Armenian News... A Topalian... The Armenian Quarter, one of the four quarters of Jerusalem Old City

armeniagogo.com 

Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem | Take a Tour In One of the ... 
The Armenian Quarter, one of the four quarters of Jerusalem Old City, is the oldest living Armenian Diaspora community. Its history dates back to the 4th century AD.

https://armeniagogo.com/armenian-quarter-of-jerusalem/ 

MediaMax, Armenia
Oct 6 2017
UN urges Armenia to abandon outdated health policies
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health Dainius Puras stated today that Armenian authorities need to step up their efforts to address challenges and inequalities in the country’s healthcare system.

Dainius Puras made that call in the statement he issued at the end of his one-week mission to Armenia.

“Armenia has made commendable reforms, but people’s enjoyment of the right to physical and mental health still faces serious barriers linked to an outdated approach to healthcare and persistent inequalities,” said the expert.

According to him, Armenia has good opportunities for making progress, but also has structural and systemic challenges, both in law and practice.

“Public expenditure in health is below 2% of GDP, one of the lowest in the world,” said Dainius Puras.

“The country is moving towards a mandatory health insurance scheme which will involve private insurers as third-party administrators for certain sectors of the population, mainly civil servants and socially disadvantaged groups. This could have significant implications regarding eligibility, coverage and financing, and could potentially create inequities and inefficiencies if strong oversight and transparency are not ensured,” added the expert.

He called on Armenian authorities to “abandon the legacy of outdated mental health policies and services reliant on large psychiatric hospitals and long-term care institutions”.

Dainius Puras also urged Armenia to pay particular attention to meeting the needs of groups such as children, migrants and refugees, people who use drugs, and people with disabilities, to help ensure it delivered the healthcare targets set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .


ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
October 5, 2017 Thursday
Commissioner for Trade: United Kingdom is interested in expanding
economic cooperation with Armenia
Naira Badalyan. 

Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received on
October 5 the newly appointed commissar for trade of the United
Kingdom in Armenia, MP Mark Prechard. As the press service of the
executive body of Armenia told ArmInfo, Karapetyan congratulated
Pritchard with a new post, noted that the Government of Armenia has
high hopes for its activity in terms of development of the
Armenian-British trade and economic relations and giving them a new
impetus.

The head of the Cabinet stressed that there is a great potential for
increasing trade between the two countries, which is currently not
fully engaged. Karapetyan said that the government is carrying out
large- scale reforms in the economy and other spheres. At the same
time, as the prime minister noted, Armenia can offer favorable
conditions for British capital, including in terms of entering the
Eurasian and Iranian markets.

In his turn, Mark Pritchard noted that his country is interested in
expanding economic cooperation with Armenia and its goal is to see
material tangible results during the term of office.

The interlocutors also discussed issues related to the improvement of
bilateral trade regimes, the possibilities of using the Yerevan-London
flight, the prospects for implementing programs in energy, tourism,
road and reservoir construction, education and healthcare and others.

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in
January-August of 2017 the trade turnover between Armenia and the
United Kingdom amounted to $ 23,201.6 million, with an annual growth
of 37.7%. At the same time, exports increased 5 times to $ 3,429.9
million, and imports by 22.4% to $ 19,771.1 million.


RFE/RL Report
Armenian Parliament Ratifies New Defense Accord With Russia
October 05, 2017
Ruzanna Stepanian
The National Assembly overwhelmingly ratified on Thursday a
Russia-Armenian agreement on a joint military force that was first
formed in Armenia more than a decade ago.

Under the agreement signed late last year, "the united group of
troops" is tasked with "ensuring military security in the region" and
thwarting or repelling possible foreign aggressions against Armenia or
Russia.

The joint contingent comprises troops from the Russian military base
in Armenia and an Armenian army corps. It has been led by Armenian
army generals since its creation in 2001.

The Armenian parliament backed the treaty, ratified by Russia's
parliament this summer, by 87 votes to 7. All of those seven deputies
represent the opposition Yelk alliance.

Yelk's representatives said during Wednesday's parliamentary debate on
the issue that the accord will limit Armenia's sovereignty and put its
armed forces under Russian control. Leaders of the pro-government
majority in the parliament dismissed those claims.

Eduard Sharmazanov, a deputy parliament speaker and the spokesman for
the ruling Republican Party (HHK), insisted on Thursday that the
Russian-Armenian military force will boost Armenia's security. He said
it will defend the country in case of a military attack by Turkey or
Azerbaijan.

