The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

WATERTOWN — Ten years ago, hundreds of Armenians gathered in Watertown with questions that had often lingered in their families for generations: Where, exactly, did our grandparents come from? What happened to relatives separated by genocide, migration and upheaval? Where can we find records that survived? And can DNA, photographs, immigration documents and newly accessible archives help reconnect branches of families scattered across the world?

These efforts to rewrite history do not stop at Nagorno-Karabakh’s borders. In public addresses and official state media, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly referred to the sovereign Republic of Armenia itself as “Western Azerbaijan,” claiming that much of present-day Armenia was built on historically Azerbaijani land. This irredentist rhetoric signals that Baku is laying the ideological groundwork for territorial expansion.

With support from ICLEI USA, the California Global Biodiversity Alliance, and ALLIES, our delegation will join local leaders from around the world in Yerevan. We will share what American communities are doing, learn what is working elsewhere and bring those lessons home. The timing also matters.

YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York on September 23 to discuss Turkish-Armenian relations and the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process. The talks were held at the Turkish House on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the UN General Assembly.

BELMONT, Mass.— Domestic violence affects people across every ZIP code, income level and background. It can happen in any home, often hidden from those closest to the people experiencing it. Recognizing the signs and knowing how to offer support can make a difference. Last year, a tragedy in the Greater Boston area struck the Armenian community and made that reality impossible to ignore, leading to a panel program on domestic violence.

JERUSALEM (Times of Israel) — A Jewish man was filmed on Monday, September 28, apparently trying to urinate on the outer wall of the St. James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. Security camera footage shows a security guard at the monastery rushing to stop the man and directing him to leave the area. The monastery has been frequently targeted by Jewish extremists who spit in its direction as they walk by.

By Arshaluys Barseghyan YEREVAN (OC-Media) — The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, met on the margins of the UN General Assembly on September 25 amidst a rise in tensions between the two countries.

JERUSALEM (Times of Israel) — Israeli police on September 28 announced the arrest of a man who allegedly pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old Armenian Christian boy in Jerusalem’s Mamilla area on Yom Kippur for riding a bike and wearing headphones on the holy day. The suspect was identified as a 22-year-old from the Haredi-majority settlement of Ganei Modi’in, near Jerusalem. Police say the suspect was arrested in northern Israel, where he has been for several days.

In diasporan homes, Mount Ararat paintings and Armenian alphabet plaques were more than decorations. They connected us to a homeland that had often felt emotionally close but physically distant. Armenia’s independence brought new possibilities: pilgrimages, humanitarian and community-service programs, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and educational initiatives. It also strengthened the conviction that the homeland’s future was inseparable from our own in the Diaspora.

LOS ANGELES — The Armenian Genocide Research Program (AGRP) of UCLA’s Promise Armenian Institute will host the official launch of the English edition of Aram Andonian’s landmark work, The Great Crime: Talaat Pasha’s Orders on the Armenian Genocide and Naim Bey’s Testimony, on Thursday, October 22, at 6 p.m. (Pacific Time). The event will take place at UCLA’s Tannas Alumni Suite in the Engineering VI building.