Gibrahayer e-magazine 14 December – The creation of an Azerbaijan – Northern Cyprus friendship youth group was announced in Baku. The leader of the group Ramiz Aliyev spoke of the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and the so-called Turkish Republic of the Northern Cyprus. He said that the aim of the group is to strengthen relations among the NGOs and conduct annual youth forums in Azerbaijan and in Northern Cyprus.

More than 100 people gathered in Tehran to celebrate the 90th birth anniversary of Iran’s first female astronomer and physics professor, Alenoush Terian.
The Iranian-Armenian scientist was honoured during a ceremony in the Iranian capital city on November 9.
Members of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) and more than 100 Armenians paid tribute to the Iranian scientist.
“She always said she had a daughter named sun and a son named moon,” said lawmaker Hassan Ghafourifard, Terian’s former student at Tehran University.
A statement from the Primate of Armenian Diocese of Tehran Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian marking Terian’s birthday was also read out at the ceremony. Continue reading →

ARF DASHNAKTSOUTIUN CRITICIZES ARMENIA’S CURRENT LEADERSHIP,
SAYING THAT THE COUNTRY IS CONTROLLED BY A “PRIVILEGED CLASS”
OF WEALTHY GOVERNMENT-LINKED CITIZENS

Ruzanna Stepanian - The influential party, which quit President Serzh Sargsyan’s governing coalition 19 months ago, also decried what it sees as a lack of democracy and rule of law and reiterated its stated commitment to “regime change.”
“A rule of wealth has been formed in Armenia. It has nothing to do with the will of the people”, said Armen Rustamian, the de facto head of Dashnaktsoutiun’s governing body in Armenia. He claimed that the country’s political, judicial and economic systems are regulated by “unwritten and unconstitutional laws” that benefit only “representatives of a privileged class who do what they want.”
“There is widespread corruption and inept governance,” Rustamian told a news conference. “There is a fusion of government and business and a monopolistic economy based on that.” Continue reading →

L.A. Now - Descendants of Armenian genocide victims may sue insurance companies for unpaid claims, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a rare reversal of an earlier decision.
The same three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in August 2009 that lawsuits were barred by a federal government policy against legal reference to the Armenian genocide, despite laws in California and 41 other states officially recognizing the massacre of 1.2 million Armenians that began in 1915 amid the chaotic collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Continue reading →

KIM KARDASHIAN TWEETS 5.5 MILLION FANS CALLING PELOSI TO SCHEDULE VOTE

Armenian Weekly - Kim Kardashian sent a “tweet” to 5.5 million of her fans, today, urging them to call Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and urge her to schedule a vote on H.Res.252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution. This comes on the heels of Serj Tankian’s Facebook, Twitter and website postings on Wednesday calling on his fans to support the adoption of this human rights legislation, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“We applaud Kim Kardashian, Serj Tankian and anti-genocide activists from across the country for calling on Speaker Pelosi to schedule a vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Americans of good conscience want to see an end to the cycle of genocide and to do that, we have to start by calling evil by its name,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America.
Earlier this week, Armenian National Committee of America Regional Chairs Aida Dimedjian and Stephen Mesrobian made a public appeal urging the Speaker to schedule a vote on the key human rights measure.  “The spirit of the victims of Genocide and the voices of the survivors and their progeny are calling on the Speaker to bring this resolution for a vote before the 111th Congress adjourns in the next 10 days,” stated Dimedjian and Mesrobian. “Armenians and all the world deserve to know where each member of the U.S. House of Representatives stands on this vital expression of our common American conscience.” Continue reading →

YYEREVAN RFE/RL – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his National Security Council have approved a five-year plan to modernize the armed forces, including the acquisition of long-range, precision-guided weapons. It is being referred to as the ”State Program for Developing Weaponry and Military Hardware in 2011-2015.” It was announced this weekend that the military will receive “state-of-the-art weapons” and become “considerably” stronger.
The Secretary of the National Security Council, Artur Baghdasaryan, said on December 13 that ”Yerevan will not only get hold of modern armaments but also develop the domestic defense industry. It will also enhance the army’s “long-range strike capacity” and enable it to “thwart free enemy movements deep inside the entire theater of hostilities.”
Speaking to journalists on August 10, Ohanian said the long-range weapons sought by Yerevan would be aimed at “strategic facilities” of hostile neighbors. The Armenian military is believed to be equipped with short-range tactical missiles capable of striking targets in Azerbaijan. Continue reading →

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

In a stunning development, a federal appeals court handed Armenian-Americans a major legal and political victory last week. It reversed its earlier ruling and decided that a California law extending the deadline for lawsuits against life insurance companies WAS constitutional, after all!

The new ruling did much more than assist heirs of Armenian Genocide victims to file lawsuits against insurance companies for unpaid claims. It also blocked possible legal action by Turkish organizations which could have undone decades of struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by local and state governments in the United States. Continue reading →

“ANCUK”Press Release

At full Council meeting of 14th December 2010, Ealing council voted by absolute majority to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

The motion moved by Ara Iskandarian a Labour Councillor of Armenian decent, stated:

“Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2011 is recognition of not only the suffering of those who died in the holocaust but also recognition of all the people who have suffered as a result of genocide.”

The London Borough of Ealing is home to an Armenian Community of several thousand and has hosted an Armenian population since shortly after the First World War. The borough has subsequently been seen as the centre of Armenian community life within the United Kingdom. Continue reading →