Author: Andres-Papazian

FATE OF SYRIAN CHRISTIANS KIDNAPPED BY ISIS STILL UNKNOWN

Aleteia
Feb 25 2015

Aid groups gear up to help more internally displaced persons.

John Burger

Christian aid groups were expecting to hear about the fate of some
150 Syrian Christian hostages today, but a promised ISIS announcement
about the captives was not forthcoming.

According to activists and state-run media in Syria, however, Islamic
State group militants moved the hostages to a city they control in
northeastern Syria, while they continue to battle Kurdish and Christian
militiamen for control of a chain of villages along the Khabur River,
according to the Associated Press.

Hassakah province, which borders Turkey and Iraq, has become the
latest battleground for the fight against the Islamic State group in
Syria. It is predominantly Kurdish but also has populations of Arabs
and predominantly Christian Assyrians and Armenians.

In pre-dawn attacks, the group on Monday attacked communities nestled
along the river, seizing at least 70 people, many of them women and
children. Thousands of others fled to safer areas.

However, the state-run SANA news agency and the Assyrian Network for
Human Rights in Syria said the hostages have been moved to the Islamic
State-controlled city of Shaddadeh, south of the city of Hassakah. The
United States and a coalition of regional partners are conducting a
campaign of airstrikes against the group, and have on occasion struck
Shaddadeh, a predominantly Arab town.

Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana of the Christian Aid Program Northern
Iraq told Aleteia partner Aid to the Church in Need that 24 families
from Tel Gouran, 34 families from Tel Jazira, and 14 fighters from
Tel Hormizd were captured and taken to the Arab Sunni village of
Um Al-Masamier.

“Um Al-Masamier is another Syrian example of what we witnessed in Iraq
on how the Arab Sunni joining and supporting IS to attack their long
years Christian and Yezedian neighbors, Archimandrite Youkhana said.

He said that Assyrian Church of the East Bishop Aprem Athniel of
Hasseke hasn’t left his city despite the difficulties and is doing
its best to host and support the displaced. “However, due to the lack
of resources and the long years of the disaster, there is an urgent
need of action to support the displaced families through the Church,”
the priest said.

Michel Constantin, regional director for Lebanon, Syria and Egypt for
Catholic Near East Welfare Association, has been coordinating efforts
for emergency assistance to families in Iraqi Kurdistan. Speaking to
Aleteia from Beirut Wednesday, he said his organization is arranging
for food packages to reach the displaced families tomorrow.

What are you hearing about the Assyrian Christian villages that have
been threatened by Islamic State militants?

I contacted the Assyrian bishop in Hassakah, whose name is Mar Arpem
Athniel, and he informed me that already 700 families have been
displaced from the Christian villages to Hassakah, and another 200
were displaced to Qamishli, and at present the Pontifical Mission is
conveying funds to buy food packages for 900 families. It will be going
through Iraq because you cannot convey the money straight to Syria.

The families are not in tents or camps; they are settled in homes of
relatives, or in some cases Christian families have recently fled from
Hassakah because of fear of the security situation. So the bishop
opened individual houses, and families were settled in individual
houses within the city. … Of course, they lack everything: they
don’t have any food, heating fuel, medicines. They need many things.

We will try to respond to the emergency by tomorrow to convey some
money, and we will try to coordinate our efforts with other partners.

We expect another 200 families within a few days.

From: A. Papazian

EN COMPETITION CLARA NALAN ET ISABELLE NOHAIN-RAIMU – VIDEO

Prix Charles Aznavour – Prix Alain Terzian 2015

Clara Nalan (a gauche) pour son livre La Valse de sa vie

L’emission de Richard Findykian > est consacree a la 5ème edition du Festival National du Livre
Franco-Armenien Prix CHARLES AZNAVOUR et Prix ALAIN TERZIAN 2015 qui
se deroulera le Samedi 25 Avril dans le Grand Hall du Palais de la
Bourse sur La Canebière. Invitees dans ” Le Journal du Festival ” :
Isabelle Nohain-Raimu, petite-fille de Raimu et de Jean Nohain pour
son livre > edite au Cherche-Midi,
ouvrage en competition pour le Prix ALAIN TERZIAN 2015 et Clara Nalan
pour > publie chez L’Harmattan, en competition,
pour le Prix CHARLES AZNAVOUR 2015. Assistant : Alexis Findykian.

Realisation radio : Frederic Banegas.

