A press release from ANCA informs about an Africa Action rally organized on 04 February 2006 outside the White House to stop the genocide in Darfur.


Photo: This child had his face bashed in, presumably with a rifle butt, during a massacre in Hamada in January (from www.darfurgenocide.org)

Only 200 people participated in the rally, among them noted radio personality Joe Madison, Africa Action Executive Director Salih Booker and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

"As Americans, we will look back on February of 2006 with either pride or regret," said Hamparian. "The regret of our shameful indifference to the killing in Darfur, the same cold inaction of our response to past genocides – against Armenian Americans joined over 200 genocide prevention activists at the Africa Action White House rally on Darfur Armenians, Jews, Cambodians, Rwandans, and too many others. Or the pride that, during this month, we will have helped create a new, better approach to the international community. An approach that not only saves lives today in Sudan, but that helps re-orient our foreign policy toward saving lives, alleviating suffering, – and in so doing, helps prevent the next genocide."

A U.N. decision to "re-hat" the Africa Union (AU) mission as a U.N. operation would grant it a strong civilian protection mandate from the international community. The authorization of a U.N. force to be deployed as soon as possible to the region would provide critical support to the AU mission and provide desperately needed security to the people of Darfur.

Photo: Protesting the genocide in Darfur in Washington, D.C. 04 February 2006 (from www.anca.org)

Another ANCA leader, Steve Dadaian, confronted “CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Dan Rather at a gathering of over 1,000 attorneys at the Southern California Association of Defense Counsel's annual meeting in Century City, California,” by criticizing media’s ignorance against the genocide in Darfur.

In response, Rather admitted the failure of the mainstream news to provide proper coverage of the Darfur Genocide, explaining that news organizations are often motivated by commercial interests to cover "celebrity topics" instead of meaningful stories like Darfur. He agreed that there has been a "dearth of coverage" about Darfur, and said that the issue should receive greater media attention. Rather made no comment on the U.S.'s international legal obligations relating to genocide.

Trafficking Documentary on PBS – 7 February 2006, 9:00pm (for local listings in the United States and for e-mail reminder visit here)

As our friend Ara Manoogian informs at Martuni or Bust!!!, PBS (Channel 6, etc.) will be broadcasting a human trafficking documentary on 7 February 2006, evening schedule.

Photo: Katia (last name withheld) was sold into the sex trade against her will. In Sex Slaves, airing February 7, 2006 on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE follows Katia's husband, posing as a pimp, who carried this photograph in his pocket and met with sex traffickers in order to buy her freedom. Credit: FRONTLINE/WGBH (from www.pbs.org)

The documentary is based on the life of a sex-slave from an Eastern European country.

As PBS writes in its website:

Sex Slaves
coming Feb. 07, 2006 at 9pm (check local listings)

(60 minutes) An estimated half-million women are trafficked annually for the purpose of sexual slavery. The women are kidnapped — or lured by traffickers who prey on their dreams of employment abroad — then they are "exported" to Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere, where they are sold to pimps, drugged, terrorized, locked in brothels, and raped repeatedly. In Eastern Europe, since the fall of communism, sex trafficking has become the fastest growing form of organized crime, with Moldova and Ukraine widely seen as the centers of the global trade in women and girls. On Feb. 7, FRONTLINE presents a unique hidden camera look at this world of sexual slavery, talking with traffickers and their victims, and exposing the government indifference that allows the abuses to continue virtually unchecked. Sex Slaves also follows the remarkable journey of one man determined to find his trafficked wife by posing as a trafficker himself to buy back her freedom.

Friends and family from Yerevan (Capital of the Republic of Armenia/RA) are informing that the city is covered with snow and it still snows. I talked to my sister an hour ago and she says it is almost impossible to walk in the streets.

Photo: A view from Yerevan via Arminco’s webcam. To check the constantly updated photos, visit http://www.hayastan.com/armenia/webcam/.

