Armenian News... A Topalian... Hrant Dink - Chirac Prize!
HurriyetDailyNews.com
November 24 2017 16:37:00
Hrant Dink Foundation receives Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention
PARIS
The Chirac Foundation has awarded the Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention to the Hrant Dink Foundation in a ceremony held at the Quai Branly Museum with the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Rakel Dink, the wife of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, received the award with Hasrof Dink, the journalist’s brother, on Nov. 23.
“On behalf of myself and our foundation, I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for this prize, which we hope will give further strength to everyone striving for democracy and going through challenging times in Turkey. Being with you today has made us stronger,” Dink said in her speech.
Hrant Dink was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight outside the offices of the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos in 2007 in central Istanbul. The foundation was founded by Dink’s wife after his assassination.
“When we decided to establish this foundation with our friends after the tragedy that our family suffered in 2007, we had just one intention: to continue Hrant’s efforts with this institution, and try to fill the huge emptiness created in our lives with his struggle for human rights,” Dink said after accepting the prize. The prize is given to “women and men committed to fighting on a daily basis, out on the field, so that tensions do not escalate into serious conflicts.”
“The racist mentality that made him a target and enemy, and that killed him, is not only trying to get its share of power in Turkey today, but this mentality is rising in the world too, creating new others and enemies and putting up new walls. This world has seen so much pain, isn’t it enough now? So much blood and tears have been shed, isn’t it enough?” she also said.
Saying that the Hrant Dink Foundation aims to “fight against discrimination,” their goal is also “to overcome the borders in people’s minds,” Dink noted.
The Chirac Foundation was established in 2008 by the former French President Jacques Chirac, with the mission to “support efforts for prevention of conflicts, dialogue between cultures and increasing quality of access to health services.”
The Chirac Foundation also presented its Culture for Peace Prize to the Zoukak Theater Company, which “has been contributing, through theater, to the rehabilitation efforts of refugees living in Lebanon camps.”
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 28 2017
Armenia named among world's top 20 fastest-growing travel destinations
Armenia ranks 17th in the list of the 20 fastest-growing travel destinations in the world recently announced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The organization tracks international visitors and presents information about which countries are spiking interest, Travel and Leisure reported. And over the past year, Armenia also welcomed an increased number of tourists.
“Throughout its long history (over 3,000 years), Armenia has been plagued with conflict. However now, in more stable times, the country had an 18 percent growth in tourism over the past year. Because it was the world’s first Christian country, many of the most popular tourist attractions are monasteries that date back thousands of years,” the organization noted.
The UNWTO also added that despite long-standing conflict in the Middle East, more visitors are venturing to countries like Palestine, Egypt and Tunisia.
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Armenia is re-elected as UNESCO Member of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in case of Armed Conflict
November 28,2017
On November 27, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, launched the 7th meeting of the Second Protocol Member States for “Protection of Cultural Property in case of Armed Conflict 1954.”
In the framework of the meeting, the elections of members of the Committee for Protection of Cultural Property in case of armed conflict took place. Ten candidates were nominated for 6 vacancies. The following members were selected: Italy (48 votes), Armenia (44), Cambodia (43), Japan (42), El Salvador (39), Egypt (32). Hence, Armenia was re-elected for the period 2017-2021.
L.A. Weekly
Nov 29 2017
The Complicated History of Armenian Women's Genocide-Era Tattoos
Liz Ohanesian
Inside the Natural History Museum's new exhibit "Tattoo," ink on flesh takes myriad forms. A touring exhibition that originated at Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris, "Tattoo" explores millennia of markings, from the ancient tribal patterns that adorned the skin of indigenous people to the colorful sailor-style tattoos still popular in modern day L.A. There are examples of tattoos that are symbols self-_expression_, group identity and punishment. And then there's the 1919 photo of a woman in Aleppo. Tattoos run down her face and onto her chest, which is exposed by her partially open shirt.
The woman is not named, but the caption accompanying the photo gives a piece of her story. She was Armenian and had been able to escape a brothel thanks to the YWCA. The placard notes that during the course of the Armenian Genocide, women who had been captured and made slaves or prostitutes had been tattooed as a means of identification. It's a profoundly disturbing image and snippet of a story that points to an obscure facet of a genocide committed within the Ottoman Empire that is, to this day, denied by Turkey.