Isabelle Nohain-Raimu pour son livre Raimu un grand enfant de genie

jeudi 26 fevrier 2015, Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

IRAQI AIRWAYS TO MAKE FIRST BAGHDAD-YEREVAN-ERBIL FLIGHT

by Alexandr Avanesov

Thursday, February 26, 13:10

On February 26, 2015, the Iraqi Airways will make the first
Baghdad-Yerevan-Erbil flight, Ruben Grdzelyan, Spokesperson for the
Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia, told ArmInfo. The flight
is available on Thursdays and Sundays by CRJ900 ³ Boeing 737. The
first flight will bring to Armenia the members of the Iraq Government
and the heads of 50 travel agencies.

Iraq Airways is a state-owned company. Avia Service is the company’s
official representative in Armenia.

The flight has become possible thanks to the open sky policy
announced by the Government of Armenia on Oct 23 2013 by endorsing
the conception of the programme on providing competitive and stable
air traffic in the republic. Many specialists say that Armenia should
go the way of liberalization, which will stimulate the GDP growth,
ensure opening of the new job places and will make the passenger
traffic more comfortable and the prices lower.

From: A. Papazian

INDIA TO NEGOTIATE FREE TRADE ZONE WITH RUSSIA-LED CUSTOMS UNION

Published time: February 26, 2015 11:30
Edited time: February 26, 2015 12:09

Reuters/Ahmad Masood

India is to start negotiating a free trade agreement with the Customs
Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan within the next six months,
Indian Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry Rajeev Kher has said.

A Russian-Indian working group which was established in November 2014
will consider the negotiating of a comprehensive free trade agreement
between India and the Customs Union.

Kher said the working group would put forward proposals within the
next six months and the negotiating process would start after that,
TASS reports.

As most of the developed world in the West is suffering an economic
downturn, the developing world has been stepping up efforts to bring
their economies closer.

Russia ratifies $100bn BRICS New Development Bank

Most recently, China said it could establish a free trade zone with
a broader Russia-led economic bloc that also includes Armenia and is
expected to include Kyrgyzstan soon.

READ MORE: China and Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union may set up
free trade zone

The Eurasian customs union is a regional bloc that includes Russia,
Belarus and Kazakhstan aimed at creating a single economic space with
common tariffs. The group has a population of 168 million people and
a GDP of more than $2 trillion.

The BRICS countries which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa will also have established by the end of the year the $100
billion New Development Bank, as a rival to the IMF and the World Bank.

From: A. Papazian

EVENTUALLY HOW MUCH WATER IS LEFT FROM LAKE SEVAN?

12:30 February 24, 2015

PanArmenian Environmental Front

It’s commonly known that the water let out from Lake Sevan is used
to produce electricity in Sevan-Hrazdan cascade. “Sevan-Hrazdan
Cascade” CJSC with its seven HPPs was transferred into the ownership
of “International Energetic Corporation” CJSC on 17 July 2003,
who published an information booklet in English and Russian in
2005. The first page of this booklet literally says, “…at least
350-440 million cum water will be annually let out for irrigation
and energetic purposes without causing any harm to Lake Sevan…”

These lines evidently show while transferring the cascade to the
Russian party in 2003, it was guaranteed to let out such volumes of
water from Lake Sevan, otherwise these figures wouldn’t appear in
the official booklet of International Energetic Corporation.

Taking into consideration the fact that less water is transferred
through Arpa-Sevan tunnel to Lake Sevan in recent years than it used
to flow in 2002-2010, while Vorotan-Arpa tunnel hasn’t been exploited
so far, it becomes clear why the increase in the lake level stopped
after 2010.

The public has serious concerns, which will be grounded, if the
following measures are taken:

1. To immediately operate an automatic system for daily monitoring
to control the volumes of water let out from Lake Sevan and flowing
through Vorotan-Arpa-Sevan tunnel, so as each Armenian citizen could
follow this process.

2. To present clear and precise explanations to public, why
Vorotan-Arpa tunnel is not operated at all, and why the rehabilitation
works of Arpa-Sevan tunnel are so prolonged and when will they finish.

3. To display daily information on the official websites of MES
Hydromet Service and Nature Protection Ministry about the volumes
of water flowing into and out of Lake Sevan, as well as to provide
information about the fullness of the main reservoirs in Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

A CONCERT IN JERUSALEM COMMEMORATES THE CENTENNIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

13:59, 25 Feb 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

A special concert will take place on March 5 at the Jerusalem Theatre.

The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of internationally
acclaimed Estonian violinist cum conductor Andres Mustonen, will
perform a program dedicated to the commemoration of the Centennial
of the Armenian Genocide, theJerusalem Post reports.

The JSO, in collaboration with the music festival Yerevan Perspectives
(Armenia), will perform music written by the foremost Armenian
composers, as well as Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony.

Veteran Armenian composer Stepan Rostomyan, the initiator of the
concert, explains that the performance in Jerusalem is the first in
a series of international concerts.

