Thursday 27 September 2018

Armenian News... A Topalian... Support for Armenia from Russia

PanArmenian, Armenia
Sept 25 2018
BBC: Russia could support Armenia more actively to pressure Azerbaijan 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to Azerbaijan on Wednesday, September 25 "with a prosaic purpose": to remind that Moscow is still the leading player in the region, whose opinion should be considered, visiting scholar at the University of Oxford Leila Alieva says in an article published on the BBC's Russian service.

According to the expert,Russia has economic levers to pressure Azerbaijan, and, "of course, the issue of Nagorno Karabakh is on the table too."

"Russia could start to support Armenia more actively both to strengthen pressure on Azerbaijan and to establish closer relations with the new Armenian authorities," the article says.

"Of course, this is a double-edged sword: so far, Russia has acted as a sort of arbiter in the Karabakh conflict. To lose this status is a blow to [Moscow's] prestige, not to mention the fact that another conflict in the Caucasus is absolutely unnecessary for Russia."

It was reported earlier Putin would pay an official visit to Armenia too. The exact date of the trip has yet to be determined.


OC Media
Sept 24 2018
Pashinyan block wins landslide in Yerevan Council elections

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s My Step bloc has won a landslide in Yerevan’s City Council elections, with their candidate, Hayk Marutyan, set to become the capital’s new mayor. According to pre­lim­i­nary results from the Central Elections Com­mis­sion, the group won 81% of votes in Sunday’s snap election.

Marutyan, a popular former TV actor, comedian, and producer, vowed on election day to address the city’s waste man­age­ment problems as his first priority if elected.  

Busi­ness­man Gagik Tsarukyan’s Pros­per­ous Party party was a distant runner-up, with 7% of votes, followed by the Luys Alliance with 5%. After the pre­lim­i­nary results were announced, Tsarukyan and the Luys party con­grat­u­lat­ed the My Step bloc on their victory. 
Tigran Mukuchyan, President of the Central Elections Com­mis­sion, announced on Monday that the voter turnout was 44%.

According to the Electoral Code, the threshold for gaining seats on the council is 6% for parties and 8% for blocs. However, at least three parties must be rep­re­sent­ed on the council, even if they do not pass this threshold.

The Armenian Rev­o­lu­tion­ary Fed­er­a­tion (Dash­nak­t­su­tyun), as well as eight other political parties and blocs failed to garner enough votes to gain seats on the council, receiving less that 2% each. 
The incumbent Repub­li­can Party, which won 46 out of 65 seats in 2017 elections,  did not par­tic­i­pate in the elections. In July, Repub­li­can Mayor Taron Margaryan resigned after FACT TV, an anti-cor­rup­tion channel, released a video revealing his supposed wealth. The video was produced by Aren Mkrtchyan, an advisor to Pashinyan.

After Margaryan resigned and the Council failed to elect a new mayor, Pashinyan dissolved the Council on 16 August.

The election was the first since Pashinyan came to power on the back of a popular protest movement to ‘reject Serzh’ — two-time Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and leader of Repub­li­can Party, who was sworn in as a Prime Minister in April. 
The protest movement led by Pashinyan forced Sargsyan resign in early May. 

Pashinyan and Marutyan actively rallied for a higher voter turnout. On Sunday, Pashinyan, on his way to New York, urgedresidents of Yerevan ‘not to stay at home’ and to go out to vote. 

Later that day, during a meeting with the Armenian community in New York, Pashinyan announced that upon his return to Armenia he would start con­sul­ta­tions with other parties, including those outside Armenia’s par­lia­ment, the National Assembly, to agree a date for snap par­lia­men­tary elections. Pashinyan said that the snap National Assembly elections were ‘unavoid­able’ and should take place ‘as soon as possible’. 

In September, the Armenian National Assembly, amended law to make bribing voters a criminal offense pun­ish­able by up to six years in prison. 

First Vice Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan called the election results ‘a sort of vote of con­fi­dence on the achieve­ments of the rev­o­lu­tion’, char­ac­ter­is­ing the election day as ‘free, just and demo­c­ra­t­ic, without illegal inter­fer­ence’. 

On Monday, Tigran Mukuchyan told Radio Azatutyun, RFE/RL’s Armenian service, that the 'atmos­phere' at polling stations were ‘peaceful’. 


24 September 2018
Pashinyan Calls for Immediate Parliamentary Elections

Following Sunday’s Yerevan City Council elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the imperative to hold snap parliamentary elections, announcing that he will begin negotiations with parliamentary and non-parliamentary political forces to discuss the timing and feasibility of holding the vote.

Pashinyan made the announcement at a gathering of Armenian-American community representatives at the Yale Clun in New York, where he is visiting to attend and speak at the United Nations General Assembly.

Pashinyan explained that initial plans were to hold the snap parliamentary elections in June, 2019, however, to improve Armenia’s economic environment and strengthen investor confidence in Armenia, it was imperative that the legislative elections are held in the earliest possible timeframe.

“Today our most important objective is to attract new investments. With this purpose we have initiated reforms in the tax code, establishment of an independent judiciary, maintaining a stable political situation, for which we must hold early elections of parliament. With the results of the Yerevan City Council elections, it is clear for everyone that early elections of parliament are inevitable, and that the elections should take place as soon as possible,” stress Pashinyan.

By his assessment, Sunday’s Yerevan municipal elections were held without corruption, vote-buying as and interference “from criminal elements” as was the norm in prior elections in Armenia.

“Today, money does not play a role in the outcome of elections,” said Pashinyan who explained that mechanisms must be put in place that funds spent during an election cycle are not to used to buy votes, but rather to advance a candidate’s or a party’s campaign.


Arminfo, Armenia
Sept 24 2018
Nikol Pashinyan's message to Diaspora: Grow rich and enrich Armenia
Naira Badalian. 

Today, Armenia faces huge challenges, which the republic plans to overcome also with the help of the Diaspora. This was stated by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan during a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of the United States in New York.

According to the prime minister, after the velvet revolution Armenia reconsidered the model of its development. "One of the key changes is that if earlier there were people in Armenia who demanded to do something from everyone, then after the revolution, everyone stated that each of us must do something," he said, stressing that now every citizen feels his share of responsibility in building the future of his/her country. "Today it is not important who will be the Prime Minister of Armenia - I or anyone else, the most important thing is that henceforth the citizen of the RA through free, transparent and fair elections will decide who will be in power, and who - in opposition, who should be a deputy, and it's the most important change, which under no circumstances is subject to revision, "the head of the Armenian government said.

Nikol Pashinyan stressed that in today's Armenia there are no economic monopolies, corruption in the state administration system has also been overcome. According to him, there are no people in Armenia who have privileges before the law and there are no people who are humiliated before the law. At the same time, the head of the Armenian government acknowledged the existence of a large number of problems that are among the priorities of the government. Problems have both foreign and internal political, economic, legal significance, Pashinyan said.

In the context of Armenia-Diaspora relations, as the prime minister noted, work should be encouraged, rather than charity. "Armenians can support Armenia in only one way, by deploying economic activity in the republic, creating jobs." Today's Armenia's perception is as follows: it's a country where you can develop economic activity, start a business, make a profit, grow rich and enrich the country. Our message to you is the following: become rich and enrich Armenia. In Armenia, according to the prime minister, it is necessary to implement not charitable programs, but development programs, such as, for example, the Tumo center, which became one of the most significant centers of modern Armenia. He also expressed hope that new international brands will appear in the republic that will change the destiny of the state and the Armenian people in the strategic terms. "The time of the developing Armenia has come. We should treat Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora ties as a single organism'', said Pashinyan.


25 September 2018
The Necessity of Preserving Western Armenian
By Martha Kouyoumdjian Mekaelian

“Languge is the road map of a culture.  It tells you where its people come from and where they are going” – Rita Mae Brown

As I read the list of endangered languages published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it perplexed me when Western Armenian was categorized as “definitely endangered.”  According to UNESCO, “definitely endangered” means that ‘children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home.’  Currently there are only 200,000 people who speak Western Armenian.  However, according to the most recent UN data, the number of Armenians in the diaspora is 6-7 million.

A nation’s identity, its culture, its values, and the preservation of its heritage is dependent on its language. Armenian is no different. It should not be “optional” to teach Armenian to our children, but rather intentional. It may be a struggle but not impossible. According to the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, ‘optimal learning’  is achieved when children start learning two languages between birth and 3 years of age through high quality interactions with live human beings’ (Authors Patricia H. Kulh, Ph.D. and Naja Ferjan Ramirez, Ph.D.).  Simply put, the best way to teach our mother tongue is with face to face interaction.

In addition, there is an infinite number of learning tools such as DVD’s, CD’s, audio books and multimedia sources that can be used as supplements and help introduce our children as well as adults to our mother tongue.  The fruits of our labor will not be seen or heard spontaneously, however. Instead, after many months and years, a committed and determined parent will see their child (or children) has achieved a level of fluency and proficiency that is sufficient for formal or informal conversations.  The emphasis is on commitment and attitude.  The attitude must be one of intentional daily teaching, even if it is for ten minutes a day.  This, however, is not limited to parents of young children.  Adults of any age, Armenian or non Armenian, can learn Western Armenian, given today’s technologically rich era of multimedia and social media.

One may ask, ‘How long does it take to learn a new language or your native language?’  From my own research, thirty minutes per day for two years will give a comfortable level of fluency.  Again, be mindful that Western Armenian has been demoted to “definitely endangered.”  This can be reversed if the diaspora has a unified, intentional goal of preserving the heart and soul of our language, and ultimately, our nation.

Many would argue they don’t have thirty minutes to spare each day.  Yet without thought, the average daily use of social media is over two hours. Yes, it takes discipline and living with purpose, but at this low point in our history, we have no choice.  In fact, it is our responsibility and privilege to our next generation.  It’s up to you .  It’s up to us. It is never too late, and it is never too early to learn and preserve Western Armenian.


Arminfo, Armenia
Sept 24 2018
A package of bills on protection of interests of Armenian Apostolic Church
Tatevik Shahunyan. 

A package of bills "On Making Addenda to the Law" On the Meetings "and on Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law on Administrative Offenses, providing for a ban on organizing and holding meetings and assemblies in the AAC buildings and territories against the church, was submitted to the Armenian parliament.

The draft law also provides for administrative punishment in the form of a fine for violation of these norms. The document assumes at the legislative level to provide state protection to the Catholicos of all Armenians. Currently, only the president, prime minister and speaker of parliament use this right. As stated in the statement of one of the authors of the bill, the vice speaker of the parliament Eduard Sharmazanov, such a need arose after, against the backdrop of domestic political processes in the country, groups acting against the church and national values intensified.

"Against the backdrop of recent political changes, the situation has arisen when the mission of the Armenian Apostolic Church is being questioned: the actions launched recently by some groups against our church threaten its social and national-spiritual status and contain the potential to form a negative attitude towards the church, that in the created situation the authorities show themselves very passively, while, within the framework of their spiritual and national competence, the question of the role of the state in ensuring a normal and safe the functioning of the Armenian Church remains open.This situation creates fertile ground for encroachment on the security and social status of the church.It should be stressed that the Armenian Constitution recognizes the unique status of the AAC as a national church, and I will remind those "human rights activists" who will especially care about this bill , that in many advanced European countries such laws have already been adopted, "the statement said.


Arminfo, Armenia
Sept 24 2018
Armenian President in French Chamonix held talks with representatives of the European Parliament and two dozen well-known companies and banks
Marianna Mkrtchyan. 

On a working visit to France, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian on the sidelines of the Summit of Minds in Chamonix held a working breakfast with representatives of the European Parliament, as well as with the leadership of two dozen well-known companies, funds, organizations and banks (including, American Google, Nasdaq, Cargyll, McKinsey, Revolution, Swiss Nestle, Pictet Lombard Odier, French Groupe Accor, Publicis, OneRagtime, Societe Generale, Russian Alfa Bank, UK Bridgepoint ?? Kleinwort Hambros).

The Armenian President discussed with them the business environment of the RA, as well as issues related to attracting investments and creating business contacts. Sargsyan presented the country's competitive advantages, highlighting Armenia's role as a bridge between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union, which in turn opens new and serious opportunities for foreign investors. During the conversation, a principled agreement was reached on the implementation of projects in Armenia.

Sargsyan also gave an interview with The Financial Times and Les Echos.


Sputnik News Service
September 24, 2018 Monday 10:02 AM UTC
Azerbaijani, Armenian Foreign Ministers to Meet on September 26 on UNGA Sidelines – Baku

BAKU, September 24 (Sputnik) - The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will discuss the settlement of conflict in the
Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 26 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry toldSputnik.

"Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanian will hold a meeting on September 26 on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov from Russia, Stefan Visconti from France and Andrew Chaufer from the United States).Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej
Kasprzyk will also participate in the meeting," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the sides are set to discuss the
negotiating process on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

Later in the day, the Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed the upcoming meeting between Mnatsakanian and Mammadyarov.

"Under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, a meeting between Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov will take place in New York on September 26," the ministry said in the statement.

Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991, triggering a military conflict that led to Baku's loss of control over the region. The violence between Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh forces escalated on April 2, 2016, leading to multiple casualties. The sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 5, but sporadic clashes have continued.


Aysor, Armenia
Sept 25 2018
The speech of H.H. Karekin II Catolicos of all armenians at the opening ceremony of «Armenia!» exhibition

Dear President Weiss,
Dear Prime Minister Pashinyan,
Brothers and sisters,

Today, our hearts are filled with joy as we witness the opening of the “Armenia!” exhibition at one of the world’s preeminent museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This amazing exhibition will show who we – Armenians – are and where we have come from, through the universal language of art. It celebrates the cultural achievements and spiritual values of our nation over fourteen centuries. Over the next four months, this exhibition will beautifully tell the story about our nation’s unwavering faith in God, our unique Christian identity and our ancient history.

The cultural objects and Christian relics displayed in this exhibition, indeed, offer the genuine feeling of the values that our first Christian nation created and that we have cherished over centuries.
For ages, our people have lived in the major international crossroads and participated in global trade along the Silk Road. This has added more depth and created a unique diversity in our cultural life; a cultural life which has always been anchored in Christianity, which has served to enrich our identity while also preserving our national character.

Throughout our history we have experienced both the benefits and challenges of our geography. We have created marvelously illustrated Gospels and illuminated manuscripts, and carved khachkars of unique charm. We have built Christian temples and monasteries across our vast biblical homeland as far back as the fourth century. At times of violent invasions by neighboring empires that sought to annihilate us, we had to take up arms and protect our way of life and identity – with trust in God. We have protected and saved everything that defines us as a people and as a nation – our homeland, our language, our churches, our literature, our shrines and faith. Our faith, our national church, has enabled Armenians to secure our uninterrupted national development even during the dark ages of statelessness.

And here we are today: a modern nation that proudly displays the richness of her God-given cultural heritage at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – to step into our deserved place among the great nations of the world.

All the items that we proudly display here reflect what we cherish, and they tell the story of our history and our destiny. These relics and artifacts, all this beautiful art, make absolutely clear what we, the Armenians, have contributed to the world’s cultural heritage.
While the exhibition is confined to art created between the fourth and eighteenth centuries, it is also about modern day Armenia, as it will allow visitors to learn about our extraordinary nation and gain a broader perspective of our Republic and our historical homeland.

Dear guests,
This blessed enterprise has become possible not only thanks to Armenian and other institutions around the globe that have contributed pieces to it, as well as thanks to the profound generosity of our donors and benefactors – to whom we offer our profound appreciation – but, importantly, it has been nurtured with the honest love and remarkable care of our dear Dr. Helen Evans.
Conceived a few years ago, this idea of the exhibit would have remained only an idea without her persistence and passion, accumulated in many years of her dedicated career, of showing our art and identity to the world.

Indeed, through art we can relate to the creative mission of God in this world. This has been the driving force and comfort for our ancestors in Armenia, who have created and passed these astonishing relics of art down the centuries. We give thanks to Almighty God that there are true bearers of the torch of art and culture amongst us, such as Madam Evans, the entire stuff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, led by honorable Mr. Weiss and all those who were involved in the realization of such an excellent initiative.

Therefore, expressing the great love and appreciation of our faithful people, we would like to decorate Dr. Helen Evans – a true friend of our Armenian nation – with the high honors of the Armenian Apostolic Church – the Order of St. Sahak and St. Mesrop.
May God bless everyone – the kind friends of the Republic of Armenia and Armenians worldwide.


The Independent, UK
Sept 25 2018
Every time we witness genocide we say 'never again' – but human nature tells us something different
Holocaust expert Israel Charny's new book makes uncomfortable reading, as he asks us to examine 'a truth we haven't faced fully enough'
Robert Fisk in Jerusalem
 
Confronted on a warm, soft Jerusalem evening by one of Israel’s venerable Holocaust scholars – and a psychologist to boot – a visitor to Israel Charny’s retirement home should perhaps keep a certain silence, especially if the new arrival is a journalist.
 
Charny, author of the monumental Encyclopedia of Genocide – and much hated by the Turks who are outraged by his conviction that the 1915 Armenian genocide was a reality – speaks with the low, rather pondering voice of a US east coast academic. Not unlike the great Noam Chomsky, I note injudiciously. The American linguist and philosopher is a hero of mine, but a rather less prestigious figure in Charny’s eyes. “God forbid!” announces the 87-year-old head of Israel’s Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem. “You don’t know this – but I lived at the Chomsky house, as an undergraduate.”
 
He flourishes his most recent book, The Genocide Contagion, which asked readers to reflect on their own reaction to a future genocide in their own lives. It makes uncomfortable reading.
 
In today’s world, Charny says – slowly, carefully and with little forgiveness of us humanoids – he can see no “concerted political or culture-wide consciousness to take care of people”. On the contrary, “what I see is another replay of a truth that we haven’t faced fully enough. And this is that the human species – with all of its beauty – is a horrible, uncaring, destructive species that has delighted and excelled in the taking of human life for centuries. And there is no real addressing of this issue in our evolution that I know of.”
 
Is this an _expression_ of the inevitable, I ask myself? And older man throwing in his hand after the iniquities perpetrated against his own Jewish people? I think not.
 
“The problem, in my judgement,” he says, “begins with our failing to understand that in the creation of our species and in the very original equipment that we come from, there are two parallel instinctive streams that are operating simultaneously. One is all those beautiful, caring, creative [things] – the art and the music and the philosophical ingenuity and the brilliant creativity – but it’s an utter mistake for us to pretend that that’s the end of the story, [that] that’s what humans really are. 

“Because there’s another, no less powerful stream that includes killing off the next guy in self-defence – and self-defence means what you perceive to be self-defence, because that’s a whole big quicksand in its own right. It includes killing off the next guy – your brother – like the Bible begins with Cain and Abel, and it continues with a whole bunch of brothers who can hardly say ‘brother’ to one another, because they are really out in a deeply competitive readiness to overwhelm and even destroy the said brother. And it continues that way through all the identity systems that we have: religion, nationality, ethnic identification.”
 
Talking to a Holocaust expert, there are two subjects, of course, that cannot be avoided: the destruction of the Jewish people, and death. Charny does not appear to have forgiven Chomsky’s spirited but injudicious defence of the right to free speech of a French Holocaust denier who reprinted an essay on freedom of _expression_ by Chomsky (without the latter’s permission) back in the 1970s. Chomsky, five years Charny’s senior, is no Holocaust denier. I prefer to avoid this elderly debate. Charny will later grumble about Chomsky over dinner.
 
But Charny’s constant defence of the Armenian people’s right to refer to their own people’s slaughter by the Turks as a genocide – and his repeated condemnation of the Israeli government for failing to use the word about the Christian Armenians of 1915 – is a mark of his uniqueness.
 
The work of Charny’s organisation covers Rwanda, as well. And Bosnia. And, after years of reporting Armenian scholarship on the genocide and Turkish denial, I am a member of the Jerusalem institute’s international committee. Talk to Charny about death, and his reply covers a host of armageddons. His long, perfectly formed response, deserves an equally long paragraph.

Charny’s constant defence of the Armenian people’s right to refer to their own people’s slaughter by the Turks as a genocide is a mark of his uniqueness (YouTube/Scholarm Armenia) 

“If you look at the work of [Israeli-American psychologist] Daniel Kahneman and the works of some others,” he says, “you find endless evidence and analysis of how the human mind is capable of creating any piece of nonsense – imbuing it with authority, establishing it with factuality – when it is all, in the words of a great leader of the whole movement, to disestablish any hold that we might have had on [our] perception of reality and tests of reality, and the use of scientific method in thinking and in observation. For him, whatever his impulses call for, this is what reality becomes. And he then endows that reality with superlative adjectives – ‘is the greatest ever’, ‘there’s never been anything so great as...’ – whatever the heck it is.”
 
We have moved, of course, into Trump-world. I remark that the US president (Charny agrees he should be in a lunatic asylum) had used the word “beautiful” about weapons he was selling to an Arab Gulf state, and that large numbers of government officials travel to arms fairs around the world. “And sometimes,” Charny says, “you see their eyes looking at it as if it is an erotic object – such an attraction, such an excitement, such a wish to touch and use and express oneself through the Trumpian instrument.”
 
He asks if I know of Israel’s arms sales. “It sold to Rwanda during the genocide and it sold to Serbia during the genocide of the Bosnians. I have a very dear friend, [Israeli historian] Professor Yair Auron, who together with a wonderful attorney by the name of Etai Mack, have sued the Israeli government for information about both of those arms sales and they sued under a law that calls for release of information by the government when it is demanded.”
 
The script, as Charny put it, was as follows: “They get to court. The judge asks them to present what they’re after. The judge then calls on the representatives of the [Israeli] government. A government representative says: ‘Your honour, this is a matter of high security – can we see you in chambers?’ The judge takes them into the nearby judge’s chamber. They emerge 20 minutes later, and the judge says: ‘Case dismissed’.” This has happened to them [Auron and Mack] twice. It’s clearly built into the whole system.”
 
So what should people – us – be ready to do when witnessing the act of genocide? “To do everything they possibly can to save human life – their own and others,” says Charny. But he fears that the persecuted, while they may receive aid, will not receive military help. In the Holocaust, “there was absolutely no help, and even in those cases where there was some degree of cooperation with partisan fighters, it was limited, it was ambivalent, it was short-shrifting, mainly [in] the Soviet Union.” The RAF did not follow Churchill’s wish to attack the Nazi extermination camp rail yards.
 
“The Americans weren’t much better – not at all. There is a guilty conscience in the [western] relationship to Israel. I’ve never perceived it as being a conscience about ‘what we did not do to help’. I’ve perceived it as a kind of western sympathy with the people who have been so bitterly oppressed and decimated. But let’s test the question of conscience by looking at the world in its responses right now to places where mass murder is taking place – of the extent of intervention, the extent of caring – as reflected in the media. How would you rate it? That’s a rhetorical question.”

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