Armenian News... A Topalian... How absurd, for wearing a Cross!!!

news.am
France MP is criticized for wearing Armenian cross
29.11.2016 

French National Assembly member Valérie Boyer, who is also the press secretary of ex-PM François Fillon who has won the primaries of the French right-wings and centrists, found herself in a scandal. 

France 2 TV invited Boyer to comment on Fillon’s victory, according to Le Figaro daily of France. She went on the air wearing a chain with an Armenian cross; but this caused a heated reaction on the Internet. 

In accordance with French legislation, the public display of religious symbols is prohibited in the country. 

Many Internet users accused the MP of violating the laws of the country and breaking the rules of the secular state. 

On that day, Valérie Boyer commented on François Fillon’s victory on the air of several other TV channels as well. 

Some time after her interview with France 2, she was on the air of BFM TV, but this time without the Armenian cross. 


tert.am
Eastern Aleppo freed: historic days for local Armenians
29.11.16 
This week has brought a breakthrough for the Russian-backed Syrian operation to retake eastern Aleppo, allowing humanitarian relief to be brought to tens of thousands of civilians living in the captured districts, rt.com reports quoting the Russian Defense Ministry as saying. 

The Armenian population in Aleppo was happy to hear the news after after waiting for four years and a half. During this period, the Armenian population in Aleppo went through the hardships that proved to be the cruelest since 1915, with numerous emigrants. Armenians from Aleppo mostly emigrated to Armenia, Lebanon, Europe and Canada. 

“This is certainly a historic day for Armenians, if not for the whole population of Aleppo. We received regular reports on liberation of the districts before, but later evidence disproved them. I could not believe until I saw the Syrian flag waving in the districts. I have many friends in the Syrian army and I am in touch with them, and the terrorists are running out of their arms and ammunition. They are not getting as much supplies as before, which is the reason for the crushing defeat they have suffered,” Hakob Kupelian, who came to Yerevan from Aleppo a year ago, told Tert.am. 

Zarmik Boghikyan-Chilaposhyan, Editor of the Aleppo-based Gandzasar periodical, said that peace and stability can be observed in the eastern part of Aleppo, where the Armenian population is concentrated. Shelling and sniping continues in the districts under terrorists’ control. 

Armenians may return to the liberated districts, but mass repatriation is too early to speak of. 

Yahoo! News
Armenia Is Literally Joining Forces With Russia
Emily Tamkin
Foreign Policy Magazine 

November 29, 2016
The drama between soft and hard power is about to play out on the stage of Armenia.

The U.S. Embassy in Armenia announced this week that the United States, along with the European Union and the governments of the United Kingdom and Germany, will provide financial support for a new voting process in Armenia. The new processes are meant to decrease electoral fraud. According to a statement, posted Monday on the U.S. Embassy’s Facebook page , American envoys will help “strengthen trust in the Armenian electoral process via same-day voter authentication and the publication of signed voter lists after the elections.” The statement concludes by noting that the United States was the first country to recognize Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, stressing the strength of the relationship between the two countries, and that Washington remains “strongly committed to being a part of Armenia’s ongoing democratic growth and in helping it become the independent, secure, and prosperous nation its people deserve.”

Is this, then, a sign that Armenia is to tighten ties with the United States and Western Europe?

Not quite.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan is currently in Moscow, where he and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu are expected to sign an updated military task force agreement this week. Under this agreement, Russia will legally be able to use its military to ostensibly protect Armenia. In an interview with Izvestia prior to his Russian rendezvous, Sargsyan said Russia and Armenia have between them not only a long-term alliance, but also centuries of friendship and brotherhood.

That Russia is pulling Armenia ever closer is upsetting to some in Azerbaijan, where some lawmakers are asking for reconsideration of their country’s close relations with Russia. Azerbaijan’s relationship with Armenia is fraught over, among other things, the frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, in which Russia has played peacemaker, and from which it has therefore sometimes been accused of benefiting .

But before Western watchers get too excited: If it is unlikely that Armenia forsake Russia for America’s electoral embrace, it is even less likely that Azerbaijan would turn away from Russia and toward true democracy .


arka.am 

Armenian economy declines by 2.6 percent in third quarter
November 30

Armenia’s economy in the third quarter of 2016 saw a 2.6% drop, according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Service (NSS). It said the GDP in the third quarter was worth 1.518.3 trillion drams or about $3.1 billion. (the average exchange rate of USD in quarter 3 was 475.36 drams).

According to the NSS, the decline in GDP in the third quarter was prompted by an 8.5% decline in construction sector and a 2.6% drop in the agriculture. At the same time energy sector saw a 4.5% growth, and trade and services grew by 4.9%.

According to official data, in the first and second quarters Armenia’s economy expanded by 4.3% and 1.6% respectively.

