Armenians in Jerusalem: The Politics of Survival in the Holy Land

STORY & PHOTOS BY MATTHEW KARANIAN

The Armenians of Jerusalem form one of the oldest Armenian communities outside of Armenia. The Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem may be one of the most Armenian places in the world, too.

But this community is more than just old and Armenian. The community also controls, through the Armenian Church, at least a part of every major Christian Holy Site in the region, including the birthplace and crucifixion of Jesus, and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary.

With such a rich cultural legacy, one might guess that the Armenians of Jerusalem are strong and thriving. They are not. If the Old City were divided up today, the Armenians might barely command one street. They certainly would not lay claim to an entire Quarter, as they have for centuries.

The survival of the community is today in peril. The population is dwindling. Armenian property rights are under attack. Even Armenian pilgrims are fewer in number.

Matthew Karanian—a Pasadena lawyer and the author of several books about Armenia—traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a research and photography project. Karanian is the co-author, with Robert Kurkjian, of the best-selling travel guide Armenia and Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This article is one in a series about the Jerusalem Armenians that Karanian has written and photographed for Asbarez.

POLITICS OF SURVIVAL IN JERUSALEM
Armenians have 17 centuries of history in the Holy Land, and they share or own most of the major Christian sites, including the sites where Jesus was born, crucified, and buried.

There’s also a distinct geographical area in the historic walled city of Jerusalem known as the Armenian Quarter.

This should be enough to make any Armenian feel proud. But after I had spent several days living among the Armenians of this sacred Armenian place, those 17 centuries of history instead felt like they were crushing down on me. I felt as weary as if I had been breathing too much church incense.

The Holy Land induces awe and inspiration for some. I felt this, too. I was awed. And I was inspired.

But as I became increasingly aware of the greatness of the Armenian legacy here, I also became increasingly aware that the survival of this legacy is in peril.

George Hintlian is a Jerusalem historian and a prominent member of the Armenian community. He had been my introduction to the Armenian community when I arrived earlier this year.

He sensed that I had become weary, rather than uplifted, by all that I was seeing and learning about the Armenians of Jerusalem. “This place doesn’t work only by prayer,” he said. “There’s a lot of politics.”

Unfortunately, the politics appear to be working against the Armenians. This “politics,” I feared, could one day turn the Armenian Quarter into another Aghtamar—another sacred gem of Armenian culture that is now just a “museum” that’s owned and operated by others.

WHAT’S AT RISK

The walled Old City of Jerusalem has a dense population of nearly 40,000 living in an area of less than one square kilometer.

The Armenian Quarter occupies one-sixth of this tiny walled-city, yet it has a population of only about 500 Armenians. As a result, the Quarter is a highly coveted piece of real estate. The other quarters are bursting with residents who need more room. This is especially true for the Jewish Quarter, which is adjacent to the Armenian Quarter.

“The Israelis want to take over the Armenian Quarter,” says Hintlian. Worshippers headed to the Western Wall—sometimes also called the Wailing Wall—often pass through the public streets of the Armenian Quarter. “Every day they see what we have,” he says. “They want it.”

These worshippers frequently walk directly past the home and office of Kevork Nalbandian, an attorney with a law practice in the Armenian Quarter.

Nalbandian says he is also concerned about the future of the Armenian community. “We already live in a museum,” he says, alluding to the dwindling Armenian population. “Twenty years from now, how many of us will there be?” he asks.

There had been 35,000 Armenians—some say more—in the region prior to 1948. There are about 2,000 in the region today, of whom 500 live in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City.

The population decline has several causes. Finding work is difficult, especially for educated professionals. This forces many of the most highly educated Armenians to leave Israel. Job prospects are better for an Armenian who wants to operate his own office, or work as a merchant.

So, an Armenian can make a living selling jewelry or ceramics, says Hintlian, but careers in the professions are scarce. This is because the politics of the region dictate that Arabs hire Arabs and Jews hire Jews, he says.

There’s also the intangible difficulty of simply living in Jerusalem. “People are psychologically crushed,” says Hintlian. Israeli policies—Hintlian calls it “harassment”—work to encourage Armenians to leave. And, government policy also prevents immigration to Israel by Armenians, he says. The “Law of Return,” the law that guarantees to Jews anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel, also prevents immigration by non-Jews. The result is a community that cannot sustain itself, and that can only shrink.

ARMENIA’S LINK TO THE HOLY LAND

For centuries, groups have competed for control of the region’s holy sites.

These groups, including the Armenian Church, have fought—sometimes literally—for the right to hold religious rites at places such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. These are the sites where many in the Christian community believe that Jesus was born, crucified, and buried.

In an effort to impose law and order on the religious groups, the Ottoman Empire negotiated a so-called “Status Quo” agreement with them back in 1852. The Ottomans were sovereign over Jerusalem and much of the Middle East at the time.

This agreement dictated that the ownership and rights status that existed for each of the holy sites in 1852 would be the set of rights that would exist in perpetuity. This agreement remains in effect today and is enforced by the Israelis in Jerusalem, and by the Palestinians in Bethlehem.

Negotiating this Status Quo agreement was one of the benevolent acts of the Ottomans during their four centuries of rule in the Holy Land. It has been effective in allowing the Armenians to continue to control or share ownership of most of the major Christian holy sites today. The Greek and Catholic churches are the only other religious groups that rival the Armenians in their extent of ownership and control of Christian Holy Land shrines.

Father Goruin is a member of the St. James Armenian Brotherhood. He became a priest in the Armenian church at age 23, and this year, at age 30, he was elevated to the rank of Vartabed.

The Armenian Church is able to maintain control of these sites because it has been strong over the centuries, says Father Goruin. “And the church can only be strong if there is a large community,” he says.

