‘Fight for justice and recognition is our fight’ – French President on Armenian Genocide

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French President Emmanuel Macron attended the annual gala dinner of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France.

The dinner was also attended by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Lyon Mayor Georges Képénékian, Members of Parliament, ethnic Armenian lawmaker Patrick Devedjian, as well as the representatives of the Armenian and Jewish communities of France. Ethnic Armenian lawmaker of the Turkish Parliament Garo Paylan was an honorary guest of the gala dinner.

During his remarks President Macron touched upon a number of issues concerning the Armenian community, including the Armenian Genocide and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

“The fight for justice and recognition is our fight. We carry out this fight by remembering and fixing a genocide commemoration day in the Republic’s calendar”, Macron said, adding that a decision on this issue will be adopted in the coming months.

As for the relations with Turkey, the French President said he will try to engage Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a regular dialogue: “Sometimes contrary to media desires”. “I have told him everything. Our result in this sense is the release of a number of journalists. There are a lot of well-grounded doubts over dialogue with Turkey, but in my opinion the results show that the message of France is not addressed in emptiness”, Emmanuel Macron said.

The French President warmly welcomed Garo Paylan, stating that his voice is heard sometimes in an unequal atmosphere, but it is much more important than the loud statements of many others.

Azerbaijan to blacklist Swedish MEP for visiting Karabakh

Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire
 Monday 7:58 PM MSK
Azerbaijan to blacklist Swedish MEP for visiting Karabakh
 BAKU. Jan 29
Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member of the European Parliament (MEP),
will be added to the list of foreign citizens, who visited 'the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan' illegally.
"While the member states of the European Union suffer from
manifestations of aggressive separatism and the European Union and the
European Parliament support sovereignty and territorial integrity of
countries participating in the Eastern Partnership program,
Adaktusson's visit to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan
[Nagorno-Karabakh] and contacts with the criminal regime created in
these lands defy explanation. Adaktusson will be added to the black
list," Hikmet Hajiyev, the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry, said.
"It is especially shameful that Adaktusson's visit was held with the
involvement and financial support of the Armenian lobby in Brussels
engaged in the nefarious trade in diamonds and money laundering," he
said.
In addition to violating the Azerbaijani laws and principles of
international law by his illegal visit, Adaktusson has also hindered
efforts of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at settling the
Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, Hajiyev said.
"Adaktusson could have contributed to settling the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and ensuring peace in the region by
means of encouraging the successful experience of a model of autonomy
after the Aland Islands between Sweden and Finland instead of
supporting aggressive separatism and the occupation," he said.

There is no intrigue: An election without choice

Aravot, Armenia
Jan 23 2018
 
 
There is no intrigue: An election without choice
by Ruben Mehrabyan
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from the Russian edition of Aravot]
 
It has become known to the public in Armenia, who the [ruling] Republican Party [of Armenia RPA] that has an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly [Parliament] is going to nominate to the post of forth Armenian president [Armenian ambassador to the UK, Armen Sargsyan].
 
It is known that Armenian citizens will no longer elect president by direct vote as provided by the new constitution and this right is to go to parliament, which means that it is the forces that the public have voted for that will determine the candidacies for the top post in Armenia.
 
Everything is normal in terms of formalities, so to say, “according to documents” and the process as such could have been regarded as normal except for some decisive aspects and the personality that is already known to the public is of no importance here.
 
How was presidential candidate selected?
 
The RPA has an overwhelming majority, so it decides, who is to become president. However, it is essential here how they decided that it was this candidate, who was to be given preference. Who is familiar with the discussions, disputes, and the official “short list” of the candidates, of whom preference was given to precisely this person? In addition, it was announced after the closed meeting that his name would soon become known and the chairman of the RPA would soon announce it. Citizens know nothing else and it follows according to the rules of the genre that have taken shape that everything should have proceeded precisely in this manner.
 
