April 24

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia has published a video of a detention related to the mass murder of ex-chief of police Andrey Gosht and his family in Syzran city of Samara Oblast (district). The alleged killers are three Azeris. The law enforcement authorities found two of them in their apartments, while the third one was detained in the street.

According to the information, one of the suspects managed to flee to his homeland, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.

The detainees will soon be moved to Moscow for the continuation of the investigation.

The incident took place in the night of April 24 in the farm house of Andrey Gosht’s parents in Ivashevka village not far from Syzran city. In the morning the policeman’s brother found his relatives in beds drenched in blood.

The investigation concluded that the attack took place when everyone was asleep. The victims died of head injuries. The only survivor is small Sofia, niece of the colonel. Now she is in critical condition: she had fallen into coma because of various traumas.

Armenia News - NEWS.am

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

LobeLog
May 17 2016


ADL’s Armenian Genocide Recognition Sends Powerful Statement…to Israel



by Dahlia Scheindlin

The Anti-Defamation League, American Jewry’s foremost civil rights
organization, has made a powerful statement recognizing the Armenian
genocide by the crumbling Ottoman regime in the early 20th century.
Last Friday, CEO Jonathan Greenblatt posted a blog on the
organization’s website in which he stated:

“What hapxpened in the Ottoman Empire to the Armexnixans beginxning in
1915 was genoxcide.” He reviewed the methods, from death marches to
torxture, masxsacre and starvation, and then restated the point: “What
hapxpened to the Armenxian peoxple was unequivxoxcally genocide.”

The statement will certainly be cathartic for Armenian advocates in
the diaspora who have made genocide recognition absolutely central to
their national identity – even to a fault, as the highly thoughtful
Armenian-American writer Meline Toumani has written. But the vast
majority of Armenian activists have been frustrated for years by the
reticence of ADL’s longtime previous director, Abe Foxman. Greenblatt
ended years of just such equivocation under Foxman’s leadership
(though the latter eventually used the word in a 2014 speech). The
public support of a major Jewish organization could lend clout to the
Armenian attempts to attain Congressional recognition, a cause
generally stymied by the sensitivity and importance of U.S.-Turkey
relations. That’s why Armenian activists watch for such statements
with extreme play-by-play attention.

But the recognition may prove to be more important for Jews and for
Israel than for Armenians themselves. It symbolizes a crack, and
together with similar developments, perhaps seismic shifts in the
relationship between diaspora Jewry and Israeli society.

First, the move breaks with Israeli policy. Israel’s government has
long resisted formally acknowledging the term “genocide” for the
Armenian experience, for what is widely understood to be political
interests in Turkey and Azerbaijan, including powerful economic ties.

Foxman mostly mirrored this resistance. He was apparently disinclined
to compromise the Jewish monopoly on the Holocaust, and held purported
political concerns for relations between Turkish Jews and their
government – these are the reasons given by a former ADL regional
director and powerful advocate for recognition, who was ultimately
fired for his stance on this issue. Or perhaps Foxman didn’t want to
expend political capital on the Congressional recognition campaign.
Either way, the ADL today is no longer aligned with Israeli policy on
this matter.

Next, Greenblatt not only changed course – he did so just over a week
after Israel’s commemoration of Holocaust Day. In recent years, the
commemorations in Israel have erupted into debates about whether the
experience of genocide belongs uniquely to the Jews or has universal
lessons or comparable precedents. Rising nationalism has led Israelis
to increasingly vitriolic rejection of the very notion of commonality
with others – which apparently threatens not only the self-styled
uniqueness of Jewish victimhood, but the very chosenness of Jews
altogether. It’s as if the “chosen people” must also be uniquely
chosen for death. “The Holocaust is ours,” was the summary of a talk
by a popular (and populist) radio talk-show host Irit Linor, railing
against drawing universal lessons from the Holocaust.

The debate reached a fever pitch this year, when Holocaust Day
commemorations were dominated by debate about the IDF’s deputy chief
of general staff, Yair Golan, who compared social trends in Israel
today to those of Europe and Germany prior to World War II.

Greenblatt would be fully aware of this trend in Israeli society, and
surely he would have considered the reverberations of his position
inside Israel.

