Turkish Forum

Category: Authors

  • French Ambassador, not Pashinyan, Is Defending Armenia’s Interests

    French Ambassador, not Pashinyan, Is Defending Armenia’s Interests

    Something is terribly wrong when Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is making continuous concessions to Azerbaijan, while the French Ambassador to Armenia, Olivier Decottignies, is defending Armenia’s interests. Ironically, a foreign ambassador is more pro-Armenian than the Prime Minister of Armenia.

    When Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev repeated his lie about the non-existent “Western Azerbaijan” as a replacement for the Republic of Armenia, Pashinyan shamefully equated the fake “Western Azerbaijan” with Armenians’ historical demands for “Western Armenia.” It was the French Ambassador who responded to Aliyev on Nov. 24, 2024, on X: “The one and only: Western Azerbaijan is one of the 31 provinces of Iran whose capital and largest city is Urmia,” quoting from Wikipedia. He attached a map of Iran that indicated the location of the Western Azerbaijan province in Iran. The post was viewed over 93,000 times with 114 comments and 1,100 Likes. An Armenian with the pseudonym “Nemesis Melkonian” praised the French Ambassador on X: “Can you become our next prime minister? The current one is ethnically Turkish.” An Iranian replied: “As an Iranian” adding the OK hand sign. This was a slap in the face of Aliyev, but also a rebuke to Pashinyan, according to some Armenian commentators.

    On the same day, the French Ambassador also posted a photo of the well-known Blue Mosque in Yerevan and wrote: “In the gardens of the Blue Mosque of Yerevan, emblematic of the Persian heritage of Armenia.” This post was viewed 43,000 times with 46 comments and 660 Likes. While Azeri commentators falsely claimed that the Blue Mosque was of Azerbaijani origin, many others thanked the French Ambassador for featuring this historic Persian place of worship. The Iranian Embassy in Armenia expressed its appreciation to the French Ambassador by posting on X: “The Blue Mosque, a symbol of Iranian art, has been active again in the last three decades as the praying and congregation place of Muslims residing in Armenia and a touristic attraction. A great pleasure that its centuries-old Persian epigraphy has been preserved! Who can read them?” The embassy then added several images of Persian calligraphy found on the walls of the Mosque.

    Mordechai Kedar, An Israeli sycophant of Azerbaijan, jumping into the discussion, wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post on December 5, 2024, titled: “France’s ambassador sparks outrage with support for Persian hegemony in Armenia.” This is nothing but pure pro-Azeri propaganda.

    Kedar wrote that “The Azerbaijanis are outraged by these social media posts, as the Blue Mosque in Yerevan was built by Azerbaijanis, and trying to portray the mosque as ‘Persian’ demonstrates France’s support for Persian colonialism in the region. Furthermore, the Azerbaijanis are angered at the French diplomat’s attempt to portray West Azerbaijan as part of Iran.” If the Azeris were outraged by what the French Ambassador wrote, why is it any of Kedar’s business, unless he expects to gain something by volunteering to act as a propagandist for Azerbaijan?

    Kedar claimed that Armenians have described the Blue Mosque as Persian in order “to erase all traces of Azeri heritage from their country [Armenia].” Kedar is ignoring the fact that Azeris have destroyed thousands of Armenian historic monuments and churches in Artsakh and Azerbaijan. Making an even more outrageous claim, Kedar wrote that Persians “used these Armenian acts of delegitimization in order to expand their colonial influence into the South Caucasus.”

    To pile up the attacks on Armenia and France, Elnur Enveroglu wrote on the Azernews website that the French Ambassador’s tweets “revealed Decottirnies’ ignorance of history.” Elnur could not even spell the Ambassador’s last name correctly.

    Naturally, the French Ambassador could not leave unchallenged such nonsense from Kedar whose childish arguments disgraced the Jerusalem Post. The Ambassador replied: “Seriously, Mr. Kedar? The Blue Mosque in Yerevan was built under Persian rule in typically Persian style. Does calling a Roman aqueduct Roman ‘demonstrates support’ for colonialism?”

    Even though there was no reason for Nasimi Aghayev, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Germany, to stick his nose in this issue, but being a life-long falsifier of the truth, starting from his days as the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, he wrote: “Beautiful Azerbaijani Blue Mosque in Yerevan. Built in 1766 by Huseyn Ali Khan, Ruler of Azerbaijan Iravan [Yerevan] Khanate. The only surviving mosque in Armenia. All others (at least 269) were destroyed. Regrettably, Armenia continues to deny Blue Mosque’s Azerbaijani identity.” Mary Hogins rightly responded in a tweet to Nasimi: “You mean Persian Mosque, lying khiyar [cucumber]?”