At the same time, it is known that the RPA is not a party, where real discussions are possible and must take place. Of course, it is impossible not to take into account opinions and sentiments as well as the interests of the system and the results of the years-long selection of the personnel, but this is not about direct discussions in classical, parliamentary, modern, and European sense.
 
‘Party disease’ in Armenia
 
The RPA is no exception in this regard. This is a most important symptom of the “party disease” in Armenia that has encompassed all parties almost without exception. They have “leaders”, “chiefs”, “chief-jans [Armenian way of expressing respect for people]”, “the father of our party”, and so forth depending on taste and level. However, no matter what the constitution says and what stamp a document may bear, there can be no parliamentarianism in Armenia without eradicating these feudal and provincial features.
 
There are no longer any parties in Armenia that would stand against democracy. Even the Communist Party that advocates the idea of reverting to the Soviet Union is not against it. However, how many of the several dozens of parties in Armenia are not small Saudi Arabia or small North Korea? Fingers of one hand are probably sufficient to count them.
 
‘No intrigue’
 
On the other hand, was it worth having great expectations from the process and the result of the election of the fourth president? Given all that has happened in Armenia since the elections in 1995-1996 and taking into account the “Eurasian paradise” and the “company” Armenia has found itself in, this could hardly be expected. Should the RPA carry out a change of government with its own hands for those waiting? Or should it have given preference to someone in the opposition or someone, who would shatter the positions of today’s overwhelming majority? Of course, no. On the contrary! The decision was made within the logic of the system, which was an attempt to strengthen positions, add external lustre to the system, not to fall in the eyes of Western partners, and leave room for talk, particularly after the Armenia-EU agreement was signed.
 
Of course, there is no intrigue in all this and there could have been no intrigue. The personality of the candidate – his name – could have been the only intrigue, because the list that circulated as a “probable” list nevertheless continued to be intriguing at the personal level to a certain extent. In addition, the candidate’s promise that he was going to “think” [about to agree to the proposal or not] also made the process more intriguing. However, what is there to think about ultimately? And the government are hardly able to propose a better candidate from their “substitutes’ bench”. What can they do? Can they nominate, say, [Constitutional Court Chairman] Gagik Harutyunyan or [Foreign Minister] Edvard Nalbandyan? There was a moment, when it seemed intriguing that, as [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan said, a person, who has not been involved in politics, should be the candidate… [ellipsis as published] However, when the name of the candidate became known soon after, a question was raised: What was he involved in if not politics, when he held the political post of prime minister? Moreover, representing Armenia is the UK as the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, the candidate also represents political decisions of Yerevan, politics, and interests. Is this anything other than politics?
 
It is another issue, when they discuss whether he is a member of the party [RPA] or not. Yes, the candidate was not a party member and is not a party member. However, it is no longer interesting whether he has a membership document or not, as he is running [in the election] as the candidate of the ruling party. In addition, as Armenia is switching to the parliamentary system of governance, it must be said that politics can no longer be non-partisan, of course, if it is about classical and real parliamentarianism, not a mutation. And this remark is not at all abstract. The USSR and Mao’s China were also a kind of parliamentary countries run by one party that had its “fathers”. But no, Armenia is not China as well as it is not Russia no matter how much they may speak or dream about “fathers”. So let us put them aside.
 
Yes, there is no intrigue and there is going to be no intrigue either and Armenia will have its fourth president one way or another. The intrigue is in another place. And this is a question of national security and a challenge to political forces and the state rather than an intrigue: The lack of parties ready to function and congruent with the objectives of political parties in the parliamentary system.

Women in Armenia are postponing having children due to financial problems

JAM News
Jan 10 2018

Over the past 25 years, the average age of women having their first child has …

Over the past 25 years, the average age of women having their first child has been increasing. According to official data, in 1990 women gave birth to their first child at age 23, and at 25 in 2016. The number of women having their first child in the 35-39 and 40-44 age ranges have increased as well.

