Thursday is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, commemorating the reputed one and a half million Armenians murdered by the Turks in 1915 during World War I.
The Turkish assault began with hundreds of Armenian intellectuals forcibly deported from the Turkish capital of Constantinople. The Muslim Young Turks intended to get rid of the Christian Armenians in Turkey. Massive atrocities, from forced death marches to placing women and children aboard ships and then deliberately sinking them, were carried out by Turkish government-backed forces.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/world/armenian-mass-killings/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>:
<blockquote>
While the death toll is in dispute, photographs from the era document some mass killings. Some show Ottoman soldiers posing with severed heads, others with them standing amid skulls in the dirt. The victims are reported to have died in mass burnings and by drowning, torture, gas, poison, disease and starvation. Children were reported to have been loaded into boats, taken out to sea and thrown overboard. Rape, too, was frequently reported.
</blockquote>
The U.S. Congress has passed resolutions acknowledging the genocide, but no U.S. administration has, likely because of concerns about relations with Turkey. Instead, the murders have been referred to as &#8220;massacres&#8221; or &#8220;crimes against humanity.”
In April 1981, soon after he was elected president, Ronald Reagan delivered a Proclamation on Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust. Speaking of the Holocaust in which the Nazis murdered six million Jews, he <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamations-april-22-1981" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>:
<blockquote>
When America and its allies liberated those haunting places of terror and sick destructiveness, the world came to a vivid and tragic understanding of the evil it faced in those years of the Second World War. Each of those names &#8212; Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Treblinka and so many others &#8212; became synonymous with horror.
The millions of deaths, the gas chambers, the inhuman crematoria, and the thousands of people who somehow survived with lifetime scars are all now part of the conscience of history. Forever must we remember just how precious is civilization, how important is liberty, and how heroic is the human spirit. 
</blockquote>
He then mentioned the “genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it.”

Armenians killed by Turks.

Thursday Marks Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Armenians

genocide

Global Politics

Turkey

World

As tensions spill over in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it would not be attending a meeting with Armenia that was set for next Monday in Washington, D.C., condemning the U.S. for taking a “one-sided approach” to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-hate-us-so-much-worlds-oldest-christian-nation-faces-ethnic-cleansing-as-emboldened-azerbaijan-wages-a-silent-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conflict</a> between the European countries. 
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been looking to ramp up <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/armenian-pm-says-intensify-efforts-agree-peace-treaty-with-azerbaijan-tass-2023-11-16/">peace talks</a> between his country and Azerbaijan as the nations contend for the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The 1,700-square-mile mountainous slice of land has been inhabited by Armenians for thousands of years, but it is surrounded by Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim nation that says the region is its territory. 
Azerbaijan was angered by testimony from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien, who spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-snubs-armenia-meeting-washington-accusing-us-bias-2023-11-16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The country said O’Brien’s remarks were “one-sided and biased” after the assistant secretary of state discussed Azerbaijan’s take over of Nagorno-Karabakh in September, which forced more than 100,000 Armenians to flee their homes in what has escalated to ethnic cleansing of the Christian population from the oldest Christian nation in the world. 
During the hearing, O’Brien <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20231115/116574/HHRG-118-FA14-Wstate-OBrienJ-20231115.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the committee that the U.S. government has “urged Azerbaijan to ensure all ethnic Armenians who have departed Nagorno-Karabakh are guaranteed a safe, dignified, and sustainable return, should they so choose, with their rights and security guaranteed.” 
“We have also called for Azerbaijan to respect and protect the cultural heritage of the many groups who have lived in the region throughout the millennia,” O’Brien said, adding, “Our message to Armenia and the displaced has been unambiguous: The United States will support Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic institutions.”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry claimed that O’Brien’s testimony left out important context in the conflict. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of refusing to respond to peace negotiations “for more than two months” and claimed Armenia was “illegally stationing” more than 10,000 troops in Nagorno-Karabakh before Azerbaijan’s takeover. The country also said U.S. officials are unwelcome in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital. 
The Muslim country’s bombardment of Nagorno-Karabakh in September was preceded by a military blockade that began last December, which cut off access to food, electricity, and water from the outside. Yana Avanesyan, a doctoral researcher who is originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-hate-us-so-much-worlds-oldest-christian-nation-faces-ethnic-cleansing-as-emboldened-azerbaijan-wages-a-silent-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Daily Wire</a> last month that the religious difference between the two countries plays a major role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
“When we say Armenians, we are speaking about us being Christians,” Avanesyan told The Daily Wire. “We know they hate us so much that they will just destroy everything.” 
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The U.S. has taken a clear stance in the conflict, condemning Azerbaijan for its recent actions in Nagorno-Karabakh. 
“Azerbaijan’s use of force in Nagorno-Karabakh has eroded trust and raised doubts regarding Baku’s commitment to a comprehensive peace with Armenia,” O’Brien said. “Given this new reality, the Department has made it clear to Azerbaijan that there cannot be ‘business as usual’ in our bilateral relationship. The United States has condemned Azerbaijani actions in Nagorno-Karabakh, canceled high-level bilateral meetings and engagements with Azerbaijan, and suspended plans for future events.”  
Michael Whittaker contributed to this report.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Slams U.S. For Siding With Armenians, Will Skip Meeting With Armenia In D.C. As Tensions Rise

Christians

Europe

Muslims

Washington D.C.

