21:48,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28 ARMENPRESS. The number of deaths caused by novel coronavirus in the world reaches the threshold of 5 million, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Worldometer website.
According to the source, 4,992,387 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide and more than 246 million people have been infected since the outbreak.
The number of deaths had reached 4 million in July.
Three horses of one of the residents of Khnatsakh village of Tegh community of Syunik Province of Armenia have crossed over to the Azerbaijani side; two have returned, but one is still on the adversary’s side. This is what representative of the administration of Khnatsakh Anushavan Hovakimyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
“They took three horses this morning, two of which escaped and came back. They probably tied one horse, the other two escaped and approached our military post. Our border guard called me on the phone and told me to tell the shepherd to go and take the horses,” Hovakimyan informed.
Hovakimyan said he and the residents have informed the Armenian and Russian border guards, who are working on returning the other horse.
“The cattle go and find themselves on the Azerbaijani side when they are released. There are distant pastures, but we can’t take the cattle there due to the snow. This is why we came down to the village. Before the war, the cattle of our village were released in the pastures that are now near the Azerbaijani side. When they are released, the cattle go to that side,” Hovakimyan stated.
There have been similar cases in the previous months, and the Armenian side had succeeded in bringing back the cattle.
11:27,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 2307 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 302,450, the ministry of healthcare reports. 15,818 COVID-19 tests were conducted on October 27. 962 patients have recovered in one day.
The total number of recoveries has reached 264,678. The death toll has risen to 6189 (38 death cases have been registered in the past one day). The number of active cases is 30,303. The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19 but died from other disease has reached 1280.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
THIS MESSAGE (MATERIAL) HAS BEEN CREATED AND (OR) DISTRIBUTED BY A FOREIGN MASS MEDIUM PERFORMING FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT, AND (OR) BY A RUSSIAN LEGAL ENTITY PERFORMING FUNCTIONS OF A FOREIGN AGENT.
Iran tried to restrict air traffic between Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (NAR), but those measures are ineffective, expert Azad Isazade notes. Iranian cargo carriers will not have any conflicts with Azerbaijani border guards on the road from Goris to Kapan, because they will wait for the opening of an alternative road, Armenian experts for Iranian studies suggest.
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on September 11, an Azerbaijani police checkpoint was opened in the border area between the Armenian cities of Goris and Kapan. In September, two Iranian truck drivers were detained by the Azerbaijani police on the charge of illegal border crossing. However, on October 21, the truck drivers were released after Iran had banned their truck drivers from passing through the territory of Armenia to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The tension between Baku and Tehran are declining, observers note.
According to Emma Bezhanyan, an expert for Iranian studies, the conflict between Iran and Azerbaijan is on the decline. The expert associates the arrest of Iranian truck drivers with the Azerbaijan’s intention to get Iran to refuse cargo transportation to Karabakh.
Goar Iskandaryan, an expert for Iranian studies, believes that the Iranian-Azerbaijani conflict is frozen. The expert notes that the development of events is related to the geopolitical situation in the region.
Saak Shakhmuradyan, a political observer for Iran, suggests that the conflict was only partially smoothed out. The expert believes that the tension between Iran and Azerbaijan remains.
Azerbaijan will continue to charge a fee from Iranian truck drivers, but carriers will refrain from transporting cargos to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh until a new road through Tatev is put into operation, Saak Shakhmuradyan adds.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 07:55 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid, Tigran Petrosyan; Source: CK correspondents
Source:
© Caucasian Knot
The solution to the issue related to the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan requires mutual concessions, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said today.
According to him, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev showed their political wisdom by stopping the bloodshed in Nagorno-Karabakh. “In spite of the whole tragedy of the current events, the two succeeded in standing above the momentary political conjuncture and made a very responsible decision. I know that, no matter how strange it sounds, the peoples of both countries have demands from their respective leaders. There are always political forces that are discontent with certain things or think they could have done more. Nevertheless, Pashinyan and Aliyev managed to stop the bloodshed. However, there are still key factors.