    Nasimi must have forgotten that until 1918 there was no such country as Azerbaijan. Even then, the Secretary General of the League of Nations rejected Azerbaijan’s application to be recognized as a state by writing in an official memorandum in 1920: “This territory, occupying a superficial area of 40,000 square miles, appears to have never formerly constituted a State, but has always been included in larger groups such as the Mongol or Persian and since 1813 the Russian Empire. The name Azerbaijan which has been chosen for the new Republic is also that of the neighboring Persian province.” Case closed.

    In his fanatical zeal, Aliyev doesn’t seem to understand that his constant attacks on France, based on lies, are not going to end well for Azerbaijan. France is a superpower, while Azerbaijan is a banana republic, which does not even have bananas, ruled by a two-bit dictator!

  • Every Time Pashinyan Opens his Mouth He Harms Armenia’s Interests

    Every Time Pashinyan Opens his Mouth He Harms Armenia’s Interests

    Every time Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan makes a public statement, he ends up damaging Armenia’s interests.

    The latest example of Pashinyan’s detrimental words is the 90-minute interview he gave to Armenia’s Public Television on November 22, 2024.

    The first question was about Pashinyan’s recent firing of six top government officials by sending them a text message on a Sunday evening. The journalist asked him, why did he fire them?

    Pashinyan stated that their “dismissals are not personalized but are rather related to systems.” Nevertheless, he said that the fired officials “were doing a good job.” The journalist pointed out that the Prime Minister made no systemic changes, but simply fired the individuals. He explained that these officials had made remarkable systemic improvements, but later, as time passed, they became part of the system. He went on admitting that “a similar thing happens to me too.”

    The journalist, Tatev Danielyan, then questioned Pashinyan about his dismissal of the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Karen Andreasyan, “a body completely independent of the executive branch. It turns out that at the Prime Minister’s, so to speak, urging, he decided to submit a resignation letter. Now your opponents say, what is this, if not pressure from one branch of government on the other?”

    Pashinyan gave the unconvincing explanation that “there was no urging from the Prime Minister, there was a request from the Prime Minister.” The Journalist responded by saying: “there is a rupture between the statements and actions of the executive branch about an independent judicial system.”

    There is no separation among the three branches of the government. Pashinyan single-handedly runs all three branches: the executive, legislative and judiciary. Anyone who deviates from his wishes is fired and replaced. Strangely, this is a man, who speaks about democracy day and night, violates the basic principles of democracy.

    Pashinyan then made the mistake of saying the officials he ‘requested’ to resign have two options: “fulfill the request and not to fulfill that request.” The journalist pointed out that if the official refused to resign, there would ‘consequences.’ Pashinyan pleaded ignorance by asking, ‘what consequence?’

    When asked if Pashinyan had consulted his advisors before firing the six officials, he proudly replied: “This was a one-person decision.”

    The journalist then asked if Pashinyan had requested the resignation of Narek Zeynalyan, a member of the ruling parliamentary bloc. Pashinyan said, yes. Zeynalyan had resigned, but fellow parliamentary member Hovik Aghazaryan has so far refused Pashinyan’s ‘request’ to resign. Pashinyan said: “I hope that my request will not remain unanswered.” Since that request, Aghazaryan has been interrogated several times by the authorities on suspicion of fraudulent activities. This is yet another example of the Prime Minister’s undue interference in the affairs of another branch of the government, the Parliament.

    Pashinyan had a lengthy discussion about his persistent efforts to convince Pres. Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to sign what he calls “a peace treaty,” despite the fact that Aliyev has not only shown no interest in signing such a document, but has escalated his demands for further concessions from Armenia. Pashinyan does not seem to understand the difference between the signing of a piece of paper which he calls “a peace treaty,” and actual peace.

    However, the biggest gaffe Pashinyan made during his 90-minute interview was equating Aliyev’s demands for a fake “Western Azerbaijan” to replace the Republic of Armenia with Armenian demands for the historical territory of “Western Armenia.”

