Author: Andres-Papazian

The Library of Congress: Where American and Armenian History Come Alive

Monday, July 28th, 2014

The ANCA Leo Sarkisian Interns with Dr. Levon Avdoyan, the Armenian
and Georgian area specialist at the Library of Congress.

BY TAMAR ANNA ALEXANIAN
Vanderbilt Class of 2016
ANCA Leo Sarkisian Internship Class of 2014

When I was applying for the Leo Sarkisian internship back in February,
the blurb at the top of the application said the following: During the
eight week Washington, DC program, interns live at the ANCA Hovig
Saghdejian Capital Gateway House, located a short distance from the
ANCA National Headquarters. The participants work on a wide variety of
projects based on their individual interests, while gaining hands-on
experience within the American political system. A bi-weekly lecture
series features guest lecturers including Members of Congress,
ambassadors, and Armenian American leaders.

It was this last part – the bi-weekly lecture series – that I was most
excited about. Ever since my first AYF-YOARF Junior Seminar – ten
years ago – I have walked into lectures armed with pencil and paper. I
have been – and still continue to be – inspired by educationals,
lectures, and lecturers. Reading that we would have a bi-weekly
lecture series during our eight weeks in Washington, D.C. was great
news.

Since I arrived in D.C., I have had the privilege of learning from a
variety of successful and knowledgeable individuals. Aram Hamparian,
executive director of the ANCA, lectured us on the first day in the
office. Yeghisapet Chouldjian, communication director at the ANCA,
spoke to us about the importance of public relations, the use of
media, and how to write a press release. We have met – and taken
pictures – with countless Congressmen and Congresswomen, including
Rep. Schiff, Rep. Sherman, and Rep. Pallone. We have been to the
Capitol and witnessed a variety of hearings and events, including a
Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination hearing for the U.S.
Ambassador to Turkey, a POLITICO lunch with former Vice-President Dick
Cheney, a briefing on Cyprus, and a State Department briefing on
Syria. But, out of all of our lectures, my favorite was given by Dr.
Levon Avdoyan, the Armenian and Georgian area specialist at the
Library of Congress.

I will admit that I was partial to his lecture from the beginning
because it was in the Library of Congress. Even though Congressional
meeting rooms are beautiful, not much can compare with the Tiffany
glass on the ceiling in the main reading room or the imported marble
slabs that have been carved to make the Library of Congress what it
is. As an avid reader, I could have spent the entire day alternating
between exploring the building and finding the perfect reading spot.

With this backdrop, Dr. Avdoyan told us about the work that he carries
out at the Library of Congress. I was pleasantly surprised to find
that the longest running lecture series at the Library of Congress is
the Armenian lecture series. Dr. Avdoyan mentioned this after telling
us that the Armenian collection has over 44,000 items, including
manuscripts, books, dictionaries, and maps. But what I found most
remarkable was that Dr. Avdoyan had discovered a note between then
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau and the
architect of the Armenian Genocide, Talaat Pasha dated April 24th,
1915. The note was an exchange between these two men, asking to dine
together that evening. Dr. Avdoyan explained that the discovery of
this note is a strong counterargument to those that claim that Talaat
and Morgenthau were not close enough for Mongenthau to know valid or
intimate information about Talaat Pasha or Turkey during that time.
When Dr. Avdoyan told us this story, he had a glimmer in his eyes, his
arms were flailing about expressively, and we were awestruck and
staring. This small and seemingly insignificant note is important to
our history; even more interesting was that Dr. Avdoyan was able to
find this note within the thousands of items in the Library of
Congress and give it context and meaning.

Being in the Library of Congress and meeting with Dr. Avdoyan was
incredible for a variety of reasons: the architecture and artwork were
breathtaking, I got an official library card, and Dr. Avdoyan’s
personal tour was more than I could have hoped for. The Library of
Congress reminded me of a few things too: it reminded me, once again,
that there are Armenians everywhere, doing incredible and important
work; it reminded me that history – American and Armenian – can and
does come alive; and it reminded to me that, no matter where I end up
in the future – from working on Capitol Hill to working at a library –
I can always use my passion and my work to help The Cause, to give
back to my people.

