Rabbi Shmuley and Centennial Committee depict Obama as ‘liar’ in NY Times ad

May 27, 2015 By administrator

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
TheCaliforiaCourier.com

The Centennial commemorations of the Armenian Genocide were marked with unprecedented, and sometimes, unexpected developments.

One such occasion was the full page ad placed in the New York Times on April 18 by well-known and controversial Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Founder, The World Values Network) and the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee, Eastern U.S. (AGCC), harshly criticizing Pres. Obama for not keeping his campaign promise on the Armenian Genocide.

A knowledgeable source told The California Courier that the ad had upset some White House officials. The placing of the ad coincided with the efforts of the U.S. National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centennial to convince reluctant administration officials to participate in the commemorative events in Washington, D.C., May 7-9.

Nonetheless, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power attended the Ecumenical Prayer Service at the National Cathedral on May 7, in Washington, but neither delivered remarks nor was their presence acknowledged. Surprisingly, both officials wore the “forget me not” pin, the official logo of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Also in attendance were Pres. Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos Karekin II, and Catholicos Aram I.

The paid ad featured a young boy holding a placard stating, “Pres. Obama why did you lie to us?” This was followed by the title of the ad in large bold letters: “1.5 million Armenian victims cry out from their grave: How long will you deny our genocide just to appease the Turkish tyrant?”

The paid announcement strongly criticized both Pres. Obama, for not keeping his campaign promises, and Ambassador Power, for remaining silent after condemning U.S. indifference to Genocide in a book she wrote before assuming her government post (“A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide”). The ad also targeted Turkish President Erdogan, calling him a “bully” and “quasi-dictator who has dismantled Turkish democracy.”

Furthermore, the ad quoted from a news report by CNN’s Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper: “For the sixth year in a row President Barack Obama has broken his promise to the Armenian community, made when seeking their votes as a senator and a presidential candidate, to use the word ‘genocide’ to describe the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. He did this in deference to the government of Turkey.”

The ad reminded readers that Tapper was referring to Sen. Obama’s 2008 statement: “The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. …As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

The authors of the ad went on to state: “Seldom has an American President misrepresented himself so brazenly on an issue of such profound moral importance. Pres. Obama’s willful moral blindness stands in stark contrast to the courageous statement by Pope Francis last week calling for the world’s recognition of ‘the first genocide of the twentieth century.’”

In the ad, the Rabbi and AGCC posed this question to Ambassador Power: “As a leading voice against genocide, will you stand by your principles or will you become yet another who, after entering office, silences her voice and becomes part of the ‘problem from hell?’”

A second newspaper announcement reminding Pres. Obama of his promise on the Armenian Genocide appeared in the Los Angeles Times on April 24. The three-quarter page ad, placed by Ed Muradliyan, a California businessman from Orange County, asserted: “It’s time for you to be the leader you promised to be. On this 100 year anniversary Mr. President, it’s time to fulfill the promise you made.” Muradliyan’s ad featured a picture of Pres. Obama, copy of Amb. Morgenthau’s cable to the State Dept., dated July 16, 1915, and the headline of a news report from The New York Times, dated December 15, 1915. The announcement ended with: “It’s Time to Recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

If one or both of these ads caused some discomfort to White House officials, it was well worth the money!

The ads should have included Pres. Obama’s own words from his book, “The Audacity of Hope”: “Say one thing during the campaign and do another thing once in office, and you’re a typical, two-faced politician.”

Although the commemorative events in Washington were organized with utmost professionalism, there was one major shortfall. When special honors were being awarded at the May 9 Centennial Banquet to prominent individuals, organizations and representatives of countries that had recognized the Armenian Genocide, it would have been only fitting to pay tribute to John Evans, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia (2004-2006), whose diplomatic career came to an abrupt end when the Bush Administration recalled him for publicly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The organizers of the Banquet assured The California Courier that “no slight was intended,” and that it was simply “an oversight.”