    Without being asked any question on this subject, Pashinyan reluctantly offered: “Let me say one more thing, but OK, I won’t say it.” But when the journalist urged him to say it, he dropped a major bombshell: “OK. I will say it. We get so upset and take it so hard, consider it a problem, somewhere some people use the term Western Azerbaijan, right? But we say, Western Armenia, don’t we think that it irritates some people? Just like we are irritated when they say Western Azerbaijan, the same way when they say Western Armenia, others are irritated. Now again, they will say, the routine treason, the vile scum. Today I am in a situation and in a responsibility, I am obligated to talk with our people and show them the cause-and-effect relationships, chains. If I don’t do that, it means that I am consciously leading our country towards the loss of statehood. I cannot allow that.”

    This is a very shameful statement by the head of the government of Armenia. One would expect such an answer from Erdogan or Aliyev, but not from Armenia’s leader. Incredibly, even Erdogan and Aliyev have not made such an anti-Armenian statement.

    The final question, believe it or not, was: “Can you tell me the real reason why you decided to shave [your beard]?” In keeping with his usual practice of dodging questions, Pashinyan said: “…it is clear that a change in the image is taking place…. I can only say one thing. When I decided to shave, I decided the day: I will do it on my eldest daughter’s birthday, although now that this interview goes on the air, my other daughters will ask why on her birthday, not on our birthday? I am convinced that Ashot [his son] is not ambitious in that regard, not only in that regard, and he will not raise such a question.”

  • The Book Reveals 8,000 Letters by Armenian Survivors of 1890’s Turkish Massacres

    The Book Reveals 8,000 Letters by Armenian Survivors of 1890’s Turkish Massacres

    I just received the first volume of a valuable book published in Yerevan in 2021 that makes public for the first time some of the 8,000 handwritten letters by survivors of the 1894-96 Turkish massacres of 300,000 Armenians in Western Armenia (present-day Turkey), organized by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

    This unique book, authored by Vera Sahakyan and published by the Matenadaran, the repository of ancient manuscripts and documents in Yerevan, reproduces the eyewitness testimonies of 200 Armenian survivors of the Turkish massacres from the 28 villages in the Bulanekh province of the Mush region who had fled to Eastern Armenia. The heart-wrenching letters were sent to Catholicos of All-Armenians Mkrtich Khrimian (1893-1907), known endearingly as Khrimian Hayrig, located in Etchmiadzin, the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church, seeking his compassionate aid for their basic necessities of food and lodging.

    The letters of the Armenian survivors were kept for several decades in the archives of Etchmiadzin and subsequently transferred to Matenadaran. The author plans to publish several more volumes in the future to cover the rest of the 8,000 letters. Many of the letters in volume 1 were translated into English by Lucine Minasian.

    Here are excerpts from some of the letters written to the Catholicos by the Armenian survivors of the 1894-96 Turkish massacres:

    HamidianSassounmassacres 1024x685 Sketch by an eyewitness of the slaughter of Armenians at Sassoun Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities
    Sketch by an eyewitness of the slaughter of Armenians at Sassoun, “Turkey and the Armenian Atrocities” by Rev. Edwin M. Bliss, Edgewood Publishing Company, 1896, p. 306 (Wikimedia Commons)

    — On October 29, 1896, Yeghiazar Hagopian, a refugee from Bulanekh’s Kakarlu village of Mush, wrote: “I was able to flee the barbaric Kurdish killings. Besides totally looting us, they murdered my son, and I barely escaped, only losing the fingers of my right hand. It’s already been four months that I have been wandering around here begging for alms…. My family, famished and naked, is impatiently waiting for me back in the homeland. I beseech you to at least grant me some travel money.”

    — On October 14, 1894, Mardiros Mouradian, an inhabitant from Khoshgaldi village of Lower Bulanekh, wrote: “The unlawful Tajiks [Turks] attacked my lamentable and poor family beating us with stones on the one hand, and fatally shooting my 20-year-old son on the other hand. They pillaged my whole fortune and even disrobed us.”

    — On July 11, 1895, Parish Priest Hovhannes Der Bedrossian from Molahkant village of Mush wrote: “Being attacked by Kurds and Hamidian troops, we abandoned our homes and possessions and barely fled secretly to Russia to survive. Now, we are wandering poor, delusional, famished… bereft of a single piece of dry bread.”

    — On January 2, 1896, Hagop Levoniants from Bulanekh’s Liz village wrote: “Our intention is self-defense — we appeal to you that you will free us, our people, and our homeland from the Turkish iron yoke. Hand us a few weapons so we can go and reach our eight friends who have been writing us letter after letter, asking us to reach them soon.”

