Turkish Forum

Author: Harut Sassounian

  • Revisionist European Rabbis  Deny the Armenian Genocide

    Revisionist European Rabbis  Deny the Armenian Genocide

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    The Rabbinical Center of Europe sent a letter on Sept. 6 signed by 50 conservative Rabbis to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vahagn Khachaturyan, telling them that Armenian officials have no right to use the term ‘genocide’ to describe Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor since December 2022, causing the starvation of 120,000 Artsakh Armenians.

    The Rabbis wrongly claimed that the term genocide should only be used to describe the Jewish Holocaust. These Rabbis’ ignorance is only exceeded by their arrogance. Not only do they not know the true meaning of the term ‘genocide,’ they are also harming their own cause by claiming that since the Holocaust is ‘unique,’ no other human tragedy is comparable to it, thus precluding anyone else from being sympathetic to Holocaust victims. It is in the Jewish interest to describe the Holocaust as a universal calamity with which other people can identify. Even though all genocides have similarities, there are obvious differences in timing, scale and location. However, the similarities between genocides far exceed their differences. No one should have a monopoly on claims of human suffering.

    These Rabbis do not seem to know that according to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, besides outright mass murder, genocide also includes “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” This is exactly what Azerbaijan is doing — causing the starvation of 120,000 Artsakh Armenians by depriving them of food, medicines and other basic necessities.

    The denialist Rabbis claimed that the terms ‘ghetto,’ ‘genocide,’ and ‘holocaust’ are “inappropriate to be part of the jargon used in any kind of political disagreement.” The starvation of Artsakh Armenians cannot be described as a ‘political disagreement,’ but genocide, according to the UN and Luis Moreno Ocampo, former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

    Continuing the series of errors and misjudgments the Rabbis made in their pro-Azerbaijan propaganda letter, they demanded that Armenia’s leaders “explicitly and unequivocally clarify that the Armenian people recognizes and honors the terrible human suffering undergone by the Jewish people” and stop “minimizing and belittling the extent of the Jewish people’s suffering to further any political interest through incessantly using phrases associated with the holocaust suffered by the Jewish people.”

    Rather than lecturing Armenia’s leaders about the Holocaust, the Rabbis should have addressed their letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denied the Armenian Genocide and has pressured the Knesset to reject a resolution recognizing it. Israel should have been the first country to recognize the Armenian Genocide, not the last.

    Furthermore, these Rabbis should have had the moral courage to issue a letter condemning the government of Israel for providing lethal weapons with which Azerbaijan in 2020 killed thousands of Armenian soldiers.

    Instead of supporting the genocide denialists in Ankara and Baku, these Rabbis should have known that some of the most prominent backers of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide are Jews: Dr. Israel Charny (Director of Institute of Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem), Prof. Yair Auron (historian, author of several books on the Armenian Genocide), Raphael Lemkin (who coined the term genocide), Amb. Henry Morgenthau, Elie Wiesel (Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor), Yossi Beilin (Israel’s Minister of Justice), and Yossi Sarid (Israel’s Minister of Education).

    After Pres. Joe Biden recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2021, both the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) and the AJC (American Jewish Committee) supported Biden’s recognition. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., also issued a statement on April 27, 2021, welcoming Pres. Biden’s determination that genocide was committed against the Armenian people. Furthermore, the World Jewish Congress also acknowledged the Armenian Genocide.

    In addition, 126 Holocaust scholars issued a joint statement on March 7, 2000, “affirming the incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide.” Among them were professors Yehuda Bauer, Stephen Feinstein, Irving Horowitz, and Steven Katz.

    These Rabbis did not condemn former Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan and former Baku Mayor Hajibala Abutalybov, who stated during a 2005 meeting with a municipal delegation in Bavaria, Germany: “Our goal is the complete elimination of Armenians. You, Nazis, already eliminated the Jews in the 1930s and 40s, right? You should be able to understand us.” This was reported in the ‘Realny Azerbaijan’ publication on February 17, 2006.

    Since these Rabbis feel that they are entitled to the exclusive use of the term genocide, have they ever sent a single letter of complaint to their dear brother Aliyev for his repeated references to the fake ‘Khojalu Genocide?’ Isn’t this a shameful example of double-standard?