There are today about 100 students enrolled in the Quarter’s Armenian elementary school. This school, Saint Tarkmanchatz, or The Holy Translators, was established in 1929 and the success of its pupils is one of the keys to the survival of the community, he says.

If the community survives, it will be able to help the Armenian Church maintain its co-stewardship of sites such as the Tomb of St. Mary, as well as the Church of the Ascension, the Church of the Nativity, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Each of these shrines is built upon the site of a significant event in the life and death of Jesus.

The Tomb of St. Mary is where the Virgin Mary was laid to rest before she ascended to heaven.

The Church of the Ascension is built on the hilltop outside the city walls of Jerusalem where Jesus ascended to heaven.

The Church of the Nativity is built atop the site in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

And the Church of the Holy Sepulcher occupies the sites within the Old City of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified and was anointed and laid to rest.

The Armenian Church either shares ownership of these sites, or shares the right to hold religious services there, with either Greeks, or Catholics, or both. “When you consider how few Armenians there are in the world, and how many Latins [Catholics] there are, it’s extraordinary that our rights are the same or greater than theirs,” says Hintlian.

There are several additional significant religious sites that are owned or controlled by the Armenian Church, as well.

At the moment, the more immediate focus of the community is on preserving the building and the sacred relics of the St. James Cathedral, which forms the heart of the Armenian Compound within the Armenian Quarter.

The current edifice of St. James dates back to the twelfth century, and it contains a treasure trove of artwork and priceless antiquities. The monastery of St. James is even older, having been established in the fourth century by St. Gregory the Illuminator.

It was here, on a recent afternoon, that Archbishop Nourhan Manoogian of the Armenian Patriarchate presided over the elevation of four priests—four members of the St. James Brotherhood—to the rank of Vartabed. The cathedral was alight only with the flames of candles and oil-fed lamps. The mood was mystical, and the community had turned out in large numbers to witness this rare and sacred rite of the church.

Thirty students from the St. James Convent, all of them young men, filled the gallery and sang hymns from the pages of books that were lighted only by candles. There was no other music—no organ, no choir—except the singing and chanting of these 30 young men.

Back in the 1930s, the military governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, had famously stated that the Cathedral of St. James “embodies the misery and the glory of the Armenian nation.” On this evening, I understood only the glory.

_______________

Matthew Karanian traveled to Jerusalem earlier this year as part of a research and photography project documenting the Armenian community and the Old City’s Armenian Quarter. His Jerusalem photography will be included in a large format photography book to be released in 2012 with co-author Robert Kurkjian.

Karanian practices law in Pasadena, Calif., and is a former Associate Dean and member of the law faculty at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. He is also the co-author with Kurkjian of several books about Armenia, including the best-selling photo-based travel guide Armenia and Karabagh: The Stone Garden Guide. This book is available from Borders, from Armenian booksellers in Glendale, and from the online bookseller Amazon.com.

Karanian’s photography has appeared in such magazines as CNN Traveler, Photo Life, and Photo District News (PDN). He has photographed leaders such as former Presidents Bill Clinton and Robert Kocharian, in the Oval Office of the White House, and several Miss Armenia beauty queen.

Armenian-Israeli relations based not only on common fates - Israeli MP

TEL AVIV. - Israeli MP Rabbi Michael Ben-Ari has congratulated the people of Armenia on the occasion of 20th anniversary of independence.

"I cordially congratulate the Armenian people on the 20th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Armenia. I wish you success and prosperity, security and strength of spirit to preserve the independence forever, despite all the problems and threats our people face in shaky and unstable regions of the world," reads the letter of the MP, sent to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
 
Israeli MP expressed hope that relations between Armenia and Israel are based not only on the common fate, marked by disasters - the Holocaust of Jewish people during Nazi regime and the Turkish Genocide of Armenians, and not only on the willingness to help each other in times of natural disasters - as it was after the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, but also on mutual understanding on development of nation states and the protection of national interests.

Armenia, Israel expand cooperation in agriculture

 Armenia and Israel are going to sign a cooperation agreement in agriculture, Israel’s Knesset MP, Minister of Agriculture Orit Noked said in Yerevan.

“I’m sure we will not only sign a cooperation agreement, but also manage to implement all its provisions,” Israeli minister said during the meeting with her Armenian counterpart Sergo Karapetyan on April 16 thanking him for a warm reception.

Noked invited Karapetyan to visit Israel in May voicing hope that the Armenian minister will come to their country despite the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia on May 6. Israeli MP said she is going to visit Armenia again in fall 2012.

The Israeli official further noted that the parties agreed to create a working group for a follow-up of the issues discussed within the framework of the bilateral cooperation.

For his part, Minister Karapetyan said he discussed several issues with his Israeli counterpart, in particular, development of cattle-breeding and fishery, in the context of exchange of experience and application of modern technologies, as well as development of greenhouse facilities. The agenda included consultation and staff training issues as well.

“Our relations with Israel were not quite developed yet, and the minister’s visit will promote further expansion and deepening of these ties,” Karapetyan emphasized highlighting the importance of cooperation in other branches of economy as well.

The Israeli delegation will also meet the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Karekin II.

Besides, the delegates will visit Yerevan Brandy Company, Matenadaran (the museum-institute of ancient manuscripts), and lay a wreath to the Armenian Genocide memorial.

The Virtual Jewish History Tour

The Virtual Jewish History Tour

Armenia

By Ariel Scheib 

History of Jewish Community

The Jewish community of Armenia dates back almost 2,000 years. Many historians date the arrival of the first Jewish settlement in Armenia back to the destruction of the First Temple. During the conquest of King Tigranes II the Great, Tigranes brought with him 10,000 Jewish captives to Armenia when he retreated from Palestine, because of the Roman attack on Armenia (69 B.C.E.). By 360-370 C.E., there was a massive increase in Jewish Hellenistic immigration into Armenia; many Armenian towns became predominately Jewish. During this period, however, the Persian Shapur II began deporting thousands of Jews to Iran.