While war and atrocity dominate headlines around the world, a largely overlooked conflict in the Caucuses has escalated to ethnic cleansing of the Christian population from the oldest Christian nation in the world.
For fear of their lives, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/nagorno-karabakh-enclave-emptied-entire-armenian-population-flees/story?id=103655356">more than 100,000 Armenians</a> have been forced to flee their ancestral home in Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan seized total control over the region in September. The 1,700-square-mile mountainous slice of land has been inhabited by Armenians for thousands of years, but it is surrounded by Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim nation that says the region is its territory. 
Though the fight is over territory, experts say that at its core, the conflict stems from ethnic and religious differences between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
“Ethnicity and religion are intertwined. Azerbaijanis may say they do not hate Christians But, when it comes to Armenians — the indigenous population in the region — the Azerbaijanis show no tolerance,” explained Dr. Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and expert on the region. “Azerbaijanis recognize deep down that had it not been for Joseph Stalin, they would have no claim whatsoever to Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azerbaijanis realize they have no legitimacy and so target with special animus those who do.”
Yana Avanesyan, a doctoral researcher who is originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, says the religious difference between the two countries plays a major role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. 
“When we say Armenians, we are speaking about us being Christians,” Avanesyan told The Daily Wire. “We know they hate us so much that they will just destroy everything.” 
Many refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are sick and malnourished – Azerbaijan’s military began blockading the region in December of last year, cutting off access to food, electricity and water from the outside. Some are also exhausted after fleeing into Armenia on foot – and Armenia has expressed concern that it may not have the resources to care for such a massive influx of people.
Her family was among the more than 100,000 who fled the region without a place to go. The estimated population of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is roughly 120,000, meaning nearly the entire population have decided to flee.
“War started in Nagorno-Karabakh, and people were forced to flee, and more than 100,000 people — including my entire family, my parents, my sister, my grandma — they were forced to flee their homes,” Avanesyan said. She was finally reunited with her family around a month ago, but they are now struggling to find a place to live after being uprooted from their home. 
“There are not enough resources in Armenia and people try to solve their issues by themselves. So we are trying to find apartments or houses for me, my family, and my relatives,” said Avanesyan. “I&#8217;m currently trying to find an apartment for my family before we will know what&#8217;s going on because the situation now is very uncertain.”
“No one from the displaced people knows what is going to happen to us,” she said.
<div id="attachment_643009" style="width: 481px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-643009" class=" wp-image-643009" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.29.15-PM-264x300.png" alt="" width="471" height="535" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.29.15-PM-264x300.png 264w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.29.15-PM-508x576.png 508w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.29.15-PM-768x871.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.29.15-PM.png 1220w" sizes="(max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px" />Ethnolinguistic distribution in The Caucasus Region in 2007 via Wikimedia Commons</div>
Armenia has existed in some form or another for nearly three millennia, and became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD. While it has historically been in the political orbit of Russia, since <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/armenia">2018</a> it has made significant anti-corruption and pro-democracy reforms, and has been <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/putin-trip-goes-awry-angry-184312726.html">distancing itself from Moscow.</a> It is currently home to about 2.7 million people.
Azerbaijan traces its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Azerbaijani-people">roots</a> back to the Old Azeris, who were conquered by and intermarried with the Seljuk and later the Mongol Turks between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is predominantly Shia Muslim, although its culture is comparatively secular. Despite its historic and ethnic ties to Iran (more ethnic Azeris live in Iran than Azerbaijan) it is most closely aligned in global politics with Turkey. While it is nominally a republic, it is in fact an authoritarian state controlled by de facto dictator Ilham Aliyev, who was preceded by his father, Heydar Aliyev. It is home to 10.3 million people.
Azerbaijan’s claim to Nagorno-Karabakh, as explained by Rubin, can be traced to Stalin and the Soviet Union, which absorbed both nations.
The Soviets nominally advocated for a universal communist model that would transcend ethnicity and language barriers, but in practice, they often found it prudent to administer regions and subregions based on ethnic divides – the Socialist Republic of Armenia and the Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan were both members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Armenian-majority region of Nagorno-Karabakh was given autonomous status within Azerbaijan.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-643025" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.42.53-PM-300x194.png" alt="" width="568" height="367" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.42.53-PM-300x194.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.42.53-PM-892x576.png 892w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.42.53-PM-768x496.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.42.53-PM.png 1174w" sizes="(max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px" /></div>
In the late 1980s, as the Soviet Union began to collapse, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/content/nagorno-karabakh-conflict-visual-explainer#:~:text=In%201988%2C%20ethnic%20Armenians%20living,grew%20into%20an%20outright%20war.">petitioned</a> to leave Azerbaijan and unify with Armenia – but Azerbaijan refused. What started as a political dispute became a military dispute between the newly independent nations in 1992, in which tens of thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities in both nations were expelled from their homes.
In the aftermath of the 1994 ceasefire, the ‘Republic of Artsakh’ was allowed to exist as a de facto independent state within Azerbaijan, though no other nation, including Armenia, formally recognized its independence. The uneasy truce persisted for decades in what was widely regarded as a “frozen conflict.”
But that conflict rethawed in 2020 after years of border clashes, and ended with Azerbaijan seizing large portions of the Republic of Artsakh. Russia stepped in to negotiate a truce, and sent peacekeepers into Artsakh, as well as the Tachin Corridor (the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world) to ensure the continued independence of the region.
The situation changed in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. As the war dragged on, it became clear that Russia was bogged down and could not commit its forces to another theater, and the Russian peacekeepers who remained in the region did not intervene when Azerbaijan blockaded the Tachin Corridor and cut Nagorno-Karabakh off from the outside world.
“We cannot tolerate any longer having such armed forces on our territory and also a structure which, on a daily basis, challenges the security and sovereignty of Azerbaijan,&#8221; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-says-six-its-citizens-were-killed-by-land-mines-karabakh-2023-09-19/">said</a> Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to President Aliyev.
A coalition of global organizations called <a href="https://www.120000reasons.org/">120,000 Reasons</a> launched a campaign in September that seeks to end the Azerbaijan blockade on Nagorno-Karabakh, and bring attention to what it says is an attempted genocide of the region’s entire Armenian population.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ySWKyVjXJU">Gev Iskayjan</a>, a resident of Nagorno-Karabakh who recently fled to Armenia, told 120,000 Reasons that “over 99% of the ethnic population of Artsakh has left the area. 
“That land that we were on, that Armenians lived on for thousands of years, now, only a handful remain,” Iskayjan said.
<div id="attachment_643011" style="width: 637px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-643011" class=" wp-image-643011" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-300x177.png" alt="" width="627" height="370" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-300x177.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-974x576.png 974w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-768x454.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-1536x908.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Screen-Shot-2023-10-25-at-3.32.47-PM-2048x1211.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px" />Timeline of the flight of the ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh via Wikimedia Commons</div>
Azerbaijan has denied claims that it is pursuing genocide or forcing Armenians out. Its claims were undermined after it captured Stepanakert, the capital of the region, when it renamed one of the city’s streets in honor of Enver Pasha, a military officer for the Ottoman Empire who is known as the architect of the last Armenian genocide, which killed more than a million people in the 1900s. 
That sent a clear signal to the city’s Armenian population.
“Azerbaijan did not order any Armenians to leave,” Amberin Zaman wrote from Armenia for <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/10/azerbaijan-eyes-iran-armenia-borderlands-after-voluntary-exodus-nagorno-karabakh">Al-Monitor</a>. “Yet it ensured that life was so miserable that few would opt to stay. Indeed, even as Azerbaijani authorities rebuffed claims of ethnic cleansing, insisting their forces had struck ‘legitimate military targets,’ eyewitness accounts of rape and indiscriminate shelling that wounded and killed children began to emerge.”
Various Western nations, including the United States, condemned Azerbaijan, and as recently as last month <a href="https://asbarez.com/u-s-will-not-tolerate-ethnic-cleansing-in-artsakh-opening-lachin-corridor-is-not-negotiable/">senior U.S. officials</a> said they would not tolerate any action against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. But in the aftermath of the invasion and dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh there has been no meaningful response. Even Armenia stayed out of the conflict, to the outrage of many of its citizens.
“It is amazing that an ethnic cleansing happened in the 21st century and there is absolutely no reaction from the international community,” political analyst Tigran Grigoryan told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203548012/armenia-scrambles-to-absorb-the-flood-of-refugees-from-nagorno-karabakh">NPR</a>. “If this happened somewhere in Europe, I believe [the Azerbaijani leadership] would already be on international wanted lists.”
Iskayjan told reporters that while he and many other Armenians feel “betrayed” by the international community, the incident raises broader questions about the influence of the United States and its allies overseas.
“Policymakers in the United States have to ask themselves, Does our word mean anything?” he said. “If a state actor like Azerbaijan can, at any time, willingly disregard what we say, what does that say about the strength of our State Department and the strength of our foreign policy?”
It’s possible that Azerbaijan believes it has too much leverage to be cowed by Western condemnation – the country is rich in natural gas, and since trade sanctions against Russia have cut Europe off from Russian energy exports, Azerbaijan has stepped in to cover some of the shortfall, with tentative plans to <a href="https://eurasianet.org/plans-for-doubling-azerbaijans-gas-flows-to-europe-on-hold">double its gas exports to Europe</a>. 
Now that Azerbaijan has secured Nagorno-Karabakh, many observers fear that an emboldened Azerbaijan could push into Armenia proper to seize control of the strategic <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/11/azerbaijan-armenia-karabakh-nakhchivan-corridor/">Zangezur corridor</a>, which would create a direct land route from the Caspian Sea to its close ally, Turkey. Armenia had promised Azerbaijan access to trade throughout the territory as part of the 2020 truce but has since walked back that promise, arguing that Azerbaijan’s presence in the area would effectively mean military occupation.
It’s unclear how other global or regional powers would respond to such an invasion, given the muted response thus far to the seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh. The escalated conflict could produce strange bedfellows, according to <a href="https://nesa-center.org/the-stakes-of-the-nagorno-karabakh-conflict-and-the-strategic-alliances-mapping/">foreign policy analysts</a>.
Russia could pivot into Azerbaijan’s camp out of a simple desire to side with the stronger party and minimize its own involvement. Turkey, formally a U.S. ally, is very close to Azerbaijan, and Israel has <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/azerbaijan-israels-secret-muslim-friend-431810">a strategic partnership</a> with the Azerbaijanis based on their mutual enmity with Iran. <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/india-considers-sending-armenia-more-weapons/articleshow/104707633.cms">India</a>, meanwhile, has been strengthening its ties with Armenia, while Iran is also backing the Christian nation against its regional rivals.
It’s also possible that Armenia could pivot further into the Western camp now that it no longer sees Russia as a reliable protector.
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, has called for greater U.S. support to Armenia and blasted the Biden administration for <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/551577-biden-waiving-restriction-blocking-aid-to-azerbaijan-over-armenia/">sending U.S. aid and weapons to Azerbaijan</a>. He also expressed concern that the mass exodus was part of a broader pattern of anti-Christian discrimination around the world.
&#8220;We&#8217;re seeing another ancient Christian population being run out of the region,” Brownback said. “Most of the Middle East and North Africa, the Christians have all been run out.”

