Armenian News... A Topalian... 10 editorials

Panorama, Armenia

Aug 17 2019

Armenian Church celebrates Feast of the Apparition of Holy Etchmiadzin

The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates on Saturday, 17 August, the Feast of the Apparition (Shoghakat) of Holy Etchmiadzin commemorating the inauguration of the Cathedral of the Mother See, Qahana.am reports.

The fifth century Greek historian Agathangelos tells us of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s divine vision, wherein our Lord Jesus Christ descends from Heaven and strikes the ground with His golden hammer.  In view of biblical Mount Ararat, in the city of Vagharshapat, the place where the Only Begotten descended identified the site for the foundation of the new cathedral of the Christian Armenian Nation. The vision of Gregory became known as “Shoghakat”, as the Saint saw a fiery column descending from the sky.

The foundation was laid in 301 A.D. and the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin was consecrated in 303 A.D. on the day of the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God.  We learn from Archbishop Malachia Ormanian that as the Mother Cathedral of the Armenian Church and Nation is dedicated to St. Mary, the feast of her foundation and inauguration is celebrated in the Armenian Church on the Saturday preceding the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God.

For 1,700 years, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has been, and continues to be, the spiritual heart and center of the Armenian Church, and is its most sacred sanctuary. Its spiritual, national and historical significance has only increased through the centuries. Through the vision of St. Gregory, God Incarnate descended upon the soil of Armenia and predetermined her future, making Armenia the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion.

Lragir, Armenia

Aug 14 2019

Escalation: Both sides reinforcing the border

Naira Hayrumyan

The Azerbaijani media have reported on an exchange of fire on the border with Armenia's Tavush Region and establishment of control on certain positions. The Armenian side is not denying that the adversary has made movements on the frontline, but is saying that Azerbaijan is trying to sell usual movements on its own territory as a great achievement. In addition, there have been reports on an Armenian soldier, who was wounded.

What is yet another activeness of Azerbaijani troops linked to? Reports on the inspection of operational readiness of the artillery with fusillade have also appeared today. A day earlier, Azerbaijan reported that an Armenian soldier was captured.

All this is happening on the day of Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev's visit to Armenia. At his negotiations in Yerevan, Patrushev also discussed "the problem of regulating sales of weapons to third countries". In other words, Yerevan raised the problem of arms sales to Azerbaijan for yet another time at negotiations with Moscow and Moscow gave yet another promise to "regulate" them.

While Patrushev was in Yerevan, the Kremlin made a statement on cancelling the summit between [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani, and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev. At the same time, the Azerbaijani media published materials about Iran and Russia opposing the laying of a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea bed. Turkey, for its part, renounced flights to [Azerbaijan's exclave of] Naxcivan via the Armenian and Iranian airspaces, sending planes along the narrow "sovereign" corridor [connecting Turkish territory to Naxcivan]. Immediately after this, Aliyev made a phone call to Rouhani. Although the official report mentioned friendly relations between the two countries, the implications made insurmountable contradictions visible in the context. It was no accident that the Iranian consul in Naxcivan paid a visit to the administration of the region today and held important talks with its leadership.

Several days ago, Deputy Armenian Defence Minister Gabriyel Balayan said that the Armenian Armed Forces gained advantage on several combat positions on the border with Azerbaijan as a result of some engineering work done. "We have significant achievements as a result of engineering work. The objectives set for the engineering troops are being achieved. The recent round of tensions on the border was linked to the adversary's attempts to prevent us from attaining advantages," Balayan said.

The adversary also attempted to achieve positional advantage, but the Armenian Armed Forces prevent them from achieving it, he said. On 27 and 28 July, a soldier of the Armed Forces of the Republic Armenia, Arman Bulghadaryan was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting attack from Azerbaijan on the north-eastern segment of Armenia's state border.

Let us recall that on 21 June, the chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group [that is mediating in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict] made a statement, which urged parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to refrain from any provocative actions. "including the use of snipers and engineering work along the line of contact and the international border".

It is difficult to avoid skirmishes during engineering work, but it is assumed that both sides pursue the same goal, when doing it - to reinforce the existing border.

News.am, Armenia

Aug 17 2019

HALO Trust: Demining program helped over 80% of Karabakh population 

                

The HALO Trust representatives have responded to a written query by the Voice of America Armenian Service, and with respect to their demining activities in Artsakh (Nagorno-Nagorno Karabakh).

Accordingly, this demining program has helped over 80 percent of the population of Karabakh, sharply reducing the number of civilians affected by landmines and explosives, and thousands of acres of land were returned for safe and productive use.

As per the HALO Trust representatives, even though the US is the only country currently funding the HALO Trust demining activities in Karabakh, this organization also receives funding from private charitable foundations and individuals.

But the representatives of HALO Trust added that the US has always been the pillar of this organization’s programs in Karabakh, and therefore a termination of this US funding will force the HALO Trust to considerably reduce its activities in Karabakh, this will leave hundreds of people there without jobs, and such a move will also indefinitely delay the prospect for a Karabakh without landmines.