    The Rabbis should have remembered Hitler’s infamous words uttered on August 22, 1939: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Noticing that the world ignored the Armenian Genocide, Hitler was emboldened to commit the Holocaust.

    Yaron Weiss of Jerusalem, a grandson of Holocaust survivors, wrote: “I condemn the cynical self-appropriation of the memory of the Holocaust victims by that group of Rabbis.” Yaron also reminded the Rabbis that “Azerbaijan refuses to condemn and apologize for the acts of mass murder committed during the Holocaust by the soldiers of the Azeri Legion.”

    These Rabbis themselves have belittled the Holocaust by writing it with a lower-case h, instead of capital H.

    I urge these Rabbis to apologize for their revisionist and insulting letter, a smear-campaign instigated by Azerbaijan, as a result of which, they have lost their sense of decency and morality. Should their letter embolden Azerbaijan to commit more atrocities against Armenia and Artsakh, these Rabbis will be considered partners in the Azeri crimes.

  • Righteous Jews Appeal to Israel To Help Open the Lachin Corridor

    Righteous Jews Appeal to Israel To Help Open the Lachin Corridor

    There are pro and anti-Armenian individuals in every nationality. Jews are no exception. There are Jews who support us and those who oppose us. We should not generalize and paint everyone with the same brush. Armenians should not treat every Jew as an opponent just because the Israeli government denies the Armenian Genocide and sells billions of dollars of arms to Azerbaijan.

    Armenians have the right to criticize the Israeli government and Jews who are anti-Armenian. I severely condemned Israel’s denial of the Armenian Genocide in my 2015 lecture at an Israeli University. After the lecture, I met with the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and told him that the government of Israel, whose own people were victims of genocide, should have been the first country to recognize the Armenian Genocide, not the last. Pres. Rivlin told me that he recognized the Armenian Genocide and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for denying it.

    I just received copies of two letters sent by a group of righteous Israelis to their country’s top officials, requesting that they intervene with Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor.

    The first letter was sent to Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on January 15, 2023, asking for his assistance to prevent “a grave humanitarian crisis and loss of life” due to Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor. The 17 prominent Jewish signers of the letter, including Rabbis, journalists and scholars, wrote: “We believe that you, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, through your ties with your counterparts in Azerbaijan and Russia, can help to avoid this grave humanitarian crisis. Therefore we ask that you approach them urgently to work for the lifting of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.”

    The second letter was sent on August 11, 2023, to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog who had recently visited Azerbaijan. The letter-writers requested him “to make a personal appeal to your counterparts in Azerbaijan and demand their immediate removal of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.” The 35 prominent Jewish signers of the letter, including Rabbis, scholars, journalists, a former Cabinet Minister and Member of Knesset, architects and scientists, wrote: “The State of Israel enjoys close ties with Azerbaijan, the state which is responsible for this crisis, and has the ability to resolve it. These ties obligate the State of Israel to take a clear stand, and not to stand idly by…. The aid that we [Israel] provided [to Azerbaijan] means that we have a special responsibility not to be a bystander, and also gives us an important opportunity to have a positive impact. We cannot remain silent, especially in light of our historic and multilayered connection with the Armenian people.”

    Beyond these letters, hundreds of Jews and Armenians in Israel held several protests during and after the 2020 Artsakh War. One of the protests was in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, criticizing the sale of Israeli arms to Azerbaijan. Some of the protesters held models of drones with blood stains painted on them with the words ‘Made in Israel.’

    Avidan Freedman, one of the founders of Yanshoof, an organization dedicated to stopping Israeli arms sales to human rights violators, published an article in The Times of Israel on August 13, 2023, titled: “The Artsakh humanitarian crisis is our responsibility. Here’s why.” He wrote: “Israel provided Azerbaijan with 69% of its arms in the period between 2016 and 2020. During the 2020 Artsakh War, a senior Israeli military source asserted that ‘Azerbaijan would not have been able to continue its operation at this level without our support.’” Freedman concluded: “the current humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh was enabled by Israeli support…. The emerging humanitarian crisis, Israel’s military support of Azerbaijan, and the Jewish people’s historic and moral connection to the Armenian people combine to create a clear moral responsibility. Israel must take a moral stance and call on Azerbaijan to immediately lift its blockade of the Lachin Corridor.”