Specialists believe that the main reasons for this are social problems. Women don’t want to have children because they receive low salaries, or because their husbands can’t adequately provide for the family’s needs.

Varduhi Gevorgyan, chairwoman of the NGO Union of Progressive Women told JAMnews that women mostly give birth around the same age as when they get married, and are deliberately getting married later now.

“There are couples that get married, but don’t want to have children because they don’t consider themselves to be well-off, and worry that they will not be able to provide for a child’s minimum needs. Many young people don’t have an apartment and put off getting married until they can solve their housing issue. Girls used to agree to live with their in-laws, but now young people prefer to live separately. So, they wait until they have an apartment,” Varduhi Gevorgyan said.

One specialist noted that women are often marrying later because career development is important to them and because they can’t find a suitable partner because in Armenia there are fewer men than women. Another reason for late childbirth is men emigrating in order to earn money abroad.

7 years-old Albert’s song from border (video)

7 years-old Albert Qartashyan,  who lives in the town of Berd in Tavush province, wishes peace. It’s hard for him to describe by words what is piece, so he just smiles.

He likes to sing, and this song dedicates everyone who keeps the border. The film is shot in the village of Movses.

The acquisition and introduction of new weapons have significantly changed the ways of conducting battle. Ministry of Defense

  • 06.01.2018
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On January 5, the final discussions of the project of the seven-year plan for the modernization of the armed forces continued at the Monte Melkonyan Military Training College of the RA Ministry of Defense, which was attended by representatives and experts of the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces and the leadership of the Armed Forces, legislative and executive bodies, public sector.


This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia.


Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Sargsyan briefly presented the main directions and most important principles of the project of modernization of the armed forces.


The minister emphasized that the existing technical and technological progress, the acquisition and introduction of new weapons have significantly changed the ways of conducting battle, making it more rapid and short-lived. Taking into account the existing challenges and the need to maintain the balance of power, during the development of the seven-year plan, all possible options for the development of actions were predicted, the ways of countering them were outlined, and the necessary conditions were created for the most effective management of resources.


Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Colonel-General Movses Hakobyan, Deputy Minister of Defense – Chairman of the RAPC Davit Pakhchanyan also made reports.


The participants of the discussions, emphasizing the work done in the direction of the development of the fundamental document for the modernization of the armed forces, presented their recommendations and observations.


Let’s remind that in 2017 On October 24, Serzh Sargsyan, during the session announcing the launch of the new educational program of the National Defense Research University of the Ministry of Defense, instructed the RA Minister of Defense to develop a seven-year plan for the modernization of the army, which is intended to bring the effectiveness of the management system of the armed forces to a new, exceptional level of quality, as well as the level of readiness and combat capability of the armed forces.

President of Artsakh awards athletes who achieved outstanding results

Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Thursday
President of Artsakh awards athletes who achieved outstanding results
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. A solemn ceremony of awarding
Artsakh athletes with prize money who achieved outstanding results in
various national and international championships and competitions in
2017 took place in the Artsakh Republic President's Residence on
December 28.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Artsakh
President’s Office, the Head of the State characterized the year of
2017 the one of serious achievements in the sports field for our
republic with Artsakh athletes registering victories and winning
medals in world, Europe and the Republic of Armenia championships.
"Today we can state that our republic has fully-formed sports schools
ready to deal with problems they face. Small Artsakh, indeed, has
occupied its well-deserved place in the international sports arena,
and our victories are the conspicuous examples of it. Healthy,
physically strong, educated, ambitious and patriotic youth are our
people's pride and dignity, reliable defenders of our state, the
biggest potential of the country's natural development and
reinforcement", underlined Bako Sahakyan in his speech. President
Sahakyan wished all the awardees new achievements adding that the
attention the state focused on physical culture and sports development
would further on bear continuous and ongoing character.

Bus crashes into the crowd (video)

The bus entered underground passage of “Slavyansk Bulyvar” Moscow metro station. There are victims and injured, Ria Novostireports.