I received a letter in the mail from my best friend from High School. She says her clothes got wet when she went to the Post office (she is funny; she writes stuff from the Post office too before putting the letter in the envelope).

I don’t usually write about personal stuff in my blog, but I want to share the last part of my friend’s letter. “I pray for you once a week,” she writes in Armenian, and then adds in English, “I asked God to give you Happiness. He said, ‘No, I give him blessings. Happiness is up to him.’”

I obsessively wrote about the recent destruction of Armenian headstones in Nakhichevan (Azerbaijan). Yes, I am obsessed with the Azerbaijani denial of their crimes of cultural cleansing against the Armenian heritage, and I am also obsessed with the Armenian, let alone world, silence in regards to the destruction.

But it is not only the Armenian monuments in Turkey and Azerbaijan that I am obsessed with. I am also obsessed with the preservation of Muslim monuments of the Republic Armenia, since I consider those monuments not only treasures of world, but also treasures of Armenian heritage.

Because of this, I always try to find out information on Muslim monuments in the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic). You may remember the Azerbaijani fabrication about “destruction of Agadede,” which followed the news about Nakhichevan’s recent destruction. I did some to find out about that place, but I could find no mention of it in any written account.

Now about another story. Once upon a time Azerbaijanis were lamenting the fabricated destruction of an Azerbaijani cemetery in Fizuli, currently controlled by the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Despite the fact that the cemetery has no much historical significance, I truly understand the feeling of Azerbaijanis when they are concerned about the faith of their cemeteries. But I won’t be able to understand the feeling of those Azerbaijanis who will see the photo below, taken in mid-January 2006, and find the state of the cemetery just the same way it was when Azerbaijanis were living in this place. I won’t be, because Azerbaijanis have no similar photos of Armenian monuments to show me. I wish I were wrong!

Photo: the Azerbaijani cemetery of Fizuli (Nagorno Karabakh Republic controlled territory) in mid-January, 2006 (photo originally posted by "Maraga" user at www.day.az/forum)

When I wrote about Steven Sim’s report on Nakhichevan (a historic Armenian landmark now under Azerbaijani control) in a previous entry, I also posted a photo taken by him that showed “the ruins” (actually it showed some ground, since there are not even ruins left) of an ancient Armenian church.

The church is St. Karapet (St. John) of Aprakunis, built before 1381A.D. The supporting-founders of the church were Hovnan Vorotnetsi (Hovnan of Vorotn) and Grigor Tatevatsi (Grigor of Tatev), important figures in Armenian history.

According to an old tradition, snake poisoning was treated in this cathedral with the “blessed soil.” Because of that, the Christian cathedral was also a holy place for local Muslims.

St. John of Aprakunis (or Aprakunyats Surp Karapet) was rebuilt during 1655-1678, and a religious school was opened next to it in 1869.

Until the 1980s, there were cross stones (khachkars) dating back to 1475 A.D. next to the cathedral.

The cathedral was partially destroyed during the Armenian genocide of 1915, but it still remained until the late 1980s; until Azerbaijan decided they will teach their children that no Armenians ever lived in these lands…

I am posting here photos of the cathedral before the 1990s and the photos taken by Scot Steven Sim in 2005. Please note, that Azerbaijanis say that there had never been such a church in Nakhichevan…

St. Karapet before the 1990s


St. Karapet in 2005 (photo by Steven Sim)

St. Karapet before the 1990s

St. Karapet in 2005 (photo by Steven Sim)

Comparison

via Groong California Courier Online, February 2, 2006

Is Denial a Hate Crime?
By Simon Maghakyan
Special to the California Courier

If you have not seen the mid-December (2005) video from Hin Jugha (now
Julfa, Nakhichevan) that shows Azerbaijani soldiers destroying the last
headstones of the ancient Armenian cemetery, visit www.julfa.cjb.net
and do so. Watch it closely, because this is the first documented "hot action"
of cultural genocide against the Armenian heritage. Watch it and know that
most Azerbaijanis look at these scenes and deny. They deny this
happened.