    To illustrate the depth of pro-Armenian sympathies among some Jews, I would like to quote Dr. Israel Charny, one of the signers of the above mentioned two letters. He is the Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide and author of “Israel’s Failed Response to the Armenian Genocide.” In 2009, Charny and I were invited to speak at the UK Parliament. Since he could not attend due to illness, he submitted his speech in writing. Here is an excerpt: “No less than the arch fighter for peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Shimon Peres, now President of Israel, then serving as Israel’s Foreign Minister, twice went notably out of his way to insult the history and memory of the Armenian Genocide.”

    In 2001, Charny sent a scathing letter to Peres: “You have gone beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass…. As a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian Genocide, comparable to denials of the Holocaust.”

    In response to an “especially insulting” denial by Peres in 2002, Dr. Charny sent him one of my editorials in The California Courier, with the following note: “I am enclosing with great concern for your attention an editorial in a leading US-Armenian newspaper calling on Armenia to expel the Israeli Ambassador [Rivka Cohen, after she denied the Armenian Genocide]. For your further information, the author of this editorial, who is the head of the United Armenian Fund in the US — comparable to our United Jewish Appeal — was for many years a delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.”

    Armenians should support their friends and criticize their opponents regardless of their nationality.

  • Armenia’s Incompetent Actions at the UN  Did More Damage Than Good

    Armenia’s Incompetent Actions at the UN  Did More Damage Than Good

    The United Nations Security Council is composed of 15 member states: Five are permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and the other 10, have a term of two years, on a rotational basis.

    The Security Council’s powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. It is the only UN organ with the authority to issue binding resolutions on member states.

    With such extensive responsibilities, the Security Council is the right UN body to deal with Azerbaijan’s blockade of 120,000 Artsakh Armenians which risks their starvation resulting in genocide, according to the UN definition of that term.

    Regrettably, the Armenian government, due to the mismanagement of its approach to the Security Council, mishandled this unique opportunity to get the UN body to adopt a resolution urging Azerbaijan to immediately unblock the Lachin Corridor. Otherwise, it would impose severe sanctions.

    The proper way to have handled the petition to the Security Council would have been for Armenia to prepare the text of a draft resolution, meet with all 15 members, and try to get them to agree to the proposed resolution. Since the blockade has been going on for eight months, the Armenian government had plenty of time to do this work.

    Without any preparations, petitioning the Security Council and expecting a positive outcome is unrealistic and self-defeating. The ambassadors of the 15 member countries always receive advance instructions from their foreign ministries on what to say during the UN meetings and if there is the pre-prepared text of a proposed resolution, they are told how to vote. Nothing is decided on the spot during the meeting and no action can be taken that has not been agreed upon in advance.

    The Armenian government should have known these basic facts and have taken the proper steps before requesting a Security Council meeting in order to ensure a successful outcome. In this absence of such a preparatory work, it is not surprising that the Security Council did not adopt a resolution to warn Azerbaijan that unless it unblocks the Lachin Corridor immediately, severe sanctions will be imposed.

    During the meeting, all 15 member states delivered speeches, many of them urging Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor and resolve the issue through peaceful negotiations. The French Ambassador delivered the most favorable speech for Armenia, while the Russian Ambassador’s remarks were disappointing. When the meeting was over, everyone got up and went home without adopting a resolution and resolving the blockade. Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are non-members of the Security Council, repeated their myriad of lies about the Lachin Corridor, denying the obvious facts known to the whole world. To counter Turkey’s remarks, why didn’t Armenia arrange to have Cyprus or Greece attend the meeting to support its position?

    Regrettably, the UN Security Council member states preferred to pursue their own narrow national interests rather than trying to save the lives of 120,000 starving Artsakh Armenians, thus abdicating their humanitarian responsibility and undermining the integrity of the United Nations Organization. Shamefully, the Security Council did not even bother to back up the two decisions of the International Court of Justice on unblocking the Lachin Corridor.

    Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who flew to New York on this occasion, gave a proper speech, urging the Security Council “to act as genocide prevention body and not as genocide commemoration, when it might be too late.” Mirzoyan asked that the UN dispatch an interagency needs assessment mission to Artsakh, which was ignored. Nevertheless, he failed to request that the UN Security Council order Azerbaijan to open the Lachin Corridor and impose sanctions, if it did not comply. On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, did not bother to fly from Baku to New York, knowing full well that nothing will happen at the UN meeting.

    Azerbaijan’s Ambassador falsely stated that since Artsakh is a part of his country’s territory, it can do as it pleases and no one has the right to interfere. The whole world knows that he is completely wrong. Human rights violations are of universal interest. They are of serious concern to the whole world and are not the internal issue of any one country.

    While it is true that several Ambassadors urged Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin Corridor, regrettably, these requests were mere words which fell on deaf ears. Azerbaijan ignored all such requests, as it has rejected similar pleas from several heads of states, foreign ministers, the European Union, European Council, European Court of Human Rights, World Court, and Secretary-General of the United Nations. Words without action are meaningless.

    To save face, Prime Minister Pashinyan told Armenians after the UN meeting that now the whole world knows that Azerbaijan, contrary to its denials, was blocking the Lachin Corridor. This is a meaningless statement as everyone already knew that the Corridor was blocked. That was not the purpose of the UN Security Council meeting. The purpose was to adopt a resolution and impose sanctions on Azerbaijan. Armenia failed to accomplish that important objective.

    The UN Security Council meeting was much more than a missed opportunity for Armenia and Artsakh. Having raised and then shattered the expectations of Armenians that the Security Council will lift the blockade further demoralized Armenians worldwide. It would have been far more preferable for Armenia to take no action rather than make a half-baked attempt which caused more damage.

    Since last week’s failed meeting, Azeri officials have boasted that no one at the UN believed Armenia’s ‘baseless accusations,’ as a result of which no decision was taken. Regrettably, Azerbaijan is now emboldened more than ever to take further aggressive steps against Artsakh and Armenia, knowing full well that no one in the world will take any action against Azerbaijan.

  • Disney’s Controversial Ataturk Movie Angered both Armenians and Turks

    Disney’s Controversial Ataturk Movie Angered both Armenians and Turks

    It takes an especially incompetent Walt Disney Company executive to come up with a movie project that enraged both Armenians and Turks alike. That employee should be fired for damaging the coffers as well as reputation of the company.

    The Disney+ streaming service had planned to make a six-part series that dramatizes the life of Kemal Ataturk who is the Founding Father of the Republic of Turkey, worshipped by almost all Turks. Insulting Ataturk is punishable by up to three years in prison. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) started a campaign in June to protest against Disney’s movie project.

    The ANCA called on Disney+ “to cancel its series glorifying Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — a Turkish dictator and genocidal killer with the blood of millions of Greek, Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Aramean, Maronite and other Christian martyrs on his hands.”

    Ironically, despite his own share of crimes and anti-Armenian actions, Ataturk was honest enough to admit during an interview with the Los Angeles Examiner on August 1, 1926: “These leftovers of the former Young Turk Party, who should have been made to account for the lives of millions of our Christian subjects, who were ruthlessly driven en masse from their homes and massacred, have been restive under the Republican rule. They have hitherto lived on plunder, robbery and bribery, and become inimical to any idea or suggestion to enlist in useful labor and earn their living by the honest sweat of their brow.” Regrettably, on several other occasions, Ataturk contradicted himself justifying the Armenian Genocide.

    The news of Armenian objection to the Disney movie, the company’s subsequent change of plans, and the irate Turkish reaction became the topic of countless articles around the world, publicizing the issue of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish media blamed the ANCA, ‘the powerful Armenian lobby’ in the United States, for successfully pressuring the Disney Company.

