Minsk Group: We Urge Azerbaijan to Accept Mechanism to Investigate Ceasefire Violations

STEPANAKERT (A.W.)—The Nagorno Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) Defense Ministry on Sept. 28 announced that its Defense Forces had responded to the aggressive actions of the Azerbaijani Army over the past week on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. According to a statement released by the NKR Defense Ministry, Azerbaijani Armed Forces suffered more than 10 casualties and injuries. There were no casualties on the Armenian side.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s Ministry of Defense once again condemned Azerbaijan’s aggression in a statement released on Sept. 28, and warned that further escalation of violence by Azerbaijan would be detrimental to the Aliyev regime.

“Baku does not hide but instead brazenly boasts about its contemptuous undermining of international opinion and legal and humanitarian obligations. Azerbaijan’s escalation of violence on the border and incitement of the armed conflict, in essence, completely ignore the ceasefire regime, and instead employ a policy of provocation and blackmail, ultimately undermining the mediating efforts to resolve the Karabagh conflict. Despite this, Artsakh’s right for self-determination remains an irreversible fact,” read a part of the statement.

According to Azerbaijani media outlets, three Azeri servicemen were killed between Sept. 27 and 28; another serviceman was killed and three others were injured on Sept. 26. Media censorship in Azerbaijan is widespread, and the government has tight control over information disseminated within the country. Earlier this month, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry accused certain media outlets of exaggerating the number of casualties, stating that the figures would only “serve Armenia’s interests.”

“The [ethnic] origin of some persons, who serve the Armenian interests by circulating officially unconfirmed, exaggerated, and often untrue news reports, is starting to cause suspicions,” said the ministry, hinting that the “culprits” might be of Armenian descent, according to RFE/RL. The Committee to Protect Journalists has stated that Azerbaijan is the fifth most censored country in the world.

The announcement by Armenia’s Defense Ministry came three days after four Armenian servicemen were killed in an offensive operation launched by Azerbaijan on Sept. 25. Norayr Khachatryan (b. 1995), Robert Mkrtchyan (b. 1995), Harout Hakobyan (b. 1997), and Karen Shahinyan (b. 1997) of the Artsakh Armed Forces were killed in the attack.

According to the NKR Defense Ministry, Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire agreement approximately 110 times on Sept. 28, using various caliber weapons, including mortars and Turkish-made TR-107 rocket launchers.

On Sept. 24, 83-year-old Parakavar resident Baydzar Aghajanyan and Berdavan residents Shushan Asatryan, 94, and Sona Revezyan , 41, were killed by Azerbaijani artillery fire that targeted Armenian border villages in Armenia’s Tavush province. Four other residents were wounded in the attack.

On Sept. 26, Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian vowed to “expose and chase down” individuals responsible for the killings.  Sarkisian further stated that the Armenian victims were killed because the international community has failed to “make Azerbaijan understand” that a path of violence cannot bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“Lacking alternatives, we ourselves will be humanity’s retributive sword against those committing these crimes. We will do it on our own as long as the civilized world is not able to find a more effective mechanism,” said Sarkisian.

Minsk Group: We Urge Azerbaijan to Accept Mechanism to Investigate Ceasefire Violations

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (U.S.), and Pierre Andrieu (France), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, held a meeting with Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on Sept. 24, and a separate meeting with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on Sept. 25. According to a statement released by the Minsk Group, the delegation also met jointly with Nalbandian and Mammadyarov to “discuss the immediate need to reduce tensions along the Line of Contact and international border, to advance negotiations on a lasting settlement, and to implement confidence-building measures.”

During the meeting, the Co-Chairs called on both the Presidents of Armenia and of Azerbaijan to accept an OSCE mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations.  “Without such a mechanism, the sides will continue to blame each other for initiating deadly attacks on the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border.  Armenia has agreed to discuss the details of the mechanism, and we urged Azerbaijan to do the same,” read a part of the statement released on Sept. 26.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. An escalation of violence is not in the interest of Azerbaijanis or Armenians, or a negotiated settlement,” concluded the statement, adding, “The Co-Chairs encouraged the sides to implement people-to-people programs to build trust between societies affected by the conflict.”

Vardanyan: If Willing, Minsk Co-Chairs Have Power to Stop Innocent Deaths

On Sept. 25, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Parliamentary faction secretary Aghvan Vardanyan noted that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairing countries had the power to reduce tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and prevent the killing of innocent civilians, if they so willed and proceeded to work together accordingly.

“There are two ways of resolving this. One is to meet force with greater force, which I think our army is already doing to a degree. The second is—and I am deeply convinced of this—that if the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries were willing and worked together, they could at the very least sharply reduce the tension and the instigation [of violence] by the enemy, as well as prevent the killing of innocent people.  Ahead of every meeting regarding the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, Azerbaijan resorts to such [violent] actions, in which case our hopes rest in the strength of our army,” Vardanyan was quoted as saying by YerkirMedia.

The OSCE Minsk Group released a statement on Sept. 25 condemning the recent attacks and “casualties on each side of the international border and Line of Contact.” In the statement, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs expressed their “serious concern about Armenian and Azerbaijani forces using mortars and heavy weapons in and around civilian areas.” The Group steered clear of blaming Azerbaijan for the killing of the three Armenian civilian women on Sept. 25, instead opting for what observers have called the group’s habit of projecting “artificial even-handedness” and addressing their appeal to both sides to refrain from targeting civilians. It further stated that the Group was unable to determine how the violence originated “since each side accuses the other.” However, they said the countries “should work towards an OSCE investigation mechanism as discussed between the Presidents.”

By Bob Tutunjian

EAST GREENWICH, R.I.—In New England when someone speaks of dynasties, they are usually referring to a certain NFL team that has won four Super Bowls. But after this past Labor Day, you will have to add the Providence “Varantian” AYF Chapter to the discussion, as they have now won 10 times as many championships. A total of more than 220 athletes participated over the weekend in these 82^nd Annual Olympics.

Team Providence

The Green Machine brought a team of 45 members and amassed a total of 204 points, 56 more than Greater Boston. They became the first team to surpass the 200 mark since Philadelphia set the chapter scoring record in 2010. Providence won the swim meet and tennis competition to build a small 9-point lead on Friday. The margin grew to 27 points after the Sunday morning track and field events and kept increasing from there. The Varantians were led by three high scorers, Tarvis Hintlian and siblings Lynne and Stephen Tutunjian. They added pentathlon winner Mark Hamalian and double gold medalist Andrew Hintlian to their usual depth at home. In all, their balanced attack grabbed 18 golds, 10 silvers, and 14 bronzes along with winning 5 relays.

Providence Celebrates Their Victory with Hey Jon

Anoush Krafian (BOST) sets a New Record in the Long Jump

Last year Greater Boston placed 5^th in Detroit, scoring only 55 points. This time around, the “Nejdehs” had 35 members entered to increase their total by almost 100 points. They brought their own sibling 15-point scorers with rookie Anoush Krafian and sister Nairi, who won the pentathlon. Boston also had three double gold winners: veteran Michelle Hagopian and newcomers Alex Avakian and Katarena Nalbandian. The Nejdehs took home 11 gold medals along with 8 silvers and 8 bronzes. They also won three relays on the track.

Philadelphia also improved as they came with 19 athletes and moved up to 3^rd place with 83 points. They won the men’s golf and scored 25 points in the pool to start the weekend. On Sunday, rookie Masis Mardirosian won both the 100 and 200 to lead the “Sebouhs.” Overall they snatched 5 golds, 8 silvers, and 5 bronze medals.

New Jersey and Worcester tied for 4^th place with 43 points. Melanee Melkonian won three events for the “Arams” after scoring 13 points in 2014. Meanwhile the “Arsens” dropped a bit from their 71-point 3^rd-place finish in Detroit. They hope to bounce back next year as they host the Games in 2016.

Last year’s host and defending champion, the Detroit chapter, had to settle for 6^th place this year with only 29 points. Close behind them was Chicago with 27 points. The “Ararats” came with 16-year-old swimming star Andrew Devedjian, who won both freestyles and almost won the butterfly. The 8^th spot went to Most Improved Chapter North Andover with 11 points. New York recorded 8 points while West San Fernando scored 7 for 10^th place. Washington, D.C. and San Francisco scored 4 points, while Toronto and Granite City each had 2. Burbank Valley, Glendale, Orange County (all California), and Racine entered but did not score.

Individual Awards

There were 5 high scorers with 15 points each, and Providence had 3 of them. Veteran Lynne Tutunjian started things rolling on Friday by winning three events in the pool in her final Olympics. The former Bentley University swimmer won three golds for her seventh time. In doing so she became the all-time AYF women’s scoring leader with 153 career points. Lynne exceeded the old record total of 144 points shared by Jill Tosoian Dolik and Nancy Gavoor, both from Detroit. For good measure, she also broke her own record in the 25 freestyle set in 2004 during her first Olympics. Lynne has a master’s degree in accounting and a CPA and currently works for Arrowstreet Capital in their performance group.

Her brother Stephen swept the 3 jumping events for his 7^th high-scorer trophy to bring his career Olympics total to 130 points and retire as the 6^th highest man overall. He has scored 15 points for 6 straight years—a longer streak than any other male athlete. It is surpassed only by Michelle Hagopian and Nancy Gavoor, who achieved this feat seven consecutive times. Steve also broke his own record in the triple jump set in 2012. He recently completed his M.S. in bio-engineering from Tufts and is working as a sales support specialist for Brainlab, a medical technology company.

They were joined by Tarvis Hintlian who swept the distance events for the second straight year. Tarvis has run a personal best of 5:20.93 in the mile during her 2014 indoor season. She battled some injuries this past season but was able to get back in shape during the summer.

Tarvis Hintlian & Emily Sarkisian (PROV) finish 1-2 in the 1600 Run

Anoush Krafian of Greater Boston had the most impressive AYF debut in many years. Anoush won the hurdles as well as the long and high jumps. She set records in the first two events and narrowly missed in the third. The long jump record of 16’10” had been on the books since 1978 and belonged to Christine Varadian Johnson from the host chapter. Anoush tied the old record on her 4^th jump and set the new standard of 17’3.25” on her last attempt. The old hurdles mark (16.10) was set in 2007 by Samantha Essian Bagdasarian of Detroit, and Anoush lowered this to 15.76. Anoush set school records in the same two events as a freshman and team MVP for Belmont High School (15.74 for the high hurdles and 17’5.5” in the long jump). She also competed in the New Balance High School Nationals at the Armory in New York City. At that meet she was the second highest finisher among the female freshmen athletes.

The Women High Scorers (L-R) Tarvis Hintlian (PROV), Melanee Melkonian (WORC), Lynne Tutunjian (PROV), Anoush Krafian (BOST)

Worcester’s Melanee Melkonian won three golds by sweeping the 50 and 100 and then took the baseball throw in record fashion. The old record of 211’0” was thrown by Varantian Donna Depalma Reach in 1976. Melanee had her eyes set on breaking this mark after just missing last year. She changed her technique to do so by eliminating her run-up and then increased her weight training. The end result was a heave of 226’9”. Melanee also tied the mark of 6.60 in the 50, set by Detroit’s Andrea Nranian in 1979. Melanee graduated from Clark University in 2013 with an MBA in marketing. There she starred in softball and field hockey, where she holds the school record with 112 career goals.

Both of the 2014 pentathlon champions took silver this year in tight competition. Greater Boston’s Vigen Sarkisov was overtaken on the last event by Mark Hamalian from Providence. Mark scored 2,735 points, which was only 36 more than Vigen. While Vigen dominated the first two throwing events, Mark came back to win the jumping and running events. On the women’s side, 2012 champion Nairi Krafian from Greater Boston totaled 2,212 points, which was 59 points better than Detroit’s Knar Topouzian. The two had met before in 2013 when Knar came out on top. This time around Nairi pulled ahead to stay when she ruled the second event, the long jump.