[…]

I never truly realized the deep and hateful evil of the Turkish denial
of the Armenian genocide before I faced the Azerbaijani denial Jugha's
destruction. While we can assume that Turkish deniers may sincerely
believe in their fabricated lies due to the fact that the Genocide happened 90
years ago, the same cannot be said about Azerbaijanis who shamelessly
deny what they can clearly see in the video. This means they know they are
lying; this means denial is not as naïve as we think it is.

Only a week after the news about the destruction, the Azerbaijani
government simply "dismissed the Armenian claims," by stating "no such
thing happened." Then, the Azerbaijani media fabricated a story about
"the destruction of a Muslim holy site in Armenia," trying to show that "we
did it but you it too." After this fabrication was uncovered, an
Azerbaijani academician announced that there had been no Armenian cemetery in
Nakhichevan. This absurd lie did not make it to anywhere either, since
even Azerbaijani websites have information about Jugha's Armenian khachkars.

Now, after the Euro Parliament called on Azerbaijan to stop the
destruction of the Armenian cemetery in its 19 Jan 2006 resolution, Azerbaijan is
giving up the denial. It is "simply" silent. An Azerbaijani national from
Baku, in contrast, is not silent. At www.day.az/forum (the relatively
tolerant Russian-language Azerbaijani forum), that person "justifies"
the vandalism in Hin Jugha's cemetery with the following phrase: "for those
resting under the cross stones, the living ones will come with arms."

Whether the living ones will ever go to Nakhichevan one day, I do not
know. But I know for sure that Hin Jugha will always live with the living
ones, the same way Msho Surp Arakelots and Varagavank live; the same way
Ararat will always belong to the living ones.

Simon Maghakyan is a graduate of the International Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies and can be reached at [email protected].

Turkish professors have started “no 301” campaign in Turkey. Article 301 from the penal code makes the recognition of the Armenian genocide criminal act in Turkey. European Union has harshly criticized the article. The newly-launched website of the campaign is http://www.301hayir.net/ (“No 301!”) and is available in Turkish language only.

evrimnazli has lately taken photographs in eastern Turkey (Western Armenia). One of the photos, from 23 September 2005, shows the whitewashed frescoes of the Mother Cathedral in Ani, the ancient Armenian capital, now in ruins. The cultural cleansing against the Armenian heritage in Turkey continues.

Steven Sim is a Scot who visited Nakhichevan (currently part of Azerbaijan) in 2005 to check the situation of the Armenian monuments there, since he was continuously told by his Armenian friends the horrible situation of the Armenian monuments there. He was skeptical. He thought Armenians were exaggerating the situation. But after visiting Nakhichevan, Sim was shocked. The Armenians had not exaggerated the situation while speaking of the cultural destruction of their heritage in Nakhichevan. Not at all…

Photo: The ground has been leveled where an Armenian church used to stand in Nakhijevan (from www.armenianow.com)

Sim’s report on his trip (published in January of 2006) is available in a PDF file at http://www.aga-online.org/downloads/de/eth…an%20report.pdf. I uploaded the same document to http://www.nakhichevan.cjb.net/ for easy access.

I am heading to a leadership conference right now, which will continue until tomorrow night. Thus, I may not be able to update the blog in the next 1-2 days.

Below is the concluding part of Sim's report:

…Everything in my bag was taken out and carefully looked at, and the bag itself was examined for any
secret compartments. This lasted for about 15 minutes, without a word being spoken. Then the younger
man spoke to me in English, mostly translating questions given by the older man (whom I took to be
some sort of security chief – he never gave me his name or position).
To start with I was asked “What was my job, how much did I earn, who paid me to come to Nakhchivan,
why would I use my own money to come here?”