Armenia Ethnic Cleansing

‘They Hate Us So Much’: World’s Oldest Christian Nation Faces Ethnic Cleansing As Emboldened Azerbaijan Wages A Silent War

Christian

Foreign Policy

Religion

Tensions boiled over Tuesday night outside a California school board meeting where officials were discussing efforts to celebrate Pride month, with parents and activists squaring off against masked Antifa members.
The clash came outside the Glendale Unified School District&#8217;s headquarters, where parents, many from the Los Angeles County city&#8217;s Armenian and Hispanic communities, were blasting board members for promoting a pro-LGBTQ agenda to young children. Other speakers, including a man in a skirt and high heels, showed up in support of the district&#8217;s pro-Pride agenda, according to reports.
“All of these fake people [pointing to several masked crowd members] are going to go away, and we’re going to vote every one of you [pointing to the school board] out,” one father warned, <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/06/antifa-armenian-parents-clash-california-school-board-meeting-required-lgbtq-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Daily Signal</a>.
The issue has roiled the district in recent days, with many parents, including those from ethnic communities, pulling their children out of school in protest.  Some elementary schools only had a 40% attendance rate on June 2, The Daily Signal <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/06/antifa-armenian-parents-clash-california-school-board-meeting-required-lgbtq-activities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Outside the meeting Tuesday, three people were arrested as parents confronted members of Antifa clad in masks and pink bandanas. It was not known who was arrested, but Glendale Police said the suspects “exceeded the bounds of peaceful assembly” and blamed &#8220;agitators&#8221; for sparking the confrontation outside.
&#8220;Unfortunately, a handful of agitators, on both sides of the issue, arrived at the demonstration with a clear desire to confront and incite violence, ultimately engaging in physical assaults,&#8221; Glendale Police said in a statement. &#8220;Both sides took to social media to rally their supporters to convene at GUSD Headquarters ahead of the last board meeting of the school year.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Breaking: Armenian-American men fight against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antifa</a> &amp; far-left protesters outside the Glendale (CA) school board meeting. Immigrant families have been furious that elementary schools are doing pride events. Antifa have gathered to oppose the parents. <a href="https://t.co/1LCTeCgc32">pic.twitter.com/1LCTeCgc32</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1666254636443918338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Armenian parents have not been the only ethnic community protesting the LGBTQ+ agenda.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH today in Glendale, CA. You know you messed up when the papa bears show up. These are Armenian papa bears. The school district is also pushing age-inappropriate sexual content to 4-year-olds. Antifa came out to fight the dads. The papa bears WON. <a href="https://t.co/bKWn5Lio25">pic.twitter.com/bKWn5Lio25</a>
&mdash; Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) <a href="https://twitter.com/AsraNomani/status/1666321546263121921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Parents told board members inside and media covering the confrontation outside that they opposed pushing the pro-LGBTQ agenda on children.
“Bringing in curriculum for K-6 on gender ideology, that is what we’re against,” Any Torosyan, a parent from Glendale, told <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/fights-break-out-amid-glendale-school-board-meeting-on-pride-curriculum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KTLA</a>.
“I graduated from Glendale in ‘96, and I have two daughters,” one father told the board. “My daughter is afraid to change in the locker room because she knows another guy could come into the room. When I asked the principal, he told me there were no cross-gender bathroom policies.”
One teacher who works in the district told the board that children know they are transgender by as early as 3 years old, and that they are being persecuted.
“I am also a community member who volunteers extensively in South LA and work with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles with queer/trans youth in large groups, and so I deal with a lot of their trauma related to the hetero-normative, Judeo-Christian, patriarchal, imperialist, capitalist system that oppresses them.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A teacher in the Glendale School District in California, where the violent protests went on earlier between Antifa and Armenians over pride month, went on an absolutely batshit insane rant during the school board meeting:
&quot;I deal with a lot of the trauma of LGBT youth related to… <a href="https://t.co/9igIPL5R4Q">pic.twitter.com/9igIPL5R4Q</a>
&mdash; Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1666275924508114944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“Recently, intentional and harmful disinformation has been circulating about what is being taught in our district and the ways we serve our students,” Glendale Unified School District said in a <a href="https://www.gusd.net/info" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “This includes disinformation about LGBTQIA+ curriculum, sex education, and supporting transgender and gender non-conforming youth.”
“The option to opt out pertains only to certain curriculum, including development/maturation and sex education. Parents/guardians may not opt their child out of any lesson referencing LGBTQ+ individuals and history, as dictated by the FAIR Act,” the statement adds.
The California FAIR Education Act was passed in 2011. It <a href="https://www.scusd.edu/fair-education-act#:~:text=The%20FAIR%20Education%20Act%20(also,history%20and%20social%20studies%20curriculum." target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires</a> instruction in history/ social science to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans in the teaching of California and United States history.
The California Department of Education&#8217;s California Healthy Youth Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 2016, mandates that K-12 curriculum incorporate the LGBTQ agenda.
&#8220;Instruction shall affirmatively recognize that people have different sexual orientations and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships and couples, must be inclusive of same-sex relationships,&#8221; it states. &#8220;It must also teach students about gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes.&#8221;

Protestors face off with their opposing opinions as they join crowds gathering outside a Glendale Unified School District meeting where parents and activists differ over teaching sexual identity to kids at Glendale Unified School District in Burbank

Armenian, Hispanic Parents Clash With Antifa, School Board Over LGBTQ Agenda

Antifa

California

Education

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U.S.

A large fireworks blast in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, rocked the city on Sunday, killing multiple people and wounding dozens more.
The explosion, which occurred at the Surmalu market, killed at least two people and injured at least 60 others.
First responders were still battling the fire that the explosion set off at the shopping mall well into the night while others tried to search for people who might be trapped under the rubble.
Video of the incident shows a massive plume of black smoke coming up from the area before the explosion leveled the building and sent people running.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
At least one person is dead and 20 injured after a strong explosion at a fireworks storage hit a large market in Armenian capital Yerevan.
Read more: <a href="https://t.co/5tZerDKEIU">https://t.co/5tZerDKEIU</a> <a href="https://t.co/lr4O5b6eLz">pic.twitter.com/lr4O5b6eLz</a>
&mdash; Sky News (@SkyNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1558819931613011970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a developing news story; refresh the page for updates.

ARMENIA-BLAST

WATCH: Massive Fireworks Explosion Levels Building; Multiple Fatalities Confirmed With Dozens Injured