Fortunately, this gross error was somewhat mitigated when the “oversight” was brought to the attention of the master of ceremonies, attorney Mark Geragos, who acknowledged from the podium the presence of Amb. Evans. The 2,000 guests at the Centennial Banquet gave the righteous Ambassador an enthusiastic standing ovation and thunderous applause! Needless to say, Amb. Evans deserves far more than mere applause for having sacrificed his career in defense of the Armenian Cause!

Kim Kardashian urges Obama to call Armenian massacre a genocide

April 25, 2015 By administrator

Reality TV star criticises president’s choice of words in Time magazine op-ed, saying she will ‘fight for the genocide to be recognized for what it was’
An influential voice has joined critics of President Barack Obama’s decision not to refer to the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide: Kim Kardashian West.

“I would like President Obama to use the word ‘genocide’,” the reality TV star, who is married to the rapper Kanye West, wrote in an op-ed piece for Time magazine. “It’s very disappointing he hasn’t used it as president. We thought it was going to happen this year.

“I feel like we’re close – but we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915. Turkey, however, disputes the use of the word “genocide” to describe the killings and says the death toll has been inflated.

On Tuesday, the White House announced that the US would use the 100th anniversary of the genocide “to urge a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts”. Obama’s statement, however, did not include the word “genocide”.

On Saturday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said France, Germany, Russia and Austria – whose leaders or parliaments have recently described the killings as genocide – supported “claims constructed on Armenian lies”. Erdogan also accused the US of siding with Armenia, despite Obama’s omission of the contentious word.

“They should first, one by one, clean the stains on their own histories,” Erdogan said.

Despite having previously described the events of 1915 as genocide, Obama has yet to do so as president. In 2008, Samantha Power, now US ambassador to the United Nations and then a campaign surrogate for Obama, recorded a campaign video urging Armenian-Americans to vote for him because he would “call a spade a spade and speak truth about it.

“I hope you in the Armenian community will take my word for it, but if not, I hope you will just pay attention in the coming days to everything that comes out of that person’s mouth, Barack Obama’s mouth, because he is a person who can be trusted,” Power said.

Kardashian, whose great-great-grandparents left Armenia in 1914, plans to increase awareness of the genocide and has called on other celebrities with an Armenian background to do so as well.

“So many people have come to me and said, ‘I had no idea there was a genocide,’” she wrote. “There aren’t that many Armenians in this business. We have this spotlight to bring attention to it, so why would we just sit back?

“I will continue to ask the questions and fight for the genocide to be recognized for what it was.”
Analysis The Armenian genocide – the Guardian briefing
Turkey has never accepted the term genocide, even though historians have demolished its denial of responsibility for up to 1.5 million deaths
Read more

This is not the first time Kardashian has called for the genocide to be recognized. In 2011, she wrote a similar blogpost to urge the US government to recognize it.

Kardashian and her family have spent the last month visiting Armenia. While Armenians might have been uneasy about her visit at first, it has changed the way Armenia is covered in the mainstream media, said historian Vahram Ter-Matevosyan.

“This discourse shows that Armenian identity is still alive,” he said. “I am sure Turkey is having nightmares about it. Some there said that Kim Kardashian was the latest weapon the Armenians are using. Once she leaves, she will be missed.”

Obama fails to use “G-word” in his message to Armenians

April 24, 2015 By administrator

U.S. President Barack Obama failed to use the word Genocide to describe killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in his statement issued on the Armenian Remembrance Day.

The full text of the statement is provided below:

This year we mark the centennial of the Meds Yeghern, the first mass atrocity of the 20th Century. Beginning in 1915, the Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths. Their culture and heritage in their ancient homeland were erased. Amid horrific violence that saw suffering on all sides, one and a half million Armenians perished.