Even when your heritage is Armenian, when you are a descendant of genocide survivors, the sight of the tattoos can come as a shock. You grew up hearing about death marches and other atrocities. But the tattoos aren't included in many of these narratives. In 2011, filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian covered the subject in Grandma's Tattoos , a documentary that later aired as part of Al-Jazeera's Witness series. That film, though, was a personal story that delved more into the impact of trauma brought about by the Genocide. The question of why women were tattooed remained unanswered. That, perhaps, is because there isn't one clear-cut reason.
"Every woman's story is different," says Elyse Semerdjian by phone. Semerdjian is a historian who studies the Ottoman Empire and is a professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She's currently working on a book about the Armenian Genocide and gender-related issues. Part of her research for the book includes a look into the history of Armenian women who were tattooed during the Genocide. A page from the Sept. 5, 1920 issue of the Washington Times
Semerdjian explains that the tattoos were used by multiple ethnic groups in rural parts of the Ottoman Empire, particularly Kurds and Arabs. She adds that, while some women may have been taken into a household as a slave, others were adopted by families. "They were traditional forms of tattooing that were worn by women in those communities," she says. "They were marks of inclusion in a tribe in many cases. It meant that those women had the same tattoos as other women in those communities. The Armenian women were not the only ones to receive those tattoos."
That's where deciphering the stories behind the tattooed Armenian women gets difficult. There's a gut reaction to look at them as a means of punishment. There's a long history of that in various parts of the world, according to Lars Krutak, an anthropologist and photographer who studies tattoos and was a consultant on "Tattoo: An Exhibition," citing examples from ancient Chinese and European history. For modern folks, though, the closest comparison might be the numbers tattooed on Jewish people's forearms during the Holocaust.
There's a problem with that kind of comparison, however. At Auschwitz , the tattoos were applied by SS authorities to mark prisoners at the concentration camp. During the Genocide, tattoos don't appear to have been a tool used by the Ottoman Turks, who orchestrated the campaign against Armenians, Semerdjian notes. In some instances, those tattoos may have actually helped women escape death. Semerdjian has found instances of that in her research.
Tattoos have long been used to identify people as being part of a specific ethnic group. Answering generally on the use of tattoos in this regard, Krutak notes, "Tattoo designs spoke about a collective identity because everyone wore ancestral patterns that were handed down from generation to generation. And once you carried the ancestral mark on your body, you were expected to be a responsible family and community member."
In that respect, the tattoos that Armenian women received would mark them as members of a group that was not being persecuted, but they also covered the women's true identities.
"For me, the interesting thing is that the tattoos are working on different levels," says Semerdjian. "It tells us that being tattooed could in some cases camouflage you in a period in which Armenians were supposed to be exterminated and not survive."
She adds, "It does give you a strong sense that the tattoos are about identity at [their] core. I think it produces a strong emotional reaction for Armenians because it's about the erasure of the Armenian identity and this new identity that's being placed on the face."
When World War I ended and some of the Armenian women were able to reconnect with their communities, their tattoos remained. Semerdjian notes that some women tried to hide these permanent reminders of life during the Genocide by using makeup or undergoing procedures to try and remove the tattoos. "They weren't excluded from society," says Semerdjian. "They may have felt stigmatized and ostracized because they were wearing those marks, but they had families and there was no separating them from other Armenians. Yet, psychologically, it does a kind of work that was difficult to undo."
Semerdjian has been poring over archives, including those of the League of Nations at the United Nations, to find photographic documentation of the tattoos, and there isn't much to find. Overall, she says, tattooing Armenian women wasn't an extremely common practice during the Genocide, but the images and stories that do exist illustrate one of the tragedies associated with genocide. "It's a minority of women who ended up rescued during World War I who actually bore the tattoos," she says. "But, the ones who were tattooed, they capture our imagination because it's come to mean so much about that forced assimilation, that moment of forced assimilation."
RFE/RL Report
European Body Encouraged By Yerevan's Anti-Graft Efforts
November 27, 2017
Naira Bulghadarian
The Armenian authorities have made some progress in their declared
fight against widespread corruption among the country's judges, an
anti-graft arm of the Council of Europe said on Monday.
In a February 2016 report, the Strasbourg-based Group of States
Against Corruption (GRECO) described corruption as an "important
problem for Armenian society." "The judiciary is perceived as being
particularly prone to corruption," it said, also noting an
"unsatisfactory" degree of judicial independence in Armenia.
