Members of Congress Express Outrage Over Der Zor Destruction
Asbarez.com, September 23, 2014, https://asbarez.com/127192/members-of-congress-express-outrage-over-der-zor-destruction/ Members of Congress have begun a string of condemnation and expressions of outrage over the destruction of the Armenian Genocide memorial church in Der Zor over the weekend by Islamic State forces. Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) issued statements or took to social media to express their outrage over the barbaric act committed by rebels affiliated with the Islamic State, also known as Islamic State for Iraq and Syria—ISIS. “This toxic act of intolerance, aimed at erasing a sacred site of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide on the eve of its centennial, has Turkey’s finger prints all over it,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Armenian Americans join with people of faith worldwide in voicing our outrage over the desecration and destruction of the Armenian Holy Martyr’s Church and the sacred Armenian Genocide Memorial at Deir Zor, Syria.”
General News on Armenia
Ex-Russian Envoy Again Warns Armenia
Azatutyun.am, September 23, 2014, https://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/26602633.html Armenia will put its national security and independence at serious risk unless rejects “Western values” to fully align itself with Russia, a former Russian ambassador in Yerevan warned on Tuesday. Vyacheslav Kovalenko claimed that failure to make a “final” geopolitical choice in favor of Russia could thrust the country into the kind of crisis that has plagued Ukraine since the overthrow of a pro-Russian government in Kiev. “Armenia must make a choice because in order for the economy of a small country like Armenia to develop, it has to integrate, it has to join some integration structures,” Kovalenko told Armenian journalists in a video conference from Moscow. “And the choice here is stark. I think the situation will develop in such a way that we will require Armenia to make that choice. “Armenia can’t endlessly balance [between rival foreign powers] in this complicated international situation. So a lot depends on Armenia’s historical choice: the future of the country, the future of the Armenian people and the future of Armenians in general.”
Armenia and Iran foreign ministers discuss nuclear program
News.am, September 24, 2014, https://news.am/eng/news/230508.html Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian met, on Tuesday in New York City, with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran. The Armenian and the Iranian FMs highly appreciated the existing friendly relations between the two neighboring countries, and underscored the implementation of joint projects and the expansion of cooperation, informed the Armenia MFA press service.
Sargsyan congratulates Jewish community of Armenia on Rosh Hashanah
Aysor.am, September 24, 2014, https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2014/09/24/serzh-sargsyan1/ Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to the Jewish community of Armenia on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, according to the presidential press service. “Dear representatives of the Jewish community of Armenia! I warmly congratulate you on the Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah. I wish you an elated festive mood. May the coming year be a year of peace, creative endeavor and abundance for our Jewish compatriots in Armenia and the entire Jewish people. May the centuries- and millennia-old friendship and cooperation of the Armenian and Jewish peoples continue”, the president’s message reads.
General News on Karabakh
Armenian, Azeri FMs talk Karabakh settlement in New York
Panarmenian.net, September 24, 2014, https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/182739/ Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in New York on the sidelines of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly. Later Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov jointed the talks with with Ambassadors James Warlick of the United States, Pierre Andrieu of France and Igor Popov of Russia, and the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. The Nagorno Karabakh settlement was at the focus of the meeting, with the Co-Chairs reiterating their adherence to peaceful resolution, Foreign Ministry press service reported. French President Francois Hollande’s initiative to host talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Paris was also discussed. Later, the Co-Chairs announced plans to visit the South Caucasus in late October.
Armradio.am, September 24, 2014, https://www.armradio.am/en/2014/09/24/france-has-a-special-place-on-artsakhs-foreign-policy-agenda/ On 23 September President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received chairman of the France-Armenia friendship group, member of the French Senate Philippe Kaltenbach. President Sahakyan noted that France occupied a significant place on Artsakh’s foreign policy agenda, which was stipulated by the important role of France in the world politics, the existence of a large Armenian Diaspora there as well as friendly attitude of the Armenian people towards France. According to the President, Artsakh is interested in expanding and deepening ties with France on a steady basis and is ready to do everything possible for that. Both sides considered the development of parliamentary relations and existence of necessary bases for that among the significant directions of cooperation.
Armenia-Turkey
Clark, Worcester State Universities to Host Conference on Genocide
Asbarez.com, September 23, 2014https://asbarez.com/127217/clark-worcester-state-universities-to-host-conference-on-genocide/ The conference “Manufacturing Denial and the Assault on Scholarship and Truth” will take place on Friday and Saturday, October 24-25, at Worcester State University and Clark University in Worcester. The conference is co-sponsored and organized by the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University; the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair at the Strassler Center; the Armenian Genocide Program at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research; and Worcester State University (Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity, and other departments and offices). The academic conference represents the first time that social scientists and natural scientists will meet to analyze the analogous and interrelated, though not always identical, phenomena of genocide denial—of the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Rwandan, and other cases—and the denial of scientific truth—from evolution to climate change.