As the horrors of 1915 unfolded, U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Sr. sounded the alarm inside the U.S. government and confronted Ottoman leaders. Because of efforts like his, the truth of the Meds Yeghern emerged and came to influence the later work of human rights champions like Raphael Lemkin, who helped bring about the first United Nations human rights treaty.

Against this backdrop of terrible carnage, the American and Armenian peoples came together in a bond of common humanity. Ordinary American citizens raised millions of dollars to support suffering Armenian children, and the U.S. Congress chartered the Near East Relief organization, a pioneer in the field of international humanitarian relief. Thousands of Armenian refugees began new lives in the United States, where they formed a strong and vibrant community and became pillars of American society. Rising to great distinction as businesspeople, doctors, scholars, artists, and athletes, they made immeasurable contributions to their new home.

This centennial is a solemn moment. It calls on us to reflect on the importance of historical remembrance, and the difficult but necessary work of reckoning with the past. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view has not changed. A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all our interests. Peoples and nations grow stronger, and build a foundation for a more just and tolerant future, by acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past. We welcome the expression of views by Pope Francis, Turkish and Armenian historians, and the many others who have sought to shed light on this dark chapter of history.

On this solemn centennial, we stand with the Armenian people in remembering that which was lost. We pledge that those who suffered will not be forgotten. And we commit ourselves to learn from this painful legacy, so that future generations may not repeat it.

Turkish History Professor Taner Akcam, Said was “a shame” that Obama again avoid the term Genocide

April 22, 2015 By administrator

Noah Rayman @noahrayman,

President Barack Obama won’t use the term “genocide” in remarks Friday marking the 100th anniversary of the killing of more than a million Armenians, officials said Tuesday, igniting disappointment from critics who say the President is catering too much to Turkey. Report Time

Activists had hoped that the President would realize a 2008 campaign pledge and use the term for the first time in office, particularly as other governments and world leaders, including Pope Francis, have referred to the massacres as “genocide” in recent days.

But in a meeting with Armenian American leaders on Tuesday, administration officials said Obama would not use the term. “President Obama’s surrender to Turkey represents a national disgrace. It is, very simply, a betrayal of truth, a betrayal of trust,” ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian said in a statement Tuesday.

The Turkish government has consistently rejected the term—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the Pope not to repeat the “mistake” of using it—and the White House has long been reluctant to risk relations with a key ally in a tumultuous region.

Taner Akcam, a history professor at Clark University who was one of the first Turkish academics to openly call the killings “genocide,” said it was “a shame” that Obama was set to again avoid the term.

“The United States is always emphasizing its exceptionalism in supporting liberal values and human rights at home and across the world,” Akcam said. “But Obama and the Americans should also recognize that one should uphold human rights not only when it’s convenient.”

Armenian hopes crushed as Obama decides not to use the word ‘genocide’

April 22, 2015 By administrator

By Noah Bierman contact the reporter

White House officials have decided that President Obama will not use the word “genocide” to describe the killings of more than 1 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks when he commemorates the deaths Friday, the 100th anniversary of the massacres.

The decision, revealed Tuesday in a meeting with Armenian American groups, backs down from a previous Obama pledge.

“As president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide,” Obama said while running for president in 2008. Report LATime

His decision not to do so now sparked anger from activists.

“The president’s surrender represents a national disgrace,” said Aram S. Hamparian, executive director of the Washington-based Armenian National Committee of America. “It is a betrayal of the truth, and it is a betrayal of trust.”

White House officials defended the decision as necessary to preserve the chance of cooperation with Turkey, a NATO ally, on Middle Eastern conflicts.

The Turkish Embassy, which has spent millions lobbying Congress on the issue, did not respond to a request for comment. the Turkish government has said that the mass killings do not meet the legal definition of genocide and that it would be a mistake for the U.S. to use the term. Some members of Congress have also warned that a shift in official U.S. references could hurt American foreign policy.