Economic activity in the first 10 months of 2016 was 0.4%. The growth of economic activity began to slow in the second half of the year. Thus, in the first 6 months it grew by 4.8%, slowing to 3% in the first seven months and to 1.6 percent in the first nine months.

The government’s projection of GDP growth for 2016 is 2.2%. The World Bank’s and IMF’s forecast is 1.9%.


RFE/RL Report
French Loan To Finance Armenian Budget Deficit
November 30, 2016
A senior diplomat spoke of France's "growing engagement" in Armenia on
Wednesday as it allocated a 40 million-euro ($44 million) loan that
will be used for financing the Armenian government's budget deficit.

The French Development Agency (AFD) formalized the disbursement with
an agreement which one of its senior officials, Jean-Claude Pires, and
France's ambassador to Armenia, Jean-Francois Charpentier, signed with
Finance Minister Vartan Aramian in Yerevan.

A statement by the French Embassy said the funding will support the
Armenian government's efforts to reduce poverty, improve the domestic
business environment, and implement other economic reforms.

"The agreement marks France's growing engagement in favor of the
country's social and economic development," it quoted Charpentier as
saying. "This funding will help to boost economic growth and job
creation."

The disbursement raised to approximately $140 million the total amount
of AFD funding provided to Armenia since 2013. The French government
agency's previous loan worth $82 million was made available in
January. It is being used for refurbishing and expanding Armenian
irrigation networks.

A separate statement by the Armenian Finance Ministry also said that
the French loan, repayable in 20 years, will support the
implementation of the recently reshuffled government's "reform
program." It did not specify whether the loan will be channeled into
the Armenian state budget for this or next year.

The government is expected to fail to meet its 2016 budgetary targets
because of a shortfall in its anticipated tax revenue. Aramian warned
recently that the budget deficit could reach almost 6 percent of Gross
Domestic Product because of that.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet plans to reduce the deficit
next year through spending cuts and better tax collection which is
envisaged by its draft 2017 budget. The Armenian parliament began
debating the spending bill on November 17.


RFE/RL Report
Armenian President Defends Track Record

Karlen Aslanian
November 28, 2016
President Serzh Sarkisian strongly defended his track record at the
weekend, saying that living standards in Armenia have improved
"substantially" during his rule.

Sarkisian also made clear that the recently appointed Prime Minister
Karen Karapetian will retain his post if the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK) wins parliamentary elections due in April. But he
again declined to clarify what he himself will do after completing his
second and final presidential term in 2018.

Sarkisian insisted that his administration is committed to holding
"spotless" elections as he presided over an HHK congress in Yerevan
that saw Karapetian elected to the party's new governing board. "We
need that kind of a vote of confidence," he declared in an extensive
speech.

"In case of [the HHK] winning a vote of confidence in the upcoming
elections Karen Karapetian will again head our government to continue
implementing the already planned program," he said.

The April vote will take place one year before Armenia completes its
transition to the parliamentary system of government. This means that
the prime minister will technically be the country's most powerful
official after 2017.

It is not yet clear whether Sarkisian will seek to occupy that post
after serving out his final term. His political allies have indicated
only that he will remain HHK chairman.

The president on Saturday reaffirmed his support for Karapetian's
ambitious economic reform agenda and reiterated that Armenia will
undergo "sweeping" changes in the coming years. He also claimed that
despite widespread discontent with the economic situation, the country
is better off now than it was in 2007.

The 9-year period repeatedly cited by him in his speech encompasses
the final year of former President Robert Kocharian's rule, during
which Sarkisian served as prime minister.

"The welfare of the population has improved substantially," said
Sarkisian. "In the past we were satisfied with fewer things, while
today we have greater needs. This is the essence of human beings:
people stop noticing many existing things such as 24-hour electricity
or water supplies, well-lit streets decorated with flowers and the
like, but immediately notice the absence of others."

The Armenian economy expanded at double-digit rates in the years
leading up to Sarkisian's presidency, which just began in April 2008
shortly before the onset of a global financial crisis that plunged
Armenia into a severe recession. Economic growth in the country has
been relatively slow since 2010, with the official poverty rate still
remaining below pre-crisis levels.

Sarkisian downplayed the double-digit growth and a resulting drop in
poverty under his predecessor, saying that it was mainly driven by
soaring remittances from Armenians working in Russia and other
countries. Remittance inflows totaled $1.63 billion last year, sharply
down from $2.3 billion in 2008.

Sarkisian insisted that his administration has managed to diversify
the domestic economy and make its growth more export-driven. "Whereas
Armenia's exports stood at $985 million in 2006, they reached $1.485
billion in 2015 and $1.3 billion in the first nine months of this
year," he told hundreds of HHK congress delegates, among them many
central and local government officials and businesspeople.

Citing official statistics, the president also argued that average
wage in Armenia has more than doubled and pensions have grown more
than threefold since 2007.

