Month: February 2015

WHO BENEFITS FROM DRIVING A WEDGE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND NAGORNO KARABAKH? (VIDEO)

12:08 | February 10,2015 | Politics

Nothing can drive a wedge between Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh,
thinks ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan. But we must always remember
who can benefit from such a wedge, “It is beneficial both for the RF
and the old but not favorable neighbors, but in Armenia and Artsakh
it isn’t beneficial for anybody.”

The conversations about driving a wedge seem not to be serious when
the RA and the NKR politicians speak about it, “When they say that
some people are trying to drive a wedge, I think that just those,
who say it, are trying to drive a wedge, as they don’t mention whom
they mean by saying “some people” or how they are doing it. So it
becomes an absurd and meaningless expression.”

After Berdzor events, when the members of the Founding Parliament were
beaten in Artsakh, conversations on this topic have been activated.

The ethnographer says,

“Bako Sahakyan, Serzh Sargsyan, Police Chiefs of Armenia and Artsakh
are the same people with the same views, the same behavior and pass
their tasks to each other like communicating vessels.”

Mrs. Kharatyan notes that the Soviet authorities tried to isolate
Armenia from Artsakh for 70 years. Now the NKR authorities do it.

Especially Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Aghabekyan’s words have
angered her.

Our citizens consider unacceptable all the attempts to drive a wedge
between two Armenian societies.

Watch the video!

From: A. Papazian

WHO CAN PRODUCE FILMS IN ARMENIA? – OPINIONS ON EX-LAWMAKER’S GENOCIDE MOVIE

11:10 * 10.02.15

The right to produce a movie can be practically enjoyed by anyone
in Armenia; all the problem has to do with licensing procedures,
representatives of the cinema industry have said, commenting on
ex-parliament member Hakob Hakobyan’s move to produce a film on the
Armenian Genocide.

The professionals’ opinion is that a film cannot show in cinemas
unless it has been issued a license.

“It isn’t possible to forbid anyone to produce a movie, likewise
it isn’t possible to forbid him or her to draw a picture …As to
what that film’s future will be, it is a different question,” Hrach
Keshishyan, a movie director and the head of the Armnews TV channel,
told Tert.am.

Moscow Cinema was scheduled to screen the movie, Recollection, on
February 10, but it cancelled the plan after a closed-door preview
organized for the media attracted negative comments by professionals.

The movie theatre Cinema Star (which operates in Yerevan’s Dalma
Garden Mall) also refused to screen Recollection.

Keshishyan said he thinks that it is important to have clear-cut
regulations (not only in Armenia but also in all other countries)
to prevent movies with questionable quality or content from being
screened for public.

“My film, for example, is to be screened in Russia, and I embarked on
several procedures [for having it licensed]. The film was sent to the
Russian Ministry of Culture in advance and submitted to its department
responsible for authorizing the show. They watched movie, checked
all the copyright-related issues and gave us the permission. They
checked particularly what age group the film is designed for and other
permissible and impermissible things – episodes features drinking
and smoking people or sex – before deciding to issue permission,”
Keshishyan explained.

He stressed the importance of introducing similar procedures in
Armenia too. “My son can now shoot a one-minute movie by doing the
necessary editing with his mobile at home, but that doesn’t mean it
has to show in public,” he added.

The director noted that the same practice exists also in the United
States where one can hire a movie theatre for one day to screen a
movie for just a group of friends.

Commenting on the problem, the National Cinema Center’s director,
Gevorg Gevorgyan, noted that Armenia hasn’t had any law on cinema in
the past 25 years since gaining independence.

“First, there was no cinema industry in Armenia. Did we have any movie
at all – from the USSR’s collapse until 2006-2007 – in order to have
a law? Secondly, there are so many sectors not governed by specific
legislative regulations in Armenia,” he added.

Gevorgyan said he has recently sent a draft to French specialists who
he hopes will present their judgments soon to enable him to submit
it to the to the National Assembly’s approval later this year.

