Author: Andres-Papazian

FANS DE HENO
Les chanteurs Aramé et Kourkén Dabaghian à Dortmund pour encourager
Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Profitant de leur tournée européenne -ils seront à Lyon ce soir et à
Marseille demain- les stars de la chanson de variété arménienne, les
chanteurs Aramé et Kourkén Dabaghian se trouvaient mercredi au stade
de Dortmund (Allemagne) pour le match Borussia Dortmund-Zénith Saint
Petersbourg pour le compte de 1/8e de finale de la Champion’s League.
Les stars de la chanson arménienne étaient au stade de Dortmund afin
d’encourager l’international arménien et milieu de terrain du Borussia
Dortmund, Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Aramé et Kourkén Dabaghian accompagnés
d’amis et d’autres supporters Arméniens criaient > le
diminutif de Henrikh. Malheureusement Henrikh Mkhitaryan n’était pas
sous son meilleur jour et dut même laisser sa place à la 75e minute du
jeu. Mais malgré la défaite 2-1 face au Russes, Borussia Dortmund se
qualifiait pour les 1/4 de finale de la Champion’s Leage. Le Borussia
devant affronter le Real de Madrid. > dirent les chanteurs qui affichèrent
fièrement le drapeau arménien dans les tribunes du stade de Borussia
Dortmund.

Krikor Amirzayan

Le chanteur arménien Kourkén Dabaghian à Dortmund pour encourager
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Le chanteur Kourkén Dabaghian exhibe le tricolore arménien au stade de Dortmund
A droite les chanteurs Kourkén Dabaghian et Aramé
Le chanteur arménien Aramé, fan de Héno (Henrikh Mkhitaryan)

samedi 22 mars 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

NANCY NAJARIAN ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR U.S. CONGRESS

By Contributor // March 19, 2014

Candidate with Deep Armenian-American Community Ties Determined to
Win Race for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District Seat

MCLEAN, Va.–Nancy Najarian–a champion for Armenian-Americans, strong
communities, quality jobs, and a world-class education for every
child–has announced she is running for Virginia’s 8th Congressional
District, represented for the past 24 years by now retiring Rep. Jim
Moran D-Va. Committed to being a voice that will stand up for our
community, Najarian has launched an aggressive fundraising campaign
to meet the March 31st deadline–the first quarter of fundraising
for a race that most likely will be decided in a June 10, 2014 primary.

Nancy is positioning herself to be a strong contender in a very
crowded field by raising early money from her supporters nationwide.

Those committed to sending to the U.S. Congress a professional woman
with strong ties to our community are urged to donate (bit.ly/PDLxtd)
to Najarian for Congress campaign by March 31, 2014.

Nancy Najarian

The VA-8 district borders Washington, D.C., and includes the Cities
of Arlington and Alexandria, home to the Alexandria-Gyumri Sister
City Association and its annual Armenian Festival. The district also
includes portions of Fairfax County, including parts of McLean and
Falls Church, two military bases and the Pentagon. Raising significant
funds will enable Najarian to place well in the first quarter, gain
support from national women’s groups poised to support a competitive
woman candidate, and position her to win the upcoming primary on June
10th–a winner takes all primary. With a district that is strongly
Democratic, the likelihood of Najarian winning the general election
as a primary winner is high.

“I want to bring to the U.S. Congress a steady support for issues
affecting the average Armenian-American family. These include
empowering small business owners to build and sustain their businesses,
supporting children’s welfare and women’s healthcare issues, ending
paycheck inequality gaps, increasing public education initiatives and
investment in STEM education, and moving a stalled Congress forward
by finding solutions to problems so that we all can enjoy a brighter
future,” said Nancy Najarian.

