Armenian News - sent by A Topalian
Armenian Calligraphy documented by Ruben Malayan
1:30 mins
Background
The premiere of the first excerpt of Nagash Project.
Music by John Hodian.
Texts by the Armenian medieval Poet Mkrtich Nagash.
9 mins
About Nagash
INDEFINITE MORNINGS FRIGHTEN ALEPPO ARMENIANS
ARMENPRESS
8 August, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, AUGUST 8, ARMENPRESS: Aleppo streets are deserted and empty:
the expectancy in the city gets tenser. August 8 night was relatively
peaceful.
Aleppo-based Facebook users inform Armenpress , August 7 was a
difficult day, there was no electricity for about 10 hours in all the
districts. Aleppo Armenian ditricts were left without electricity
supply from the very night. Current moment electricity supply is
not yet restored in some Armenian districts. In accordance with the
received information, a bomb was found nead Asrutean hospital which
fortunately was neutralized. Indefinite hours of the morning silence
drew Aleppo Armenians think large-scale operations are scheduled by
the army to be orchestrated current day.
Clashes between Assad loyalist and rebel forces have reached Aleppo
Armenian districts started August 7. On the previous day the opposition
directed junctions to seize some of Government buildings located
in Aleppo. The held clasahes resulted in the death of two Armenians
,besides one is wounded. There is still no information about health
condition of wounded Mko Pilavyan, 55-year-old Vigen Kalayjyan and
Jan Tapash are the names of our death compatriots.
In accordance with Syrian Human Rights Defense Organization the ongoing
clashes have resulted in the death of over 17 thousand 192 people. By
the info of Arab mass media 11 thousand 897 were peaceful civilians,
while 4348 were security officers. Among the victims there were 7
Armenians, 2 of which were the Syrian Army militaries. Because of
lasting disturbances in Syria a number of people are leaving the
country, getting refugee status in other countries. Recently Syrian
Armenian Community representatives are also quitting the state. The
applications submitted from Syria by our compatriots are being
envisaged by accelerated procedure, at least within ten days.
RFE/RL Report
Massachusetts Legislature Calls For U.S. Recognition Of Karabakh
United States - The House of Representatives of the state of
Massachusetts
08.08.2012
Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Massachusetts have passed a resolution
calling on U.S. President Barack Obama and Congress to `support the
self-determination and democratic independence' of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The resolution, unanimously adopted on Monday by the state's House of
Representatives, voices support for continued Armenian control over
the disputed territory, saying that the Karabakh Armenians had been
`arbitrarily severed from Armenia and forced under Soviet Azerbaijani
administration.'
The document also commends last month's presidential election in
Karabakh as `another major step' in its democratic development. It
says international observers representing non-governmental
organizations described the vote as free and fair.
The move follows the adoption of a similar resolution by the state
legislature of Rhode Island in May.
Both resolutions were lobbied for by influential Armenian-American
advocacy groups as well as the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic's representative office in the United States. Massachusetts
has a sizable ethnic Armenian population.
`Adoption of this resolution is in keeping with American values of
promoting democracy and respect for the fundamental rights of all
peoples,' James Kalustian, a senior member of the Armenian Assembly of
America, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Azerbaijan's government has not yet reacted to the development. There
has also been no reaction from official Yerevan.
A combination of the internationally recognized principles of people's
self-determination and territorial integrity of states has been at the
heart of peace proposals jointly made by the U.S., Russia and France
to the parties to the Karabakh conflict in recent years.
LIFE QUALITY SURVEY RESULTS "SHAME", ARMENIA'S EX-PREMIER SAYS
tert.am
08.08.12
Armenia's ex-premier, ANC MP Hrant Bagratyan described the results of
the survey of quality of life in Armenia conducted by the Institute
for Political and Sociological Consulting (IPSC) as "shame".
"Only a suicide will publish such figures in case when 99 thousand
people left Armenia in the first half of the year," Hrant Bagratyan
said, speaking to Tert.am.
The survey showed 47.6% of the respondents were content with their
quality of life against 44.6% in 2010. It means 3% improvement in
the quality of life in Armenia last year as compared to 2010. While
Bagratyan claims the number of people emigrating from Armenia increased
by 11.1 percent.
"If 30 percent of people are satisfied with their life in Russia and
47.6 percent in Armenia, so why the Armenians are leaving for Russia,
let Russians come here," Bagratyan said.
The ex-premier added that in reality, the authors of such "surveys" are
searching for warm corners through winning the hearts of authorities.
ARMENIA'S ARTUR ALEKSANYAN DEFEATED IN QUARTER-FINAL
Vestnik Kavkaza
Aug 7 2012
Russia
Artur Aleksanyan was defeated in the quarter-final of the Olympic
Greco-Roman wrestling tournament in the under 96 kilogram category,
News.am reports.
He lost to Iran's Gholamreza Rezaei, who will fight the winner of
the boit between Ayari Hassine and Yunior Falcon Estrada.
If the Iranian wrestler reaches the final, Aleksanyan will have an
opportunity for a bronze medal match.
ARMENIAN DEFEATS RUSSIAN FIGHTER AT THE OLYMPICS
Vestnik Kavkaza
Aug 7 2012
Russia
Russian athlete Khasan Baroyev was defeated by Armenian Yurii Patrikeev
in Greco-Roman wrestling under 120 kg at the London Olympics. The
score was 2-1 (0:1, 2:0, 1:0), Interfax reports.