    Disney had originally announced that the series glorifying Ataturk will be shown on the Disney+ network starting on October 29, 2023, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic. Changing its plans, Disney+ now plans to release the movie in two parts: The first part will air on the Disney-owned Fox TV in Turkey on October 29 and the second in Turkish theaters on December 22. Both films will be shown again next summer. It cost Disney $8 million to produce ‘Ataturk.’

    Ebubekir Shahin, chairman of Turkey’s Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK), said that it will launch an official investigation into Disney’s decision. Huseyin Yayman, chairman of the Turkish parliament’s Digital Media Commission, threatened severe sanctions against Disney: “We will impose harsh fines, including license cancellation for Disney+, bandwidth reduction, and advertising bans.” Prominent Turkish figures, including politicians, artists and journalists, angrily denounced Disney and cancelled their subscriptions to Disney+, which has 50,000 subscribers in Turkey. Omer Celik, spokesman of Turkey’s ruling AK Party, called Disney’s change of plans ‘shameful’ and alleged the company had caved in to ‘the Armenian lobby.’ He also stated that ANCA’s intent was to prevent the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations. Serdar Kilic, the Turkish ambassador in charge of his country’s normalization process with Armenia, also cancelled his subscription to Disney+. The Turkish government’s news agency, Anadolu Agency, published a commentary by Burak Caliskan of York University titled: “Did the Armenian lobby take over Disney+?”

    Turkey even pressured its Armenian community to oppose Disney’s decision. Bedros Shirinoglu, Chairman of Armenian Foundations Association of Turkey, a hostage of the Turkish regime, issued a shameful statement touting the non-existent freedom of expression in Turkey and calling on “American-Armenian organizations to act more responsibly.” Likewise, Parliament member Sevan Sıvacıoglu, representing Pres. Erdogan’s political party, expressed concern that Disney’s decision hampers the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations and undermines the potential for fostering friendly ties between the two countries.

    According to the Middle East Eye, “In June, Disney removed numerous shows and movies from Disney+ to reduce ongoing residuals and its tax bill. This strategy also resulted in the removal of eight Turkish TV shows and movies produced exclusively for Disney’s Turkish streaming platform, with the suspension of new Turkish content launches.” Disney+ (Turkey) confirmed that it had made such a decision.

    This whole controversy could have been avoided if Disney had done a little bit of research before embarking on such an unwise adventure. Disney has no business preparing a documentary on Ataturk or any other political figure. Disney blindly undertook this project, angering many Armenians around the world. And then, realizing its mistake, Disney washed its hands and cleverly dumped the documentary on Fox-TV in Turkey.

    Nevertheless, the battle is partly won. Even though the giant Disney Company changed its plans, Armenians worldwide now need to pursue this issue with the top executives Disney for three reasons:

    1) To completely cancel the Ataturk documentary and not hand it over to Fox-TV in Turkey;

    2) To make sure that the Disney Company will never again consider making a Turkish propaganda film;

    3) Urge Disney to make a documentary on an Armenian topic, such as the Armenian Genocide and Republics of Armenia and Artsakh.

    Regrettably, once again, the Armenian-American community is left alone in battling the all-powerful Turkish government, without any assistance from the leaders of Armenia who are acting as if Armenian issues are of no interest to them.

  • Armenians Shouldn’t Alienate Foreigners And Complain that ‘no one Cares about us’

    Armenians Shouldn’t Alienate Foreigners And Complain that ‘no one Cares about us’

    As the publisher of a newspaper, I frequently receive what is supposed to be factual ‘news,’ but, after doing some checking, I find out that most of what I was told is baseless rumor.

    A good example of gossip mongering happened last week when Israeli travel blogger and journalist Alexander Lapshin arrived in Los Angeles. His visit generated rumors and hateful words by some Armenians.