"If a tense situation erupts on Armenia's borders and if Armenia
appeals to its allies -- Russia and the [Collective Security Treaty
Organization] -- they will be obliged, under the CSTO statutes, to
intervene and defend Armenia," Sharmazanov told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "The same will be true for that military
force, if necessary."

Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian confirmed during the parliament
debate that the mandate of the Russian-Armenian unit covers only
Armenia's internationally recognized territory, meaning that it will
not be required to intervene in possible hostilities in
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sharmazanov dismissed statements by pro-Western opposition figures
that Russia cannot be trusted because it has sold billions of dollars
worth of offensive weapons to Azerbaijan in the past decade. He
insisted that there is still no alternative to Armenia's close
military ties with Russia. "If we don't create this united military
force, what can we create in its place?" he said. 

Aravot , Armenia
October 6, 2017
Georgian, Armenian churches make joint statement on Kumurdo incident
[Groong note: the below is translated from the Russian edition of Aravot]

The Armenian and Georgian churches and some government agencies of
Georia have made a joint statement on the 30 September incident
between ethnic Armenian residents of the village of Kumurdo in
Georgia's Akhalkalaki District and the Georgian police over the local
church, the Armenian Aravot website reported on 6 October. The authors
of the statement admit that the church is Georgian and that the
Georgian Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church lays no claims to
it.

"The misinformation disseminated about the foundation of the cathedral
has caused misunderstanding among people. The Georgian Eparchy of the
Armenian Apostolic Church confirms that it lays no claims to the
cathedral and it is believed to be Georgian," Aravot quoted the
statement.

The statement also says that the Georgian Ministry of Culture and
Monument Protection has been doing repair work in the church since
2015. A big number of human bones were found during the archaeological
excavations in the courtyard of the church and the bones were reburied
in another place in the same courtyard. Local ethnic Armenians decided
to erect a traditional Armenian khachkar (cross stone) in the place,
which led to clashes with the police that tried to keep them away from
the ongoing repair works.

"Georgians, Armenians, and people of other nationalities and faiths
have been buried in the courtyard of the church. It is our obligation
to respect the memory of all of them," the statement says, adding that
"any kind of violence is unacceptable and provocations are
inadmissible. We urge everyone to maintain Armenian-Georgian
friendship that has a history of thousands of years, show
far-sightedness, and resolve emerging problems by means of law and
holy love".

The statement was signed by the Georgian Sate Agency for Religious
Issues, the Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church, the Georgian Eparchy
of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Georgian Ministry of Culture and
Monument Protection, and the Administration of the Georgian Minister
of State for Reconciliation and Civic Equality.

The Daily Mail, UK
Oct 6 2017
Armenia 1-6 Poland: Robert Lewandowski scores hat-trick to become country's record goalscorer By Ben Grounds For Mailonline 

    • Poland swept aside Armenia with Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick
    • Bayern Munich striker scored twice in first-half to eclipse Wlodzimierz Lubanski
    • Lewandowski has now scored 50 goals for his country in 90 senior appearances
    • Group E leaders swept aside Armenia with three goals in the opening 25 minutes

Robert Lewandowski became Poland's all-time leading scorer with 50 goals after netting a hat-trick in their World Cup qualifier in Armenia on Thursday.

Lewandowski has now scored 24 goals in his last 14 qualifiers for Poland, with The Eagles producing the complete performance to strengthen their grip on top spot in Group E.

Poland have 22 points from nine matches and need one more at home to Montenegro on Sunday to clinch their place in Russia .

They could qualify later on Thursday if Montenegro and Denmark, level on 16 points from eight games, draw their match in Podgorica.

Hull winger Kamil Grosicki scored the opener at the Hanrapetakan Stadium in Yerevan with a near-post finish from Lukasz Piszczek's cross to get the ball rolling, before Lewandowski took charge, scoring twice.

The striker, making his 90th appearance, doubled their lead after 18 minutes when he curled a free kick over the wall and into the top corner after a foul on Piotr Zielinski.

Seven minutes later, Poland were gifted an indirect free kick from eight metres after Armenia defender Taron Voskanyan passed the ball back to goalkeeper Grigor Meliksetyan who picked it up.

Grosicki rolled the ball to Lewandowski who drilled his shot through a wall of defenders on the line to overhaul Wlodzimierz Lubanski's record of 48 goals.

Hovhannes Hambardzumyan rose to head in from a corner and pull one back for Armenia six minutes before half-time.

But there was no stopping Poland and Jakub Blaszczykowski got on the scoresheet in the 57th minute, collecting the ball near the touchline before cutting inside and firing a low shot through Melitsetyan's fingers.

