Month: April 2016

George Clooney, Co-Chair of the ‪‎Aurora Prize‬ Selection Committee,  visited the Ararat Legendary Armenian Brandy factory today together with 100 LIVES Co-Founder Ruben Vardanyan.

In the evening of April 24, Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, Aurora Prize Selection Committee Co-Chair, George Clooney, will present the $100,000 grant to the inaugural Aurora Prize Laureate.

The Laureate will then invite his or her nominated organization(s) to the stage to receive the $1 million award.

On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Prize celebrates the strength of the human spirit that compels action is the face of adversity.

The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually on April 24 of each year in Yerevan, Armenia.

Asbarez – Documentary “Orphans of the Genocide” will be featured on April 24 at 1:30 p.m. PT on KCET, while documentary “Uprooted” will premiere at 8 p.m. ET/PT nationwide on Link TV (DirecTV Channel 375 and Dish Network Channel 9410) and at 7 p.m. PT in Southern California on KCET.

“Orphans of the Genocide,” Emmy award-winning Director Bared Maronian’s critically-acclaimed documentary, sheds light on crimes against humanity and tells part of a larger story of the Armenian genocide of 1915 through the eyes of some of its more than 130,000 orphaned children. The documentary focuses on one orphanage, Antoura, where 1,000 children orphaned by the Armenian genocide lived and were forcefully converted to Turkish beliefs and culture during World War I. The film features never-before-seen archival footage as well as recently discovered memoirs of orphans.

“Uprooted” is a documentary from Producer and Director Hagop Goudsouzian that traces the evolution of Armenian culture, identity and heritage. Research in “Uprooted” weaves together stories in an attempt to answer the question of what being Armenian means in America today. Goudsouzian’s personal and passionate film features interviews with expert sources who continue to delve into the critical elements of Armenian identity.

As an additional way for KCET and Link TV programming to amplify the importance of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, viewers who tune-in to the broadcast will have the opportunity to receive DVD copies of “Uprooted” as a gift for a $60 donation, or acclaimed filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian’s DVD trilogy set of “Armenian Exile, My Son Shall Be Armenian” and “Uprooted” for a $150 donation.

In addition to the broadcast documentaries, KCET.org is offering multimedia content that showcases stories that allow users to further explore more history on Armenian heritage:

–I Am Armenian: The Intriguing Life of Aurora Mardiganian
–Visiting With Huell Howser: Armenian Christmas Meal, [www.kcet.org/shows/visiting-with-huell-howser/episodes/armenian-christmas-meal]
–Subtle Commemoration: Pasadena’s Armenian Genocide Memorial, [www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/subtle-commemoration-pasadenas-armenian-genocide-memorial]
–Armenian-American Artists Reflect the Diaspora Experience, [www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/armenian-american-artists-reflect-the-diaspora-experience]

Andrew E. Kramer

On a crystalline spring morning, Iosif Adamyan sipped coffee on the veranda of his guesthouse, overlooking a pear orchard in bloom and, in the distance, a range of snowy mountains.

In this picturesque spot, he entertains guests from England, France and Russia; in fact, people from “the whole world,” wind up here, he said, with the peculiarity that many of them speak Armenian.

At the stately Hotel Armenia, which caters to the diaspora visiting the capital of the disputed mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, dear to the hearts of Armenians everywhere, the dining room clings to the traditional starched tablecloths and, of course, aged Armenian cognac.

“Karabakh is the cradle of Armenia,” said Lyudmila A. Oganyesyan, the director of School No. 3, beautifully restored in a facade of tan, locally quarried stone and paid for, naturally, by a wealthy Armenian benefactor, in this case an insurance executive from Moscow.

For being the capital of a war-afflicted former Soviet splinter region, a category of places better known for mud and misery, Stepanakert, with a population of 50,000 or so, is surprisingly livable.

Throughout the city, which went onto a war footing this month during three days of fighting with Azerbaijan’s military, signs of the careful attention and largess of a wealthy diaspora are everywhere: a new hospital rising on a hillside; smooth new asphalt on the road into town.

This support from the broader world of Armenian émigrés, not least from the large community in Southern California, adds an improbable metropolitan flair to the tiny republic of Karabakh and its capital.

The city still has some rough edges, beginning with the six-hour drive to get there on endless switchbacks that take you past a parade of burned and abandoned villages of the Armenians’ enemies, the Azerbaijanis, and terrifying thousand-foot cliffs. In its mountain perch, the region is surrounded, marooned in Azerbaijan, with this road the only supply route. No airport functions.

