Armenian News... A Topalian 8 editorials

JAM News

Oct 11 2019

Armenia condemns Turkey’s military invasion of Syria

The diplomatic mission in Syria is prepared to organize an urgent evacuation of compatriots from settlements under fire

Turkey, Syria, Armenia, Erdogan, Nikol Pashinyan

Armenia condemns the Turkish troops’ invasion of Syria, according to a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. The Prime Minister also called on the international community to take every measure to stop the Turkish invasion.

Armenia’s humanitarian mission in Syria continues, with Armenian doctors and engineers fulfilling their daily responsibilities.

Armenia’s diplomatic mission in Syria has organised an urgent evacuation of compatriots in the line of fire, especially from the cities of Tel Abyad and Kamyshly.

Turkey launched a military operation in northeast Syria to create a ‘safe zone’ along its borders. The attack hit more than 200 targets using heavy weapons, including aircraft and artillery. Washington said it would not obstruct the Turkish military, and began to withdraw its troops from this territory. In this situation, an escalation of the conflict between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, who now control the northeast of Syria, now poses a real threat.

Armenia’s MFA warns of a humanitarian crisis

The MFA stated:

“This invasion will lead to a further deterioration of regional security, as well as civilian casualties, a large flow of displaced people and, ultimately, a new humanitarian crisis.”

This military invasion, according to the MFA’s statement, creates the conditions for severe and large-scale human rights violations against another ethnic group.

“Armenia calls for effective international efforts to end this military invasion, prevent mass atrocities and protect the Syrian population on the border of Turkey.”

In addition, that statement reiterated Yerevan’s continued humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

Armenia’s humanitarian assistance 

Yerevan has delivered humanitarian assistance to Damascus since the start of the war. The assistance is for civilians suffering from the fighting.

Armenia has emphasised that its presence in Syria is one of peacebuilding only through humanitarian activities.

“Assistance will be provided exclusively outside the combat zone. Armenian specialists will carry out humanitarian activities such as clearing mines and educating local people about the mines, as well as the provision of medical care in Aleppo.”— declared Armenia’s press secretary for the Ministry of Defense, Artsrun Hovhannisyan .

PM Nikol Pashinyan also declared that Armenian specialists will not be placed in combat:

“This is an exclusively humanitarian programme and has no military significance. We intend to implement this programme with what is possible in the country’s budget. All costs are included in the draft budget for 2019.”

After the completion of the active phase of hostilities in Syria in February 2019, Armenia sent a humanitarian mission there. There is a group of engineers and doctors – 83 people in total.

Armenia continues its humanitarian mission in Aleppo  

Armenia’s condemnation of the invasion of Turkish troops in the territory of Syria was announced on 10 October by the Prime Minister of Armenia:

“We are concerned about the situation, since, according to our research, such actions will further deepen the humanitarian crisis in Syria.”

Pashinyan believes that the international community needs to take steps to stop the illegal Turkish invasion and protect Syrian citizens living along the border with Turkey, including national minorities.

“In this context, I want to note that Armenia in Aleppo (Syria) is implementing a successful humanitarian mission, and we will continue to do so,” Pashinyan reiterated.

The continuation of the humanitarian mission was also confirmed by Nazeli Elbakyan, who is responsible for public relations at the Centre for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise:

“I spoke with the head of the humanitarian mission in Syria. The mission operates as usual … The mission has not received any other instructions. Armenian doctors and engineers continue their daily work in Aleppo.”

What is the government doing?

Armenia’s government decided that citizens of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq could receive Armenian citizenship in their respective countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Avet Adonts explained that in 2012, the government made a similar decision, and citizens of Syria, Lebanon and Iraq could obtain citizenship and passports in the embassies or consulates of Armenia in these countries. However, that policy was only in place until 31 December  2018. Adonts noted that:

“Given the internal situation and the tension in these countries, it is necessary to extend this decision so that citizens of these countries can obtain Armenian passports at the embassies and consulates of their countries through 31 December 2019.”

