On The Principles Of Self-Determination And So-Called “Territorial Integrity” In Public International Law (The Case Of Nagorno-Karabakh)

By: Ara Papian – Head, “Modus Vivendi” Center

We are not going to negotiate over the right of the people of Artsakh (Karabakh) to self-determination.

Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic of Armenia, 1 June 2010

It is for the people to determine the destiny of the territory and not the territory the destiny of the people.

Judge Hardy Dillard, International Court of Justice, 16 October 1975

   Read more... (6648 words)

Is ‘Reconciliation’ Compatible with Justice?

By Lucine Kasbarian

On Wednesday May 12, at the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in Watertown, Massachusetts, editors Emil Sanamyan of the Armenian Reporter and Khatchig Mouradian of theArmenian Weekly spoke about their recent trip to Turkey sponsored by TEPAV – a Turkish think tank that has recently been promoting Turkish-Armenian relations. TEPAV is funded by TOBB, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey.

 ALMA Executive Director Mariam Stepanyan welcomed the audience after which moderator Marc Mamigonian, Academic Affairs Director of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR), opened by noting that there was no formal title for the evening’s program because the trip was not necessarily part of what would be termed “Turkish-Armenian reconciliation or relations.”  Read more... (3096 words)

Davit of Sassoon is Undefeated or Once More on Foreign Language-Medium Schools in Armenia

By Ara Papian – Head, “Modus Vivendi” Center

The changes proposed by the Government to the law on language has recently become subject to heated public debate. It is natural and good that society express many opinions. This implies that we are gradually surmounting the legacy of the not-too-distant past. It is unfortunate, however, that those in favour of the chan­ges to the law are not putting forth reasonable counter-arguments to the political, legal, economic, psychologi­cal and cultural facts presented by their opponents, but are instead simply warping the essence of the issue in attempting to present the case as a manifestation of xenophobia and advocacy for self-imposed isolationism.  Read more... (1708 words)

An Investigative Report:The Woodrow Wilson Center Desecrates its Namesake’s Legacy and Violates its Congressional Mandate

By: David Boyajian

Is the Woodrow Wilson Center seeking to discredit the Treaty of Sèvres on its 90th anniversary by honoring Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu?

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th American president, is looking down in horror at what the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWC; WilsonCenter.org) is doing in his name.

Most Americans are not aware of the DC-based organization, or that their taxes comprise one-third of its multi-million dollar annual budget.

The WWC was created by Congress in 1968 through the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act to commemorate the late president’s “ideals and concerns” and memorialize “his accomplishments.”

The WWC has in several ways, however, violated its Congressional mandate.  Read more... (4019 words)

As We See It: Pondering Points

By: Prof. Osheen Keshishian

The 95^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was observed ceremoniously and with determination worldwide, including in Turkey…

From Armenia to South America, from Middle East to Sweden and France, Australia and Canada and the United States, even on the island of Malta, where less than 100 Armenians live.

Southern California Armenians seem to be the most active because of the number of the large number of Armenians living in the area.

In 1 968 the Armenian Martyrs Monument was erected in Montebello’s Bicknell Park thanks to the understanding and sensitivity of the largesse of the City Council of the time. The organizing committee was composed of ALL segments of the Armenian community with a clear mission in mind. It was the first monument in the United States.  Read more... (561 words)

Turkey’s Henchmen: Mass Media Butcher the Armenian Genocide

By: David Boyadjian

Most reporters and other journalists in the mass media failed to do due diligence and misled their audiences regarding last month’s US House Foreign Affairs Committee vote in favor of Resolution 252, which would reaffirm the Armenian genocide of 1915 – 1923. 

Nearly all media, prior to and after the vote, falsely said or implied that the House and the Federal government had never before recognized the Armenian genocide. 

The full House, in fact, passed resolutions in 1975 and 1984 that acknowledged the Armenian genocide as “genocide.” Proclamation 4838 by President Reagan in 1981 also affirmed the veracity of the genocide. In 1996, the House limited economic aid to Turkey until it recognized the genocide.   Read more... (932 words)

The Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides: An Inconvenient Truth

By Lucine Kasbarian

Recent articles in the mainstream media would have us believe that governments around the world somehow question the factuality of the 1915 Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides committed by Turkey. These articles would also have us believe that the Turkish government’s latest temper tantrums over these genocides are justified. Turkey, of course, just recalled its ambassadors to protest the passage of resolutions by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee and the Swedish Parliament that acknowledged Turkish culpability for these genocides.  Read more... (1845 words, 2 images)

On Philip Gordon, The Decision of The Constitutional Court

By Ara Papian – Head, “Modus Vivendi” Center

Numerous opinions have been expressed following the decision (on the 12th of January, 2010) of the Constitutio­nal Court of the Republic of Armenia on the Armenia-Turkey protocols. I believe, as I have already had the chance to say, that the decision was extremely significant. Although the decision itself does not resolve any issues in terms of international law, nevertheless, the legal position of the decision – which is mandatory for all, including the legislative and executive branches – creates serious tools for damage control with regards to the potential dangers of the proto­cols. Accordingly, everything henceforth depends on the level of abidance to the law of the president and the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.  Read more... (733 words)

Countdown to the Next War over Artsakh

By David Boyajian

Meeting at the White House with a group of Armenian Americans, the chief U.S. negotiator for the OSCE peace talks on Artsakh (Karabagh) announced that the United States would be satisfied if a peace agreement were to last for only 10 years.

 The official was Joseph A. Presel.  It was 1996, and Bill Clinton was president.   I happened to be at that meeting.

 With Presel were Richard Morningstar, U.S. special envoy to the newly independent states of the Caucasus, Caspian, and Central Asia, Nancy Soderberg of the National Security council, and others.  A key U.S. objective, Soderberg declared, was to pump the region’s oil and gas resources west through U.S. sponsored pipelines.  Read more... (934 words)