According to preliminary data, the bus entered the underground passage and injured people.

According to some data, four people died and fifteen are injured.

The circumstances of the accident are investigating.

Press: NATO-RA relations will be the focus of Russia’s attention

  • 21.12.2017
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VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.


“Hraparak” newspaper writes: “Serzh Sargsyan this year, for the last time, as the country’s president, he will address the Armenian people with a New Year’s message. Who is entrusted with that mission after 2018: the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia or the President of the Republic of Armenia? The point is that in parliamentary countries the president addresses the people. who will be Gagik Harutyunyan, Edward Nalbandyan? or Arkady Ghukasyan? (their names are being circulated as candidates) will they appeal to the people or another “fourth” – the prime minister – we asked the “father” of the constitution Farewell to Tovmasyan: “It will be difficult to say. the issue is not subject to legal regulation. By the way, even today it is not established that the president of the republic addresses the people with a message.” How will it be? “It is not the end of the world. Now either the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, or the Prime Minister sends a message.” Mr. Tovmasyan, the “strong” message was a reference to the head of state at the very last second. By the way, now when the president goes somewhere, the streets are closed so that Gagik Harutyunyan becomes the president, go somewhere, should the streets be closed or will the streets be closed for the prime minister? “For each of the procedural issues, separate decisions are made by the bodies providing the relevant services on how to proceed.”


“Publication” the newspaper writes. “This year, not a hot autumn, but a winter is expected. The MPs will hardly rest, the extraordinary session ends today, but the next four-day session of the National Assembly starts on January 15. The problem is that the regular election of the president of the republic is held not earlier than 40, and not later than 30 days before the end of the president’s powers. This means that the parliament should elect a new president at the beginning of March next year, between February 28 and March 10. And immediately after the election of the president, the government will automatically resign.”


“time” the newspaper writes. “The confusion that took place yesterday in the National Assembly regarding the voting of the package of projects on making amendments and additions to the RA Judicial Code and several related laws can be given several characteristics: legal, to put it mildly, incompetence, conflict of legal “minds”, conflict of personal relations, etc. When the Speaker of the National Assembly presented the draft for discussion, he did not read that it was a constitutional draft, it was provided to him that way, because the draft was also discussed in the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, whose chairman is a lawyer by profession. Hrayr Tovmasyan is


D. Harutyunyan reminds that this draft is not a new code arising from the Constitution, but only a bill to amend the existing Judicial Code. It should be noted that since the process of constitutional amendments and even earlier, information was circulating that Davit Harutyunyan and Hrayr Tovmasyan there is a sharp contradiction between In recent years, within the government, as lawyers, they have been rivals, they have held the same positions in different departments: the positions of the Minister of Justice, the chairman of the NA Committee on State and Legal Affairs, and they have been opponents. And D. Harutyunyan did not miss the opportunity and, as a specialist, “gave him the opportunity”.


“People” the newspaper writes: Prosecutor of Shirak marz Karen Gabrielyan the mayor of Gyumri is submitting the second application Samvel Balasanyandrawing the latter’s attention to the solution of the most important issues. Back on December 12, he applied for the proper performance of the snow removal works on the city streets, simultaneously examining the issue of holding accountable the officials who failed in this case. A few days ago, he applied to ensure the safety of the population in relation to regulating the working hours of night clubs. In the conversation with the “Zhoghovurd” daily, the prosecutor claimed that the mayor has not yet responded to his letters. “We will receive the answer to the letter, we will decide what actions we will take later,” to the officials of the sector the prosecutor said about holding him accountable.”


“Zhamanak” newspaper writes: According to the information of “Zhamanak”, after the voting of the Judicial Code, Tsarukyan gathered the deputies of the alliance to him and instructed in a strict tone that during the second reading of the code, the deputies of the alliance should vote in favor of the code. Tsarukyan was angered by the fact that the representatives of his faction followed the deputies of “Yelk” and at their urging not only voted against the code, but also left the session hall. If this scenario becomes a reality, then Napoleon Azizyan will be able to rebuke the members of the faction for betrayal and wrong voting.”