The 60-page report, based on an April 2015 fact-finding trip to
Yerevan by a GRECO delegation, listed 18 policy recommendations to the
Armenian authorities. In particular, it called for more powers for a
state body that scrutinizes income declarations filed by judges and
other senior state officials as well as their family members.
"Since our report a number of steps have been taken to address issues
raised by us," the GRECO secretary general, Gianluca Esposito, said
after a meeting of the Council of Europe watchdog held in Yerevan.
Esposito insisted that the authorities are moving "in the right
direction." But he also said: "I think that the glass is half full."
In that regard, the GRECO chief mentioned a new Judicial Code which
the Armenian authorities are planning to enact soon. He said it will
be essential for making further progress towards the greater integrity
and independence of Armenian courts.
Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian, who attended the GRECO meeting,
also stressed the importance of the planned code. He further argued
that the authorities have recently widened the circle of individuals
obliged to submit income and asset declarations to a new
anti-corruption commission that will start functioning in
April. Harutiunian claimed that the commission will have sufficient
powers to check the veracity of those disclosures and sanction
officials hiding their revenues.
Despite having undergone frequent structural changes over the past two
decades, Armenia's judicial system is still regarded by many people as
corrupt and dependent on the government. Armenia's former human rights
ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, highlighted the problem in a 2013 report
that accused judges of routinely taking bribes.
At least four Armenian judges are known to have been arrested and
prosecuted on charges of bribery over the past year.
November 27, 2017
Naira Bulghadarian
The Armenian authorities have made some progress in their declared
fight against widespread corruption among the country's judges, an
anti-graft arm of the Council of Europe said on Monday.
In a February 2016 report, the Strasbourg-based Group of States
Against Corruption (GRECO) described corruption as an "important
problem for Armenian society." "The judiciary is perceived as being
particularly prone to corruption," it said, also noting an
"unsatisfactory" degree of judicial independence in Armenia.
The 60-page report, based on an April 2015 fact-finding trip to
Yerevan by a GRECO delegation, listed 18 policy recommendations to the
Armenian authorities. In particular, it called for more powers for a
state body that scrutinizes income declarations filed by judges and
other senior state officials as well as their family members.
"Since our report a number of steps have been taken to address issues
raised by us," the GRECO secretary general, Gianluca Esposito, said
after a meeting of the Council of Europe watchdog held in Yerevan.
Esposito insisted that the authorities are moving "in the right
direction." But he also said: "I think that the glass is half full."
In that regard, the GRECO chief mentioned a new Judicial Code which
the Armenian authorities are planning to enact soon. He said it will
be essential for making further progress towards the greater integrity
and independence of Armenian courts.
Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian, who attended the GRECO meeting,
also stressed the importance of the planned code. He further argued
that the authorities have recently widened the circle of individuals
obliged to submit income and asset declarations to a new
anti-corruption commission that will start functioning in
April. Harutiunian claimed that the commission will have sufficient
powers to check the veracity of those disclosures and sanction
officials hiding their revenues.
Despite having undergone frequent structural changes over the past two
decades, Armenia's judicial system is still regarded by many people as
corrupt and dependent on the government. Armenia's former human rights
ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, highlighted the problem in a 2013 report
that accused judges of routinely taking bribes.
At least four Armenian judges are known to have been arrested and
prosecuted on charges of bribery over the past year.
RFE/RL Report
Watchdog Skeptical About Sarkisian's Anti-Graft Move
November 29, 2017
Karlen Aslanian
Armenia's leading anti-graft watchdog reacted with skepticism on
Wednesday to a tougher fight against bribery and other corrupt
practices ordered by President Serzh Sarkisian.
Sarkisian issued the order on Tuesday when he met with the leadership
of the Special Investigative Service (SIS), a law-enforcement body
tasked with combatting abuse of power by various state official. "For
us, the fight against corruption is a matter of national security
which simply has no alternative," he said in a speech.
"It's not the first time that I'm hearing that," said Varuzhan
Hoktanian, the director of programs at the Anti-Corruption Center
(ACC), the Armenian affiliate of Transparency International. "That has
been said periodically and is repeated now. Serzh Sarkisian has
repeatedly said such things since [taking office in] 2008."
