Armenian Issues
My blog contains articles and thoughts in English, Armenian and Arabic about the Armenian affairs and genocide, as well as the life of Armenians and Christians in Iraq and the many hardships they face currently.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Azerbaijan includes anti-Armenian draft resolution in UN General Assembly again | Armenia News - NEWS.am
Richard Giragosian: Azerbaijan still does not realize it has lost Karabakh forever : Public Radio of Armenia
مبلغ ضخم من الميزانية العسكرية الأذربيجانية سيتم تخصيصه للمحافظة على الأسطول البحري : Public Radio of Armenia
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Inter Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy passes Resolution on Armenian Genocide - Politics - Panorama | Armenian news
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
بعد يومين من اللقاء بين رؤوساء روسيا وأرمينيا وأذربيجان في كازان تصدر القيادة العليا في أذربيجان بياناً يتسم بالنزعة العسكرية : Public Radio of Armenia
سكرتير كتلة الحزب الجمهوري في برلمان أرمينيا إدوارد شارمازانوف يعلن أن أذربيجان تؤدي بعملية مباحثات تسوية نزاع غاراباغ إلى طريق مسدود بواسطة مواقفها غير البناءة : Public Radio of Armenia
“War is Not Over”: Azerbaijan resumes bellicose rhetoric on Karabakh after Kazan - News | ArmeniaNow.com
Sunday, June 26, 2011
المشروع الجديد لقرار المجزرة الأرمنية في مرحلة البحث عن مؤيدين له في الكونغرس الأميركي : Public Radio of Armenia
ألقى رئيس أرمينيا سيرج سركسيان كلمة في الجلسة الموسعة للجمعية البرلمانية للمجلس الأوروبي : Public Radio of Armenia
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Armenian Tourists to Prefer Antalya Again This Year: Aravot-My Comment
http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/news/2645-armenian-tourists-to-prefer-antalya-again-this-year-aravot.html
My Comment: Armenians should resume their fight against Turkey's Antalya resort holidays. Today, I received an e-mail from one of the "Armenian" tourism firms inviting me to go to Antalya. I sent them the response they deserve, reminding them of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Azerbaijan's policies hampered progress in Kazan - expert - Tert.am - News | Armenia | Russia | CIS | World
Azerbaijan was unprepared to adopt the final version of Basic Principles – Armenian FM - Tert.am - News | Armenia | Russia | CIS | World
Armenia - Edward Nalbandian received Dr. Nabeel A. Shaath, the Commissioner of International Relations of Fateh Movement
المقر عن شؤون تركيا في المفوضية الأوروبية جان كريستوفير فيلور يعلن أنه قد تم وقف عملية المباحثات بين تركيا والاتحاد الأوروبي حول مسألة العضوية : Public Radio of Armenia
الرئيس الأرمني سارج سركاسيان “ لن نقدم تنازلات لأذريبيجان ما لم تتقدم بخطوات مماثلة” | euronews, مقابلات
Friday, June 24, 2011
New Wave of Iraqi Bloggers Cover Stories Ignored in the West - New America Media
Although many are still blogging in English, a growing number like Iraqistreets.com (by young bloggers in Baghdad) and Ara-ashjian.blogspot.com (about Armenian-Iraqi issues) are also using Arabic
New Wave of Iraqi Bloggers Cover Stories Ignored in the West - New America Media
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Armenia determined not to leave problem unsolved for future generations – Armenian President | Armenia News - NEWS.am
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
From Genocide Recognition To Reclaiming Church Properties
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The Armenian-American community took a major step last week to reverse the consequences of the Armenian Genocide and end the Turkish government’s long-standing policy of erasing all traces of Armenian civilization from present-day Turkey.
Going beyond mere acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide, some members of Congress have introduced a new resolution that urges "the Republic of Turkey to safeguard its Christian heritage and to return confiscated church properties."
The sweeping House Resolution 306 calls on the Government of Turkey to:
“1) end all forms of religious discrimination;
2) allow the rightful church and lay owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or restriction, to organize and administer prayer services, religious education, clerical training, appointments, and succession, religious community gatherings, social services, including ministry to the needs of the poor and infirm, and other religious activities;
3) return to their rightful owners all Christian churchesand other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties, including movable properties, such as artwork, manuscripts, vestments, vessels, and other artifacts; and
4) allow the rightful Christian church and lay owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or restriction, to preserve, reconstruct, and repair, as they see fit, all Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries, schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious properties within Turkey."
This bipartisan resolution, sponsored by Cong. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Cong. Howard Berman (D-CA), was immediately endorsed by 30 of their House colleagues, 10 of them Republicans. This is a good start, as Republicans constitute the majority in the House and their support is crucial for the successful passage of the resolution. Significantly, Cong. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a long-time opponent of the Armenian Genocide resolution, was one of the first supporters of the resolution regarding the return of church properties.
It is not surprising that this resolution has such broad support, as it is hard to imagine that any member of Congress, the State Department or the Obama administration would oppose returning a religious building back to its proper owners. By contemporary societal standards, no one would accept the conversion of a church into a mosque or vice versa. Turkey’s devout leaders, as good Muslims, would be the first to acknowledge and uphold the sanctity of houses of worship.
Beyond building a strong bipartisan coalition in Congress, practically all religious denominations in America, be they Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish or Muslim, would support such a resolution. All ethnic groups, such as Latinos, Greek-Americans, Irish-Americans, Jewish-American, Arab-Americans, Afro-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Assyrian-Americans would also lend their support to this resolution.
The Armenian National Committee of America noted that the resolution intends "to highlight, confront, and eventually reverse decades of official Turkish policy of destroying Christian church properties, desecrating holy sites, discriminating against Christian communities, and denying of the right of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians,Chaldeans, Pontians, Arameans (Syriacs), and others to practice their faith in freedom."
The right to religious freedom is not simply an internal Turkish issue. This right is protected by many international agreements, including the United Nations’Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne to which Turkey is a signatory. Turkey continues to violate Articles 41 and 42 of the Lausanne Treaty which obligate it to provide funding and facilities to non-Muslim minorities for educational, religious, and charitable purposes, and to protect their religious establishments. Regrettably, the House resolution makes no mention of these violations and Turkey’s obligations under the Lausanne Treaty.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which issues an annual report documenting violations of religious rights around the world, has placed Turkey on its "Watch List," for the third year in a row. The Commission has found that "the Turkish government continues to impose serious limitations on freedom of religion or belief, thereby threatening the continued vitality and survival of minority religious communities in Turkey." The Turkish government also "continues to intervene in the internal governance and education of religious communities and to confiscate places of worship."
In recent years, the House and Senate passed several resolutions calling on Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus,Lithuania, Romania, and Vietnam to protect houses of worship and return wrongfully confiscated properties belonging to religious minorities. In line with these resolutions, the House of Representatives should adopt Resolution 306, calling on the Turkish government to respect the right of worship for all Christian minorities and return to them their expropriated churches and other religious properties.
Labels: Armenian Genocide
وزير خارجية أرمينيا يستقبل رئيس دائرة العلاقات الدولية لحركة فتح الفلسطينية : Public Radio of Armenia
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
السكرتيرة التنفيذية للجنة البرلمانية البريطانية للصداقة مع أرمينيا: في 16 الجاري بحثت مسألة المجزرة في البرلمان : Public Radio of Armenia
نائب رئيس إدارة القوة الجوية الأرمينية: القوة الجوية الأرمينية بإمكانها إصابة الأهداف الأذربيجانية بدقة : Public Radio of Armenia
المقابلة التي أجرتها المجلة الروسية "فوينّي ديبلومات" مع رئيس غاراباغ أثارت غضب وزارة الخارجية الأذربيجانية : Public Radio of Armenia
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Ruben Safrastyan: Armenian Resolutions will always be on the agenda of American politics : Public Radio of Armenia
مدير عام الإعلام في رئاسة غاراباغ: قبل كل إجتماع تعمل أذربيجان على زيادة التوتر على الجبهة : Public Radio of Armenia
أذربيجان تطلب تفسيراً من روسيا بعد مقابلة أجرتها مجلة روسية مع رئيس جمهورية غاراباغ الجبلية : Public Radio of Armenia
Friday, June 17, 2011
رئيس أذربيجان وأعضاء في الحكومة الأذربيجانية في الأشهر الأخيرة أصدروا مرات عديدة وبصورة مباشرة تهديدات حول الحرب : Public Radio of Armenia
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Why Pass an Armenian Genocide Resolution for the Third Time?
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
A new Armenian Genocide resolution is being introduced in the House of Representatives this week.
The first question is why Congress is being asked to pass a genocide resolution for the third time? As is well known, the House of Representatives twice adopted resolutions acknowledging the Armenian Genocide, in 1975 and 1984. What wouldArmenians gain by adopting the resolution for the third time? And if it passes this year, would another attempt be made to pass it again for the fourth time next year?