The sustenance from the diaspora makes all the difference. Funds flowed in from the late Kirk Kerkorian, the California financier. A Swiss-Armenian built a sturgeon farm called the Golden Fish. California and six other American states have recognized the splinter republic, though the federal government and in fact no other country have.

During the fighting, Stepanakert’s main square — immaculately paved, with stunning views of an alpine valley — became a hub of excitement for young and old alike.

Jeeps wheeled about, screeched to a stop for soldiers to hop in. An old veteran from the 1991-94 war stood nearby to see them off, the empty right sleeve of his jacket carefully ironed and tucked into a pocket.

David Agamalyan, 14, stood with two friends gaping at the armed men and bustle. In this city, any boy on the street has two numbers on the tip of his tongue, his age and his best time for disassembling and reassembling a Kalashnikov rifle, a skill that is taught in schools from age 13.

David’s best time is 27 seconds, certainly a feat considering all the springs and rods and sheet metal parts involved. Girls are taught first aid. Both boys and girls are taught to march and stand at attention.

At School No. 3, children’s drawings adorning the walls show in crayon and colored pencil the smoldering fight that is all they have ever known: a tank in a mountain landscape; men marching with rifles.

All boys join the army. Asked whom he would fight in four years when he signs up, David shrugged at the ridiculous question. “Our neighbor, of course,” he said.

Photo: Getty Images

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the South Caucasus, including Armenia has been postponed, the Organization’s office in Armenia said.

“The Secretary-General has a keen interest in the South Caucasus region so his visit will be rescheduled,” Officer-in-Charge at UN Department of Public Information Armineh Haladjian said.

It was earlier reported that Ban would arrive in Armenia on April 25 as part of his official visit to the South Caucasus countries.

Armenian Ambassador to Lebanon Samvel Mkrtchian laid the responsibility for recent violence in Nagorno-Karabakh squarely at the feet of Azerbaijan, urging the Azeri leadership to respect the cease-fire and re-engage in the peace talks administered by the OSCE. “These recent events, unfortunate and very deplorable events, at the beginning of April, the so-called Four Day War, was undoubtedly launched by the Azeri side in order to impose its will yet another time on Nagorno-Karabakh’s people,” Mkrtchian told Wednesday in an interview at the Armenian Embassy in Mtaileb.

“It has been already quite some time since Azeri leadership at the top level, including the president himself, have [used] very harsh rhetoric, and during the last [few] years Azerbaijan has increased its military budget 10 to 20 times and acquired and purchased new armaments. They were not making any secret that they might resort to a military solution of this conflict,” the Ambassador said.

Mkrtchian said Azerbaijan may have breached the cease-fire out of a desire to divert attention from problems at home created by falling oil prices.

“The danger which has been … pointed at by different experts is that if the Azerbaijani revenues from oil decline, they might resort to a military solution. Probably it is linked now also to the recent escalation, because with the drop of the price of oil in international markets, Azerbaijan is experiencing really hard problems with its economy, with its financial situation, which are further exacerbated with the restrictions on human rights and freedoms in the society,” he said.

“The recent events might indicate that the Azeri leadership tried for this escalation on the line of contact to deviate the public opinion form those internal problems.”

Mkrtchian also said that the recent fighting overlapped with revelations of massive corruption involving Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his family.

“The coincidences in this are exemplary. The recent escalation came exactly on those dates when the Panama Papers became public,” the ambassador remarked.

Mkrtchian said he was pleased the international community moved quickly to call for the violence to stop. “There was a unanimous reaction coming [from] around the world that this conflict has no military solution and the only way to move forward and have lasting peace is to go back to the table of negotiations.”

The ambassador said he did not know if the recent deterioration of relations between regional powers Turkey and Russia played any role in the clashes, but called Turkey’s absolute support for Azerbaijan detrimental to negotiations.

“With their unequivocal backing of the Azerbaijani position, Turkey directly or indirectly encourages the other side to stick to a harsh position during the negotiations and not be inclined to make the required and necessary compromises in order to have a solution,” Mkrtchian said.

He had kinder words for Moscow, an Armenian ally that ultimately facilitated a halt to the fighting. “The Russian Federation never shows any unequivocal support for the Armenian or for the Azeri side, they try to keep the balance.”