Halakhic studies never prospered in Armenia, although there are a few references to the region in Jewish Hellenistic sources. During Medieval times, most of Armenian Jewry vanished as a distinct entity in the region, although many historians believe they became a part of the Kurdish Jewry. There is an ancient Jewish cemetery located in the region of Vayots Dzor, in the city of Eghegis, south and west of Yerevan. There are more than 40 tombstones dating back to the 13th century, 16 tombstones with Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions.

Jews from Poland and Persia first began arriving in Armenia in the early 19th century. Since 1840, Jewish settlers established both Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities in Yerevan. Up to 1924, the Sephardic synagogue, Shiek Mordechai, was a leading institution among the Jewish community.

Ark in Yerevan Synagogue

During and after World War II, hundreds of displaced Jews moved to Soviet Armenia. The Jewish population of Armenia grew to approximately 5,000 people. In 1959, the Jewish population peaked in Soviet Armenia at approximately 10,000 people. Another wave of Jewish immigrants arrived in the country between 1965 and 1972, mainly intelligentsia, military, and engineers. These Jews arrived from Russia and Ukraine, attracted to the more liberal society. Today, the Jewish community has fewer than 1,000 citizens due to emigration and assimilation. Between 1992 and 1994, more than 6,000 Jews immigrated to Israel because of Armenia’s political isolation and economic depression. In 1995, the Chabad House was established in Yerevan. The Chabad House provides free meals, offers classes in Hebrew and Jewish traditions, and cares for the community elderly.

Rabbi Gershom Meir Berstein

The rate of intermarriage among Jews and Christian Armenians is very high. In an interview, Rabbi Berstein of the Yerevan Chabad described the Jewish community as “‘too small’ to be of great interest to most Jewish organizations.” Almost half of the Jewish population resides in Yerevan. Seven, Yerevan and Vanadzor have active Jewish community centers.

At the start of 2002, Rimma Varzhapetian became the president of the Jewish Community of Armenia. The only rabbi in Armenia is Rabbi Gershom Meir Berstein of the Chabad in Yerevan. In 2004, the Jewish community, through the assistance of Chabad, began producing kosher food. Slowly, the Jewish community is rebuilding itself in Armenia.

Status

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is very active in Armenia assisting the elderly, through the charity Orot Hesed. The JDC works through the Yerevan synagogue to provide finances for food supplies, fuel, and medicine. This program supports nearly 80 people.

Sunday School

The Jewish Community of Armenia (JCA) in Yerevan sponsors many programs for Jews of all ages. Some of these programs include: advanced education classes, a children’s chorus, and outreach work. In late 2002, the JCA published the community’s first newsletter. This publication helps to keep the small community aware of current events and informed of communal information, such as deaths and marriages.

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) maintains a Sunday school; a Hesed senior center, several youth clubs, and communal activities in Armenia. The Religious Society of Armenia also supports a second Sunday school and a summer camp, both located in Yerevan. Menorah, the Armenia-Israel culture group, conducts many activities in the community. Modern Hebrew has been taught at the state university since 1995.

Yerevan Synagogue

In 1992, the Jewish Religious Community of Armenia was established in Yerevan. This Chabad organization maintains a rabbi, the third Sunday school in Armenia and a Community Center for programs and gatherings. It also supports a summer camp and charity programs. There are weekly Shabbat services and holiday services held at the Yerevan synagogue. Since 1997, the Jewish Religious Community has published the newsletter, Koelet, to help keep the community informed.

There is also a small Jewish community in Sevan that occasionally holds services led by the head rabbi of the Yerevan Synagogue.

Community Relations

The Armenian Jewish community has good relations with their government. Armenian Jewry may worship and practice Jewish traditions freely due to the 1991 Armenian Law on Freedom of Conscience, amended in 1997, of separation of church and state. In 1996, the state registration agency required every communal organization to register with the state. The Jewish Religious Community of Armenia is registered with the Committee on Nationalities.

In 1999, the JCA planted trees in Yerevan in commemoration of the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

A state-sponsored channel broadcasts a weekly television show highlighting Jewish and Israeli culture. The Armenian government has also been cooperating with the Jewish community to retrieve Torah scrolls confiscated in the past and placed in state collections.

Israel

Israel and Armenia have diplomatic relations; however, neither maintains an embassy in the other country. Israel is represented in Armenia by the Israeli ambassador in Tbilisi, Georgia. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, has paid tribute to ten Armenians as “Righteous Among the Nations” for risking their lives during the Holocaust to rescue Jews. In 1988, Israel Defense Forces were sent to Armenia after a devastating earthquake. Over the past years, trade between Israel and Armenia has further increased the two nations’ friendship.

Since 1989, 1,246 Jews have immigrated to Israel from Armenia.

Contacts

Rabbi Gershon Meir Burstein
Jewish Religious Community
Chabad
23 Nar-Dosa St.
Yerevan, 375018
Tel. 37-571-968
Email: avyner@mbox.intarnet.com

Jewish Community Center Mordechai Navi
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-19-68; 57-16-77; 52-62-58
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Vladimir Kishinevsky



Burial Society
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Rabbi Gersh-Meir Burshtein
Charity Center Orot Hesed
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Leah Premysler
Kolel and Machon
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Rabbi Gersh-Meir Burshtein
Soup Kitchen
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Leah Premysler
Sunday School Tora Ohr
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-19-68
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Vladimir Kishinevsky
Weekly Newspaper Kohelet
Agatangekhosi str. 7-252
Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (3741) 55-34-13
Nelly Sorina
Women's Club
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Leah Premysler
Youth Club
Nar-Dosa str. 23
Yerevan, Armenia 375018
Tel.: (3741) 57-16-77
Fax: (3741) 55-41-32
Leah Premysler
Jewish Community Center of Armenia
Mrs. Rimma Varzhapetian
2/1 Griboyedov St., Off. 49
Yerevan, 375051
Tel. 37-236-533, 37-236-528, 37-230-652
Jewish Community of Vanadzor
Tigrana Metza av.79 - 13
Vanadzor, Armenia 377201
Tel.: (374-573) 211-96
Fax: (374-573) 446-63
Ludmila Aivazdzhan
Jewish Community of Sevan
Nairyana str. 67-2
Sevan, Armenia 378610
Tel.: (374-762) 212-61
Abram Korolev