From: A. Papazian

Kurds are fighting for Mosul

13:33, 28.07.2014

The armed units of Kurds are fighting for Mosul, the second largest
city in Iraq. According to official Iraqi media, two leaders of
Islamists have been killed.

The locals are forming volunteer armed units to fight extremists who
have seized the city. The extremists have been exterminating holy
sites, persecuting Christians and kidnapping the local residents.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army continues operation against the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant in the outskirts of Tikrit, the native
city of Saddam Hussein.

The Kurds who are supporting official Baghdad have made clear that
they will fight for independence.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

Iranian leader planning to visit Armenia

12:51, 28.07.2014

President of Iran Hassan Rouhani plans to pay an official visit to
Armenia, Fars agency reported quoting Iran’s Ambassador to Armenia
Mohammad Raeisi.

He plans to discuss regional and international developments, as well
as new avenues for the further promotion of Tehran-Yerevan ties.

“We are pursuing the issue, but due to the president’s busy schedule
the time of the trip cannot be specified exactly. However the trip
will occur,” the agency quotes Ambassador.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

From: A. Papazian

Azerbaijani saboteur who was neutralized in Karvachar buried in NKR

Monday, July 28, 2014

The Azerbaijani citizen, who attempted a subversive-reconnaissance
raid in Karvachar direction of Nagorno Karabakh Republic and was
neutralized during his capture and whose identity has not yet been
established, was buried in the territory of NKR, Aysor.am was informed
by Zara Amatuni, a program head at the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) Office in Yerevan.

“Representatives of the ICRC Office in NKR were present at his
funeral. We went to NKR on Saturday and were present at the funeral
that was held duly,” Ms. Amatuni said.

The two other members of the subversive-reconnaissance group – Shahbaz
Guliev and Dilham Askerov were captured and taken into custody. A
number of charges were brought against them.

On July 26 ICRC representatives visited them with the assistance of
NKR authorities.

As was reported earlier, the police of Nagorno Karabakh said that on
June 29, 2014 Azerbaijani citizens Shahbaz Guliev, 46, Dilham Askerov,
54 and a man whose identity was not established yet, illegally crossed
the state border of NKR – all the three of them armed with weapons and
ammunition – and infiltrated into Shahumian region of NKR to carry out
reconnaissance.

On July 4 they kidnapped 17-year-old citizen of NKR Smbat Tsakanyan
near Avsatagh village. The teen’s body was found on July 15 in the
forest shelter belt of Karvachar and Manashid communities, Shahumian
region. Tsakanyan’s body had gunshot wounds.

The criminal group’s member whose identity has not been established
yet shot and killed out of ethnic hatred Yerevan resident Sargis
Abrahamyan, 43, at 32nd kilometer of Vardenis-Karvachar road around 6
pm on July 11, while Ms. Karine Davtyan of Dzoragbyur village,
Armenia’s Kotayk province, received a gunshot wound. The saboteur
offered resistance during his detention and was neutralized.

TODAY, 17:05
Aysor.am

From: A. Papazian

Motor race in defense of Russian-Armenian businessman Levon
Hayrapetyan to take place in Yerevan

14:40 * 28.07.14

Head of the Vank village community Andrey Sargsyan told Tert.am that
the villagers plan to take part in a motor race in Yerevan, on July
31, in defense of Russian-Armenian businessman Levon Hayrapetyan, who
is a native of the Vank village.

“The villagers are going to take part in an action for Levon
Hayrapetyan’s release,” he said.

Asked about the sentiments in the village, Mr Sargsyan said:

“What can our sentiments be if our philanthropist, who has done his
best for us has been arrested. We are very sad.”

According to Levon Hayrapetyan’s Facebook page, a motor race in
defense of Levon Hayrapetyan is to start at 5:00pm, on July 17.

