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Iraqi special forces liberate Mosul University from Islamic State

January 13, 2017 by administrator

MOSUL,— Iraqi special forces stormed the Mosul University complex in the city’s northeast on Friday and pushed Islamic State further back to reach another bridge across the Tigris river, the military said.

The militants were fighting back at the university, which they had seized when they took over the city in 2014. A Reuters reporter witnessed heavy clashes inside the campus.

Iraqi forces have recaptured most districts in eastern Mosul in nearly three months of a U.S.-backed offensive, which accelerated at the turn of the year with new tactics and better coordination.

They aim to take full control of the eastern bank of the Tigris river, which bisects Mosul from north to south, before launching attacks on the west, still fully in Islamic State hands.

Driving the ultra-hardline Islamist group out of its Mosul stronghold will probably spell the end for the Iraqi side of the caliphate it has declared, stretching into Syria.

Senior Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) commander Sami al-Aridhi said the university was the most important Islamic State base in the eastern half of the city.

BULLDOZERS

He said the CTS had taken over a hill overlooking parts of the campus, including the technical college. “Forces are heading into the depths of the university,” he said.

Earlier, bulldozers had smashed through a wall surrounding the campus and dozens of CTS troops sprinted through carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

An Iraqi officer said army units backed by air strikes had also taken control of Hadba district, north of the university, and would aid the assault on the complex.

Another CTS commander said the capture of the university would enable further advances as it overlooks areas closer to the river.

Advances by Iraqi forces have gathered pace in the last two weeks after troops got bogged down in fierce street fighting in late November and December and militants hid among the civilian population.

New tactics employed since the turn of the year, including a night raid and better defences against suicide car bombs, have given the campaign fresh momentum, U.S. and Iraqi military officials say.

Better coordination between different military divisions, such as the elite CTS and the regular army, has also helped, a senior Western diplomat told Reuters this week.

FIVE BRIDGES

“As (Islamic State) are pulled away to fight CTS, that’s the opportunity for the Iraqi army to attack against a much weaker defence,” the diplomat said.

Securing areas along the Tigris would be crucial, the diplomat added.

“Once you get to the river, you can then slowly mop it up, because you can then cut the lines of communication.”

CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told state television: “God willing, within a short period the complete clearing of the left bank of the Tigris will be announced.”

In a separate advance further south in the city, other elite CTS units reached the Second Bridge, also called Freedom Bridge, one of five across the Tigris, the military said in a statement reported by state TV.

Iraqi forces have now reached Mosul’s two southernmost bridges, having battled their way to the Fourth Bridge several days ago.

Assaults on the western half of Mosul are expected to begin once Iraqi forces have secured the east bank.

All the bridges have been hit by U.S. coalition air strikes in an effort to hamper Islamic State’s movements. U.S. and Iraqi military officials say Islamic State has further damaged at least two of them to try to hamper an army advance.

By Isabel Coles and John Davison | Reuters

Michigan State University to offer Armenian language courses

September 20, 2016 by administrator

The Michigan State University (MSU) has been granted $1.2 million to develop new less commonly taught language courses, included one for Armenian, The State News, published by MSU students, reports.

Center for Language Teaching Advancement, or CeLTA, faculty have been awarded funding by the Mellon Foundation for 38 months to create new language programs through a partnership with the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Though MSU already offers 29 less-commonly taught languages, or LCTLs, and CeLTA faculty hope to add many more, including Armenian, Burmese, Gaelic, Hmong, Serbo-Croatian and Sinhala, according to the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages’ website.

The new LCTL courses will be taught via CourseShare, an online distance-learning program used throughout Big Ten Academic Alliance schools.

Although LCTL learners agree that access to these languages is important, some students think the university could be doing more.

Less-commonly taught languages are often tied to groups of people who have experienced oppression, and making them more accessible can help begin to change that legacy.

Students without ancestral ties to a less-commonly taught language stand to gain a lot from these programs too, Koen Van Gorp, who will help develop the new courses, said.

“I think it’s kind of getting an alternative view of the world,” Van Gorp said. “It opens up new windows, new avenues, new horizons.”