Explosion

Fire

In a call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday, President Joe Biden told the Turkish leader that he plans to recognize the mass killing and displacement of more than 1.5 million Armenians that occurred over a hundred years ago as genocide, according to a report from <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">Bloomberg</a>.
The White House did not discuss the topic of Biden’s potential declaration in a statement regarding Biden’s first call of his term with Erdoğan. The White House <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">said</a> that Biden told the Turkish president that he is interested in a “constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements.”
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/world/europe/armenia-genocide-turkey-biden.html">The New York Times</a> reported that Biden is set to make the official declaration on Saturday, likely upsetting Turkish leaders like Erdoğan who have pushed back on using the term “genocide” to describe what happened to the Armenians. On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-poised-to-recognize-armenian-massacres-as-genocide-officials-say-11619048891">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that officials said Biden is expected to describe the deportation, starvation, and massacres of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks beginning in 1915 as genocide.
In early 2019, Erdoğan <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-23/biden-tells-erdogan-he-will-call-armenian-massacre-a-genocide">reportedly</a> said in a Twitter post that “the relocation of the Armenian gangs and their supporters, who massacred the Muslim people, including women and children, in eastern Anatolia, was the most reasonable action that could be taken in such a period.”
Erdoğan said in a statement Thursday that Turkey &#8220;will continue to defend truths against the so-called Armenian genocide lie and those who support this slander with political motivations,&#8221; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/23/989915018/what-it-means-for-the-u-s-to-call-the-atrocities-against-armenians-genocide">NPR</a> reported.
<a href="https://cqrcengage.com/aaainc/genocide">The Armenian Assembly of America</a> states that April 24th is the day that the Armenian Genocide is commemorated around the globe. The group includes the importance of acknowledging the massacre as genocide on their website, writing, “Unequivocally affirming the Armenian Genocide would honor the more than 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred. It would also serve to remember this proud chapter in America&#8217;s history of helping to save the survivors. We must remember atrocities to prevent them from occurring again.”
According to the online <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Armenian-Genocide">Encyclopedia Brittanica</a>, the Armenian Genocide refers to the efforts to deport and kill massive numbers of Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turk government during World War I (between 1914 and 1918). Armenians claim that the campaign was a deliberate venture to destroy the Armenian people and, therefore, was an act of genocide. However, the Turkish government has pushed back on calls to recognize the events in those terms. It has conceded that atrocities occurred, but there was no official extermination policy that was carried out against the Armenians as a unit.
President Reagan was the only president to speak of the devastating events as genocide in a declaration remembering the horrors of the Holocaust. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamations-april-22-1981">stated</a>, “Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it — and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples — the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” Many of Reagan’s successors have made claims that they would recognize the Armenian genocide when they are elected, but none have officially done so. On April 24, presidents have released statements commemorating the day of remembrance, but none since have referred to it as “genocide.”
As reported by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-poised-to-recognize-armenian-massacres-as-genocide-officials-say-11619048891">The Wall Street Journal</a>, at the end of his presidential campaign, Biden’s campaign said that he would “recognize the Armenian genocide and make universal human rights a top priority for his administration so that such a tragedy can never again occur.”
On Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day last year, Biden put out a <a href="https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-by-vice-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-genocide-remembrance-day-78500cb4dd1c">statement</a> regarding the commemoration of the tragedy.
Biden <a href="https://medium.com/@JoeBiden/statement-by-vice-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-genocide-remembrance-day-78500cb4dd1c">stated</a>, “Today we remember the atrocities faced by the Armenian people in the Metz Yeghern — the Armenian Genocide…We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination. And we will forever respect the perseverance of the Armenian people in the wake of such tragedy.”
His statement continued, “It is particularly important to speak these words and commemorate this history at a moment when we are reminded daily of the power of truth, and of our shared responsibility to stand against hate — because silence is complicity. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words ‘never again’ lose their meaning. The facts must be as clear and as powerful for future generations as for those whose memories are seared by tragedy. Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities.”

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Report: Biden Tells Turkish President Erdogan He Will Recognize Armenian Genocide

Biden Administration

Joe Biden

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

On Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused members of the military of trying to start a coup after a group of military leaders called on him to resign from his position.
The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56194421">BBC</a> reports,
<blockquote>In its statement, the military said &#8220;the prime minister and the government are no longer able to make reasonable decisions&#8221;, according to the Armenpress.
&#8220;For a long time, the Armenian armed forces were patiently tolerating the &#8216;attacks&#8217; by the incumbent government aimed at defaming the armed forces, but everything has its limits.&#8221; 
The statement accused Mr Pashinyan&#8217;s government of making &#8220;serious mistakes in foreign policy&#8221; that resulted in the Armenian state being on the verge of destruction.</blockquote>
The prime minister fired the deputy chief of the General Staff, Tiran Khacharyan and the military put forth its declaration after Khacharyan was let go.
According to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56194421">BBC</a>, Pashinyan told thousands of people who support him that the army &#8220;must obey the people and elected authorities.&#8221;
Pashinyan has reportedly been criticized due to his loss of a conflict with Azerbaijan last year that led to large protests. The conflict was reportedly involving an enclave that is technically accepted as belonging to Azerbaijan, but following a truce in 1994, it has been run by ethnic Armenians.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/armenian-pm-faces-militarys-demand-to-resign-talks-of-coup">Fox News</a> reports that earlier in the week Lt. Gen. Tiran Khacharyan &#8220;derided the prime minister&#8217;s claim that just 10% of Russia-supplied Iskander missiles that Armenia used in the conflict exploded on impact.&#8221; This appears to have possibly impacted the prime minister&#8217;s decision to fire Khacharyan, which then led to the military releasing its statement.
As reported by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56194421">BBC</a>, &#8220;During the bloody six-weeks of fighting late last year, Azerbaijan not only recaptured areas around the enclave but also took the key town of Shusha inside it. Under the Russian-brokered deal that emerged shortly afterwards, Azerbaijan keeps the areas it has captured. Hundreds of Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the disputed area.&#8221;
After Pashinyan signed the peace deal on November 10, protests reportedly began as people claimed that he should resign.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/armenian-pm-faces-militarys-demand-to-resign-talks-of-coup">Fox News</a> reports,
<blockquote>The Russia-brokered agreement ended 44 days of fierce fighting in which the Azerbaijani army routed Armenian forces. Pashinyan has defended the peace deal as a painful but necessary move to prevent Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region. </blockquote>
The Prime Minister originally posted a video on Facebook on Thursday, saying that he saw the military&#8217;s declaration from earlier in the day as an &#8220;attempted military coup.&#8221;
Later, he was spotted with thousands of his backers, telling them, &#8220;The army is not a political institution, and attempts to involve it in political processes are unacceptable.&#8221; The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56194421">BBC</a> reports, &#8220;But he invited the opposition to hold talks on how to resolve the crisis, stressing that any change in power must take place &#8216;only through elections&#8217;.&#8221;
At the same time, people who oppose the prime minister gathered and, according to reporting by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/armenian-pm-faces-militarys-demand-to-resign-talks-of-coup">Fox News</a>, &#8220;swarmed the streets of the Armenian capital, chanting &#8216;Nikol, you traitor!&#8217; and &#8216;Nikol, resign!'&#8221;
Armenian President Armen Sargsyan reportedly asked for the people involved to &#8220;show restraint and common sense&#8221;.
Pashinyan used to be a journalist and, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56194421">BBC</a>, led a &#8220;peaceful 2018 revolution in the post-Soviet state&#8221; before becoming prime minister.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/armenian-pm-faces-militarys-demand-to-resign-talks-of-coup">Fox News</a> reports that after the statement was issued by the military, Pashinyan fired the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Onik Gasparyan.

