THE ARMENIAN MIRRORc SPECTATOR Since 1932 Volume LXXXXI, NO. 36, Issue 4678 MARCH 27, 2021 $2.00 38 Senators Urge President Biden to Recognize Genocide WASHINGTON — A total of The Senators noted President we are reminded daily of the pow- these victims, and we stand firm- 38 Senators, led by Senate For- Biden’s record on affirming the Ar- er of truth, and of our shared re- ly against attempts to pretend that eign Relations Committee Chair- menian Genocide and highlighted sponsibility to stand against hate this intentional, organized effort man Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), his April 24 Armenian Genocide — because silence is complicity.” to destroy the Armenian people urged President Joe Biden to of- Commemoration Day statement in In the letter to President Biden, was anything other than a geno- ficially recognize the truth of the 2020, wherein he stated: the Senators also stated: “We cide. You have correctly stated Armenian Genocide, reported the “It is particularly important to join the Armenian community in that American diplomacy and for- Armenian Assembly of America speak these words and commemo- the United States and around the eign policy must be rooted in (Assembly). rate this history at a moment when world in honoring the memory of see RECOGNITION, page 20 Sen. Bob Menendez Mission Eurasia Brings Turkey Prosecutes Humanitarian Aid and HDP Party, Attempts Evangelism to Refugees To Ban Paylan’s From Artsakh War Political Activity By Aram Arkun ISTANBUL (Combined Sources) Mirror-Spectator Staff — Since March 17, a political crisis DETROIT — The disaster of the 2020 has erupted in Turkey. Erdogan and the Artsakh War led to as many as 100,000 Turkish government has taken steps to refugees to initially flee Artsakh to Arme- shut down the pro-Kurdish HDP po- nia. While many returned after the war, litical party, of which Garo Paylan is the humanitarian needs remain great and a member and deputy in the Turkish the resources of the Armenian and Art- Parliament representing Diyarbakir. sakh governments limited. Aside from On that day, the Chief Prosecutor Armenian organizations throughout the of the Court of Cassation, Bekir Sa- world, various international institutions hin, opened a case against the HDP. began to provide aid, including religious Sahin claimed without evidence in his organizations. Mission Eurasia is one indictment that the HDP works as an that has become active in Armenia, with arm of the PKK (the Kurdistan Work- Don Parsons, its ministry director for un- er’s Party). He additionally claimed reached people groups, taking three trips that the European Court of Human there since the end of October last year, Rights had decided in a previous case and arranging for food, clothing, and oth- that “not condemning a terrorist or- er aid to be sent through various partner ganization was sufficient grounds for organizations. ‘Rapping Under Fire’ closing down the operations of a po- Mission Eurasia (formerly called Pe- litical party.” ter Deyneka Russian Ministries) was The indictment demands that the founded in 1991 after the collapse of the The Story of 3 Young Heroes from Artsakh HDP party be shut down in light of its alleged ties to the PKK and its “mov- By Christopher Atamian NEW YORK — In 2017, writer and journalist ing contrary to the duties of political Special to the Mirror-Spectator Taleen Babayan turned her efforts to directing a short parties.” The indictment also demand- documentary in Martakert, a village in Artsakh which ed a ban on the political activities of now stands divided between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the 44-Day War. Her sub- 687 persons, including Garo Paylan. ject is an unlikely trio of young men in their late twenties — Spartak Osipyan, Eric The case is to be decided by Tur- Poghosyan and Lyoka (Valeri) Ghaz- key’s Constitutional Court. aryan — who form the Armenian rap The HDP, which is the third-largest group Orinak (“Example”). Unlikely party in Turkey’s parliament, denies as well, that a first documentary on any links to the militants. this particular subject matter should be The party said the case against it quite so successful but “Rapping Un- was “a heavy blow to democracy and der Fire” fascinates from start to fin- law.” ish. The boys from Orinak have, after “We call on all the democratic forc- all, survived their entire lives amidst es, the social and political opposition, the ruins of the long-simmering con- and on our people to join a common flict, in a region of the world that few fight against this political coup,” the people care about. At one point in the party said on Wednesday. documentary, Spartak points to a rusty Don Parsons with refugee children In recent years many HDP lawmak- Ferris wheel where two generations of ers have been investigated or jailed - Martakertsis have now played on a dai- including its former leader, Selahattin Soviet Union to, according to its