Sarkisian's political opponents are bound to dismiss his latest
statements. They have for years accused his government of
mismanagement, corruption and excessive external borrowing.

Kocharian has also increasingly criticized Sarkisian's economic record
in recent years. "It is evident that the authorities and the society's
assessments of the state of affairs in the country are diametrically
opposite," he said last year.

Karapetian described the current economic situation as "very grave"
and pledged to embark on "systemic changes" to improve it when he took
over as prime minister in September. 

[in today's BBC Radio News Sports Report, Henyykh was 

one of the few names specifically mentioned as he offered 

good support to the strikers in the West Ham game. 

Mourinho was banned from the touchline]

Manchester Evening News, UK
Henrikh 'just needs chance' at Old Trafford
by CIARAN KELLY

November 28, 2016
IF Tom Jones had his way, Henrikh Mkhitaryan would have had an even
rougher introduction to English football before his move to United.

In 2006, the former Armenia assistant manager recommended the
17-year-old to Hull City manager Phil Parkinson.

Mkhitaryan, who was playing with FC Pyunik in his homeland, had left
an impression on Jones during his time as Ian Porterfield's right-hand
man.

But, such was the state of affairs at the time, securing a work permit
for England's second tier was out of the question - with Armenia
nowhere near the top 70 of the FIFA rankings.

Armenia, sitting in 134th place, had won just three games in three
years and had a succession of managers obsessed with keeping the score
down.

Porterfield sought to change that culture, but it was Jones who
demanded Mkhitaryan's inclusion after spotting him playing for
Armenia's under-21s.

"I was with Vardan Minsayan, the other Armenian coach, and there was a
couple of players that stood out - Henrikh being number one," he told
M.E.N Sport.

"I just said, 'Get him in the full squad'. He was a class player.

"His energy...when he picked up the ball, he was one of those boys
that ran at people. That's what shone with him."

Bringing an energetic pressing game to Armenia, Jones began to plant
the seeds that would bring about a turn in the country's fortunes.

Mkhitaryan, even as a teenager, would become central to that and Jones
soon bonded with the youngster - who is fluent in six languages.

"I got quite close to Henriklh talking to him," he remembers.

"He was very confident because he could communicate; a lot of the
Armenian players couldn't and had broken English.

"He was the baby of the squad but he was one of those confident lads
you could count on and that sort of gave him that confidence and edge
on the older ones."

After historic wins against Kazakhstan and Poland - the first time
Armenia had ever won back to back games - tragedy was to strike in
September, 2007.

Porterfield, the man who had fired Sunderland to a famous win over
Leeds United in the 1973 FA Cup final, died at the age of 61 after a
short battle with colon cancer.

Having previously worked with his mentor at Busan l'park in South
Korea, Jones was left to pick up the pieces alongside Minsayan.

Armenia would go on to draw with Portugal and Serbia before Jan
Poulsen eventually came in as permanent manager.

Minaysan would soon get another crack at the job, winning nine
competitive internationals.

With Mkhitaryan long established as one of Europe's hottest talents,
having impressed at both Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund,
Armenia's fortunes hit new heights.

Under Minaysan's guidance, by February 2014, Armenia had risen to 30th
in the rankings after wins over Denmark, Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Long established as Armenia's talisman, captain and record goal
scorer, Mkhitaryan made history when he became the first Armenian to
play in the Premier League.

But, since that £26.3m move to Old Trafford, the 27-year-old has
struggled for form and fitness and has made just one start under Jose
Mourinho.

The Armenian was handed a rare opportunity against Feyenoord in the
Europa League and Jones feels he can still prove himself in England.

"Playing in the Premier League is hard enough, but playing at Man
United is another level," he feels.

"He's had a few injuries - that maybe knocked his confidence a bit.
The expectation, the fee that Man United paid for him, maybe that's
affected him a bit too.

"He's got to find a way to please Mr Mourinho. I just hope he does it.

"They bought him for a purpose and the only way they can find out is
by giving him a chance."

Armenian Institute... Opening hours...Hurry, get your Christmas goodies here, never know who you will bump into!

** FATHER FRANK’S RANTS Rant Number 704 29 November 16 THE FASCIST LEFT AND CASTRO

CUBAN WRITER REINALDO ARENAS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY, 'BEFORE NIGHT FALLS', FINGERS FIDEL CASTRO AND THE LEFT AS THE CAUSES OF HIS WOES
------------------------------------------------------------
Fidel Castro is dead but Guantanamo goes on. That Guantanamo towards which a writer once escaped…Wot! You mean FROM Guantanamo, surely?

Nope. The flight in question was not from Guantanamo, but to it. An attempted escape to Guantanamo US Base. You’d better believe it, because it is true. Just read Reinaldo Arenas’ Before Night Falls.

