Monday, June 22, 2015

Pianist Tigran Hamasyan Performs Armenian Chants and Verses at Ani Ruins




Award-winning Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan performed a concert on June 21 in the historic ruins of Ani, the medieval Armenian capital located on the Turkish-Armenian border, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.


Within the scope of his project titled “Luys i Luso,” Hamasyan will perform in various Turkish provinces until June 30. He will also give concerts at 100 churches in Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Switzerland,Czech Republic, England, Germany, Luxembourg, Russia and the U.S.


The next two concerts will take place in Akhtamar on June 23 and in Diyarbakir Church of St. Giragos on June 25. The end of the project in Turkey will take place within the framework of the jazz festival in Istanbul on June 30.


Hamasyan, 27, who started playing piano at the age of three and won the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003 and the Thelonious Monk Institute piano contest at the age of 18, performs traditional Armenian music in his concerts.


The 90-minute event at the ancient ruins drew great interest from the audience. The master pianist was accompanied by the Yerevan State Chamber Music Choir under the baton of Harutyun Topikyan.


Tamar Nalci, the project coordinator at Anadolu Kültür, which organized Hamasyan’s concerts in Turkey, said the first concert of the program was performed in Ani, and continued:


“Hamasyan is famous Armenian jazz pianist. He gives mini concerts in historic places and churches in many parts of the world, accompanied by the Armenian State Chamber Choir. This is a church music concert. He is taking the stage with a team of 25 persons. At the same time, a documentary film is being made on this process. The documentary team records these concerts. What is happening here is a historic moment because Armenians have an emotional time due to their past in Ani.”


Former US Ambassador: Safarov Repatriation Ended Hungary’s Status as a Reliable Strategic Partner




WASHINGTON, DC — In her newly published memoir of her 2010-2013 term as American Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Kounalakis discusses the U.S. State Department’s loss of faith in the administration of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to a June 19 review by the Washington Post.


In what the Post describes as a “far more forthcoming book — personally and analytically — than one would expect from a diplomat”, Kounalakis details her disappointment at what she saw as the Hungarian government’s backsliding toward a more totalitarian government, similar to the one Hungary had under communism. Instead of the “New Deal” that they had anticipated, Kounalakis writes, Hungarians were getting “the Old Deal, with government having too much control over the people of Hungary all over again.”


According to the Post review: “It took the release of an ax murderer to raise alarms in Washington. In late August 2012, Orban suddenly repatriated Ramil Safarov, an Azeri serving a life term in Hungary for hacking an Armenian soldier to death during a NATO-sponsored training program. To nobody’s surprise, Safarov received a hero’s welcome in Azerbaijan and was immediately pardoned, promoted and given a new apartment. Armenia cut off diplomatic ties with Hungary, and tensions escalated in Nagorno-Karabakh, over which Armenia and Azerbaijan had fought a war in the early 1990s.”


“Don’t they realize that their little trick could cause a war?” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Marie Yovanovitch asked Kounalakis on the telephone.


“Who will clean it up — Hungarians? No, Hungarians won’t clean up the mess. We will! We will be the ones left to fix it!”


Kounalakis reveals that this diplomatic fracas was ultimately what “ended Hungary’s two-decade status as a reliable strategic partner of the United States,” according to the Post.


That little trick, Kounalakis says, ended Hungary’s two-decade status as a reliable strategic partner of the United States.”


Thousands Holding Sit-In Protest In Yerevan Against Electricity Prices




WATCH: Live Stream Of The Protest


YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Several thousand protesters have marched toward Armenia’s presidential residence in Yerevan to demonstrate against rising electricity prices.


Participants organized an improvised sit-in on Baghramyan Avenue on June 22 as riot police blocked the crowd on its way to the area housing government offices.


Tension was high, with men wearing civilian clothes trying to force journalists out of the area.


Members of the group No to Plunder, which organized the rally, demanded that they be allowed free movement through the avenue, but police warned that the protest march was “unlawful.”


President Serzh Sarkisian proposed to meet a small group of protesters if demonstrators stopped the march, but the offer was rejected.