The participants will hand their statements over to the Human Rights
Defender and to the Russian Embassy in Armenia.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Excise taxes on drugs may cause surge in market, says importers’ union chief

10:20 * 28.07.14

Tert.am has talked to Samvel Zakaryan, the president of Medicine
Producers and Importers’ Union, over the impact of a government
decision to impose excise taxes on the purchase of drugs.

Do you think the government measures in the pharmaceutical industry
are justified given that this is a priority sector?

They are justified; we would simply expect more active measures. In
terms of the strategy timing, our sector is the best. and it of the
first in terms of the activities accomplished. We are very actively
working with the Ministry of Economy and the Industrial Development
Foundation. The result was that the pharmaceutical sector had the
highest records, with 29.8 percent production growth and 25.8 percent
export growth.

Do you observe changes in the new government or do they pursue the
predecessors’ [policies]?

No, it is an absolutely different work style. What particularly
surprised us was that the reforms are implemented without any
discussions with us, with our opinion remaining overlooked. For
instance, the document on approving simultaneous import procedures was
put forward to the private sector all of a sudden.

What will you say about the new reforms that call for imposing excise
taxes on medicines?

That’s the other problem we face; the [amended] law “On Trade and
Services” envisages excises taxes also for medicines, apart from soap,
make-up products and other items. That’s a non-professional approach,
because drugs, as a specific form of product, should [be imported]
based on specific procedures. As a result, drugs too appeared on that
list on grounds of combating the shadow economy. Over one million drug
packages, with different sizes and quality, are imported to Armenia,
so it is important to excise all that, as we deal with considerable
expenses. If the package includes 60 pills while the patient wishes
five, for example, that would violate the excising procedures. Our
patients will not buy all 60; they will take 5 [pills] and throw away
all the rest. The excise tax costs may cause a surge in the prices of
medicines.

It is argued to be a method of combating the shadow.

The excision will offer no benefits at all; it doesn’t make any sense
in the case of medicines. There are special surveillance procedures
for pharmaceutical products, as it is, with every single vial being
registered during the import. So shadow activities are practically
ruled out. If drugs used to be smuggled from Georgia, then it is
necessary to take action against that; official importers cannot carry
out a shadow import. Excise offers wide opportunities to smugglers;
they may tear the label from a drug sold for 10 Drams and stick to a
10,000 Drams worth drug imported without registration. Official
importers work in a coordinated manner, so they cannot act in the
shadow. It is necessary to fight smugglers instead of dismantling the
accomplished market through experiments. There are no procedures of
the kind in European countries.

From: A. Papazian

Levon Hayrapetyan’s health condition sharply deteriorates

Monday, July 28, 2014

Armenian businessman Levon Hayrapetyan’s health condition sharply
deteriorated on July 26, according to Artsakh today.

As was reported earlier, Hayrapetyan was detained in Moscow on July 15
on suspicion of money laundering.

L. Hayrapetyan’s friend Aramayis Oganyan received information about
his health from an employee of ‘Matrosskaya Tishina’ investigative
isolation ward.

“Levon is in a depressed state which has negatively affected his
health,” Oganyan said.

According to the same source, Levon Hayrapetyan’s doctor Prof. Henrikh
Bakunts said that the businessman’s imprisonment in an isolation ward
may cause irreversible damage to his health. “His medical history was
sent to Moscow, but there has been no change,” the doctor said.

H. Bakunts said Levon Hayrapetyan suffers from cancer and diabetes, he
had a heart attack and stroke, and also has serious joint problems so
police custody will do him harm.

TODAY, 11:05
Aysor.am

From: A. Papazian

SDA – Suisse
dimanche 20 juillet 2014 1:25 PM CET

Le Festival du film d’Erevan, un fruit en pleine maturation

Erevan

Le Festival du film d’Erevan, en Arménie, s’est terminé samedi avec la
traditionnelle distribution de ses “abricots” d’or ou d’argent. Avec
quelque 150 films présentés en une semaine, cette 11e édition atteint
une ampleur et un rayonnement international en constante progression.

