The blog contains articles and thoughts in English, Armenian and Arabic about Armenian issues, Artsakh-Karabakh issue, Armenian Genocide as well as the life of Armenians and Christians in Iraq and the Middle East.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Time to Take a Stand: Who to Vote for and Who to Vote Against?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The November 2 congressional elections are expected to have a tidal wave effect on America’s political landscape. Campaign ads and political commentaries have flooded the airwaves and everyone is anxiously following the polls to see if their favorite candidate or party is going to prevail or get tossed out.
In two short years, Pres. Obama’s popularity has plummeted precipitously. Disappointed by his administration’s disastrous performance, the American public has turned on Democratic incumbents, many of whom fear losing their congressional seats.
Even though several key races are too close to call, political pundits expect that Republicans will take over the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate. If these predictions come true, there will probably be total gridlock in Washington until the next presidential and congressional elections in 2012. Until then, all new initiatives undertaken by the Obama administration will be stalled in Congress, making it almost impossible to pass any bills on important national issues.
In such a confusing situation, how would Armenian-American vote? Those who are staunch Democrats or Republicans have an easy choice to make. They would vote for their party’s candidates, regardless of their position on issues.
However, those who care about Armenian issues have a somewhat more difficult task. They could take the position that since Democrats have not delivered their promises on the Genocide resolution, they would punish them by voting instead for Republican candidates. The problem is that traditionally most Republican members of Congress have been less supportive of the Armenian Genocide issue than Democrats. Thus, voting for all Republican candidates, while perhaps emotionally satisfying, will not benefit the Armenian Cause. On the contrary, Armenians would be helping to elect candidates who are less sympathetic than the current members of Congress, many of whom are Democrats.
Another option is to sit out the elections completely, since neither Democrats nor Republicans delivered on Armenian issues when they were in power. This is not a good option, however, as it would squander decades of political investment the Armenian community has made in American civic life.
The option I recommend for the consideration of Armenian-American voters is none of the above. Do not vote blindly for your party’s candidates, and do not sit out the election.
The optimum choice is to vote for candidates of any party who have demonstrated aproven track record of active support on Armenian issues. Those who are reluctant to vote on the basis of a candidate’s stand on Armenian issues should remember that most voters make their selection based on their perceived self-interest. Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, Turks and other ethnic groups vote for candidates who support their causes. Those in high-income brackets typically vote for candidates who promise to lower their taxes, while poor people usually support those who favor funding more social services. Why should Armenians be the exception and shy away from supporting candidates who favor their issues? Voters make their electoral choices on the basis of their interests. It is then up to elected officials to balance the conflicting interests of their constituents.
Armenian-Americans can keep their friends in Congress by re-electing the 120 Democratic and 36 Republican House members; and 12 Democratic, 2 Republican, and 1 independent Senators all of whom received top grades from the Armenian National Committee of America. At the same time, Armenian-Americans can reduce the number of their opponents in Congress by supporting candidates who are running against the 18 Democratic and 22 Republican House members who received a failing grade fromANCA. To check the individual record of Members of Congress, please consult theANCA’s report card by clicking on: www.anca.org.
Finally, everyone must be aware that the day after the Nov. 2 elections is the unofficial start of the next presidential campaign. In this regard, it is distressing that Pres. Obama came to Los Angeles and Glendale last Friday and not a single Armenian protested his appearance. How could Armenians ignore the fact that the President did not keep his promise to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide during his first two years in office? As Pres. Obama was desperately seeking to convince voters to support Democratic candidates, Southern California’s large Armenian community missed a unique opportunity to show the President its displeasure before the national media.
By their absence, Armenians sent an ominous message to all candidates: You can promise anything to Armenians to get their money and votes, and after the election, you can break your promise with impunity!
Armenians need to wake up from their lethargy. If they want elected officials to take them seriously, they must reward their political friends and penalize their opponents!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Archbishop Avak Asadourian's visit to Canada
His Eminence Archbishop Avak Asadourian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq visited the Armenian Diocese of Canada at the invitation of His Grace Bishop Bagrad Kalisdanian from September 23 - October 1st. On September 26 His Eminence celebrated Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Church in Toronto and offered the sermon.