---

Sources: NCSJ
World Jewish Congress
“Hebrew University Expedition Studies Jewish Cemetery in Armenia”
“Armenia,” The Jewish Travelers' Resource Guide. Feldheim Publishers. 2001.
Encylopaedia Judaica
The Federation of Jewish Committees of the CIS
“Armenia’s Jews Anxious for Calm”
IAJGS- Cemetery Project
Maps: CIA.
Picture of Yerevan Synagogue courtesy of: NCSJ
Remaining pictures courtesy of: Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS and Baltic States

'Jewish lobby behind U.S. Armenia genocide vote'

Jewish lobbyists contrived a U.S. congressional vote that labeled the World War One-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces as genocide, a London-based Arabic-language newspaper claimed on Saturday.

Pro-Israel lobbyists had previously backed Turkey on the issue ? but changed tack in retaliation for Turkish condemnation of Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily said in an editorial, according to Israel Radio reports.

Israel and Turkey are traditional allies but ties took a downturn in 2009 when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza, in which some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

A crisis in diplomatic relations came to a head in January when when Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon publicly humiliated Turkey's ambassador in front of press cameras.

In his leading article, Al-Quds Al-Arabi editor Abd al-Bari Atwan curged Erdogan not to give in to the Jewish lobby's "extortion" tactics.

Erdogan on Thursday recalled Turkey's ambassador to Washington after the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it for consideration by the full House.

"The decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee will not hurt Turkey, but it will greatly harm bilateral relations, interests and vision. Turkey will not be the one who loses," said Erdogan, speaking at a summit of Turkish businessmen.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said the vote was a boost for human rights.

The vote calls on President Barack Obama to ensure U.S. policy formally refers to the massacre as genocide, putting him in a tight spot.

In a telephone call with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday, Obama emphasized his administration had urged lawmakers to consider the potential damage to efforts to normalize Armenian-Turkish ties, a senior administration official said.

At a news conference in Costa Rica on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she and Obama, who both supported proposed Armenia genocide resolutions as presidential candidates, had changed their minds because they believed the drive to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia was bearing fruit.

Turkey, a Muslim secular democracy that plays a vital role for U.S. interests from Iraq to Iran and in Afghanistan and the Middle East, accepts that many Armenians were killed by Ottoman forces but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted to genocide - a term employed by many Western historians and some foreign parliaments.

Turkey regards such accusations as an affront to its national honor


source: http://www.haaretz.com/

Armenia and Israel going to establish military cooperation

A high-ranking representative of Armenia were in Israel to study the opportunities of cooperation in the strategic issues.

IzRus reports that the visit of Armenia's high-ranking official to Israel had been done October - early November. Considering some indirect circumstances, his task is to study the perspectives of establishing close ties in the military sphere at least within a limited format.



The portal writes that the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Eurasia-2 Division for Central Europe and Eurasia Department is engaged in preparations for the visit. The Division is in charge of the relations with the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Armenian-Israeli Friendship

Armenian-Jewish Friendship: Armenians and Jewish Students gather together in support of each other and learn about each others cultures making Israel and Armenia's relationship bigger and better enjoying both of our cultures. 700 Jews currently live in Armenia and 3,000 Armenians live in Israel.

Armenia, Israel establish direct air communication

Israeli Eshet Tours company has signed a deal with the Armenian national carrier Armavia to represent the Armenian company in Israel.
The direct flights between the states will be operated starting from April.
At the moment Armavia is conducting only one flight a week by 50-seats plane. Starting from April two flights a week will be operated until autumn, the Marker newspaper reports.
Eshet Tours plans to sell tourist packages, including tours to Armenia as well.

Turks Seek to Avert French Armenian Genocide Bill by All Means

The Turkish government is pulling out all the stops to get France to shelve a bill criminalizing denial of Turkish crimes against Armenians

By Aryeh ben Hayim

 

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

 

Turkey is doing its utmost to head off a bill in the French National Assembly that would criminalize the denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915. The Armenians claim that one and a half million Armenians died as result of mass deportations by the Turkish Ottomans.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned the French that they were jeopardizing centuries of friendship in return for "small political calculations". The Turks view French president Nicolas Sarkozy as hostile to them and a major roadblock in their quest to join the European Union. The political calculations Gul referred to were apparently Sarkozy's wish to woo voters for the National Front who regard France's Muslim population with hostility.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan essentially warned the French that they were opening a Pandora's Box given French Imperial history. He recommended that the French National Assembly investigate how many people France killed during the war in Algeria or France's responsibility for the genocide in Rwanda.

The Turks are also raising the issue of free speech by claiming the right to dispute the Armenian version. A Turkish academic interviewed by the pro-government Zaman said “Neither those who say that it was genocide nor those who say that it was not should be punished”. This is a bit rich for a for a country that punishes people for insulting "Turkishness.".

The major Turkish retaliatory threat is in the economic realm. Turkey can boycott French cars in a country where French carmakers have a 20% market share. Turkey can refuse to buy Airbus planes thus impacting the French job market.

As the Turkish economy grew by 8.2% compared with France's anemic growth the Turks believe that they hold the economic upper hand and can force France to cave.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150921

Turkey has not apologized for Armenian Genocide but demands apology from others – Harvard Prof.