E291ABEA-0426-4862-826C-3DAC99E1D9A6_1_201_a

Armenian Prime Minister Accuses Military Of Attempted Coup

System of a Down, the esteemed alternative hard rock band, has returned after a long-awaited, fifteen-year hiatus from releasing original music. The Los Angeles based group, comprised entirely of ethnically Armenian musicians, released a double A-side single this week, “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz.”
The band’s beginnings trace back to Los Angeles in the early 90s, where Serj Tankian first met guitarist Daron Malakian. Bonding over their shared culture and passion for music, the Armenian duo decided to start a band, recruiting Shavo Odadjian on bass and John Dolmayan on the drums. Tankian, a descendant of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, was also an ardent political activist, especially on issues surrounding Armenia. It was the convergence of these passions, seasoned with an array of musical influences, that birthed System of a Down.
Bursting onto the hard-rock scene in 1998 with their eponymous debut, SOAD’s music was, from its earliest epoch, brimming with both ferocity and creative melodies. SOAD crafted a unique sound born of its members&#8217; influences, with heavy, overdriven riffs that hark back to Slayer and Metallica, and distinct scales echoing Armenian folk. The drums, similarly, eschew typical orthodoxies of metal and swing – a characteristic of jazz, which the band’s drummer, John Dolmayan, has cited as an early influence.
Throughout their career, despite being a Los Angeles band, SOAD has never demurred from their roots, instead, they proudly intertwined their image as a band with their ethnic Armenian heritage. In the music video for their 2001 hit, &#8220;Toxicity,&#8221; they featured a scene of all four band members eating sunflower seeds – a stereotypical Armenian past time according to the lyrics &#8212; with their discarded shells forming an effigy of Mount Ararat, a national symbol for the Armenian people. The video for their 2005 single, &#8220;B.Y.O.B.&#8221; (&#8220;Bring Your Own Bombs&#8221;), featured a giant Armenian flag waving in the background.
In addition to using their platform to promote Armenian culture, System of a Down has also never shied away from using its art as a vessel for addressing political and moral issues. In “Holy Mountains,” off their 2005 album, Hypnotize, they wrote a rock song about the Armenian Genocide – exposing reams of otherwise unaware music fans to what, especially in the early 2000s, remained largely a concealed facet of history. In &#8220;B.Y.O.B.,&#8221; SOAD penned a contemporary antiwar anthem as an upbeat hard rock song – much like Creedence Clearwater’s “Fortunate Son” or Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”
Citing creative and artistic differences, the band announced an indefinite hiatus from making music in 2006, after releasing a pair of albums in 2005, Mesmerize and Hypnotize. More recently, political differences had flared and wedged themselves between members. I spoke with the band’s songwriter and vocalist, Serj Tankian, about music as a form of political commentary, the current state of System of a Down, and its future.
Tankian shared his insight on how music &#8212; especially good music that can withstand the test of time and become ingrained in our cultural fabric – can be wielded to motivate cultural and political change, explaining, “Music, especially with strong intentional messaging, can be a potent form of soft power. Our intuitive senses first process it and if we’re moved, it then in turn affects our reasoning which itself can shape the world that we live in or at least our worldview.”
Expounding on the contention within the band surrounding the American elections and President Donald Trump, Tankian stated, “The band may not agree on American politics, but we are all on the same page with Armenia and Artsakh. That does not mean we no longer have artistic or political differences.” 
During his time away from SOAD, Tankian has remained dedicated to his advocacy, embarking on numerous film and solo music endeavors. But nothing generated the excitement that came from SOAD reuniting, with the release of new music leading to a frenzy from fans. I asked Tankian for his thoughts on System of a Down as cultural phenomenon and as something greater than the sum of its parts, he explained, “SOAD is a unique phenomenon that has resonated resolutely with people around the world in a beautiful and powerful fashion that cannot be replicated. That said it doesn’t mean we can’t as artists pursue all our individual pursuits as not everything can be accomplished within one group.”
When asked about his plans to continue making music with System of a Down, he emphasized that currently creating music for solely artistic and creative ends is not the band’s focus. Tankian added that Armenia is still in the midst of an unnerving war with Azerbaijan and Turkey that has, to date, displaced more than <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/azerbaijan-makes-gains-in-conflict-with-armenia-setting-back-peace-efforts-11604683127">sixty percent</a> (over 90,000 civilians) of Nagorno Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian population. “Right now, we’re focused on what’s happening in Artsakh; we didn’t record these songs for us as artists, nor each other as friends. We did this for our people, our nation, suffering a horrendous humanitarian catastrophe due to Azerbaijan and Turkey committing war crimes against Artsakh and Armenia. So, no, we have not discussed the future of SOAD. It’s not what’s pertinent to us right now.”
It was against this ominous backdrop that Serj, Daron, Shavo and John, under the banner of System of a Down, began recording sessions for their new singles, “Protect the Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz.”
The first of the double A-side singles, “Protect the Land,” was written by the band’s guitarist, Daron Malakian, and features Tankian on backing harmonies where he supplies his far-reaching vocal range in spates. The song pays homage to Armenian soldiers past and present, with Tankian and Malakian harmonizing to form a blend of vocals with immense musical deftness.  In his lyrics, Malakian repeatedly queries the listener, asking, “If they will try to push you far away, would you stay and take a stand? Would you stay with gun in hand?” Malakian is quick to draw a distinction between himself and the men and women on the front lines whose bravery he extolls in the third person, &#8220;They protect the land.&#8221;
“Genocidal Humanoidz” exudes the very essence of System of a Down; it is the band at their most primal. At just two-and-a-half minutes long, it never lingers. The song is terse and precise, maximizing its effect. It wastes no time, opening with Malakian’s distorted, crunchy guitar riff over John Dolmayan’s thumping drumbeat. Tankian’s vocals shimmy into the mix as he moves in and out of his hypnotic staccato cadence and unleashes his mammoth vocals in the chorus. Tankian goes on to express his disdain for NATO and the U.N., saying &#8220;prostitutes who prosecute have failed us from the start.&#8221;
While diverging artistic visions and political squabbles splintered System of a Down, it was their initial source of camaraderie: a deep passion and ardor for their Armenian culture that brought them back together.
Underscoring their decision to overlook and set aside trivial disagreements in pursuit of a common goal, the band issued an official statement on their website, writing that both songs “speak of a dire and serious war being perpetrated upon our cultural homelands of Artsakh and Armenia.” Proceeds from the double A-side single as well as the accompanying merchandise, all available on System of a Down’s <a href="https://systemofadown.com/splash/">website</a>, will be donated to the Armenian Fund.
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System Of A Down

Rock Band ‘System of a Down’ Puts Aside Political Disagreements on Trump, Reunites For New Music