Consequences of Turkey’s invasion of Syria

On 10 October, according to Syrian media agency Sana, eight civilians, including women and children, were killed and 20 injured in shelling.

Information became available about the Armenians who live in settlements affected by the shelling of Turkish troops.

The head of the parliamentary commission on education, science, culture, youth and sports, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, shared information on his Facebook page.

Referring to Armenia’s Chief Consular in Syria, Armen Sargsyan, Mkhitaryan said that the Armenian mission in Syria is prepared to organise an urgent evacuation of compatriots.

“About 16 Armenian families were shelled by Turkish troops in the city of Tel Abyad in northern Syria … In addition, the city of Kamyshli, where there are also many Armenians, is also under fire,” Mkhitaryan wrote.

Later, it turned out that 13 out of 16 families had already left Tel Abyad, while the Kamyshli Armenians — more than 400 families — had not yet agreed to leave their homes.

Aysor, Armenia

Oct 10 2019

Armenia’s Catholicos urges international community to undertake urgent and practical steps to prevent further bloodshed in Syria

His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II referred to the developments in Syria drawing the attention of the international community to the actions of Turkey which go against the international rule and law. He stressed that the Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin expects urgent and practical steps to prevent the further bloodshed.

“The danger of attacks by Turkey against the ethnic minorities and Syrian-Armenians in particular awaken the recollections of Armenian Genocide carried out by the same state in 1915-23. These actions must be strictly condemned by the international community,” Karekin II wrote, stressing that he shares the pain and suffering of the Syrian people and prays for soonest establishment of peace.

He stressed that the current developments do not have any justification.

[this is a Turkish PR article the headline of which is not reflected in the Armenian press. Remember that the Armenian community in Turkey are under the cosh of a vengeful Erdogan] 

Daily Sabah, Turkey

Oct 11 2019

Turkey’s Armenian Patriarchate expresses support for Operation Peace Spring in Syria

Turkey's Armenian Patriarchate expressed its full support for the Turkish military's anti-terror operation in northeastern Syria, saying they were praying that peace and safety will be established as soon as possible in the area.

"We pray that Operation Peace Spring, which aims to end terrorism and ensure the security of the borders, will continue in accordance with its purpose and establish peace and security as soon as possible," said Archbishop Sahak Masalyan, head of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey's Spiritual Council, in a statement Friday.

Stating that as the Armenian community they always underscore the importance of people living a prosperous life in an environment of peace, Masalyan said the ongoing wars and chaos in the Middle East, especially in Syria, worried them deeply as well.

"Unfortunately peace is not always ensured through peaceful means... May God protect our country and our people from disasters with His merciful power," he added.

He also said elections for the new patriarch would be held on December 11. The Armenian Church in Turkey has been ruled by a deputy Patriarch since 2008. The former patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan died on March 8 in Istanbul after years of battling dementia.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the PKK's Syrian offshoot the People's Protection Units (YPG), on October 9 at 4 p.m.

The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aims to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians return in the area east of the Euphrates River controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.

The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.Since 2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, launched in August 2016 and January 2018, respectively, have liberated northwestern Syria from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home.

RFE/RL Report

October 11, 2019

Yerevan Ready To Accept More Armenian Refugees From Syria

Astghik Bedevian

Armenia is ready to help evacuate ethnic Armenian residents of northern Syria affected by Turkey’s military operations conducted there, a senior official in Yerevan said on Friday.

The Armenian government on Thursday condemned the Turkish incursion into the area largely controlled by Kurdish militias and discussed its repercussions for thousands of Syrian Armenians believed to live there.

Armen Grigorian, the secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, briefed lawmakers on potential government actions at a meeting held in the National Assembly 

behind the closed doors. Grigorian said afterwards that Yerevan stands ready to take in ethnic Armenian refugees from the area attacked by Turkish troops.

