FEBRUARY 3, 2018 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXVIII, NO. 28, Issue 4523 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Congressmen Call on US Turkish Authorities ADL Supreme Council Secretary of Treasury to Launch Probe against President Vartan HDP MP Baydemir Renegotiate Double-Tax ISTANBUL (Armenpress) — Authorities in Nazerian Receives Ankara launched an investigation against Osman Treaty with Armenia Baydemir, a politician known for recognizing the Gratitude Medal Armenian Genocide. Baydemir is a member of the WASHINGTON — US Representatives David Kurdish-majority HDP party in the National Valadao (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) are col- YEREVAN — Armenian Democratic Assembly. lecting signatures on a bipartisan letter urging Liberal Party (Ramgavar) Supreme Council Vartan Nazerian receives the The reason for the probe was an online post their Congressional colleagues to request that Chairman Vartan Nazerian received the Medal of Gratitude from made by Baydemir regarding military operations of Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin rene- Gratitude Medal of the Republic of Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan. Turkey in Afrin, Diken reports. gotiate the existing, outdated Double Tax Treaty from President Serzh Sargsyan on Sunday, Baydemir said on social media: “Afrin is being with Armenia, an obsolete Cold War-era accord, January 28. bombarded in order not to allow the Kurdish peo- recognized today by the US but not Armenia, that The Gratitude Medal is given out tradi- ple to have a status.” was negotiated with the now defunct USSR more tionally on Army Day, in gratitude for sup- During a parliamentary session, he displayed than four decades ago, the Armenian National port shown toward the Armed Forces of the photos of Kurdish children who were killed as Committee of America (ANCA) announced. Republic of Armenia. result of the operations, and asked: “What’s their The Valadao-Sherman letter notes that “The Nazerian is a resident of Los Angeles. fault? Only being Kurds?” existing Soviet-era treaty does not reflect the The prosecution said in a statement that increasing complexity of a globalized world and Baydemir has called the Turkish forces “occupiers,” the friendship between the American and “insulted the supporters of the operations,” “called Armenian peoples,” then calls upon Secretary on NATO to intervene in Turkey’s operations,” Mnuchin to, “prioritize the renegotiation of the “urged the people to take the streets.” The investi- double tax treaty with Armenia.” gation was launched on articles including inciting The letter also underscores that “the complexi- hatred and animosity and insulting the Turkish ties of the international tax structure should not nation, state system and the Republic of Turkey. discourage American and Armenian companies In 2014, Baydemir visited the Genocide memori- from conducting business with each other due to al in Armenia. double taxation. The need for updated guidelines that reflect the current state of US-Armenian rela- tions and recently passed tax reform legislation BBC Presents Report cannot be understated.” “We want to thank Representatives Valadao and On Werfel’s Forty Days Sherman for spearheading Congressional out- reach to Secretary Mnuchin in support of an of Musa Dagh updated, working US-Armenia Tax Treaty that will LONDON (Armenpress) — BBC Radio 3 has pre- — by ending the threat of double taxation — break pared a nearly 50-minute report on Franz Werfel’s Vartan Nazerian toasts President Serzh Sargsyan. down a key barrier to the growth of bilateral trade The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, published in 1933. and investment,” said ANCA Government Affairs The story is about a guerilla army of Armenian Director Raffi Karakashian. “We join with them in villagers holding out against overwhelming Turkish encouraging their House colleagues to support forces on the mountain of Musa Dagh in 1915, the timely negotiation of this mutually-beneficial before evacuation by French forces. Former TCA Central Committee and long overdue accord.” BBC Reporter Maria Margaronis notes that The full text of the letter follows: Germany, a former ally of the Ottoman Empire, Member Antoine Bazarbashian Dies “Dear Secretary Mnuchin, We are writing you rejected any guilt by association for the Armenian with regards to the current US tax treaty with the Genocide, but the assassination of Talaat Bey, for- WYNNEWOOD, Penn. — Antoine S. Republic of Armenia. The current tax treaty mer Ottoman Minister of the Interior and the key Bazarbashian passed away peacefully in his sleep between the United States and Armenia is insuffi- architect of the Armenian extermination, who was on January 23. cient for the needs of the two countries, as it was gunned down in Berlin in 1921, caused a furor. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Hester and Sarkis last negotiated with the Union of Soviet Socialist The subsequent trial became a major media Bazarbashian, Bazarbashian came to the United Republics (USSR) during the Cold War in 1973. event. States in 1960. His career as a lithographer began We believe the unrealized benefits of an updated Werfel, already a noted poet and author, toured shortly after he immigrated. double tax treaty between Washington and the Middle East in 1929 with his new wife, Alma He was a devoted father and husband. His Yerevan necessitate immediate negotiations, Mahler, where he encountered Armenian refugee family was his pride and joy in life. which could be based upon the frameworks of children. Their plight was the spark for his work. He was well known for his quick wit and treaties recently ratified with other nations. In For both Werfel and its many readers The Forty comedic timing. fact, the Armenian Embassy has said it would be Days of Musa Dagh was not just an epic tribute to see BAZARBASHIAN, page 8 see TAXATION, page 20 Armenian resistance but a warning. Werfel’s works were burned and banned after Anschluss and in 1938 he and Alma Mahler fled to America. The pro- gram can be heard on http://www.bbc.co.uk/pro- Germany Appoints Honorary grammes/p05wgvsy Consul in Gyumri BERLIN — Gyumri has good INSIDE By Muriel Mirak-Weissbach reason to celebrate. One of its Special to the Mirror-Spectator most prominent sons has been chosen as the honorary consul of Germany and this will bring rela- Teach for tions between the two countries, on the political, economic and cultural level to new levels. The official ceremony took place on January Armenia 26, when the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Matthias Kiesler intro- Page 3 duced the newly appointed honorary consul, Alexan Ter-Minasyan, to a large group of well- wishers. Handing him the Consular License of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he announced the launch of the consulate in Gyumri. INDEX In his remarks, the ambassador said, “In Arts and Living . 13 Armenia . 2,3 Gyumri, there is already an Honorary Consul Community News. 6 from Italy and for a long time there was a neces- Editorial . 17 sity that we had our permanent representative in Alexan Ter-Minasyan International . .. 4,5 see CONSUL, page 5 2 S ATURDAY, F EBRUARY 3 , 2 0 1 8 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Production Halted at Armenian Speaker Meets With Copper Mine Slovak Counterpart YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Amid contin- would lose their jobs. will lead to the destruction of hundreds YEREVAN (Armenpress) — Speaker of Parliament uing criticism from environmentalists, The Teghut operator sought to allay of hectares of rich forest. Ara Babloyan and his delegation met with Andrej a leading Armenian mining company those fears, saying that it is actually The Liechtenstein-registered compa- Danko, Speaker of the Slovakian Parliament on has suspended production operations planning to significantly increase cop- ny pledged to plant a new and bigger January 29 in Bratislava. at a massive copper deposit in Lori per ore extraction. forest in adjacent areas before launch- The delegation included Vice Speaker Eduard province, citing the need to repair its These plans met with strong resis- ing mining operations there in 2014. It Sharmazanov, MP Marina Margaryan, MP Aram waste disposal facilities. tance from some residents of two vil- also promised to create 1,300 new jobs, Sargsyan and MP Armenuhi Kyureghyan, the The company, Vallex Group, con- lages close to the mining site during a build new schools and upgrade other Parliament’s press service said. firmed on Tuesday, January 30, that During the meeting Babloyan spoke on the occa- some of its 1,215 employees working at sion of the 25th anniversary of establishing diplo- the Teghut deposit were sent on an matic ties between Armenia and Slovakia, and men- indefinite leave on January 12. A Vallex tioned that during these years the countries formed spokeswoman said more of them will warm partnership, based on cooperation and political be told on Wednesday not to report for dialogue in different areas. work until further notice. She gave no “In 2018 Slovakia marks the 100th anniversary of numbers. the first Czechoslovak Republic. I congratulate you In a separate written statement to on this significant anniversary and wish you welfare RFE/RL’s Armenian service and happiness. It is symbolic that this year also (Azatutyun.am), Vallex attributed the marks the 100th anniversary of the first Republic of measure to the need to conduct Armenia. Our people, 1.5 million of whom fell victim “planned prophylactic repairs.” It said to genocide in 1915, only three years later 0 in it will specifically bring “technological 1918, found the strength to restore its statehood parameters” of industrial waste flowing which was destroyed for centuries,” Babloyan said. into a dump near the mine into confor- The sides also discussed issues related to further mity with “new standards” for environ- cooperation between the two countries.