Armenian News

ARMENIAN CHURCH TO CELEBRATE FEAST OF ASSUMPTION

OF ST. MARY AUGUST 15
Panorama
Aug 13 2010
Armenia

Each year on the Sunday closest to the date of August 15, the Armenian
Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, the Holy
Mother of God. In the Calendar of the Armenian Church, this feast
is the fourth of five major feasts that are commemorated, and is the
oldest one dedicated to St. Mary. This year the Feast is celebrated
on August 15, holy liturgy will be served in the Mother See of Holy
Echmiatsin.

In the Holy Bible, there is little information concerning the details
of St. Mary's life. As a result, the story of her Assumption has been
preserved and passed on to us through the Holy and Sacred Tradition
of the Apostolic Church.

Following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Holy Virgin remains in
Jerusalem, and lives under the care of St. John the Evangelist. For
nearly 12 years, St. Mary lives by praying, fasting, and often
visiting the empty tomb of her beloved Son. During one such visit to
the tomb, the Archangel Gabriel appears and gives her the news of
her imminent assumption to heaven. St. Mary relays the news to her
relatives and all Christians, asking them to bury her in the valley
of Gethsemane. St. Mary also asks the Apostle John to celebrate a
Divine Liturgy, so she may receive Holy Communion one final time. After
receiving Holy Communion, St. Mary returns to her room. As the Apostles
prepare to mourn her death, St. John asks the Mother of God to leave
an image of her face on a board of wood. St. Mary takes the board,
crosses herself and brings it close to her face. Moistening the
board with her tears, she asks God that by means of the board, people
would be cured from disease. As the Apostles surround St. Mary, an
indescribable light appears. The Son of God and the angels of heaven
appear in the room. Seeing Christ, St. Mary dies.

St. Bartholomew the Apostle was absent and did not participate in the
burial service of St. Mary. Upon his return to Jerusalem, he wishes
to see St. Mary for the last time. Per his request, the Apostles open
the tomb, yet they do not find the remains of St. Mary. According to
His promise, Jesus Christ had delivered His mother to His heavenly
kingdom. The Apostles give the board of St. Mary to St. Bartholomew
for consolation.

According to Moses of Khoren, St. Bartholomew brings the board to
Armenia. It is kept in the Province of Andzav, in a location called
Darbnots. Years later, a church is built there in honor of St. Mary,
and a convent is opened.

On the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, the Ceremony of the
Blessing of the Grapes is conducted, and the harvest for the entire
year is blessed on that day.

The Armenian Church has a deep and abiding respect towards St. Mary.

Special emphasis is placed on her being a mother, her honesty, her
unique spirit of humility, her virtuous behavior and her unselfish
dedication. For Armenian women, the Holy Virgin is the embodiment of
virtue, pious motherhood, and the protector of family sacredness.

Sunday's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 15 2010
Armenia and Turkey: rapprochement through the people
by AMANDA PAUL

Although official rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia is
currently on ice, all hope should not be lost. While the politicians
may be playing a waiting game, blaming each other for the failure of
the process, a sort of unofficial rapprochement is quietly taking
place. This is being carried out by increasing people-to-people
contacts through a variety of different ways, including sporting
activities and cultural projects. It is also being done through
tourism. Turkey is now a leading European holiday destination -- good
quality hotels and services at highly competitive prices are luring
Armenians over the `closed border' to taste the delights that their
traditional foe has to offer.
Armenians traditionally travel to other parts of Armenia for their
summer vacation. The magnificent Lake Sevan, the mountain resort of
Tsakhkadzor and the mineral spa of Jermuk being the most popular
destinations. However, these resorts are not cheap and, with the
global financial crisis hitting the country extremely hard, in
addition to Armenia's already difficult (if somewhat self-imposed)
economic situation, Armenians are feeling the credit crunch. With
Turkey offering very attractive packages, the idea of swimming in the
Mediterranean Sea is becoming increasingly appealing to cash-strapped,
land-locked Armenians.