Arenas was a Cuban writer of lyrical novels exuding political and sexual unrest. Like The Palace of the White Skunks, Singing from the Well and The Colour of Summer. Before his untimely 1990 death in New York, Arenas composed the autobiographical memoir Before Night Falls. A beautifully disturbing, infuriating, moving book. Made by director Julian Schnabel into a powerful film. Spanish actor Javier Bardem played Reinaldo. Johnny Depp’s cameo performance as a hilarious, heroic, drag maricona (gay) by itself is worth the video hire.

And Guantanamo? Easily told. Brought up in abject rural poverty, ignorance and disease, young Arenas rises above those formidable handicaps to study literature and quickly becomes an author of great promise. One handicap, sadly, he never overcomes. As a self-conscious gay man living under the aggressively macho, socialist Castro regime, he is doomed as an outsider, an outcast - a marked man. Make no mistake, Arena is no boy scout figure. The candour with which he describes his voracious promiscuousness is a bit shocking – and meant to be so, no doubt. Eventually – homosexuality being both illegal and counter-revolutionary in Cuba – Reinaldo’s proclivities leads to his arrest. Locked up with twenty others in the stinking Miramar police station, he runs out through the back door, jumps into the sea and manages to swim away to his aunt’s house. But, as the dictatorship’s ubiquitous police hunts him out, where is he to find sanctuary?

In the whole of Castro’s Cuba, one place alone. Guantanamo, of course. US naval base and execrated bastion of Yankee imperialism in a people’s paradise. A black friend shows him the way. At midnight, the fugitive crawls through bushes, glimpses the lights of the American airport, is about the enter the river that separates him from Guantanamo when…

Alas, Reinaldo never makes it to that alluring, forbidden capitalist freedom. The border is too well-guarded. Instead, he endures years of imprisonment, persecution and torture in his own land. Banned from publishing a single line at home, he smuggles out abroad his manuscripts in most ingenious ways – pretty extraordinary which bodily orifices can serve as literary hiding places! Final flight comes at last in 1980, to the delayed promised land, the US. Settled in New York, living on the edge of poverty, Arenas vividly describes the hostility, insults and prejudices he suffers at the hands of Western liberal and leftish intelligentsia, for whom any attack on Castro is an attack on the Left – the ‘Fascist Left’, the writer aptly terms it. Against them, against the anti-life forces, as he sees them, Reinaldo screams. Screams loud and clear with his pen, his soul, his whole being. Terminally ill with AIDS, in 1990 he decides to end his own life. His farewell letter includes
these words:

“I end my own life voluntarily because I cannot continue working. Persons near me are in no way responsible for my decision. There is only one person I hold accountable: Fidel Castro. The suffering of exile, the pain of being banished from my country, the loneliness and the diseases contracted in exile would probably never have happened if I had been able to enjoy freedom in my country…Cuba will be free. I already am.”

I confess it: as a bolshie teenager growing up in Rome, Fidel was one of my idols. When the Bay of Pigs invasion was routed, I rejoiced. However, something has gone rotten in Cuba since. Didn’t Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother and now leader, declare that “should any prisoner escape from Guantanamo into Cuba, he would be returned to the Americans?” Clearly, revolutionary purity ain’t what it used to be. And Arenas’ odyssey, if it proves anything, it proves that that no regime, even if putatively progressive, can suppress, stifle the spontaneous urge to creation, the fierce independence of a human soul.

As for the writer’s sins, his suicide, hear this: Christ offers redemption to all creatures. No one is excluded – providing they repent. No one is beyond reach of the outpourings of Divine Love through the sacrifice of the Cross. Further, the self-righteous among us should keep before their eyes, emblazoned in words of fire, Christ’s terrible warning to the Pharisees:

“Verily, I tell you: the prostitutes and the tax-collectors go into the Kingdom of Heaven before you.”

And Castro? Has he perished for good – as he, a self-declared Marxist-Leninist atheist believed - or…what?

I picture Fidel finding himself, to his amazement, before the Pearly Gates. Disdainful at first, when the old revolutionary glimpses through the entrance some of the blessed souls puffing away on fat Havana cigars, he reflects: ‘Oh, well, never mind this religious hocus-pocus. The set-up doesn’t look too bad. I might as well seek admission.’ So, a bit diffidently, Fidel inquires of the gatekeeper: ‘Can I come in?’

‘Only if he agrees’, Peter replies, pointing to a figure nearby. ‘Who is that?’ Castro hopefully asks. Sternly, the Saint replies: ‘Somebody you should know: his name is Reinaldo Arenas’.

Revd Frank Julian Gelli

------------------------------------------------------------

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12/2 and 12/8 in NYC: Syriac/Armenian Christian film screening of "HAVRESC: Stand on Courage"

Sireli Seta:

You have been a great supporter of this film through your blog. I thought I would ask if you would kindly post the following NY screenings coming up very soon?