“Fact” the daily writes. Ruben Grigoryan, who was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Assembly on November 15, presented to the Ethics Committee of High-Ranking Officials his intention to assume the position in 2017. the declaration. The newly appointed Grigoryan declared two apartments and a “VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG 4.2″ car. As of the day of assuming the position, he also had loans that amounted to 200 thousand US dollars. The monetary means had the following picture: 22 million AMD, 70 thousand American dollars and 12 thousand euros. From the beginning of the year to November 15, Grigoryan had an income of 8 million 215 thousand drams, of which 4 million is the interest received on loans, and the rest is the sum of three different salaries.”


“168 hours” the newspaper writes. Summing up the past year, the President of the Composers’ Union Aram Satyan, as in 2017 the first important event was the 85-year jubilee of the union. “Within the framework of the jubilee year, we held a never-before-seen big festival, which consisted of more than 10 concerts, including mono, symphonic, chamber, children’s, pop genres. The important thing is that the composers are able to work and bring their work to the audience.”


According to him, as expected, the year was not particularly different from the previous ones. many composers were awarded this year. While Mr. Satyan was listing the name of a colleague who received this or that award, “168 Hours” reminded that he is also among the awardees with a first degree medal for services to the Motherland. “To be honest, it was unexpected for me, I never thought about it, will they give, will they give… We have a cult of titles, but nothing is determined by the title, but by recognition, by the work done.” Mr. Satyan is concerned that our real values ​​have been replaced by other values. “By awarding Armenian a title, a change in value is made. When the values ​​are violated, it is natural that in such a situation the work we do is presented differently. It is natural that Armenchik will not be presented at the “Grammy”, but he can calmly appear at the award ceremony. If Armenchik reads this publication, then next year he will appear at the “Grammy” and may also receive that award.”


Speaking about the creative house of Dilijan, the speaker said that works are being carried out and still need to be continued. “For five years, we signed a contract with private individuals, which had to be done so that the creative house of Dilijan composers would not collapse. Five cottages have been renovated, three more are planned to be renovated in the near future. Thanks to this cooperation, the members of the Composers’ Union can organize their vacations there for free for two months during the year, in spring and autumn. Under the contract, the renovating party receives most of the income generated from the rental of the cottages. For each cottage, the repairing party transfers 50,000 drams per month to the Union of Composers, the rest of the income remains for itself. This is a useful cooperation both for the Composers’ Union, for the preservation of Dilijan’s creative house, and for the other side.”


“168 hours” the newspaper writes. “The limitations of RA-NATO relations naturally refer to possible deep cooperation or membership, which has no prospect, but NATO-RA relations will be in the center of Russia’s attention and I think Russia will react if necessary. The following is happening: an attempt is being made to raise NATO-RA relations to the level of EU-RA relations. Regarding RA-EU relations, both the EU and RA had illusions, after the Ukrainian crisis everything was settled, I think that this mistake will not be repeated in the case of NATO-RA relations, Russia will not tolerate if Armenia hands over its security sphere to the West, its attempt was made in 2013, it was prevented, I think the same thing will not happen again, this is what Russian military analyst Pavel said in a conversation with “168 Hours”. Felgengauer, referring to NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller’s observation that the intensity and speed of RA-NATO relations depends on the Armenian side. According to the latter, in case of Russia-USA confrontation, third parties should show caution in order not to be misunderstood. According to the Russian military expert, Armenia is Russia’s strategic partner, the CSTO is a military structure that imposes some restrictions, but does not prohibit cooperation with other similar structures.”