Créé en 2004, partant d’à peu près rien, le Golden Apricot
International Film Festival (GAIFF) est en train de se tailler une
jolie place dans le monde des “petits” festivals internationaux, et
certainement dans la région Caucase-Europe de l’est.

“Il affiche une belle variété, tant sur le plan de la forme que du
contenu des films”, a dit à l’ats l’écrivain et scénariste grec Petros
Markaris, membre du jury international. Et pour l’auteur – notamment –
de romans policiers, “la variété est plus importante que les prix”
pour la qualité d’un festival.

Un franc pour un billet

Compétition internationale, panorama arménien, “Master Class”,
rétrospectives, le GAIFF réussit à attirer de grands réalisateurs,
comme le souligne le critique français Jean-Christophe Ferrari. Le
Coréen Kim Ki-duk, l’Israélien Amos Gitaï ou le Polonais Krzysztof
Zanussi, entre autres, étaient à Erevan pour l’occasion.

Pour M. Ferrari, lui aussi membre d’un des jurys, ce festival est
“précieux pour les Arméniens, car il leur permet de voir des films
auxquels ils n’auraient pas accès”. Les salles étaient souvent
pleines, a-t-il constaté.

Et les billets pour le public se vendent 500 drams (un peu plus d’un
franc), soit le tiers du prix normal. La prochaine mission du GAIFF
sera d’attirer la critique internationale, gage de notoriété pour tout
festival, ajoute M. Ferrari.

Deux documentaires suisses

Un long métrage ukrainien “The Tribe”, de Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, a
emporté le grand prix et l’Abricot d’or du meilleur film et le prix
Fipresci (presse internationale). Sa particularité: il est entièrement
en langue des signes. Ses jeunes protagonistes sont malentendants,
organisés en bandes criminelles et violentes.

Le jury présidé par Marco Müller, ancien directeur des Festivals de
Locarno et de Venise, a aussi souligné la qualité de la prestation de
l’actrice principale, la jeune Yana Novikova.

Deux films suisses étaient en lice dans la catégorie documentaires:
“Tableau noir” d’Yves Yersin et “L’apiculteur” (“Der Imker”) de Mano
Khalil. Aucun des deux n’a obtenu de prix, mais pour Mano Khalil,
présent dans la capitale arménienne, l’expérience en valait la
chandelle.

“Je fais des films avant tout pour les montrer, où que ce soit et à
qui que ce soit”, a-t-il dit, interrogé sur la présence de son film à
Erevan. Même après l’annonce du palmarès, cet habitué des festivals
semblait sous le charme de la manifestation arménienne.

Hospitalité arménienne

Les organisateurs ont particulièrement soigné l’accueil des invités –
cinéastes, comédiens, membres des jurys et journalistes. Des
réceptions sont organisées soir après soir dans les plus beaux
restaurants de la ville, propices aux contacts et au réseautage.

Le GAIFF a lieu chaque année en juillet, alors que de nombreux membres
de la diaspora arménienne se trouvent dans leur pays d’origine. Erevan
bruisse d’une animation intense, surtout en soirée, quand le vent
tiède balaie l’écrasante chaleur de la journée.

Et la photo du géant Sergei Parajanov a plané toute la semaine
au-dessus du cinéma Moscou, centre névralgique du festival.

From: A. Papazian

Voice Of Armenians TVNY | New York
July 27, 2014

International Film Festival

“Please Be Normal,” a film written and directed by award-winning
filmmaker and photographer Haik Kocharian, took part in the Armenian
Panorama Competition of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival
held in Yerevan, Armenia. The film won the Jury Diploma “Armenian
Panorama Special Mention” for its expression of complex, emotional
human conditions on the screen through compelling visuals and powerful
performance. Notably, the film also shared the Queen Nuard Award for
best cinematography of more than 100 films presented by the Armenian
Association of Filmmakers.