An amazing total of nine records were broken or tied at this year’s Games. This is the highest total since the remarkable 1979 Olympics when 21 marks were set. In addition to the six set by the high scorers, there were two individuals and a relay team to make history. Sixteen-year-old Ani Armenakyan of Providence started off by breaking the shot put record of 37’4” set by Providence’s Joyce Ajootian in 1981. Ani tied the distance on her first throw and then broke it by 4.5” on her final one. Then, Greater Boston’s Alex Avakian set a new standard of 151’7” in the discus on his last throw. The old record (150’2”) was held by Emmanuel Mkrtchian from Philadelphia and was set 5 years ago. Finally the Greater Boston co-ed 4×200 relay team established a new mark of 1:47.15 in that event. They shattered the old Sebouh record of 1:48.65 run in 2008.

The Ernest Nahigian Award for sportsmanship and fraternal spirit was presented to Raffi Sarajian of Worcester and Megerdich Kassabian from North Andover. North Andover also won the Most Improved Chapter trophy. The Cory Tosoian Trophy for the alumni golf was won by Armen Tenkarian, a former member of the host chapter.

Men’s Track & Field

Stephen Tutunjian continued his streaks in the men’s jumping events taking the long and triple jumps for the ninth straight year and retiring undefeated in those two events. However, the long jump competition was the closest he has ever faced. Steve jumped 21’4.25” but there were two other jumpers less than a foot behind. Mike Melkonian from Worcester leapt 20’8” to narrowly win the silver by 3 inches over rookie Armen Almasian of North Andover. The triple jump was not as close, as Steve broke his own record soaring 49’2”, which is only 2 inches less than his first NCAA Championship qualifying mark at Lehigh University during 2010. His personal best in the event is 50’4.5” which set the Lehigh record in 2012. Varak Ghazarian from San Francisco took second, as he did in 2014, and Mkrtich Arslanyan (Providence) won the bronze. Finally Steve won the high jump at 5’8” with Greater Boston’s Sam Chakmakjian close behind at 5’6” and Varantian Nareg Mkrtschjan at 5’4”.

Long Jump Medalists (L-R) Mike Melkonian (WORC), Stephen Tutunjian (PROV), Armen Almasian (NO AND)

On the track, the only double winner was Masis Mardirosian from Philadelphia. In his first Olympics, Masis sprinted to victory in the 100 and 200, both by less than 1/10^th of a second ahead of Greater Boston’s Shant Mahrokhian. Armen Almasian took 3^rd in the 100 while Mike Melkonian won bronze in the 200. Andrew Hintlian secured the 400 for Providence, in front of Philly rookie Eric Papazian and Washington sprinter Haig Pakhchanian. Papazian earlier had won the 800 ahead of veterans Daron Bedian (Chicago) and Gary Dodakian (Providence). Meanwhile Daron came out on top in the grueling 3200-meter run on Sunday morning. Sam Chakmakjian and New York’s Haig Minassian followed behind. Another rookie, David Barsamian from Jersey, won the 1600 with Chicago teammates Alek Surenian and Daron Bedian grabbing silver and bronze. The hurdles were run in the morning and Daniel Chakmakjian brought home the gold for the Nejdehs as he did in 2012. Sebouh Richard Keshgegian and Mkrtich Arslanyan were the other medalists.

The throws were dominated by Greater Boston newcomer Alex Avakian. In the morning, Alex won the discus with his record heave of 151’7” which was over 50 feet ahead of Alexan Topalian from Providence and Armen Nercesian of West San Fernando. Philadelphia’s Mark Santerian then defended his javelin crown with a toss of 157’3”. Alex took the bronze and was edged out by only three inches by Sevan Zobian from the host chapter. But Alex came back to win his second gold in the shot put with a throw of 45’4.5”. Armen, the 2014 champion, when he was with Detroit, took second and Meran Topalian (Providence) won the bronze.

Greater Boston came from behind to win the 4×100 meter relay in 47.14 with Providence close on their heels and Philadelphia just behind them. The Varantians bounced back to take the 4×400 relay in 4:02.51 with New Jersey and Philadelphia following in second and third.

Women’s Track & Field

Three high scorers dominated the women’s track and field events this year and won 9 of the 14 individual events. Rookie Anoush Krafian started things off with her record leap of 17’3.25” in the long jump. She was almost three feet ahead of last year’s winner, Ariana Chipolone from New Jersey. Providence newcomer Jessica Marabian placed third. Anoush continued her assault on the record book by easily winning the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.76. Two time event champ Kenar Charchaflian of Worcester beat Mackenzie Derderian from Providence for second place. Finally Anoush took gold in the high jump by clearing 5’2” and just missed on her third attempt to set a new record there also. Defending champion Ariana settled for second again with Philadelphian Emily Selverian in third. The other jumping event, the triple jump, was won by Ani Comella at 26’5.75” for Providence. She bested teammate Mackenzie Derderian and Jersey’s Theresa Jelalian, who both had the same distance, but Mackenzie took the silver with a better second jump.

Triple Jump Medalists (L-R) Mackenzie Derderian & Ani Comella (PROV), Theresa Jelalian (NJ)

The track events saw Tarvis Hintlian repeat her 2014 titles in the three distance events. Tarvis recorded times of 5:55.10 in the 1600, 2:39.63 in the 800, and 1:06.61 in the 400. She finished ahead of teammates in all three of these events. Emily Sarkisian was second in both the 800 and 1600 and still had enough energy to take 3^rd in the 400. The bronze medals went Shayna McCarty from New Jersey in the 1600 and to Sevan Dulgarian from Greater Boston in the 800. Rebecca Khimatian won silver for Providence in the 400 after previously winning the 200 in a time of 30.01. Philadelphia’s Jessica Selverian placed second in the 200 with Jersey’s Alycia McCarty in third.

The short sprints were ruled by Melanee Melkonian. The Aram speedster first tied the record of 6.60 in the 50-meter dash. Greater Boston took second and third with Araxi Krafian and her cousin Ani Hackett. Melanee repeated in the 100 with a time of 13.40, besting Ariana Chipolone. In 2014, Ariana beat Melanee in the 200 but both ladies decided against running the event this year. Jessica Selverian won the bronze medal here.

200 Dash Medalists (L-R) Jessica Selverian (PHIL), Rebecca Khimatian (PROV), Alycia McCarthy (NJ)

The throwing events were won by four different ladies. Melanee won her third gold with her record setting baseball throw of 226’9”. Providence’s Ani Armenakyan earned the silver and Christine Kutlu won bronze for New Jersey. Ani had earlier set her record of 37’8.5” winning the most impressive shot put competition in AYF history. For the first time, the top four places were all over 30 feet. Defending champion Ani Sarajian (New Jersey) achieved her AYF personal best of 30’10” and had to settle for 4^th place. Providence took all the medals with Kaitlin Garabian and Siran Krikorian in second and third. In the discus, Central Executive president Michelle Hagopian, of Greater Boston, won for the 10^th straight year with a toss of 99’2”. The 10-year run matches her success in the golf event and ties the streak set by Harry Derderian (Springfield) in tennis during the 1960’s. Kaitlin and Ani won silver and bronze. The javelin medals were all collected by AYF newcomers. Varantian Tatevik Khatchatryan won the event with a 94’9” heave with teammate Sara Anoushian in third and Christine Kutlu in second.

The Greater Boston girls won the 4×100 meter relay in 55.76 while New Jersey overtook Providence for 2^nd place. But the Varantians came back to take the 4×200 event with a time of 2:05.30. Philadelphia and New Jersey took second and third, respectively. The final event of the afternoon was the 4×200 co-ed relay where Greater Boston set their new record of 1:47.15 as Providence and Philadelphia finished well behind.

The Record Breakers (L-R) D. Hamparian, S. Mahrokhian, N. & A. Krafian, A. Avakian (All from BOST), M. Melkonian (WORC), S. Tutunjian (PROV)

Stephen Tutunjian (PROV) Winning the High Jump

Shot Put Medalists (L-R) Ani Armenakyan & Siran Krikorian (PROV)

Philadelphia, Providence and Greater Boston Battle in the 4 x 100 Relay

Pentathlon Winner Nairi Krafian (BOST)

Lynne and Stephen Tutunjian Carry In the Olympics Torch

Javelin Medalists (L-R) Sevan Zobian (PROV), Mark Santerian (PHIL), Alex Avakian (BOST)

Javelin Medalists (L-R) Christine Kutlu (NJ), Tatevik Khatchatryan & Sara Anoushian (PROV)

Discus Medalists (L-R) Michelle Hagopian (BOST), Ani Armenakyan (PROV)

Ernest Nahigian Sportsmanship Award Winners (L-R) Megerdich Kassabian (NO AND), Raffi Sarajian (NJ)

3200 Run Medalists (L-R) Samuel Chakmakjian (BOST), Daron Bedian (CHIC), Haig Minassian (NY)

1600 Run Medalists (L-R) Alek Surenian (CHIC), David Barsamian (NJ)

100 Hurdles (L-R) Theresa Jelalian (NJ), Mackenzie Derderian (PROV), Anoush Krafian (BOST), Kenar Charchaflian (WORC)

NEW YORK (Asbarez/Combined Sources)—Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who has previously stated that the Armenian Diaspora is also the diaspora of Turkey, recently urged Turks living in the United States to fight actively the efforts of the Armenian Diaspora.

Ahmet Davutoglu

Davutoglu, who is attending the 70th Regular Session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly in New York City, also met with representatives of Turkish non-governmental organizations in the U.S., reported Agos.

At one such meeting, Davutoglu called on those in attendance to fight against the Armenian, Jewish, Greek, and several other lobbying groups.

Davutoglu also thanked Turkish Americans for holding April 24 rallies supporting Armenian Genocide denial.

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York, Davutoglu met with his Belgian counterpart, Charles Michel. The resolution that the Belgian Parliament adopted on the occasion of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide was high on their agenda, reported Ermenihaber.am, quoting Turkish TRThaber.com.

According to sources, the Belgian prime minister said the bill was of political importance but does not carry with it any legal consequences.

Davutoglu, in turn, expressed his discontent with sanctions against MPs who voted against the bill, referring to former Belgian deputy Mahinur Ozdemir, who is of Turkish descent and was expelled from the Humanist Democratic Centre after refusing to call the 1915 killing of Ottoman Armenians “genocide.”

Davutoglu said he was ready to discuss any issue, including Ozdemir’s expulsion from his party.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (A.W.)—Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian addressed the 70^th Session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, on Sept. 29. The president took the opportunity to thank various world leaders and governments for their efforts to commemorate the Armenian Genocide during the Centennial. Sarkisian noted Armenia’s continued efforts to help the struggle to prevent genocide around the world. He also highlighted the aggressive policy of Baku, and the killing of three Armenian civilian women by Azerbaijani forces just last week. Sarkisian said he did not expect the international community to “buy the assertions” of either side, but instead to use “common sense” when assessing the situation. The president also spoke about the crisis in the Middle East and the effect on the Armenian communities in the region.