“The law will regulate a lot,” he said, stressing first of all the
importance of licensing and quality assessment criteria.

Film director Edgar Baghdasaryan says he doesn’t understand why
especially the former lawmaker’s move kicked up that big fuss. “Anyone
who wishes [to produce a movie] does so, but because the topic was the
Genocide, the reaction appeared to be so painful. But it is equally
painful to me too, because I see no difference about tastelessness
of the kind,” he added.

The director noted that when Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman
(which is considered to the best movie shot in the past 10-15 years)
was on screen at Moscow Cinema, its every single show attracted no
more than an audience of six. “But one finds no ticket on sale when
stupid comedies are on,” the director added.

Gevorgyan said he really sees a difference between high- and
poor-quality movies. “Anyone can produce a movie, but whenever he or
she devotes the work to universal or spiritual or cultural values,
that person must have a license,” he added.

SERVING IT PROPERLY: NGO ADVOCATES PROMOTION OF NATIONAL CUISINE ALSO AS TOURIST ‘PRODUCT’

Society | 10.02.15 | 10:43

Sedrak Mamulyan

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian tour agencies cannot fully utilize and serve Armenian national
cuisine as a tourist ‘product’ to incoming tourists, whereas thus they
would have contributed to the recognition of the country’s cultural
values, specialists say.

Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions NGO head
Sedrak Mamulyan thinks that the field is used merely for making money,
but cultural values, culinary traditions, are put aside.

“Tourists arrive exhausted from a tour and the meal is served as
simply food intake, and the guide sits separately. Yet the guide must
understand that the tour is going on, and s/he must sit and explain
the food served, its history of origin and cooking method, etc.

However, they agree with khinkali (traditional Georgian dish) houses
of their friends, acquaintances, relatives and take the tourists there,
or else, they take them to eat bughacha and kebab,” Mamulyan said.

The well-known chef says that biologically humans are made up in a way
that the memory of taste sustains the longest, and after visiting a
country they identify the country and its culture by its very cuisine.

The Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions NGO
cooperates with tour agencies, those that have more or less realized
the importance of presenting culinary traditions, but the problem,
according to Mamulyan, is in the systematized approach.

“They say, what does the government do, and I reply, so what, do we
only make money, we must spread, popularize, have dignity ourselves and
grant an opportunity to tourists visiting our country to get in touch
with our cultural phenomena, and not only take them to places that
find representation in our country, that are representations of other
nations’ cultures which have become rich by the money of our society,”
Mamulyan said. “What can the Ministry of Culture do? Shall it encourage
tour agencies to include all branches of culture in their packages? We
even organized free training courses regarding Armenian culinary
culture, but still few attend the classes, and only the young.”

The NGO suggested tour agencies that the tourists be presented
the procedure of baking Armenian lavash. Many consider it a rural
phenomenon and have refused. According to him, some are even ashamed of
introducing village traditions, but when you do not show a phenomenon
you cannot know whether there is demand for it or not.

“We presented tour packages to all tour agencies, there we wrote a
famous rural dish named ‘khonchol’, whoever from tour operators saw it,
asked what that is. We said, come see the introduction and you will
know what it is. We served the ingredients of our dish separately –
the soup, garlic, onion, etc. We explained the tourists that the dish
has a tradition – those who eat collect what they want themselves. They
were amazed, they come and order it every time,” Mamulyan said.

Regardless of the problems in the field, the organization is going
to show the world the Armenian cuisine in due manner.

“We will have invitations from abroad. Without undue modesty, we say
that we will develop it. And this year we will present Ani’s cuisine
– 11-14th century, next – Kilikia,” Mamulyan said. “I offer tour
agencies free training courses for their staff in order to introduce
our national culture, cuisine.”

From: Baghdasarian

BAKU FAILS TO TAKE OSCE MISSION OBSERVERS TO THE LINE OF CONTACT

STEPANAKERT, February 10. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan failed to take the
OSCE mission to its frontline during the monitoring on the line of
contact between Azerbaijani troops and the Karabakh army of defense,
the press office of Karabakh foreign ministry reported.