The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia voted on June 17 to raise electricity prices by 16 percent to 49 drams ($0.1) per kilowatt hour (kWh). This was the third consecutive price hike in the past three years.


Sunday, June 21, 2015

Turkey Reacts Angrily to Belgian Prime Minister's Recognition of Armenian Genocide




ANKARA — Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel’s recognition of the killing of Armenians in the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as Genocide has “distorted historical facts,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said June 20 in a statement.


Michel said during a parliamentary session on June 17 that the events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 – 1917 “must be viewed as a genocide.”


“The relationship between history and the future are occasionally complicated. My position is well known, I am of the view that the tragic events should be labeled as genocide, and that is the position of the Belgian government,” Charles Michel declared in the Belgian Parliament.


The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed the comment, saying Michel’s remark was “neither acceptable nor excusable.”


Michel’s comment came a few months after the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on April 15 recognizing the 1915 events affecting Armenians as Genocide.” Ankara will return the European Parliament (EP) report on Turkey, European Union Minister Volkan Bozkir has said.


On May 29, Mahinur Özdemir, a Brussels regional MP of Turkish origin, was expelled from her party, the Humanist Democratic Center (CHD) after she refused to recognize the 1915 events as “genocide.”


Turkey has already withdrawn ambassadors from Austria, the Vatican, Luxembourg and Brazil for resolutions that name 1915 incidents genocide or similar reasons, but it kept its envoy to Russia, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin using the word genocide and the Russian parliament adopting a likewise resolution on the 1915 events.


Armenian Bar Association Annual Meeting and Banquet




BEVERLY HILLS — From a star-studded gala banquet to an All-Star Judge’s legal education panel and much more, members and guests of the Armenian Bar Association’s 26th Annual Meeting at the luxurious Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, California were treated to a weekend that they won’t soon forget.


On Saturday morning, following the Association’s business meeting, attendees heard an outstanding educational program featuring four distinguished federal jurists focusing on effective litigation practice in Federal courts. The panel consisted of U.S. District Court Judges Andre Birotte, Jr., Larry Burns and Dickran Tevrizian (ret.) and U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian. The panel was moderated by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Zaven Sinanian. “What a privilege and honor it is to have panelists with the depth and quality of knowledge that we saw today. We are pleased to deliver unrivaled continuing legal education to our members,” said Armenian Bar Association Chairman, Armen Hovannisian in an interview following the lecture.


The morning lecture was followed by a luncheon, where the keynote speaker was Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance Ito (ret.). Most famous for presiding over the “trial of the century” (People vs. O.J. Simpson), Judge Ito drew several ovations from the audience as he shared highlights of his recent trip to the Republic of Armenia and Western Armenia. To the delight of the audience, Judge Ito gave the audience a pictorial and historical glimpse of Armenia and provided realistic and practical means to garner support for universal recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “His slide show presentation of his journeys to both sides of the land of Ararat, and his detailed knowledge of Armenian history and culture, shows that deep inside the soul of Judge Ito is the Armenian spirit. It was a thrilling presentation,” said Armenian Bar Association Board member, Vanna Kitsinian.


The luncheon also featured a special presentation devoted to thanking Pope Francis for his strength in recognizing the Armenian Genocide as the spiritual leader of the one billion member Catholic Church. Accepting the Association’s gratitude on behalf of the Armenian Catholic Church was Father Thomas Garabedian, a Ph.D. in Canon Law, who provided the audience with an informative presentation about the great significance of the Pope’s act of recognition. Father Thomas also provided a spiritually uplifting blessing during the luncheon.