“We have not yet made an official proposal,” Grigorian told reporters. “As you know, not only is the issue at the center of the government’s attention but also our embassy and consulate [in Syria] are in touch with leaders of the [Armenian] community. If there is such a desire [to relocate to Armenia] we will definitely take all measures and provide all necessary means.”

But he added that none of the local Syrian Armenians has so far expressed a desire to take refuge in Armenia.

The precise number of Armenians remaining in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled regions is not known. A senior Armenian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday that around 3,000 of them live in the northeastern town of Qamishli close to the Turkish border.

“The only town [in northern Syria] where there are Armenians now is Qamishli, and our focus is on it,” said Grigorian. “We are communicating with Armenians of Qamishli and their spiritual leaders. We are trying to understand what their needs are.”

According to government estimates, more than 22,000 Syrian Armenians have fled to Armenia since the outbreak of the bloody conflict in Syria 2011. Some of them have migrated to Europe and North America for mainly economic reasons.

Armenpress.am

10 October 2019

Aleppo will do everything possible to assist those affected by Turkish operations in Syria - MP

Turkey’s military operations are unacceptable for the people of Syria: this is an encroachment against Syria’s territorial integrity, Ethnic Armenian lawmaker of the Syrian Parliament Jirair Reisian told Armenpress.

“Syria considers this encroachment unacceptable. Syria is undoubtedly determined to liberate its territories. It’s obvious that there are threats, but we are ready to provide our support to all those affected, be they Armenians or other nationalities”, the MP said.

He noted that Turkey’s operations will lead to instability, and actually Ankara is seeking for this.

“This is Turkey’s desire. During this whole period it has been involved in a very open anti-Syrian policy. The people of Syria are determined to restore their right”, he said.

Asked whether he knows concrete numbers of Armenians living in the territories where Turkish military operation is underway, the lawmaker said he couldn’t say for sure because Armenians have almost fled these territories, few Armenian families stayed there.

“I am concerned that the Qamishli region is also targeted where there are injured people. Undoubtedly, Aleppo will do everything possible not only for Armenians, but also the representatives of other nations to overcome the difficulties”, he said.

On October 9 Turkish forces launched military operations in Syria’s north-east.

The Armenian foreign ministry released a statement noting that Armenia condemns the military invasion by Turkey in north-east Syria, which would lead to deterioration of regional security, losses among civilians, mass displacement and eventually to a new humanitarian crisis.

The United Arab Emirates also condemned the Turkish aggression in Syria.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

News.am, Armenia

Oct 10 2019

About 13% of Armenia population 16 and over has at least one disease leading to blindness

Eye diseases in Armenia are more common among people who are 50 and over. As reports the Ministry of Healthcare of Armenia, in this age group, 27% have cataract, 6.5% have macular degeneration, 3.5% have glaucoma and 4.4% have diabetic retinopathy. Nearly 13% of the adult population (16 and over) of Armenia have at least one eye disease that can lead to visual impairment.

Since 2000, at the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), the second Thursday of October is celebrated as World Sight Day.

Based on the data of the WHO, nearly 1.3 billion people have eye disorders, and out of those 1.3 billion, 36 million are visually impaired.

World Sight Day serves as an opportunity to touch upon the issue of visual impairment and eye disorders. This year, thanks to changes made to Decision 318-N of the Government of Armenia, starting from July 4, scleroplasty, keratoplasty and shunting (through the application of the latest and expensive technologies) for beneficiaries with 30.01 and more insecurity points, children under 18, persons with 1st and 2nd degree disabilities, fixed-term compulsory military servicemen and members of deceased military servicemen and several other socially disadvantaged people and people included in special groups and included in the family benefit system, will be free-of-charge and guaranteed by the State.