Attached are two PDF flyers for the screenings showing twice in NYC in early December.

"Havresc: Stand On Courage"

(about the Orthodox Christians of this Iraqi village who stood up to ISIS).

Sirov,

Lucine 

Happy to be of assistance for the cause Lucine!!!...

Seta

Havresc: Stand on courage is a documentary on the struggles of Armenian and Assyrian Christian Iraqis and the village of Havresc they have formed on the edge of ISIS controlled territory. Standing in the face of adversity, bigotry, hatred and oppression they have protected themselves from the Islamic state (drove out ISIS) and created a community that is a home to all Christians facing persecution. Website - www.Havresc.com  Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPbNfspEG7E Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/havresc/  Dec. 2: The Armenian National Committee of NY and St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral co-sponsor a screening of HAVRESC: Stand on Courage Date: Friday, Dec. 2 @ 7:00 pm Location: St. Illuminator's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, 221 E. 27th St. NYC 10016  Contact: 212-689-5880

·          $10 admission

·          Presentation and film screening

·          Fundraiser for people of Havresc

·          Q&A session with the film director

Dec. 8:

The Zohrab Center at St. Vartan Cathedral sponsors a screening of Havresc: Stand on Courage 

Date: Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 @ 7 pm

Location: Vartan Hall, Armenian Diocese, 630 Second Ave., NYC  10016

Contact: 212-686-0710                        

• Film screening and discussion with the film director

                                                                              #  #  #

Armenian News... A Topalian... New Homes in Karabakh

Message from Misak Ohanian CEO 

CAIA on BBC1 

New documentary series that CAIA features in – called 

The Big Food Rescue – its on BBC One at 9.15am every day

between Monday 28 th November - Friday 2 nd December.

CAIA's Elders Club will feature this Monday 28th November

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2016/48/the-big-food-rescue 

If you miss it you can watch on BBC iplayer.


From Dragon Stones to Kings Bones – Nine 9 Recent 

Archaeological Discoveries Made in Armenia
26-11-2016 
http://www.peopleofar.com/2016/11/26/recent-archaeological-discoveries-in-armenia/
[1] 

RFE/RL Report
Pan-Armenian Charity To Rebuild Homes In Karabakh
November 25, 2016

A pan-Armenian charity has raised almost $15.5 million that will be
mostly spent on the reconstruction of war-ravaged communities in
Nagorno-Karabakh and other local infrastructure projects.

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund received the donations during its
annual telethon broadcast from Los Angeles on Thursday. It raised
$10.4 million during last year's televised fundraiser.

Nearly half of the sum was contributed by several ethnic Armenian
businessmen from the United States, Russia and
Armenia. Armenian-American entrepreneur Antranig Badghassarian made
the single largest contribution: $ 5million. He was followed by
Russian-Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetian, who donated $1 million

In a statement released on Friday, the Hayastan fund said most
proceeds from the telethon will be channeled into Karabakh. It said
they will finance the reconstruction of several local communities that
were seriously damaged by last April's heavy fighting between Karabakh
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.

The Hayastan fund said the money will also be used for boosting
Karabakh's "emergency and disaster preparedness" and building homes
for local families with multiple children.

"In addition to these initiatives, donor-specified projects as well as
projects within the framework of the fund's core development programs
will continue to be implemented in Armenia and Artsakh (Karabakh),"
added the statement.

Hayastan has implemented over $240 million worth of infrastructure
projects in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh since its establishment in
1992. The fund's current Board of Trustees is headed by President
Serzh Sarkisian and comprises other senior Armenian state officials,
Catholicos Garegin II as well as prominent representatives of Armenian
communities around the world.

In particular, the fund has partly financed the ongoing construction
of a second highway connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Work on
the 116-kilometer-long road link began in 2011 and is now nearing
completion.


RFE/RL Report

Women's Groups Report More Domestic Violence Deaths
November 25, 2016
Anush Mkrtchian
Fifteen women have died in Armenia this year as a result of domestic
violence, a coalition of women's rights organizations said on Friday,
demanding tougher government action against the practice.

The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women released the alarming
statistics as it marked International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women. Several dozen of its members picketed
university buildings in downtown Yerevan, holding posters and handing
out leaflets to passersby in a bid to raise public awareness of
domestic violence.

"Unfortunately, girls are more indifferent and even disdainful," one
of the activists told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "They
probably think that they won't be at risk if they stay away. Guys
listen to us with greater interest or perhaps irony."

At least one man approached by the protesters questioned the wisdom of
their campaign. "I'm not saying that I support violence," he
said. "But if violence happens, it must stay within a family."

Violence against women had for decades been a taboo subject in the
socially conservative and male-dominated Armenian society. It has been
receiving growing publicity in recent years thanks to the activities
of women's rights groups backed by international human rights
watchdogs.