California has the country’s largest population of people of Armenian descent, with more than 200,000 living in Los Angeles County, according to U.S. Census data.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has led efforts in Congress to recognize the genocide, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision.

“How long must the victims and their families wait before our nation has the courage to confront Turkey with the truth about the murderous past of the Ottoman Empire? If not this president, who spoke so eloquently and passionately about recognition in the past, whom? If not after 100 years, when?” he said in a statement.

After the meeting with Armenian American groups, White House officials released a statement that did not use the word “genocide.” The statement from National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the U.S. would use the anniversary of the onset of the massacres to “urge a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts that we believe is in the interest of all parties.”

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to comment on a diplomatically delicate issue, said the White House expects Obama to mark “the historical significance” of the Meds Yeghern, as the massacres are known in Armenian.

“We know and respect that there are some who are hoping to hear different language this year. We understand their perspective,” the official said.

But, the official added, “the approach we have taken in previous years remains the right one, both for acknowledging the past, and for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the present,” a reference to U.S. hope for cooperation from Turkey, particularly in the civil war in Syria.
White House national security advisor Susan Rice met Tuesday afternoon with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and urged him “to take concrete steps to improve relations with Armenia and to facilitate an open and frank dialogue in Turkey about the atrocities of 1915,” the White House said in a statement.

Hamparian said he and other Armenian American leaders learned the news at their White House meeting, which was attended by Denis McDonough, Obama’s chief of staff, and Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor.

During the meeting, which lasted just short of an hour, Hamparian said, the group was told that the U.S. would send a delegation to Armenia this week, led by Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.

Obama to Appoint US Delegation to Armenian Genocide Commemorations

April 14, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The United States of America will be officially represented on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan at the Dzidzernagapert Memorial with members of a delegation who will be appointed by the U.S. President Barack Obama, the American Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills announced Monday.

“Along with Armenia, the United States mourn the victims of the massacres and deportation of about 1.5 million Armenians during the last years of the Ottoman Empire,” Ambassador Mills said in a statement. “We should never forget this tragedy and should keep bright the memory of those, who gave their lives.”

LA city council bill urges Obama to recognize Armenian Genocide

March 28, 2015 By administrator

Los Angeles City Councilmembers introduced a measure urging US President Obama to recognize the Armenian Genocide and voicing LA’s support for H-Res 154, the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice resolution introduced in Congress last week, reported Asbarez.

“Los Angeles is home to one of the largest Armenian populations in the world, including a tremendous number of Genocide survivors and their descendants,” said Councilmember Paul Krekorian.

Petition to Obama and Congress: Reaffirm recognition of Armenian Genocide as “genocide”

March 17, 2015 By administrator

Petition to Obama and Congress

The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America has launched a petition calling on US President Barack Obama, the House of Representatives and the Senate to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The text of the petition, on Change.org, is below:

This upcoming April 24, 2015 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Join us as we call on President Obama and Congress to remember the Armenian Genocide by reaffirming past U.S. policy of labeling this event a “genocide.”

Between 1915 and 1923, two million Christian Armenians were forcibly uprooted from their homeland with 1.5 million of that number systematically slaughtered by the Ottoman Turkish government under the cover of World War I, effectively eliminating the 5,000-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland. This campaign of ethnic mass murder – which also targeted Christian Greeks and Assyrians living in Turkey – is considered the first documented genocide of modern times and included crucifixions, torture of women and children, sexual slavery, deportations, mass executions, forced labor, enslavement of children and purposeful starvation. Similar to the pattern seen in the Holocaust, this genocidal campaign also consisted of the confiscation of the personal and real property of the genocide victims, as well as that of the Armenian Church.

The Armenian Genocide is settled history. The International Association of Genocide Scholars has repeatedly and unanimously declared these events to be a genocide. In 1918, Theodore Roosevelt referred to the Armenian Genocide as “the greatest crime of the war.” In 1939, Adolf Hitler referenced the Armenian Genocide as justification for the Holocaust saying, “Who, after all, today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?” The creator of the word “genocide,” Holocaust survivor and lawyer Raphael Lemkin, said he conceived the word to describe the pattern of ethnic cleansing seen in WWI with the Armenians and WWII with the Jewish people.