After his address, Sarkisian met with representatives of Armenian-American organizations at the invitation of Armenia’s Ambassador to the UN Zohrab Mnatsakanian. Representatives included the Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan; Very Rev. Fr. Mamigon Kiledjian (representing the Primate of the Eastern Diocese, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian), Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMMA) Executive Director Zaven Khanjian, Armenian Catholic Church representative Nurhan Becidyan, ARF Eastern U.S. Central Committee member Aram Hovagimian, and Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar) representative Hagop Vartivarian. President Sarkisian was joined by Armenia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Edward Nalbandian, Ambassador of Armenia to the U.S. Tigran Sargsyan, Ambassador Mnatsakanian; and the President’s Chief of Staff Vigen Sarkisian.

Below is Sarkisian’s address in its entirety.

President Sarkisian addressing the UN General Assembly on Sept. 29 (Photo: president.am)

***

Statement by the President of the Republic of Armenia Serge Sarkisian at the 70^th Session of the U.N. General Assembly

New York, Sept. 29, 2015

Distinguished President Lykketoft,

I congratulate you upon election to the honorable post of the President of the United Nations General Assembly. I am confident that under your able leadership this jubilee Session will meet expectations we all harbor.

President Sarkisian addressing the UN General Assembly (Photo: president.am)

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I also congratulate all of us upon the 70^th anniversary of the United Nations. The establishment of this Organization had been one of the greatest achievements of humankind that consolidated nations around shared aspirations and principles. The past 70 years have been characterized by the most important positive developments—an end was put to colonialism, racial discrimination, and apartheid. Many people around the world exercised their right to self-determination, got in charge of their own fate by establishing and building independent states of their own, thus increasing the number of the U.N. member states from 51 to 193.

Amid all these achievements, we shall recognize that currently the world faces new challenges such as terrorism, extremism, intolerance, economic crises, climate change, trafficking in human beings and their organs, as well as drugs and arms, migration crisis, etc. The list enumerating these challenges is long.  It is the very necessity to struggle against them that obliges us to resolutely reiterate our joint commitment to the mission of this organization and its Charter.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Last year, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial, from this podium I expressed our gratitude to the nations that recognized the Armenian Genocide, and named them all individually. I called upon the international community to bolster the struggle against the recurrence of the crime of genocide through recognition and condemnation.

Today, from this very podium, I thank Pope Francis, and acknowledge the historical Mass he served; the European Parliament, and recall the resolution it adopted; the German president, and, believe me, his well-known statement will thenceforth take part in the pages of our nation’s history textbooks. I thank the legislative bodies of Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, numerous provincial and city councils, as well as dozens and hundreds of political and non-governmental organizations.

I also thank the presidents of Russia, France, Cyprus, and Serbia, as well as delegations of numerous other countries that on April 24 paid tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Our determination to keep the prevention of the crime of genocide on the international agenda is testified by the resolutions we periodically table at the Human Rights Council, and the latest one to that effect was adopted this year. Building further upon it, just a few days ago this Assembly passed a resolution establishing Dec. 9 as “the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.”

Dear Attendees,

The peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabagh problem remains one of the most salient issues in our region. I shall note that aggressive policy pursued by Azerbaijan resulted in the absence of any meaningful progress in the progress of negotiations for the conflict settlement, and the situation drifts toward increasing tension. The dictatorial regime of the country made disgraceful repression an instrument to strangle the people’s wrath as the oil-based economy obviously falters, and even that, nevertheless, it considers inefficient. Now it needs images from the Line of Contact in order to divert the attention of its own public. I would like to draw the attention of this Assembly to the fact that Azerbaijan, besides various provocative actions, has now started to apply large caliber artillery firing at the peaceful settlements of the bordering districts of both the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic.

Just a few days ago in the bordering area of Armenia, three women fell victim to Azerbaijani bombardment. The question that comes to one’s mind is whether there is any reasonable person that can demonstrate any unflawed logic of that cruelty. It is obvious for us that the Azerbaijani leadership has irreversibly lost both the sense of reality and of norms of human conduct.

Azerbaijan completely disdains five joint statements issued by the presidents of the U.S., Russia, and France, and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group. Shall it continue its aggressive policy, it will not leave Armenia and others a choice but to take necessary legal and political-military steps to provide the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic with the opportunity to develop in security and peace.

Although it is obvious to everybody which party instigates the ceasefire violations, I still would recall some facts.

It is strange—isn’t it?—that now it has already been years that Azerbaijan has stubbornly refused to withdraw snipers and establish an incident investigation mechanism, which were proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The question that comes up to one’s mind is: What is Azerbaijan afraid of?

It is strange—isn’t it?—that during the European Games hosted by Azerbaijan, when they needed an image of stability, there had been almost no shots fired at the border, while immediately after the Games shootings extensively renewed. I do not expect you to buy the assertions of any of the parties, but still anticipate you to exercise your common sense.

It is strange—isn’t it?—that in the 21st century our neighbor, day in and day out, relentlessly and indefatigably takes pride in the excessive accumulation of arms and manifold expansion of the military budget; it stubbornly continues making bellicose threats to renew the military hostilities, and does it at the highest level of the head of state. I think now it is obvious to everyone why Armenia had consistently been urging the international community to make statements that were not generic but were unambiguous as to whom it was addressed while discussing the ceasefire violations. We shall understand that muffling early warning signals of threats to peace and security may materialize in catastrophic repercussions.

Dear Colleagues,

Today, we witness unspeakable cruelty taking place in the Middle East. The religious intolerance unfolding there has resulted in the destruction of Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage artifacts, the murder and expulsion of the numerous Armenians residing in Iraq and Syria. The Armenian community of Syria, whose history is centuries-long, shares and experiences all hardships that the Syrian people are undergoing in these difficult times. We are trying to aid the refugees to the best of our abilities: until this day, Armenia has received more than 16,000 refugees from Syria. By this sheer figure, Armenia is one of the first among recipient European countries.

Armenians know well the fate of the refugees, of the exiled and expelled. The Armenian Genocide should have claimed many more lives, and the survivors would have gone through much more hardship if it weren’t for a number of nations—our friends—who gave us their shoulder in those difficult times. Today it is Germany, Sweden, and some other countries who are displaying humanism. They provided hundreds of thousands of refugees with safe haven, and thus reiterated that the assistance was necessary both from the legal and humanist perspectives.

Dear Colleagues,

This year we all witnessed how the joint and adequate actions paved the way to smoothing out a difficult international issue. An historical agreement was made on the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran, an immediate neighbor of ours. That critical deal is undoubtedly going to contribute to the global settlement of the conflicting situations and consolidation of the mutual trust, and it was made possible by the extended and consistent political and diplomatic efforts.

All these come to prove that when there is political will to bridge disagreements and emphasize the spirit of cooperation, it is indeed possible to find solutions for the most complicated issues. From this podium I would like to once again stress the importance of taking diplomatic efforts, especially with the aim to eliminate the closed borders. Armenia has been subjected to the illegal blockade by its neighbors, and we deem unacceptable such an improvident policy that in the 21^st century establishes artificial obstacles disrupting intercultural, human-to-human and trade contacts. In this context, we highly value the periodic review carried out under the framework of the U.N. Conferences on Landlocked Developing Countries. We stand ready to invest further efforts in this endeavor, also by hosting intermediate workshops on this topic in our country.

Mr. President,

To conclude I would like to join all speakers who have called to take joint efforts to struggle against the darkness, vandalism, and hatred. There can be no great and small countries for that cause, and every single one has a role to play. Armenia stands ready to make its contribution to that joint struggle of ours.

I thank you.

On Sat., Sept. 19, a fundraising event was held at GrandTen Distilling in South Boston to raise funds for the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Eastern USA Syrian Armenian Relief. The event included a tasting, tour, and open bar by GrandTen Distilling, dinner by Daddy’s Bonetown Burgers, and dessert by Frozen Hoagies.

On Sat., Sept. 19, a fundraising event was held at GrandTen Distilling in South Boston to raise funds for the ARS Eastern USA Syrian Armenian Relief

This was the first time that the Board of Directors of the ARS of Eastern USA lent their support and name to an unaffiliated ad hoc event committee. The cooperation of the Board of Directors was essential to the success of the fundraising effort. Thanks to the sponsors of the event and other donations, the cost of the event was fully underwritten, which meant that proceeds from each $100 ticket sale went to Syrian-Armenian relief projects, with the evening’s net proceeds in excess of $7,500.

The event committee was comprised by Martha Mensoian, event chair, Ann Chaglassian, Christopher Mensoian, Irina Nanagoulian, Sonya Nersessian, and Ani Zargarian. Event committee members were honored to have the chair of the ARS of Eastern USA Board of Directors, Talin Daghlian, attend the event accompanied by other members of the Board of Directors, Sonia Bezdikian, Sevan Kolejian, and Silva Sagherian, and the executive director of the ARS of Eastern USA, Vart Chiloyan.

The event included a tasting, tour, and open bar by GrandTen Distilling, dinner by Daddy’s Bonetown Burgers, and dessert by Frozen Hoagies

Mensoian thanked the event committee members, the sponsors of the event and others who donated, as well as those present for raising funds for the Syrian Armenian Relief when they are called upon to support an ever-increasing number of worthwhile causes. She then introduced Daghlian, who gave a brief overview of the mission of the ARS and the humanitarian work being done in Syria, and stressed the need for medicine, food, water, and shelter. Virtually every aspect of daily living in a war zone that has existed for four years is provided through ARS relief projects.

The Armenian Relief Society was established in 1910 in New York City to provided educational and humanitarian assistance to Armenians throughout the world. The ARS is an independent, non-governmental and non-sectarian organization and an NGO on the roster in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. ARS has affiliate entities in 24 countries.

The Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA (www.arseastusa.org) is an affiliate of the ARS and made up of 32 chapters. It is based in Watertown, Mass.

Lawyer and human rights activist Fethiye Çetin delivered the following speech (translated by A. Bolcakan) at the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Eastern Region (ER) Banquet on Nov. 14, where she received the ANCA Freedom Award. Çetin is the author of My Grandmother, and co-author of The Grandchildren, which she wrote together with Ayse Gul Altinay. The Freedom Award is given to individuals who have made tremendous contributions toward recognition of the genocide and who have pursued other issues of importance to the Armenian-American community. Below are her remarks in their entirety.

Cetin speaking at the ANCA-ER banquet in Detroit

Dear esteemed administrators and members of the ANCA and honorable guests,

I’d like to state that it’s a great privilege for me to be among you today and to be considered worthy of this very meaningful and very important award, the Freedom Award.

I also feel very honored to be deemed worthy of this award on this year which marks the 100th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. I’m grateful to all of you for bestowing on me this honor and privilege and I thank you all very much. At the same time, I experience the shame and paradox of coming from a country that is not free to accept the Freedom Award.

I come from a country in which individuals don’t feel free, where every demand for freedom is repressed with blood and violence. A country where violence has become commonplace and is legitimized. A country where peoples’ bodies are blown to bits by state bombs, the bodies of children are riddled with state bullets, and the lives of journalists are made unbearable.

I come from a country where, sadly, the majority of the politicians perceive the blood-thirsty and vicious violence that has been experienced in all spheres of life for years as an issue for today, that it’s a contemporary problem that will change when the government changes. Governments come and go but we’ve been, for the past century, experiencing violence in every sphere and in a most intense form.

However, we haven’t problematized violence and its structural roots and thought enough about them; we haven’t discussed nearly enough the effects of the greatest and the most vicious violence that occurred a century ago.

As it’s known, genocide not only destroys an existing society in a most painful and cruel way, it also molds the fabric of the newly formed society with fear and hate, with violence and shame. Genocide does not only devastate bodies, it also shatters perceptions.

To describe the foundational destruction caused by horrendous physical violence, Hannah Arendt refers to the known expression of the end of the world and tells us that the life people lived up until that point is altered radically and transforms into a fictional world. In this new world, everything is upside-down: Lies and truth have switched places, what was absurd and blood-thirsty has ceased to be an exception and has become the newly established premise. What once was cruel and absurd is now systemic.

‘[G]enocide not only destroys an existing society in a most painful and cruel way, it also molds the fabric of the newly formed society with fear and hate, with violence and shame. Genocide does not only devastate bodies, it also shatters perceptions. … In this new world, everything is upside-down: Lies and truth have switched places, what was absurd and blood-thirsty has ceased to be an exception and has become the newly established premise.’

The Republic of Turkey, which bases its foundation on the atrocity and violence of the genocide, sustains itself by producing fear and threats and by creating expendable and disposable lives.

Yesterday the expendable lives were those of the Armenians. Today, Kurds, women, LGBT people, and members of the opposition meet the same fate.

Because this atmosphere reproduces destruction and traumas, and encourages the state’s policy of violence, cruelty, and hate, we’ve been living in this spiral of violence for years. Because violence is the chronic policy of the state, committing crimes and using violence in the name of the state are not punishable behavior but are rather rewarded.

We have to get out of this spiral of violence. It’s clear that for the Turkish society this is the leading problem—for “Turks,” for “Kurds,” and for others. Let us not forget, the past is an integral part of today. As Arendt reminds us, if evil has been experienced once, there’s absolutely no reason for it not to reoccur. Experiences are recorded in the consciousness and they are as much about the past as they are about the future. Therefore, getting out of this spiral is only possible by reevaluating the workings of the wheel of politics that reproduces violence in different ways every day, by questioning the roots of the state, the nation, and our identities which are all founded on the genocide, by asking ourselves questions about what our grandfathers did.

We are only at the beginning of this difficult journey of asking ourselves difficult questions and of self-scrutiny. But we set out to do this and we can’t go back.

It’s a difficult but an inevitable journey…

My journey began upon learning my grandmother’s story. Her story was about a 9-year-old girl who witnessed cruelty, atrocities, massacres, looting, and horrible pain.

The price of survival meant being taken away from her mother, from the world she knew and trusted, by being thrown among the people who killed her loved ones or who were the onlookers as this atrocity was committed. It meant losing her language, her religion, her name, and her voice. Until she told me her story I knew nothing about the shameful pages of our recent history. What I learned shocked me and elicited feelings of anger and revolt. But since the issue was neither discussed in the public sphere nor talked about in private, I lacked both the political context and the awareness to make sense of what I’ve learned.

What moved me first, was my grandmother’s decades-long silence. She was silent for years, but she forgot nothing; she didn’t forget the names of her mother, father, grandfather, village, and even the name of the head of her village and their experiences. It was as if she repeated everything to herself all these years as not to forget and to be able to tell her story one day. That touched me the most.

I started to share what I had learned with people close to me, and especially with my socialist friends. What caught my attention was the fact that almost everyone had similar stories and that peoples’ voices became whispers when they shared them. The silence was not only that of grandmothers, it was also the silence of a whole society.

But we were young people who set out to change the world thinking that another world was possible. We were watching closely what was happening in Chile, Argentina, and Angola and shouting our slogans at the top of our lungs.

But as soon as we talked about what was happening right before our eyes, in our own land, we were whispering in each other’s ears even when we were in closed, private spaces. That’s why my first question was, “Why this silence?”, and I began to occupy myself with new and difficult questions in the space opened up by this very question.

‘[My grandmother] was silent for years, but she forgot nothing; she didn’t forget the names of her mother, father, grandfather, village, and even the name of the head of her village and their experiences. It was as if she repeated everything to herself all these years as not to forget and to be able to tell her story one day. That touched me the most.’

What happened in 1915, what happened to the Armenians? What does genocide mean, what does survival mean? How did my grandmother and other children and women, who shared the same fate with my grandmother, survive, and why is there no mention of these children and women in official historical narratives and family histories? How does destruction and traumas resulting from genocide affect us? Are policies of forced Islamization, assimilation, erasure of memory, and denial part of the genocide? Is the genocide something that happened and ended in 1915? What are its effects today? How does it shape us?

I know where my grandmother was during the genocide, but do I know where my non-Armenian grandfathers were? Is there no Armenian part to all aspects of my life? What’s the price of the identity and the privileges that I’m given? What we know is limited to what we were told; is it possible to convey the genocide? How did the survivors cope with their traumas and fears; is it possible to heal the wounds, to become whole after the genocide?

What kind of courage, resilience, and strength are needed to stay alive having suffered these wounds and this horrible trauma? Can we improve the future? What do we need to do for that?

I can say this to you: The conscientious elements of Turkish society, especially the young people, started to ask these questions and more; and the numbers of these people are increasing. Despite the delay, 1915 is being discussed in the public sphere, books are being published, feature films and documentaries are being produced, the scholarly interest in the topic is increasing with each passing day. Is it enough? Of course not, there’s still a lot to do, a lot of ground to cover, but although we’re just starting we have cracked a giant door open, we have passed an important threshold.

In the space opened by these questions, asking new questions is now obligatory and inevitable. For we have come to the end of a road burdened with the heavy baggage of history. The everyday practices of violence confirm that this road is a dead end.

Recognizing the genocide is also an obligation for both the Turkish state and society.

It’s imperative to recognize the genocide in order to return the dignity back to the victims of the genocide, to compensate for their damages, to secure justice, to heal the wounds of genocide, to peacefully co-exist in a country free of violence. I Feel the shame of being a citizen of a country that still denies the genocide and not only builds a mausoleum in the middle of Istanbul for the bloodthirsty murderers, but goes as far as naming  the place “Freedom Monument” (Abide-i Hürriyet).

I dedicate this award to all victims of the genocide, with respect to our grandfathers and grandmothers who lost their lives during the genocide; and with admiration for the courage, resilience, and strength of the survivors. May they rest in peace.

In conclusion, I hope you will accept my promise that I now make in your presence. You have my word, my friends, you have my word: With the moral support you’ve given me today, I will continue to demand justice, truth, and freedom at all costs, for as long as I can fight and for as long as I live.

You have my word…

WORCESTER, Mass. (A.W.)—Dr. Nerses Sarkissian, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Central Committee of Syria and the Syrian Armenian Committee for Urgent Relief and Rehabilitation, is touring Armenian communities across the Eastern United States from Dec. 1-24 to speak about the current situation in Syria and the challenges facing the Armenian community there. The tour is being organized by the ARF Central Committee of the Eastern United States and the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) Eastern United States.

An Aleppo neighborhood devastated by the war

The first event featuring Sarkissian took place at Worcester State University on Dec. 1, at a symposium on refugees organized by the university’s Center for the Study of Human Rights. There, he spoke in detail about the safety of the Syrian-Armenian community, the economic and day-to-day hardships they face, the state of the Armenian educational system in the country, and the political situation in areas populated by Armenians.  Sarkissian spoke in Armenian; Rupen Janbazian provided the English translation.

Sarkissian’s speaking tour will continue in the coming weeks with events in Detroit (Dec. 4), New York (Dec. 5), Boston (Dec. 10), Providence (Dec. 11), Washington, D.C. (Dec. 12), Chicago (Dec. 13), Granite City (Dec. 14), Philadelphia (Dec. 18), and New Jersey (Dec. 19).

ARF: Reforms Will Change the System, Not Just Those in Power

YEREVAN (A.W.)—Rallies continued on the streets of Yerevan today urging Armenian citizens not to vote in favor of the proposed constitutional reforms in the country’s upcoming referendum on Dec. 6. Several hundred protesters led by the “New Armenia” (Nor Hayasdan) movement—comprised of members of the Heritage Party and the Founding Parliament (formerly Pre-Parliament)—have been holding demonstrations in Armenia’s capital since Dec. 1. The group, which is calling for a complete regime change before Dec. 6, has also started a sit-in demonstration in Liberty Square.

Rallies continued on the streets of Yerevan today urging Armenian citizens not to vote in favor of the proposed constitutional reforms in the country’s upcoming referendum. (Photo: Photolur)

Demonstrators gathering at Liberty Square continue to call on President Serge Sarkisian to step down and for new presidential and parliamentary elections, reported Radio Free Europe’s Armenian service, Azatutyun.am. Leaders of the “New Armenia” movement said that they will continue their protest until all of their demands were met. Addressing the crowd at Liberty Square on Dec. 1, opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian, a member of “New Armenia,” said that “this government is counting its last days.”

After a large number of supporters came out on Tuesday, the numbers of demonstrators dwindled down on the second day of protests. On Dec. 2, Jirayr Sefilian, demonstration coordinator, noted the poorer attendance, but maintained that the movement was stronger. “This doesn’t mean that we have gotten weaker,” Azatutyun.am quoted him as saying. “I’m sure we are stronger than we were yesterday. Everyone realized that we can do what we want.”

ARF: Shift to a Parliamentary System Will Facilitate Regime Change

Bagrat Yesayan (Photo: Armenianow.com)

Members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) criticized the demonstration, saying that it was pointless to change the people in power without changing the entire system. Speaking to Azatutyun.am, Bagrat Yesayan, a senior ARF member, said that Armenia’s shift to a parliamentary system through the constitutional reform would only facilitate regime change. “What do the people sitting in Liberty Square want? To change one person but keep the system intact,” he asked, adding that Sarkisian and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) can be removed from power only through elections.

The ARF has been a strong proponent of the constitutional reforms. The party has advocated for a transition to a parliamentary system of government in Armenia since independence. If adopted, the parliamentary system would work with a 101-seat parliament with a 5-year term elected entirely by proportional representation. Under the current system of government, there are 131 members of parliament, with 41 elected in first-past-the-post constituencies and the rest by proportional representation.

In its efforts to urge the citizens of Armenia to vote for the proposed constitution in the Dec. 6 national referendum, the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia published a promotional pamphlet outlining the reasons for its support of the reforms. The pamphlet presents some of the flaws of the current system and the advantages of the new constitution. The party has also been actively campaigning for the reforms throughout the country.

The pamphlet can be accessed in full here (PDF in Armenian).

Special for the Armenian Weekly

Theatrical poster for ‘Spotlight’ (Photo: Open Road Films)

It’s no secret by now that Boston has been Hollywood’s darling for the past few years. Just this fall, two Boston-themed movies have been released. For once, one of them wasn’t about Whitey Bulger. Released to rave reviews on Nov. 6, “Spotlight” stood out as a very different sort of “Boston movie.” Part of what sets it apart is that the story it portrays likely would never have been known had it not been for the tireless work of two Boston-area Armenians: veteran reporter Stephen Kurkjian and attorney Mitchell Garabedian.

Set in 2001, the film centers on the Spotlight team at the Boston Globe, the investigative team that has broken many of the city’s most defining stories. At that time, the team, made up of Walter “Robby” Robinson, Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Rezendes, Ben Bradlee Jr., and Matt Carroll, was investigating the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, the discovery of which would ricochet around the world. But in early 2001, no one knew that the problem extended beyond Boston, and the reporters were as shocked as the public when the extent of the abuse within Boston alone was brought to light.

The cracks in the surface of the church’s reputation had begun to emerge in 1992, when Kurkjian investigated the case of James Porter, a priest in Fall River, Mass., who was convicted in 1993 of molesting 28 children and sentenced to 18-20 years in prison. Though Kurkjian discovered a handful of other priests between 1992 and 1993, who followed the same pattern of repeat abuse and quiet reassignments to new parishes, he had no inkling of the scope of the church’s cover-up.