He examined carefully a notebook I had with me. One of the things that I had written in it was the title
of a book about Ottoman Armenians I had seen in a bookshop in Turkey. Seeing the word “Ermeni” in
the title he asked me about it. When I told him what it was, there was incredulity in his voice – he was
clearly astonished that a book about Armenians, written by a Turkish Armenian, could be published in
Turkey, in Turkish, and that Turks would wish to buy it!

They checked through all the photographs stored in my digital camera. Fortunately I had left those of
the Yernjak valley in my hotel room. They showed most interest in a photograph I had taken in
Naxçivan city. It was of a stone slab that I had seen in the gardens opposite the Momina Hatun mausoleum,
surrounded by a large collection of ram-shaped gravestones. On this stone was carved a cross
rising from a rectangular base. The arms of this cross ended in a two-pronged fork, and the head ended
in a semicircle. When I had seen it I thought that it resembled a very simplified khatchkar. “What do
you think this is”, he asked.
“It looks like a cross”, I replied.
“No it isn’t. It cannot be. Only Muslims have ever lived in Naxçivan!” he replied.
“Well, what do you think it is?” I asked him.
They had a discussion amongst themselves for a while, before pronouncing that “the curved top is a
crescent moon – that is a Muslim symbol, so it is really an Islamic carving”.
They seemed pleased with themselves for concocting this explanation – so I was surprised to discover,
when checking over my pictures later, that they had deleted the two photographs that showed this
stone.

They asked me why I thought that there was a church in Shorut.
“Because a book had told me”, I said.
“It is wrong, it is lying to you. It is an Armenian book, yes?”
“Yes” I replied.
“You see, Armenians are always lying – they are lying to everyone”.
I couldn’t resist pointing out to them that there were photographs of the Shurut church in the book. To
this they responded by saying “Armenians, they came here and took photographs of Shurut village and
then they went back to Armenia and put into them photographs of a church in Armenia.”
“It is all just Armenian lies. They are lying to you! There never were any Armenian churches anywhere
in Naxçivan. There were no Armenians ever living here – so how could there have been churches here?
There never was a church in Abrakunis, there never was a church in Shurut, there never was a church
in Julfa!”

My interview culminated with them having a discussion amongst themselves, at the end of which they
said, “we think that you are not here with good intentions towards the Azerbaijan republic”. I was told
that I had to be out of Nakhchivan by midnight. It was agreed that for an additional 50 dollars on top of
the agreed fare to Shurut, my taxi driver would take me back to Naxçivan city and then on to the Turkish
border. I crossed the border with about 45 minutes to spare…[highlights by Blogian]

Once upon a time, “Holdwater” (the author of the denialist hatesite www.tallarmeniantale.com), hidden under the nickname “mentor” at www.genocide.com, asked in an offended tone why there were not Armenians who would deny the Armenian genocide!

Turkish nationalists had been in hunt for “Armenians who would deny the Armenian thesis” long before Holdwater was around. I do not know why Holdwater was searching for Armenian deniers, when one of his friends, Edward Tashji, was already in charge.

Who was Tashji?

Photo: Edward Tashji, Turkish Day Parade, May 2003, holding the Turkish flag in front of Immortal Ataturk's portrait (from http://www.edwardtashji.org/)

Tashji, according to himself, was the son of Armenian and Assyrian parents. He was Christian, born in Turkey. For years, Turkish propagandists used Tashji to show “how objective Armenian dismisses Armenian genocide claims!”

But who was this “objective Armenian?” The “objective Armenian,” as it turned out after his death in June of 2005, had been on Turkish payroll for many years. “Tashji was
the public relations director for the New York-based Federation of Turkish-American Associations,” according to the Turkish Daily News (27 June, 2005).

Well, let us assume that Turks do not discriminate against Armenians and that they would hire an Armenian to work for them. But why, do you assume, this “Christian Armenian” was buried in Karacay Turkish Cemetery of New York?

Just for the record…