The OSCE mission carried out a planned monitoring on the line of
contact between Karabakh and Azerbaijan, east from Seysulan village
of Martakert region. The monitoring has been agreed upon with the
NKR authorities.

Field assistants to the personal representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Yevgeniy Sharov (Ukraine) and Hristo Hristov
(Bulgaria), together with Peter Swedberg (Sweden), will be observing
from the side of Karabakh army of defense.

Field assistants to personal representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Irji Aberle (Czech Republic) and Simon Tiller (Great Britain) were
monitoring from the opposite site.

Monitoring was carried out as per the schedule, and no cease fire
violations were recorded, according to the report. -0-

KARABAKH PRESIDENT DISCUSSES COOPERATION WITH HEAD OF IDEA

STEPANAKERT, February 10. /ARKA/. The president of Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakyan met with the head of Initiatives
for Development of Armenia (IDeA) foundation Armen Gevorgyan, the
presidential press office reported.

The sides discussed implementation of various development projects
in Artsakh (Armenian name for Karabakh).

The president said the country has high expectations for the
cooperation with IDeA to ensure positive development trends.

The meeting was attended also by the head of NKR government staff
Levon Grigoryan.

IDeA was founded by philanthropist and businessman Ruben Vardanyan and
his wife Veronika Zonabend. It is implementing large-scale charity
projects for building better future in Armenia, Artsakh and the
Armenian communities abroad. -0–

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN TO HOST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE MARKING GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

Monday, February 9th, 2015

University of Nebraska-Lincoln will host a major international
conference to mark the centennial of the Armenian Genocide

LINCOLN, Neb.–On the occasion of the Centennial of the Armenian
Genocide, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) will host a two-day
conference from March 19-20, 2015 entitled “Crossing the Centennial:
The Historiography of the Armenian Genocide Re-Evaluated” at the Wick
Alumni Center – Great Hall, 1520 R Street.

Organized by Prof. Bedross Der Matossian from the Department of History
at UNL, the conference is sponsored by the Norman and Bernice Harris
Center for Judaic Studies, the National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR) in Belmont, Mass., the Society for
Armenian Studies (SAS), the Department of History, the Faculty Senate
Convocation Committee, the Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
Program, the Women’s and Gender Studies program, and the Institute
of Ethnic Studies at UNL.

The conference will focus on four under-researched themes that
have recently gained scholarly attention and analytical depth:
a) humanitarianism and humanitarian intervention in the Armenian
Genocide; b) women and children in the Armenian Genocide; c)
comparative dimensions of the Armenian Genocide; d) and the impact
of the Armenian Genocide on society, politics, literature, and culture.

Twenty-two scholars from Armenia, Cambodia, Canada, Holland, Hungary,
Israel, and the United States representing 17 different academic
institutions will participate in five panels of the conference.

The conference will start at 2:00pm on Thursday, March 19, with
welcoming remarks by Prof. William G. Thomas III, the chair of the
Department of History at UNL, and opening remarks by Prof. Bedross
Der Matossian from the Department of History.

The first panel, entitled “Humanitarianism and Humanitarian
Intervention” will be moderated by Prof. David Forsythe (UNL),
who is widely regarded as being among the first scholars who have
established the study of human rights and humanitarian affairs in the
disciplines of political science and international relations. The
panel will feature the following speakers and topics: Dr. Hilmar
Kaiser (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), “Humanitarian Intervention and
Ottoman Opposition to Extermination: A Neglected Aspect”; PeÃŒ~Ater
PaÃŒ~Al KraÃŒ~Anitz (Pázmány Péter Catholic University), “Armenian
Refugees, Humanitarian Assistance and Hungary”; and Prof. Mark
Toufayan (University of Ottawa), “Between Intimacy and Alienation:
Armenian Property, Denationalization and the Passions of ‘Protection’
in French Mandated Cilicia, 1918-1923”.