Some may be under the mistaken impression that such resolutions would help Armenians obtain restitution from Turkey for their confiscated lands and stolen possessions. This is simply not true. Commemorative resolutions express "the sense" of Congress and do not have the force of law. Furthermore, if these resolutions had any real benefits, Armenians would have taken advantage of them during the decades since their adoption!
On the positive side, the passage of these resolutions have ethical, psychological, and political dimensions. Morality dictates that the mass murderof an entire nation not be forgotten or ignored. Yet, it is the Turkish government’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide that compels Armenians to present such resolutions to Congress year after year. Regrettably, successive U.S. administrations also share the blame in this sordid affair by aiding and abetting the Turkish denialists, and playing unethical word games with the extermination of 1.5 million innocent men, women and children.
The psychological advantage of passing such a resolution is the satisfaction received by descendants of genocide victims when their loss and pain are acknowledged by the legislature of the world’s greatest democracy.
The political raucous, whenever an Armenian Genocide resolution is introduced in Congress, is due to the Turkish government’s scandalous behavior. Dozens of commemorative resolutions on a variety of issues are adopted by the U.S. Congress each year, yet not a single one makes the news. Because Turkish leaders create such mayhem by making threats against the United States, dispatching high-level delegations to Washington, hiring powerful lobbying firms, and spending valuable political capital, they end up making millions of people aware of the facts of the Armenian Genocide. While the Turkish intent is to cover up the mass murder of Armenians almost a century ago, their berserk reaction inadvertently succeeds in publicizing to the whole world the dastardly crimes committed by their forefathers.
Hopefully, the Turkish government would once again resort to its normal bullying tactics, thereby attracting the attention of the international community to the Armenian Genocide issue. The newly introduced resolution can only benefit from such Turkish-generated publicity, since the Republican-dominated House is not likely to act on it anytime soon, not that the more sympathetic Democrats had a greater degree of enthusiasm to bring it to a vote late last year, when they were in power!
Certainly, Turkish officials could be even more helpful should they create unexpected crises with the United States, thus forcing the hand of both the Democratic administration and Republican House leadership to support the genocide resolution. Meanwhile, the Armenian-American community would keep the issue alive and ready to be triggered at the opportune moment, causing the Turkish side to spend millions of dollars in on-going lobbying efforts!
Such an opportunity may come later this month with a possible bloody confrontation between the second Turkish "humanitarian" flotilla and Israel’s Navy, which could trigger the ire of U.S. and Israeli leaders, compelling them to put the pending Genocide resolutions to a vote in their respective legislatures. While Armenians would resent seeing the genocide issue used as a political football, they may not have much of a choice, since they have been just as offended when the resolution was not being adopted for all the wrong reasons!
Going beyond the genocide issue, Armenian-Americans may introduce several other resolutions in Congress this year involving Armenian-Turkish relations:
-- Urging Turkey to return the expropriated Armenian churches to the Armenian Patriarchate ofIstanbul, allowing them to function as churches, not museums, mosques, or touristic sites;
-- Honoring the distinguished jurist Raphael Lemkinwho coined the term genocide, influenced by the mass murder of Armenians in 1915;
-- Advocating the lifting of the blockade of Armenia imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan; and
-- Supporting the protection of human rights of all minorities in Turkey (Alevis, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Jews, and Kurds).
With the upcoming congressional and presidential elections, and unexpected developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, we may be facing a hectic and chaotic political season. It is critical for Armenian-Americans and their supporters to remain well informed, active, and committed to the pursuit of Armenian interests.
Labels: Armenian Genocide
Sunday, June 12, 2011
نشر رسالة ممثل أرمينيا في الأمم المتحدة حول الخطوات الأذربيجانية المناهضة للأرمن : Public Radio of Armenia
أقرباء مسؤولين أذربيجانيين يستقرون في أوروبا بهويات أرمنية مزورة : Public Radio of Armenia
أقرباء مسؤولين أذربيجانيين يستقرون في أوروبا بهويات أرمنية مزورة : Public Radio of Armenia
My Comment: Armenians in Europe and everywhere should be very careful that some immigrated Azeris, especially those who left Armenia in 1988 and know Armenian well, act, spy on Armenians or commit crimes under Armenian names. Another case, а source told me here that some non-Armenian Iraqis arrived in Armenia with faked Armenian birth certificates !! I could not verify the authenticity of this claim.

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