He must also be aware that of all Israel’s friends and foes in the
world, the American Jewish organizational establishment are
essentially viewed in Israel as the best friends of all, being both
American – our stalwart allies – and our very own kin.

Jewish-American organizational efforts have generally been channeled
into steadfast support for Israeli government positions; the AIPAC
approach. For decades the reigning ethos was that American Jewish
organizations don’t criticize Israel in public, wrote Seymour Reich, a
former head of the conservative Conference of Presidents of Major
Jewish Organizations.

But Reich was writing (in a Jewish newspaper no less) in order to
break that ethos with an impassioned call for Israel to salvage its
own democracy, and calling out anti-democratic developments. He cannot
be accused of having a political agenda, having long been out of power
as the head of the organization. Perhaps even more telling, Bernie
Sanders felt his towering political agenda would survive and even gain
from taking a position critical of the Israeli government’s policies.

Greenblatt’s statement is even more powerful in a way, lacking
explicit criticism of Israel; he didn’t even mention the word. He
simply set an example that Jewish leadership for him means choosing a
clear and decisive path that is the reverse of Israel’s position on
both the Armenian genocide in particular, and the opposite of the
“Holocaust is ours” meta-narrative in general.

Zooming out further, his statement carries the connotation that to be
Jewish means to be universal, as Rabbi Arik Aschermann wrote here. And
the identity of the messenger can be seen as a political missive to
Israel whether or not that’s how Greenblatt meant it. The snowballing
statement says that Jewish Americans won’t all buy exported Israeli
ultra-nationalism, isolationism, aggression or victim-triumphalism
wholesale. Jewish Israelis should listen.

Photo: Armenian Genocide memorial

Dahlia Scheindlin is a leading international public opinion analyst
and strategic consultant based in Tel Aviv, specializing in
progressive causes, political and social campaigns in over a dozen
countries, including new/transitional democracies and peace/conflict
research in Israel, with expertise in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
This piece is reprinted, with permission, from +972mag.com

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__lobelog.com_adls-2Darmenian-2Dgenocide-2Drecognition-2Dsends-2Dpowerful-2Dstatement-2Dto-2Disrael_&d=DQIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=6xX2kWITX4gHejtJHMP55zU8Ze3hrkXr19Em0FBFTlg&s=B_Mra9c8UGRHFRx_ar-lC4GxMOcgLTllly1VrhC1JeI&e=

[Azad]

Re: April 24

ADL’s Armenian Genocide Recognition Sends Powerful Statement…to Israel

Facts are not casually changed for political gains. There are (3) main groups and only the ADL changed its stand (for now). It is hard to trust any of them on the short-term without seeing their future stands on the Armenian Genocide related issues. They have the tendency of playing “good cop and bad cop" for political gains. Where does the more powerful entity AIPAC stand on this issue? Israel has been neutral in general in the past except with shimon peres , while these American groups furiously denied the Armenian Genocide. Most Armenians do not forget or forgive easily on many issues, let alone denying our Genocide. At least it is one step in the right direction. I say it with hesitation, envisioning turkey running at them with gifts.

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

Congressman Trott: Armenians gave blankets to Russians, but not to Americans

12:53, 10.09.2016



David “Dave” Alan Trott, a Republican Party member of the US House of Representatives

from the State of Michigan, spoke about an incident that he witnessed in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, during the Armenian Genocide Centennial commemoration that was held last year at the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

Congressman Trott said they had arrived in Armenia the day of the event, reported the Voice of America Armenian service.

As per Trott, it was a rainy day, about 7 degrees Celsius, and windy and cold. The commemoration event was to last about two and a half hours, and according to him, it became clear that they would freeze there in that much time. The US lawmaker added, however, that blankets were brought to the Russian delegation, but not to the Americans.