“Publication” the newspaper writes. “As a result of personnel changes made in the Revenue Committee, it turned out that the SRC tax department is almost completely managed by the “Mashtots clan”, which was created in the late 1990s by Gagik Khachatryan, where the young Khachatryan was appointed the head of the tax department for the first time and formed his team. Here were Tigran Zakaryan, who is now the head of the SRC organization and control department, Rafik Mashadyan, who is now the head of the tax inspection-department of small taxpayers, Gohar Arabajyan, who is now the head of service department No. 20, Edik Gspoyan, who is now the head of the department of inspection of large and medium taxpayers. In fact, the heads of the key departments are Khachatryan’s cadres, not counting the dozens of heads and inspectors who are descended from Mashtots and who became part of the team thanks to patronage and marriages. Khachatryan left, but the great Khachatryan team won the inter-clan war.”

Book: Stefan Ihrig and Abraham Terian Receive NAASR’s Aronian Armenian Studies Book Prizes

The Armenian Weekly
Dec 18 2017
 
 
Stefan Ihrig and Abraham Terian Receive NAASR’s Aronian Armenian Studies Book Prizes
 
By Contributor on
 
BEMONT, Mass.—The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) announced on Dec. 14, that Dr. Stefan Ihrig and Dr. Abraham Terian have been awarded the 2017 Dr. Sona Aronian Book Prizes for Excellence in Armenian Studies.
 
NAASR announced on Dec. 14 that Dr. Stefan Ihrig and Dr. Abraham Terian have been awarded the 2017 Dr. Sona Aronian Book Prizes for Excellence in Armenian Studies
 
NAASR’s Aronian Book Prizes were established in 2014 by the late Dr. Aronian and Dr. Geoffrey Gibbs, to be awarded annually to an outstanding scholarly works in the English language in the field of Armenian Studies and translations from Armenian into English.  The 2017 awards are for books published in the year 2016.
 
Ihrig was awarded the prize for a monograph for his book Justifying Genocide: Germany and the Armenians from Bismarck to Hitler (Harvard University Press), while Terian won for a translation of a literary work, The Festal Works of St. Gregory of Narek: Annotated Translation of the Odes, Litanies, and Encomia (Pueblo Books). Each book has been hailed by readers and researchers, with, for example, Yehuda Bauer praising Ihrig’s work as “a major contribution to the study of German attitudes to the Armenian Genocide,” and James R. Russell stating that of Terian’s translation that “all subsequent work on Narekats‘i will be measured by its high standard.”
 
The announcement of the prizes was made by NAASR Director of Academic Affairs Marc Mamigonian on at NAASR’s Belmont headquarters during the NAASR Christmas Open House. Thanking fellow members of the selection committee for the awards Dr. Christina Maranci, Dr. Bedross Der Matossian, and Dr. Vartan Matiossian, Mamigonian noted the difficulty in choosing among a number of outstanding works in both categories, but that this was “a wonderful problem to have since it means that good work is being done by scholars and translators.”
 
In an e-mail, Abraham Terian expressed his “deep gratitude to NAASR and, in particular, to Dr. Sona Aronian for establishing this special prize for excellence in Armenian Studies… While we venerate our martyred saints of a hundred years ago, let us not forget our great Saint of a thousand years ago, as Pope Francis reminded us on the Genocide Centennial.”
 
Stefan Ihrig, also via e-mail, wrote that “I am very humbled to be awarded the Sonia Aronian Prize and thank NAASR and my wonderful colleagues in the field of Armenian Studies. I have so far only spent a few years of my life working on the Armenian Genocide and yet they have been among the most meaningful of them all. I have seen and better understood the meaning of courage. Working on the Armenian Genocide means not only working on an immensely important and difficult topic, it also means exposing oneself to attacks and slander by those threatened by our findings, interpretations, and opinions. All too often, we find ourselves taking many of the hardest steps alone. Meeting with colleagues from all over the world, including from Turkey, over the years, I felt a little less alone. And again, with this recognition, I feel a little less alone.”