Author: Alex Jidarian

Turkish gov’t warns Armenia: Yerevan will not be able to normalize relations with Ankara, making claims on the Armenian Genocide

Alex Jidarian
Arminfo, Armenia
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.The Turkish government continues to insist that there was no Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Thus, on the eve of the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,  the Turkish government made another statement, which is quoted by  Azerbaijani Trend.

Thus, the Turkish executive authority publicly stated that allegedly  they say Armenia is “afraid” to open its archives in 1915, because  after that the whole world will receive evidence that the events of  1915 are not genocide, but “extermination and genocide of the Muslim  population in the Ottoman empire by the Armenians. ” At the same  time, the Turkish government forgot that the documentary evidence of  the Armenian Genocide is presented in the Genocide Museum Institute  in Tsitsernakaberd, and anyone, including the Turks, can come and  familiarize themselves with this documentation.

Turkey also complained that Armenia refused to set up a joint  independent commission to investigate the events of that period.   “Ankara addressed Yerevan in 2005 on the opening of the archives of  1915 and the creation of an independent commission. If the events of  1915 were really an Armenian genocide, Yerevan would be ready to open  these archives,” the Turkish government assured, justify the policy  of denial pursued by Ankara for decades.

At the same time, the Turkish government went further and assured  that all the claims of the Armenians regarding the events of 1915 do  not have a legal basis. “In the archives of Turkey, there are  thousands of facts about how Armenian gangs, with the support of  external forces, killed civilians in the provinces of Agra, Kars,  Erzrum, Van, as well as Turkish government officials during the  Ottoman Empire,” the Turkish government said, forgetting to mention  as millions of Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks were brutally  murdered or deported from their original places of residence.

For more convincing, the Turkish executive body stressed that, unlike  Turkey, they say that there is still hostility and hatred towards the  Turks in Armenia.

“While not a single Turk lives in Armenia, Armenians live in Turkey  peacefully and without any problems.  Multinationality is one of the  main assets of Turkey,” the Turkish government said, concluding by  saying that all actions Armenian lobby against Turkey, in the first  place, harm the interests of Armenians, who live in “poverty” in  Armenia itself.

“The Armenian authorities, instead of thinking about the benefits of  the genocide industry, should think about the future of their people.   If the Armenian lobby believes that by influencing the parliaments of  Western countries, it can somehow put pressure on Ankara, then it is  greatly mistaken. Yerevan simply will not be able to normalize  relations with Ankara, making claims of genocide, “concluded the  Turkish government.

Does Tsarukyan drive around in a Range Rover with diplomatic license plates of Belarus? FIP:

Alex Jidarian
  • 15.04.2019

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  • Armenia:

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PAP leader, RA NA MP Gagik Tsarukyan went to Ararat Marz in a Range Rover car, the license plate of which is diplomatic: “36 D009 AM” and belongs to the Embassy of Belarus in RA. This is reported by the Fact-checking platform.


“A video was posted on Gagik Tsarukyan’s Facebook page about his visit to Ararat region.


As can be seen in the video, RA NA MP Gagik Tsarukyan went to this meeting in a Range Rover car, the license plate of which is diplomatic: “36 D009 AM” and belongs to the Embassy of Belarus in RA.


Cars with diplomatic number plates have a certain privilege in Armenia. The traffic police does not stop these cars, these cars are also exempt from administrative fines.


It is noteworthy that, according to numerous press publications, the relations between the leader of the PAP party, Gagik Tsarukyan, and the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, are very warm. Lukashenko even participated in the opening ceremony of the church built by Tsarukyan in Abovyan,” the article says, as posted on the Facebook page of the Fact Check platform.

‘Our mission is to help children suffering cancer in Armenia’: PM’s spouse attends gala celebration in LA

Alex Jidarian

‘Our mission is to help children suffering cancer in Armenia’: PM’s spouse attends gala celebration in LA

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11:51, 8 April, 2019

YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS. Anna Hakobyan, spouse of Prime Minister of Armenia, chair of the Board of Trustees of the City of Smile Charitable Foundation, attended the 34th anniversary gala celebration of the Armenian American Medical Society on April 6, her Office told Armenpress.

