final stop of our election trip across Turkey.
Age and exhaustion are etched on their faces. One wears a necklace with a picture of her missing children. Another has a bracelet bearing the Kurdish flag.
“Turkey doesn’t think we Kurds are humans”, says Sakine Arat, 80, who lost four sons and one daughter in the fighting. “We’ve tried all the political parties but none sided with us. Now we’ve found one – the HDP – that treats us as equals. So we will vote for it.”
The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) is the one to watch in Turkey’s election on Sunday.
Its roots and support base are Kurdish but it has broadened out, becoming a powerful voice of the Turkish left.
‘Drown Erdogan’
Its candidates used to run as independents, winning a handful of seats. But this time, the HDP is a single, united party – and polls show it could cross the 10% threshold to get into parliament, potentially gaining dozens of MPs and depriving Turkey’s governing AKP of a majority.
That would stop President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from changing the constitution to give himself more powers with an executive presidency – and is one reason why staunch Erdogan opponents are drawn to the HDP.
“Turkish soldiers burnt my home four times,” says Dilsah Ozgen, 76, who lost her husband and two sons. “I believe in our HDP. We will pass the 10% and drown Erdogan in a flood of votes,” she says.
There are around 15 million Kurds in Turkey – 20% of the population.
For decades they were repressed, their identity denied: “There is no such thing as Kurds; they are simply mountain Turks,” was the official refrain.
In the 1980s, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was formed, waging a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, some fighting for greater autonomy, others for independence.
Forty-thousand people died. The group is still labelled a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU.
Peace is fresh. Although conditions for Kurds have improved, the fragile ceasefire has been shaken by clashes as the peace process has stalled and the government has hardened its nationalist rhetoric.
Many Kurds who supported the AKP have now shifted allegiance to the HDP.
‘Not Kurdish, but Turkish’
I join a local HDP candidate, Ziya Pir, at a Diyarbakir cultural centre.
Around him, supporters play traditional instruments and perform songs in both Kurdish and Turkish, appropriately enough for a candidate who is not actually Kurdish.
It epitomises the message of unity, of cultural crossover, that the HDP is trying to spread.
“I’m Turkish – from the Black Sea – and initially people asked me: ‘Why are you joining a Kurdish party?'” says Mr Pir. “But I told them it is not a Kurdish party; it is Turkish. We want a Turkey in which all people can find themselves”.
His uncle, Kemal, was a founder of the PKK. But he insists there is no link.
“I am not my uncle,” he says. “The HDP has no relationship with the PKK. We want to make peace. I look into the eyes of people in Turkey and see no hope. I want to bring back hope.”
There is a widespread feeling that if the HDP does not pass the 10% threshold, Kurdish anger will boil over – as many will believe the results are rigged.
“We need our representatives in parliament or I fear there will be a risk of going back to the 1990s – not a conflict between the PKK and the Turkish army, but between Kurdish people and the army,” says Mr Pir.
Gender equality
The HDP’s rise is partly down to its strong social democratic message, which also appeals to non-Kurds.
With two charismatic leaders, male and female, and many women candidates, it is promoting gender equality in a patriarchal society. It is also focused on green and LGBT rights, fielding Turkey’s first openly gay candidate.
On top of Diyarbakir’s ancient city walls, I meet loyal supporters of what they call Turkey’s first truly democratic party.
“I’m a gay guy and nobody has supported my rights until the HDP,” says Atalay Gocer. “Finally I have a voice.”
Int’l observers hail Karabakh election as democratic
International observers who arrived in the Nagorno Karabakh to monitor the course of the republic’s parliamentary election welcomed the latter’s compliance with the international democratic norms.
The Sunday, May 3 elections saw a 70,6% voter turnout. Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan’s Free Motherland Party got almost half of the mandates in the 33-seat National Assembly, according to preliminary results.
Before the elections, the OSCE Minsk Group, which is the main international format advancing a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict, issued a statement in which it, in fact, recognized the right of the Karabakh people to holding elections. “In the context of a comprehensive settlement of the conflict, we recognize the role of the people of Nagorno Karabakh in deciding their future. However, none of our three countries, nor any other country, recognizes Nagorno Karabakh as an independent and sovereign state. Accordingly, we do not accept the results of these “elections” as affecting the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh, and stress that they in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France said in a statement released from Paris on April 30.
Representatives of the European Union and the United States issued similar statements. The European External Action Service said it would not recognize the constitutional and legal format of the elections.
“The EU’s and other international organizations’ non-recognition of the elections in Karabakh did not prevent me from acting as an observer here. The latter fact, at least, proves that I recognize the elections,” MEP Frank Engel told journalists.
“I believe the statements of the EU and U.S. to only be one side of the situation. The other side is that the world powers are responding the Karabakh people’s struggle for freedom,” the Director of European Friends of Armenia Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa said.
He cited Karabakh as an example of the development of democratic processes and traditions. “Parliamentary elections in Karabakh were held in the best traditions of a democratic state,” French MP François Rochebloine said. As the republic’s president Bako Sahakyan stated at a final briefing “the non-recognition should not prevent Karabakh from striving for further development and democracy-building.”
France regional elections: exit polls put Sarkozy’s UMP in lead
Exit polls following the first round of regional elections in France suggest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP Party will come out in the lead.
The conservative party and its partners look set to receive 36 percent of the vote, with President François Hollande’s Socialist Party in second place on 28.5 percent.
Speaking about the projections, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls said more people than expected had voted.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-euro, extreme right Front National Party lags behind in the exit polls, on 24.5 percent.
If confirmed, the results will prove to be a setback for Le Pen, who was hoping to come out on top in the first round.
She is setting her sights on winning the 2017 presidential elections in France.
Initial figures suggest the rate of abstention was 48.5 percent.
Syriza wins Greek election as Samaras congratulates Tsipras – live updates
PM Samaras concedes defeat
Prime minister Antonis Samaras has conceded defeat. The New Democracy leader called Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras to congratulate him.
Punching the air, Tsipras told the crowd: “Today the Greek people has written history, Hope has written history … Greece is turning a page. Greece is leaving the austerity of catastrophe and fear … there are no losers and winners. Those who have been defeated are the elite and oligarchs … we are regaining our dignity, our sovereignty again.”
Tsipras adds: “Today was a defeat for the Greece of the elites and the oligarchs. The Greece that works and hopes won.” He promises a way of the “vicious cycle” of debt. “The new Greek government will prove all the Cassandras of the world wrong,” he says. He promises to restore popular sovereignty and a clash with corruption. “We regain hope, optimism and dignity,” Tsipras says.
The massive vote for Syriza in Greece is genuinely inspiring – and necessary – and requires our real solidarity and support.
— Ken Livingstone (@ken4london) January 25, 2015
The geography of the vote: Syriza in red, New Democracy in blue pic.twitter.com/cP424UEoAc
— Stathis Kalyvas (@SKalyvas) January 25, 2015
Germany and Syriza are about to enter a high stakes poker game, writes Louise Osborne in Berlin.
Julian Rappold, a political analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), says the German government would not have wished for such a strong result for Syriza and now faces possible renegotiation while also having to appease the German public.
“A haircut is non-negotiable from the German side, first and foremost because of the strong public opinion against the haircut, so I don’t think Germany is likely to give that concession,” he said. “If the result of the negotiations is presented in the German public as something which is broadly in line with German interests, I think it won’t be a problem, but if the concessions are considered to be high, it will be detrimental to the conservatives.”
Rappold added that both sides – Berlin and Syriza – would have to work quickly to establish communication channels. “A poker game is starting where both sides will try to figure out where the common ground is and which demands each can hope for.”
Greek Elections: Exit Polls Show Expected SYRIZA Win With Larger Margin [Update]
Initial results from exit polls show that Greeks gave the leftist SYRIZA party a margin of over 12 points against New Democracy in today’s general elections. Exit poll figures show that SYRIZA can form a government.
The first results give SYRIZA the edge over the ruling New Democracy conservatives led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partner PASOK.
If the results hold up, it would be a historic moment for Greece with a far-left party triumphing. SYRIZA leader Tsipras had been hoping for a margin big enough to form a leftist government without having to cooperate with a smaller party. He may be able to achieve that later in the evening.
So far, exit polls show SYRIZA at 35.5-39.5%, New Democracy at 23-27%, Golden Dawn and “To Potami” edging for third place at 6.4-8% each, the Greek Communist Party (KKE) at 4.7-5.7%, PASOK at 4.2-5.2%, Independent Greeks (ANEL) at 3.5-4.5%, Socialist Democrats Movement (KIDISO) at 2.2-3.2%, LAOS at 0.6-1.6%, ANTARSYA at 0.6-1.6%, Greens/DIMAR 0.3-0.7%.
SYRIZA had been leading steadily in opinion polls even before snap elections were announced. The leftist party won based on a campaign stressing the importance of a debt write-off and ending the austerity measures imposed to Greece by the Troika of its international creditors. They also accused the New Democracy/PASOK coalition for bringing Greece to the worst humanitarian and economic crisis since the German occupation.