International Politics and Society

Oct 11 2019

The revolution falters over Amulsar gold

The contentious issue of gold mining in Armenia presents the Pashinyan government with a difficult dilemma

 By Alla Manvelyan 

  

Along with a group of activists, residents from the Armenian spa town of Jermuk and the surrounding villages have been blockading the roads to the Amulsar gold mine for some months now. The roadblock is preventing the mining company Lydian Armenia from conducting operations – it was issued a license to exploit the mine by the Serzh Sargsyan government that fell in the 2018 revolution.

 

The protesters believe that exploiting the mine will result in an environmental disaster, including pollution of the region’s largest source of freshwater, the Lake Sevan. Lydian, on the other hand, claims that gold extraction does not present a threat to the environment. To try and resolve the conflict the new government allocated USD 400,000 for an additional independent risk assessment. However, the findings have failed to influence the positions of either side in the standoff.

 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikolai Pashinyan announced that the government currently has no legal basis to prevent the company from using the mine. He provided assurances that, should any threat to the environment come to light, Lydian would be forced to address it. But activists are not convinced by these arguments. They claim that the government is afraid of being put under pressure by foreign investors and they also suspect that Pashinyan’s entourage are hiding some of facts revealed by expert assessments.

 

Along with assurances from the mining company that construction works would not begin before spring 2020, recent calls from the government to clear the roadblock en route to Amulsar triggered another protest action and march in Yerevan (according to information from the ‘Armenian Ecological Front’, around 1,000 people were involved in the protest on 12 September). Further protest actions took place on 20 September, which has been declared Environmental Mobilisation Day. These included a boycott of lessons by pupils at the local school in Jermuk and a public meeting and march in the Armenian capital where protestors protested on bikes and motorcycles. This time around 700 citizens took to the streets in defence of Amulsar.

 

Who are the real environmentalists?

 The Amulsar conflict revealed divisions in the parliamentary majority that had formed around Pashinyan’s party. Recently, Edgar Arakelyan, an MP from the parliamentary group ‘My Step’, tendered his resignation, citing the issues surrounding the mine as the reason for his decision. Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly Lena Nazaryan, who entered politics from the environmental movement, has also publicly expressed her opposition to the gold mining project, as have other Armenian politicians.

 

In several statements Nikol Pashinyan has pointed out that the ongoing situation is being exploited by those referred to as ‘revanchists’. These are supporters of former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, who, along with their family members, have been involved to varying degrees in high-profile criminal cases since the revolution. Television channels and other mass media, which are controlled by representatives of the previous government and which, in the past, were not exactly known for their sensitivity to environmental issues, are now actively highlighting the Amulsar crisis. Moreover, during the protests, various nationalist groupings who had lost their administrative resources after 2018 also attempted to make themselves appear more progressive by adopting the cause.

 

To reduce the tension it would help to ensure total transparency of dialogue with society.

 

Remarkably, several public meetings and demonstrations were held in Yerevan at the end of August under the slogan ‘For Amulsar!’ but without the participation of the Armenian Ecological Front — a longstanding and consistent lobbyist for the closure of all mines in Armenia. Suddenly, representatives of the nationalist party ‘Dashnaktsutyun’, which had been part of the government awarding the license to mine Amulsar in the first place, were calling themselves ‘environmentalists’. Even MPs from the second largest parliamentary group ‘Prosperous Armenia’, formed by the influential oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan, suddenly donned their environmentalist hats. Tsarukyan and his party were also always members of the coalition with the governing parties before the revolution and held different government posts.

 

So far, opponents of the mining operations have insisted on the need for a political decision as proof that the revolution is not over. Supporters of the mine, on the other hand, have focused on the country’s weak economy, the attractiveness of the mines to investors, the unresolved Karabakh conflict, the arms race and, consequently, the inevitability of having to choose between an environmentally friendly economy and one which brings in revenues despite the fact that the majority of the country’s borders are closed.

 

The difficult path to consensus

Bearing in mind the way in which protests were dealt with by past governments and the unilateral decisions the previous leaders made with regards to the mining industry in general, the attempts being made by the current government to seek a consensus would appear sincere. It goes without saying, however, that the decisions of even the most legitimate leadership will not always fully meet everyone’s expectations. Disagreements and conflict are unavoidable.

