Armenian News... A Topalian...Return to roots - Gayane Gevorgyan

The Highlights of the Inaugural Aurora Prize Ceremony 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1NMaqwerGM

Laura McKenzie's Traveler - One Hour Special - Armenia
A presentation on Armenia to attract overseas visitors 
https://vimeo.com/154253121

The 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was 

commemorated in different cities across the globe.

Yerevan 

https://youtu.be/30yzxp8McvE
London 
https://youtu.be/VfwOsufHmDw 

https://youtu.be/_Nn-vM098oE 

news.am
Over 252 thousand tourists visit Armenia in 3 months
30.04.2016

A total of 252,506 tourists visited Armenia from January to March 

of the current year, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from 

the website of the National Statistical Service.

This indicator has increased by 8.6 percent, as compared to the 

same period in 2015.

In addition, a total of 227,499 people left Armenia for tourism
purposes in the first quarter of 2016; this indicator has gone up by
5.9 percent, as compared to the same period in the year past.
Over 252 thousand tourists visit Armenia in 3 months


epress.am
Armenia’s Population Continues to Decline, 

National Statistical Service Says
04.29.2016 

At the start of 2016, the population of Armenia amounted to 2 998 600,
12 thousand fewer than in the same period in 2015, according to data
published by the country's National Statistical Service (NSS).

All Armenian regions, as stated by the NSS, recorded population
decline in the previous year, with the largest decreases having been
registered in the provinces of Lori and Tavush – 3000 and 3200
persons, respectively.  Vayots Dzor has the smallest population – 50
800 people – of any Armenian province, while the highest number of
people – 266 600 persons – resided in Armavir province.

The Armenian capital of Yerevan is the country's only area to have
recorded an increase in population – at the start of this year,
Yerevan's population totaled 1 073 700, up 2200 persons from the same
period last year.


tert.am
Turkish police find author of anti-Armenian video
29.04.16
The Turkish police have identified the man whose video footage with
racist and anti-Armenian content was widely shared in the social media
recently.

A deputy interior minister, Sebahattin Ozturk, said the man was a
security officer who has been dismissed from service, Agos reports.

In the footage, he appears against the background of the ruins in the
town Sur (Diyarbekir province).

The district where he shot the scene has been under curfew since
December. It is home to the Armenian church of St Giragos.

The man was sacked after a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’
Democracy Party, Nadir Yildirim, applied to Interior Minister Efkan
Ala, calling his attention to the racist and xenophobic statements,
and threats heard in the footage.  In a subsequent phone conversation
with Garo Palyan, a Turkish-Armenian MP elected from the HDP party,
Ozturk said that the man was no longer in service.

The video features the ravages in the district, caused by the recent
violent clashes. The Turkish-Armenian publication claims that it has
been shot by a team of professionals.


[if only something like this could happen in the UK!] 

armenpress.am
Spiritual leader of French-Armenians conveys concerns of local
Armenians over Azerbaijani aggression to President Hollande
30 April, 2016
YEREVAN. President of France Francois Hollande received
the Primate of the French Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church Bishop Vahan Hovhannessian and his political advisor Artur
Khanjyan at the Élysée Palace. During the meeting that lasted over

an hour, Vahan Hovhannessian first thanked the President for the
reception, then introduced the activities of the French Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, and raised issues of concern of
French-Armenians.

“Armenpress” reports, citing Nouvelles d`Armenie, the bishop told
Hollande about the expectations of local Armenians about adopting the
law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide, and added that Armenians are
looking forward to the adoption of that law.

Vahan Hovhannessian also conveyed to President Hollande the concerns
of French Armenians over the military operations of April unleashed by
Azerbaijan and supported by Turkey. Bishop Hovhannessian asked
Hollande, as the President of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair country and
UNSC member state, to demand Azerbaijan to respect the ceasefire
regime and force Azerbaijan to recognize the right of the people of
Nagorno Karabakh to live in their historical lands. 

tert.am
Return to roots: Armenian buys house in Turkey’s Van
29.04.16
An Armenian woman who left for Turkey last year purchased a house in
Van, her grandmother’s native town, where she intends to reside
permanently.