"So I don't see a fundamentally new anti-corruption policy here,"
Hoktanian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Armenia ranked, together with Bolivia and Vietnam, 113th out of 176
countries evaluated in Transparency International's most recent
Corruption Perceptions Index released in January.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has repeatedly pledged to tackle
corruption and boost the rule of law in the country since he was named
by Sarkisian to run the Armenian government in September last year. He
has periodically discussed his reform agenda with Western diplomats in
Yerevan. Karapetian's most recent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador
Richard Mills held on October 20 reportedly focused on his
government's anti-corruption efforts.
In a February speech, Mills urged the authorities in Yerevan to send a
"clear message from on high that corruption will not be tolerated and
that no one is above the law."
November 29, 2017
Karlen Aslanian
Armenia's leading anti-graft watchdog reacted with skepticism on
Wednesday to a tougher fight against bribery and other corrupt
practices ordered by President Serzh Sarkisian.
Sarkisian issued the order on Tuesday when he met with the leadership
of the Special Investigative Service (SIS), a law-enforcement body
tasked with combatting abuse of power by various state official. "For
us, the fight against corruption is a matter of national security
which simply has no alternative," he said in a speech.
"It's not the first time that I'm hearing that," said Varuzhan
Hoktanian, the director of programs at the Anti-Corruption Center
(ACC), the Armenian affiliate of Transparency International. "That has
been said periodically and is repeated now. Serzh Sarkisian has
repeatedly said such things since [taking office in] 2008."
"So I don't see a fundamentally new anti-corruption policy here,"
Hoktanian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Armenia ranked, together with Bolivia and Vietnam, 113th out of 176
countries evaluated in Transparency International's most recent
Corruption Perceptions Index released in January.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has repeatedly pledged to tackle
corruption and boost the rule of law in the country since he was named
by Sarkisian to run the Armenian government in September last year. He
has periodically discussed his reform agenda with Western diplomats in
Yerevan. Karapetian's most recent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador
Richard Mills held on October 20 reportedly focused on his
government's anti-corruption efforts.
In a February speech, Mills urged the authorities in Yerevan to send a
"clear message from on high that corruption will not be tolerated and
that no one is above the law."
RFE/RL Report
EU Envoy Upbeat On Closer Ties With Armenia
November 27, 2017
Ruzanna Stepanian
The head of the European Union Delegation in Yerevan, Piotr Switalski,
expressed confidence on Monday that the EU and Armenia will
successfully implement a newly signed agreement to deepen their
political and economic relations.
Switalski refused to be drawn on the EU's response to the Armenian
government's possible failure to honor its new commitments stemming
from the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
signed in Brussels on Friday.
"I don't find it appropriate to speak of sanctions or failures because
I am quite optimistic that this agreement will give new impetus to our
cooperation," he told a news conference. "I am always optimistic. I
was optimistic months ago that this agreement will be signed this
year, and I am equally optimistic about its implementation."
"We will succeed. I am confident," added the diplomat.
Citing "common values" shared by the two sides, the CEPA commits the
Armenian government to implementing political reforms and
"approximating" national economic laws and regulations to those of the
EU. Yerevan will regularly report to Brussels on "the progress made
with regard to approximation" specified by several annexes to the
agreement. This "regulatory harmonization" will cover business
regulation, agriculture, transport, environment, consumer protection
and even energy.
The 350-page document does not contain far-reaching free trade-related
provisions, unlike an Association Agreement that was negotiated by
Armenian and EU officials in the summer of 2013. That deal fell
through after the Armenian leadership opted to join a Russian-led
trade bloc.
Switalski also announced that the EU plans to provide Armenia with up
to 170 million euros ($200 million) in fresh economic aid by
2020. "But this does not include those opportunities that have been
opened up by this agreement," he said. "I hope that we will be able to
use those funds very efficiently."
Speaking at Friday's signing ceremony in Brussels, the EU's foreign
policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the CEPA "will broaden the
scope of our relations." "It will now be important to implement it in
full, so it can deliver its full benefits," she said. "We will work
together on implementation and on monitoring the implementation we
will bring forward."
EU Envoy Upbeat On Closer Ties With Armenia
November 27, 2017
Ruzanna Stepanian
The head of the European Union Delegation in Yerevan, Piotr Switalski,
expressed confidence on Monday that the EU and Armenia will
successfully implement a newly signed agreement to deepen their
political and economic relations.
Switalski refused to be drawn on the EU's response to the Armenian
government's possible failure to honor its new commitments stemming
from the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
signed in Brussels on Friday.