Despite this overwhelming evidence, the Turkish government denies its past. It has criminalized discussion of the Armenian Genocide by its own citizens and built a powerful coalition of lobbyists in the United States who use political influence to deny the truth about the genocide and prevent international recognition of this crime, including former Congressional leaders like Dick Gephardt and Dennis Hastert and the law firm of Greenberg Traurig.

We call on President Obama and Congress to rise above Turkey’s threats and political pressure to take a stand for historical justice. Join the 22 other countries – including 11 NATO allies, the Holy See, 43 U.S. states, and numerous past Presidents including Ronald Reagan – in recognizing that the events of 1915 were, in fact, a genocide.

In the case of President Obama, we simply ask him to keep his promise: As a Senator and candidate for President, President Obama strongly endorsed recognition of the genocide, promised he would recognize the genocide as President, and said America “deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide.” We couldn’t agree more, Mr. President.

The surest way to prevent atrocities in the future is to acknowledge and learn from those in the past. Sign on to our petition today to add your voice to the growing chorus who demand recognition and justice.

Tom de Waal: Use of “g-word” by Obama will not have legal effects

March 10, 2015 By administrator

By Anna Ghazaryan

Armenian News-NEWS.am presents an interview with a senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment, journalist and writer Thomas de Waal.

Tom de Waal

You have recently presented your new book “Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide”. In one of your interviews you said you always try fill “gap in the literature” on the matter you are interested in. You have interviewed many people and studied many archives. What new things did you discover in Armenia-Turkey relations?

I learned a lot of new things researching and writing this book and I believe most readers will as well. Of course, I should say first of all I am not the first researcher to cover these topics. Tatul Hakobyan did a brilliant job in his recent book “Armenians and Turks.” And I can mention some writers in the United States as well.

But let me mention two things. One is the secret meeting in Zurich in 1977 between the Turkish foreign minister Sabri Caglayangil and the leaders of the three Armenian political parties. This had been written about in some Armenian memoirs but for the first time I got a Turkish source on the meeting in the form of the aide to the minister, Oktay Aksoy, who is still alive and living in Ankara and who told me how the meeting was set up in New York. I see the 1977 meeting as a story of “missed opportunities.” Senior Armenians and Turks managed to meet and talk but failed to establish a proper mechanism or continue the dialogue.

Another issue that I think is very important and deserves greater attention is that of the so-called “Islamized Armenians” of Turkey. There are many thousands of people alive in Turkey who carry Muslim names and who grew up as Turks or Kurds but are conscious of having an Armenian identity through parents or grandparents who were left behind in 1915 and absorbed into Muslim families. I met several of these people in Diyarbakir while working on the book.

They know that they are Armenian and are now able to talk about it, but they barely know the language and culture. There are many many of these people in Turkey with a sort of hybrid identity. How can they be described? What can be done for them? This is a big challenge which has yet to be confronted.

Do you think there is anything that can really make Turkey change attitude towards the Armenian Genocide? Will it be possible under the pressure from western countries?

I believe Turkey has already changed a lot and many Armenians have not noticed this. The change has had very little to do with outside pressure, apart from the effects of European Union approximation in the early 2000s. It has more to do with what you might call a “maturation” of Turkish society in which the Ottoman-era multi-cultural identity is being remembered. The Kurds have played the leading role in pushing this process forward. Turkey is now beginning to remember its history and the illusion that history began in 1923 has been shattered. The condolences statement to Armenians by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time, last April, is a symptom of this approach, as is the re-opening of Armenian churches and the fact that books are now published in Turkey using the term “Armenian genocide.” Of course this is too slow for most Armenians. And I very much doubt the Turkish government will use the word “genocide.” But it is now possible to have a dialogue within Turkey and to engage Turkish society with debate.