“My dream came true, as I now have a house in Van. I am going to bring
my family and relatives here to show them the place,” Gayane Gevorgyan
said, speaking to the Turkish-Armenian publication Agos.

Gayane’s story made headlines in the media recently. “A woman moves to
Van from Armenia, buys a house here and starts a new life. One needs
courage for that,” the publication reports.

Gevorgyan personally told Agos about her connection with Van and the
long way she crossed to get to her ancestors’ birthplace.


RFE/RL Report
Sarkisian Warns Armenian Officials
Ruzanna Stepanian
28.04.2016

President Serzh Sarkisian reportedly threatened to sack more Armenian
officials late on Wednesday when he held an emergency meeting with
senior members of the ruling Republican Party (HHK) related to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to Vazgen Karakhanian, a parliament deputy and member of the
HHK's governing board, Sarkisian said that "if people cannot do their
job properly, they will have no place in our official positions." "The
warning applied to everyone, including deputies," he told RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

It was not clear to which officials the warning was primarily
addressed. Sarkisian has been facing growing calls for internal
political and economic reforms since the April 2 escalation of the
Karabakh conflict that nearly led to a full-scale war with
Azerbaijan. Many Armenian pundits believe that Armenia needs such
changes in order to be able to counter further Azerbaijani attempts to
end the conflict militarily.

So far Sarkisian has announced no major policy changes in response to
the Karabakh escalation. He has only sacked three senior military
officials.

In Karakhanian's words, while admitting the need to learn lessons from
the bloody hostilities, the president berated his loyalists for not
responding to what he considers excessive criticism of the Armenian
military.

"The president said: `Why do you keep silent when some politicians,
deputies say that things are not going well, that we suffered too many
casualties and that military leadership is to blame for that?'"
revealed Karakhanian.

"He said that in the last three or four days we have made gains [on
the Karabakh Line of Contact] and managed to win back positions
[seized by the Azerbaijani army on April 2,]" added the veteran HHK
figure. He did not give further details.


hetq.am
Will Armenia Awaken?
April 29, 2016
By Arto Khachikian

The escalation of early April and the clear and present danger to
Armenia’s survival that it underlined raise a number of important
questions for the Armenian leaders, opinion makers and members of the
general public both in Armenia and in the Diaspora. These questions
will need to be answered in a very short order. The situation is very
simple and no further analysis or discussion is required.

 The questions are as follows.

Will Armenians be able to mobilize the necessary resources to
strengthen their defenses and procure modern armaments for the Army,
or will young recruits continue to pay with their lives on a daily
basis for the negligence and corruption of their leaders as these
leaders continue to build casinos, private castles and foreign bank
accounts? With the certain prospect of escalating and increasingly
aggressive Azeri attacks, will Armenians be able to mobilize and
modernize their forces? It’s a very simple question and the
consequences are very clear and simple. No further pseudo-geopolitical
discussions are needed.

Will the Armenian society be able to remove the ring of systemic
corruption that has brought Armenia to its knees, destroyed the
country’s economy, industry, science, and sent one third of its
population into economic exile? Or will it continue to sink deeper and
deeper into poverty, backwardness, and become an eventual failed state
with a semi-colonial status protected by another power? Is the
Armenian society going to show a level of consciousness that is
befitting a nation-state, or will it continue the current pattern of
inaction, division and self-destruction?

Will certain organizations in the Diaspora continue to turn a blind
eye to the abuses of Armenia’s rulers and the devastating effects of
systemic corruption, preferring instead to give all of their attention
to historical discussions, symbolic resolutions by foreign
parliaments, public gatherings, round table discussions and rallies in
front of foreign Embassies? Will they continue to distract the public
attention from the life and death decisions of the present day,
covering up and enabling Armenia’s rulers as they continue to bring
the country closer and closer to a national catastrophe? Or will the
Diaspora be able to stand up and say “this has got to stop!”?