Turkey has not apologized for the Armenian Genocide and should not demand that others must apologize for the flotilla clash, said renowned legal expert Harvard Prof. Alan Dershowitz speaking at the annual business conference in Tel Aviv.
“Turkey has never apologized for the genocide in Armenia. Talk about chutzpah? Talking about Turkey demanding an apology from anybody?” he emphasized.
Dershowitz severely criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for demanding an apology from Israel over the flotilla incident, Israeli Arutz Sheva website reports.
He also added that Israel’s record is better than that of Turkey and NATO and others when it comes to the ratio of civilians to terrorists who are killed in warfare

Yona Metzger.

"No other nation can understand the pain of the Armenians better than Jews." Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

ARMENIANS, JEWS DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN MOSCOW

November 23, 2011

On November 22, Moscow hosted a meeting of Armenian
... and Jewish community members of Russia in the framework of the project
Union of Armenians and Jews in Moscow .

Discussion on the Armenian Genocide was on the meeting agenda,
Russian media report.

The meeting, held through organizational support of international
Zionist movement Or Tsian, featured presentation of video and photo
materials, discussion on the Genocide recognition by international
community including Israel.

The participants noted that both Armenia and Israel will benefit from
strengthening of bilateral ties.

During the meeting a statement was made that Or Tsian officially
recognizes the Armenian Genocide and plans to attend all events in
commemoration of the Genocide victims.

Expert: Armenian genocide recognition is a lever in Israel’s hand

The Armenian Genocide recognition issue to be discussed in October at the Israeli Ksennet is simply a card in Tel Aviv’s hands to be played as countermeasure against Turkey, experts say.

Turkey-Israel relations got tense when Israel refused to officially apologize for the deaths of Turkish citizens caused by an Israeli assault against the Mavi Marmara ship – part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Turkey responded by deporting three Israeli diplomats and freezing all military and economic relations.

Specialist in Turkish studies Arestakes Simavoryan, leading Noravank Educational-Foundation’s Center for Armenology (Armenian studies), says Israel is using the Armenian Genocide recognition issue as a political lever in the period of tensions with Turkey.

He believes that Turkey has levers to counteract against Israel, namely Palestine’s recognition and trade-economic and military-technological cooperation with Arab countries. And Israel has its levers against Turkey.

“Recently Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has stated that they would hit at Turkey’s most vulnerable [painful] spots, using the Armenian Genocide recognition and the Kurdish case,” says Simavoryan, adding that Israel is not ready yet to recognize the Armenian genocide. “By doing so Israel would get completely isolated from the region.”

Although Simavoryan does not exclude risk factors for Armenia, since it would mean that Turkey-Israel deteriorated relations would be again on the same level.

“One shouldn’t have high hopes for this little discussion, metaphorically speaking it would mean an earthquake of a 4.5-point magnitude by which Israel will try to put pressure on Turkey,” he says.

Azerbaijan’s support for Turkey may influence Israeli policy

Gokmen Kilicoglu

News.Az interviews Gokmen Kilicoglu, a researcher at Istanbul University.

The Israeli foreign minister said recently that he was preparing a number of retaliatory steps against Turkey. He said one step would be recognition of the "Armenian genocide" and support for the PKK.  What are the implications of steps for Israel?

Israel has a very strong lobby in different parts of the world, particularly in the United States. The use of this lobby can be effective in raising the question of the need to adopt a bill on the so-called "Armenian genocide". In addition, Israel, through rich and reputable Jews and non-Jewish people sympathetic to Israel in different parts of the world, could put Turkey in a difficult position. As you know, Israel is the largest producer of weapons. Besides, this country has a strong intelligence network worldwide, especially in the Middle East. Given these two factors, Israel could support terrorist organizations.
At various times different allegations have been made against Israel that the country supports terrorist organizations. In other words, such a threat by Israel is not new. In this case, there is an interesting situation, namely the acquisition of a sufficiently large volume of  Israeli weapons by Turkey to combat terror and protect their borders. Turkey may, therefore, face difficulties in weapons acquisition and, especially, there is already a challenge of maintaining and repairing the unmanned aircraft Turkey has bought from Israel.
Will Israel lose its friendship with Azerbaijan if it strengthens ties with Armenia in order to retaliate against Turkey?

Azerbaijan is an important country in the Caucasus region. In particular, its importance  in the world is increasing with the growth of its energy strength. As is known, Israel wants to develop relations with Azerbaijan and has taken important steps in this direction. At the same time, it is also known that at different times there have been problems in relations between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Israel will not miss the opportunity to take advantage of these problems. In other words, without affecting issues related to Karabakh but at the same time supporting efforts directed against Turkey and related to the so-called "genocide", Israel can signal to Azerbaijan that "our problems are not related to you".
Moreover, in the Azerbaijani media, there are supporters of full backing for Turkey in its strained relations with Israel and supporters of an Azerbaijani stance that looks out for its own interests.
By developing relations with Armenia, Israel will increase the efforts of Turkey and Azerbaijan to get even closer to each other.

Is it possible to say that by losing friendship with Turkey and Azerbaijan, Israel will be isolated from the whole Muslim world?
Israel seems to find it easier to establish relations with secular countries like Azerbaijan and Turkey than with other Islamic countries. Therefore, we can assume that the cooling of relations with these two countries will further increase tensions between Israel and the Islamic world.
However, given that the Arab world is far from a unified position on Israel and that there is a lack of clarity about the role of Israel in what's known as the "Arab Spring" and its position after these events, it is difficult to give a specific answer. From time to time we can see how Arab governments hostile to Israel behave. Through a variety of promises, or pumping into the heads of government representatives of the Arab countries that Turkey's leadership is a "threat", Israel will enter the path of establishing a new balance in the relationship of powers. So, the criticism of the policies of Prime Minister Erdogan made by the Muslim Brotherhood are signs of this fear. Israel will not miss the opportunity to make use of the situation for its benefit.