Mrs. Hakobyan was accompanied by Armenia’s Ambassador to US Varuzhan Nersesyan, CEO of the City of Smile Foundation Ester Demirchyan, Armenian Consul General in Los Argeles Armen Bayburdian.

The whole proceeds during the gala celebration have been transferred to the City of Smile Charitable Foundation.

Over 800 people participated in the event, including Congressman Adam Schiff, world-renowned rock musician Serj Tankian, Mayor of Glendale Ara Najarian, former mayor of Glendale, City Council member Zareh Sinanian and others.

Anna Hakobyan was invited to the event as a keynote speaker. In her speech she thanked the organizers of the event, the Armenian American Medical Society, doctor Shant Shakherdemyan who made a lot of efforts during these months for the event to take place.

“This event has a very important mission – to help children suffering cancer in Armenia. Today we are uniting for one goal – to ensure healthy, peaceful and happy childhood for Armenian kids. 100 children in Armenia are diagnosed with cancer annually. We are here to assist these children. Together we can fight for the life of each child suffering cancer, and this is our duty not to allow their lives to stop due to absence of finance. You are more aware than me that today cancer is not the one as it was in the past. It is no longer that terrible and incurable disease as it was years ago. The humanity and you – the doctors, have found the ways of overcoming cancer. Today we mainly can win in the fight against cancer, but there are still cases when we fail, and medicine and science have not yet found the magical key against cancer for everyone”, Anna Hakobyan said, adding that the main reason is that a lot of money is needed for the battle. According to her, today mostly in rich and developed countries, for example in US, cancer is just a disease, but in less developed countries cancer and death are synonyms.

“After the Velvet revolution that took place in Armenia last year I am confident that our country will soon be included in the list of the world’s developed countries. But today, our children who suffer cancer now cannot wait for this development, our kids wait for treatment and they need our support. The City of Smile Foundation has been created to change lives, to take these lives to positive direction and return smile to children and their parents. We are starting to keep one smile at the same time bringing smile to a family because as I have once said – by saving one’s life we save the world. Most of you have helped our homeland many times, I know this, and you have done it without any expectation, your only one concern was for your support to reach the right place”, she said.

In this regard the Armenian PM’s spouse assured that each money donated to the City of Smile Foundation will serve its goal – to treat a child suffering cancer, save the lives of these angels and return happiness to their families.

“The worst thing in the world is when you imagine the parents who are sitting next to their kids who are sick in bed and are unable to help them. Today several hundreds of people gathered here and this means how many people stand together with these children and their parents. Once again thank you for being here, I want to thank the team that made this event a reality, thank you for the cooperation and standing with Armenia”, Anna Hakobyan said.

The Armenian American Medical Society awarded certificates to Anna Hakobyan for the works conducted in the City of Smile Foundation and inspiring Armenian women all over the world.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan




Armenian, Artsakh Presidents honor war veterans in Talish

Alex Jidarian

Armenian, Artsakh Presidents honor war veterans in Talish

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09:59, 2 April, 2019

YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, currently on a working visit to Artsakh, visited the village of Talish in the country’s Martakert region together with Artsakh’s President Bako Sahakyan.

In the village, the presidents laid flowers and paid tribute to the servicemen who were killed during the 2016 April War, when Azerbaijan unleashed a major attack on the country’s borders.

Then, Sarkissian and Sahakyan met with soldiers who participated in the war, Sarkissian’s Office said.

“I have come here to bow before you and say I am proud of you, I am proud that soldiers of the victorious Armenian army are standing in front of me,” Sarkissian said, thanking the men for their service.

“I have come to see, feel and listen to you. For me it is very important to listen what the soldier, the officer who were at the frontline have to say”.

Sarkissian was proud to note that he can feel the pan-Armenian presence in Talish. “There are many buildings here built by donations from the AGBU, the Hayastan All Armenian Fund and many individual philanthropists,” he said.