Donald Trump

On September 27, a century-old conflict reignited when Armenia’s Muslim-majority neighbor, Azerbaijan, launched an unprovoked military incursion into the ethnic, indigenous-Armenian populated enclave of Artsakh — better known by its Russian-Persian name of Nagorno-Karabakh. The coordinated attack, involving artillery and aerial strikes, targeted civilian settlements, placing the region’s capital Stepanakert in its crosshairs.
According to the <a href="https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1031655.html">latest report</a> from the Defense Ministry of Artsakh, Armenia’s death toll continues to climb, exceeding 604 people. Azerbaijan has not reported on its casualties.
Shortly after the attack began, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey announced his full support of Azerbaijan and their campaign to conquer ethnic Armenian territory, calling for Armenia to withdraw from the disputed region.
Erdogan’s support for Azerbaijan’s attack goes beyond vocal enthusiasm. Since the fighting began, Turkey has armed and deployed <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/09/29/Turkey-sent-700-to-1-000-Syrian-mercenaries-to-Azerbaijan-Reports">Syrian mercenaries</a> — including Islamic <a href="https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1031734/">terrorists,</a> actions which were <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/syrias-assad-says-turkeys-erdogan-main-instigator-in-nagorno-karabakh-644704">confirmed</a> by Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad. The Turkish state has denied such involvement, despite further photographic <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36955/satellite-images-confirm-turkish-f-16-fighters-secretly-deployed-to-azerbaijan">evidence</a> of Turkey supplying Azerbaijan’s air force with F-16 Viper fighter jets.
In an <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-turkey-drones">interview</a> with one Turkish news channel, Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev praised Turkish drone technology, stating, “Thanks to advanced Turkish drones owned by the Azerbaijan military, our casualties on the front shrunk… these drones show Turkey’s strength. It also empowers us.”
In order to better understand this eruption of violence between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and why it may present an existential threat for Armenia itself, it is important to understand the wider history of this conflict.
The origins of the Armenia-Azerbaijani conflict over Artsakh are rooted in Soviet history, tracing back to the dissolution of the Russian Monarchy in 1917. Shortly after the Bolshevik uprising that ousted the Tsar, Armenia and its neighbors in the Caucasus region – all of whom were previously part of the vast Russian Empire – attained collective independence as a single South Caucus state known as the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR). Due to inevitable internal conflicts, however, such independence was short-lived; the TDFR soon divided into the Democratic Republic of Georgia, the Democratic Republic of Armenia, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Between 1918 and 1920, three historically Armenian regions in this area (which had also become home to large Turk populations following nomadic Turkic conquests of the Armenian homeland) — Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Nakhichevan, and Zangezur — became battlegrounds in Armenia’s attempt to regain parts of its ancestral homeland from Azerbaijan’s expansionist grip.
In 1920, the Soviet Union shuffled the regional map yet again. Zangezur remained within Soviet Armenia, while Nakhichevan and Nagorno-Karabakh were placed under Soviet Azerbaijan as “autonomous oblasts.” Some say that this was part of Joseph Stalin’s divide and conquer strategy. However, other scholars claim that the annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Soviet Azerbaijan recognized the political realities of the day. Turkey had committed the Armenian Genocide and were determined to further weaken what was left of Armenia, and were lobbying the Soviets for generosity in favor of a nation which shared with Turkey a common ethnicity and language, Azerbaijan. Then again, others say that the Soviets favored Azerbaijan’s oil reserves over Armenians’ ancient presence and rich history in the South Caucasus.
Over the next few decades, skirmishes between the Soviet states of Armenia and Azerbaijan stalled, shuddering to a standstill under Soviet rule. However, as the Iron Curtain began to decay in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, the once frozen dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh began to thaw.
Fearing the fate of Nakhichevan’s Armenian residents — who, under aggressive Azeri rule, had been ethnically cleansed from their indigenous Christian-Armenian homeland — Nagorno-Karabakh pursued confederacy with Soviet Armenia in 1988. However, under Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s rigid policies, the region descended into chaos as war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
When the Soviet Union collapsed just three years later, Armenia and Azerbaijan emerged as newly independent states, with tensions rapidly escalating. Armenia-backed Nagorno-Karabakh (which the native Armenian inhabitants call Artsakh) faced an Azerbaijan aided by mercenaries and volunteers from its Muslim-majority compatriots, Afghanistan and Chechnya, and heavily supported by Turkey, which some believe had a plan of attacking Armenia in 1993.
After the death of tens of thousands of people, and the displacement of many more, Russia successfully mediated a cease-fire in May of 1994. Armenians miraculously won the war, with Artsakh becoming a de-facto republic while also gaining a large “buffer zone” territory which was not part of its Soviet boundaries.
A victim of its geography, Armenia remains nestled between, at best, apathetic neighbors to the North and South: Georgia, who even today refuse to support Armenia against the onslaught of Azeri aggression out of fear for its own sovereignty; and Iran: the Shia-Muslim theocracy which would be hard-pressed to rally behind a Christian nation against another Shia-Muslim state. To its East and West, Armenia lies sandwiched between enemies: Turkey — the nation directly responsible for carrying out a genocide against the Armenian people in 1915 — and Azerbaijan — a nation of indigenous Turks with the same genocidal ambitions.
Except for an unsuccessful attempt by Azerbaijan to enter the region in 2016, a nominal truce between Armenia and the Azeris had remained stable for decades — until now.
Despite fervent pleas from world powers in support of de-escalation or a cease-fire, Azerbaijan, with Turkey’s support and ardor, has been relentlessly pursuing their military campaign against Artsakh, and by extension, Armenia.
Turkey and Azerbaijan are waging their campaign against Artsakh and Armenia on two fronts. On one front, they attack Armenia militarily, seeking to destroy its people and raze its cities. On the second front, they seek to undermine and delegitimize the plight of the Armenian people through the dissemination of propaganda. While <a href="https://surfshark.com/blog/azerbaijan-starts-blocking-media">censoring social media</a> within their own borders, Azerbaijan blurs reality, attempting to paint itself as a feeble victim against some supposed Armenian aggression. Funneling money and influence into the Western world, Azerbaijan and Turkey have succeeded in silencing celebrities such as Sir Elton John and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-10-07/cardi-b-armenia-fundraiser-twitter-apology">Cardi B</a>, both of whom had initially voiced their support for the Armenian people on social media, but later succumbed to surmounting pressure from Azerbaijan and withdrew their statements.
While reams of Turkish propaganda flood social media with misinformation, certain truths cannot be refuted. The indigenously Armenian enclave of Artsakh, with a population of just 150,000 and the Christian, democratic state of Armenia, with a population dwarfed by its diaspora, is outmanned and outgunned by the oil-rich and militarily advanced forces of Turkey and Azerbaijan, with a net population of over 100 million. It is an existential crisis for Armenia: one people descended from the survivors and victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide is facing annihilation at the hands of a people descended from the very perpetrators of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
Delivering a speech on the eve of the Second World War and the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler ruminated on the forgotten genocide of the Armenian people, invoking their neglected ruin under the fog of war before embarking on his own campaign of mass-slaughter. It is precisely because history callously forgot the Armenians that today, as the prospect of yet another genocide threatens Armenia, Turkey and their Azerbaijani proxy similarly ponder, “Who, after all, today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
Harry Khachatrian is a Canadian computer engineer and a contributor at The Daily Wire. Find him on <a href="https://twitter.com/Harry1T6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://twitter.com/Harry1T6&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1513617344022000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHh2pXFSex2266c4GY1YE3A-Q6Ykw">Twitter</a>.

TURKEY-ARZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA-PROTEST

Violent Conflict Explodes Between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Here’s What You Need To Know.

With impeachment dominating everything from news headlines to dinner conversations to the halls of Congress, America’s most vital international relationships are easily lost in the shuffle.
It starts with Ukraine, the foreign country at the center of the scandal. The impeachment proceedings place U.S. ties with Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky — a man elected by the Ukrainian people to help solve the country’s deadly conflict with Russia and to deliver what some call a “revolution of dignity” — in a perilous position.
The much-discussed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/official-readout-president-trump-s-july-25-phone-call-with-ukraine-s-volodymyr-zelensky/4b228f51-17e7-45bc-b16c-3b2643f3fbe0/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/official-readout-president-trump-s-july-25-phone-call-with-ukraine-s-volodymyr-zelensky/4b228f51-17e7-45bc-b16c-3b2643f3fbe0/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579801320101000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFeiE-OAXVQlo6ZbKlHaqiHwHpBOQ">call</a> between President Donald Trump and Zelensky has become famous not for the world leaders’ conversation on a diplomatic roadmap featuring defense and energy collaboration, but rather on the alleged quid pro quo that sparked the impeachment inquiry.
For Ukraine, the allegations are harmful, at best, and disastrous, at worst. The young post-Soviet state depends on a $400 million annual aid package from the U.S. in order to defend itself against Russia, which in 2014 annexed Crimea in defiance of international law. Yet at this time, when Ukraine remains highly vulnerable to Russian intervention, Kiev’s allies in Washington are engulfed by the continued fallout of the Trump-Zelensky call.
In fact, American support for Ukraine is part of a longer-term strategy. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the U.S. has supplied foreign aid to Ukraine in hopes of fostering pro-Western political and military ties — and it has worked. When Russia annexed Crimea, the U.S. swiftly sanctioned Russia and increased its military backing of Ukraine.
Now, American assistance to Ukraine has transformed into a political football. Trump initially withheld military aid funds, for example, ahead of his call with Zelensky — though they have long since been delivered. Ultimately, any threat to these bilateral relations could simultaneously erode Ukraine’s independence and undercut Washington’s strategic objectives in its ongoing rivalry with Moscow. On the latter issue, one of the most vital aspects of American-Ukrainian diplomatic relations is energy independence. Ukraine and another U.S. ally in the region, Azerbaijan, are studying the possible expansion of the Azerbaijani-led Southern Gas Corridor initiative, which bypasses Russia and promises to diversify the gas supplies available to Europe.
“Ukraine supports the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project,” <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-ta-azerbajdzhan-aktivizuyut-spivpracyu-u-sferi-mizh-58929" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-ta-azerbajdzhan-aktivizuyut-spivpracyu-u-sferi-mizh-58929&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579801320101000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGLAmXztou5dUS8jcg0c0MdmQfL7w">Zelensky told the press</a> following a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku last month. “We have agreed to consider its expansion. This is an important factor in the diversification of the gas supply to European consumers.”
America’s strategic ties in the region also bring to light the moral compass of U.S. foreign policy. In particular, it is incumbent upon the U.S. to be consistent in its treatment of post-Soviet separatist conflicts, as well as to respect the territorial integrity of all post-Soviet states and regions. This priority spans from Ukraine to Azerbaijan and from Crimea to Nagorno-Karabakh, the territory which is the source of the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia carries out an ongoing, illegal occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other adjacent regions of Azerbaijan — in violation of several U.N. resolutions as well as the <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rt/snec/c7560.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rt/snec/c7560.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579801320101000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF0tsytOIeYg8_8enkV7h2pxJ5V2A">U.S. State Department policy</a> that “supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.”
At the same time, some of the most vocal congressional advocates for impeachment over the Ukraine allegations — Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Brad Sherman (D-CA) — are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/miller-impeachment-focused-house-democrats-should-clean-their-own-house" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/news/miller-impeachment-focused-house-democrats-should-clean-their-own-house&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579801320101000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFB5b7y0glonStMlfNCnQCaG1laPA">among Capitol Hill’s leading backers of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh</a>.
Ukraine and Azerbaijan have also consistently supported one another on the issues of restoring sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.
“Our relations withstood the tests of time,” Zelensky <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-ta-azerbajdzhan-demonstruyut-blizki-poziciyi-z-baga-58921" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-ta-azerbajdzhan-demonstruyut-blizki-poziciyi-z-baga-58921&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579801320101000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGzkKbiPeneZTVepBme61R-N2CoYA">said in a separate statement</a> to the media last month. “We have always helped one another in difficult moments, very difficult moments of modern history. So, Azerbaijan has been, is and will be a reliable friend for Ukraine, and I am sure that it will be a strategic partner.”
Russia and Armenia — the respective occupiers of internationally recognized Ukrainian and Azerbaijani territories — also have their own foundational strategic relationships. Yet they maintain those alliances with a number of adversaries of the U.S. and rogue states, such as Iran, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela.
As a world power, America has a responsibility to stand up not only for its own strategic interests, but also for the broad principles of sovereignty and respect for nations&#8217; internationally recognized lands. All-consuming episodes likes impeachment, however, threaten to disrupt the balance and direction of U.S. policy. Rather than succumbing to its domestic polarization, America must prioritize the strategic relationships that will outlive the Trump era.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.jpost.com/Author/Maayan-Jaffe-Hoffman">Maayan Hoffman</a> is news editor and head of online content and strategy at The Jerusalem Post. She has been an American-Israeli international journalist for more than two decades.

U.S. President Trump At The World Economic Forum (WEF)

HOFFMAN: Impeachment Threatens America’s Strategy Toward Post-Soviet States

Impeachment

Russia

Soviet Union

Ukraine

Led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the contingent of impeachment investigators in Congress continue to garner headlines over the probe into the administration’s alleged corruption and solicitation of foreign interference. But perhaps Schiff and his colleagues should first clean their own house.
Flying well under the radar of the ongoing impeachment frenzy was the news that the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund (Armenia Fund) recently <a href="https://jam-news.net/armenian-telethon-charity-drive-raises-record-low-of-10-mln-in-wake-of-scandal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jam-news.net/armenian-telethon-charity-drive-raises-record-low-of-10-mln-in-wake-of-scandal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGlD5vfR-IDCz23fHUhqSeeshriIA">raised a record-low $10 million</a> during its annual telethon a year after the <a href="http://asbarez.com/173346/hayastan-all-armenian-funds-director-arrested-for-embezzlement/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://asbarez.com/173346/hayastan-all-armenian-funds-director-arrested-for-embezzlement/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE5YZflNFXABHuRX2xu6X2sx5KBqg">arrest of its director, Ara Vardanyan</a>, on charges of embezzlement and misuse of funds. The same telethon raised <a href="http://asbarez.com/59644/more-than-35-million-raised-in-armenia-fund-telethon/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://asbarez.com/59644/more-than-35-million-raised-in-armenia-fund-telethon/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrKnz6j7yda4c6GcS9lQ7TdYB8xA">$11.1 million in 2018</a>, <a href="https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/11/24/Hayastan-All-Armenian-Fund-Telethon/1869753" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/11/24/Hayastan-All-Armenian-Fund-Telethon/1869753&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHOo-uCNY5W9n6RVj_NMVuvHy7fyA">$12.5 million in 2017</a>, <a href="https://anca.org/15-4-million-raised-in-2016-armenia-fund-telethon/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://anca.org/15-4-million-raised-in-2016-armenia-fund-telethon/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1nKOxEp82Nts1lmAfW5DAMJesig">$15.4 million in 2016</a>, and <a href="http://asbarez.com/59644/more-than-35-million-raised-in-armenia-fund-telethon/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://asbarez.com/59644/more-than-35-million-raised-in-armenia-fund-telethon/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrKnz6j7yda4c6GcS9lQ7TdYB8xA">$35 million back in 2008</a>. Notice a pattern?
The declining fund’s supporters and telethon guests over the years include House Democrats like Reps. Schiff, Jackie Speier (CA), Frank Pallone (NJ), Tulsi Gabbard (HI), and Brad Sherman (CA), among others. All are highly vocal in the impeachment conversation. (Gabbard initially <a href="https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/463071-tulsi-gabbard-transcript-doesnt-show-compelling-case-for-impeachment" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/463071-tulsi-gabbard-transcript-doesnt-show-compelling-case-for-impeachment&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH2g24aMJKHWedSqJxKvVSAJiOgow">expressed hesitation</a> about impeachment, but later <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/tulsi-gabbard-supports-impeachment-inquiry/index.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/tulsi-gabbard-supports-impeachment-inquiry/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGp59HfUaFoH4UKNDNpIxiIk0THww">changed course</a>.) Yet their backing of the Armenia Fund could have the makings of its own foreign interference scandal.
The problems begin with the Armenia Fund’s history. Established by Armenian presidential decree in 1992 and setting up shop in Los Angeles in 1994, the fund <a href="https://www.armeniafund.org/about/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.armeniafund.org/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEfMe6iHKUw3HfDXiygRoD12ry4QQ">calls itself</a> a “humanitarian organization serving the needs of the Republic of Armenia and the Artsakh Republic” that carries out a mission “to connect the people of Armenia with the worldwide Armenian Diaspora to create a better homeland for the Armenian nation.” The term “Artsakh” refers to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani territory that <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/13508.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFbqZ84LfvVWeWyAkHCN792lAeAkQ">several U.N. resolutions</a> describe as being occupied by Armenia. Meanwhile, calling Nagorno-Karabakh a “republic” contradicts U.S. State Department policy, which <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/103560.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/103560.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679908000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGHPqwrxdaXEoEnt2-EIbu1dG8f-Q">doesn’t recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country</a> and holds that the territory’s future status “is a matter of negotiation between the parties.”
For its congressional advocates, the Armenia Fund poses a unique dilemma: How can Democrats on the one hand target President Trump’s associates in the impeachment process over their alleged activities as unregistered foreign agents, but on the other hand ignore that a foreign government-established fund <a href="http://usa.mfa.am/en/hayastan-fund/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://usa.mfa.am/en/hayastan-fund/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHqTbrYeBB6YiK2yCYhHN2nSQB9Nw">whose board president is Armenia’s own president</a> also remains unregistered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act?
While the Armenia Fund spotlights its work on infrastructure projects such as “schools, roads, hospitals, and community centers,” it is far from the innocuous “humanitarian” group it purports to be. The fund’s affiliates include the Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), two political lobbies that campaign in Congress for greater American funding of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. At their core, the Armenian lobbies’ activities serve to drive Armenia and Azerbaijan further away from peace, including through the ANCA’s <a href="https://anca.org/press-release/anca-reaffirms-support-for-osce-minsk-group-rejects-madrid-principles-as-a-flawed-plan-for-lasting-peace/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://anca.org/press-release/anca-reaffirms-support-for-osce-minsk-group-rejects-madrid-principles-as-a-flawed-plan-for-lasting-peace/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHQHrA6LXLqjnWalhRhV-Mpov6dTg">rejection of the Madrid Principles</a>.
The July 2018 arrest of Armenia Fund leader Vardanyan exposed the corruption at an organization that was already deceiving the public as a political front group. The fund’s declining fundraising mirrors the broader <a href="https://spectator.org/the-rise-of-a-state-and-the-decline-of-another-2/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://spectator.org/the-rise-of-a-state-and-the-decline-of-another-2/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFaKPIW_o4YdTggYKKOHvqMLVZn0w">decline of Armenia</a>, arguably the least independent of the post-Soviet states. Armenia has a <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/armenia-population/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/armenia-population/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGKrHikgU9z4OvVLT4SHlsX8yiT6Q">declining population</a> that exhibits what a Gallup poll has recorded as the <a href="https://eurasianet.org/why-is-armenia-angry" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eurasianet.org/why-is-armenia-angry&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfDv3Us37j4AJRb2yGcC-BXIlY1w">world’s greatest prevalence of anger</a>. That anger results from Armenia’s floundering, inflation-plagued economy and a so-called “Velvet Revolution” that has <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/26/beyond-armenias-velvet-revolution/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/26/beyond-armenias-velvet-revolution/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHLhBBOuqO-WWRzBKGNkvob9x_kAA">failed to deliver on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s promises of sweeping changes</a>. Namely, Pashinyan has overseen the persistence of both <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2018/04/09/armenia-isolated-backwater-dump-because-of-russia/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dailycaller.com/2018/04/09/armenia-isolated-backwater-dump-because-of-russia/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGAjH-Ry-kPw2OGWEvrmG22Ze_B9w">Moscow’s well-documented influence over Yerevan</a> and Armenia’s intransigence in the peace process with Azerbaijan.
Can Armenia turn around its economic malaise and extract itself from Russia’s orbit? Progress will likely be elusive as long as Armenia remains transfixed by its decades-long conflict with Azerbaijan. For the Armenian people, depending on the financial support of controversy-ridden outside groups such as the Armenia Fund will only breed more corruption and disappointment, while relying on the advocacy of the ANCA will continue to damage prospects for peace.
Simultaneously, House Democrats have done the Armenian people no favors by supporting the Armenia Fund and ANCA. Now, as they lead the charge on impeachment, it’s only fair to call out their hypocrisy. How can they stand against alleged presidential corruption when for years they backed an Armenian Diaspora telethon which has been exposed for its corruption? (During those same years, Armenia’s consul general in Los Angeles <a href="http://en.thegreatermiddleeast.com/2017/12/the-diplomatic-elephant-in-the-room-armenias-russian-oligarch-consul-general/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.thegreatermiddleeast.com/2017/12/the-diplomatic-elephant-in-the-room-armenias-russian-oligarch-consul-general/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFxUWlQMxtuGU18Ug0gGhZzWJ1bYA">was a Russian citizen and notorious oligarch</a>.) And how can they claim to be advocates for peace when they amplify the ANCA’s talking points, which are antithetical to peace?
It should come as no surprise to see such doublespeak coming from politicians like Schiff, the <a href="https://spectator.org/the-congressman-who-cried-wolf/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://spectator.org/the-congressman-who-cried-wolf/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVzKvM6KnCTaJyhkFVp_vk7OCOsA">face of the impeachment probe</a> who is <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/schiff-hired-former-nsc-colleague-of-alleged-whistleblower-eric-ciaramella-the-day-after-trumps-ukraine-call" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/schiff-hired-former-nsc-colleague-of-alleged-whistleblower-eric-ciaramella-the-day-after-trumps-ukraine-call&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEZTUuJwmrCh8ZorwhbrO2isb3FKw">entangled in his own Ukraine scandal</a>; Gabbard, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/miller-tulsi-gabbard-pro-assad-candidate-2020-paul-miller" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/news/miller-tulsi-gabbard-pro-assad-candidate-2020-paul-miller&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEKFLv6IYiEfgbwow7G6rOKesN8qw">notoriously pro-Assad presidential candidate</a>; and Pallone, who in October landed in Nagorno-Karabakh on the Armenian government’s own military helicopter to <a href="https://armenianweekly.com/2019/10/01/pallone-i-am-here-because-i-want-to-make-it-clear-that-artsakh-is-a-state-a-democratic-nation/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://armenianweekly.com/2019/10/01/pallone-i-am-here-because-i-want-to-make-it-clear-that-artsakh-is-a-state-a-democratic-nation/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFHGR-iPgvwf0epI7oPBu-5s4_xdA">urge the end of security assistance to a U.S. ally, Azerbaijan</a>.
Until they distance themselves from the Armenian-American fundraising and lobbying apparatus, these lawmakers have virtually no credibility as voices in the debate on foreign influence and impeachment.
&nbsp;
Paul Miller is president and executive director of the news and public policy group <a href="https://salomoncenter.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://salomoncenter.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGpdyXx56KnSUcPnrupcOqwyJFL5Q">Haym Salomon Center</a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/pauliespoint" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/pauliespoint&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1576604679909000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGvssir9fRSC1FevwmmoZR6XEqk-Q">@pauliespoint</a>.