If the new LCTL courses prove successful, the Big Ten Academic Alliance would hope to continue to expand to more languages, executive director Barbara McFadden Allen said.

The State News. MSU granted $1.2 million to teach less-common languages

The Clinton University Problem: Laureate Education Lawsuits Present Problem For Clinton’s [Updated]

June 10, 2016 by administrator

Jonathan turley.

(jonathanturley.org) While largely ignored by the media, the Clintons have their own university scandal. Donald Trump has been rightfully criticized and sued over his defunct Trump University. There is ample support for claiming that the Trump University was fraudulent in its advertisements and operations. However, the national media has been accused of again sidestepping a scandal involving the Clintons that involves the same type of fraud allegations. The scandal involves a dubious Laureate Education for-profit online college (Walden) and entails many of the common elements with other Clinton scandals: huge sums given to the Clintons and questions of conflicts with Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State. There are distinctions to draw between the two stories, but the virtual radio silence on the Clinton/Laureate story is surprising. [I have updated the original column with some additional thoughts, links, and clarifications for readers).

I have long been a critic of many online courses, though I am increasingly in the minority even on my faculty. However, the rise of online courses has allowed for an increase in dubious pitches and practices that prey upon people who cannot afford or attend a traditional academic institution. I should also reveal a general opposition to for-profit universities, a view shared by many teachers and experts. While there are some good for-profit programs from student camps to specialized training courses, Laureate is a massive, mega-corporation that is often criticized for its impact on education. As companies maximize profits, students often become a mere cost of doing business. The rate of default has been higher at such for-profit universities and less than half of students at for-profit schools actually finish such programs accordingly to Brookings. Laureate is often cited as the leader in reducing education to a commodity in a mass for-profit enterprise. The company has made huge profits and is worth over $4 billion.

Laureate Education was sued over its Walden University Online offering, which some alleged worked like a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees. Students alleged that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt. Laureate itself has been criticized for “turbocharging” admissions while allowing standards to fall and shortchanging education.

The respected Inside Higher Education reported that Laureate Education paid Bill Clinton an obscene $16.5 million between 2010 and 2014 to serve as an honorary chancellor for Laureate International Universities. Various news outlets said that neither Clinton nor Laureate were forthcoming on how much he was paid for the controversial association.

Bill Clinton worked as the “honorary chancellor” which sounds a bit like the group’s pitchman. He gave speeches in various countries and was heavily touted by the for-profit company to attract students. The size of this payment (which has been widely reported) raises obvious concerns as to what the company was seeking to achieve and whether Laureate received any benefit from the association with the State Department given its massive international operations.

Various sites have reported that the State Department funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton’s tenure to groups associated with Laureate’s founder. That would seem a pretty major story but virtually no mainstream media outlet has reported it while running hundreds of stories on the Trump University scandal. The stories on the grants do not name Laureate directly. Accordingly, the company might have not received direct grants (my first column did not make that clear and, in fairness to Laureate, there is no evidence of a quid pro quo arrangement or even direct grants). However, there are references to the International Youth Federation (connected to Laureate chairman Douglas Becker) as receiving USAID funding. Becker, who reportedly did not graduate college, is a controversial figure and the Washington Post wrote that “Becker’s peers in the education industry paint him as a tireless promoter, skilled at pitching Laureate to investors and persuading universities to sell to him.” Becker is reportedly a major donor to the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Laureate was able to “skirt” regulations on reporting “gainful employment” due to its large number of schools and students outside of the country who do not receive federal aid. The Journal noted “[o]nly 31% of students who enroll at another Laureate school, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, graduate. After 10 years, a mere 58% earn more than Americans with a high school diploma.”

Clinton resigned from his post just before his wife declared her candidacy but praised the company for producing high quality education. Yet, MarketWatch reported “five out of its six U.S. campuses are on a list of 544 schools the Department of Education is monitoring over concerns about shaky finances or regulatory compliance.”

Indeed, Laureate has come up in the Clinton email scandal. In her first year as Secretary of State, Clinton is quoted as directly asking that Laureate be included in a high-profile policy dinner — just months before the lucrative contract was given to Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton later references “Laureate Universities, started by Doug Becker who Bill likes a lot.”