“Wars are won not only with weapons but with spirit. If this spirit is strong, no one can do anything against it”.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




Group from Turkey to carry out inspection in Armenia

Alex Jidarian
  • 20:16 | April 1,2019 | Official
  • Armenian:
  • Rus

The press service of the Ministry of Defense reports that from April 1 to 4, the Multinational Inspection Panel of the Republic of Turkey, within the framework of the Vienna Document, will carry out a “Inspection of the Region” in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Asbarez: Georgia on My Mind

Alex Jidarian
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Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

With apologies to Ray Charles for using the title of his song, I have to confess that I, too, have Georgia on my mind. Of course, it’s a different Georgia, not the one in the U.S., but the one north of Armenia, on the eastern shores of the Black Sea. And, it’s not an “old sweet song” that keeps it on my mind, but concern.

While I think (perhaps erroneously and presumptuously) that I understand the motivations of other nations and the states/governments they maintain, somehow, I cannot say the same for Georgians (with all their constituent peoples) or Tbilisi/Tiflis. I’d like to think I know, broadly, what drives policy in Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey (Armenians’ immediate neighbors) and more broadly Russia, the “Middle East”, European countries, and the United States of America, at least as it relates to the Republics of Armenia and Artsakh, I cannot say the same of Georgia.

We do not read to much about our northern neighbor in the Armenian media, either, at least not in the Diaspora. So it seems worthwhile to occasionally review developments, even if they are scattered, perhaps even unrepresentative. They at least keep us aware of the importance of the northern access we have to the rest of the world.

In July of 2018, Georgia’s Constitutional Court ruled that exempting only the Georgian Orthodox Church, but not other religious institutions, from the country’s VAT (“value added tax”, similar to the “sales tax” used in some states in the U.S.) was unconstitutional. The news report I encountered mentioned that eight religious groups had brought this suit, without specifying which ones. I have not researched further, so I do not know if the Armenian church was one of them, but it does have problems in Georgia.

These problems are long running. The Georgian church has taken ownership of many Armenian churches, and this is a matter that has not yet been resolved. Where the fault lies is not clear to me. Is it a remnant of Soviet times? Is it just the Georgian church being greedy? Does it have popular and/or government support in the property grabs? Regardless, the persistence and currency of the issue is borne out by an October report in Asbarez (Armenian language), about the Armenian church in Teeghom. It seems that Armenian inscriptions on it, observed at least as recently as 2003, had been scraped off or plastered over recently to hide the church’s true origins.

On the non-Armenian, international, front we have the beginnings of the closure of International Black Sea University. Just three weeks before classes started for the 2018-19 academic year, Georgia’s National Center for Education Quality Enhancement’s “Authorization Board” annulled the enrollment of first year students in that institution. This is from a piece titled “Georgia’s awkward neighbors” by George Mchedishvili which raises concerns about the sustainability of democratic governments surrounded by less or non-democratic neighbors. He posits that this action was a result of Turkish pressure because IBSU is “Gulenist” institution. The pressure is part of Turkish President Erdogan’s worldwide campaign against institutions associated with his former ally, Fethullah Gulen, whom he now accuses of being a “terrorist” mastermind. The fact that Georgia buckled and acted against IBSU is attributed to the dependency of the country on its trade with Turkey. This may be a a bad sign from an Armenian perspective because its exposes Georgia’s susceptibility to Turkish pressure. Conversely, it might be a good sign because the Gulenists have been engaged in extensive pro-Turkey propaganda over the years, burnishing its image worldwide. Of course this is all assuming that IBSU can indeed be considered a Gulenist institution, the only fact supporting this affiliation presented in the article is that it was started with funding, in part, from the Gulenists.

In what strikes me as an example “opposite” to the preceding one, in December, the Georgian government rejected the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the country. According to a “Foreign Policy” article, this happened because she was perceived as being too favorably inclined towards former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The same piece reports that Saakashvili is living with a relative in the Bronx, NY, having been stripped of two citizenships, Georgian and Ukrainian (the latter happening after he served as a government minister in Kiev), and currently sentenced (in absentia) to six years in prison for abuse of power while president. How is it that the Georgian government responds to Ankara favorably, but finds the backbone to resist Washington?