Kurkjian, portrayed in the film by Gene Amoroso, worked as a reporter for the Boston Globe for 40 years and was a founding member of the Spotlight team in 1970 before relocating to Washington, D.C., to become chief of the paper’s Washington bureau. He returned to the Spotlight team shortly after the story on the sex abuse scandal broke and the team was flooded with calls from former victims. In the film version, this is right about when the credits begin to roll, but as Kurkjian can attest, there’s quite an epilogue.

Kurkjian had been busy with post-September 11 coverage in mid-January 2002 when he was reassigned to the Spotlight team. The team’s work was so secretive that even a fellow Globe reporter like Kurkjian didn’t know what the team had been working on until the public did. One of the film’s most climactic scenes is one in which Rachel McAdams’ Pfeiffer confronts a former priest named Father Paquin on his doorstep about accusations that he molested young boys. In reality, that encounter took place some time after the story broke, and Kurkjian was the reporter who obtained Paquin’s chilling confession by showing up outside his door in Medford, Mass., one Friday evening. “The killer thing that he said to me was, ‘I never got pleasure, I gave pleasure.’” Paquin pleaded guilty in 2002 to molesting at least 14 boys, but was released from prison this past October.

Stephen Kurkjian

The film has been accused of minimizing Kurkjian’s role in uncovering the scandal; Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe wrote in a Nov. 22 column that Kurkjian, “a journalistic icon,” was unjustly “portrayed as a curmudgeon who was dismissive of the importance of the story. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and Kurkjian did some of the most important reporting as part of the team that won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for exposing the coverup.” That Pulitzer Prize was Kurkjian’s third, which speaks more convincingly to his credentials than a Hollywood script ever could.

Indeed, the Paquin interview wasn’t Kurkjian’s only startling confrontation while covering the story. In the wake of the scandal, Cardinal Bernard Law, then the bishop of the Boston Archdiocese, had all but disappeared from public view. Kurkjian, who had interviewed Law before, heard from a friend that he would be presiding over the funeral mass of an elderly priest in Belmont, Mass. After the mass, Kurkjian asked a priest if he could speak to Law, and was told that if he met him by his car outside, he would be able to talk to him briefly.

“So I went out, and I said, ‘Cardinal, where have you been?’ And he came out and he was sneering…and he said, ‘I’m going to the Vatican tomorrow.’” Kurkjian asked Law several questions, all of which he evaded. Law left Boston the next day for what turned out to be an even more influential position at the Vatican.

Ultimately, Kurkjian says, the Catholic Church failed in its part of the social compact. “One of the ways I gauge how good a scandal could be is by looking at what the institution’s—the goal of the institution that’s involved in the scandal—is. And here you had the Catholic Church, that is dedicated to the faith and children, and the wrong that’s involved here was the injuring of children. So that’s really a basic disconnect, a basic deceit of the goal of the institution…and the secrecy of the church condoned and furthered the wrongdoing.”

As depicted in the film, many of the documents that ultimately allowed the Spotlight team to piece together the extent of the sex abuse scandal and break the story only surfaced due to the tenacious legal work of attorney Mitchell Garabedian. Garabedian, whose character is portrayed in the film by Stanley Tucci, was instrumental in the publicizing of the scandal due to his refusal to allow the abuse victims he represented to sign confidentiality agreements in return for settlements from the Catholic Church. Numerous victims over the years had been advised to sign these agreements by other attorneys, who saw them as the only way their clients would get any sort of compensation.

Attorney Eric MacLeish, also depicted in the movie, led many of his clients to sign such agreements. He has criticized his portrayal, writing in a Facebook post that such settlements were an “absolute condition” if victims hoped to get anything out of the church. What they got were typically small settlements, limited by state law that capped suits against charitable organizations at $20,000.

However, MacLeish’s claims of an absolute condition fail to explain how Garabedian managed to win cases against the church without submitting to confidentiality agreements, or how he managed to legally maneuver around the $20,000 settlement cap. MacLeish subsequently alleged to the Boston Globe in 2010 that he himself had been a victim of multiple, separate instances of sexual abuse as a child, which he claims precipitated severe post-traumatic stress disorder and his subsequent departure from the law.

It’s hard to know exactly what enabled Garabedian to achieve such a starkly different result for his clients, but in what will be one of the film’s most memorable scenes for any Armenian viewer, his character credits it to his being “an outsider.” In the scene, Stanley Tucci’s Garabedian and Mark Ruffalo’s Rezendes are sitting together in a diner discussing the developing story, and Tucci remarks that the scandal took so long to be brought to light because it needed the perspective of outsiders, in the form of Marty Baron, the Globe’s Jewish editor, and Garabedian, an Armenian. In one of the film’s few hard-to-believe lines, Tucci quips, “How many Armenians do you know in Boston?”

The real-life Garabedian, who has been a practicing attorney since 1979, credits his success in part to a “very solid foundation as a child in my Armenian upbringing, socially, religiously, and otherwise. I think my upbringing helped in terms of seeing right from wrong, in terms of having the foundation to proceed.”

Such strength was necessary in the face of a ruthless retaliation from the church, which even resorted to having documents “disappear” from court files. “The Catholic Church, which is the richest institution in the world, was obviously asserting its power wherever it could to keep these matters silent. But they couldn’t control me, as an outsider. They threw everything they had at me, they threw every kitchen sink they had at me during the litigation, and they tried to have me sanctioned three times before the judge so that my license to practice law could be jeopardized. But it didn’t work.”

Mitchell Garabedian.

The film, according to Garabedian, offers a fairly accurate depiction of the legal process that was involved. Garabedian became involved in cases against the Catholic Church beginning in the mid-1990’s, when he was approached by victims of Father John J. Geoghan. “The Catholic Church [was] trying to hold itself out as a moral institution, as the most moral institution in the world, when actually it was the most immoral—there’s no excuse for allowing innocent children to be sexually molested. It showed that the church had serial pedophiles, and serial enablers of pedophiles.”

As the case grew from the first suit against Geoghan, filed in 1996, Garabedian came to represent 86 of Geoghan’s victims in a years-long process that included depositions of Cardinal Law and other high-ranking members of the Boston Archdiocese. In 2002, the victims were awarded a $10 million settlement. The following year, Garabedian represented 120 additional victims as part of a larger suit brought by a number of attorneys that resulted in a record-setting $85 million settlement with the Catholic Church. This and other subsequent settlements forced the church to sell large amounts of real estate and, in some cases, seek bankruptcy protection.

Garabedian went on to win a $12 million settlement in 2013 for 24 victims of former Jesuit priest Douglas Perlitz, who was convicted of abusing numerous boys at Project Pierre Toussaint School in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, and continues to represent Haitian abuse victims today. “Victims are pouring into my office from around the world. For instance, I represent 146 victims who were sexually abused, not by a priest, but at a Jesuit school in Haiti. He [Perlitz] got almost 20 years in prison on a plea.”

In spite of his numerous victories on behalf of victims of abuse, Garabedian takes a dim view of the church’s prospects for redemption. “You’re dealing with an entity that has allowed tens of thousands of children to be sexually molested by pedophiles, and the enablers and supervisors have allowed tens of thousands of children [to be abused] over the course of decades and decades, and it’s only surfaced because they got caught…they continue to try to hide it. … If this wasn’t the church, if this was another group…why wouldn’t they be prosecuted?”

“Victims are still coming forward, and I think the victims who were sexually molested in the early 2000’s, late ‘90s haven’t reached the age where they’re old enough to come forward. I think the Catholic Church is a world unto itself and they feel as though in an odd way, they’re the victims, and they’re going to assert their influence and power to protect themselves… I think the Catholic Church thinks in terms of, as I said in the movie, in terms of centuries, and that this will all blow over, and they’ll try to rewrite history as the victims.”

BELGRADE, Serbia (A.W.)—The heads of delegation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group countries expressed concern about the ongoing of escalation in violence along the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border, calling the status quo “unsustainable,” in a statement released on Dec. 3.

(Photo: OSCE)

The heads of the delegation—Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and France’s State Secretary for European Affairs Harlem Desir—said that they remain united in their commitment to mediating a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, and welcomed the upcoming meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian. The meeting will take place this month under the auspices of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. “There must also be dialogue between Armenians and Azerbaijanis to build trust between neighboring peoples. We encourage the sides to work with the Co-Chairs to support programs that bring together people affected by the conflict,” read a part of the statement.

The delegation also appealed to the sides to continue discussions from the Sochi, Wales, and Paris Summits of 2014 on elements of a comprehensive settlement, and to intensify their dialogue in 2016 “on the basis of proposals currently under discussion.”

The heads of delegation especially condemned the use of mortars and other heavy weaponry, and expressed “deep regret” about civilian casualties the weapons have caused. “The Co-Chairs have proposed risk-reduction measures that we encourage the sides to adopt, including an OSCE investigation mechanism. There is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and there is no justification for the death and injury of innocent civilians,” read a part of the statement.

The statement also criticized vocal attacks on the Co-Chairs and the Minsk Group format, and emphasized that the Minsk Group remains the only accepted format by the sides and that it has the full confidence of all OSCE participating States. “Any attempts to blame the Co-Chairs for setbacks in the negotiation process only mask the primary obstacle to peace—the lack of political will in Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a negotiated settlement,” read a part of the statement.

In their joint statement, they welcomed the progress made by the sides in implementing the data exchange on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and praised Azerbaijani authorities’ decision to return an Armenian soldier who crossed the Line of Contact and an Armenian civilian who crossed the international border as “a helpful humanitarian gesture and consistent with international humanitarian obligations.” They also urged the sides to return all remaining prisoners in the spirit of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu, and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, on Dec. 3, reported the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

The Minsk Group Co-Chairs together with Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, held a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Sept. 24 and a separate meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on Sept. 25. According to a statement released by the Minsk Group, the delegation met jointly with Nalbandian and Mammadyarov to “discuss the immediate need to reduce tensions along the Line of Contact and international border, to advance negotiations on a lasting settlement, and to implement confidence-building measures.”

During the meeting, the Co-Chairs called on both the Presidents of Armenia and of Azerbaijan to accept an OSCE mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations.  “Without such a mechanism, the sides will continue to blame each other for initiating deadly attacks on the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border.  Armenia has agreed to discuss the details of the mechanism, and we urged Azerbaijan to do the same,” read a part of the statement released on Sept. 26.

In September, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) parliamentary faction secretary Aghvan Vardanyan noted that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairing countries had the power to reduce tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and to prevent the killing of innocent civilians, if they so willed and proceeded to work together accordingly.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have continuously faced criticism for manufacturing “artificial even-handedness.” In August 2014, following attacks by Azerbaijan, Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian pointedly remarked: “The OSCE Minsk Group’s unwillingness to clearly condemn Azerbaijani military strikes has fostered a dangerous atmosphere of impunity… It is time for peace negotiators to break their bad habit of answering Aliyev’s every assault with artificial even-handedness and diplomatic double-talk. Only by unequivocally denouncing Azerbaijan’s attacks can they hope to constrain Aliyev’s march toward a renewed Caucasus war.”

Similarly, in October, Kaspar Karampetian, the president of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), sent a letter to the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, in which he urged them to steer clear of making “generic announcements” and wrongly placing equal blame on the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides following ceasefire violations.

STEPANAKERT, NKR (A.W.)—An Armenian serviceman was killed by Azerbaijani fire a day after the heads of delegation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group countries expressed concern about the escalation in violence along the Line of Contact (LoC) and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and called the status quo “unsustainable.”

According to the Defense Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), NKR Defense Army serviceman Erik Grigoryan (b. 1995) was killed early on Dec. 4 in a gunfight following a penetration attempt by the Azerbaijani Army into the territory of Nagorno-Karabagh.