Armenpress.am

15 August, 2019

Remains of Vahakn Dadrian to be moved to Armenia

Armenian-American professor Vahakn Dadrian’s remains will be moved from the United States to Armenia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“Taking into account world famous Professor Vahagn Dadrian's (Tatrian) unshakeable fight for justice and great scientific contribution to the study of Armenian Genocide, it was decided to move his remains to Armenia. Works in this direction are already underway”, the Armenian foreign ministry said.

Dadrian, a renowned sociologist and historian and genocide scholar, died on August 2, 2019 at the age of 93 in the United States.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Panorama, Armenia

Aug 17 2019

Russia refuses to extradite ex-Armenian official accused of corruption

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has turned down Armenia’s request for the extradition of Mihran Poghosyan, a former MP and chief of the Compulsory Enforcement Service facing corruption charges, Arevik Khachatryan, the head of Public Relations Division at Prosecutor General's Office, said in a statement.

The Russian law enforcement agency citied Article 19 of the 1993 Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, saying a decision to extradite Poghosyan to Armenia may “undermine the sovereignty or security of the requested Contracting Party (i.e. Russia) or contradict its legislation.”

The Armenian Prosecutor General's Office says the Russian authorities failed to provide clear information on the specific grounds for the rejection of its motion. It has requested the Russian colleagues to provide the necessary information.

Russian law enforcement officers detained Mihran Poghosyan in April. The ex-official was located in the Russian Republic of Karelia. A Yerevan court allowed the Special Investigative Service to arrest Poghosyan after he was charged with abusing his powers to enrich himself and companies linked to him. 

Emerging Europe

Aug 16 2019

US imposes sanctions on Armenian and Georgian companies for Iran links

Dominik Istrate

   

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US Department of Commerce has imposed sanctions on two Armenian firms and a Georgian company for illegally exporting sensitive items to Iran, the Armenian and Georgian media have reported.

The companies, Yerevan Telecommunications Research Institute (YETRI), Markel, and Georgia Petrochemical and Aviatech join fourteen others from various countries on a list of firms who will now be banned from purchasing US products.

Georgia Petrochemical and Aviatech was sanctioned over unlawfully attempting “to procure and divert export-controlled aluminium tubing via Malaysia to Iran.”

The BIS decided to add Markel and YETRI to the sanctions entity list because the two companies obtained “items that were reexported without the required BIS licenses, and the person who is both executive director of YETRI and the president of Markel has been engaged in a business relationship with a sanctioned Iranian organisation,” it said in a statement.

Mher Markosyan, YETRI’s executive director and Markel’s president said that the US sanctions were based on unfounded claims. “As for Markel, it signed contracts and did business with Iranian enterprises until 2009,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “Any export operation, especially to Iran, is examined under the microscope,” he added, noting that “if there is even a slight suspicion [of wrongdoing] rest assured that the [Armenian] state will not permit it.”

The Fresno Bee

Aug 16 2019

William Saroyan remembered in ancestral homeland as much as in his hometown of Fresno 

By Haykaram Nahapetyan 

Those who think Fresno is the only settlement where acclaimed author William Saroyan is remembered diligently should check Yerevan. The capital of Saroyan’s ancestral homeland — Armenia — highlights this notable writer in many significant ways. 

Saroyan visited Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union, several times during his life. After passing away in 1981, a part of his ashes was transferred to Yerevan and buried in a graveyard known as Pantheon. The sculpture on Saroyan’s grave has a shape of an “Armenian Cross” with the writer’s rising figure replicating the missing puzzle of this symbol of Christianity. Pantheon is often visited by many people, as not only the Armenian American author but also eminent composer Aram Khachaturian, movie maker Sergey Paradjanov, and other notables are laid there to rest.

James Billington, the former librarian of the Library of Congress, was among these visitors. In a 2012 interview, Billington shared that he paid his respect to Saroyan during his working trip to Armenia and visited Pantheon.

In addition, Saroyan’s bust is placed in front of a school that is named after him. However, leading up to the author’s centennial of his birth (2008), Armenian journalist, researcher and public activist Rafael Hovhannisyan decided that the city needed not only a splendid gravestone or a bust, but also a presentable sculpture in the heart of Yerevan, in a busy and touristic area.

“Sculptor David Yerevantsi, when I approached him with such idea, agreed to carve the monument for no cost,” Rafael recalls. This commitment of the European-based Armenian sculptor, no matter how much appreciated, was not the only reason for assigning the job specifically to him. The sculptor met Saroyan in person in Paris back in 1962. “He depicted Saroyan’s monument exactly as the author looked like when they spent two days together in France,” Hovhannisyan continued.

The monument is so spectacular that its illustration is included in Armenia’s national currency. In 2018, the Central Bank issued the new edition of the Armenian Dram (AMD) with several notable Armenians depicted on the banknotes. Saroyan was chosen to be featured on 5,000 AMD (approx. $10), with the image of the monument as well as a description of Bitlis (the hometown of Saroyan’s parents in historic Armenia) on the back. 

Armenia once had a private university named after William Saroyan, until the government suspended its license together with about a dozen other educational facilities in 2009. 