Can Azerbaijan mediate between Turkey and Israel?
At a time when Israel does not listen to US proposals, it is doubtful that the services of other mediators would help.

The United States, which relied on Israel in defining its interests in the region, and supported it in any situation, is trying to recommend that Israel avoid tensions with Turkey. However, Israel is refusing to disavow its position on an apology to Turkey for the killing of its citizens, who were supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza. Turkey is also determined in its position and says that it won’t yield until Israel apologizes. The understanding that the whole world is against Israel, as well as close ties with Turkey reduce the possibility that Azerbaijan can become an unbiased mediator. This will further raise distrust. Azerbaijan’s support for Turkey’s position may play an important role in view of the uncompromising position of Israel.

N.H.
News.Az

Commentary: Political Dividends from Turkish-Israeli Row

 

By Edmond Y. Azadian
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is intoxicated with success after his party’s third electoral victory handed him a mandate for domestic and legislative reform, with boundless gusto to go after Ergenekon operatives to demonstrate to the civilized world that he means business in putting Turkey’s house in order.
The brunt of that gusto targets also the restive Kurdish minority, which is in a bloody clash with the police and the army.
Erdogan’s foreign policy guru, Ahmet Davutoglu, had devised his zero-problem-with-neighbors stance, although that zero-problem policy thus far has yielded only zero results, as Armenia’s foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, has indicated. Now it is headed further south for negative dividends. Turkey has begun to move its warships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in a challenge to NATO, Israeli and Greek naval forces, which have dominated the Eastern basin of the seaway, in a part of the world where many conflagrations are extant.
Erdogan’s mounting dispute with Israel has crossed another threshold, reaching a point beyond the demand for an apology for the Mavi Marmara incident and plainly declaring his intentions to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip. Erdogan’s intoxication is derived from the success of his lip service to the Palestinian case, which Turkey has translated into an economic boom throughout the Muslim world.
Israeli policymakers who were looking for creative formulas to meet the Turkish demand, now have scrapped those efforts for a more assertive and aggressive posture.
Indeed, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s arrogance matches that of Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and he has thrown down the gauntlet and undertaken a series of punitive measures to tame Turkey’s bold initiatives.
Those measures include some reference to the Armenians and the Armenian Genocide.
In addition to supporting and arming Kurdish rebel groups in Turkey (including the PKK), “Another planned move is the facilitation of cooperation with Turkey’s historic rivals, the Armenians. During Lieberman’s visit to the United States this month, the foreign minister is expected to meet with leaders of the Armenian lobby and propose anti-Turkish cooperation in Congress. The implication of this move could be Israeli assistance in promoting international recognition of the Armenian Holocaust, a measure that would gravely harm Turkey. Israel may also back Armenia in its dispute vis-à-vis Turkey over control of Mount Ararat,” writes the Israeli paper Yediot Aharonot.
Lieberman concludes his diatribe against Turkey by adding: “We’ll exact a price from Erdogan that will prove to him that messing with Israel doesn’t pay off.”
This unexpected confrontation between long-time allies throws Foggy Bottom policymakers into a dilemma.
For a long time, when Muslim Turkey was forced into an alliance with Israel, the US State Department was in a comfortable position. Today, the equations have been changed.
Thus far, all lobbying activities in the US in passing the Armenian Genocide resolution in the Congress have been hampered by the Israeli lobby, as part of its service to Turkey. We cannot miss this window of opportunity if it is sincere, because it may not last very long.
Though the Jews had gone through the same traumatic experience of ethnic cleansing, Israeli official policy always opposed the recognition of the Armenian Genocide because of political expediency. Now the tables have been turned through the exigencies of the same political dynamic.
We do not believe that the Holy Spirit visited Mr. Lieberman to stir love and sugar in that country’s policy towards the Armenians. The Genocide issue is being used as a chip, which unfortunately is the nature of politics.
But the proof of the pudding is in its eating. Mr. Lieberman’s sincerity may be proven if he takes the initiative to pass through the Israeli Knesset the Genocide resolution before heading for Washington.
Similarly, Israeli foreign policy is involved in a double game.
Indeed, Israel is training the Azeri army and supplying it with lethal military hardware. And Azerbaijan has only one enemy in the world: Armenia.
On the one hand, Israel is using the Genocide issue to punish Turkey and on the other hand, it is encouraging Baku to launch a blood bath in the region.
Besides the interests of the energy sources in Azerbaijan, they both share a common enemy: Iran. Since the Abulfaz Elchibey era, Baku has had claims on Iranian Azerbaijan. On the other hand, Tel Aviv is interested in dismantling another anti-Israeli bastion, after Iraq and Libya, if possible, through US muscle. As we see it, Israel has a multi-dimensional policy towards Armenia, based on its own national interests. When we are given an opportunity for pick and choose, we should not hesitate to take advantage of these developments, always being mindful that our cases can win when they coincide with the interests of other powers.
Should Mr. Lieberman carry his new policy to the end, he will offer us some political dividends we cannot refuse.