"Spousal abuse and violence against women appeared to be widespread,"
the U.S. State Department said in its most recent report on human
rights practices in Armenia released last year.

"According to local observers, most domestic violence went unreported
because survivors were afraid of physical harm, apprehensive that
police would return them to their husbands, or ashamed to disclose
their family problems," it said.

According to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women, more and
more Armenia women abused by their husbands or other relatives are
coming forward. The grouping reported on Friday a year-on-year
increase in the number of complaints received from abuse victims.

"In the last three years more than 30 women have been killed in
Armenia due to domestic violence," said Garik Hayrapetian, an expert
with the Yerevan office of the UN Population Fund. "I think this
figure is telling enough for us to have special legislation."

Armenia still has no laws specifically aimed at tackling domestic
violence. The Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs as well as
several women's NGOs have drafted such laws in the last few
years. None of them has been enacted yet.

The Armenian Justice Ministry unveiled a similar bill on Friday. A
senior ministry official, Bagrat Ghazinian, said it would seriously
curb the practice if passed by parliament.

"In some cases, a violent incident does not technically contain
elements of a crime and the police are therefore not legally allowed
to do something about it," said Ghazinian. "Our draft will regulate
this issue."

The women's rights grouping disagreed, saying that the proposed law is
not far-reaching enough. "It doesn't cover all types of violence," one
of its leaders, Zaruhi Hovannisian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am). "We need an in-depth conceptual approach to domestic
violence and we must instill in the public consciousness the notion
that domestic violence is a crime."

armenpress.am
LOSSES OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES IN 

MIDDLE EAST ARE GREAT, HARD TO RECOVER 21.11.2016

The existence/survival issue of Armenian communities is very acute during the last decades in the Middle East, senior expert of the center of Armenian studies of Noravank scientific-educational foundation Vahram Hovyan told a press conference in ARMENPRESS.

“Beginning from the half of the 20th century, the most heated region is the Middle East. Several events took place here, particularly, the Arab-Israeli war, the Lebanese Civil war, the internal political turmoil of Syria and Egypt, the military coups in Turkey, the Arab Spring. The foreign and domestic turmoil of different countries negatively impact the Armenian communities. Their property, cultural legacy, churches, schools are destroyed”, Vahram Hovyan said. In his words, the most dangerous part is that all of this leads to mass migration in the Armenian community circles.

Our compatriots leave their countries in great numbers and attempt to establish themselves in western countries. According to Vahram Hovyan, is 25 thousand Armenians were living in Kuwait before the first Gulf War, the number decreased five times after the war. 300 thousand Armenians lived in Lebanon during the 1970s, today the number is circa 100 thousand. 200 thousand Armenians lived in Syria during the 70s, before the Arab Spring 70 thousand lived there, and after the Arab Spring that number significantly decreased again. Today, an estimated 10,000 Armenians live in Aleppo (based on most optimistic estimates).

Hovyan said after the Revolution the Armenian community of Iran suffered great losses. Prior to the Revolution 300 thousand Armenians lived there, today circa 100 thousand. Iraq is no exception. Before the Arab Spring, only 1000 out of the 20 thousand community remain there. Hovyan says the losses of the Armenian communities in different periods associated with the Arab Spring are great and hard to recover from.

Turkey is no exception also. The reasons include domestic political development, military revolutions, however, according to the expert, Armenophobia also has significant impact.

“Here there were always persecutions and restrictions against Armenians. Armenophobia is of traditional nature in Turkey. All this has led to the decrease of Armenians living there. Today an estimated 60-80 thousand Armenians live in Turkey” , the expert said.

Vahram Hovyan said manifestations of Armenophobia are also present of religious grounds. It happens in countries where Islamic extremism is on the rise.

“Of course, specifically Armenians aren’t targeted, it is directed against Christianity, however Armenians comprise a significant percentage of Christians living in Middle Eastern countries, therefore that harassments also happen against Armenians. As an example – the bombing of the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church” , he said.


arka.am
Armenia’s diamond-cutting industry’s output by 2020 expected 

to grow to $350-$400 million 

November 25 2016

Armenia’s diamond cutting industry’s output by 2020 is expected to grow to $350-$400 million a year, according to Gagik Mkrtchyan, an advisor to the Minister of Economic Development and Investment.

Speaking a meeting of representatives of the jewelry industry today he said the ministry is developing a program to boost the sector in 2017-2020.

He said there are some operational problems, related largely to simplification of legislation after Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union; in particular, the harmonization of laws.

"The expected results of the program - is achieving an annual commercial production worth $350-400 million per year by the end of 2020, and creation of six- seven thousand new jobs," - he said.

The meeting was attended by about 20 representatives of the jewelry industry, who spoke about their problems and ways to resolve them.