The second panel, which will be the featured one of the Conference,
will be moderated by Prof. Jean Cahan, the director of the Harris
Center for Judaic Studies and will include three speakers: Prof.

Richard G. Hovannisian (University of California-Los Angeles),
“The Centenary of the Armenian Genocide: What Have We Learned?”; Prof.

Michelle Tusan (University of Nevada-Las Vegas), “Humanitarian Empire:
Britain’s Response to the Armenian Genocide,”; and Prof. Keith
Watenpaugh (University of California-Davis), “Armenia, Armenians,
The League of Nations and Modern Humanitarianism.”

The second day of the conference will start at 9:00am and will feature
four panels. The first panel entitled “Women and Children during
the Genocide” will be chaired by Prof. Patrice McMahon, an expert on
international security, conflict, and human rights, and will feature
the following speakers and subjects: Prof. Benny Morris (Ben-Gurion
University), “Women and Children in the Turkish Ethnic Cleansing
of Armenians and Greeks, 1919-1923”; Prof. Carina Karapetian Giorgi
(Pomona College), “Critical Examination of the Historiography of Women
during the Armenian Genocide”; Anna Aleksanyan (Clark University),
“‘Neutral home’ and the Issue of Identity of the Surviving Armenian
Women and Children”; and Tugce Kayaal (University of Michigan-Ann
Arbor), “A Critique of the Concept of the “Genocide Survivor”:
Armenian Orphans in Aleppo Between the Years of 1915-1918.”

The second panel entitled “The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust”
will be chaired by Prof. Ari Kohen, the director of the Human Rights
and Humanitarian Affairs Program at UNL and will feature the following
speakers and subjects: Umit Kurt (Clark University), “‘Legal’ and
‘Official’ Plundering of Armenian and Jewish Properties during the
Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust within a Comparative Perspective”;
Prof. Stefan Ihrig (Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem), “From the Armenian
Genocide to the Holocaust – A Connected Perspective”; and Prof.

Harutyun Marutyan (National Academy of Sciences of Armenia), “The
Institute of Righteous Among the Nations in the Armenian and the
Jewish Cases.”

The last panel of the conference entitled “Aftermath of the Genocide:
Politics, Culture, Society, and Literature,” will be chaired by Prof.

Chantal Kalisa, an expert on the Rwandan Genocide and director of
the Women’s and Gender Studies program at UNL, and will feature the
following speakers and subjects: Prof. Tsolin Nalbantian (Leiden
University), “Armenian Nation Building through Sport: The Armenian
Olympiad Before and After the Armenian Genocide”; Prof. Heghnar
Watenpaugh (University of California-Davis), “Art, Heritage, and the
Armenian Genocide: Toros Roslin’s Zeytun Gospels between 1915 and
2015”; Prof. Talar Chahinian (California State University-Long Beach),
“Impossible Testimonies: Literature and Aesthetics in the Aftermath of
the Armenian Genocide”; and Dr. Seyhan Bayraktar (Historical Seminar
of the University of Zurich), “The Armenian Genocide and the Politics
of Denial: on Turkey, Civil Society, and EU Recognition Politics.”

Closing remarks will be delivered by Prof. Lloyd Ambrosius from
the Department of History. “It is a great honor for the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln to hold the largest conference in the Midwest
to mark the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide,” said conference
organizer Prof. Der Matossian. “It is not only that we are bringing
scholars from various disciplines to discuss different aspects of the
Armenian Genocide but that we also should think of this Conference as
a unique opportunity for the University community at large to benefit
from the expertise of top scholars in the field and understand better
one of the first genocides of the modern period.”

The poster of the conference was prepared by Ruben Malayan, a renowned
artist from Armenia. The poster displays Malayan’s expression of the
experiences of the Armenian nation (represented by women and children)
on the death marches of the Genocide. The white auras around their
heads symbolize the sanctity of the victims. The stark contrast of
black and white background represents the inhuman suffering people had
to endure before perishing. The work was inspired by a real photograph
of an Armenian family taken during expulsion and extermination of 1915.