Armenia, Israel Discuss Ties

Israeli and Armenian delegations at the talks

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Senior Armenian and Israeli diplomats discussed the sometimes uneasy relationship between their countries during two days of consultations that ended in Yerevan on Tuesday.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the two negotiating teams were headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian and Pinchas Avivi, a high-level Israeli Foreign Ministry official coordinating ties with Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
“During the consultations the two sides discussed issues related to Armenia-Israel cooperation, developments taking place in the Middle East and South Caucasus regions as well as other issues of mutual interest,” read a ministry statement. It gave no details of those discussions.
Although the statement described the talks as “regular,” they are understood to be connected with Kirakosian’s July 25 phone conversation with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Ministry Danny Ayalon.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Ayalon “thanked Kirakosian for the friendly relationship and mentioned the historical ties and cultural similarities between the two nations.”
“Ayalon emphasized the importance Israel attaches to the continuous development of diplomatic relations and practical cooperation with Armenia,” the ministry said in a statement. “He further stated that it would be his pleasure to visit Yerevan, and invited Kirakosian to visit Israel.”
Ayalon also “reiterated the special sensitivity we, as Jews, feel regarding the Armenian tragedy,” the statement added in reference to the Genocide.
Successive Israeli governments have resisted domestic and Armenian calls for an official Israeli recognition of the first genocide of the 20th century.
Support for such recognition appears to have grown within the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, over the past year. Some observers attribute that to Israel’s increasingly strained relations with Turkey, which vehemently denies the genocide.
Diplomatic sources in Yerevan say that Ayalon phoned his Armenian counterpart to address the Armenian government’s unease over Israel’s growing ties with Azerbaijan, which was communicated to another Israeli diplomat earlier this summer.
One source told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that Ayalon strongly denied news reports that quoted him as saying in May that Israel will not recognize the Armenian genocide because of Azerbaijan’s importance for his country.
Incidentally, Avivi, who served as Israel’s ambassador to Turkey from 2003-2007, and other Israeli diplomats accompanying him visited Yerevan’s Tsitsernakabert genocide memorial on Tuesday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman held up the Azerbaijani-Israeli ties as a model for cooperation between the Jewish state and a Muslim nation when he visited Baku in February 2010. He also reportedly voiced support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and denounced the international community’s “inadequate and hypocritical” approach to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Unfortunately, the international community prefers sweet lies,” Azerbaijani media quoted Lieberman as saying at the time.
In what may have been an attempt to soothe Yerevan, Ayalon clearly contradicted those remarks in his phone call with Kirakosian. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, he said that “Israel supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to reach a negotiated resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.”
The United States, Russia and France have been trying to broker a solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute with the framework of the Minsk Group.
Yerevan should have more serious concerns about Azerbaijani-Israeli military cooperation. Israel’s “Ha’aretz” daily reported in 2008 that the two governments have signed a deal that will enable Azerbaijan to purchase Israeli weapons, other military equipment and ammunition worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Baku announced last year that an Israeli defense company will upgrade dozens of Azerbaijani army tanks. Another Israeli firm is known to have sold unmanned military aircraft to Baku in recent years. An Azerbaijani-Israeli joint venture reportedly began assembling drones in Azerbaijan earlier this year.

Israel's recognition of Armenian genocide is political

Using the mantra of moral duty 'as a Jew and as an Israeli' is a guise to hide some shame the cliche' is meant to cover up.
By Alon Idan


This is my duty as a Jew and as an Israeli" is cliche that is meant to revive anyone from their dogmatic coma. Each time this religious-nationalist conjunction is used, accompanied by a certain obligation, usually moral, the listener must assume that behind the pomposity and the drama hides some shame that is seeking to be retroactively erased.

So as not to remain in the theoretical sphere, let's examine the full statement made by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Monday after he decided to hold an annual Knesset session to mark the Armenian genocide by the Turks. "It is my duty as a Jew and as an Israeli," he said, "to recognize the tragedies of other peoples. Diplomatic considerations, important as they may be, do not allow us to deny the disaster of another people."

Rivlin made the statement about a week after the Knesset allowed its Education Committee to discuss the issue for the first time publicly, and about a year after former Meretz chairman and MK Haim Oron was authorized to hold a secret meeting about it in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. That, more or less, is how under the pretense "my duty as a Jew and an Israeli," 63 years of Jewish disregard for and denial of the slaughter of between 1 million to 1.5 million human beings just melts away.

And so, Rivlin decided that: "Diplomatic considerations, important as they may be, do not allow us to deny the disaster of another people." He's right, and every molecule of that rightness conceals a nucleus of the ridiculous. After all, diplomatic considerations, as important as they may be, did indeed allow us, that is, the government of Israel, to deny the disaster of another people for 63 years. Diplomatic considerations, important as they may be, for 63 years, prevented the state's leaders, from the indicted Ehud Olmert to the television star Shimon Peres - from discussing the matter, not to mention officially marking the genocide.

Rivlin needed a cliche precisely because as Jews and Israelis, we were partners to a moral injustice of historic proportions. He inflated the words to cover up a spindly moral reality. After all, Rivlin also knows that if we have to sum up in one phrase the reason for this moral redress, it would be a small and trivial one: the unraveling of our ties with Turkey. We are now able to discuss the murder of 1.5 million people because of political-diplomatic circumstances, and not because 1.5 million people were murdered. What common sense and dictates of conscience did not do, was accomplished by a ship by the name of the Mavi Marmara and statements by a politician named Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Discussion of the Armenian genocide permits scrutiny of the relationship between morality and diplomacy in Israel. Instead of ethical considerations trumping political ones as the foundation for policy, it turns out that morality is nothing but a derivative of politics, an appendage of narrow national interests. The dictate of the national conscience is the outcome of whatever we can get in exchange.

Moral flexibility is not a one-time position having to do only with the Armenian genocide. One and a half million people are never a one-time matter and silence over their murder cannot be perceived as coincidental.

In fact, the change in attitude toward the Armenian genocide should be seen as an indication of an overriding Israeli principle that says: Good is what is worthwhile, bad is what is not worthwhile. A codicil to this principle is: Good can always become bad; bad can always become good. A moral calculation as a derivative of cost-efficiency is, in fact, the true duty of every "Jew and Israeli."


http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-recognition-of-armenian-genocide-is-political-1.365252

Expert: Israel lobby may raise issue of "Armenian genocide"

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 7 / Trend A.Tagiyeva /


Turkish Lieutenant-General in retirement Armagan Kuloglu believes rupture in the Turkey-Israel relations will lead to different consequences. Possibly, the Israeli lobby in the United States will raise the issue of "Armenian genocide" in the Congress, he said.