Left to right U.S. District Court Judges Andre Birotte, Jr., Larry Burns, Dickran Tevrizian (ret.), U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Zaven Sinanian

Left to right U.S. District Court Judges Andre Birotte, Jr., Larry Burns, Dickran Tevrizian (ret.), U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Zaven Sinanian


The second panel on restorative justice included international law advocates Steve Dadaian, Karnig Kerkonian, and Seepan Parseghian. Moderated by board member Edvin Minassian, the presentation featured Steve Dadaian’s discussion about the various treaties that may have implications on Armenian reparation claims, such as the Treaties of Sevres, Kars, and Lausanne, and the arbitral award of President Woodrow Wilson. There was also a fascinating comparative analysis of the origins of the Zionist Movement, Theodor Herzl and the lessons that can be drawn from the Jewish experience of re-establishing statehood. Karnig Kerkonian further gave an eye-opening perspective on how the legal theory of Res Judicata can have an important implication on Armenian claims if the Armenian diaspora does not formulate a demand of that which it seeks to obtain as reparations. Seepan Parseghian presented the audience with an innovative means of seeking restorative justice through the Indigenous Peoples Act. The presentations sparked such an intense interest among the audience members that a lively and constructive 45 minute question and answer session followed.


Prof Hovannisian receiving Hrant Dink Freedom award by the Association’s first Chairman, David Balabanian

Prof Hovannisian receiving Hrant Dink Freedom award by the Association’s first Chairman, David Balabanian


The highlight of the weekend was the Gala Silver Anniversary Banquet which took place in the grand Marquesa ballroom of the Montage Hotel. Masters of Ceremony Vanna Kitsinian and Gerard Kassabian presented three of the Armenian Bar Association’s highest honors. The first recipient was world renowned Armenian historian and scholar, Prof. Richard Hovannisian. Dr. Hovannisian was presented with the Association’s highest honor, The Hrant Dink Freedom Award, presented to only an exceptional few individuals who have demonstrated the ability to speak truth to power on issues of great magnitude to the Armenian community. Armenian Bar Association Chairman, Armen Hovannisian was recognized for his outstanding leadership of the organization.


Kim and Kourtney Kardashian flanked by Tina Odjaghian, uncle Tommy Kardashian, Armen Hovannisian and members of the Kardashian family.

Kim and Kourtney Kardashian flanked by Tina Odjaghian, uncle Tommy Kardashian, Armen Hovannisian and members of the Kardashian family.


Following the chairman’s presentation, two of the most popular women in the world Kim and Kourtney Kardashian joined their aunt and uncle to accept the Armenian Bar Association’s Family Heritage Award given in honor of their late father, Robert Kardashian. Kim Kardashian addressed the audience stating that she and her sisters were very proud of their Armenian heritage and commenting on the importance in seeking recognition of the Armenian Genocide.


The presentation of the Family Heritage Award was followed by a special award recognizing Chairman Ex-Officio, Garo Ghazarian, for his lifetime community service.


From left to right Saro Kerkonian, Karnig Kerkonian, Armen Hovannisian, Harry Dikranian, Gary Moomjian and Edvin Minassian

From left to right Saro Kerkonian, Karnig Kerkonian, Armen Hovannisian, Harry Dikranian, Gary Moomjian and Edvin Minassian


Former Chairs of the Armenian Bar Association who were in attendance received a pin for their service to the Association which was presented by the founder of the organization, Raffi Hovannisian. The evening’s festivities began with blessings from Archbishops Moushegh Mardirossian and Hovnan Derderian.


On Friday evening, attendees gathered for an outdoor reception under the stars at the famous Via Arollo restaurant in Beverly Hills, where they networked while enjoying delicious wines and scrumptious appetizers.


Elections were held at the meeting. Karnig Kerkonian, of Chicago, Scott Ohnegian of New Jersey and California attorneys Ara Babaian, Saro Kerkonian and Tina Odjaghian were elected to three-year terms as Directors-at-Large to the Board of Governors.


The newly assembled Board then elected Harry Dikranian, of Montreal, Canada, as Chair, Saro Kerkonian, Gary Moomjian of New York and Kathy Ossian of Michigan, as Vice Chairs, Vanna Kitsinian of California as Secretary and Gerard Kassabian, also of California, as Treasurer.


“Our organizing committee put in countless hours to assemble an Annual Meeting of the highest caliber for our members and community. We are proud to have delivered a memorable array of events and activities which enlightened our members, recognized those who have given it all for their professions and the Armenian Cause and an opportunity for those who attended to enjoy professional networking in beautiful Beverly Hills, California. We look forward to building on this momentum in the coming year,” said Harry Dikranian, newly elected Chairman of the Armenian Bar Association.