    — On January 13, 1897, Mkrtich Haroutyounyan from Bulanekh’s Khristam Kadouk village wrote: “We barely survived the atrocities…and freed ourselves from the pitiless claws of the furious Ottoman government…. I plead for some rags and some rubles that will cover my travel costs, so I can protect my family from the frost and attain daily sustenance for them during the wintertime.”

    — On September 30, 1895, Yaghush Mkrtichian (five people) and Yalduz Mardirosian (six people), two widows of refugee families from Bulanekh’s Kharakhlo village of Mush, wrote: “Both of us have been widowed for almost two years, as the heads [of our families] were killed by the Kurds. Being frightened, we fled here. They took everything we owned. They didn’t leave anything — neither cattle nor possessions.”

    –On March 15, 1894, Baghdasar Margosian from Keakarlou village of Mush wrote: “Enduring numerous tortures and sufferings, we could barely free ourselves from death. The unlawful warden released us from prison, demanding 80 pieces of gold. Afterwards, they looted all my movable and immovable property and forcibly imprisoned my son.”

    — On July 17, 1895, Sahag Garabedian from Hamzasheikh village of Bulanekh Province wrote: “Because of the barbarity committed by the government and the Turks, we left our homeland and fled to Russia. My father died. Now there are five of us, including my old mother. Presently, my family lives in a hut with lice in the Armidlu village.”

    — On April 19, 1894, Priest Mateos Der Kevorkian from Bulanekh village and Sahag Serovpian from Karakilise village wrote: “Since September 1893, the Kurds and Turks of Turkey have been torturing our Armenians intensely and oppressing them. They have been looting our harvested wheat. They have been pillaging our stored wheat. At nights they commit adultery with our wives and then kill them. When the Armenian laborers come back from abroad, they rob their money and homes and kill them. Eighteen families from Hamzasheikh village were forcibly converted into Turkish religion. Three of them were killed and now there is an order to hang 28 people…. Effendis and aghas forcibly demand 40-50 gold pieces from Armenian peasants or kill them. Prelate Priest Nercess has been sentenced to two years in jail. They forcibly demanded from him 450 gold pieces which were collected by passing a plate [in church] and now he is in prison. Effendis and aghas are forcibly taking over the Armenian villages, harming and torturing people….”

    This is a valuable book because it:

    1) Documents the 1894-96 massacres of Armenians through eyewitness accounts of the survivors;

    2) Gives present-day Armenians the opportunity to find the names of their ancestors who used to live in Western Armenia;

    3) Reveals that some of the little-known villages in the region were indeed inhabited by Armenians.

  • Armenians Now have a New Target: Jordan For Buckling Under Azerbaijan’s Pressure

    Armenians Now have a New Target: Jordan For Buckling Under Azerbaijan’s Pressure

    As if Armenians did not have enough problems to deal with, they must now insist that Jordan reverse the dropping of its Artsakh-themed Oscar entry under pressure from Azerbaijan.

    Jordan’s Royal Film Commission had selected New York-based Jordanian American director Sareen Hairabedian’s My Sweet Land documentary as its entry for the Oscars. The film is produced by Azza Hourani and coproduced by Julie Paratian and David Rane. The executive producers are Beth Levison, Carrie Lozano, Hallee Adelman, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh. Robina Riccitiello is co-executive producer.

    The film features 11-year-old Vrej who lived in Artsakh. After Azerbaijan attacked his village, Vrej and his family escaped and then returned to face devastation.

    My Sweet Land had received the Amman International Film Festival’s Jury Award in July for Best Feature Documentary and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Feature-Length Arab Documentary.

    However, the Royal Film Commission just announced that “Jordan withdrew its submission of My Sweet Land documentary film due to diplomatic pressures” from Azerbaijan, Deadline reported.

    “The Azerbaijan government wrote to Jordan’s Foreign Ministry requesting it reconsider the film’s selection as its Oscar entry, which in turn put pressure on the Jordan’s Royal Film Commission to withdraw the film,” according to Deadline.

    The Azeri media confirmed that Azerbaijan complained to Jordan about its Oscar entry. “We welcome the decision of Jordan to withdraw the film and stop its screening in Jordan,” Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada said.