In particular, it is necessary to create conditions for a long-term settlement in the whole region. The conditions can only be created when the two parties accept the reached agreements as long-term and when both parties assess the advantages, and I would like to emphasize this — the advantages of peaceful co-existence. Everyone is interested in this. Azerbaijan is interested in normal communication and unblocking of links with Nakhchivan. This is one of the first problems facing Armenia. It is necessary to create an effective economy in the region establish effective cooperation, including with Azerbaijan in the future, as well as to defreeze ties with Turkey.
Russia did everything it could to stop the bloodshed, and not only. Our peacekeepers are fulfilling their duty with dignity. More than 50,000 refugees have already returned. Overall, maintaining the situation in the conflict zone is a success. Unfortunately, incidents take place, and yes, sometimes people die. Currently, the most important thing is the ultimate settlement of the situation on the border. Here, of course, nothing will be possible without Russia’s participation. However, here we don’t need anyone else. There are simple pragmatic things such as maps, which are located at the General Staff of the Russian army. These are maps that show how the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan looked during the Soviet era.
There are things that also require mutual concessions. So, it is necessary for the two parties to acknowledge and understand this. Is this possible? Yes, it is. However, of course, Russia also supports a multilateral format, including, say, intensification of the activities of the Minsk Group. We are working in this direction. The important thing is to achieve the main goal, that is, the creation of security and further construction of ties in the positive sense. We also need to look towards the future. The problem is not that the relevant article of the statement envisaged possible extension of the period of the Russian peacekeeping contingent…The question is the improvement of relations between the two countries. This is the most important thing. I hope we are able to achieve this.”
LOS ANGELES—The Promise Armenian Institute announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Armenian Film Foundation to collaborate on a range of projects that will support Armenian film and photography at the University of California, Los Angeles.
On November 18, the Promise Armenian Institute will host “Aftermath: the Armenian Earthquake of 1988,” the first online exhibit of the Armenian Image Archive, which will celebrate the work of Asadour Guzelian. Guzelian is a photographer based in the United Kingdom who went to Armenia shortly after the earthquake in 1988. This Zoom event will feature some of his photographs, which were featured in mainstream newspapers at the time.
The webinar, which is the inaugural event of this new collaboration, is co-sponsored by the UCLA Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History, the UCLA Library, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, and the Ararat-Eskijian Museum.
The Armenian Image Archive is the first of the new collaborations between PAI and AFF. This new archive has three goals — preservation, research and exhibition of Armenian photographers and photography related to Armenian subject-matter. The AIA will identify photography collections around the world, from the mid-19th century up to contemporary collections. It will provide both a repository and an ongoing platform for discourse and study about Armenian photographers.
The Armenian Film Foundation was founded by J. Michael Hagopian, Ph.D., who was instrumental, along with NAASR, in creating the first chair of Armenian Studies at UCLA. Hagopian was a lecturer at UCLA before becoming a documentary filmmaker. With his legacy in mind, the Armenian Film Foundation will support projects at UCLA that tie film and photography to a deeper understanding of Armenian history, culture, and the arts.
Joseph Malikian, Ph.D., an expert on early Armenian photography, is working closely with the Armenian Image Archive. Malikian is the author of “The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: an Anthology and a Photo History,” and an upcoming publication, “The Krikorians on Jaffa Road.”
As part of the “Malikian Collection,” Malikian has gathered vintage images and the history of many Armenian photographic studios, dating from the 1860s, including Abdullah Freres, Sebah, Sebah & Joaillier, Tarkulyan (Atelier Phebus), Iranian, Gulmez Freres, Lekegian, Krikorian, Sarrafian, Alban, Van Leo, Armand, De Mirjian, Karsh and many others. His collection contains original images from the renowned Armenian photographic studios in Armenia, Tiflis, Baku, and other parts of what was once the Russian Empire.
“The Armenian Image Archive will also identify previously unknown collections from the Armenian Genocide period,” said Carla Garapedian, Ph.D., of the Armenian Film Foundation. “Over a hundred years have passed, but there are still photos that haven’t seen the light of day.”