Adam Schiff and House Democrats

MILLER: Impeachment-Focused House Democrats Should Clean Their Own House

Adam Schiff

Democratic Party

State Department

U.S. House of Representatives

United Nations

A top ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met far-left Democrat Ilhan Omar (MN) last month and donated a large sum of money to her campaign, a revelation that comes one day after Omar refused to sanction Turkey for their actions in northern Syria and refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which was committed by Turkey.
Halil Mutlu, who is the co-chairman of the Turkish American Steering Committee (TSAC), donated $1,500 last month to Omar&#8217;s campaign.
&#8220;Founded in 2015, TASC has orchestrated a public relations push to cast doubt on whether the Ottoman empire committed genocide against Armenians more than a century ago,&#8221; The Daily Caller News Foundation&#8217;s (DCNF) Chuck Ross reported. TSAC is &#8220;a U.S.-based nonprofit that has for years waged public relations campaigns in support of Turkish government policies and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan &#8230; [and] maintains close ties to Erdogan, routinely hosting the Turkish president during his visits to the U.S., including on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.&#8221;
The DCNF added that Mutlu, who is reportedly Erdogan’s cousin from Connecticut, made the $1,500 contribution to Omar’s campaign on at the end of last month and was featured in a photograph with her.
On Tuesday, Omar was one of the only members of Congress that did not vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide and was the only Democrat member of Congress to vote against sanctioning Turkey for their actions in northern Syria.
Omar released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/omar-refuses-to-recognize-armenian-genocide-gives-bizarre-statement-refuses-to-sanction-turkey-for-actions-in-syria">statement</a> on why she did not vote for the resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide:
<blockquote>I also believe accountability for human rights violations—especially ethnic cleansing and genocide—is paramount. But accountability and recognition of genocide should not be used as cudgel in a political fight. It should be done based on academic consensus outside the push and pull of geopolitics. A true acknowledgement of historical crimes against humanity must include both the heinous genocides of the 20th century, along with earlier mass slaughters like the transatlantic slave trade and Native American genocide, which took the lives of hundreds of millions of indigenous people in this country. For this reason, I voted ‘present’ on final passage of H.Res. 296, the resolution Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.</blockquote>
Aram Hamparian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, told the DCNF regarding Omar&#8217;s statement: &#8220;Essentially, this is a Turkish talking point that she’s throwing out. She is lining up to carry Turkey’s water on this.&#8221;
Omar was widely slammed across the political spectrum, including from her supporters on the far-left.
A man named Hrag Vartanian, who describes himself as a vocal defender of Omar’s, said that her refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide was the final straw for him.
“I’ve been a vocal supporter of @IlhanMN but no more. There was absolutely no reason for her to not vote on something that is solid historical fact and use the typical [word] salad of denialists,” he wrote. “I once saw her as a human rights defender. The other present or no votes I care less about, because I never supported them, but this really hurt.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The other present or no votes I care less about, because I never supported them, but this really hurt.
— Hrag (@hragv) <a href="https://twitter.com/hragv/status/1189311836337950720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Omar — who likes to portray herself as a champion of human rights — has <a href="https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1187082215634722816">repeatedly condemned</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1187023303283789829">using sanctions</a> against Iran, Turkey, and Venezuela because she claims that sanctions hurt innocent people, yet, Omar has repeatedly called for using sanctions against Israel,&#8221; The Daily Wire reported on Tuesday. &#8220;Omar is an <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/the-anti-semitic-bds-movement-advocates-illegal-discrimination/">avid supporter</a> of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement which is designed to destroy the state of Israel.&#8221;

Ilhan Omar

Top Ally Of Turkish President Erdogan Donated To Omar’s Campaign Last Month

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