Opinions & Editorials

By Edmond Y. Azadian After meeting the historic watershed of the Genocide centennial with uncommon unity and solidarity, Armenia is geared to celebrate another existential event, the rebirth of the Armenian sovereign statehood on May 28, 1918. For many decades, the act that restored Armenia’s statehood was treated with different interpretations. Today, at the third stage of the development of Armenia’s statehood, it is time to cast that historic event in its proper role as the...

By Edmond Y. Azadian The parliamentary elections in Turkey on June 7 are closely watched events by all parties in the region who will be impacted, one way or another, by their outcome. Turkey is a regional superpower and an arrogant one at that, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It has its influence and opinion on many conflicts in the region. It has its tentacles in the Balkans, it is directly involved in conflicts raging...

We are writing you this open letter in response to your call for an “impartial study by historians” concerning the fate of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. We represent the major body of scholars who study genocide in North America and Europe. We are concerned that in calling for an impartial study of the Armenian Genocide you may not be fully aware of the extent of the scholarly and...

On Sunday April 12, H.H. Pope Francis has made an unequivocal declaration naming what he wanted to refer to, by its real name. Armenians suffered the first genocide of the 20th century he said, followed by similar crimes committed by the Nazis and Stalin. The entire world media received an incredibly powerful wake-up shock by this most simple and sincere declaration of the Catholic Church Pontiff who, by now, has established an unprecedented record of...

By Edmond Y. Azadian When influential publications such as the Christian Science Monitor or Newsweek decided to drop their print versions and survive in an online format only, many people began writing the obituary of print media. But when the New York Times released the global issue of its 200-plus-page weekly magazine (by “reimagining a magazine”) one is reminded of Mark Twain’s famous quote, “the reports about my death have been greatly exaggerated.” In the February...

By Edmond Y. Azadian   The Orange Revolution and the Rose Revolution brought regime changes in Ukraine and Georgia, respectively, but Armenia was spared during both cases and maintained its stability throughout those stormy periods. But rumors, forecasts and political analyses always pointed to the possibility of a color revolution in Armenia as well. President Serge Sargisian’s administration weathered successfully the tides of unrest fomented by the opposition and taking the initiative, it also deflated the opposition. Levon...

By Edmond Y. Azadian The literacy rate is not high in Egypt, but the people there are endowed with an innate sense of humor. Sometimes, they can encapsulate major political developments in simple anecdotes. One such anecdote began circulating when Anwar Sadat succeeded Gamal Abdel Nasser as president. The story goes that on the first day that the new president is driven to his office, the presidential limousine comes to a crossroad and the driver...