Friday, June 19, 2015

Thousands Rally Against Energy Price Hike in Armenia




YEREVAN — Thousands of people demonstrated in Yerevan on Friday to condemn the latest increase in the prices of electricity in Armenia which was authorized by regulatory authorities on Thursday.


A non-partisan pressure group that organized the demonstration in the city’s Liberty Square gave the authorities until Monday to reverse the more than 16 percent price rise or face fresh street protests. Leaders of the Voch Talanin (No To Plunder) movement said they will urge supporters to march to President Serzh Sarkisian’s headquarters if the unpopular measure is not reversed by that time.


no-gas-hike-4Social-Democratic Hunchakian Party (SDHP) Sargis Tkhruni youth union participated in the June 19 rally. In a statement the group said “The pending rise in electricity prices is another blow to our citizens and will lead to the increase of prices of different products and services. This, first of all, concerns staple goods and products and will be especially felt by the most vulnerable stratum of the society”.


In the meantime, the leaders of the pressure group said, they will hold a three-day sit-in in the square. Hundreds of mostly young protesters joined the nonstop protest.


The group issued the ultimatum after angry speeches by its leaders rejecting the official rationale for raising the energy tariffs for a third time in two years. They stood by their claims that Armenia’s power distribution network has been making massive financial losses because of corruption and mismanagement, rather than the low cost of electricity supplied to households and corporate consumers.


no-gas-hike-3“We will not put up with the plunder of the already impoverished people,” warned Maxim Sargsyan, a No To Plunder leader.


“The price must not go up by a single penny. It’s already high enough,” said another leader, Aram Manukian. He Sarkisian and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian are personally responsible for the price hike.


The crowd agreed, chanting “Serzhik, go away!” — a traditional slogan of radical opposition groups.


“It’s a very serious and, I hope, justified tactical decision,” Hovannisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) commenting on the announcement of the group’s further steps.


The protest organizers did not specify what they will do if the authorities reject their ultimatum. They only called for more people to join the Liberty Square sit-in with blankets and even tents.


The Armenian government and its political allies have repeatedly defended the higher electricity prices that will take effect on August 1. Citing massive debts incurred by the Electricity Networks of Armenia (ENA) operator in recent years, they say that failure to raise the tariffs would disrupt energy supplies in the country.


The ENA, which is owned by Russia’s national electric utility, last month requested a nearly 40 percent price rise from Public Services Regulatory Commission.


Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide: İsmail Beşikçi




By Hambersom Aghbashian


İsmail Beşikçi (born in 1939 in İskilip, district of Çorum Province of Turkey) is a Turkish scholar. He studied at the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University, and graduated in 1962. After his military duty he became an assistant professor at Atatürk University in Erzurum. He prepared his first anthropological study, an investigation of one of the last nomadic Kurdish tribes, the Alikan, which he submitted in 1967 to the Ankara Faculty of Political Sciences. His book “The order of East Anatolia”, first published in 1969, made him a public enemy because of his way of analysis, and it led to a trial after the 1971 coup. He was detained and put on trial and was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for violating the indivisibility of the Turkish nation. He was then sentenced many times for imprisonment, totally 100 years, and has spent 17 years in and out of jail. After his first imprisonment, he never found academic employment again and was henceforth to do his research as an independent scholar. He has become a powerful and important symbol for the Kurds and for the human rights movement of Turkey. In 1987 he was a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Beşikçi is a PEN* Honorary Member and Turkey’s best-known dissident. He has published 36 books and 32 of them have been banned in Turkey.


According to bianet.org, “A day after journalist Hrant Dink’s murder on 19 January 2007, writer Temel Demirer read a press statement in central Ankara, saying that the journalist had not only been killed for being Armenian, but also because he had spoken of an “Armenian genocide.” He continued saying “There is a genocide in our history, it is called the Armenian genocide……”. The statement was signed by Fikret BaÅŸkaya, Ä°smail BeÅŸikçi, Yüksel Akkaya, Mehmet Özer, Necmettin Salaz, Ahmet Telli and more than forty other Turkish intellectuals.