 

To reduce the tension it would help to ensure total transparency of dialogue with society. This process should enable the ordinary citizen, with no real understanding of the intricacies of the environment and economics, to access information about the consequences of abandoning the programme. On the one hand, closing the mine will bring job losses and discontent with the social situation will not be addressed by civic initiatives but by the government. On the other hand, unemployment could still become an issue even if the new mine is opened — one of the consequences of gold mining, according to the environmental campaigners, is that the region would become less attractive for tourists.

 

That said, we must also be mindful of the possibility of falsification and manipulation by the media, which, even after the revolution, still largely caters to the interests of the oligarchs and groups linked to Armenia’s former leadership. In order to avoid both speculation and well-founded fears about the revival of revanchist forces, we must continue to discuss and refer to reliable environmental assessments. And, if necessary, new assessments must be conducted, irrespective of the cost.

 

Only time will tell how this situation will unfold. Right now, it is difficult to believe that a few dozen school students, a couple of hundred local residents, a few thousand protesting environmentalists and human rights activists, as well as individual political actors could be powerful enough to place pressure on a government elected by hundreds of thousands of citizens. A decisive factor here is the willingness of these people to take to the streets once again in support of Pashinyan, someone who is, after all, still a popular Prime Minster.

Forbes

Oct 11 2019

Hiking Armenia’s New Transcaucasian Trail is a Beautiful Way to Immerse Yourself in Armenian Culture

 Breanna Wilson, Contributor

It’s not every day that Time names a hiking trail to their annual World’s 100 Greatest Places list.

 

In fact, this is a first.

 

And this is just the beginning of the attention and recognition that the new Transcaucasian Trail, a more than 1,800-mile trail that connects some of the most beautiful and remote regions of Armenia and Georgia (and eventually Azerbaijan) to one another, has started to receive.

 

And while these are some of the most incredible landscapes you could ever experience in person, it isn’t just the views that make the Transcaucasian Trail a special experience, it’s the interactions and hospitality of the locals along the way that especially set these hiking trails apart.

 

And whether you thru-hike the trail and camp all along the way or you decide to join a small group trip that will equip you with a guide, pre-plan your nightly stays at quaint and delightful local guesthouses and small hotels, and feed you all along the way, there’s no wrong way to experience everything that the trail has to offer.

 

Which, being short on time and completely unsure where to start (and unfamiliar with traveling in Armenia, where I most wanted to see how development of the trail was coming along), is the option I opted for, signing up with World Expeditions for their Transcaucasian Trail Hike Armenia.

 

Their itinerary starts in Yerevan, where you ease into life in Armenia before hitting the trails with two nights in the city before heading up to Sevan Lake and hitting the trails on day three, which is, as you might guess, when things really start to get good.

 

The Landscape 

From the moment you start this hike, with Sevan Lake to your back as you ascend into the clouds that you really start to realize the beauty – and diversity in landscapes – that Armenia has to offer.

 

In the following days, hiking through cities like Kalavan, Gosh, and through the forests of Dilijan National Park – the Armenian Switzerland, as locals like to call it – it was the leaves that changing colors of the leaves, the mountaintop views, and unique rock formations that made the hike perfectly picturesque.

 

But you’ll have to work for these views because with ascents from 1,100 to 4,200 feet up into the clouds and with trails as long as 14.5 miles, this hike is, one might say, no walk in the park.

 

The trails we set off on included heading from Sevan Lake to Khachardzan (the village next to Kalavan), Kalavan to Gosh, Gosh to Dilijan National Park, and then Dilijan National Park to Haghartsin Monastery Complex. From Haghartsin Monastery Complex we then drove to Haghpat, in the northern part of the country and closer to the Georgian border, to hike from Haghpat to Sanahin Monastery for our last little adventure. Each leg offered something completely different, with most routes being planned to get the elevation gains out of the way first.