    For those who are not familiar with Lapshin, he visited Armenia on several occasions and went to Artsakh in 2011 and 2012. Azerbaijan blacklisted him, considering his visit to Artsakh illegal. Pres. Aliyev then asked Belarus in 2016 to arrest and extradite Lapshin to Azerbaijan. After being held in a Belarus jail for two months, Lapshin was sent to Baku on Feb. 7, 2017, on the personal airplane of Pres. Aliyev, where he was put through a sham trial and sentenced to three years in jail. On September 11, 2017, Lapshin was attacked in his prison cell by four masked Azeri agents who broke his jaw, ribs and arm, partially paralyzing him. He spent three days in the intensive care unit of a Baku hospital, after which Pres. Aliyev issued him a pardon and expelled him to Israel, where he spent another two weeks in a hospital. Azeri officials falsely claimed that Lapshin had tried to commit suicide which he strongly denied. Several independent medical examiners confirmed that there was an attempt on Lapshin’s life in Baku.

    Ever since his release from jail, Lapshin has toured dozens of countries exposing Azerbaijan’s dictatorial regime and its human rights violations against its own citizens and Armenians in Artsakh.

    Contrary to the unfounded rumor that he is an Israeli agent, Lapshin has had a major conflict with the Israeli authorities who repeatedly warned him that if he knows what’s good for him and his family, he should stop criticizing Azerbaijan. Israeli officials described Azerbaijan as ‘an ally of Israel’ and told him that his actions were contrary to Israel’s interests. Lapshin was given the same negative message when he met with American Jewish organizations. Israel also warned Lapshin that his Moldovan wife would not be granted Israeli citizenship unless he stops vilifying Azerbaijan.

    Lapshin is currently on a tour of Canada, the United States and Mexico where he is meeting with human rights organizations and elected officials to expose Azerbaijan’s brutal violations and defend the interests of Artsakh Armenians.

    My source for this information is neither Lapshin nor his critics. There are two official documents — the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee — which independently verified the information submitted by both Lapshin and Azerbaijan’s government.

    Lapshin filed a complaint against Azerbaijan to the European Court of Human Rights in 2018. The Court, in a 32-page decision in 2021, found credible that Azerbaijan had attempted to murder him and ordered Azerbaijan to pay Lapshin 30,000 euros in compensation, which Azerbaijan has refused to do.

    In 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee, in a 10-page report, recognized that Belarus violated several articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by arresting and extraditing Lapshin to Azerbaijan, thus putting his life at risk.

    Here are some interesting facts from the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the case of Lapshin vs. Azerbaijan.

    The Government of Azerbaijan falsely told the European Court that Lapshin had written two letters from his Baku hospital allegedly thanking Pres. Aliyev for pardoning him and stating that the prison guards saved his life. Lapshin denied that he wrote these letters. The European Court concluded that Azerbaijan’s allegation is “particularly hard to believe in view of the difficulties which the applicant [Lapshin] had with his writing arm.” Yet there are some Armenians who rather believe Azerbaijan’s lies and forged letters than the European Court’s ruling that there was no reason to doubt Lapshin’s word. The Court also found Lapshin’s assertion ‘plausible’ that there was an attempt to murder him in his Baku prison cell.

    The Azeri Judge Latif Huseynov, who was a member of the seven judges assigned to the Lapshin vs. Azerbaijan case, refused to participate. He was replaced by another Azeri Judge, Ceyhun Qaracayev, who voted with the rest of the judges unanimously “in favor of a finding of a violation of Article 2,” which is the ‘Right to Life’ of the European Convention on Human Rights.

    In conclusion, those who accuse Lapshin of being a spy without any evidence are alienating a supportive non-Armenian who has risked his life to defend the rights of Artsakh Armenians. This is contrary to the constant Armenian complaint that no one in the world cares about Armenia’s and Artsakh’s destitute situation.

  • Pashinyan is Incorrect that Armenia had Agreed to Exchange Meghri for Artsakh

    Pashinyan is Incorrect that Armenia had Agreed to Exchange Meghri for Artsakh

    Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attempted last month to distract attention from Armenia’s current tragic situation by blaming former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. This is a routine ploy used by Armenia’s current leader to cover up his defeat in the Artsakh War and failure to protect the country’s national interests.

    This does not mean that the former leaders were faultless. They made plenty of mistakes and I repeatedly criticized them at the time while sitting in front of them in the Presidential Palace. Those who describe my criticisms of Pashinyan as defending the former leaders are totally mistaken.