On April 24, 2010, as genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara. The conference, organized by the Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative, was held under tight security measures. The conference attracted around 200 attendees, mostly activists and intellectuals who support genocide recognition. Among the prominent names from Turkey were İsmail Beşikçi , Baskin Oran, Ragip Zarakolu, Temel Demirer, and Sait Cetinoglu and many others.


According to “http://www.mirak-weissbach.de”, “The 2012 International Hrant Dink Award was presented to laureates İsmail Beşikçi from Turkey and “Memorial” from Russia, on September 15, 2012. The Chair of the Award Committee Ali Bayramoğlu stated that on his 58th birthday, the name of Hrant Dink, and the awards given in his name were once again to meet with people who work for a world free of discrimination, racism, and violence, and take personal risks for their ideals. And added that the Laureates are determined by an international jury and a two-round system of voting, after an open nomination process.


On November 6, 2012, the temporary exhibition titled “Armenian Genocide and Scandinavian Response” was opened in the Humanitarian Research Library which is a part of the Copenhagen Royal Library. The Turkish government demanded the Royal Library of Denmark to open “an alternative” exhibition about “So-Called Armenian Genocide” and that was agreed by the Library authorities. In response to that a group of Turkish citizens–including academics, writers, former members of parliament, and mayors, have signed an open letter to the Royal Library saying “The support that you are extending to a regime that has made opposition to confronting history and denial of the truth a fundamental principle is equivalent to supporting a regime of apartheid. We want to remind you that your support constitutes an obstacle to democratization efforts in Turkey today.” İsmail Beşikçi was one of the prominent intellectuals who signed it. (1)


On October 29, 2014, armenianow.com wrote “ The Western Armenian National Congress granted prominent Turkish scholar, journalist, sociologist İsmail Beşikçi with a medal of “Gevorg Surenyants Catholicos” for his well-known theory of the Armenian Genocide as a part of the Turkish national project of ethnic cleansing of all Middle Eastern local peoples. Through his studies about the Armenian Genocide Beşikçi fixed two realities, one of them is that from the very beginning Kurd-Turkish political competition was based on the clash of interests for the Armenian property and land.  Beşikçi published numerous article in the Turkish media where he emphasized that the base of the wealth of the Turkish bourgeoisie is the Armenian wealth. Beşikçi said, any nation can commit a genocide, in 1915, Ottoman Turkey, in 1945, Germany, these two are big states, but unfortunately nowadays even the small states do it. To prevent this, the young generation must be informed and aware of all this.”(2)


During their visit to Armenia in October 2014, Turkish and Kurdish public and intellectual figures met with students at Yerevan State University. During the meeting, renowned Turkish scholar İsmail Beşikçi spoke on genocides being committed in the world including the Armenian Genocide.(3)


On April 19, 2015, in Bitlis, Turkey’s most prominent human-rights advocate, Ä°smail BeÅŸikçi, participated in a public commemoration titled, “What Happened to Bitlis Armenians?” Among the 200 or so people present were the co-mayors of Bitlis, Bitlis, Hüseyin Olan and Nevin DaÅŸdemir DaÄŸkıran, who recently renamed one of the city’s streets after William Saroyan; the Fresno-born writer’s parents had been driven from Bitlis.. The event was organized by The Turkish Human Rights Association (Bitlis branch), Bitlis Bar Association and the Gomidas Institute (London). The main speakers were Enis Gül (Head of Bitlis Bar Association), Barzan Serefhanoglu (Journalist), Ara Sarafian (Gomidas Institute) and Ä°smail BeÅŸikçi (Sociologist and veteran human rights’ activist). This was the first public commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Bitlis.(4)

————————

* PEN International is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centers in over 100 countries.

1- http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/19.12.12.php

2- http://armenianow.com/genocide/58056/armenia_turkey_ismail_besikci_medal

3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je2YWm2aQVs

4- http://www.hyebiz.com/2015/04/29/officials-and-society-in-eastern-turkey-confront-legacy-of-the-armenian-genocide/


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)