Born in Boston (Mass.), raised in Belmont, baptized and later married
in the Armenian Apostolic Church, Nancy Najarian, her husband Mike
Stimson and their two children have been residents of Northern Virginia
since 1995. Najarian is proud of her Armenian heritage and commitment
to uphold her roots as an Armenian mother, a wife, a professional and
small business owner. She is the granddaughter of Genocide survivors,
and was inspired by her parents’ values of an honest day’s work,
playing by the rules, and giving back to the Armenian community. Her
business acumen and personal drive derives from the models her parents
set. Her father, K. George Najarian, built a successful business from
the ground up, her mother went back to school and earned Bachelor’s
and Master’s degrees to become an educator, and her stepmother,
Dr. Carolann Najarian, has devoted her life to providing charitable
medical care in Armenia and the U.S. In addition, her parents, involved
early with the relief effort following the 1988 Armenian earthquake
and later with support for the newly independent Armenian government
and its people, were outstanding models of how to apply Nancy’s
professional expertise and academic training to her ethnic roots.

At the height of the Azeri blockade of Armenia and during the armed
conflict supporting Nagorno Karabagh’s right to self-determination,
Najarian moved to the newly independent Republic of Armenia. In 1992
she taught English to aspiring Armenian MBA students in Yerevan. Later
she created and co-managed the non-profit, Technical Assistance for
the Republic of Armenia (TARA Inc.), helping struggling Armenian
entrepreneurs start businesses and bringing Diasporan Armenian
professionals to assist Armenian private sector organizations.

Najarian was an early Board Member of the Armenian Assembly’s
grassroots arm, ARAMAC, raising U.S. government awareness of the
severe consequences of the energy blockade against the Armenian
people and the economy. Additionally, Najarian is a charter member of
the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association, and after graduating
with an M.S. focused on International Business and Trade, Najarian
volunteered at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C. for the
Economic Attache. As a volunteer fund-raiser, Najarian has raised
funds for various Armenian organizations, was for years an active
participant in the Armenian Network of America, and throughout her
career has offered advice to aspiring Armenian Social entrepreneurs.

She holds a Bachelor’s from NYU, and a Master’s from Georgetown
University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C.,

For more details about Nancy Najarian review her prospectus
().

To help put an Armenian-American in U.S. Congress donate
(bit.ly/PDLxtd) to the Najarian for Congress campaign. Follow the
campaign updates by joining the Twitter, Facebook andGoogle+ sites
or by visiting Najarian for Congress website.

From: A. Papazian

CUSTOMS UNION, ISRAEL MAY CREATE FREE TRADE ZONE

14:36 18.03.2014

The Customs Union, bringing together Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia,
and Israel have launched the work of a joint research group to study
the prospects for the creation of a free trade zone, the Eurasian
Economic Commission (EEC) reported on Tuesday.

The joint group is comprised of experts of the EEC, ministries and
departments of the Customs Union and the State of Israel, the Voice
of Russia reports.

According to EEC Trade Minister Andrei Slepnyov, “the task of the
research group is to conduct a deep system-oriented analysis of
the prospects for the creation of a free trade zone between the
countries.” “The group is to determine which questions such an
agreement might cover and outline possible approaches to the mutually
advantageous settlement of sensitive issues for specific sectors,”
Slepnyov said.

On the results of their study, the experts will present a special
report and recommendations on the basis of which a decision may be
taken to launch negotiations on a free trade zone between the Customs
Union member countries and the State of Israel.

The EEC said that modern free trade agreements are aimed at creating
favourable conditions for the further development of trade-economic
co-operation. In addition to the classical issues of liberalization of
trade in goods through the reduction of customs duties, such agreements
often include other disciplines, for example, issues related to trade
in services and other measures of easing mutual investment activity,
the development of cross-border trade in services, ensuring the
necessary protection and encouragement of capital investment.