Of course, there is a good reason why Clinton would ask for a more inclusive listing since “It’s a for-profit model that should be represented.” Even though most teachers (including the unions supporting Clinton) tend to be opposed to such for-profit companies, there is no denying that this model is on the rise. Later, Clinton called for a crackdown on for-profit companies but was criticized for the former association with Laureate.

There was even a class action — like the Trump University scandal. Travis et al v. Walden University LLC, was filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Maryland but dismissed in 2015. It is not clear why it was dismissed. However, the size of the contract to Clinton, the grants from State and the complaints over alleged fraud should warrant a modicum of attention to the controversy. The controversy has many of the familiar complaints over fraudulent online programs that take advantage of hard working people.

As an academic, I find both Trump University and Laureate to be deeply troubling stories. Yet, only one has been pursued by the media to any significant degree. I am not suggesting that Laureate as a whole is fraudulent. It clearly is a large for-profit educational company that has far more to show for its work than Trump University. Indeed, this is a huge global company with tremendous financial assets and profits. Moreover, there are distinctions that can be drawn with a university like Trump that is based entirely on the presumptive nominee and his promises in advertising. However, the money given to the Clintons, the involvement of the State Department, and the claims of fraud make this an obviously significant story in my view. The ridiculous amount of money given to Clinton alone raises legitimate questions. This is a company that was expanding exponentially in foreign countries. The association with Clinton was obviously greatly desired by the company. The question is whether the association with the Clintons resulted in any favorable treatment for the company or its affiliates.

What do you think?

Islamic State ISIS hijacks Mosul University chemistry lab for bombs making

April 2, 2016 by administrator

Islamic State has been using a well-stocked university chemistry lab in Mosul, Iraq, for the past year to concoct a new generation of explosive devices and train militants to make them, according to US and Iraqi military officials and two people familiar with the university, The Wall Street Journal reported.
General Hatem Magsosi, Iraq’s top explosives officer, said the facilities at the University of Mosul have enhanced Islamic State’s ability to launch attacks in Iraq and to export bomb-making know-how when its fighters leave the so-called caliphate and return to their home countries.

The weaponry churned out includes peroxide-based chemical bombs and suicide-bomb vests like the ones used in the Brussels attacks and by at least some of the Paris attackers, according to the general and others in the Iraqi military, as well as an official from the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Other bombs made include nitrate-based explosives and chemical weapons, Gen. Magsosi said.

“The University of Mosul is the best Daesh research center in the world,” the general said, using another name for Islamic State. “Trainees go to Raqqa, [Syria], then to Mosul university to use the existing facilities.”

Its current status isn’t clear, however. The U.S.-led coalition has targeted the campus with airstrikes more than once, most recently on March 19.

“We do know that Daesh has used some of those buildings for military purposes and we bombed them,” said Col. Steve Warren,spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq.

The Pentagon said March 19 it was targeting an Islamic State weapons-storage facility and headquarters, but gave no more detail.

Colonel Warren said the Mosul bomb-making labs are among the biggest that Islamic State has established. He said the university has a sprawling campus and the coalition would continue to target such facilities if they are identified.

Last week, the Pentagon said the U.S. military had killed a man they identified as one of Islamic State’s top military officials. It didn’t give any further information, but Gen. Magsosi said the man, known as Abu Eman, was the top expert at the Mosul bomb lab.

When Islamic State captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, in the summer of 2014, the university was one of the spoils. The university had a strong reputation around Iraq for its science departments, alumni say.
By March 2015, dozens of Islamic State engineers and scientists had set up a research hub in the chemistry lab, which was full of equipment and chemicals, according to the people with knowledge of the university.
Many of the regular staff, including professors specialized in organic, industrial and analytical chemistry, remained in the city at the time, but the new laboratories were staffed by Islamic State’s own men, according to one of those people.
At least since August, dozens of individuals—presumed to be foreigners because they didn’t speak Iraqi Arabic—were seen moving through the labs, the two people said. They said they were told specialized units had been set up there for chemical explosives and weapons research as well as suicide-bomb construction.
A separate group at the university’s technical college was dedicated to building suicide-bomb components, one of the two said.