 

Day 1 of this journey meant a 6.8-mile, 4.5-hour hike starting from Sevan Lake and ending in Kalavan.

 

The Guesthouses

 Being that World Expeditions planned all of our stays, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was in for (which is how I like it so that I can experience everything with an open mind). And that’s exactly what made each night a treat.

 

From the local guesthouse in Khachardzan, just below the village of Kalavan, where the guesthouse owner had no shortage of homemade vodka on hand – and who sat down to eat dinner with us, a delightful treat so that we could ask him questions about the area, his family and the bees and green house he has on the property – it was experiences like this that really opened our eyes to what life in this part of Armenia is like.

The following night’s boutique hotel in Gosh and guesthouse in Dilijan were just as insightful.

 

So, while you can certainly camp your way across these trails, it’s worth making it into the villages for the local experiences and interactions, plus a hot meal and shower never hurt either.

 

The Food

Simply put, Armenia has some of the best food in the world. With a plate of fresh herbs on every table next to the basket of the day’s baked lavash, homemade cheeses and pickles, a fresh summer salad of locally grown cucumbers and tomatoes, and homemade dolma – delicious grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat – to stuffed peppers and cabbage, baked eggplant, and manti – the delicious meat dumplings served with garlic yogurt on the side – it wasn’t just a day of hiking that made this food taste so delicious. Between the fresh ingredients and the fact that each day’s meal was made from scratch just for us, there was nothing heavy about these meals and they were exactly what our bodies were craving after long days pushing our limits mentally and physically.

 

And finishing each meal with homemade baklava, fresh cantaloupe and watermelon (which were in season at the time), washing it all down with tea and Armenian coffee (a short, potent cup of joe made in a long-handled copper Jezve, similar to – but, whatever you do, never say this to an Armenian – Turkish coffee), it became our nightly tradition to end our days discussing what would be in store for us the following day as we each decompressed and licked the last of the baklava off our fingers.

 

Gearing Up for Your Trip

There’s no sugar coating it – the trail is still in development and that means that some parts are better marked than others. Which also means some parts of the trail are better cleared than other. Which means this: a good, sturdy pair of hiking boots is important.

 

Be prepared for rain and the mud that follows, especially if you’re hiking the trails in the fall.

A pair of shoes like Hoka One’s Arkali hiking boots are perfect for this type of hiking. Something light and comfortable is always important but hiking boots with great traction are especially essential here. Wear your boots big so that you can double up on socks for both warmth and comfort, and make sure you either buy shoe inserts, or choose a pair of books with enough cushion in the sole. (The Arkali’s responsive cushion kept my feet from getting sore so I never had to worry about tired and blistered feed even once.) Also look for a shoe with a toe cap (like the Arkali) to keep your toes safe as you climb and make your way through the more unkempt portions of the trails. Trust me when I say that the trail will throw everything that it has at you, so this is not the time to underestimate the importance of a good hiking boot.

 

Especially because, depending on the time of year but especially in the fall, you can expect mud. A lot of mud. Again, don’t underestimate the importance of good hiking shoes. And a solid rain jacket. Which is a must. Opt for something light and easy to carry in your day pack like the Mammut Nordwand Advanced hooded hardshell, a jacket that can handle both rain and wind, but also has vents under the arm pit for when you’re making your way up the trail but you need to cool down just a bit.

 

There also aren’t always bridges at rivers crossings, so, be prepared for that. (Since it was mostly nice out when we were in the valleys, taking off our boots and wading across the rivers was a nice, refreshing way to get across.) And walking poles certainly wouldn’t hurt either.

 

And most importantly, don’t forget wet wipes (and to pack them out with you), a hydration pack so that you don’t go through water bottles the way we did, and it isn’t a bad idea to download the All Trails app before you set out on the trails either – don’t expect much cell phone service out here.