Every year Armenians attentively follow U.S. President’s speech hoping to hear a “g-word”. What do you think will happen if Obama says “genocide”? Will it in fact lead to some changes in U.S. policy or it will be just a word?

I understand that Armenian Americans want their president to use the word “genocide” — and of course a United States president, Ronald Reagan, has done so before. But an American president is under pressure from competing political demands. If you read Barack Obama’s April 24 statements carefully, they are a full and thoughtful engagement with the issue of what happened to the Armenians, which does not happen to use the “g-word.” I question whether this is such a big issue really and I humbly suggest that it is not an entirely healthy situation when Armenians are waiting for a verdict of the president of the United States in order to tell them something they already know. Armenians know better than anyone else what happened in 1915 and 1916 — what happened to their grandparents and great-grandparents. They also know from bitter experience that the “Great Powers” have used the Armenian question in ways that have not always helped Armenians. Isn’t it more important to have the statements of intellectuals and historians than that of politicians?

I do not believe that the use or non-use of the word will have any legal effect, as the 1948 United Nations convention was a forward-looking convention on the prevention of future genocides, not a mechanism for dealing with past ones. But of course the use of the word would have political effects in Turkey.

Turkey will mark 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, the day when Armenians mark Armenian Genocide Centenary. How do you assess the move? What are they expecting to get by setting this day: they wanted to diver attention from Yerevan events or to demonstrate that they are not afraid of western pressure ? Will this move bring advantages to Turkey?

I think it is very unfortunate that the Gallipoli ceremony will be held on April 24. Inevitably, foreign dignitaries will be forced to choose between going to Turkey or to Armenia. It would have been possible to hold the ceremony on another day and not to have a “historical competition” on that day. It was a sign of insensitivity by the Turkish authorities. There were reports by the Today Zaman newspaper recently that the Gallipoli ceremony was being called off. This was denied but I think it confirms that the Turkish authorities are having difficulties getting enough guests to come and shows that holding the ceremony on that date was a political mistake.

Turkish Sabah report: US congressmen to introduce Armenian genocide bill this week

February 22, 2015 By administrator

By RAGIP SOYLU,

WASHINGTON, D.C

Four members of Congress in the U.S. last week invited their colleagues to become an original co-sponsor of the Armenian Genocide Recognition Resolution, which accuses the Ottoman Empire of committing genocide in 1915 and asking President Barack Obama to pressure the Turkish government to resolve the issue. Report Turkish daily Sabah

A letter addressed to U.S. congressmen, penned by Robert J. Dold (Republican from Illinois), David Valado (Republican from California), Adam B. Schiff (Democrate from California) and Frank Pallone (Democrat from New Jersey), claims that the Ottoman Empire killed 1.5 million Armenians between April 24, 1915 and 1923. “Forty-two U.S. states have recognized the Armenian Genocide, as have 11 of our NATO allies. On this special year, it is time for the United States government to officially join with those voices standing against this genocide denial. We can help bring closure to this longstanding moral issue that continues to impact U.S. interests,” the letter read.

Representatives declared that they would be introducing the resolution next Tuesday, Feb. 24 and the same language as in House Resolution 227 from the 113th Congress would be used.

House Resolution 227, which last year became obsolete, urged President Obama to work toward durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon Turkey’s full acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the “Armenian Genocide.”

The draft resolution also cites President Obama’s statements before entering office, saying he held the conviction that the Armenian genocide is not an allegation but rather a widely documented fact supported by historical evidence.

Parts of the Turkish-American community was quick to show their grievances about the initiative.

Ali Çınar, a Turkish-American community leader and also the president of the Washington-based think tank Global Policy Institute, invited his followers to pressure congressmen by calling the offices of representatives and emailing them to make them stop pursuing the official recognition of genocide.