A rare photo from the Genocide period, Armenian Film Foundation
“The UCLA Promise Armenian Institute is very much looking forward to this new partnership with the Armenian Film Foundation. The Armenian Image Archive, as well as all future projects, will enrich the scholarly inquiry of Armenian photography and film at UCLA and make accessible to the public and the academic community footage and collections tantamount to a national treasure,” said Professor Ann Karagozian, the inaugural director of the Promise Armenian Institute. “I also want to acknowledge the UCLA Library and the UCLA Film & Television Archive for their important future role in our AFF partnership. Both organizations are international leaders in preserving and providing access to cultural heritage, and their world-class expertise will amplify the Armenian Image Archive’s work advancing our shared goals.”
The “Aftermath: the Armenian Earthquake of 1988” webinar will take place on Thursday, November 18 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Individuals interested in participating may register online. To learn more about the Promise Armenian Institute, please visit the PAI website and to learn more about the Armenian Film Foundation, please visit their website.
Asadour Guzelian was born in the United Kingdom and founded what became the Guzelian agency in 1986, after cutting his teeth for eight years with Barry Wilkinson in Bradford. He has supplied news and feature photographs to Britain’s national newspapers. Exhibitions include one-man shows at the National Museum of Photography and the Cornerhouse, Manchester. He has twice won the prestigious Yorkshire TV Photographer of the Year. Guzelian was only three years into his career when he traveled to Armenia to cover the catastrophic earthquake in 1988.
Joseph Malikian, Ph.D., is the author of “The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: An Anthology and a Photo History” and an expert on early Armenian photography. The Malikian Collection was developed in the context of the “Middle East and Armenian Photographic Project” which has been devoted to the study of the Armenian studios in the Ottoman and Russian Empires, the Middle East, Bulgaria and other countries in Europe. Throughout this period in history (1850s to 1960s), Armenian photographers dominated the industry in the cultural and commercial capitals of Europe and Asia. The primary objective of the Malikian Collection has been to identify and gather the history of these studios and to continue the collection of original images representing the work of these photographic establishments. The Armenian Image Archive will support Joseph Malikian’s seminal work.
Carla Garapedian, Ph.D., is a filmmaker and member of The Armenian Film Foundation, which has forged a new partnership with the Promise Armenian Institute – to support the study of Armenian film and filmmakers, as well as to create the Armenian Image Archive, a repository and platform for the study of Armenian photography – from early to contemporary photographers.
Last night, Armenian Americans in Fresno won a hard-earned victory. A lengthy push to name a public school within California’s third-largest school district after a local Armenian finally hit paydirt.
On a 6-0 vote, Fresno Unified School District trustees approved a move to change the name of J.C. Forkner Elementary School to H. Roger Tatarian Elementary School.
Despite a push from some of Fresno’s former Armenian elected officials and community members, one voice in the community was absent: Armenia’s Honorary Consul Berj Apkarian.
Writing as an Armenian, it’s a crying shame.
Appointed in 2014 as Fresno’s first-ever honorary consul to the Republic of Armenia, Apkarian has managed to launch a formal diplomatic presence out of Downtown Fresno’s Pacific Southwest Building.
Beyond a formal outpost, little can be said for advancing the interests of the region’s vibrant Armenian community or building anything resembling strong ties between Valley stakeholders and the Near East Republic.
This was no more apparent than last year, as Azeri and Turkish-backed forces swept into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh and drove out the native Armenian government and population, with the confrontation ending in a deeply unpopular ceasefire agreement.
The conflict reignited cultural pride in Armenian Americans not seen in some time, albeit for differing reasons.
While some Armenians saw the conflict as teetering on the verge of another Armenian genocide – with cable news outlets delivering live coverage – others saw an anemic homeland incapable of defending itself badly in need of support from its diaspora.
Beneath it, however, was a rallying cry to unite.
For weeks, hundreds of Fresno Armenians gathered on the streets of California’s fifth-largest city to protest the conflict, hoping to draw attention to the hostile military action and rally support for Armenians in the struggle.
Yet, the Republic’s primary representative in the area – Apkarian – was notably silent.
The City of Fresno is home to roughly 45,000 Armenians, with the first arriving during the Hamidian massacres of the mid-1890s, making it one of the nation’s oldest and larger outposts.
Despite facing discrimination in housing upon mass migration during the 1915 Armenian Genocide, the population has strongly assimilated to California life after four generations.