Lewandowski took advantage of poor marking to complete his hat-trick from close range seven minutes later before substitute Rafal Wolski completed the rout in the 89th minute, scoring after the home defence got into another tangle.

Armenia's seventh defeat in their ninth qualifying game leaves them only above Kazakhstan in the group while Poland can guarantee themselves a place at next year's World Cup finals with a victory over Montenegro on Sunday.


Asbarez.com
How Turkey Destroyed or Disposed Its Historical Archives and Documents
BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN 
For several decades, the Turkish government and its propagandists have been announcing that the state documents, particularly the Ottoman archives, are fully open and available to any researcher from around the world.

What Turkish officials and their supporters do not say is that many documents of the Ottoman archives have been removed, destroyed, sold or disposed of. In addition, some of the most sensitive archives are still closed to outsiders.

Last month, Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut posted a revealing article, “Turkey Uncensored: A History of Censorship and Bans” on the PhilosProject.orgwebsite regarding the status of Turkish archives and documents going back to several centuries. Ms. Bulut is free to expose such secrets because she no longer lives in Turkey. She is currently based in Washington, D.C.

In Turkey today, Wikipedia’s website is blocked by governmental order because Wikipedia refused to delete articles revealing that the Turkish authorities are supporting the Islamic State terrorists. Furthermore, 127,000 websites and 95,000 individual Web pages are blocked by Turkey, according to journalist Bulut.

This modern-day banning of thousands of websites is the continuation of Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II’s decree of 1485 A.D. imposing the death penalty on anyone printing books in Turkish or Arabic. The ban remained for more than two centuries, Bulut reported. “That prohibition is widely cited by historians as one of the major reasons for the intellectual and scientific collapse of Islam at the dawn of the industrial revolution.”

The Turkish Republic, during the rule of its founder Kemal Ataturk as of 1923, continued the tradition of censorship by banning “at least 130 newspapers, magazines and books, according to Mustafa Yilmaz and Yasmin Doganer’s book, ‘Censor During the Republican era (1923-1973).’” Turkey’s second Prime Minister (1950-1960), Adnan Menderes, banned 161 publications, according to Bulut.

Returning to archival censorship, Bulut quoted Turkish-Jewish historian Rifat Bali who “explained the history of disposed or destroyed state archives in his 2014 book, ‘The Story of Destruction of Plundering: Printed or Written words, Dead Letters, Archives Thrown Out (or Sold) for Scrap.’ …The archives of many political parties, the Senate, and several other governmental or non-governmental institutions in Turkey are either closed to public use or no longer exist.” According to Bali, “the archives of the political parties closed down during the September 12, 1980 coup d’état were sent to SEKA (Cellulose and Paper Factories) as scrap paper.”

The Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) archive is the most important one because it is the party of the founding years of the Republic. As Bali wrote: “Some say it [the archive] was burnt. Some say it was thrown away on September 12. Some say, no it hasn’t been thrown away. It is here. So it is a mystery today. A large part of the archive is nonexistent.”

In addition, Bali reported that “the archives of the presidency, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Ministry of the Interior are closed.” Interestingly, Bali noted the strange story of how “confidential documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were found at a scrap dealer in Ankara in 1998. For the ministry had sold 15 steel safes to a scrap dealer. It was then understood that the ministry sold the safes because of a lack of space at the ministry without even looking what was inside them.”

Bali also reported in his book several other examples of the destruction of important documents:

— “Many of the Turkish Institute of History’s documents – including a letter by Ataturk – have been thrown away;”

— “All minutes of the proceedings of the Senate that was established with the 1961 constitution and remained active until the September 12, 1980 coup d’état were sent to the Cellulose and Paper Factories (SEKA);”

— “When the state-funded Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) moved to a new building in 1965, its authorities said that ‘old documents do not fit a new building’ and sent some of the documents of the archives to SEKA;”

— “When a shortage of paper emerged at SEKA in 1980s, state institutions were called on to send their old papers to the factory. Many archives at institutional level were thus gone;”

— As recently as 2013, Turkish National Library’s old books in Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac were sold by the ton, “as there were no librarians who could read in those languages.”

As an investigative Journaist Uzay Bulut concluded: “with so much information withheld from the Turkish public, state propaganda has created masses who blindly follow whatever state authorities − who have lost their moral compass and never object or speak out even when they see brutal violations of human rights, who do not respect differing opinions or the right to dissent, and who promote an extremely inaccurate version of history – have to say.”

The next time Turkish government propagandists write “our archives are open,” you can send them a copy of this article, the revelations of which from distinguished Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut will shut them up!