Patrikeev was a bronze winner at the 2008 Olympics. Baroyev is the
more awarded sportsman - he has a gold medal from the Olympics in
Athens and a silver from the Olympics in Beijing.
ARMENIA: MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS FOR H1 2012
REGNUM
July 31, 2012 Tuesday
Russia
Armenia's industrial production grew by 13% to AMD 501.50bn (EUR
984.96mn USD 1.22bn) in the first half of 2012 y/y, reports the
country's National Statistical Service. Agricultural production
increased by 8.1%, trade turnover by 2.4%, the volume of services
provided by 12% The average monthly nominal salary rose 6.2%.
Foreign trade grew by 8.3% to USD 2.7bn, with exports of USD 684.4mn
(up 13.5%) and imports of USD 2bn (up 6.7%). Trade deficit came to USD
1.333bn versus USD 1.291bn in H1 2011. Economic activity went up 7.8%.
Consumer price index stood at 2.2%.
IWPR Report
Women Struggle to Enter Work in Armenian City
Low pay and male prejudice deter Gyumri's poorest women from
earning much-needed incomes.
By Nelly Shishmanyan [1], Roza Hovhannisyan [2],
Lusine Avagyan [3] -
4 Aug 12
•
•
•
Single mothers in Armenia often find it hard to escape poverty because
they are paid very little, if they can get a job at all. But those living in
Gyumri, the country’s second-largest city, have a particularly hard time.
The northwestern city still lives in the shadow of the massive Shirak
earthquake of 1988, which devastated this part of what was then Soviet
Armenia. Today, women make up 60 per cent of the town’s 360,000
inhabitants, because so many men have left to find work in Russia as
migrant labourers.
The hostel used to accommodate workers at Gyumri’s LenTextile factory
was badly damaged in the earthquake. The plant is long closed, but 20 or
so families still live in the hostel many of them without men or a wage-earner.
The gloomy, decrepit building lacks basic amenities and almost all the
staircases are damaged.
Most of the women living there rely on state benefits. Edward Baghramyan,
head of the local social services department, said families living at the hostel
received basic monthly benefits of 16,000 drams, the equivalent of 39 US
dollars, as well as an additional 6,000 drams, or 15 dollars, for each child.
Ani Koretsky, 19, lives in the hostel together with her mother, brother and
daughter Alvard, who is one-and-a-half. After two years of marriage, Ani’s
husband abandoned his wife and daughter and left for Russia.
“Every night I fall asleep, and wake up terrified at the thought that this
ramshackle building will fall down,” she said.Her family’s total income comes
to 26,000 drams, or 63 dollars, including the benefits received by her brother and
child. Ani doubts she will ever find a job.
According to the Shirak provincial department for family, women’s and children’s
affairs, 72 per cent of women in the region are unemployed, a far higher rate
than among men.
In Gyumri, job adverts often specify that female applicants must be good-looking,
young and have a university degree.
Vahan Tumasyan, head of the Centre for Political Culture and Accord in Gyumri,
singled out a few such adverts – “company looking for a good-looking girl aged up
to 28 to work as a cleaner”; “store looking for women aged up to 30 to work as shop
assistants”; “restaurant looking for a well-educated woman aged up to 30 for
waitressing work”.
Tumasyan said women’s wages in Gyumri averaged only 35,000 to 40,000 drams,
roughly 85-100 dollars a month, and that many women preferred to stay at home and
live on benefits.
Yepraxia Kirakosyan, 24, worked as a hairdresser for eight months but left because
of the low pay.
“I was earning next to nothing for a whole month’s work. Once I earned 40,000 drams,
but the next month I only got 10,000. You can’t live on that, of course. Everything is
expensive,” she said.
Women's rights activists say traditional attitudes towards gender roles contribute to
especially high rates of female unemployment.
Vahe Tagvoryan, deputy director of the NGO Ajakits, which helps women and vulnerable
older people, said many men do not believe wives should work.
“There are many impoverished families in Gyumri, but still men would never allow their
wives to work because they think it’s disreputable to work as a waitress or shop assistant,”
Tagvoryan said. “They believe this kind of work could harm their reputation. Public opinion
is very important here, since the society condemns women who take up such jobs.”
Liana Muradyan, 26, lives in the hostel with her five children. Her family’s monthly income
is 53,000 drams, or 130 dollars. Despite their hardship, Liana’s husband Gevorg Mangasaryan,
22, refuses to let her work.
“I work, and that’s enough. She could only work at a cafe where there’s lots of people coming
and going. Why would I allow her to work there?” he said. “Besides, we have five kids. She
should stay at home and take care of them.”
Psychologist Manushak Karapetyan argues that social conditions harden existing attitudes,
explaining that “unemployment makes men in Gyumri insecure, aggressive and despotic.
They fear if women start working, they will get ahead of them.”
Lusine Ginosyan, head of the regional department for the family, women and children said
local government was trying hard to get more women into work through job-creation schemes
and business loans for women in rural communities.
“It’s impossible to provide all women with work, but it’s clear that programmes are being
implemented and that some progress has been made in this area,” she said.
Roza Hovhannisyan is a reporter for the Hayatsk daily, Nelly Shishmanyan is a freelance
photojournalist and Lusine Avagyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.
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