And amid the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenian community looked for someone to seize the clarion call locally.
They found it in the embrace of an unlikely figure: then-Fresno City President Miguel Arias.
Without prompting, Arias and city officials organized a flag raising ceremony to bolster awareness of the conflict half-way around the world and to convey a message to the sizable Armenian community that Fresno officials wer
In the week running up to the event, it was made clear by City Hall officials: Apkarian and his office were A.W.O.L. on the matter.
That is until the eleventh hour, as representatives of Fresno County’s five Armenian Churches (Holy Trinity, St. Paul, St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic, First Armenian Presbyterian, and Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church), agreed to join City leaders to call for a peaceful resolution in favor of Armenia amid the flag raising.
Despite failing to serve as the catalyst for the event, Apkarian delivered a speech rife with empty platitudes befitting the Republic’s military performance.
The fundamental job of a diplomat is to leverage relationships with local officials to advance the agenda and interests of the homeland. That requires active engagement, not passive participation.
At a critical hour, Apkarian failed his duty and the local Armenian community.
More than one year later, the same Armenian community rallied to seek recognition for Roger Tatarian, an historic journalistic figure who fostered the development of newsmen nationwide while running UPI and returned home to leave an indelible impact on an entire generation of Fresno State graduates.
Leading the charge here was former Fresno Unified Trustee Michelle Arax Asadoorian and her brother, author and journalist Mark Arax.
Before Fresno Unified trustees unanimously voted to change the name of J.C. Forkner Elementary to honor Tatarian, a heated debate emerged between opponents castigating the name change as the latest specter of cancel culture and Armenians pressing for a school named after a luminary from the sizable local Armenian community.
Apkarian, once again, was M.I.A.
Enough.
Fresno’s Armenian community is not monolithic. It is largely divided among five churches within this county: three Apostolic, two Protestant; it ranges from post-Soviet emigrants to fourth-generation native-born Americans; and – like all Americans – it is a community made up of Republicans and Democrats.
The push to dedicate an Honorary Consul was not to have a ceremonial ribbon cutter. It was meant to serve as a voice of the Republic of Armenia and Armenians devoid of partisanship, in all senses of the word.
Ultimately, that role offers the officeholder the ability to advance the interests of the Republic and the diasporan Armenian community here in Fresno.
Instead, we’ve found ourselves an officeholder who has yet to step up and serve as an advocate for the benefit of the community.
Armenians in the San Joaquin Valley deserve a better voice. Perhaps, one day, that voice will occupy that honorable office.
Renowned cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan will perform with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (ASSO) on the sidelines of the Armenia International Music Festival.
The concert is scheduled to be held at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan on October 15, at 8pm, ASSO reports.
The program features Ghazaros Saryan’s Symphonic Panel “Armenia”, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso, Op. 62, for cello and orchestra and Alexey Shor’s Cello Concerto in F major. The conductor is Marius Stravinsky.
01:01,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 15, ARMENPRESS. I urge everyone to refrain from spreading misinformation and the temptation to become a source of “scandalous” news. There are no other wounded or victims except the mentioned six injured, ARMENPRESS reports State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan wrote on his Facebook page.
“There were six servicemen in that particular position and all of them have been injured, while three others were away from the position and have avoided injuries.
Together with the Minister of Health, I visited the Stepanakert Military Hospital and the Republican Medical Center, followed the works of the medical staff. I’m still there. After some examinations, the doctors say that the condition of two of them is assessed as severe, but fortunately, noone’s life is under risk”, Beglaryan wrote.
The Defense Army reported that in the evening of October 14, the Azerbaijani armed forces opened fire at a military position of the Defense Army located in the eastern border of the Artsakh Republic, as a result of which six servicemen received gunshot injuries.
According to the Defense Army, shootings were reported at some other parts of the line of contact, but there were no other casualties. Now the situation has stabilized along the entire line of contact.
The State Minister wrote that the political and military leadership of Artsakh is taking emergency steps to stabilize the situation by making the necessary decisions and communicating with the relevant parties.
“I ask our compatriots to be calm, not to give in to false information and gossip. The relevant bodies will provide operative and regular information on the further development of the situation,” he wrote.