With two screenings at the international film festival, the film
played to a full house in the Moscow Film Theater’s Red Hall and was
positively received by the audience and the jury.

Filmed in New York and Connecticut, “Please Be Normal” is a bold and
visionary reflection on the universal problem of choosing the
direction of our lives. A young, struggling playwright and theater
director, Victor, and his girlfriend Mary are expecting their first
child. As Mary’s Dad keeps buying them things they could never
afford, Victor’s claustrophobia and sense of entrapment grows. His
inner struggle to meet their expectations seems to be guiding him
towards a way of life he is unwilling to accept.

Jean-Christophe Ferrari, the President of the Armenian Panorama Jury,
found “Please Be Normal” to be an example of Armenian cinema having
its own voice.

The official release of “Please Be Normal” in the United States is
scheduled for late fall 2014.

Web Version

From: A. Papazian

New U.S.-Turkish Agreement On Karabakh

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 27 July 2014, 14:29

The relations between the United States and Turkey have entered into a
new mode and suppose new rules, and Turkey must stick to
non-interference in political and armed conflicts in the South
Caucasus, not pretend to the role of orchestrator in the region, not
try to act as the closest ally and partner of Azerbaijan and take part
in conflict settlement based on some alternative schemes.

Turkey must try to normalize relations with Armenia and continue the
former process of relations. At the same time, an aspect is noticed
that attracts attention – the Americans approve Turkish intervention
in Abkhazia and its strengthening in this region. However, Turkey has
to forget about intervention in the Karabakh issue.

The impression is that the South Caucasus is one of those dimensions
over which agreements between the United States and Turkey are
saliently different, and upon observation of this region one can
correlate the interests of the United States and Turkey on the
regional policies, in fact.

Earlier it was assumed that the regions surrounding Turkey differ by
their problems and importance, and the United States and Turkey may
have agreements on ones and no agreements on others, or agreements may
vary from region to region. It is hardly acceptable to draw such a
conclusion definitely but experts on the Near East are prone to assess
“new relations” between the United States and Turkey as incomplete but
universal, that is they think that agreements have been reached on the
entire range of regional issues.

Turkey and the United States have achieved important agreements, a lot
of problems have been overcome but this does not mean that their
relations have been fully normalized. The United States and Turkey
nevertheless do not hurry to resolve all the problems because it
supposes not only positive moments but also increases certain
obligations. Experts also think that these agreements are universal
and concern all the regions though one issue or another may not be
resolved.

Turkey participates in the development of missile defense systems and
enhancement of navy ports and aerodromes to implement new objectives
in the Near East. The United States provides comprehensive support and
assistance regarding supply of defense equipment, modernization of the
navy, air force, air defense, acquisition of modern equipment for the
special troops of the Turkish army.

The tasks of slaking the Kurdish national movement have a special
place in the relations of the United States and Turkey. Experts think
the risk of the Kurdish national movement for Turkish security has
been underestimated. The U.S.-Turkish relations mostly depend on the
U.S. position on this problem. The United States and Turkey have
agreed that the Americans will provide comprehensive support to Turkey
in suppressing the Kurdish national movement not only within the
Turkish borders. At the same time, Turkey cannot pretend to any
serious political positions in Iraqi Kurdistan. This agreement has
become a basic condition for agreements between Turkey and the United
States on other issues.

The Balkans is a secondary aspect but here too the Americans insist on
limiting Turkish influence in Muslim-dominated states, Bosnia and
Albania, offering them a model of moderate political Islam. The United
States agreed that earlier they conducted a wrong policy over limiting
Turkey’s role in Central Asia and will stop hindrances and are ready
to support Turkish efforts to strengthen its influence in this region.

At the same time, this influence should be directed against the
strengthening influence of China and Russia but there should be no
pretensions to the resolution of strategic and defense matters.

On the whole, the South Caucasus and Central Asia are a zone of
strategic interests of the United States and no unexpected processes
must occur there initiated by their ally Turkey.

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian