Armenian News ... A Topalian... 9 editorials
PanArmenian, Armenia
July 10 2019
Armenia calls on Turkey to cease drilling in Syprus
The Foreign Ministry of Armenia has condemned Turkey’s attempt to conduct a new drilling operation in Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone.
"We express our deep concern over Turkey’s attempt to conduct a new drilling operation in the northeast of Cyprus. Turkey’s continued provocative actions in the Eastern Mediterranean put the security and stability of the region at risk, .
"We reiterate our full support and solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus and its people and call on Turkey to cease all activities within Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus and rights of people of Cyprus to pursue their political, social and economic development without external pressure."
PanArmenian, Armenia
July 10 2019
Armenian Christians in East Jerusalem “don’t enjoy equal rights”
Although the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate has had a presence in Jerusalem since the fourth century, church leaders are disturbed that Armenian Christians in East Jerusalem “don’t enjoy equal rights”, says the chancellor, Father Koryoun Baghdasaryan, according to an article published by The Art Newspaper.
The Patriarchate wishes the police would treat it as a hate crime when its clergy, students and teachers are spat on by the Old City’s Haredi Jewish population, and that clergy who have lived in the Armenian monastery for decades would be granted residency.
Without it, they must pay as tourists for public services such as healthcare.
“The most shameful thing”, Baghdasaryan says, is that a memorial to the Armenian Genocide on church property remains closed to visitors because the municipality has delayed approving construction of the entrance. An official in the mayor’s office says
a proper plan has not been submitted, but according to the Patriarchate, all the necessary papers have been repeatedly filed over many years.
Israel has never officially recognised the Genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915, likely because of concern for diplomatic relations with Turkey. Baghdasaryan says there is a “moral obligation” for Israel, being home to around 200,000 Holocaust survivors, to recognise the Genocide.
Sabah, Turkey
July 10 2019
Refusing new Armenian patriarch election violates religious freedom, Turkey’s top court rules
An administrative decision dating back to 2017 that refused two initiatives to elect a new patriarch for the Armenian Orthodox Church was a violation of the right of religious freedom, Turkey's Constitutional Court said in a detailed ruling Wednesday.
The issue that pitted different groups within Turkey's Armenian community and the Istanbul Governorate began in the summer of 2007 when late Patriarch Mesrob II, commonly known by his civilian name Mesrob Mutafyan since he succeeded Karekin II in 1998, fell ill due to dementia, which was diagnosed in 2008.
Under Turkish laws and patriarchate rules, a new patriarch cannot be elected while his predecessor is alive, and Mesrob II's case was the first instance that left the Armenian community puzzled about how to proceed with replacing a living religious leader
especially one that was also viewed as a uniting figure and a representative of the community. Archbishop Aram Ateşyan was appointed to serve as the Patriarchal Vicar in 2008 as the 84th patriarch had to withdraw from his duties.
However, this marked the beginning of a new debate within the Armenian community as two conflicting views emerged since the post was unprecedented. One group centered on Ateşyan appealed to the Istanbul Governorate for an election of a new leader with
the title of "co-patriarch." The other group, however, called for a new patriarchal election and also appealed to the governorate.
In June 2010, the Istanbul Governorate tacitly rejected the second group by not responding to their appeal while also rejecting the first group's appeal, arguing that the post of patriarch was not empty, and hence an election for a "general acting patriarch" could be held instead. The Clerical Committee of the patriarchate voted 25-1 to elect Ateşyan to the acting patriarch post in July 2010, and a cabinet decision in August confirmed this appointment.
However, the move was not viewed legitimate by a significant portion of the Armenian community since whole community has participated in the patriarchate election since 1863, when a code of regulations concerning the Armenian "millet" in the Ottoman Empire was introduced. According to the document referred to as the Regulation of the Armenian Nation, or the Armenian National Constitution, which was transformed into a cabinet decree in 1961, first civilians vote for the delegates who then vote for the patriarch.
Following heated debates and even protests, which were mainly aimed at Ateşyan, the Clerical Committee finally decided to "retire" Mesrob II in late October 2016 based on ancient laws and church traditions that enable the annulment of the vows of religious leaders if they "disappear" for seven years, and declared the patriarch's post vacant, which paved the way for a patriarchal election. Earlier in March, a court had assigned Mesrob II's mother Mari Mutafyan as his legal guardian due to his illness.
In March 2017, the Clerical Committee elected the Primate of the German Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Karekin Bekçiyan (Bekdjian) as deghabagh (locum tenens), a trustee that leads the patriarchate until the election. However, Ateşyan did not resign from his post and a petition filed to the Ministry of Interior to hold the elections was left unanswered. Bishop Sahak Maşalyan, who was serving as the head of Clerical Committee, announced his resignation in February, accusing Ateşyan of delaying the elections that would be held if the council and local authorities approved, although he later retracted his resignation. Ateşyan finally bowed to the pressure from the community and resigned on May 24, 2017.
In the meantime, the Istanbul Governorate said in a statement that the deghabagh election was invalid since Mesrob II was still alive. This view was reiterated in February 2018 in the governorate's written statement addressed to the patriarchate, in which Bekçiyan was referred to as the "so-called" deghabagh and Ateşyan was referred to as the acting patriarch. Shortly after, Bekçiyan returned to Germany, saying he did not want to be involved in a debate that could tear down the community.
During this process, the governorate's decision was brought to an administrative court, arguing that the Clerical Committee alone had decided on the election of an acting patriarch although the election itself should have been held by the Assembly of the
Delegates, a body that consisted of 20 clergymen and 120 civilians. The administrative court rejected the case in March 2012, and a subsequent appeal to Turkey's top administrative court, the Council of State, was also turned down in November 2015.
Two Turkish-Armenian citizens used their rights to individual application to the Constitutional Court in October 2014 and later in February 2016, saying the administrative rulings breached their right of religious freedom. The court ruled in favor of the
applicants on May 22 in an 11-4 vote. In its detailed ruling released on July 10, the court said that the Ministry of Interior misinterpreted the Ottoman-era regulation, which required an election not only for death or resignation of a patriarch but also for
other "various reasons", without specifications. The court noted that there had been previous cases when a patriarch had abandoned his seat without resigning and an election was held afterwards. The court also said in the elections of 1950, 1961, 1990 and 1998 during the Republican era, civilians had a say over clergymen, and the postponement of the elections ignored their will. The fact that the ministry decided on which conditions the patriarch could be elected also breached the freedom of religion and faith enshrined in the constitution, the court said.
Meanwhile Mesrob II, a respected figure within the Armenian community and in general Turkish public opinion, died on March 8, ending this decade-long debate. His funeral at the Surp Asdvadzadzin Church in Istanbul was attended by thousands of Turkish-Armenians and dignitaries. The election process for a new patriarch was relaunched after the mourning period ended in mid-April, and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu visited the patriarchate on May 13 to discuss matters related to the elections. The process was briefly postponed due to the re-run of the Istanbul mayoral elections on June 23, but on July 4, the Clerical Committee elected Bishop Maşalyan as the deghabagh with 13 votes against Ateşyan's 11. The patriarchate is now expected to reveal the election date and its final conduct soon.
Like other non-Muslim communities whose population has dwindled over the years due to a lack of rights and oppressive state policies in the past, the Armenian community has seen a reinstatement of their rights, such as the return of properties once seized by the state, in recent years.
The Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate has the largest congregation in the community and its roots can be traced back to the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans and Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) who is credited with paving the way for the establishment of a patriarchate. Before the sultan granted them religious freedom, Armenians were forced to pray in the Byzantine churches of other communities in the city. The patriarchate was an influential religious authority for Armenian communities around the world until the early 20th century, but its influence has decreased over time, especially after the Armenian population in Turkey diminished following World War I and after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Mutafyan was born in Istanbul and studied sociology and philosophy in the U.S. before returning to Turkey. He was ordained by the priesthood in 1979 and appointed pastor to Kınalıada, an island near Istanbul where a small Armenian community lives. He was
hailed as a uniting figure for the Armenian community during his short tenure and was vocal in his efforts to suppress divisive rhetoric between Turks and Armenians. In one of his last speeches, the patriarch called upon Turkey to develop relations with Armenia and the Armenian diaspora, despite a dispute over the World War I deaths of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which the diaspora and the Armenian government brand as "genocide." Like Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated by an ultranationalist in 2007, the patriarch had advocated dialogue between Turkey and Armenia for mutual understanding.
Armenpress.am
8 July, 2019
UK’s Minister of State Sir Alan Duncan offers condolences over death of Armenia’s Ambassador
Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State of UK for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, offered his condolences over the death of Armenian Ambassador to the UK Arman Kirakossian, Armenpress reports citing the UK government’s website.
“I was saddened to learn of the death of H.E. Dr Arman Kirakossian, the serving Ambassador of Armenia and a great friend to the UK. I have spoken to the Foreign Minister of Armenia H.E Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to pass on condolences on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and have offered our assistance at this difficult time. Our thoughts are with the late Ambassador’s family and friends”, Alan Duncan said.
Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Arman Kirakossian died on July 6 at the age of 63.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenpress.am
9 July, 2019
92% of Armenians satisfied with relations with EU
62% of Armenians have positive perception of the EU and 61% trust the EU.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the EU Delegation to Armenia, the EU-funded ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’ project has conducted the 2019 opinion poll in the six countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
The survey took place between February and April 2019 and was based upon face-to-face interviews among a representative sample of 1,000 people per country. The annual surveys are now into their fourth year, with the first wave having been carried out in 2016. The results from the six countries are presented in national reports and a consolidated regional overview report.
Here below are the key findings in Armenia.
62% of Armenians have a positive image of the European Union (EU), compared to 48% in 2018. The number of persons with negative opinions of the EU is just 6%. · 92% of Armenians (up 12% on 2018) feel relations with the European Union are good - well ahead of the EaP regional average (67%). · 61% of people in Armenia trust the EU compared to 48% trusting in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). · 71% of Armenians (up 2% on 2018) are aware of the EU’s financial support to the country, and two thirds feel that EU support is effective (72% - up from 62% in 2016 and compared to a regional average of 54% in the EaP countries).
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Armenpress.am
8 July, 2019
The official welcoming ceremony of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and spouse Anna Hakobyan was held at the Istana governmental residence of Singapore, the Armenian PM’s Office told Armenpress.
The PM of Singapore welcomed his Armenian counterpart’s visit to Singapore and stated that it will give a new impetus to the cooperation between the two states at various directions. According to him,
Armenia and the Armenian people enjoy great respect in Singapore and his government is interested in cooperating with the Armenian side. Lee Hsien Loong highlighted the mutual cooperation in the economic sector and the need to develop and expand the commercial ties.
The Armenian PM thanked for the warm welcome and expressed confidence that the Armenian-Singaporean ties will consistently expand based on the results of effective bilateral talks. Pashinyan said the whole world is impressed with Singapore’s development experience, and Armenia as well considers it as exemplary. “We are interested in deepening the political, economic and humanitarian cooperation and intensifying the ties between the two peoples”, the Armenian
PM said, highlighting the development of cooperation between the Armenian and Singaporean business. Touching upon the government’s priorities, the Armenian PM said they aim at making Armenia a country with a technological economy. In this sense, Pashinyan specifically attached importance to the development of cooperation in IT sector.
During the meeting the two PMs discussed issues relating to the implementation of joint investment programs, increasing trade turnover volumes, as well as touched upon the cooperation opportunities in high technologies, tourism, aviation and other areas.
Pashinyan introduced the ongoing actions in Armenia directed for institutional reforms and improvement of business climate.
The PM of Singapore welcomed the ongoing systematic changes in Armenia, adding that they will contribute to the country’s economic development and progress.
The PMs also touched upon the signing of a free trade zone agreement between Singapore and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The sides expressed confidence that this agreement will contribute to increasing the trade turnover volumes.
At the same time they agreed to hold Armenia Cultural Day in Singapore with the goal to expand the ties in tourism sector.
Regional issues were also discussed during the meeting.
Based on the meeting results, Armenia and Singapore signed a number of documents relating to the cooperation in various fields. In particular, they signed the agreement on excluding the double taxation of incomes and preventing tax evasion between Armenia and Singapore. A memorandum of understanding on strengthening the cooperation in tourism sector was si
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
July 9 2019
Poll shows high, but declining, support for Armenian government
Joshua Kucera
On a wide variety of issues, a new IRI poll shows that the optimistic mood engendered by last year’s “Velvet Revolution” is fading.
A new poll shows declining, if still strong, support for the new authorities in Armenia, as well as increasing pessimism over the prospects of a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Azerbaijan.
About 28 percent of Armenians reported viewing last year’s change of government “very positively,” down from a figure of 41 percent in October 2018, according to the poll from the International Republican Institute, conducted in May and released to the public on July 8.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan became wildly
popular when he managed to topple the long-hated former government last spring in what he dubbed the “Velvet Revolition,” and his “My Step” alliance won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections in December, giving them a five-year mandate to implement the sweeping changes Pashinyan has promised.
“The goodwill expressed by the Armenian people presents the Armenian government with an unprecedented opportunity to undertake fundamental reforms that strengthen the country’s democracy and improve the economic well-being of its people,” said Stephen
Nix, IRI Regional Director for Eurasia, presenting the new poll. “The government’s speedy delivery on reforms will be key to maintaining its strong public support and the momentum to press on with its agenda."
The new poll suggests that, across a variety of measures, the optimism engendered by the new government remains relatively high, but down substantially from last year.
The proportion of Armenians who see the country going in the right direction declined to 60 percent from 72 percent in October. The number who saw the country going in the wrong direction nearly doubled, from 11 to 20 percent. Asked about the “prevailing
mood of the population,” 29 percent reported that the mood was that the future would “definitely” be better, down from 44 percent in October.
Asked if “people like you can influence decisions” made in Armenia – one of Pashinyan’s signature themes – 20 percent said yes, down from 31 percent in October. Young people, however, were significantly more likely to say that people like them could have influence; 29 percent of those aged 18-29 answered the question positively, compared 14 percent of those 50 or older.
The relatively well-off also see the changes in the country more positively. Asked about how their household finances have changed in the last six months, 29 percent of those with an income of 250,000 drams or more a month (about $530) said theyhad improved, while only 16 percent of those with an income of 150,000 drams ($320) or less agreed.
Asked “what the biggest success of the new government” was, by far the most common answer was “reducing corruption,” with 27 percent of respondents naming that. Behind that were more diffuse accomplishments: the “improved psychological state of people,” the “failure of the Republican Party” (the former ruling party), and “brought democracy.”
On the conflict with Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the number of Armenians who said the conflict could be solved without the use of force significantly declined over the last several months: in October 27 percent said that it “definitely” could be solved, which dropped to 16 percent in the newest poll.
And security issues remained at the top of the list of Armenians’ concerns: asked an open-ended question about what they worry most about for their country, the top three answers were “war,” “the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” and “national security issues.”
BBC News, UK
July 8 2019
Armenia's iconic lake faces algae threat
Reporting by Martin Morique
Sevan is one of Armenia's main tourist destinations
Armenian environmentalists are warning that the country's largest lake is facing a serious threat from algae and falling water levels.
They told reporters that unless the authorities take action "the lake will turn into a swamp" through waterlogging, the Aysor news site reports.
The group is led by Karine Danielyan, a veteran ecologist and head of the Environmental Committee of the government's advisory Public Committee.
It was the government's publication of satellite images of the algae earlier this month that prompted public concern.
'Gone in a fortnight'
Environment Minister Erik Grigoryan tried to put the algae bloom in the broader context of climate change, noting similar phenomena in Russia's Lake Baikal and the Black Sea.
He said it would "be gone within a fortnight", but campaigners insist that specific local factors are at play in Armenia.
Sevan also saw an algae bloom last year, prompting the health ministry to advise swimmers against venturing into the lake, and Mr Grigoryan recalled an algae scare back in 1964, but this year's satellite images show almost half of the lake coloured green.
Satellite images show the algae bloom
Water resources analyst Knarik Hovhannisyan puts the blame firmly on drawing too much water for agriculture irrigation, which has led water levels to fall on four registered occasions since 2012 when they should have risen.
She also told Radio Liberty's Armenian Service that pollution from booming tourism resorts on the shore, as well as dumping wastewater into tributary rivers, "could mean losing the only freshwater basin in the region".
The immediate measures she proposes are installing modern wastewater treatment plants at lakeside hotels and restaurants, as has been a legal requirement since 2006, and carefully monitoring water levels. "I am sure that the 170 million cubic metres (37,395 milliongallons) of water flowing into the lake annually is now an over-estimate, given global warming," she told Radio Liberty.
Mr Grigoryan assured the public that a tender is under way to clean up the shore and rivers, so that "by 2020-2021 this whole area will be completely clean" and water levels should rise again.
Water Committee Chairman Vardan Melkonyan also told reporters that significant less water has been drawn from Sevanso far this year - 29 million cubic metres (6,380 million gallons) - than the 43.5 million in the same period of 2018.
But campaigners still doubt the government's sense of urgency.
"We warned them about this two months ago. All the measures may be in place, but we are still destroying Lake Sevanthrough our thoughtless actions," Karine Danielyan told Aysor.
To see picture, click on:
The Wire, India
July 9 2019
The Armenian Population in India Is Growing Again, After Centuries
Andrew Whitehead
One family's story highlights the revival of people-to-people ties between the two countries.
One of India’s old trading communities, the Armenians, is growing in numbers for the first time in many years. Former BBC correspondent Andrew Whitehead attended an Armenian church service in Chennai and met some of the worshippers. This is an expanded version of a piece he wrote for the BBC radio programme From Our Own Correspondent.
I didn’t expect to see a baby in his mother’s arms among the congregation. India’s Armenian community – once conspicuous in commerce, though always modest in number – has been fading away for many decades. In Chennai, they are barely clinging on.
The city’s serene 18th-century Armenian church holds just one service a year. It stands on Armenian Street and is the oldest church in what was once called Black Town – the place that became home for those not allowed to live in the British fort at the heartof what was then Madras. The place was one of Asia’s commanding ports in that earlier era of globalisation and Empire. And the Armenian traders had money – that’s reflected in the stylish design of this pocket-sized church, its large grounds,
striking plaster cherubs and their bugles, and a separate tower complete with church bells cast in Whitechapel in London.
Kolkata, the second city of the British Raj, remains the main base of India’s Armenian community, who were once prominent merchants, financiers and hoteliers.
There are 25 families of part-Armenian descent in the city, and the Armenian College and Armenian
Sports Club are continuing testament to the community’s influence. Sunday service rotates around the city’s three Armenian churches – and the congregation can reach the heady heights of 100 or more worshippers at Christmas time.
The Armenian church in Chennai is the only one in India outside West Bengal which still holds services, albeit one a year. There were once Armenian chapels in Mumbai (the building still stands) and Surat. Further afield, Dhaka also has an Armenian church – as does Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, where regular services are still conducted.
The Armenian population of Chennai probably never exceeded a few hundred. Over the decades, integration and emigration – to Australia in particular – has reduced the community to single figures.
Two priests based in Kolkata took the two-hour flight to Chennai to conduct the annual mass. They are from Armenia, on a tour of duty in India which can stretch for as long as seven years. The clerics brought with them the incense, ornate clerical headgear, capes and crucifix wh ich are such essential parts of Orthodox worship. Even counting well-wishers and the curious – and I suppose I fit both descriptions – the number attending just touched double digits.
So the young family made up I guess a quarter of the congregation. The baby’s name is Suren. His father, Kapilan, is an architect – Chennai-born and, he insists, 100% Tamil; his mother Ashkhen, with red hair and pale complexion, describes herself as Armenian through and through.
As is often the case with marriages across the frosted boundaries of race, religion, language and nation, there is a heart-warming measure of coincidence in this love story. Kapilan was so often told when a postgraduate student in Canada that his surname,
Jesudian, sounded Armenian that his interest in the country was aroused; Ashkhen performed so well in Hindi lessons when she was at school in Armenia, a scheme supported by the Indian government, that she won a study trip to India and on her return took on a role promoting links between the two countries.
When Kapilan travelled to Armenia as a tourist, Ashkhen showed him round. “He asked me if Armenia is safe,” she recounts, with feigned shock and amusement. “He’s from India – and he asks if my country is safe!” When she was, in turn, invited to Chennai, she was wary. “Don’t think I’m coming there to get married,” she insisted. But a day before her return home, they got engaged. A white wedding followed, held in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
Ashkhen found her first year in Chennai tough. She was hit by south India’s ferocious heat and humidity. She missed her family, her language, her food, her favourite kind of coffee. Her husband is a Christian but the services at his Protestant church in
Chennai didn’t sound – or smell – anything like the orthodox worship she had grown up with.
Over time, she came through and adapted. She started teaching Russian and – with admirable entrepreneurial flair – worked as a business coach, offering Indian businesses advice on branding and on commercial etiquette when dealing with the Russian-speaking world.
That’s just one story. But there are more. Hundreds of Indian students now attend medical schools in Armenia. Ashkhen reckons that 60 or more Armenian women have married trainee doctors and accompanied them back to India. Suren is not the only youngster in Chennai with an Armenian mum and an Indian dad. He will be brought up to respect his Armenian heritage as much as his Tamil identity.
Not all the new Armenian migrants to India cleave to the church as a marker of their identity – but they do network, and Ashkhen is now the regional coordinator of the India-Armenia friendship group. She’s worried about her son growing up in a culture where inter-racial marriages are still rare, and where anyone with fair skin is likely to be seen and treated as an outsider. Chennai is no longer the cosmopolitan city it once was – but Ashkhen is determined to (as she put it) make herself comfortable there.
So for the first time in a couple of centuries, the Armenian community in India is growing. “If you want to find the bad things about India, you will,” Ashkhen counsels her friends – and her clients. “If you want to find the opportunities for business, you can. There are plenty.”
Then she checks herself – looks at her husband – and declares with a laugh in her voice: “I sound just like one of those Armenian traders who came here back in the 1780s, don’t I?”
It’s difficult to disagree
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