    Here is what Pashinyan said last month while testifying in a parliamentary committee investigating the circumstances of the 2020 Artsakh War: “On June 2, 2000, Aravot newspaper [in Armenia] published the following article: Vartan Oskanian, the Foreign Minister, on April 25, 2000, during his meeting with the Armenian community of Glendale [California], described by him as ‘very private, unofficial remarks,’ announced the following: ‘Meghri is being given to Azerbaijan, Lachin [Corridor] along with Artsakh is being given to Armenia. Through Meghri, Armenia is being given a sovereign road with which Armenia would be able to have a sovereign contact to enter Iran.’” Pashinyan added: “His [Oskanian’s] remarks were published in The California Courier weekly newspaper [in 2000] which also quoted Oskanian’s words that the above mentioned proposal has ‘some logic and needs serious consideration….’”

    Since Prime Minister Pashinyan was referring to an editorial I wrote in The California Courier on May 25, 2000, a few lines of which were reprinted in Aravot, I would like to set the record straight by quoting from what I wrote 23 years ago, titled: “Exchanging Meghri with Karabagh: Good Idea or Political Suicide?”

    What Pashinyan is referring to was a 1992 proposal by Paul Goble, Special Adviser to Secretary of State James Baker, to exchange Meghri, the strategically important Southern Region of Armenia, for Artsakh. This idea was rejected by then Pres. Robert Kocharyan and subsequently by Azerbaijan’s then Pres. Heydar Aliyev.

    Pashinyan is partially distorting what Oskanian said in Glendale. In my editorial of 2000, I quoted Oskanian as saying: “There are many rumors about the resolution of the Karabagh conflict. There are criticisms alleging that the Armenian authorities want to give Meghri to Azerbaijan. In fact, there is a small degree of truth in those rumors. Such a proposal on the exchange of territories has been made to the Armenian Republic, to the President of Armenia. But, such a proposal was rejected. Armenia did not accept it as a basis of negotiations.” Oskanian repeatedly stated that this proposal was rejected by the Armenian government. The proof is that Meghri was not exchanged for Artsakh.

    However, Oskanian continued his remarks, raising questions about his assertion that Armenia rejected the Goble Plan. Pashinyan is now capitalizing on Oskanian’s supplementary statement.

    Here is what Oskanian said in his additional statement which I reported in my 2000 article: “But let me say the following: I don’t want you to misunderstand me. It’s been rejected, it will be rejected and it’s not a plan that can be realized. Nevertheless, this is such a proposal that is worth thinking about. It’s not happening. It won’t happen, but when people say it’s treasonous to even think about it, that’s what I would like to respond to: Let’s think a little deeply about it. This proposal has certain logic. To simply dismiss such a proposal on a purely emotional basis is wrong. We have done that. We must seriously analyze it. I wonder, maybe we are wrong in saying no. What are we afraid of? Why are we not analyzing it? Is it a taboo? Let’s make a checklist. Let’s analyze it in newspapers. It has pluses and minuses. What I’m calling for is that it’s possible to have a very healthy debate and a dialog on this issue, because this proposal is worth thinking about.”

    I don’t know why Oskanian, after repeatedly rejecting the exchange proposal, went on to say that it is “worth thinking about.” In my opinion, there was nothing to think about. It was clearly an unacceptable proposal, suggesting that Armenia exchange one Armenian territory, Artsakh, for another Armenian territory, Meghri. Oskanian’s speculative words gave Pashinyan a reason to blame him for even considering such a bad idea.

    I concluded my editorial in 2000 with the following words: “Armenia has nothing to gain and much to lose from such an exchange.” I am still of the same opinion.

    Finally, for those who think that since Armenia lost most of Artsakh in the 2020 War, maybe Oskanian was correct about considering the exchange of Meghri for Artsakh, I must say that Azerbaijan’s insatiable appetite is not satisfied by the conquest of Artsakh or even Meghri. Azerbaijan’s imperialistic ambitions extend to the takeover of the entirety of Armenia. The more Armenia’s leaders make territorial concessions, the more Azerbaijan will be encouraged to demand further Armenian territories. The only solution is to arm Armenia’s military with modern lethal weapons and defend its territory from further Azeri incursions.