The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, which existed between 2008 and 2018, established the William Saroyan Medal, which is granted for developing Armenia-Diaspora cultural partnership through creative activities. Among the recipients of this award was also sculptor David Yerevantsi.

In 2008 and 2018, stamps with Saroyan’s image were issued for the 100th and 110th anniversaries of his birth. These same years international conferences related to Saroyan took place in Yerevan. 

As if all these are not enough, just recently a series of images of Saroyan appeared in various streets of Yerevan as part of the “Great Armenians” project. Zebra, a Yerevan-based organization that runs the project, installs large-size images of notable Armenians in public places. So, William Saroyan can be seen in the streets now alongside composer Khachaturian, artist Aivazovski, and WWII top commander Bagramian.

There is a street named after William Saroyan in Stepanakert, the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic. This second Armenian statehood has not been formally recognized by international governments so far, although several American states, including California, officially recognized the independence of the Republic of Artsakh and adopted proclamations in support of the right of the people to self-determination. On a special note, Fresno County has its own formal resolution in support of Nagorno-Karabakh’s sovereignty. This region was placed under Soviet Azerbaijan’s jurisdiction by the arbitrary decision of Bolshevik dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1920s, but seceded from Azerbaijan in 1991 in the final days of disintegrating Soviet Union.

Almost any bookstore in any Armenian community sells Saroyan’s writings, with more publishing houses printing his volumes. “We have published three books: ‘Mama, I Love You,’ ‘Papa, You’re Crazy,’ and ‘My Name is Aram,’” says Arqmenik Nikoghosian, the editor of Antares publishing house. He noted that ‘The Adventures of Wesley Jackson’ are about to come out soon as well. “The sales? They are bestsellers by Armenia’s scales,” Nikoghosian added, commenting that Saroyan’s books are popular. 

Back in Fresno, the Yerevan-based Intellectual-Renaissance Foundation acquired and renovated William Saroyan’s childhood home and transformed it into a museum. The transatlantic project highlights that both Yerevan and Fresno cherish the great William Saroyan’s heritage, but also cooperates in this important endeavor together to share Saroyan with the world. 

Haykaram Nahapetyan is the U.S. correspondent for the First Channel of Armenia. Danielle Saroyan of Fresno contributed to this reporting.

Armenpress.am

16 August, 2019

Real estate registration transactions grow 17,1% in Armenia

 16073 real estate registration transactions were made in July 2019 in Armenia, which is a growth of 10,3% compared to June 2019, whereas compared to the previous year’s same period the increase is 17,1%.

The Cadastre Committee said in a news release that the average market price for 1 square meter of apartments in Yerevan grew 9,8% compared to July 2018.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

News.am, Armenia

Aug 16 2019

Rally in Armenia’s Jermuk ends up with patriotic songs 

                   

A rally of Jermuk residents on Friday against the development of the Amulsar gold deposit ended with patriotic songs.

Earlier, a similar protest rally was held in front of the Armenian government building. The protesters demanded a meeting with the country's prime minister, but Nikol Pashinyan did not accept them and promised to meet them in the coming days.

As reported earlier, the Investigative Committee of Armenia on Wednesday publicized the final conclusion on the Amulsar gold mine examination. According to it, the contaminated waters of the Amulsar mine are very unlikely to have an impact on the Jermuk springs, since there are no paths to transfer the groundwater flow and the contamination.

A demonstration in support of Amulsar was staged Thursday outside the building of the government of Armenia.

The Armenian Environmental Front initiative has issued a statement, according to which Advanced Resources Development (ELARD) Lebanese consultancy firm has not submitted a conclusion with respect to the Amulsar gold mine, but rather just studied the documents presented by Lydian Armenia which operates this mine.

According to a study, there are numerous shortcomings in the project.

As per the statement which Lydian has released, it has always stressed that it operates in Armenia in accordance with its mining permits, which were granted based on a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment approval process. Nevertheless, Lydian’s Amulsar Project has been subject to three full-scale environmental audits since July last year. Lydian has fully cooperated with all audits.

PanArmenian, Armenia

Aug 16 2019

Lydian Armenia: Criminal case over hooliganism, arrogation launched 

Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia's Vayots Dzor province on Wednesday, August 14 passed a resolution on initiating a criminal proceeding based on the appeal of Lydian Armenia over the case of hooliganism and arrogation under the country's Criminal Code, Article 258, Section 1 and Article 322, Section 1.

On August 14th 2019 the case was sent to Vayots Dzor Regional Investigation Department of RA Investigative Committee.

The procedural background of the case is as follows:

On July 24th 2018, a Lydian manager reported on the illegal blockage of the access roads to Lydian’s Project area by a group of people since June 22nd, and with gross violation of public order they performed an arrogation, due to which the Company continues incurring major losses.

The police had declined to initiate the proceedings based on the prepared materials, and this position was supported by the Prosecutor’s Office of RA Vayots Dzor Province, however, all three instances of Armenian court supported Lydian’s position.

On July 18th 2019, the Republic of Armenia Cassation Court resolved to decline initiating proceedings on the cassation appeal submitted by A.Harutyunyan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia.

A preliminary investigation is underway.