Frank Ricciardone
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dated Aug. 16, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) enumerated the reasons that prompted him to place a hold on Frank Ricciardone’s nomination, saying that the latter is not “the right Ambassador for Turkey at this time—despite his extensive diplomatic experience.”
Brownback’s letter, acquired by the Armenian Weekly [...]

WASHINGTON (A.W.)—On June 26, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President Barack Obama, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement from the G8 Summit being held in Muskoka, Canada, encouraging the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “finalize the Basic Principles for the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.”
The “Basic Principles” they referred to are [...]

Armenian Intellectuals Tip Their Hats to Newly Discovered Shoe
The recent discovery of a 5,500-year-old shoe inside a cave in Vayotz Dzor, Armenia captured the imagination of the world and particularly that of Armenians—an understatement, to be sure. Since the breaking of this story—which made its way to the front pages of newspapers worldwide—my inbox has [...]

On June 5, at a demonstration organized in Istanbul by the Islamic Saadet Party, one of the banners read, in Turkish: “Legendary leader Hitler, our patience is running out, we need your spirit.” The incident was just one of countless anti-Semitic statements, slogans, and banners made during rallies in Turkey after the Israeli attack on [...]

BEIRUT, Lebanon—I have been following with horror the news on the Israeli attack on the flotilla of ships carrying aid to Gaza. The outrage here in Lebanon and the Arab world is palpable. What is even more evident is the pride with which people here speak about Turkey’s “heroic stand” in the face of Israel.
Erdogan: [...]

On April 24-25, I gave a commemoration lecture in Istanbul and then spoke at a conference in Ankara on the Armenian Genocide and its consequences. Speaking to an audience of predominantly Turkish intellectuals and activists during both events, I emphasized the importance of the work they are doing—right in the heart of denial—to create awareness [...]

If you were one of the few hundred people in Istanbul who publicly commemorated the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2010, you probably heard the sound of footsteps.
Activists holding photos of murdered Armenian intellectuals during the Genocide commemoration at the Haydarpasha Station in Istanbul. (Photo by Mujgan Arpat)
I am not referring to the footsteps of [...]

ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)—On April 24, as genocide commemoration events were being held one after the other in different locations in Istanbul, a groundbreaking two-day conference on the Armenian Genocide began at the Princess Hotel in Ankara.
L to R: Nishanian, Theriault, moderator Eugene Shouglin, Mouradian, and Demirer.
The conference, organized by the Ankara Freedom of Thought Initiative, [...]

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—On April 24 in Istanbul, four events commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide were held—including three held outside, in public—all while obstacles, counter protests, and fascist rhetoric tried to disrupt the commemorations, and reminded the few hundred participants of the long way ahead.
Genocide commemoration at the Haydarpasha Station in Istanbul on [...]

Have you ever felt, after arriving somewhere, that your entire life was a gravitation towards that particular destination?
Ani is a monumental reminder that Turks do not need to go very far to face their past. She is staring at them with a piercing look every single day. (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian)
This is not an “all [...]