    Director Sareen Hairabedian and producer Azza Hourani told Deadline: “This is very devastating news for our team that an emotional intimate story of a child’s love for his home and family was banned and silenced. As documentary filmmakers, this censorship compels us more than ever to share My Sweet Land protagonist Vrej’s story, which reflects the experiences of countless children around the world today, who deserve to dream freely without the threat of war and conflict.”

    However, it appears that not all is lost. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “told filmmakers they could submit My Sweet Land for consideration as Best Documentary Feature, if they followed standard qualification procedures. The filmmaking team has scrambled to arrange a qualifying run in the U.S.,” according to Deadline.

    “My Sweet Land will have its North American premiere at DOC NYC on November 16th and 17th, and our qualifying theatrical release will take place at Laemmle Theatres [in Los Angeles] starting November 29th,” Hairabedian and Hourani told Deadline. “We remain committed to sharing our truthful story, undeterred by the obstacles we face.”

    It is sickening that a work of art would fall victim to political pressure. Regrettably, but not surprisingly, “the move to withdraw the film from the International Feature Film category comes amid growing diplomatic and economic ties between Jordan and Azerbaijan, with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov receiving Jordanian officials in Baku in 2024 to discuss further ongoing cooperation,” Deadline reported.

    “Our understanding was that Jordan withdrew the film in order to preserve diplomatic ties between Jordan and Azerbaijan after a complaint from the latter,” the filmmakers told Deadline. “We also learned that after My Sweet Land’s premiere in Jordan at the Amman International Film Festival, Azerbaijan’s embassy had also filed a complaint against screening the film publicly. So, My Sweet Land, a film that was celebrated weeks prior at the festival, was suddenly banned in one of its home countries.”

    “Jordan’s Royal Film Commission is the governing body of the Amman International Film Festival. At that event in July 2024, My Sweet Land won three prizes: Jury Award for Best Arab Documentary, the Audience Award and the International Film Critics Award (FIPRESCI). The documentary premiered in June at Sheffield DocFest, the most prestigious nonfiction festival in the U.K., where it was nominated for the International First Feature Award,” according to Deadline.

    Sheffield DocFest programmers wrote of the film, “Vrej, the subject of Sareen Hairabedian’s impressive feature debut — a striking coming-of-age tale — has grown up in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Soviet era it has witnessed much conflict. The 11-year-old watches birds, plays with friends and dreams of being a dentist. But echoes of the three wars his family have lived through since 1992 are ever-present. His grandmother laments the cycle of ethnic violence: ‘Living in Artsakh means that one day there will be a war and my grandson will participate in that war’. As his school lessons become increasingly militarized and Vrej struggles to hold on to his childhood dreams, his grandmother watches her prophecy unfold.”

    In an email to Deadline, Jordan’s Royal Film Commission (RFC) highlighted the awards earned by My Sweet Land at the Amman International Film Festival and noted that the film “received development funding from the RFC’s Jordan Film Fund in 2021.”

    Armenians worldwide, led by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, should complain to the Jordanian government. They should not let this Azeri pressure on Jordan go unchallenged. Losing Artsakh should not mean that Armenians would also lose the public relations battle where connections and planning replace drones and military might.

    First of all, the Armenian community in Jordan should immediately use all of their contacts with the Jordanian government to demand that the Jordanian Foreign Ministry reverse its decision and not buckle under Azerbaijan’s ugly pressure.

    Secondly, the Armenian Foreign Ministry should send a diplomatic note to the Jordanian government objecting to allowing Azerbaijan to interference in Jordan’s internal decisions.

    Thirdly, Armenians worldwide should contact Jordanian Embassies and Consulates to express their utter displeasure at Jordan succumbing to Azeri threats and intimidation.

  • Baku Hires PR Firm for $4.7 Million To Cleanse Image before Climate Summit

    Baku Hires PR Firm for $4.7 Million To Cleanse Image before Climate Summit

    Azerbaijan’s dictatorial and corrupt government is paying $4.7 million to a US PR firm in order to whitewash its tarnished image prior to hosting the prestigious COP29 international conference in Baku this November.

    In February, Azerbaijan hired the American public relations firm, Teneo Strategy, to make “the warring petrostate look like a Mother Teresa,” according to Nick Cleveland-Stout who wrote in ResponsibleStatecraft.org an article titled, “How Azerbaijan is ‘peacewashing’ its image ahead of COP29; Baku is hosting the climate summit in November with some help from a high-priced PR firm.”