After Liturgy group photos were taken with the Church's different committees and with the former Iraqi Armenians now living in Toronto.
Afterwords a luncheon was served at the Church hall with the attendance of 400 faithful.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Opening Of Foreign-Language Schools In Armenia
The initiative was proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia and had roused much concern and caused a deep divide in the Armenian society.
Proponents say reopening of foreign-language schools will be a good chance for future offspring to get a high-quality education at home, while opponents counter it amid fears that they will deepen the gap between different layers of society and will put the Armenian identity at threat.
The move sparked a storm of criticism from opposition politicians, media and public figures, including those loyal to the government. Opponents believe it endangers the constitutional status of Armenian as the country’s sole official language.
Critics believed that the new amendments will cause emerging many schools teaching subjects in a foreign language. Some fear the measure is a veiled attempt to restore Russian-language education in Armenia
Each of them brings their arguments against opening foreign-language schools in Armenia
The other part of the intelligentsia that insists on opening of foreign-language schools and thus bridging Armenia
On June 9, 2010, during the discussion of the bill in the National Assembly, these MPs insisted that in case of opening of these schools, pupils should study in foreign schools beginning with the 7th grade only, on condition the Armenian History, Armenian Language and Literature, and Ecclesiology be taught in the native language.
A council of prominent political and public figures advising President Serzh Sarkisian joined opposition critics in rejecting the government bill.
Vazgen Manukian, the chairman of the Public Council, said the presidential body had formally submitted a unanimous and negative assessment of the bill to Sarkisian and hoped that it would be withdrawn from the Armenian parliament.
Such schools have been banned since 1993, when the government, in which Manukian had served as prime minister under the presidency of the current opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian, closed them amid a post-Soviet wave of nationalism, ensuring the supremacy of the Armenian language in the national education system. A law on education adopted at the time stipulates that only members of ethnic minorities and foreign citizens could study in schools where the main subjects are taught in foreign languages.
The Armenian government approved a set of draft amendments to the law removing the ban. The move sparked a storm of criticism from opposition politicians, media and public figures, including those loyal to the Sarkisian administration. They believe it endangers Armenian’s constitutional status as the country’s sole official language.
According to Manukian, the proposed amendments “do not agree to our national and state interests.” He said the Armenian Ministry of Science and Education drafted them in response to the Presidential Council’s recent calls for to set up independent commissions that would suggest ways of boosting declining educational standards. “We tried to take a step forward but got a step towards an abyss,” he told a news conference.
With an eye to that Soviet past, most critics assume the proposed schools would be Russian-language institutions. The amendments, however, do no specify the language of instruction.
“I have a Russian-language education and have always experienced problems with the Armenian language and method of expression,” said the 48-year-old Apatian. “Can you imagine what will happen if foreign-language schools -- meeting international standards, as they say -- are opened? We will go back to Soviet times again; the image of Armenian schools and our nation will suffer.”
During the Soviet era, fluent knowledge of Russian was considered a ticket to prestigious employment opportunities and a prosperous lifestyle. Therefore, Armenian-language schools were considered undesirable by most aspiring Armenians.
Minister Ashotian said the proposal has nothing to do with favoring Russian-language schools over Armenian-language institutions.
The foreign-language schools “will not turn into a network of Russian schools,” he insisted during a late May 2010 news conference. “This will not be a revival of the Russian- school era.” Knowledge of Russian is simply a matter of Armenians remaining “competitive” in today’s marketplace, Ashotian asserted.
A 2009 survey conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center in Yerevan
There is suspicion the government proposed the measure at Moscow Armenia has the friendliest ties of any country in the South Caucasus with the Kremlin, as shown by the hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid that Moscow made available to Yerevan Armenia
“I’m convinced that this initiative has been dictated by the Kremlin. This is a continuation of Russia Armenia
A November 2009 statement by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko about a push to make Russian an official or international language throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States is helping to fuel concern in some corners of Yerevan Armenia
At a conference in late 2009 on Russian-language schools in Armenia
The controversial legal amendments allowing the existence of foreign-language schools in the country were adopted by the National Assembly in the first reading by 71 votes to 13, with one abstention, amid continuing protests staged outside the parliament building by the most vocal opponents of the measure.
A leader of the assembly’s pro-government majority marked the authorities will not rush to have the bill adopted in the second and final reading and are ready to make extra changes in it.
Despite these and other restrictions, the parliament’s two opposition factions representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Heritage Party voted against the bill. Their representatives stood by their demands the government make no changes in the language.
Armen Ashotian said the government had considered the criticism expressed by politicians and public figures and incorporated rules in the bill
According to the minister, foreign-language schools will not be state-run and will compulsorily provide teaching of Armenian-related subjects, such as language, literature, history, etc, in Armenian and in the same volume as in other, Armenian-language schools.
“Students in these schools will have the same requirements for sitting the graduation exam in the Armenian language,” Ashotian stressed.
The first Russian language school in Armenia opened in 1937 and by 1980s 25% of schools in Armenia were Russian, the percentage in Yerevan Yerevan
Ashotyan stressed the opening of foreign-language schools in Armenia Armenia Armenia ranks last as to the knowledge of foreign languages among people aged 16 to 35 in the South Caucasus ,” Ashotyan said. The first foreign-language school is to be opened in Armenia
Minister Ashotyan thanked all the opponents. He said productive debate helped improve the document.
The bill provides for the opening of 11 foreign-language schools in Armenia
Many Armenians, who during the Soviet era studied in the Russian schools, lack the basic knowledge of Armenian culture and still carry on speaking Russian. Continuation of this trend is the Russian language broadcast programs that fill many supposedly Armenian television programs.
Turkish Foreign Ministry Should Remove Lies from its Website and Issue Apology
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
Turkish officials have been misrepresenting the facts of the Armenian Genocide for years. Even though this is saddening and even sickening, it is not surprising. Wrongdoers usually cover up their guilt and proclaim their innocence.
What is truly surprising is that the descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide, having been accustomed to such Turkish distortions, no longer see the need to put up a vigorous fight against denialist "historians," politicians, diplomats, and reporters.
Why is it that descendants of the Jewish Holocaust go to great lengths to counter denialist historians, neo-Nazis, and other revisionists, while Armenians seem to be oblivious to those who distort their own tragedy? Is it because they are simply tired of hearing the same old Turkish lies year after year or do they feel powerless to put an end to these distortions?
Earlier this year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by a slim 23-22 majority. Regardless of what excuses the 22 members came up with for voting against this resolution, the fact is that when the time came to stand up and acknowledge the truth, they did not have the moral fortitude to be counted among the righteous! Instead they chose to side with the liars, deniers, and mass murderers!
And what has been the Armenian reaction to the despicable behavior of these 22 members of Congress? No outrage was expressed by Armenians! Not a single Armenian official condemned these scoundrels in Congress. Where is the organized effort by Armenian-Americans to target for defeat the Congressmen who voted against the Armenian Genocide resolution and are running for reelection on November 2nd?
Imagine what would have happened if a single member of Congress had voted against a resolution on the Holocaust! Would Israel’s leaders and Jewish-Americans have remained silent? They would have rightly done everything in their power to ensure that such a member of Congress is not reelected!
The question is not whether the Armenian-American community is as influential or powerful as the Jewish-American community. Regardless of its actual political prowess, the Armenian community must mount a vigorous campaign to defeat its political opponents. Once word spreads in Congress that anyone who votes against the Armenian Genocide would be targeted for defeat, those immoral and spineless members of Congress would quickly conclude that denying the Genocide for a fistful of Turkish Liras is not in their own best interest!
Here is another blatant example of genocide denial that has gone unnoticed and unchallenged by Armenians and the international community. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s website includes countless distorted statements on the Armenian Genocide. The website provides deceptive responses to innocently-worded questions, such as: "What happened in 1915? What is the total number of the Armenian deportees? Did all the Armenian deportees die? Is it a crime to describe the events of 1915 as ‘genocide’ in Turkey and are the ones whom (sic) argue this exposed to legal investigation?"
On its website, the Turkish Foreign Ministry goes to absurd lengths in a vain attempt to make Turkey look good by claiming that "Turkey is the only country where the events of 1915 can be discussed in a free manner!"
The website also makes the false claim that "there is no one in Turkey now who has been tried or prosecuted due to the reason that he/she described the events of 1915 as ‘genocide.’" The Turkish Foreign Ministry conveniently forgets that Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was tried and found guilty for using the word "genocide" in an interview. He met a worse fate than serving a jail term. He was shot and killed! Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk was also charged under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code ("Insulting Turkishness") for stating that one million Armenians were killed! After intense international pressure, however, the charges against Pamuk were dropped, and subsequently reinstated! Many other Turkish journalists and writers have been taken to court for writing about the Armenian Genocide.
There should be a concerted effort by Armenian officials, Diaspora Armenians, and the international community, demanding that the Turkish government immediately remove those insulting lies from the Foreign Ministry’s website and issue an apology to Armenians.
Until then, no Armenian official should have any contact or meetings with Turkish leaders. Just imagine if the German Foreign Ministry’s website stated that the Holocaust never happened! Would Israel’s leaders have carried on business as usual with Germany?
Publisher, The California Courier
Turkish officials have been misrepresenting the facts of the Armenian Genocide for years. Even though this is saddening and even sickening, it is not surprising. Wrongdoers usually cover up their guilt and proclaim their innocence.
What is truly surprising is that the descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide, having been accustomed to such Turkish distortions, no longer see the need to put up a vigorous fight against denialist "historians," politicians, diplomats, and reporters.
Why is it that descendants of the Jewish Holocaust go to great lengths to counter denialist historians, neo-Nazis, and other revisionists, while Armenians seem to be oblivious to those who distort their own tragedy? Is it because they are simply tired of hearing the same old Turkish lies year after year or do they feel powerless to put an end to these distortions?
Earlier this year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by a slim 23-22 majority. Regardless of what excuses the 22 members came up with for voting against this resolution, the fact is that when the time came to stand up and acknowledge the truth, they did not have the moral fortitude to be counted among the righteous! Instead they chose to side with the liars, deniers, and mass murderers!
And what has been the Armenian reaction to the despicable behavior of these 22 members of Congress? No outrage was expressed by Armenians! Not a single Armenian official condemned these scoundrels in Congress. Where is the organized effort by Armenian-Americans to target for defeat the Congressmen who voted against the Armenian Genocide resolution and are running for reelection on November 2nd?
Imagine what would have happened if a single member of Congress had voted against a resolution on the Holocaust! Would Israel’s leaders and Jewish-Americans have remained silent? They would have rightly done everything in their power to ensure that such a member of Congress is not reelected!
The question is not whether the Armenian-American community is as influential or powerful as the Jewish-American community. Regardless of its actual political prowess, the Armenian community must mount a vigorous campaign to defeat its political opponents. Once word spreads in Congress that anyone who votes against the Armenian Genocide would be targeted for defeat, those immoral and spineless members of Congress would quickly conclude that denying the Genocide for a fistful of Turkish Liras is not in their own best interest!
Here is another blatant example of genocide denial that has gone unnoticed and unchallenged by Armenians and the international community. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s website includes countless distorted statements on the Armenian Genocide. The website provides deceptive responses to innocently-worded questions, such as: "What happened in 1915? What is the total number of the Armenian deportees? Did all the Armenian deportees die? Is it a crime to describe the events of 1915 as ‘genocide’ in Turkey and are the ones whom (sic) argue this exposed to legal investigation?"
On its website, the Turkish Foreign Ministry goes to absurd lengths in a vain attempt to make Turkey look good by claiming that "Turkey is the only country where the events of 1915 can be discussed in a free manner!"
The website also makes the false claim that "there is no one in Turkey now who has been tried or prosecuted due to the reason that he/she described the events of 1915 as ‘genocide.’" The Turkish Foreign Ministry conveniently forgets that Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was tried and found guilty for using the word "genocide" in an interview. He met a worse fate than serving a jail term. He was shot and killed! Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk was also charged under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code ("Insulting Turkishness") for stating that one million Armenians were killed! After intense international pressure, however, the charges against Pamuk were dropped, and subsequently reinstated! Many other Turkish journalists and writers have been taken to court for writing about the Armenian Genocide.
There should be a concerted effort by Armenian officials, Diaspora Armenians, and the international community, demanding that the Turkish government immediately remove those insulting lies from the Foreign Ministry’s website and issue an apology to Armenians.
Until then, no Armenian official should have any contact or meetings with Turkish leaders. Just imagine if the German Foreign Ministry’s website stated that the Holocaust never happened! Would Israel’s leaders have carried on business as usual with Germany?
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Friday, October 08, 2010
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Apology for Vilifying One Man, Yet no Apology for Killing 1.5 Million
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
In 2008, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based non-profit civil rights organization, published an article titled, "State of Denial: Turkey Spends Millions to Cover Up Armenian Genocide." It was a hard-hitting exposé of the Turkish government’s elaborate and sinister efforts to pressure U.S. politicians and entice academics to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
According to the SPLC article, "Turkey exerts political leverage and spends millions of dollars in the United States to obfuscate the Armenian genocide…. Revisionist historians who conjure doubt about the Armenian genocide…are paid by the Turkish government."
Going beyond such general statements, SPLC specifically referred to Guenter Lewyas "one of the most active members of a network of American scholars, influence peddlers and website operators, financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the government of Turkey, who promote the denial of the Armenian genocide…."
Lewy, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts, had qualified the Armenian Genocide in his lectures and writings as a "bungling misrule" rather than a deliberately planned and executed mass murder. He had made similar claims in his controversial book published by the University of Utah Press in 2005: "The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide."
Shortly after publication of SPLC’s article, an $8 million defamation lawsuit was filed against the civil rights group on behalf of Prof. Lewy by attorneys David Saltzman andBruce Fein from the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), which is "generously supported by the Turkish Coalition of America," according to TALDF’s website.
Before a jury could judge the merits of the charges in court, however, SPLC agreed to settle the case by issuing "a retraction and apology" and promising to pay an undisclosed sum to Prof. Lewy. Had SPLC not settled the case, TALDF would have had a difficult task proving in court that Prof. Lewy was actually libeled. In order to win the lawsuit, TALDF had to prove that SPLC had made those accusations "with malicious intent" and "reckless disregard for the truth." Furthermore, TALDF lawyers would have to show that the long-retired 87-year-old professor had suffered actual financial loss, such as getting fired from his job or having a contract canceled as a direct result of the article.
Some SPLC supporters have wondered why it chose to settle the lawsuit when its chances of losing in court were minimal. A knowledgeable source told this writer that SPLC may have settled the case in order to reduce its exposure to mounting attorney fees, combined with the likelihood that Prof. Lewy may have agreed to settle for far less than the $8 million he had originally demanded. With the lawsuit behind it, SPLC could once again dedicate itself to its actual mission of defending civil rights.
In its retraction, SPLC stated: "We now realize that we misunderstood Prof. Lewy's scholarship, were wrong to assert that he was part of a network financed by the Turkish Government, and were wrong to assume that any scholar who challenges the Armenian genocide narrative necessarily has been financially compromised by the Government of Turkey. We hereby retract the assertion that Prof. Lewy was or is on the Government of Turkey's payroll…. We deeply regret our errors and offer our sincerest apologies to Professor Lewy."
In response to complaints from SPLC supporters opposing the settlement, however, Penny Weaver, a public affairs spokesman, stated: "Our settlement of this matter does not mean we are endorsing Mr. Lewy’s views or taking his side. But we are acknowledging that we mischaracterized his views and wrongly said that he was taking money from the Turkish government. It was an error, and we apologize for that." The original article which precipitated the lawsuit is still posted on the SPLC’s website.
Needless to say, no one should be defamed because of his or her views on the Armenian Genocide, no matter how wrong or offensive they are. Unless one possesses evidence to the contrary, one cannot simply assume that those making distorted statements on the Armenian Genocide are motivated by greed or are paid agents of the Turkish government.
It is both commendable and ironic that lawyers for a Turkish interest group are eager to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit in the United States ostensibly to defend the civil rights of a client. In Turkey, however, anyone who dares to talk about the Armenian Genocide risks being charged for telling the truth and thrown into prison for years under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code which bans "insulting Turkishness!"
If TALDF were truly interested in protecting civil rights, it would allocate its considerable resources to abolish Article 301, which would considerably lessen financial support from generous donors and bring its operations to an end.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
p--cmYrAD_e345B