While some Armenians see it as disgraceful -- `giving money to the
enemy' -- it has not stopped increasing numbers from jetting off to
Turkey. Indeed, Antalya now ranks as Armenia's number-one summer
vacation destination. In 2009 some 50,000 Armenians chose to go to
Turkey. Statistics for this year indicate that this figure is set to
increase by at least 30 percent. At least two charter flights per week
carry passengers from Yerevan direct to Antalya, with flights set to
run through to October. Tour operators in Armenia are also trying to
expand transport options to Bodrum, and Armenian historic sites in
Turkey, from Akdamar Island in Van to the Ani ruins near Kars, are
another huge draw.

Both sides are making nice money out of this. Where there is business
to be made and hard cash to be earned, historical squabbles are put to
the side -- at least temporarily, anyway. Clearly not everybody in
Armenia is happy about this development. Youth groups associated with
the nationalistic Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun)
have demanded that the mayor of Yerevan remove all posters and
billboards advertising Antalya. They claim that money being paid by
Armenians is going to arm and strengthen Turkey, and posters claiming
this fact are also springing up all over the place. So far it seems to
be having little effect.

However, while the Armenian leadership is clearly not going to stop
citizens from going to Turkey, it is looking at putting other options
on the table and has plans to increase resorts available to Armenians.
One such idea is the development of Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding provinces (legally part of Azerbaijan but currently
occupied by Armenia) into an attractive place for Armenian
holidaymakers. While there can be little doubt that many parts of this
region are extremely beautiful and formerly a top holiday destination
during Soviet times and earlier for the peoples of the Caucasus
(Shusha and Kelbajar in particular), these days it would take an awful
lot of work and money to transform them into a desirable holiday spot
halfway comparable to Antalya -- during and after the war Armenian
forces destroyed substantial (and in some cases all) infrastructure.
Nevertheless, there seems to be no shortage of rich Armenian diaspora
businessmen who would be only too happy to pour money into
Nagorno-Karabakh, which they view as something as a hobby. However,
while beautiful, there is no sea, or even a lake, to relax beside and,
quite frankly, the sound of gunfire in the background -- as the
cease-fire line continues to be violated -- may also be somewhat
off-putting unless, of course, you are the type of tourist that enjoys
vacations of a dangerous nature. And lastly, presently the only way to
get to Nagorno-Karabakh is by road -- a four-hour trip -- although
there are plans under way to create an airport that would see charter
flights come from Yerevan direct to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Somehow I doubt the `Karabakh Option' or any other will reverse the
trend of Armenians vacationing in Turkey. Turks and Armenians (and
also Azerbaijanis) lie side-by-side on sun loungers enjoying
themselves, having fun in the sun. So, while diplomacy may have its
potholes and setbacks and the politicians continue to waffle and
procrastinate, Turks and Armenians are getting on with life and by
doing so getting to know each other better, which can only be a
positive thing.

DIASPORA HELPS BOOST TOURISM TO ARMENIA
By Eva Sahakyan
Yerevan Report
Aug 10 2010
Armenia

YEREVAN, August 10-The Armenian Diaspora has great potential for the
development of tourism in Armenia, the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian said in his interview to National Geographic Traveler. He
mentioned that for the last ten years the number of tourists visiting
Armenia has greatly increased and a large number of tourists are from
countries where there is an Armenian diaspora community.

"It turns out that 95 percent of our compatriots have never been to
Armenia, and taking into account the fact that their number twice
exceeds the number of local residents, there is great potential for
the development of tourism," Sarkisian said.

According to him each year tourism increases by 20-30 percent. The
greatest challenge was to be able to attract tourists from other
countries, which resulted in the development of elitist, expensive
tourism, thereby limiting the number of tourists.

The Prime Minister mentioned that today the goal is to increase the
number of tourists. He mentioned that travel packages for middle class
tourists must be developed, two-three star hotels must be constructed,
and tour agencies must start working with foreign operators.

NINE MILLION 630 THOUSAND AMD TO BE ALLOCATED FOR

RESTORATION OF THE OPERA BUILDING ROOF
ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 12, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS: Armenian government has

decided to allocate 9 million 630 thousand AMD to the Armenian Ministry

of Culture for the restoration of the roof of the Al. Spendiaryan Opera
and Ballet National Academic Theatre.