During the same time frame, there has been a surge in Islamic State’s use of bombs that mix chemical precursors into an explosive powdery substance known as triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, both in Iraq and Europe.
It isn’t clear how many of these weapons, if any, can be traced to research or training conducted in Mosul.
General Magsosi says that his bomb-detection units called peroxide-based explosives the “Satan Recipe” because they are very hard to detect and they are usually so lethal.
It isn’t yet known whether the militants who carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks spent time at the Mosul facility during their time in Islamic State territory. Investigators say they suspect that at least one member of the network, Najim Laachraoui, made TATP-based explosives that were stuffed into suicide belts and suitcases and used in those attacks.

Tufts University to host Armenian Genocide commemoration

March 5, 2016 by administrator

Tufts University, the Darakjian-Jafarian Chair in Armenian History, the Department of History, the Armenian Club at Tufts University, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) will sponsor the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide at Tufts on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Massis Post reports.

The Tufts event will feature a lecture by Marc A. Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs at NAASR, entitled “Scholarship and the Armenian Genocide: The State of the Art and the State of Denial.” The evening will be hosted by Ina Baghdiantz McCabe, Professor of History and Darakjian-Jafarian Chair of Armenian History at Tufts University. The commemoration and lecture will take place in Goddard Chapel on Tufts’ Medford, MA, campus. A reception will follow in the Coolidge Room in nearby Ballou Hall.

The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of scholarship on the Armenian Genocide, with a significant number of important works of documentation and interpretation. The development of ever-increasingly compelling scholarly works has been paralleled by the evolution of traditional strategies of denial practiced since World War I and advanced during the Cold War era. While scholars have moved beyond simplistic questions of whether or not what occurred was a genocide, like tobacco industry lobbyists of the 1950s or today’s so-called global warming skeptics, apologists for the “Turkish position” labor to construct denialism as a legitimate intellectual position within a historical debate through the publication of ostensibly scholarly publications and presentations. Such manufactured controversy is a time-tested and often effective method of means of generating academic credibility.

This lecture will offer an overview of the current state of the art in Armenian Genocide scholarship as well briefly survey the development of Armenian Genocide denial and focus on more recent refinements and the penetration of denial into American academia, with an emphasis on the fundamental challenges of denialism, debate, and the quest for intellectual integrity.

Marc A. Mamigonian has served as NAASR’s Director of Academic Affairs since 2009, having from 1998 to 2008 acted as the organization’s Director of Programs and Publications. An alumnus of the University of New Hampshire (BA, 1990) and Tufts University (MA, 1992), Mamigonian is the editor of the book The Armenians of New England and the Journal of Armenian Studies, and is the co-author of annotated editions of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses published by Alma Classics in the United Kingdom. His most recent publication, “Academic Denial of the Armenian Genocide in American Scholarship: Denialism as Manufactured Controversy,” appeared in the journal Genocide Studies International in 2015.

Related links:

Massis Post.

Fresno: Ümit Kurt to speak on “Why Does Turkey Deny the Armenian Genocide?”

February 13, 2016 by administrator

Armenian Studies Program, California State University, Fresno.

“Why Does Turkey Deny the Armenian Genocide?” will be addressed in a talk by Clark University doctoral candidate Ümit Kurt at 7:30PM on Wednesday, February 10, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.

The lecture is the third in the Armenian Studies Program Spring 2016 Lecture Series, with the support of the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

One of the most important—and possibly the most sensitive—landmarks of modern Turkish history and the formation of Turkey’s political and socio-cultural climate is the Armenian Genocide. By the same token, this issue is a taboo in Turkish political history. The question widely asked is “Why does Turkey deny the Armenian Genocide?” This question should be examined at two levels: state and society. It is correct to say that there has been a strong state denialism of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. Yet, one should also bear in mind that this strong state denialism has also been supported and reinforced by different sections of society. In this lecture, Kurt will analyze societal dimensions of Turkish denialism of Armenian genocide and also explore the reasons behind Turkey’s inability to come to terms with its past.