From: A. Papazian

BEING A TURK IS INSUFFERABLE SHAME: TURKISH POET

15:49, 17 March, 2014

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS: The Turkish poet Serkan Engin wrote
in the article in the website Paper Boats of Poetry that for him
being a Turk is an insufferable shame, as the ancestors of the Turks
implemented the Armenian Genocide. Armenpress presents the article
of Serkan Engin “The Insufferable Shame of Being a Turk”:

“I am a socialist Laz poet from Turkey. My mother is Turkish so
my mother tongue is Turkish, but I prefer to consider myself as a
“Laz” like my father’s ancestors, because I am ashamed of my Turkish
ancestors from my mother’s side of the family. I refuse to consider
myself as a “Turk”, because my Turkish ancestors were perpetrators of
genocides at the end of the Ottoman Empire and at the beginning of
the Turkish Republic. 1,500,000 Armenians were brutally murdered by
Turkish and Kurdish people under the orders of Ottoman generals. Turks
and Kurds have killed their own neighbors, raped their little girls,
burned alive little children and women and grabbed the Armenians’
money and properties.

Also thousands of Assyrians and Chaldeans had been murdered in their
own homelands like Armenians by the Ottoman government during this
genocide period.

A terrible genocide had to be committed against the Armenians. I
accept the reality of the Armenian Genocide as the son of a Turkish
mom and I am ashamed of my mother’s ancestors, of my Turkish ancestry.

This is the shame of the Turks and Kurds. This is the shame of
Turkish History, also a shame for the Kurdish people. This is a blot
on human history. I apologize to all the Armenian victims in the name
of humanity and kneel down in front of your pain even though I had
no participation in this violence personally.

Unfortunately, this is not the only “genocide” the Turks have been
involved in. Also 353,000 Pontic Greeks had been brutally murdered in
1919 in Anatolia by the order of Mustafa Kemal, the Ottoman General of
the Committee of Union and Progress, who would become the founder of
the new Turkish Republic. This new republic is the continuation of the
old racist Committee of Union and Progress, having the same mentality.

These are not the only crimes of my Turkish ancestors. From the
beginning of their history, Turks were trouble makers to all those
near them. Turks have lived by grabbing the neighboring lands,
killing many people, raping their women, making their children slaves,
grabbing their country and money for 2000 years. The Great Chinese
Wall is the concrete symbol of Turkish barbarianism. First the Turks
plundered Chinese lands, and killed them and when they began to be
more organized and founded states, they began to attack more countries
from the Great Chinese Wall to Vienna. I apologize to all the victims
of my Turkish ancestors throughout history.

Dear friends, they can arrest me and put me in jail because of these
explanations or a racist can shoot me on the street, but my conscience
and intellectual ethics make me obligated to shout out the truth to
the whole world. I will speak the truth till my last breath”.

From: A. Papazian

BAKO SAHAKYAN DISCUSSES ISSUE ON FOUNDING MATENADARAN IN ARTSAKH

21:36, 17 March, 2014

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 17, ARMENPRESS: President of the Republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh Bako Sahakyan on March 17 received director of
the “Matenadaran” Scientific Research Museum-Institute of Ancient
Manuscripts after Mesrop Mashtots Hrachya Tamrazyan and architect
Arthur Meschyan.

The General Department of Information of the President’s staff of
the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh informed Armenpress that issues
related to founding Matenadaran in Artsakh and reconstructing the
Stepanakert Dramatic Theater after Vahram Papazyan were discussed
during the meeting.

President Sahakyan considered important the assistance of the
“Matenadaran” Museum-Institute in founding a similar institution
in Artsakh noting that it would substantially contribute to the
maintenance of historical values and studying national history on a
professional level.

Architect Arthur Meschyan introduced to the President the project of
capital reconstruction of the Stepanakert Dramatic Theater building.

According to the Head of the State the main theater of Artsakh,
being one of the most significant cultural centers of our republic,
must have building conditions corresponding to the contemporary
standards, and in this context highlighted the cooperation with the
leading architects of Armenia, considering it among the preconditions
successful realization the planned activities.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA UNDER BATON OF LAVARD SKOU-LARSEN

16:29 17/03/2014 >> CULTURE

The Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) will give a concert on
March 28 under the baton of German conductor Lavard Skou-Larsen,
the press service of APO told Panorama.am.