“The Centennial of the Armenian Genocide will be noted by remarkable
concerts all over the world,” he says. “Two dozen renowned musicians
will give memorial concerts in the world’s most prestigious concert
halls through a series of concerts under the title “With you, Armenia,”
which will start in Israel. Further venues include St. John Church in
Tallinn; the Beaux Arts Palace in Brussels; the Mariinsky Theatre in
St. Petersburg; Carnegie Hall in New York; Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome;
Cadogan Hall in London; and Musikverein Hall in Vienna.

The roster of top-class musicians includes the Belgium National and La
Scala philharmonic orchestras; the Royal Philharmonic and Mariinsky
symphony orchestras; Camerata Salzburg; conductors Valery Gergiev,
Pinchas Zukerman, George Pehlivanian and John Axelrod; and soloists
Evgeny Kissin, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin and
Sergei Nakariakov.”

In regard to the Armenian Genocide, Rostomyan says that this tragic
page in his people’s history is a wound that every Armenian bears in
his/her heart.

“This was not only the loss of human lives but also of our cities,
which are now in Turkey, and of our cultural monuments that were
destroyed,” he says.

He stresses, “I have nothing against the Turkish people; I have
musician friends in Turkey. But the world – and Turkey in particular
on the governmental level – has to accept the fact that this terrible
thing happened at all. Otherwise, it can be repeated – and that is
the fear that every Armenian feels.”

The program features the following pieces: Komitas’s Fragments from
Liturgy (arranged for violin and orchestra by Andres Mustonen);
Rostomyan’s Fourth Symphony; Adagio from the ballet Spartacus by Aram
Khachaturian; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.”

From: A. Papazian

NAIRIT WORKERS CONTINUE TO PROTEST BUT HOPELESS ABOUT OUTCOME

02.25.2015 10:04 epress.am

Nairit Factory employees protested again in front of the Presidential
Palace yesterday, February 24, demanding that their salaries of 18
months were paid; the workers, however, “do not expect much from the
Armenian authorities.” Note, that during the February 23rd protest the
Nairit employees did not receive an answer from the President’s office.

Despite many journalists being present at the protest, there were
few interviews or comments; the employees demands were clear, the
impossibility of the government to meet their demands also.

When asked “What are you expecting from the government?” the Nairit
workers answer, “We have absolutely no hope, we come here but have
no hope. There needs to be a government in order for us to expect
something, but there isn’t one. If the president doesn’t give a damn
about the people, what can we demand? We come here hopeless,” said
a middle aged male protest participant.

During the protest the factory workers spoke about the injustice
around the current situation. One of the protesters recalled that
even former PM Tigran Sargsyan’s brother, former deputy-director of
Nairit, Ashot Sargsyan, received his salary. The workers also spoke
about possible solutions, for example, it was noted that they could
continue to work the factory and cover their debts.

“Tigran Sargsyan’s brother left with a final salary of 43 million AMD.

How many workers’ salaries would that cover? When it comes to them,
they don’t need to wait for the property sale, unlike us. The factory
hasn’t worked for five years, they have audited it a thousand times,
every time they’ve spent $110,000. Why is the same calculation being
done a thousand times?” said a protester, urging the company to spend
their scarce resources efficiently.

Note, that the protesters were less in number compared to their last
protest. They explained that the older pensioners have money to spend
on transportation, however the younger workers do not have any source
of income.

From: A. Papazian

TwitchFilm (press release)
Feb 24 2015

Review: WATCHERS OF THE SKY, How To Fight Genocide

Peter Martin, Managing Editor

Raphael. Ben. Samantha. Luis. Emmanuel. All are ordinary names for
ordinary people who have one thing in common: an extraordinary desire
to stop genocide.

As explored in Edet Belzberg’s documentary Watchers of the Sky, all
five individuals recognized that a single individual cannot stop the
systematic murder of large groups of people due to their race,
ethnicity, nationality, or religious belief. Yet they have all been
compelled to do something. And they all share the conviction that
genocide can be stopped, even as they acknowledge that it (probably)
won’t be within their lifetime.

Genocide has existed for centuries but it wasn’t defined as such until
the 20th century. The foundation was laid by Raphael Lemkin, born in
1900, who survived atrocities at a young age. Later, when he asked a
legal authority about the slaughter of more than one million Armenians
at the hands of the Ottoman Turks starting in 1915, he was told that
what the Turks did was perfectly within their legal rights because it
took place with the country’s national boundaries, as if a farmer
decided to slaughter all his chickens on his own ranch. Utterly
rejecting this notion, Lemkin made it his life course to make such
actions illegal. As the years passed, he determined that something new
was needed to make his case, and coined the word “genocide.”