New Democracy based its election campaign on economic and political stability, while stressing the importance of maintaining ties with Greece’s European partners and keeping the country in the Eurozone. They accused SYRIZA of populism and promises that were impossible to keep. They also warned voters that the leftist party will lead Greece out of the Eurozone and into economic abyss. Both parties promised tax reduction.
SYRIZA was polling roughly between 27% and 33%, while New Democracy ranged from 22% to 27%. Four parties rallied for third place, the crucial third party that could potentially ally with the winner. “To Potami,” Golden Dawn, PASOK and the Greece ‘s Communist Party (KKE), all ran at around 6% in polls.
The new populist, anti-politician “To Potami” movement, which had been as high as third in pre-election polls, was showing a disappointing 5-7%, tied with the KKE communists. Then came the Independent Greeks at 3-4%.
The polls coincided with the second round run-off of local elections, with both races contentious and Samaras warning that SYRIZA would plunge the country back into chaos just as he said he had put it on the road to recovery and brought political stability.
But he couldn’t convince Greeks enough that the big pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions and worker firings he implemented on demand of the Troika in return for 240 billion euros ($330.7 billion) in two bailouts was the only way out of a crisis.
That had been largely caused by the ruling parties taking turns for four decades with wild overspending and runaway patronage that bankrupted the country.
Samaras had argued the EU polls shouldn’t be a referendum on his government, especially since he said Greece had reached a primary surplus of 1.5 billion euros and last month floated a 3-billion-euro bond, the first since a previous PASOK government in 2010 first reached out for a bailout with the economy on the precipice of disaster.
– See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/01/25/greek-elections-exit-polls-show-expected-syriza-win/#sthash.k7ILxQog.dpuf
Greek election: Anti-austerity Syriza battles New Democracy
Greeks are voting in a general election which could result in Greece trying to renegotiate the terms of its bailout with international lenders, the BBC reports.
The leftwing Syriza party, which has been leading in opinion polls, wants part of Greece’s huge debt written off and austerity measures revoked.
This has spooked money markets and raised fears of a Greek exit from the euro.
But the governing New Democracy party says the economy is recovering.
Greece has endured tough budget cuts in return for the bailout negotiated with the so-called troika of lenders – the European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB).
The economy has shrunk drastically since the 2008 global financial crisis, increasing unemployment and throwing many Greeks into poverty.
Polls across Greece opened at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT) and will close at 19:00.
There are nearly 10 million eligible voters, who are electing the country’s 300-member parliament.
First exit polls are expected immediately after the voting ends.
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras says his party will restore “dignity” to Greece by rolling back on cuts to jobs, pay and pensions which have hurt millions of people across the country.
The possibility of a Syriza victory has sparked fears that Greece could default on its debt and leave the euro – the single currency of 19 EU members.
This is despite the fact that Syriza has moderated its stance since the peak of the eurozone crisis, and says it wants Greece to stay a member of the currency.
Meanwhile, the leader of centre-right New Democracy and PM Antonis Samaras has promised to work “day and night” to keep the country standing.
Syriza, he argues, could force the country from the euro by its policies, serving what he called the “drachma lobby”, a reference to the former Greek currency.
He also warns that Greece could miss out on a massive program of quantitative easing unveiled by the ECB last week to help stimulate the eurozone economy.
The centrist To Potami and the right-wing Golden Dawn party are expected to fight for third place in the elections.
Greek economy in numbers
• Average wage is €600 (£450: $690) a month
• Unemployment is at 25%, with youth unemployment almost 50%
• Economy has shrunk by 25% since the start of the eurozone crisis
• Country’s debt is 175% of GDP
• Borrowed €240bn (£188bn) from the EU, the ECB and the IMF
LOS ANGELES, ANCA-WR Announces 2014 General Election Endorsements
LOS ANGELES—The Armenian National Committee of America Western Region announced its 2014 General Election endorsements, helping Armenian Americans demonstrate their electoral strength to those federal, state, and local candidates who have proven their ability and intention to best serve the communities they will represent.
“It is our mission to continue to empower Armenian American voters to cast informed votes at the ballot box on November 4,” remarked ANCA-WR Chair, Nora Hovsepian. “These endorsements are largely based on candidates’ responses to our questionnaires, detailed in-person interviews, and our conclusion that the endorsed candidates are in the best position and have shown the greatest commitment toward supporting issues important to the Armenian American community.”
Armenian American voters across the United States are urged to exercise their right to vote in the General Election on November 4th and lend their support to the candidates who have been steadfast advocates of the Armenian Cause. Many of the elections taking place are going to be won by a very slim margin. It is imperative that every eligible citizen cast his or her vote in this General Election. The ANCA-WR seeks to maximize the value of each individual vote and launched the Hye Votes initiative in 2012 toward that goal, registering thousands of new voters and encouraging all voters to cast their timely ballots. Today, its dedicated team of volunteers and coalition partners are still working tirelessly to ensure high voter turnout among the Armenian-American community.
The 2014 General Election will take place on November 4, 2014. In order to vote, you must be registered. The ANCA-WR urges community members who are U.S. citizens and over the age of 18 not yet registered to vote, to register by the October 20, 2014 deadline. To register to vote online, request a vote by mail ballot or obtain additional information, contact ANCA WR Hye Votes office at (818) 806-8683, or check visit www.hyevotes.org.
The ANCA WR’s list of endorsements include:
California Statewide Races
Jerry Brown (D) Governor
Gavin Newsom (D) Lieutenant Governor
Alex Padila (D) Secretary of State
John Chiang (D) State Treasurer
Kamala Harris (D) Attorney General
Betty Yee (D) State Controller
Tom Torlakson (D) Superintendent of Public Instruction
California State Senate
Kevin De Leon (D – 22) Chinatown, Eagle Rock, East Hollywood, East Los Angeles, Little Armenia
Robert Hertzberg (D – 18) Pacoima, Sylmar, Toluca Lake, Sherman Oaks, Sun Valley, Van Nuys
Tony Mendoza (D – 32) Downey, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera
Jose Solorio (D – 34) Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Santa Ana
California State Assembly
Katcho Achadjian (R – 35) San Luis Obispo
Cheryl Brown (D – 47) Fontana, Rialto, San Bernardino
Ian Calderon (D – 57) Hacienda Heights, La Mirada, Whittier
Matt Dababneh (D – 45) Calabasas, Canoga Park, Encino, Northridge, Reseda, Woodland Hills
Steve Fox (D – 36) Lancaster, Palmdale
Mike Gatto (D-43) Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank, Silverlake
Chris Holden (D – 41) Pasadena, San Dimas
Al Murasachi (D-66) Torrance
Adrin Nazarian (D – 46) Hollywood Hills, Panorama City, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Van Nuys
Kristen Olsen (R – 12) Stockton, Tracy
Jim Patterson (R – 23) Fresno
Scott Wilk (R – 38) Santa Clara
Los Angeles County Races
Bobby Shirver (D) LA County Supervisor-3 (Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Van Nuys)
Hilda Solis (D) for LA County Supervisor-1 (Downtown LA, Montebello, Pico Rivera)
Jim McDonnell for LA County Sheriff
Jeffrey Prang for LA County Assessor
Arizona Statewide Endorsements
Doug Ducey ( R ) for Governor
Michele Reagan ( R ) for Secretary of State
The ANCA federal level endorsements will be released in the coming week. Endorsements are based primarily on ANCA Congressional Report Cards, a detailed review of each incumbent’s record across a broad range of Armenian American issues. Report Cards, prepared in consultation with regional leaders and local ANCA chapters across the country, cover issues ranging from securing justice for the Armenian Genocide and the strengthening U.S.-Armenia relations to defending Nagorno Karabakh’s independence, and increasing U.S. aid and trade levels. Review the ANCA report cards.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
Bulgaria votes in snap parliamentary election
Bulgarians are voting in a snap election, following the resignation of a Socialist-led government in July, the BBC reports.
Opinion polls suggest the centre-right GERB party may win most of the votes but fall short of an overall majority in the 240-seat parliament.
Its main rivals are the Socialists (BSP) and the ethnic-Turkish DPS party.
Bulgaria – the poorest country in the European Union – has been rocked by recent protests over low living standards and by a banking crisis.
GERB, led by former PM Boiko Borisov is predicted to win the polls, but is likely to rely on smaller parties to be able to form a governing coalition.
“Right now I don’t see how and with whom to form a government,” Mr Borisov was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency earlier this week.
The splits in the Socialist-led government of now ex-PM Plamen Oresharski began to appear after the party’s disastrous showing in the European Parliament elections in May.
However, the rift with DPS, the former junior partner in the coalition, was seen as the main reason for the cabinet’s resignation.
A controversy around the South Stream pipeline, meant to carry Russian gas to Western Europe via Bulgaria, also played a big part in the government’s downfall.
Mr Oresharski was criticised for moving ahead with construction of the pipeline, a project frowned upon by Brussels for breaching EU rules.
In June, shortly after the announcement that Bulgaria had stopped work on the project, the country witnessed a run on two of the country’s largest banks that also heightened political uncertainty.
One of them, the Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB), was closed after panicked customers withdrew millions on their deposits.