• Joe Manganiello speaks about his great-grandmother, an Armenian Genocide survivor

  “This is one of two existing photos of my great-grandmother Terviz ‘Rose’ Darakjian holding my little grandmother Sirarpi ‘Sondra’ before they crossed the Atlantic to America,” Manganiello wrote on Instagram...

• My great grandparents were victims of this terrible genocide: Kev Orkian

  In a memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Kev Orkian has made a post on Instagram, telling his ancecstors were also killed because of that terrible crime by Ottoman Empire...

• Vahe Berberian published the only photo of his grandfather, a victim of the Armenian Genocide, and talked about his promise

  Actor, comedian and writer Vahe Berberian has published on Instagram an archival photo of his grandfather who was a victim of the Armenian Genocide, noting that it is the only memory he has of him...

• Today we commemorate the 1.5 million Armenians that died in 1915. Those who lost their lives included my great great grandmothers and grandfathers: Diana Madison

  In the memory of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, American Armenian actress, producer Diana Madison has published a video on Instagram, presenting the story of her ancestors, stressing the importance of not forgetting and condemning the Armenian Genocide...

• I want to remember my ancestors who perished and those who survived: Serj Tankian commemorates the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915

  American-Armenian musician, member of System of a Down, Serj Tankian commemorated the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide...

• This tragedy was an integral part of his life։ Kristina Aznavour shares some archived photos of Charles Aznavour and George Clooney taken in Tsitsernakaberd

  Charles Aznavour's daughter-in-law, Kristina Aznavour, has published some archived photos on Instagram...

• Lebanese haute couture designer of Armenian origin, Krikor Jabotian commemorates the Armenian Genocide of 1915 quoting Sayat Nova

  The world-known designer added. "As we commemorate the Armenian Genocide, we hold these words close, vowing to never forget the lessons of history."

• Ladaniva pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915

  In the memory of the Armenian Genocide Victims' Memorial Day, the ambassadors of Armenia to Eurovision 2024, members of the Ladaniva band, have visited the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex and paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy that happened in 1915...

Serj Tankian, the renowned musician and lead singer of the famous American Armenian rock band System Of a Down, made an extensive post on Facebook, reflecting on the conduct of the West amid Russia's current “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“Would Israel normalize relations with Germany without Germany’s recognition of the Holocaust?” Tankian entitled his post, which runs as follows:

“While Putin invades Ukraine, Armenians around the world are having PTSD remembering the 2020 War in Nagorno Karabagh by Azerbaijan and Turkey, and recognizing the hypocritically selective sympathies of the West. The West’s attention seems to go to large new markets they can gain access to properly dressed in humanitarian sympathies. After all what did the West do when Turkey invaded Cypress, Syria, Libya, and Nagorno Karabagh?

In 1993, following the defeat of Azerbaijan in the first Nagorno Karabagh War, Turkey unilaterally closed its border to Armenia. Since then normalization efforts disguised as the Turkish Armenia protocols had fallen short due to Azerbaijan’s lobbying efforts in Turkey.

In 2020 Turkey joined Azerbaijan in attacking the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabagh (Artsakh for Armenians) where Armenians have lived since time immemorial ending in a brutal humanitarian catastrophe and displacement of Armenians from their historic homeland. Huge parts of Karabagh are under Azeri occupation while Armenians living there and in Armenia proper endure constant attacks by the oil dictatorship in Baku. Azerbaijan wants Karabagh without Armenians and from the brutal videos of torture, decapitation, and murder it’s clear that they are unlikely to follow the guidelines to the settlement of the Karabagh’s status in the region.

Turkey, as is well known, during its Ottoman past, committed a genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians starting in 1915. Successive Turkish governments have gone out of their way to deny the genocide. Turkey under Erdogan has gone a step further and threatened Armenians with a new genocide.

In recent months normalization efforts have started between Ankara and Yerevan, likely pushed by the West both as a way to whitewash their silence during the brutal 2020 Artsakh war and as a way of slowly reeling Armenia away from Russia’s sphere of influence. Armenians around the world are in a state of trauma having to accept normalization of relations with a genocidal state that continues its denial of our genocide. Not a single Armenian thinks that normalization without reconciliation is a good idea. Would Israel have accepted such terms at its inception as a homeland for all Jews around the world if there were no Nuremberg trials and if Germany had denied its role in the Holocaust?

The need for normalization between the people of Turkey and Armenia is important right now as a step in building confidence to deal with the difficult issues of genocide acceptance and the just steps following it. After all normalization and reconciliation are not the same thing though one can lead to the other. The dictator of Turkey, Erdogan and his government, will never realistically take that step so it’s important to note that a true democratic conversion of Turkey is necessary to ultimately lead to reconciliation with Armenia.

Armenia’s current geopolitical standing after the 2020 Nagorno Karabagh War necessitates normalization with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Armenia needs time to rebuild its army, state institutions and its already growing economy. Since the 2018 peaceful Velvet Revolution in Armenia, the country has shown unprecedented economic growth which continues even after the war while our neighbors’ economies are in a state of steep contraction. Given time, without another attack on Armenia, the country will fare much stronger in the near future. Which is why it’s important for Armenia to buy time with normalization with its brutal and in the case of Azerbaijan fascist and racist neighbors.

If normalization with Turkey prevails, Armenia will have to be smart in legislating economic protections so that larger Turkish companies do not compromise its economy or national security. The opening of trade routes and access to Europe, currently only through Georgia, will lead to increased economic gain for Armenia. It is inconceivable that we are talking about normalizing relations with a genocidal neighbor who just attacked us 18 months ago, but geopolitical reality necessitates peace for Armenia at this time.”

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