According to official data, diamond production in Armenia increased by 39.1% in 2015 to 14.58 billion drams ($30.4 million.). In the first ten months of 2016 it doubled to 24 billion drams ($50 million.). In the first six months of 2016 the export of polished Armenian diamonds amounted to 69,500 carats, a 2.3 times increase from the same time span of 2015.

dailymail.co.uk

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is hopeful for a 'new start' at Manchester United 

following his impressive display in Feyenoord victory
By Jonathan Spencer

25 Nov 2016

Following Manchester United's 4-0 win over Feyenoord, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is looking for a fresh start at the club after starring on Thursday night.

Mkhitaryan started for only the second time under Jose Mourinho since joining for £26m from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and the Armenian shone in a lively display for United.

The out-of-favour midfielder is hopeful that Thursday's performance can kickstart his career at Old Trafford. 

Henrikh Mkhitaryan starred for Manchester United in their 4-0 victory over FeyenoordHenrikh Mkhitaryan starred for Manchester United in their 4-0 victory over Feyenoord

'It was a pleasure to play again and start the game,' Mkhitaryan told BT Sport .

'I try to do my best and it's a very good result.

'It has been difficult to watch the team from the sidelines but you have to have passion and work hard.

'I hope it is a new start for me.'

Goals from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard and an own-goal from Brad Jones gave Mourinho's side a 4-0 win against the Eredivisie leaders and Phil Jones believes his side's pressing game was key to their win.
The Armenian started for only the second time under Jose Mourinho since joining the clubThe Armenian started for only the second time under Jose Mourinho since joining the club

'It was a tough game, especially in the first half,' the 24-year-old centre-back told MUTV .

'But I think we played better in the second half, we were more aggressive in our pressing and we got the four goals. It was a good performance in the end.'

United, who will be buoyed by their performances against Arsenal and Feyenoord, next face West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday.

United, and especially Mkhitaryan, will be hoping to kickstart their season against Slaven Bilic's side and take away all three points.
Phil Jones believes United were  aggressive in their pressing against the Eredivisie leaders Phil Jones believes United were aggressive in their pressing against the Eredivisie leaders

Armenian News... A Topalian... Russian Language ruled out... November 24, 2016

Video highlighting the UK funded project just completed in 

Armenia part of the work of the Hayasdan All-Armenian Fund 

Dear All

Please take a look at the short video clip below regarding Shengavit 

kindergarten. So nice to see the outcome of this wonderful project 

we took on...

«Հայաստան» հիմնադրամի ֆինանսավորմամբ գիշերօթիկ 

մսուր-մանկապարտեզ է նորոգվել

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OaT-bspCdc 


RFE/RL Report
Armenian Minister Rules Out Official Status For Russian Language
November 24, 2016
Artak HambardzumianThe Russian language will not be given an official status in Armenia,
Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian said on Thursday, responding to a
controversial statement made by a senior Russian diplomat.

The Russian ambassador to UNESCO, Eleonora Mitrofanova, declared last
week that Russian should have a "special status" in former Soviet
republics.

The statement prompted concern from Armenian opposition politicians,
intellectuals and media outlets wary of their country's dealings with
Russia. Some of them have speculated that Moscow may put pressure on
the Armenian government to amend domestic legislation accordingly.

Armenian has been the country's sole official language ever since the
break-up of the Soviet Union. A law enacted in 1991 also made it the
principal language of instruction in public schools.

"Armenian is the official language of the Republic of Armenia,"
Mkrtchian said when asked by journalists to comment on Mitrofanova's
remarks. "Our law on the language is one of the fundamental values of
our independence and it cannot be changed."

While ruling out an official status for the Russian language, Mktchian
said that good knowledge of it is "necessary" given Armenia's alliance
with Russia and membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic
Union. "Russian is certainly the most commonly spoken foreign language
in Armenia and we are interested in strengthening that language," he
said.

The minister stressed at the same time the importance of other foreign
languages. "There is also another major foreign language: English," he
said. "As an education minister, I am also very, very worried that we
are gradually losing our culture of the German language and that there
are now only a few schools specializing in the French language."

Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh insisted on Wednesday that
Mitrofanova's remarks did not apply to Armenia because Russian is a
mandatory subject in Armenian public schools where students study it
for ten years. "And that is absolutely enough," he told a news
conference.

Kocharian also argued that ethnic Russians make up a tiny proportion
of Armenia's population. "Our biggest ethnic minority is Yazidis, not
Russians," he said.

Armenian officials gave similar assurances in 2014 after Russia's most
famous television journalist backed by the Kremlin called for Russian
to be granted an official status in the South Caucasus
country. Visiting Yerevan, Dmitry Kiselyov said failure to do so would
jeopardize Yerevan's close security ties to Moscow.

Then Education Minister Armen Ashotian hit out at Kiselyov, saying
that the controversial Russian TV anchor behaved "like a bear in a
china shop."