The concert program features Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito overture
and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 and Symphony No.7.

British pianist Ashley Wass will perform with the orchestra.

The concert will take place at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian

EXPERT: THE CRIMEA REFERENDUM HAS CANCELED INVIOLABILITY OF BORDERS OF THE FORMER USSR

by Nana Martirosyan

Monday, March 17, 16:34

The Crimea referendum has canceled inviolability of borders of the
former USSR, deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, political
expert, Sergey Minasyan, told Arminfo correspondent.

“The Crimea referendum has shown to the whole world that all the
taboos should be cancelled, that all the peoples have a right for
self-determination. This will possibly result in serious changes
in all over the world”, – he said and added that the referendum and
later Crimea’s joining Russia may result in the “cold war” between
Russia and the West. “Both parties to the conflict understand that
the world order is changing, borders are moving. So each party will
try to keep its piece”, – the expert said. He also added that the
results of the Crimea referendum were predictable.

As for the Crimea referendum affecting the Karabakh settlement,
Minasyan said one should not expect anything significant. “In fact,
these are two different issues. The Karabakh conflict is being settled
in another format and does not directly depend on the Crimea problem”,
– he concluded.

From: A. Papazian

LEBANESE COMPANY TO ESTABLISH PECAN NUT ORCHARDS IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, March 17. / ARKA /. Lebanese Gardenia Lebniz Farms is
establishing pecan orchards in Kotayk region to grow the American
variety of the fruit, the agricultural ministry said today.

The news came following a meeting of Armenian agriculture minister
Sergo Karapetyan with Lebanese ambassador to Armenia, Jean Makaron,
head of Gardenia Lebniz Farms Nicola Abu Faisal and a representative
of the same company Jamil Abdeim.

The Lebanese company has already chosen 20 hectares of land in Yeghvard
and is making preparatory work for planting the first pecan trees
brought from the U.S. state of California.

Representatives of the company said that some products of the company –
olives, spices and grains, will be sold in Armenian stores soon. In
his turn Sergo Karapetyan promised to cooperate fully with the
Lebanese company. The Lebanese company sells its products to more
than 40 countries.

Related to the walnut, pecans are native to America. Sweet and rich,
the pecan’s distinct flavor and texture is the result of its high
levels of monosaturated oil – in fact, it is the fattiest of all nuts.

It goes well in both savory and sweet dishes.. Pecan trees grow also
in the Crimea, Central Asia and the Caucasus. -0-

– See more at:

From: A. Papazian

CRIMEA VOTES TO JOIN RUSSIA: ARMENIA OBSERVES ‘SILENTLY’ NEW REALITIES EMERGE IN POST-SOVIET NEIGHBORHOOD

ANALYSIS | 17.03.14 | 10:37

Photolure

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

In the past several weeks official Yerevan has been mum about the
recent events in Ukraine, including both the formation of a new
government after the ouster of elected president Viktor Yanukovych
and the referendum held in the breakaway pro-Russian republic of
Crimea to join Russia.

Despite the fact that Russia is Armenia’s top strategic and military
ally and soon will also become the top economic partner when Yerevan
finalizes its membership in the Moscow-led Customs Union later
this year, the Armenian government preferred to wait and see how
developments in the neighboring region unfold, limiting itself to
only calls for a peaceful resolution of the situation.

Meanwhile, Crimea’s de facto secession from Ukraine will certainly
become a factor that Armenia will have to reckon with in its future
foreign policies both in the context of relations with Russia and the
West as well as in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at
the heart of which there is also the problem of ‘territorial integrity
v self-determination’.

More than 95 percent of the people who came to polling stations in
Crimea on Sunday voted for the region’s becoming part of the Russian
Federation. Official Kiev has not recognized the legitimacy of the
vote, neither have the United States or the European Union.