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute announces 2015 Lemkin scholarship for foreign students
Armenpress.am, September 24, 2014, https://armenpress.am/eng/news/777505/armenian-genocide-museum-institute-announces-2015-lemkin-scholarship-for-foreign-students.html The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute announces 2015 LEMKIN SCHOLARSHIP program for foreign students and PhD candidates. Raphael Lemkin scholarship is intended to enable foreign students, who specialize in genocide studies, especially in the Armenian Genocide, to visit Armenia for a month to conduct research in local scientific institutions and libraries. The Press Department of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute informed “Armenpress” that the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute will provide researchers possibility to carry out their research in AGMI, including necessary research materials and consultation. The deadline for application is on 15 December, 2014. The winner will be selected by the Scientific Council of the AGMI on 25 December, 2014. The beginning of the scholarship program is on 1 January, 2015. Winners are free to select a month within 2014 except January, February and December.
Ankara resorts to blackmail to show Armenian Cause cannot contain Turkey’s regional policy - Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan
Tert.am, September 23, 2014, https://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/09/23/Meliq-shahnazarian/ Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan is sure Turkey is behind the blast of the Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor. According to him, Ankara had been preparing for that terrorist act for a long period, considering the location of the church, its importance, the date and hour of the blast. “I am absolutely sure that Turkey is behind the blast of the Armenia church in Deir ez-Zor. Moreover, official Ankara had been preparing for that terrorist act for a long period, considering the location of the church, its importance, the date and hour of the blast. I do not even rule out that the perpetrators of that barbaric act were representatives of Turkey’s special services rather than ISIS militants.
News from International Sources
Armenia Supports Catholicosate's Lawsuit Against Turkey
The California Courier, September 24, 2014, https://nebula.wsimg.com/ff85dd5d5fe30daede6d32a762a19d8f?AccessKeyId=CAEA6237ACF321EDB6BB&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 Over 1,000 attendees of the Armenia-Diaspora Conference in Yerevan, organized by the Diaspora Ministry, cheered loudly when Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia made the surprising announcement that the Catholicosate would file a lawsuit in a Turkish court demanding the return of its properties confiscated during the 1915-1923 Genocide. His Holiness explained that before taking this important decision, he had consulted with international legal experts during the past two years. Stating that remaining indifferent towards the violation of Armenian rights is tantamount to treason, the Catholicos urged Armenians to take the genocide issue out of the narrow confines of genocide recognition and condemnation, and transcend the mindset that genocide recognition is the ultimate goal of the Armenian Cause. Considering that it is high time to transfer Armenian demands from Turkey to the legal field, His Holiness announced that the See of Cilicia would file shortly a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court of Turkey, seeking the return of its erstwhile headquarters, the Catholicosate of Sis. Should the Turkish Court reject the lawsuit, which is likely, the Catholicosate will then appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, said the Catholicos. He also expressed the hope that this lawsuit would pave the way for other legal demands from Turkey for the return of public, private, and religious properties belonging to Armenians.
JOURNALIST 'ATTACKS' ATTACKER: ILGAR NASIBOV
Amnesty.org, September 23, 2014,https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/EUR55/017/2014/en/060846e8-ef5f-4b03-9d28-eba6edbb2c72/eur550172014en.html Independent Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender, Ilgar Nasibov, who was brutally attacked on 21 August, is himself accused of assault. Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender Ilgar Nasibov has been accused of assaulting Farid Askerov – one of the persons accused of attacking him on 21 August in the office of the Democracy and NGO Development Resource Centre in the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani authorities filed official charge against Ilgar Nasibov on 20 September, when he was summoned to the Nakhichevan City Police Department. The charge falls under Article 127.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (deliberate infliction of damage to health). Farid Askerov had been detained by the Azerbaijani authorities in connection with the attack on Ilgar Nasibov on 21 August. Although initially the authorities seemed reluctant to initiate criminal proceedings, Farid Askerov was eventually charged under Article 127.1. Following Farid Askerov’s statement declaring that Ilgar Nasibov “stepped on his foot and injured his little toe” the Nakhichevan police charged Ilgar Nasibov for the same count. Ilgar Nasibov denies the charge and sees it as an attempt by the Azerbaijani authorities to stop him from pursuing effective investigation of the brutal attack he suffered. Ilgar Nasibov fears he might be arrested anytime.
News from Azerbaijani Sources
Novruz Mammadov: There are forces in various countries and organizations who are jealous of Azerbaijan’s democratic development
Apa.az, September 23, 2014, https://en.apa.az/news/216753 “As a legal state, Azerbaijan has conducted major reforms in several fields as well as in political field and will further conduct. Today all political rights, including freedoms of speech and expression have been fully ensured in Azerbaijan”, Deputy Head of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Head of Foreign Relations Department Novruz Mammadov told journalists, while commenting on President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur’s visit to Azerbaijan,APA reports. Mammadov said that the people are not restricted to express their positions in the media and electronic mass media coming together in political parties and NGOs. He said that Azerbaijan has strongly developed in this regard.