Ben Ferencz served in the U.S. Army during World War II and took part
in the liberation of Nazi death camps, which left a permanent scar.
Two years later, however, he was recruited as a lawyer for the U.S.
Army because of that experience, becoming the Chief Prosecutor in the
Nuremberg Trials. He became acquainted with Lemkin and, recognizing
the power and truthfulness of the word “genocide,” used it in the
trial to define the charges against the defendants. It would be years
more before the word became accepted, however, and even longer before
it gained legal authority.

The life stories and experiences of Lemkin through to the 1950s are
weaved together with those of Ferencz and others who are active today.
Samantha Power, a new college graduate in 1992, was drawn to what was
happening in Bosnia, and reported on the atrocities committed there.
Her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem in Hell, served as
inspiration for this film. She now serves as U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations.

Luis Moreno Ocampo was a prosecutor in the Juntas trial in Argentina
in the 1980s and in 2003 became the first Chief Prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court. The film focuses on a case he pursued
against Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, accused of genocide.
Finally, Emmanuel Uwurukundo, who saw his entire family slaughtered
during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, talks about his efforts to help
in Chad, where he is UN Refugee Agency Field Director.

Frankly, Watchers of the Sky is not an easy film to watch. Oh,
director Belzberg eases into things, with starkly animated images and
quotations from Raphael Lemkin floating across the screen. It’s a very
down-to-earth approach, keeping a balanced, calm tone as the full
realization slowly dawns. And then the cumulative weight of the
subject matter — millions and millions of dead people, children
raped, women tortured, families (literally) torn apart — becomes
nearly overwhelming.

But all is not lost, and much of that is due to the quiet courage
displayed by the interview subjects. They are not superheroes, flying
in to right the wrongs of mankind and then tucking back into bed. Nor
do they pose themselves as heroes of any kind; there is no braying and
bragging.

Rather, there is the growing realization that these people know that
they are walking on a very long path. Maybe you’ll be moved to join
them; maybe not. In any event, they will keep walking and doing what
they can, for the betterment of mankind.

The film is available to watch via various Video On Demand platforms
as of Tuesday, February 24. It will also be available on DVD; bonus
features include interviews with Lemkim family members, bonus footage,
and deleted scenes. More information is available at the Music Box
Films website.

From: A. Papazian

LE PRESIDENT SARKISSIAN SALUE LA DECLARATION DE CRACOVIE DES MEDIATEURS DU KARABAGH

ARMENIE

Le president armenien a recu les co-presidents du Groupe de Minsk
de l’OSCE, Igor Popov (Russie), James Warlick (Etats-Unis), Pierre
Andrieu (France), et le Representant personnel du President de l’OSCE
en exercice, Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Les copresidents ont informe le president sur leurs impressions des
reunions a Bakou. Ils ont discute des questions liees a l’etat actuel
et aux prochaines etapes dans le processus de paix au Karabagh.

Le president Sarkissian a salue la declaration des copresidents du
Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE faite a Cracovie le 27 Janvier, qu’il a dit
etait different de leurs declarations anterieures car elle appelait
l’Azerbaïdjan a honorer ses engagements envers le processus de paix.

mercredi 25 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

PETITION: STOP UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO FROM GIVING A PODIUM TO GENOCIDE DENIERS JUSTIN MCCARTHY AND BRUCE FEIN

We would like to bring to your attention an event taking place at the
University of Toronto which should be cause for concern to the student
body as it threatens the integrity of this Canadian institution.

In line with Turkish President Erdogan’s numerous calls to its
embassies to actively challenge Armenian Genocide recognition and
commemoration in light of its 100th anniversary, on February 27,
the Federation of Canadian Turkish Associations has invited infamous
genocide deniers Justin McCarthy and Bruce Fein to be the keynote
speakers at an event titled “WWI 100th Anniversary-Human Suffering
in Eastern Anatolia”. The event will take place at the University
of Toronto’s University College. At a time when the world will be
commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, events
of this sort attempt to trivialize the issue through denialist claims.

According to genocide scholar Gregory Stanton denial is considered
the 10th and last stage of genocide. As in the past, McCarthy and Fein
are once again on tour to parrot the Turkish Government’s propaganda
and denial which amounts to hate-speech and is considered to be the
perpetuation of the cycle of genocide.

In commenting about the denial of the Armenian Genocide writer and
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has said “Genocide kills twice, the
second time by silence.”

Please sign the petition below to voice your concern to the University
of Toronto president and leadership. Let us stand together against
genocide denial.

Stop the University of Toronto from giving a podium to genocide
deniers!

From: A. Papazian