Will Armenians continue to discuss what happened hundred, five hundred
or a thousand years ago, whether Obama said “genocide”, whether it was
Russia’s fault, what the Parliament of Uruguay decided, what Kim
Kardashian posted on her Facebook page, talk about historical maps and
otherwise continue the pattern of a massive national psychosis? Or
will the Armenian society awaken from self-delusion and
self-distraction and clear its mind?

In the event that there is no change in the behavior of the Armenian
leaders and public figures both in Armenia and in the Diaspora, the
prospects are very clear and no further discussion is needed. The
Azeri armed forces, emboldened by the recent limited success, will
continue to acquire modern armaments and eventually reach an even
greater military superiority. The attacks will become more aggressive
and the Armenians will sustain more losses and possibly face defeat.

With little leverage, Armenia will have to make major concessions and
the population of Karabakh may face a very grim future. Continuing to
grow weaker, isolated, faced with a united front from the East and the
West, Armenia will have to do what it has done many times in its long
history: turn to a third power, i.e. Russia, for protection, become a
client state, and become dependent on its unfriendly neighbors.

This is disappointing, this is sad, and this is exactly what will
happen if the Armenian society does not awaken in a very short time.
Will it?


panorama.am
Byurakan Observatory 2.6m telescope fully restored
29/04/2016 
V. Ambartsumian Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory of the National
Academy of Sciences is approaching to its 70th anniversary to be
marked with high enthusiasm, Director of the Observatory Haik
Harutyunyan told reporters on April 28 at the press conference held
within the scope of the 70th anniversary events.

“The observatory is one of the symbols of Armenia which due to Viktor
Ambartsumian and the staff members of the first generation. Byurakan
observatory acquired the status of national value by the RA government
decision three years ago, which provided an opportunity to increase
its miserable budget. The move brought a positive change to the
significant improvement of the scientific infrastructure,” Harutyunyan
mentioned.

He then outlined one important achievement of the Observatory during
the indicated period, that is the restoration of the 2.6 m telescope,
which is considered the largest observational instrument in the
region. “30 years ago the new main parabolic mirror of diameter 264cm
made of sitall has been installed for the first time and the telescope
is upgraded and works via digital system,” Harutyunyan informed,
adding that renovation works were implemented in the building as well
as the 1m telescope was renovated.

“Today the observatory starts playing the role as it supposed to do
over the recent years  - serve the scientific education center for
Armenia and the status of a regional center,” Harutyunyan said.

Tigran Movsissyan, deputy head of 2.6 m telescope laboratory at
Observatory for his part mentioned that the telescope, constructed in
1976 has not operated during the recent years. Today after the
restoration, it is in full operation with observation schedule
allocated.


7th Space
April 30 2016
Armenian Keyboard 2.5 for iPad and iPhone Unveiled

iOSRegion is proud to announce the release of Armenian Keyboard for
iPad and iPhone 2.5, the important update to their customizable
keyboard app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. The Armenian
Keyboard is highly customizable, and offers our users a contemporary
way of typing. If users are looking for an innovative and highly
customizable keyboard application, which they can modify to suit your
individual taste, then they have found it for good fortune.

Our newfangled Armenian Keyboard app is specifically customized for
iPhones and iPads. If users still have a second thought about
downloading this app, then they should know one more thing about our
company and the kind of work we conduct. The quality of this Armenian
Keyboard is always processed and the number of features is extended by
our sophisticated professionals who always strive to create innovative
apps for our modern users.

Version 2.5 brings general bug fixes, stability improvements, and
design improvements.

iOSRegion offers a complete spectrum of services - from envisioning
and business consulting to mobile-based business solutions,
intellectual property-based mobile technology solutions, mobile
technology services (mobile application development and maintenance,
mobile testing services), and industry-focused mobility solutions.

Copyright (C) 2016 iOSRegion All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple
logo, iPhone, iPad and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in
the U.S. and/or other countries.

Grigori Jlavyan
Founder
37494409610
Armenia