RFE/RL Report
Yerevan Insists On Safeguards Against Karabakh Fighting
November 23, 2016
Artak HambardzumianThe Nagorno-Karabakh peace process will remain essentially deadlocked
until Azerbaijan agrees to confidence-building measures aimed at
minimizing ceasefire violations in the conflict zone, a senior
Armenian official said on Wednesday.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents reportedly agreed on such
measures when they met in Vienna in May shortly after the worst
fighting around Karabakh since 1994. Those included international
investigations of armed incidents, an idea that has long been advanced
by the U.S., Russian and French mediators.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said last
week that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev objected to such
investigations at a follow-up meeting with his Armenian counterpart
Serzh Sarkisian held in Saint Petersburg in June.

Still, Aliyev and Sarkisian again pledged to bolster the ceasefire
regime in a joint statement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that
was issued after that meeting. They also hinted at progress towards a
peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenian officials say there has been no further progress in the peace
process since the Saint Petersburg summit because of Baku's refusal to
comply with the confidence-building agreements.

"There is still no progress in the negotiation process," Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian told reporters. "Furthermore, at
this stage it's not possible to expect progress until the agreements #
reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg are implemented."

"It's not possible to expect progress in the negotiation process as
long as there is a threat of renewed war and no trust between the
parties, as long as they shoot and organize provocations on the Line
of Contact [around Karabakh,]" he said.

Kocharian also said in that regard that it is "not yet" clear whether
the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will hold a
face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the OSCE's annual ministerial
conference that will take place in Hamburg on December 8-9.

The U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group
have so far scheduled only separate talks in the German city between
Edward Nalbandian an Elmar Mammadyarov. They said on October 26 that
they will discuss with Mammadyarov and Nalbandian the possibility of
arranging another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit "at the earliest
opportunity"

The two ministers traded accusations when they received Italy's
Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Yerevan and Baku earlier this
month. Nalbandian pointed to Baku's reluctance to accept the
safeguards against truce violations, while Mammadyarov claimed that
the Armenian side is keen to preserve the Karabakh status quo.
panarmenian.net


sputniknews.com
Legendary Russian-Armenian aircraft designer dies in Moscow
25.11.16
Hovhannes (Ivan) Mikoyan, a prominent Russian-Armenian aircraft designer best known for his MIG-29 fighters, has died in Moscow at age 89, Vesti.ru reports.

The legendary master devoted his career to an aircraft designing bureau founded by Artem Mikoyan, his uncle, starting as a leading engineer and later being promoted to the rank of design manager.

For his fourth-generation fighter jet’s design, Mikoyan was honored with the USSR state award. Until his late days, he served as an advisor for the Russian aircraft corporation MIG.


panarmenian.net
FIFA World Ranking: Armenia climbs record 38 spots to place 87th
November 24, 2016  
PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia ’s 3-2 win over Montenegro has helped the national football team jump the largest number of spots in this month's FIFA World Ranking

As the new list shows, the country has registered the biggest move by ranks, bouncing a total of 38 places to secure the 87th spot among 205 teams included in the report.

In Thursday, November 24's list, Armenia has a score of 412, up from last month's 270.

In the ranking, Iran are 30th (-3), Turkey climbed a spot to 24th place, Georgia moved up three positions to 113th, while Azerbaijan dropped 2 spots to 90th. Argentina top the standings, with Brazil swapping places with Germany to come in at second, while Tonga, Somalia and Gibraltar have the worst record this month.


armradio.am
Mourinho praises Mkhitaryan after Europa League win
25 Nov 2016
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has challenged Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce in the Premier League as he did in the 4-0 Europa League defeat of Feyenoord on Thursday, ESPN FC reports.

Mourinho handed Mkhitaryan just his second start of the season, while leaving out Anthony Martial. Mkhitaryan’s previous start came in the 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City on Sept. 10.

The Armenian had only made one further appearance since then, as a sub in the 2-1 defeat at Fenerbahce on Nov. 3, before being selected to face Feyenoord.

Discussing Mkhitaryan’s display, Mourinho said: “He just needs now to try to replicate this kind of performance in the Premier League. The Premier League is different. He needs one more step.

“Obviously now the confidence level is higher. This performance gives him the right to believe that he can play the next match.

“The Premier League has more physicality, more aggression. He needs a bit more of that. But, with the quality, we know why we bought him. He has a high level of technical quality. He’s very intelligent, very bright, with how he reads the game.”

“The reception [from the fans] he deserved because he played very well. Always improving, improving, improving, improving until the moment he was really tired and I felt it was the right moment to take him off and to let him come off with a very good performance. It was important for his confidence and he will try to keep adapting and trying to replicate this kind of quality performance in the Premier League which is a competition with different difficulties,” Mourinho.