Russia is the primary arms supplier for both countries, and has said it would continue to provide such military support, citing the value of deterrence and maintaining an equality of arms. Its position precipitated protests at the Russian embassy in Yerevan last week.

“That made the Armenian side extremely unhappy. … We expressed our concern in regard to Russia’s selling armaments to the other side, especially when those armaments are of offensive nature,” the ambassador said. “That’s a real concern for the Armenian side.”

Mkrtchian repeatedly emphasized Armenia’s support for the conflict resolution efforts pursued by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Minsk Process.

He blamed Azerbaijan for not embracing the framework outlined in the peace talks and for rejecting overtures from both the OSCE and Armenia to provide for the independent monitoring of cease-fire violations. But the ambassador said he was confident that the 22-year-old process was the best way to bring resolution to the conflict.

“It is really our hope that the peaceful negotiation process will be revived, and a new impetus will be brought into this process,” he said, citing the upcoming visit of U.N. General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to the area as a sign of increased international engagement.

Mkrtchian sounded an optimistic note on the long-term prospects for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We are neighbors; we are not going to go away from this area. It’s extremely unfortunate that we cannot live peacefully side-by-side and to normally trade and normally interact, because we are natural economic partners and both sides will benefit from that kind of relationship.”

Following the recent large-scale act of aggression by the Azeri regime against the citizens of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), the Armenian Armed Forces demonstrated their determination and resolve in defending their ancestral homeland. As a result, the enemy suffered hundreds of casualties and approximately $170 million of loss in military hardware.

An all-Boston concert on Fri., April 29, will feature a number of artists and musicians from our community. All parties have donated their time and services, and the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center (ACEC) has graciously provided the Hovnanian Hall free of charge for this event, the reports.

The list of performers is growing, as is the list of the event sponsors. As of this writing, the event is co-sponsored by the ACEC, ARF “Sardarabad” Gomideh, Armenian Relief Society (ARS) “Leola Sassouni” and “Shushi” Chapters, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Greater Boston “Nejdeh” Chapter, Hamazkayin-Boston, Boston Homenetmen, St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church and School, and the Tekeyan Cultural Association.

The performers list includes Jasmine Atabekyan, the Arev Ensemble, the John Berberian Ensemble, Sevag Khatchadourian, Maroukhian Trio, Gegham Margarian, Meghri Choir, Shahan Nercessian, Markos Shahbazyan, and the Zangakner Children’s Choir.

One-hundred percent of the funds collected through this benefit concert will go directly to the NKR Ministry of Finance’s bank account to support fellow Armenians in need.

The flame for the Olympic Games in Brazil has been lit in southern Greece, the BBC reports.

It will be taken by various runners on an international torch relay that will culminate at the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August.

The ritual was established eight decades ago for the Berlin Games.

The lighting ceremony took place in Ancient Olympia, where the games took place for more than 1,000 years. A priestess performed it, focusing the sun’s rays on a metal torch.

The flame was kindled on Thursday by Greek actress Katerina Lehou.

The torch will now begin a six-day relay across Greece, passing through the town of Marathon – which which gave its name to the long distance race – as well as a camp for refugees and migrants in Athens, the International Olympic Committee has said.

The flame is due to arrive in Brazil on 3 May for a 100-day relay across the country, travelling through 500 cities and villages in every Brazilian state.

It will be carried by about 12,000 torch bearers.

German Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Frank-Walter Steinmeier had a meeting with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs James Warlick, Igor Popov and Pierre Andrieu and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Discussions focused on the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

 

 

 

A group of young people rallied in front of the government building today, urging Armenians to refuse from goods of Turkish production.

Participants of the action inform that the goods imported from Turkey start with the code 869 and advise customers to pay attention to the figures.

Protesters  say they have even discovered Azerbaijani goods in Armenian shops.

As a sign of protest, the participants threw Turkish goods into the dustbin.

 

The Regional Assembly of Sicily became the 105^th local self-government body in Italy to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In a resolution unanimously adopted by the Assembly on April 20 the lawmakers express their solidarity with the struggle of the Armenian people aimed at recognition of the historic reality.

The resolution calls on the Sicilian regional authorities and the national government to support the events aimed at recognition of the Armenian Genocide and disseminate information about historic facts for the sake of peace, democracy and the right of peoples of self-determination.

The measure was authored by MPs Cordaro Salvatore, (D’Asero Antonino, Papale Alfio and Grasso Bernadette Felice.