The incident took place in Talish, in the northeastern part of the Line of Contact, according to the statement released by the NKR Ministry of Defense. The report indicates that the NKR Defense Army noticed the advancement of the Azerbaijan Army and was able to push it back to its initial positions. It is believed that the Azerbaijani Army suffered casualties.

In addition to the incident, the Azerbaijani Army violated the ceasefire regime at least 80 times on Dec. 3-4, with more than 650 shots fired in the direction of NKR military positions, by way of rifle and artillery weaponry, including mortar, rocket-propelled grenade, and heavy machine gun. The NKR Defense Army is currently taking retaliatory actions to supress the Azerbaijani attacks, according to the Defense Ministry.

On Dec. 3, the heads of the delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group countries—Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and France’s State Secretary for European Affairs Harlem Desir—said that they remain united in their commitment to mediating a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict, and welcomed the upcoming meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian.

The meeting will take place this month under the auspices of the Minsk Group co-chairs. “There must also be dialogue between Armenians and Azerbaijanis to build trust between neighboring peoples. We encourage the sides to work with the co-chairs to support programs that bring together people affected by the conflict,” read the statement released by the Minsk Group.

Special for the Armenian Weekly

Last month, both Egyptians and the Armenian community in Egypt had the chance to watch the first screening of “Who Killed the Armenians?”—the first documentary film of its kind produced in Egypt and dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The Arabic-language documentary was prepared by Egyptian satellite TV anchor Myriam Zaki and filmmaker Mohamed Hanafi.

Myriam Zaki and Mohamed Hanafi

The screening took place in Heliopolis Library and was organized by the Armenian Patriarchate’s Cairo Committee of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. A welcome speech was given by Armen Mazloumian, a committee member and representative of the “Hay Tahd” office in Egypt. Mazloumian shed light on the various stages of the genocide and its reasons. He stressed the positive role Egypt played during the genocide, including its warm welcome of survivors and orphans of the genocide on Egyptian land. Mazloumian thanked the filmmakers for their dedication to the Armenian Cause.

The 70-minute film was shot in Armenia, Egypt, and Lebanon. It presents several documents collected from the archives of the countries visited—documents that prove the Ottoman Turks’ barbaric acts against the Armenian nation, beginning with the Hamidian Massacres (1894-1896), the Adana Massacre (1909), and ending with the 1915 genocide. Those documents were revealed to the Arab audience for the first time.

The film also includes testimonies of survivors of the genocide, especially from the Davtashen district. It features interviews with Armenian and non-Armenian public figures, activists, genocide scholars, lecturers, and clergymen, such as Richard Hovannisian, Vera Yacoubian, Haig Demoyan, Mohamed Refaat Al-Imam, Rupen Safrasdian, Ashod Melkonian, Taner Akçam, Catholicos Aram I, and Catholicos Karekin II.

According to Zaki and Hanafi, it took 10 months to produce the documentary and 600 hours in preparation time. Armenian music is heard throughout the film—including Gomidas’s “Groung” and “Dle Yaman” masterpieces—in addition to Zaki’s touching voice.

The Armenian Weekly recently conducted a short interview with Myriam Zaki on her and Hanafi’s motivations for producing a documentary on the genocide, and its importance to a Muslim country like Egypt.

***

N.K.: What inspired you and Mohamed to focus on such an issue, the Armenian Genocide, and to produce this documentary?

M.Z.: Reflecting on the Armenian Genocide was a way of understanding our own history and introspecting with a deeper sense of identity. The Arab Spring, which was by no means rosy except for its color of blood on Arab lands, forces us to re-evaluate. Many masks have fallen in the last few years; it is always our duty to search for the “truth.”

This year coincided with the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. We made an episode on our daily show “Ala El-Hawa” (On Air) on the subject as part of a series of episodes on the role of the Ottoman Empire in Arab lands. The information we received on air from our group of guests was very disturbing. It is then that Mohamed and I realized that this particular subject needed further study, especially because we learned very little in our textbooks on the subject of the Ottomans.

Egypt’s semi-autonomy from the Ottomans and its self-absorbance in its own processes turned many of us color-blind to the neo-Ottoman ideology looming over the current government in Turkey. Hence, we felt it was up to us to search and to unveil the history of the Armenian Genocide to the Arab public, a subject kept under so much silence for 100 years. Had we been educated properly in our own history, we would have been better prepared to understand and ultimately face the last few years—and certainly it would have saved many lives! I would also like to add that putting a cover on wounds is no solution, it only festers… One must face reality, whatever it is.

Zaki and Hanafi with the Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Egypt, Archbishop Ashod Mnatsaganian; the head of the Armenian Catholic Church, Bishop Krikor-Okosdinos Coussa; the ambassador of Armenia, Armen Melkonian; and top community leaders

N.K.: Did you face difficulties during the preparation of the documentary? If yes, what were these difficulties?

M.Z.: Of course we did. The first difficulty was to figure out the “why.” Why would a nation do this to its own people? The second difficulty was to figure out the “how.” How can a government do this to its own citizens! The third difficulty for me was to deal with the images and detailed accounts of human suffering and the cold bloodedness of the group of perpetrators in executing their genocidal policies…

Impunity was also very disturbing…that in itself is a subject of study. … The language barrier was a surmountable challenge. Aside from all this it was important to think deeply on how to present the subject. We could have taken many angles in our documentary, as it is a subject that deserves much more [attention]. We felt, however, that the story had to be told based on the documents and released archives.

Poster for the documentary film

N.K.: How do you think such a production be of importance to a country like Egypt?

M.Z.: This production is important not just to Egypt but to the whole Arab world. Armenians are part of our land and history. We share an important part of history. To draw some parallels: When you share a common invader you face the same strategy. In the search process, we learned that when Selim the First [Ottoman sultan from 1512-1520] invaded Egypt he wanted to ethnically cleanse it of Copts, he wanted to send some of us to the south of Egypt! It is the Muslims of Egypt and Al-Azhar who stood up fiercely to his plan. This is an important lesson that says a lot about this nation and the identity of its people. I think we are at a stage where we must look at the facts whatever they are, and seriously discuss concepts if we plan to face the challenges of today.

One hundred years of silence is more than enough, and the price is there in front of our own eyes.

***

Zaki believes that the information presented in each and every segment of the documentary deserves a film of its own. She is hopeful that “Who Killed the Armenians?” will be screened in Lebanon and Armenia in the near future.

In April 2015, Zaki and Hanafi joined the Egyptian-Armenian delegation that flew to Yerevan with a special charter flight to take part in the commemorations of the Genocide Centennial. Accompanying the delegation—comprised of 115 people led by Archbishop Ashod Mnatsaganian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Egypt—were 52 figures from the Egyptian media and Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II.

Over the past couple of years, there has been ample media coverage on the issue of the Armenian Genocide both on Egyptian TV satellite channels and in local newspapers.

The Armenian presence in Egypt has been long and varied. An Armenian community formed in Egypt from the 7^th to 19^th centuries, and Armenians played a crucial role in building a modern Egypt. Nubar Pasha Nubarian, a politician of Armenian origin, was Egypt’s first prime minister in 1878. During the genocide, Egypt sheltered Armenian refugees and survivors—a compassionate act for which Armenians will always be grateful.

The community once numbered 25,000, but has dropped to 5,000 due to mass emigration since Egypt’s second president, Gamal Abdel-Nasser, nationalized major sectors of the economy in 1952, and since the Jan. 25 revolution in 2011.

Armenians in Egypt are concentrated mainly in Cairo and Alexandria. They have their own schools, social, cultural, and sporting clubs, as well as churches, benevolent associations, and newspapers.

Nora Koloyan-Keuhnelian filed this story for the Armenian Weekly from Cairo, Egypt.

Opposition Takes to the Streets

YEREVAN (A.W.)—A total of 1,296,368 people, around 50.51 percent of eligible voters, participated in today’s referendum on constitutional reforms according to preliminary figures released by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). The final results of the referendum are expected to be released by the CEC in the coming hours.

The final results of the referendum are expected to be released by the CEC in the coming hours (Photo: PanArmenian Photo)

Four international and 18 local observation missions monitored the vote, including a Civil Society Institute (CSI) mission (44 observers), CSI Inter-Parliamentary Commission (23 observers), a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) mission (11 observers), and an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) mission (5 observers), according to Civilnet.am. There were proxies, observers, or media representatives in 85-90 percent of the 1,997 election precincts throughout the country, according to the CEC.

There have been reports of violations and irregularities, and authorities have said they will pursue some of these claims.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) has been a strong proponent of the constitutional reforms. The party has advocated for a transition to a parliamentary system of government in Armenia since independence. Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, ARF Bureau representative Hrant Markarian said that Armenia has the opportunity to form a new political framework with the possibility of real competition. “I’m confident that this is a new beginning for Armenia today,” he said.

Several hundred members and supporters of the opposition “New Armenia” movements, as well as supporters of other opposition groups that campaigned against constitutional changes, marched towards the CEC building in Yerevan shortly after the closure of ballots, late Sunday night. Demonstrators protested what they called a referendum that had been falsified by the authorities and were met with a heavy police presence. They also called for the annulment of the results of the referendum, which have yet to be released.

Demonstrators are calling for the annulment of the results of the referendum, which have yet to be released.

Raffi Hovannisian, a member of the “New Armenia” opposition movement, tore his ballot at the polling station in protest. “The system, which is based on one person and one party that just want to strengthen their positions by this referendum, is unacceptable,” Hovannisian said, reported Reuters.

Armenia’s National Assembly approved the proposed package of constitutional reforms on Oct. 5, with a vote of 103 to 10. Three members of the National Assembly abstained.

The proposed reforms call for a shift from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary form of government. The reforms also look to introduce a governmental system in which the powers of the president are drastically reduced, and are almost only ceremonial. According to the proposal, Armenia’s president will be elected for a seven-year term (currently, a five-year term) by parliament, not a national vote, and can only serve one term.

If passed, under the new system Armenia would work with a 101-seat parliament with a 5-year term elected entirely by proportional representation. Under the current system of government, there are 131 members of parliament, with 41 elected in first-past-the-post constituencies and the rest by proportional representation.

Election Observers Share Preliminary Assessments

YEREVAN (A.W.)—Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced today that 825,622 citizens, around 63.4 percent of eligible voters, voted in favor of the new constitution, amid several reports of violations and irregularities. A total of 1,296,368 people, or around 50.51 percent of eligible voters, participated in the referendum according to figures released by the CEC.

Results of the Dec. 6 referendum (Source: CEC)

The reforms called for a shift from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary form of government, and will introduce a governmental system in which the powers of the president are drastically reduced, and are almost only ceremonial. Armenia’s president will be elected for a seven-year term (currently a five-year term) by parliament, not a national vote, and can only serve one term.

Armen Rustamyan, member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau and head of the party’s political affairs, told reporters on Dec. 7 that the country now had a new Constitution, adding that the “no” votes were in essence a rejection of the ruling government, whereas the “yes” votes were cast in favor of the constitutional changes.

“Of course, there is the need for serious examination of the outcomes of the referendum. The substantial number of ‘no’ votes is cause for reflection, and it is consistent with the concerns we had during the campaign. It is our deep belief that the ‘no’ votes are an expression of dissatisfaction with the authorities—the ‘no’ [votes] are directed at the government’s policies; meanwhile, the ‘yes’ votes are directed at the constitutional changes,” he was quoted as saying by Yerkir.am.

Rustamyan speaking to reporters on Dec. 7 (Photo: Civilnet)

Rustamyan said ARF representatives followed proper procedures during the referendum and did their best to prevent violations. He added that since the violations have not been investigated and confirmed, they are one sided; and that those who are speaking about widespread violations were insisting and expecting that the referendum would pass in a fraudulent manner. “We are well aware of what kind of an electoral system we have. The referendum, which was held on Dec. 6, was held in the old electoral system, which has many faults. Those electoral flaws will continue to occur unless we change the old system. We are convinced that these constitutional amendments will create the best foundation for an electoral system that is in line with the standards that will allow for credible elections and referendums. Distrust of [yesterday’s] results stems from mistrust in the electoral system that has accumulated over the years,” he said.

The ARF has been a strong proponent of the constitutional reforms. The party has advocated for a transition to a parliamentary system of government in Armenia since independence. Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot on Dec. 6, ARF Bureau representative Hrant Markarian said that Armenia has the opportunity to form a new political framework with the possibility of real competition. “I’m confident that this is a new beginning for Armenia today,” he said.

Under the new system, Armenia would work with a 101-seat parliament with a 5-year term elected entirely by proportional representation. Under the current system of government, there are 131 members of parliament, with 41 elected in first-past-the-post constituencies and the rest by proportional representation.

Election Observers Share Preliminary Assessments

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) observation mission found the voting in the referendum open and transparent. “The mission considers that the referendum provided the citizens with an opportunity to express their will,” Yevgeny Sloboda, the head of the CIS observation mission, told reporters on Monday. He said that the observers noticed no violations either before or during the voting. “The CIS observers visited 508 polling stations on voting day in all provinces except Syunik. They participated in the opening of the polls, the voting process, and the vote counting. Our observers registered an open and free voting,” he said.

On the other hand, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) observation delegation criticized the referendum, saying that it was driven by the political interests of the ruling regime. “The relatively low turn-out, around 50 percent of the population, reflects the fact that the referendum was driven by political interests instead of the needs of the Armenian public and was perceived by many citizens as a vote of confidence in the government rather than on the many proposals for change,” read a part of the statement released by PACE.

Citizen Observer Initiative and the European Platform for Democratic Elections found an unprecedented number of violations on Dec. 6. (Photo: epde.org)

The PACE delegation also criticized the voting process, noting inaccuracies of voting lists; allegations of large-scale vote buying, carousel voting, and pressure on voters; an uneven media playing field; the misuse of administrative resources by executive bodies; and shortcomings in the training of precinct election officials. They also urged authorities to address the issues they outlined “in order to build trust in the voting process and in politics in general to ensure a genuinely democratic future for Armenia.”

Citizen Observer Initiative (COI) and the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), in a joint statement, said they found an unprecedented number of violations on the Dec. 6 referendum. “The referendum campaign was marred by massive misuse of administrative resources to campaign in favor of the constitutional changes and influencing the voting and tabulation process via control of electoral administration on the territorial and local levels. Inaccuracy of voter lists remained the most crucial issue considering the confidentiality of voter participation that leaves room for later manipulations,” read the statement.

The COI and the EPDE also claimed that vote counting was accompanied by several procedural violations. “In several cases, citizen observers and international media representatives were intimidated and hindered in carrying out their monitoring activities. In some polling stations the counting process was interrupted due to obstacles allegedly initiated by PEC members,” the statement read.

Opposition Protests

Several hundred members and supporters of the opposition “New Armenia” movements, as well as supporters of other opposition groups that campaigned against constitutional changes, marched towards the CEC building in Yerevan shortly after the closure of ballots, late Sunday night. Demonstrators protested what they called a referendum that had been falsified by the authorities and were met with a heavy police presence. They also called for the annulment of the results of the referendum.

Opposition supporters rally against the results of the constitutional referendum in Yerevan on Dec. 7 (Photo: Photolur)

Hundreds of protesters gathered again in central Yerevan the following day, to demonstrate against the declared results of a referendum. During Monday’s gathering, Armenian National Congress (ANC) coordinator Levon Zurabian said the government had secured the results through ballot-box stuffing, multiple voting, and vote buying, reported RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Azatutyun.am. Zurabian also rejected the turnout figures, saying that less than half of eligible voters participated.

By Ivan Ardhaldjian

Armenia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that 825,622 citizens, around 63.4 percent of eligible voters, voted in favor of constitutional amendments. Following the referendum, reports of irregularities and violations of the voting process at some of the polling stations emerged. Below, we publish the testimony of Ivan Ardhaldjian, who acted as a proxy on behalf of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) at polling station 4/32.

A child helps his father cast his ballot in Sunday’s referendum. (Photo: ArmenPress)

At the 4/32 polling station, the local election commission and the proxies were not able to protect the rights of 677 citizens.

In the morning of Dec. 6, I voted “yes,” and proceeded to go to the 4/32 polling station as a proxy (“entrusted individual”) representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).

All day long, the elderly, the youth, families, professionals, and others walked into the polling station and voted. Throughout the day, I helped the elderly mount the stairs, I directed folks to the appropriate table according to their home addresses, and I often examined the conduct of members of the election committee.

I saw glimmers of hope in the eyes of a 90-year-old voter, and I felt the pride of young mothers and fathers who held their children against their chest or guided them by their hands and allowed them to throw the ballots in the box with the hope of a better, or the same, Constitution.

I was proud to be a part of all this.

At 8 p.m., the doors closed, the vote counting began, and the chairman of the election committee opened the ballot box that was filled with 677 votes.

One by one, the chairman opened the envelopes, and with the confirmation of the committee categorized the votes into piles of “yes,” “no,” or “invalid.” At the same time, a member of the committee, another proxy, and I counted and recorded the results. At the end, based on the 3 counts, and a margin of error of 3 votes, we registered 404 “no” votes, 229 “yes” votes, and 31 invalid ballots.

Yet, when the members of the committee began counting the votes, somehow the number of “no” votes went down to 117, the “yes” votes went up to 523, and the invalid ballots became 34.

Let me note a few odd occurrences:

1) At 7:30 p.m., four individuals presented themselves at the polling station as observers.

2) While the ballot envelopes were being opened, one of these new observers asked for a break. Suddenly, a fight broke out among these new observers—there was shoving and beating—that lasted approximately 3-4 minutes. Naturally, our attention was directed toward these four individuals.

3) All four of these individuals willingly left the station immediately following the incident.

4) Before the vote count began, the chairman of the election committee stepped outside to “start his car.”

I am certain that the ballots were switched in an illegal manner, and the constitutional rights of the 677 individuals who voted at the 4/23 polling station were abused.

Shame on all the members of the committee and the “entrusted individuals” (including myself) for failing to protect the 677 voices of our fellow citizens—regardless of what they voted for.

Shame on all those who participated in this fraud, or who witnessed but turned a blind eye to it.

Shame on the leadership that instructed the planning and execution of such organized fraud.

Shame on anyone who—upon learning that there would be violations—knowingly walked away and refused to protect the rights of citizens.

Thank you, 677 citizens, for believing in our democracy. You are my hope. I will continue to struggle on your behalf.

Ardhaldjian’s testimony was translated from the original Armenian into English by the Armenian Weekly.

“Mehriban Aliyeva has been appointed First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan by President Ilham Aliyev’s order.”

No, you are not tuned into the Netflix original political drama House of Cards. This, unfortunately, is real life—straight from a statement released by the office of Azerbaijan’s President earlier today, which officially appointed Azerbaijan’s First Lady as the country’s new Vice-President.

‘Sadly, what is going on in Azerbaijan is not television fiction…’

Aliyev’s move, which has been criticized by many and is still being digested by many more, is the authoritarian leader’s latest quest for further power that was in the books when he initiated a referendum in his country last September.

Not only did he successfully extend presidential terms to seven years (previously, Azerbaijani presidential terms were five years—not that it matters… The Aliyev’s have had a stronghold on power in the country since 1993), he also made sure to create an office of the Vice-President and two Vice-Presidential posts. It should come as no surprise that Aliyeva will serve as First Vice-President

Prior to establishment of the new position, the duties of the First Vice-President were entrusted to the country’s Prime Minister, who is now pushed a little further down the Azerbaijani hierarchy.

Of course, it was decided that both occupants of the Vice-Presidential office would be appointed and dismissed by the president. Would Mr. Aliyev have it any other way?

Which brings us to today’s decision: the appointment of the First Lady—a Member of Azerbaijan’s Parliament, who, according to WikiLeaks documents, chooses not to attend Parliament’s sessions— to the second-highest constitutional office in Azerbaijan.

“Embassy monitors, who have attended nearly every session over the past year, have never seen her present in Parliament,” read one leaked U.S. diplomatic cable, which was released a few years ago. Another revealed that she appears to be “poorly informed about political issues,” and that her family has accumulated immense wealth through its several business interests throughout the country.

Shortly after accepting her new post, the newly appointed First Vice-President expressed her “deep gratitude” to the President for his confidence in her. “I believe that I will be able to justify this confidence shown by you, Mr. President, and all the people who believe in me,” Aliyeva said.

In season four of House of Cards, the cunning, often ruthless fictional U.S. President Frank Underwood’s wife Claire wins the Democratic Nomination for the Vice-Presidency, and ends up on her husband’s election ticket.

So what gives, Mr. Aliyev? Did you really think this was a good idea for the country—a step in the right direction—or have the Underwoods really played with your head?

Sadly, what is going on in Azerbaijan is not television fiction, nor is it an example of what has recently come to be known as “fake news.” Aliyev’s decision is only his latest move in a carefully orchestrated tightening of a grip of power that dates back decades—a grip on power that has made the Aliyev family quite wealthy over the years.

The unofficial Twitter account for the fictional ‘House of Cards’ character President Frank Underwood tweeted President Aliyev: ‘Call me for advice on the whole wife-as-vice-president thing.’ (Photo: Twitter)

According to documents discovered by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the President’s family has more than $3 billon (USD) in at least eight Azerbaijani banks and their overall assets are estimated to be much higher, with much of their wealth invested outside of the country.  (Good thing the Vice-President has full immunity and cannot be arrested, charged, or sentenced during his or her term…)

And as the Aliyevs continue to extend their power and increase their bank accounts, freedoms of expression, assembly, and association continue to deteriorate drastically year after year under their rule.

Violations in elections, the rise of corruption, and politically motivated prosecutions, as well as a severe lack of freedom of the press, has made Azerbaijan among the world’s biggest violators of basic human rights.

Will any of this change with Aliyeva’s promotion? You don’t have to be a House of Cards fan to know the answer.

At least on the show, the First Lady was democratically nominated…not appointed by her husband.

NKR Renamed ‘Artsakh Republic’ as it Adopts New Constitution, Moves to a Fully-Presidential System of Government

STEPANAKERT, Artsakh— Following the constitutional referendum in the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) on Feb. 20, the NKR Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced on Feb. 21 that according to preliminary results 87.6% (69,540 votes) of citizens voted in favor of the proposed constitutional amendments, while 9.7% (7,686 votes) of votes were cast against. Invalid votes constituted about 2.8% (2,202 votes) of the total vote.

An NKR serviceman votes in the referendum (Photo: Photolure)

The NKR CEC added that 76.44% of eligible voters participated in the referendum.

The new constitution changes the official name of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic to the “Artsakh Republic” and will change the system of the country’s governance from a semi-presidential to fully-presidential system. Artsakh will no longer have a Prime Minister and the President will appoint government ministers.

“The new Constitution is to continue the traditions of state building enshrined in the first constitution, further strengthen the sovereignty of the country, and promote human rights and the rule of law, to improve public administration, enroot the independent judiciary and reform the local self-government,” read the statement issued by the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The NKR MFA also stated that the referendum shows that the people of Artsakh are able to “exercise their right in order to determine their own future, as enshrined in fundamental international documents.”