The West has threatened to introduce sanctions against Russia if Moscow
“annexes” Crimea. Talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the
phone, U.S. President Barack Obama emphasized that Moscow’s actions
in Crimea violated Ukraine’s sovereignty. At the same time, he said
that there was still a possibility for a diplomatic solution, which,
however, required an end to what in Washington they see as a Russian
armed incursion into Crimea.

Moscow, however, insists that the Crimean referendum has been in
keeping with international law and fully reflects the desire of
the local population to see them as part of Russia. The Union of
Armenians of Russia also voiced its support for “the expression
of will” by the Crimean people (a majority of Crimea’s population
2 million-strong population are Russians, with ethnic minorities
including Ukrainians and Tatars; ethnic Armenians make half percent
of the Crimean population).

Analysts in Russia and abroad currently try to estimate how damaging
Western sanctions will prove for Russia and eventually its political
and economic allies. There is already speculation about possible
sanctions against key figures of the Russian state economy. Heads
of the largest Russian companies, Rosneft and Gazprom, Igor Sechin
and Alexei Miller, thus face visa-related and financial sanctions,
writes the Russian daily “Kommersant”.

The U.S. has also hinted at the possibility of opening up its oil
reserves, which can significantly reduce the price of oil and natural
gas and eventually Russia’s standing on the international market. A
week ago Washington released the first 5 million barrels of oil,
which immediately affected Russian stock indexes and the exchange
rate of the Russian ruble.

Still, judging by media publications, many in the West are less
reluctant to accept what they view as annexation of Crimea, and the
matter today concerns only the eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia
may also provoke separatist sentiments. The international community
is also concerned about an actual clash between the Russian and
Ukrainian military and about how the division of Ukraine will affect
other nations.

Meanwhile, other unrecognized or partly recognized countries have
also been reacting to the processes in Ukraine and the referendum on
the status of Crimea in particular. Abkhazia’s President Alexander
Ankvab said: “This nationwide solution is based not only on the
historical past, but also on the modern political realities. And
this is a classic example of when the will of the people is above
all. Abkhazia respects the will of the Crimean people, supports and
recognizes its crucial choice.”

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have so far refrained from making any
assessment of the situation in Ukraine, including in Crimea. Although
officially Armenian authorities have not expressed their support for
the post-Yanukovych government in Ukraine, they did not expressly state
their support for the preparations for the referendum in Crimea either.

At present, analysts wonder which country or part of it will
be next that Russia will want to ‘save’. Some believe it may be
Nagorno-Karabakh.

From: A. Papazian

SDA – Suisse
mardi 11 mars 2014 4:05 PM CET

Association Suisse-Arménie “très heureuse”

Lausanne

L’Association Suisse-Arménie (ASA) se félicite de la décision de la
Confédération. Elle espère que le recours de l’Office fédéral de la
justice (OFJ) aura toute “la solidité nécessaire” pour réfuter les
arguments de la décision favorable à Dogu Perinçek.

“Nous sommes particulièrement heureux” que Berne ait fait ce choix, a
indiqué Sarkis Shahinian, président d’honneur de l’ASA, interrogé
mardi par l’ats. C’est aussi “très symbolique” que le même jour le
Conseil national ait refusé par 129 voix contre 55 une motion d’Oskar
Freysinger sur la liberté d’expression.

Le conseiller national UDC demandait la liberté d’expression y compris
pour les faits historiques. La conseillère fédérale Simonetta
Sommaruga lui a rétorqué que cette liberté était soumise à un certain
nombre de conditions conformément aux dispositions de l’ONU.

Oskar Freysinger a récemment relativisé le génocide arménien dans un
journal turc. “Peut-être a-t-il eu lieu, peut-être pas. Cela doit
pouvoir être débattu de manière ouverte”, disait le Valaisan. Ces
propos avaient déclenché la colère, entre autres, de l’ASA, jugeant
ces paroles “irresponsables et confuses”, ne servant qu’à “une
récupération politique”.

From: A. Papazian