Dave Trott expressed a view that the reason for this occurrence was because when Barack Obama was a senator, he recognized Armenian Genocide, but when he became US President, he decided not to use the term “genocide,” so as not to infuriate Turkey.

http://news.am/eng/news/345669.html

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

The Chairmen and Ranking Members on both the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees joined today with the leadership of the Armenian Caucus and more than eighty of their U.S. House colleagues in calling upon President Trump to properly commemorate the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th White House statement, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
In a bipartisan letter calling upon the President to “appropriately mark April 24th as a day of American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, signatories noted that, “by commemorating the Armenian Genocide, we renew our commitment to prevent future atrocities.”
“We join with Members of Congress in calling upon President Trump to reject Turkey’s gag rule and embrace an honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “It’s long past time for America to stop outsourcing our national policy on the Armenian Genocide to Recep Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian and anti-American regime.”
In calling upon President Trump to properly mark April 24th, the signatories highlighted the U.S. record of past recognition, including “President Reagan, who recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1981, and the Eisenhower Administration, which did the same in a 1951 submission to the International Court of Justice.” These actions, as well as resolutions by the House of Representatives in 1975 (H.J.R.148) and 1984 (H.J.R.247), while clearly constituting U.S. recognition, just as clearly did not translate into either consistent official annual Armenian Genocide commemorations or sustained U.S. pressure on Turkey to end its denials of this crime.
The letter specifically cites Christian populations targeted by the Ottoman Empire’s genocidal campaign, including “Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Pontians, Syriacs, and other persecuted peoples.” The full text of the letter is provided below.
On March 22nd, Rep. Trott was joined by Rep. Adam Schiff and the Congressional Armenian Caucus leadership in introducing a bipartisan anti-genocide resolution (H.Res.220) calling on the United States to apply the lessons of the Armenian Genocide in seeking to prevent modern day atrocities across the Middle East. That measure stresses that “proper commemoration and consistent condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will strengthen our international standing in preventing modern day genocides,” and, building upon the 2016 official U.S. designation of an ISIS genocide against Middle East minorities, specifically calls for the following: “[T]he United States, in seeking to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Christians, Yezidis, Muslims, Kurds, and other vulnerable religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East, should draw upon relevant lessons of the United States Government, civil society, and humanitarian response to the Armenian Genocide, Seyfo, and the broader genocidal campaign by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Greeks, Pontians and other Christians upon their biblical era homelands.”
#####
Congressional Letter to President Trump Regarding the Armenian Genocide
Dear Mr. President,
We are writing to encourage you to properly commemorate the Armenian Genocide on April 24th.
In leading an honest and accurate American remembrance of this known case of genocide, you will stand with President Reagan, who recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1981, and the Eisenhower Administration, which did the same in a 1951 submission to the International Court of Justice. The House of Representatives has also commemorated the Armenian Genocide, through HJR148 in 1975 and HJR247 in 1984.
Armenia remains deeply committed to expanding the bonds of friendship that have long connected the American and Armenian peoples. Among the proudest chapters in our shared history is America’s remarkable record of protesting the Genocide and in caring for the survivors of this crime. The United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in 1915, Henry Morgenthau, helped to chronicle the brutal extermination of the Armenian people through a campaign of mass murder and violent expulsion.
In the years after the genocide, Ambassador Morgenthau and other concerned Americans launched the Near East Relief, a Congressionally chartered humanitarian organization, which raised $116 million (over $2.5 billion in 2017 dollars) to aid the victims of the Ottoman Empire’s mass murder of millions of Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Pontians, Syriacs, and other persecuted peoples. The generosity of the American people saved countless lives and helped to ensure the continued survival of the Armenian culture.
The Armenian Genocide continues to stand as an important reminder that crimes against humanity must not go without recognition and condemnation. Through recognition of the Armenian Genocide we pay tribute to the perseverance and determination of those who survived, as well as to the Americans of Armenian descent who have helped strengthen our country. It is our duty to honor those contributions with an honest statement of history recognizing the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians as the 20th century’s first genocide. By commemorating the Armenian Genocide, we renew our commitment to prevent future atrocities.
In that spirit of honoring the victims and redoubling our commitment to prevent genocide, we ask you to appropriately mark April 24th as a day of American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
Thank you for taking our views into consideration.
Sincerely,

http://www.armradio.am/en/2017/04/11/congressional-leaders-call-on-trump-to-properly-commemorate-armenian-genocide/

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

Trump Fails to Properly Characterize Armenian Genocide

24/04/17


President Donald J. Trump

WASHINGTON—The White House issued President Donald Trump’s statement on the Armenian Genocide, in which the president did not use the term genocide to describe the events of 1915, once again giving cover to Turkish denials.

Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian issued this response to President Donald Trump’s failure to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide in his commemorative statement issued earlier today.

“President Trump has chosen to enforce Ankara’s gag-rule against American condemnation and commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “In failing to properly mark April 24th, President Trump is effectively outsourcing U.S. genocide-prevention policy to Recep Erdogan, an arrogant and authoritarian dictator who clearly enjoys the public spectacle of arm-twisting American presidents into silence on Turkey’s mass murder of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christians.”

“Today, we remember and honor the memory of those who suffered during the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century.x Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.x I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many,” said Trump in his statement.

“As we reflect on this dark chapter of human history, we also recognize the resilience of the Armenian people.x Many built new lives in the United States and made indelible contributions to our country, while cherishing memories of the historic homeland in which their ancestors established one of the great civilizations of antiquity,” added Trump.

“We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again.x We welcome the efforts of Turks and Armenians to acknowledge and reckon with painful history, which is a critical step toward building a foundation for a more just and tolerant future,” concluded Trump.

The U.S. first recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1951 through a filing which was included in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Report titled: “Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.” The specific reference to the Armenian Genocide appears on page 25 of the ICJ Report: “The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide.”

President Ronald Reagan reaffirmed the Armenian Genocide in 1981. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted legislation on the Armenian Genocide in 1975, 1984 and 1996.

http://asbarez.com/162519/trump-fails-to-properly-characterize-armenian-genocide/

[Haykakan]

Re: April 24

The Hill, DC
April 24 2017


Obama's UN envoy apologizes for not recognizing Armenian mass killings as genocide
By John Bowden - 04/24/17 02:25 PM EDTx

Former Obama UN Ambassador Samantha PowerSamantha PowerObama's UN envoy apologizes for not recognizing Armenian mass killings as genocideNew US approach to Syria a welcome sight to many in regionTrump’s response to Syrian bloodshed lifts the stain of American inactionMORE on Monday apologized for not using the term "genocide" to describe the Ottoman Turks' massacre of Armenians.
"I am very sorry that, during our time in office, we in the Obama administration did not recognize the #Armenian Genocide," Power said in a series of tweets.
Power, who served as Obama's UN ambassador from 2013 to 2017, blamed "ongoing Turkish denial" for leaving an "open wound."
"Almost every Armenian-American family was touched in some way by the genocide," Power said.


Former President Barack ObamaBarack Obama21 state AGs denounce DeVos for ending student loan reformObama to net 0K for Wall Street speech: reportTrump’s wall jams GOP in shutdown talksMORE had promised during his campaign to use the label to describe the mass killings by Ottoman forces of the Armenian in the 1910s, but reversed course in office.
The Turkish government has long fought efforts to label the killings a genocide. Turkey is seen as a key NATO ally, in particular in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Armenian-American groups, though, have long urged the U.S. to use the term.x
Power's remarks came the same day that President Trump released a statement marking the atrocity, but also kept course with past administrations by declining to call it a genocide.
Trump called the killings "one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century."
“I join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by so many," Trump said in a statement.
To date, Power is the only Obama official to express regret over the decision not to use the term genocide.
Earlier Monday, Obama also made his first public remarks since leaving the presidency, attending an event in Chicago.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/330246-obamas-un-ambassador-apologizes-for-not-recognizing-armenianx

[Azad]

Re: April 24

Former Obama UN Ambassador Samantha PowerSamantha PowerObama's UN envoy apologizes for not recognizing Armenian mass killings as genocide

She is THE authority and wrote the "book" on Genocide denial. Apology not accepted. They all are part of the swamp once in office.

[Azad]

Re: April 24

Click on the blue icon and listen. Interesting interview with one of the few decent turks.

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/24/525441639/recently-discovered-telegram-reveals-evidence-for-armenian-genocide

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/world/europe/armenian-genocide-turkey.html