According to the NKR Central Electoral Commission, 76.44% of eligible voters participated in yesterday’s constitutional referendum. (Infographic: NKR Central Electoral Commission)

Observation missions to the referendum, which comprised of over 104 international organizations from more than 30 countries, 103 local observers, and over 80 media representatives, held a press conference on Feb. 21 in the hall of the Press Center of the NKR Referendum Central Commission.

During the press conference, representatives of the mission presented an evaluation of the election process and discussed its political significance. The press conference was joined by members of the European Parliament, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, European Friends of Armenia, and the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD), as well as delegation representatives from Bolivia, Russia, Germany, Austria, Uruguay, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the Basque Country, the United States, and Canada.

“The observers highly valued the Referendum as another evidence of consolidation of statehood, expression of free will of Artsakh and a process of democratization,” read the press release issued by the NKR CEC.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) led election observation delegation meet with Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan and his delegation (Photo: Office of the NKR President)

Members of the European Parliament Frank Engel, Eleni Theocharous and Jaromir Stetina also issued a joint statement on the referendum, which stated that the people of Artsakh want to actively play a role in shaping their democracy. The statement also praised citizens for upholding and protecting the rule of law and the rights of the people.

“A people, a population, a nation who believe in their state and refine their republican institutions should not be ignored by the international community,” read part of the statement. “The people of Artsakh, a nation under constant threat of military attack by an aggressive neighbor, continue to oppose democratic vitality and maturity to the international denial of their state.”

According to Azerbaijan-based reports, countries such as Pakistan, Latvia, Norway, Iran, Georgia, and Turkey joined Azerbaijan in rejecting the referendum, labelling it as an illegal vote.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Official Representative Hikmet Hajiyev also told RIA Novosti that the Azerbaijani government will add all the foreign observers to their country’s blacklist.

Former Canadian parliamentarian, the Hon. Jim Karygiannis with the speaker of Artsakh’s parliament Ashot Ghoulyan, during his visit to observe the republic’s constitutional referendum (Photo: ANCC)

On Feb. 21, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan received members of the delegations from the U.S., Russia, Canada, Germany, Argentina,and Uruguay consisting of parliamentarians, diplomats, political figures, representatives of scientific-research circles and civil society, as well as journalists, who were in Artsakh as observers.

“The Head of the State highlighted the importance of the observation mission carried out by foreign delegations from the viewpoints of consistent development of democratic institutions in our republic, presenting objective information about Artsakh in various countries and cementing bilateral relations,” read a statement released by the Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic President.

Last week, the Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group released a statement that said that they would not accept the results of the Feb. 20 referendum “as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabagh.” “The Co-Chairs also stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabagh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict,” read a part of the statement.

Urgent Legal Changes Are Next Step to Get Treatment to Those in Need

By Giorgi Gogia

About 8,000 people die from cancer in Armenia every year, many spending their last days in excruciating pain.

But Armenia is taking an important step towards ending their suffering, and the government recently adopted a national strategy to introduce palliative care services, which focuses on treating pain and other physical symptoms, and provides psychosocial support for people with life-limiting illnesses. The strategy specifies reforms in policy, education, and medicines’ availability, and designates the responsible state institutions.

Gurgen G., who had a brain tumor, and his mother. Gurgen participated in a palliative care pilot project, which improved the quality of his remaining life. He died in August 2012, free from pain. (Photo: New Media Advocacy Project/HRW)

In July 2015, Human Rights Watch released a report showing the impact of untreated pain and lack of support services on the lives of cancer patients in Armenia. I interviewed many people who were dying – in horrible pain. Among them was Lyudmila, a 61-year-old kindergarten teacher. Her words were deeply personal:

“The pain attacks start unexpectedly and I start screaming and become a different person. … When it starts I can’t speak, I have pain attacks every night…. It’s inhumane pain, unbearable pain for a human being…”

Her experience was not an exception.

When curative treatment is no longer effective, patients with advanced cancer in Armenia are simply sent home. Abandoned by the health care system at arguably the most vulnerable time of their lives, people with life-limiting illnesses face pain, fear, and anguish without professional support. The support they need is palliative care.

Morphine, the mainstay medication for treating severe pain, is inexpensive and easy to administer, but fewer than 3 percent of those who need morphine in Armenia get it. That’s because the government has put in place nearly insurmountable bureaucratic barriers around the prescribing and dispensing of morphine.

The Armenian government has long recognized the need for palliative care, but regrettably it has taken officials over three years to develop and adopt the strategy and action plan.

The strategy recognizes the need to amend regulations restricting access to pain relief medications, and the government plans to review them in 2018. But thousands of cancer patients in Armenia have waited long enough.

Armenian authorities should urgently overhaul the regulations and promptly take the necessary steps to ensure that cancer patients can get the pain treatment they need – and to which they have the right.

Giorgi Gogia is Human Rights Watch’s South Caucasus Director, Europe, and Central Asia Division. This piece originally appeared on the Human Rights Watch website. 

Special for the Armenian Weekly

Yet another plague has recently shaken Turkey: the purges of academics from Turkish universities. According to the BIA news network, 4,811 academics from 112 universities have been discharged by five statutory decrees declared during the state of emergency. Fifteen universities have been closed.

One of the universities, from which many academics have been dismissed or even detained by police, is Firat University in the city of Elazig (Kharpert), which has a long history of persecution of Armenian students and educators.

A band of defenders from Tadem, including Robert Aram Kaloosdian’s father Boghos Kaloosdian (top row, center) (Photo: ‘Tadem, My Father’s Village’)

According to Matthew Karanian, the author of the 2015 book Historic Armenia After 100 Years, Kharpert is one of the oldest areas of Armenian habitation. “Some scholars believe that Kharpert may even be the cradle of the Armenian nation,” according to Karanian.

The author Robert Aram Kaloosdian, whose father comes from the village of Tadem in Kharpert, writes about individual stories of the Armenian villagers of Tadem, which was continuously inhabited by Armenians since its founding until the early 1920’s. His 2015 book Tadem, My Father’s Village: Extinguished during the 1915 Armenian Genocide also elaborates on the great importance the Armenian community of the village attached to education and learning.

“Research shows that Tadem had been prominent at one time,” writes Kaloosdian. “The émigrés founded the Tadem Enlightenment Education-Loving Society, generally known in English as the Tadem Educational Society, on June 17, 1891, in Portland, Maine, for the purpose of establishing a coeducational institution in ‘the village of Tadem in the province of Kharpert’, their hometown in historic Armenia. They also pledged to support and improve the school year after year ‘financially, morally, and intellectually.’”

But for Armenians who were exposed to constant persecution at the hands of the Ottoman regime, trying to improve their educational system was no easy task. “My father’s youth evolved under the shadow of terror: stories of flight and hiding, of slaughter, plunder, and devastation. The village was an emotionally wounded community. Memories of the massacres were still fresh in the minds of my father’s elders, as nearly every Armenian family in Tadem had paid a heavy price. A young person growing up in the early years of the twentieth century learned that massacre and murder were part of the experience of being Armenian in the Ottoman Empire,” Kaloosdian explains.

Armenian civilians, escorted by armed Ottoman soldiers, are marched through Kharpert, in April 1915.

However, the Armenian villagers of Tadem were still deeply dedicated to learning and cultural advancement. “Tadem’s citizens, both at home and in the United States, were smitten with the desire for literacy and learning. They were not looking to run a school just to get the children off the dusty roads of Tadem or out of fertile fields of Kharpert. They wanted to spread the love of learning in order to bring light into the dark world of their ignorance.

“The Tadem Educational Society stocked a library with Armenian books, and the writings of the greater authors of Armenia passed from hand to hand. According to its surviving alumni, the school was enjoying a renaissance when the First World War exploded and the Armenian massacres terminated educational and cultural life in Tadem. The church and school were destroyed a second time, and the people of Tadem dispersed to form colonies in the Near East. Twenty-four years of effort, sacrifice, and commitment came to an end… In the span of a few months in the middle of 1915, Tadem ceased being an Armenian village,” writes Kaloosdian.

Kaloosdian explains that the story he learned from the survivors of the genocide in Tadem presented the village as the microcosm of what was occurring throughout the Armenian provinces.

All other Armenian villages and towns were exposed to a similar treatment in 1915 and afterwards.  Historian Christopher Walker writes in his book Armenia: The Survival of a Nation that in a dispatch dated, Nov. 14, 1929, British consul A. Monck-Mason quoted an Armenian from Kharput saying: “In Turkey today we have no means of existence; we are persecuted, robbed, ill-treated, thrown into prison, judged, and, if we are lucky, deported.”

Many Turkish people seem to be shocked by the current governmental pressures against academics and educators. But the “original sin” was committed in the Armenian Genocide. As Kaloosdian writes, “The scars of those terrible years remained with the survivors until the end of their days.”

Kharpert: The Community School graduates of 1909/1910 with the school’s director Tlgadintsi (seated, center) (Source: Nubarian Library collection/Houshamadyan)

Kaloosdian effectively clarifies what genocide actually entails. It was not only hundreds of thousands of human lives that perished—the genocide has also caused the destruction of a great civilization.

According to a 2013 report by Turkey’s History Foundation entitled the Minority Schools from Past to Present, in 1894, there were 6,437 schools that belonged to Armenian, Greek and Jewish minorities in the Ottoman Empire.  In Istanbul alone, there were 302.

There are only 22 minority schools in Istanbul today. Sixteen belong to Armenians. All of the minority schools across Anatolia have been closed down.

STEPANAKERT, Artsakh—The referendum on the draft constitution of the Artsakh Republic took place on Feb. 20. The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) deployed a mission of eight professional, highly experienced independent observers from Spain, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, and Slovenia to observe the referendum.

Members of the EAFJD mission (Photo: EAFJD)

According the Central Electoral Commission’s announcement, 87.6% (69,540 votes) of citizens voted in favor of the drafted constitutional amendments, 9.7% (7,686 votes) opposed. The invalid percentage of votes was 2.8% (2,202 votes). 76.44% of eligible voters participated in the referendum.

The short-term observers who visited 48 polling precincts in all eleven constituencies reported transparent, well-organized and orderly electoral process. The isolated cases of irregularities did not influence the general outcome of the referendum.

After the observation, the four deployed teams presented positive reports about the electoral procedures. They mentioned the high level of awareness of the population about the voting procedures, as well as the competence and professionalism of commission members referring to the majority of the precincts.

According to the mission, the electoral procedures were—in general—executed in an efficient way and in correspondence with the electoral law, despite several irregularities connected to non-competent actions of some commission members.

“This is already the second short-term observation mission that is deployed by our organization to follow the electoral process in Nagorno-Karabagh, the first being the Parliamentary Elections of May 2015,” said Kaspar Karampetian, EAFJD President.

“This time, again, for the referendum on Artsakh constitution we had employed a team of eight independent observers, as we believe observation of electoral processes are part of establishing a democracy. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the European Union (EU), and other international organizations should also deploy teams of official observers, as such observations contribute greatly to the democratic process of every state, whether it is recognized or not,” Karampetian added.

According to Karampetian, observation missions are another step towards breaking the isolation of Artsakh imposed by the Azerbaijani government. “We are glad to receive very positive feedback from independent STOs about transparent and free referendum in accordance with international standards,”concluded Karampetian.

Prior to the referendum, the short-term observers had a chance to meet with the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Nagorno-Karabagh. During the meeting, the observers were provided with thorough information about the electoral processes and on competencies and responsibilities of the CEC.

The observers also met the President of the Republic, Bako Sahakyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karen Mirzoyan, as well as Artsakh civil society organizations, where they were familiarized with the realities facing the young Republic.