"I don't find it appropriate to speak of sanctions or failures because
I am quite optimistic that this agreement will give new impetus to our
cooperation," he told a news conference. "I am always optimistic. I
was optimistic months ago that this agreement will be signed this
year, and I am equally optimistic about its implementation."
"We will succeed. I am confident," added the diplomat.
Citing "common values" shared by the two sides, the CEPA commits the
Armenian government to implementing political reforms and
"approximating" national economic laws and regulations to those of the
EU. Yerevan will regularly report to Brussels on "the progress made
with regard to approximation" specified by several annexes to the
agreement. This "regulatory harmonization" will cover business
regulation, agriculture, transport, environment, consumer protection
and even energy.
The 350-page document does not contain far-reaching free trade-related
provisions, unlike an Association Agreement that was negotiated by
Armenian and EU officials in the summer of 2013. That deal fell
through after the Armenian leadership opted to join a Russian-led
trade bloc.
Switalski also announced that the EU plans to provide Armenia with up
to 170 million euros ($200 million) in fresh economic aid by
2020. "But this does not include those opportunities that have been
opened up by this agreement," he said. "I hope that we will be able to
use those funds very efficiently."
Speaking at Friday's signing ceremony in Brussels, the EU's foreign
policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the CEPA "will broaden the
scope of our relations." "It will now be important to implement it in
full, so it can deliver its full benefits," she said. "We will work
together on implementation and on monitoring the implementation we
will bring forward."
A passionate response to Mkhitarian's treatment at Manchester United
Parev
I follow Mkhitaryan and football.
His game went down...
1. Because of maltreatment, even abuse, by obtuse Mourinho.
2. Mourinho is not interested in exciting football and creative players. He his happy with boring games as long as he wins.
3. Mourinho also played psychological games (hot and cold, good cop and bad cop treatment) with Mkhitaryan. From day one there was a coldness, if not hostility, toward Mkhitaryan.
4. I watched so many times when Mkhitaryan was substituted mid-game Mourinho wouldn't acknowledge his presence when the athlete left the pitch. Mourinho's behavior is different when he substitutes other players: he smiles at them, pats their back, even shakes their hands in encouragement. This was a repeated public insult to Mkhitaryan.
5. When Mkhitaryan scored or assisted he barely got recognition from mismanager Mourinho. However, Mourinho was eager with his criticism when Mkhitaryan didn't play well.
6. As you know, most of the key players of MU are black. They, too, have been less than impressive. However, Mourinho is careful not to criticize them. But he is free with his criticism of the Armenian Mkhitaryan. I guess snide Mourinho has no fear of being called 'racist' by Armenians or by the remote and small country called Armenia.
The above behavior of Mourinho psychologically hurt Mkhitaryan. He became a ghost on the pitch, his expression downright depressed. I hope he leaves scorpion Mourinho post haste and either returns to his former German club or finds a niche with a British team which appreciates his talents.
I follow Mkhitaryan and football.
His game went down...
1. Because of maltreatment, even abuse, by obtuse Mourinho.
2. Mourinho is not interested in exciting football and creative players. He his happy with boring games as long as he wins.
3. Mourinho also played psychological games (hot and cold, good cop and bad cop treatment) with Mkhitaryan. From day one there was a coldness, if not hostility, toward Mkhitaryan.
4. I watched so many times when Mkhitaryan was substituted mid-game Mourinho wouldn't acknowledge his presence when the athlete left the pitch. Mourinho's behavior is different when he substitutes other players: he smiles at them, pats their back, even shakes their hands in encouragement. This was a repeated public insult to Mkhitaryan.
5. When Mkhitaryan scored or assisted he barely got recognition from mismanager Mourinho. However, Mourinho was eager with his criticism when Mkhitaryan didn't play well.
6. As you know, most of the key players of MU are black. They, too, have been less than impressive. However, Mourinho is careful not to criticize them. But he is free with his criticism of the Armenian Mkhitaryan. I guess snide Mourinho has no fear of being called 'racist' by Armenians or by the remote and small country called Armenia.
The above behavior of Mourinho psychologically hurt Mkhitaryan. He became a ghost on the pitch, his expression downright depressed. I hope he leaves scorpion Mourinho post haste and either returns to his former German club or finds a niche with a British team which appreciates his talents.
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