    To earn its excessive pay, Teneo contacted “144 journalists in 88 different global media outlets some 500 times to promote Azerbaijan’s COP29 agenda….  In just one day, the PR firm … treated three journalists to dinner at a five-star hotel restaurant in Nagorno-Karabakh during a media forum. The very next day, one of them celebrated Azerbaijan’s newly established control of the region in an article published in Pakistan. A few weeks later, he tweeted that Azerbaijan is ‘lucky to have such a leader’ in President Ilham Aliyev.” 

    An Azerbaijani official announced that his country had hired Teneo to “establish the COP29’s communications function, including narrative development, initial content development, communications and engagement campaign planning, issues management, organizational development, establishing media relations capability, and media training.” Nick Cleveland-Stout reported that “At least five Teneo executives are always on the ground in Baku — racking up a tab of $350,000 on airfare and hotels to date.”

    Hikmat Hajiyev, Pres. Aliyev’s top advisor, shamelessly announced a “COP29 Truce,” meaning that Azerbaijan is calling on all warring parties in the world to declare a ceasefire during the November conference. Such a deceitful announcement is being made by a country whose leader has been issuing repeated threats to invade Armenia. This reminds us of the biblical admonition: “Physician, heal thyself!”

    Nick Cleveland-Stout wrote: “Azerbaijan has become notorious for flaunting its oil wealth to court foreign officials, lawmakers, and journalists with gifts, free flights, and luxury hotels, dubbed ‘caviar diplomacy’…. According to a trip itinerary obtained by RS [Responsible Statecraft] via a Freedom of Access Act Request, state lawmakers from Maine spent nine days in Azerbaijan in May with flights, food, and lodging paid for by the State Committee on Work with Diaspora of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the same agency that hosted [NY Mayor Eric] Adams’ aides. Part of the itinerary included two days learning about ‘new development after liberation from occupation’ in Nagorno-Karabakh. ‘Guess I should locate my passport. I am very excited!’ wrote State Representative Jill Duson in response to the invitation. In June, Azerbaijan’s embassy in Washington even hired former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) in part to coordinate congressional delegation visits to Azerbaijan.”

    Furthermore, Nick Cleveland-Stout mentioned that Azerbaijan had hired another PR company, “The Friedlander Group, a firm retained by Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry, [which] is leading the charge on Capitol Hill in Washington. An email obtained by RS shows that the firm sent an email on September 23 to members of Congress asking them not to sign onto a congressional letter calling for Baku to release Armenian prisoners ahead of COP29.” The firm’s CEO, Ezra Friedlander, wrote to members of Congress “we owe Azerbaijan praise, an apology and an open hand.”

    Returning to the PR firm, Teneo, Nick Cleveland-Stout reported that: “When Azerbaijan flew out some 300 foreign journalists to the newly-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh region for a media forum in July, Teneo held meetings and hosted expensive dinners — during which it discussed interviews with Azerbaijan’s COP leadership team.”

    The RS reporter wrote that: “Three days after meeting with Teneo, the influential Indian newspaper, The Hindu, published an article titled “Climate conference in November to emphasize ‘peace’ and ‘truce.’” The firm also “facilitated a New York Times article featuring [Mukhtar] Babayev [COP’s president] in Azerbaijan that was based in part on a trip to Nagorno-Karabakh.”

    Teneo has assigned a 17-person team to the pro-Azeri PR task. Azerbaijan’s officials are very pleased by the propaganda Teneo is doing for their country. Babayev told Azeri TV that “the government’s media strategy to change international perceptions of Azerbaijan is a success story, including its ‘restoration of territorial integrity,’ referring to its offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. Without mentioning Teneo by name, he credited a new media team ‘consisting of serious specialists’…. Thanks to the work of this professional team, there has not been a week this year when we have not provided information and made statements to international media…. Now they all understand and see the strength of our country.”

    The most unfortunate issue is that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is the one who allowed Azerbaijan to host the conference by lifting Armenia’s veto in return for the release of 32 Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for two Azeri murderers who penetrated Armenia’s border in 2023 and killed an innocent Armenian worker. 

    While I welcome the return of the 32 Armenian prisoners, I believe that Pashinyan should have bargained for Azerbaijan’s release of all Armenian prisoners of war and the eight Artsakh political hostages held in Baku. Pres. Aliyev was so obsessed with hosting the prestigious UN conference in Azerbaijan that he would have agreed to such a comprehensive deal.