Ümit Kurt is a PhD. Candidate at Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program in the History Department of Clark University and completing his dissertation. He has written

extensively on confiscation of Armenian properties, Armenian Genocide, early modern Turkish nationalism, and Aintab Armenians. He is the author of the Great, hopeless Turkish race: fundamentals of Turkish nationalism in the Turkish homeland 1911-1916 (Istanbul: İletişim Publishing House, 2012) and editor of the Revolt and Destruction: Construction of the state from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic and collective violence (Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Publishing House, 2015). He teaches history at Sabancı University in Istanbul and is the author, with Taner Akçam, of The spirit of the laws: the plunder of wealth in the Armenian Genocide (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2015).

The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available, with a parking code, in Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center.

For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.

Armenian Student Association created at University of Miami, aims to promote culture, heritage

September 28, 2015 by administrator

By Siranush Ghazanchyan,

After a year of assembling and organizing, the Armenian Student Association (ASA) is now recognized as an official student organization at the University of Miami, The Miami Hurricane reports.

President Mercedes Alvarez-Gechidjian worked with the Committee on Student Organizations (COSO) since January 2014 to get the organization formally recognized. Now that they are official, ASA has big plans for the campus community.

“We want to let the campus know that we are here and to show everyone our beautiful culture,” said Alvarez-Gechidjian, a junior international studies major. “We want to educate Floridians about the Armenian culture. People don’t know where Armenia is, they don’t know what Armenia is about and how rich our culture is, so our main goal is to let them know.”

Events are being planned to expose the campus community to the tradition, events and holidays that the Armenian culture celebrates. One idea is an Armenian dinner where guests can try khorovats and kebabs, traditional Armenian barbecue.

“Armenians love meat,” Alvarez-Gechidjian said of the proposed event.

An Armenian Easter is also planned. Alvarez-Gechidjian wants the organization to be a home away from home for students, Armenian or otherwise.

Having lived in various places such as China, Kuwait, India and Mongolia, Alvarez-Gechidjian, who has Argentinean roots, first came to Florida in 2013 and attended Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. When she transferred to the University of Miami in the fall of 2014, she met many Armenians but found no club to represent them.

“We all knew an Armenian in UM, so we decided to start a club. It was just an idea we had and we went for it,” she said.

While making the club official, Alvarez-Gechidjian and the other organizers still tried to maintain close family ties within the group. They made trips to St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Ft. Lauderdale and began connecting with Florida International University’s Armenian club.

“I am happy that the Armenian student body is coming together on this,” sophomore and ASA member Michael Ara Bezjian said. “Being a part of a small community or group that takes care of each other is a part of Armenian heritage. It’s a good way to remind us of our roots when we’re busy with school and commitments.”

The club will still have to do an orientation with COSO to learn what it means to be a student organization and what is expected of them on campus. However, the club already has plans lined up and a sense of family among them.

Source: armradio.am

Beirut to host int’l conference on 100th anniv. of Armenian Genocide

January 19, 2015 by administrator

Haykazyan University of Beirut and the Lebanese central body for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will organize on Jan 31-Feb 1 an international conference “Armenian Genocide centennial: Consequences and assignments”, sponsored by the head of the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in Middle East, Megerdich Karageozian.

Suren Manukyan (The demographic, cultural, geographical, economic and political consequences of the Armenian Genocide), Vladimir Vardanyan (The elimination of the consequences of the Armenian genocide by international law), Zaven Msryan (The international community resistance during and after the Armenian genocide), Saleh Zahreddin (Genocide abuse by states against Turkey), Arsen Avagyan (Armenia-Turkey relations from 1991-2014), Tatul Hakobyan (Armenia- Turkey non-governmental relations), Bulent Bilmez (The attitude of Turkey towards minorities (1923-2014), Hranush Kharatyan (The status of Armenians in Modern Turkey: Islamized Armenians) will deliver reports with the above-mentioned titles.

Before closing the conference, the presentation of the volumes (in Arabic) “100 Arabian testimonies: The 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide” by Damascus University professor Nora Arisian and “Artsakh Diary: Green and Black” by journalist and expert at the ANI Center Tatul Hakobyan will be held.

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