The event is open to the public. For further information, please
contact Prof. Der Matossian at [email protected] or (402)
472-2417.

DRAMA GROUPS TO MARK GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

Monday, February 9th, 2015

The Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, Calif.

LOS ANGELES–In observance of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide,
Center Theatre Group, in partnership with the Armenian Dramatic
Artists Alliance (ADAA), will present “Staging the Unstageable:
The Esthetics of Dramatizing Atrocity” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
on April 28 at 8 p.m.

“Staging the Unstageable” is a reading of excerpts from plays that
dramatize in different ways the Armenian Genocide, which was the
systematic extermination (beginning in April 1915) by the Ottoman
Empire of its minority Armenian subjects.

The performance will be followed by a panel discussion with notable
guests from the Armenian community and with Los Angeles theatre artists
who have grappled with the responsibilities of bringing historical
tragedies to the stage. Key to the discussion are the questions –
does theatre have a role in ensuring that communities around the world
never forget historical sins, and how can a theatre-maker bring such
trauma to the stage?

ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE BY ARMENIA’S PARLIAMENT

13:34, 10 February, 2015

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: The representatives of the Greek and
Assyrian communities consider the initiative of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia of adopting a declaration, condemning the
genocide of the Greeks and Assyrians, to be very important.

On February 10 the Chairman of the Ilios Greek Community NGO Slava
Rafaelidis emphasized that they had learnt about this initiative
during the meeting with the Vice President of the National Assembly
of the Republic of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov and consider it very
significant.

“We consider the initiative to be very important. I would like
to express my gratitude to the initiators and I hope that by the
centenary of the Armenian Genocide, the National Assembly of Armenia
will also adopt the declaration, condemning the genocide of the Greeks
and Assyrians”, – said Slava Rafaelidis, Armenpress reports.

From: A. Papazian

AGHDZK EXCAVATIONS MAY HELP ARMENIA RISE TO INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL LEVEL – SCHOLAR

14:31 * 10.02.15

The Aghdzk excavations are of exceptional importance for Armenian
identity, Hakob Simonyan, Director of the Research Center for Cultural
and Historical Heritage, told reporters on Tuesday as he spoke of the
excavations at Armenian kings’ tombs in Aghdzk, Aragatsotn region,
Armenia.

The excavations program is being implemented pursuant to the premier’s
instructions.

The Aghdzk tombs have always been the focus of the government’s
attention.

“This program is aimed at uniting the nation.”

This program may acquire international status because this is the
only medieval tomb in the region and can be of great interest to Iraq
and Turkmenistan.

“A museum will be opened here, and territory will be improved to
become one of the most visitable sites,” Mr Simonyan said.

The AMD 50 worth program is to last for three years.

The excavations must be started as soon as possible for delegations
that will arrive in Armenia on April 24 to see the ancient monument.

From: A. Papazian

LAKE SEVAN LEVEL INCREASE DYNAMICS EVALUATION IN 2002-2013

17:16 February 09, 2015

Engineer Mechanic Sergey Hajinyan

Since 2008 the process of increasing Lake Sevan level has been
suspended based on different reasons and substantiations.

– Under estimates, a total of 9,325 (5.20 + 4.125) billion cum water
flew into Lake Sevan (746 cm of water level), out of which 2.303
billion cum through “Arpa-Sevan” tunnel.

– A total of 2.067 billion cum water was let out of lake for irrigation
and other purposes (under data by Haypethydromet Service).

– Factually, 4.565 (3.10+1.465) billion cum water was collected in
the lake (365 cm of water level), which is twice as much as the water
volume flown into Lake Sevan through “Arpa-Sevan” tunnel.

– In the first six years, the average level increase of the lake
water was maximum 69 cm, in the second six years – 55 cm.

– In the second six years as compared with the first six years,
1.075 (5.20-4.125) billion cum less water flew into the lake, out
of which 0.519 (1.411-0.892) billion cum through “Arpa-Sevan” tunnel
in 20011-13.

From: A. Papazian