"The Israeli lobby, opposing to rapture in the Israeli-Turkish relations, may raise the genocide issue in the Congress," Kuloglu told Trend over telephone from Ankara.
He said the gap between the two countries could also adversely affect the economies of these countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sept. 2 that the diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel passed on the secondary level. Moreover, Ankara has frozen its military cooperation with Tel Aviv.


Davutoglu said Ankara recalled its ambassador to Tel-Aviv. Davutoglu said that the relations between Tel Aviv and Ankara will not be restored till Israel apologizes to Turkey.


Issue of Israel's apology to Turkey became the principal question of Ankara's political prestige, he said.

"Israel's refusal to apologize to Turkey can hit the political prestige of Turkey," Kuloglu said.

So, Turkey can be brought to the world community in disadvantageous position, which lost credibility, he stated.

Kuloglu said the Israeli-Turkish relations, which once had a strong base, shattered with the coming of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to power in Turkey.

Turkey was one of the few countries in the region, which supported strategic partnership with Israel, and break in the Israeli-Turkish relations can brought Tel Aviv to a strategically disadvantage state, he said.

The AKP came to power in Turkey in 2002. On Sept.12, 2011, the AKP led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, gaining 50 percent of the vote.

Kuloglu excludes the possibility of a clash between the Turkish and Israeli naval forces. He said Turkey tries not to enter into an armed confrontation with any country.
Following Davutoglu's statements on the recall of ambassador from Tel Aviv and reduction of diplomatic relations, Leader of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu expressed concern over possible clashes between the Turkish and Israeli naval forces.
Relations between Turkey and Israel -- two strategic and military partners -- worsened after Israeli naval attacks on the "Flotilla of Freedom" carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on May 31.
Nine Turks fell victim to a confrontation between Israeli soldiers and international human rights activists on the Turkish ship.


Ankara later demanded that Israel issue an official apology, order an independent international investigation, and pay compensation.
There was hope for the restoration of bilateral relations in December last year, when Turkey sent two aircrafts to help Israel in the fight against Israel's largest forest fire in country's history, which claimed at least 41 lives.
However, later Turkish officials said that Ankara would only restore relations with Israel after a formal apology, which Tel Aviv has refused.

Israel to use Armenian genocide as political ammo against Turkey?

Returning to a prospect first raised after last year's flotilla affair, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has broached supporting recognition by the US Senate of the Armenian genocide as part of a diplomatic offensive against Turkey, the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Sept. 9. The report came ahead of a meeting of a meeting of Foreign Ministry officials to discuss Israel’s response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to downgrade Ankara’s diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Amazingly, the report also claimed Lieberman had suggested that Israel back the PKK Kurdish guerillas (which will doubtless fuel the endless conspiracy theories in Turkish nationalist circles that the Kurds are the pawns of a Zionist conspiracy against the Muslim world). (AFP, Sept. 10; YNet, Sept. 9)
Showdown at UN looms
The White House is meanwhile keeping up the pressure on Palestinian authorities to drop their plan to put statehood to a vote at the United Nations this month. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is said to be weighing whether to apply through the 15-member Security Council for full membership—which the United States has vowed to veto—or to go directly to the 193-member General Assembly, where there is no veto and a pro-Palestinian majority. The General Assembly cannot grant UN membership to Palestine, however; it can only declare it to be an observer state. But this would still allow Palestine to join a host of international agencies and treaty groups—including the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, where it could bring complaints against Israel. The Palestinians have been seeking admission to the ICC for nearly two years, and the chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has indicated that General Assembly acceptance would make the difference. (Although a further jurisdictional dilemma is raised by the fact that Israel is not a member of the ICC.) (NYT, Sept. 9)
More "price tag" attacks
On Sept. 8, the IDF reported new "price tag" by presumed far right settlers on Palestinian targets in the West Bank. In the first incident, a mosque in the West Bank village of Yitma, near Nablus, was vandalized with graffiti. In the second incident, two Palestinian vehicles were torched in the village of Kablan. Vandals also broke into an army base outside the Beit El settlement, slashing tires and breaking windows on 13 vehicles. It was the first such "price-tag" attack against an IDF base, and drew major condemnation from the Israeli government. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, "This was an abhorrent crime directed against commanders and vehicles, the mission of which is to protect the lives of Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria." The attacks came after the IDF razed three homes at the Migron settler outpost. (JP, Sept. 10


http://www.ww4report.com/node/10307

Israel risks conflicting with Azerbaijan for Armenia

September 10, 2011 | 20:28
TEL AVIV. – According to Israeli press publications, particularly Yediot Akhronot newspaper, Israeli FM is ready to support the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
This step may automatically break the relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, IzRus portal quotes.
“This South Caucasus state practically is the only strategic partner of Israel in the Muslim world, despite the pressure made on Baku by Ankara and Tehran. Moreover, Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman initiated strategic alliance with Azerbaijan,” the portal writes.
As IzRus reports, “Israel Our Home” party leader Lieberman blocked all attempts of the MERETS, Kadima and Likud MPs to pass the resolution on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Knesset.
Besides, Israeli Deputy FM Danny Ayalon told the portal four months ago that there is no chance that Knesset will recognize the Genocide. It is impossible as Israel cannot break relations with its only strategic partner Azerbaijan in the Muslim world because of some historical events occurred years ago, the portal states.
There was also another main reason that hindered development of Israeli and Armenian relations, besides the risk of conflict with Turkey or Azerbaijan. It concerned tight relations of Yerevan and Armenian Diaspora with Iran and the Arab world, in particular with Lebanon and Syria, IzRus added.