Minister Hasmik Poghosyan said the roof is in a bad state and as far
as it is considered a monument-building for keeping it in a good way
it is necessary to restore the 600 sq.m sectors of the roof.


REAL ESTATE PRICES IN ARMENIA NOT TO CHANGE TILL LATE 2010
ArmInfo
2010-08-12 16:32:00

ArmInfo. Real estate prices in Armenia will not change till late 2010,
CEO of the Association of Mortgage Market Participants of Armenia
(AMMPA), Eduard Oremyan told ArmInfo.

According to him, demand in the real estate market is quite high today,
however, "the degree of further harmonic development of the market
will depend on increase of demand by solvent clients". He added that
the level of solvency of Armenia's population is not yet increasing,
that directly affects the lending market.

The data of the State Real Estate Cadastre Committee say the number
of real estate deals, registered in 1Q, 2010, grew by almost 28%
per year to 36499.

Rise in prices for the reporting quarter varied within 1,5-3%
depending on geography. So, the Cadastre data say, the average price
for the capital housing in an apartment house was fixed at the level
of 271,000 drams per 1 sq m, and for a private house - 281,000 drams
per 1 sq m. The highest prices for housing in regions were fixed in
such towns as Abovyan and Vagharshapat (160,000 drams per 1 sq m),
Ashtarak, Goris and Ijevan (140,000 drams per 1 sq m). Kotayk region
turned out to be the most active one also by the number of deals (14%
of the total number of deals).

To note, AMMPA has been functioning since 2006. Its shareholders
currently include 23 participants, 4 of which are building companies,
9 - banks, 5 - insurance companies, 3 - realtors and 2 - credit
companies.

AT 90, SEVRES TREATY IS MOST RELEVANT TODAY
by Ara Khachatourian
Asbarez
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Signing of the Turkish Treaty with the Allies

On August 10, 1920, the Treaty of Sevres was signed between the
Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers after World War I. A significant
provision of the document was the inclusion of the Wilsonian Mandate
for Armenia, which envisioned a Republic of Armenia that included
much of its historic territory.

The relevance of this internationally binding document became even
more apparent during last year's sloppy efforts by Armenia and Turkey
to enter into a normalization process without regard for history. The
reader is all too familiar with the outcome of the so-called protocols
process, but the danger of reverting back to that failed approach
still remains as neither party is willing to nullify the documents,
which served as the basis for normalization.

Much of the discussion of the protocols debacle centered on Turkey's
preconditions for a quick resolution to the Karabakh conflict, in favor
of Azerbaijan and the formation of a commission that would discuss
the Armenian Genocide. But a more disturbing point of contention in
the protocols documents was the absence of an acknowledgement of the
Sevres Treaty, which, for all intents and purposes, laid a concise
groundwork for that region of the world and provided comprehensive
legal mandates for parties involved.

Due to political realities, the pursuit of the Armenian Cause has
evolved into the vocal advocacy for the international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide. In recent years that movement has achieved
momentum due in great part to the perseverance and commitment of
Armenians throughout the world who have pressured their respective
governments for recognition.

However, the Armenian Cause is multi-faceted in nature and encompasses
an equally critical component, which includes restitution and
reparations for the crime of Genocide. The Sevres Treaty ensures
not only provides a basis for the pursuit of the above elements, but
also clearly draws a map, which makes Armenians' territorial claims
legally binding and valid in the eyes of the international community.

Many times inadvertently we fall into the position of justifying our
demands, where historically no justification is needed since the facts
speak for themselves. The Armenian Genocide is an indisputable fact,
as is the need for reparations for that crime. World leaders at the
time were more cognizant of that than those who followed them since
history has shown that complicity in denial has proven to be more
expedient politically and economically.

As we mark the 90th anniversary of this landmark document, all
efforts should be directed to how effectively the Sevres Treaty can
be implemented today from an international legal perspective and how
each of the signatories can be pressured into accepting the mandates
outlined within that document.

Futile arguments might ensue from naysayers who claim that subsequent
efforts and treatises have shaped today's reality and reversed the
provision of the Sevres Treaty. It is time for national political
forces to revitalize the relevance of the treaty. At the same time,
the Armenian government must include the appropriate provisions of
the Sevres Treaty within the context of any future talks with Turkey.