current ly basis, a metaphor for the condition Demirtas. website, “react quickly and decisively to of Artsakh: abandoned yet unwilling to The issue has caused an uproar and new opportunities for evangelism and give up. public debate in Turkey. see MISSION, page 2 see RAPPERS, page 11 see HDP, page 5 CALIFORNIA PENNSYLVANIA MASSACHUSETTS Fresno Arax Dancers Sisters Academy Artist Ani Jermakian’s Embark on Video Successfully Message Is “I’ll Be Project Weathers Covid Your Voice” Challenge Page 12 Page 6 Page 14 2 SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021 ARMENIAN MIRROR-SPECTATOR ARMENIA NEWS from ARMENIA Mission Eurasia Brings Humanitarian Aid Armenia Reports 26 Covid-19 Deaths And Evangelism to Artsakh War Refugees YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Armenia has confirmed 801 MISSION, from page 1 new cases of coronavirus in a 24- church-planting in this former communist hour period, bringing the national empire.” At present it is under the leader- tally to 185,020 as of 11 a.m. on ship of Sergey Rakhuba, who was orig- Tuesday, March 23, the Ministry of inally from Ukraine but lived in Moscow Health reports. for many years before moving to Illinois. A totoal of 451 more patients Rakhuba attended the Moddy Bible Insti- have recovered from the disease tute, a fundamentalist Christian institute of with the total number of recoveries higher learning in Chicago. Mission Eur- now standing at 169,172. asia, the website continues, along with its The COVID-19 death toll has in-country affiliate Mission Eurasia Field increased by 26 to 3,360. The fig- Ministries, works “to train, equip and ure does not include the deaths of mobilize the next generation of Christian 862 other people carrying the virus. leaders to transform their nations for Christ According to the health authorities, through strategic, holistic ministry.” they were caused by other diseases. Parsons and his wife Esther lived for The number of active cases is more than twelve years in the former Sovi- 11,602. As many as 812,076 tests et Union, including eight years in Ukraine, have been performed in the country starting in the late 1990s. Parsons, who since the disease outbreak. grew up as an Evangelical Baptist, worked as a missionary and learned the Russian Parliament to Discuss language. He did the same work in Kazakh- stan. Parsons was director of Globalization Lifting Martial Law and International Personnel at Send Inter- YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN. national, based in Farmington, Mich. He Net) — The National Assembly moved back to the US but last year decided was scheduled to discuss lift- to start working with Mission Eurasia. The ing martial law in the country on organization has an international office in Wednesday, March 25 at the initia- Franklin, Tenn., but its main field ministry tive of the opposition Bright Arme- office is outside of Kiev. nia party. Parsons, who lives in the Detroit area, Ararat Mirzoyan, the speaker started September 1, and a month later of the parliament, has proposed to was still trying to figure out during a covid support the initiative and vote in its year what work would be like for him, he favor. said, when the president of the organization According to Bright Armenia called and spoke about the situation in Ar- leader Edmon Marukyan, the mar- menia. He wanted to send a delegation to tial law “has completely exhaust- see what kind of support could be provid- ed itself” and it is maintained for ed. Unexpectedly, Rakhuba asked whether one purpose only — to prevent the Parsons would be able to leave for Arme- launch of a no-confidence vote in nia the next day. Having already recovered Distributing aid the parliament. from a bout of covid, Parsons did not shy Mirzoyan dismissed the political away from traveling and agreed to go. motives cited by Marukyan and This first trip of around ten days start- He said of that trip: “It was a tough sit- tiple cars, farm equipment, a house, and said that the process would begin ing at the end of October was exploratory uation, and we heard tough stories from so staff. They had fled quickly only with the “one way or another” as the coun- but boxes of food and the scriptures were many women. We visited homes where we clothing on their backs, thinking that the try is heading to snap parliamenta- also distributed. With a team including knew people lost their husbands, brothers situation would be short lived as during ry elections. and sons.” the April 2016 war and they would quickly Armenia first declared martial Parsons’ second and return. In Armenia, the government at that law in late September 2020 when third trips brought aid point was only providing subsidies for chil- Azerbaijan launched a large-scale and also introduced peo- dren from Artsakh but not for adults, so the military offensive against Artsakh ple from Western part- family used these subsidies to help pay for (Nagorno-Karabakh).