I hope these examples show why Georgia and the policies it pursues are unclear to me. But that makes it all the more important to try to understand what drives policy there. Be aware of and alert to developments in this country that is so important to the Armenian republics.

Children with social problems no longer to be included in special schools (video)

Alex Jidarian
  • 15:51 | March 22,2019 | Social
  • Armenian:
  • Rus

Only 4 special schools will stay in Armenia. Children with social problems will no longer be included in special schools.

It is planned to switch to universal inclusive education in 2019. Still in 2016, the Government made a decision to introduce a universal inclusive education system and proposed an action plan and timetable. Acting director of the Special Educational Complex for Children with Hearing Impaired Lusine Babayan says: “What is happening today is the continuation of the process launched in 2016.”

Sports: Armenian gymnast Artur Davtyan is in World Cup final

Alex Jidarian
MediaMax, Armenia
 
 
Armenian gymnast Artur Davtyan is in World Cup final
 
 
Photo: Mediamax
 
 
All four members of Armenian men’s team reached the finals of the FIG World Cup 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
 
Artur Davtyan was the last to perform in the qualifying round. He earned 14.849 points in vault, which was the third best result. Igor Radivilov (Ukraine) earned the highest amount of points in the qualifying round, 14.916.
 
Earlier, three other Armenian athletes qualified for the final: Vahagn Davtyan, Artur Tovmasyan (rings) and Harutyun Merdiyan (pommel horse).

Construction of new NPP in Armenia with 1,000 megawatt capacity will cost $3-4 billion, expert says

Alex Jidarian
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. Construction of a new nuclear power plant in Armenia with 1,000 megawatt capacity will cost $3-4 billion, Ara Marjanyan, a UN expert on energy, told reporters on Wednesday.

Marjanyan believes that Armenia is able to find necessary funds for building a new nuclear power plant and use the technologies of the world leaders in this areas – Russia, China, as well as the French-Canadian Areva and the American Westinghouse.

‘The Armenian nuclear power plant in Metsamor will operate at least until 2026-2027. Armenia’s prospects for nuclear energy are generally good and have no alternative, since no source of renewable energy can replace nuclear energy,” said Marjanyan.

He said  the nuclear power plants  do not use such sources for electricity production as natural gas or coal  and also allow reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant is located some 30 kilometers west of Yerevan. It was built in the 1970s but was closed following a devastating earthquake in 1988. One of its two VVER 440-V230 light-water reactors was reactivated in 1995. 

In March 2014, Armenian government decided to extend the plant’s service life up to 2026 because of delay in building a new unit. The service life extension has become possible thanks to Russia’s financial resources. The country provided $270 million to Armenia as a loan and $30 million as a grant. -0- 


Tbilisi: In Armenia, Zourabichvili expressed dissatisfaction over the visits of Karabakh delegations to Sukhumi and Tskhinvali

Alex Jidarian
Netgazeti , Georgia
March 14 2019
In Armenia, Zourabichvili expressed dissatisfaction over the visits of Karabakh delegations to Sukhumi and Tskhinvali
by Nino Kakhishvili
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Georgian]

At her meeting with Ararat Mirzoyan, the chairman of the National Assembly [Parliament] of the Republic of Armenia, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is on an official visit to Armenia, described as regrettable visits from [Azerbaijan’s breakaway] Nagorno-Karabakh to Sukhumi and Tskhinvali [Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia].

“It is very regrettable that delegations arrive in Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Nagorno-Karabakh and they themselves say that these are allegedly conflicts of the same type and they search for some symmetry. This is very regrettable and painful for us.

“We believe that this is not benevolence that is necessary for our country.

“You know that there are two occupied territories in Georgia and when we speak about the country’s interests, the main and only interest we have is to have our sovereignty and territorial integrity recognised not only in word, but also in deed,” Zourabichvili said.

According to the administration of the Georgian president, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is paying a two-day official visit to Armenia, discussed with the chairman of the Armenian National Assembly activation of cooperation between Georgian and Armenian parliaments at the regional and international levels.

Delegations of the de facto republics of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia periodically meet each other in Stepamakert, Sukhumi, and Tskhinvali, signing various cooperation agreements.