    If Pashinyan had made such a deal, Armenians and sympathetic non-Armenians around the world would not have needed to work so hard to pressure Azerbaijan to release all the Armenian detainees prior to the November conference.

  • Jerusalem Patriarchate Wins Lawsuit To Recover its Vast Properties in Turkey

    Jerusalem Patriarchate Wins Lawsuit To Recover its Vast Properties in Turkey

    In 2019, I wrote about the status of the lawsuit filed in 2012 in Turkey by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to recover its over one thousand real estate properties confiscated decades ago.

    After going through various legal maneuvers in Turkey for years, the Patriarchate finally won last week a major victory.

    Ishan Erdinc reported the good news on October 4. 2024 in Agos Armenian newspaper of Istanbul in an article titled, “Critical development for the properties of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Turkey: Mar Yakoup Foundation is gaining legal personality.” Mar Yakoup refers to the Armenian Patriarchate of St. James (Sourp Hagop) in Jerusalem.  

    Turkey’s General Directorate of Foundations (GDF) confiscated the Jerusalem Patriarchate’s properties in 1973, describing the Mar Yakoup Armenian Church Foundation, established during the Ottoman Empire, as no longer functional.

    Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian’s 2012 lawsuit was initially rejected by both a lower court in Ankara and the court of appeal. The Patriarch then appealed to the Constitutional Court of Turkey, the highest court in the country, which decided that the lower court had violated the rights of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The lower court then reversed the frozen status of the Armenian Patriarchate’s properties.

    Ali Elbeyoglu, the Turkish lawyer of the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate, told Agos newspaper that the Patriarchate now has two options. It will either appoint a Turkish citizen as its representative in Turkey to manage the properties, as it was before their confiscation, or they will be managed from Jerusalem.

    Over the years, most of the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate’s confiscated properties were sold to third parties without any compensation to the Patriarchate.

    Patriarch Manougian has never made a public announcement over the years about the lawsuit he had filed in Turkey. The only media reports were about his multiple visits to Istanbul for undisclosed reasons. Even though attorney Elbeyoglu told Agos that the Jerusalem Patriarchate has over 100 properties in Turkey, Patriarch Manougian, in an exclusive interview, told me in 2019 that the Patriarchate had owned 1,200 properties in Istanbul alone and dozens more throughout Turkey. The Patriarch also informed me that a very large and valuable property owned by the Jerusalem Patriarchate in Yalova, Turkey, formerly a part of Istanbul, was sold by a Turkish-Armenian in the 1950’s to a Turk and then fled to the United States. The Patriarch said he is interested in filing a lawsuit against the heirs of that Turkish-Armenian.

    Attorney Elbeyoglu told Agos last week that the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate owned a highly valuable “mansion in Kuzguncuk [Istanbul], the title of which was transferred to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was then demolished.” The Attorney also said that there are “21 properties seized from the Armenian Patriarchate Foundation in Altunizade [Istanbul], [the prominent] Istiklal Boulevard of Istanbul, the Fatih [region of Istanbul] and the City of Adana.”

    It remains to be seen what the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate will do with the recovered properties and the compensations it will receive for the properties sold long ago to third parties.

    I suggest the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate form an international commission of highly respected Armenian individuals to oversee the management of these properties and the compensations paid to the Patriarchate. Given the controversy revolving around the sale or lease of the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate’s properties in Israel, it would be in the Patriarch’s interest to exhibit transparency to avoid secretive business deals and accusations of corruption.

    The anticipated return of these properties is a very positive development since the Turkish government has rarely agreed to give back to their Armenian owners the properties it had confiscated decades ago. In 2011, the Turkish government announced that real estate confiscated from Armenian, Greek and Jewish charitable foundations would be either returned to them or pay compensation for the value of the properties if they have been sold to third parties.

    However, after a number of properties were given back to these minorities, the government halted the process, even though some court cases are still pending.

    I view Turkish efforts to return some of the confiscated Armenian properties as a means to whitewash their historic crimes. Even though we should be wary of such clever Turkish ploys, we should take advantage of every opportunity to recover a portion of what we lost during the Genocide, such as territories, properties, and other assets. And whatever we cannot recover, we need to receive restitution for them.

    This is why Armenians should never forget past injustices and do everything possible to preserve the memory of their losses as long as necessary. Nothing is lost forever. History will take twists and turns and no one knows when the tide will turn in our favor. However, if we ourselves give up our claims, they will be lost forever.