Author: Antonian Lara

Chess: Armenia’s Levon Aronian draws round 6, still leads FIDE Grand Prix

Antonian Lara
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Nov 23 2017
Armenia’s Levon Aronian draws round 6, still leads FIDE Grand Prix

Armenia’s Levon Aronian made a draw with Peter Svidler and remains the sole leader of the FIDE Grand Prix after six rounds.

Aronian was happy about his position after the opening but was disappointed with his decision of 20.Ng5: “While I was playing fast I was doing the right moves, than I thought for 25 minutes, got carried away and blundered 21…Rae8.”

The Armenian grandmaster will face Rapport Richard of Hungary in round 7.

Aronian is currently the only player to have collected 4.0 points and is closely followed by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Hikaru Nakamura (U.S.), Ding Liren (China), Peter Svidler (Russia), Pentala Harikrishna (India), Evgeny Tomashevsky (Russia) and Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia) with 3.5 points each.

The FIDE Grand Prix 2017 is a series of four chess tournaments that form part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship 2018. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

Aronian who won the World Chess Cup in September, as well as Liren, who reached the finals, have already qualified for the Candidates Tournament.

Film: George Clooney to star in ‘Catch-22’ TV adaptation about Armenian soldier

Antonian Lara
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Nov 17 2017
– 14:37 AMT
George Clooney to star in ‘Catch-22’ TV adaptation about Armenian soldier

George Clooney will make his return to television in a serialised adaptation of Catch-22, Paramount Television revealed on Thursday, November 16, The Guardian reports.

The book mainly follows the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier.

In Catch-22, Heller introduces Yossarian as Assyrian, despite the fact that his surname suggests otherwise. In response to readers’ curiosity, Heller amended Yossarian’s heritage in Catch-22’s 1994 sequel Closing Time. In the second book, Yossarian was declared Armenian.

Clooney, who left hit medical drama ER nearly 20 years ago, will direct and star in the six-episode series, based on US author Joseph Heller’s darkly comedic 1961 novel of the same name.

The series will begin shooting in early 2018 for Viacom Inc’s Paramount Television and Anonymous Content, but has not yet been acquired by a network for distribution.

Set in Italy during the second world war, Catch-22 follows a US soldier named Yossarian, whose army keeps raising the number of missions that a soldier must complete in order to be released from duty. In an infuriating bureaucratic paradox called a “catch-22” – a phrase coined in Heller’s text – Yossarian’s only way to avoid the missions is to declare insanity, but by indicating unwillingness to embark on dangerous missions he demonstrates a rational, sane mind.

Clooney, 56, will play Yossarian’s commander Colonel Cathcart, and direct alongside his producing partner Grant Heslov. The show has been co-written and executive produced by Luke Davies and David Michôd. No other cast members have been announced.

European Parliament recognizes the right of Karabakh people to self-determination

Antonian Lara
ARKA, Armenia
Nov 16 2017

YEREVAN, November 16. /ARKA/. At a plenary meeting yesterday the European Parliament with an overwhelming majority of votes adopted a resolution recognizing straightforwardly for the second time the right of the people of Nagorno- Karabakh to self-determination, according to reports in Armenian media.

A similar resolution was adopted in connection with the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on July 5, 2017, when through the efforts of the permanent representation of Armenia in Brussels the European Parliament for the first time recorded the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination. 

Thanks to the persistent work of the permanent representation of Armenia in the EU and the principled position of the European side, as a result of the voting it was possible to stop the adoption of all destructive changes submitted by the Azerbaijani party.

  According to the reports, a large-scale attempt of falsifications, undertaken by Azerbaijan, aimed at neutralizing the efforts of the international community towards the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, as well as damaging the Armenia-EU relations on the eve of the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, scheduled for November 24, was failed.

The Azerbaijani side had made every effort to change the main message and the logic of the resolution. In particular, it succeeded in having 20 amendments added to the draft resolution aimed against  the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict and Armenia, which, in particular, portrayed Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, containing also other pro-Azerbaijani language , demanding  the return of refugees and so on.

It was also possible to prevent the inclusion of those provisions in the text of the resolution which criticized Armenia for its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. On the contrary, Armenia was noted in the resolution as a link connecting the two integration platforms – the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union.-0-

16:01 16.11.2017

Lebanon crisis poses new threats to Armenian community

Antonian Lara
Pan Armenian, Armenia
Nov 10 2017
Lebanon crisis poses new threats to Armenian community

Growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran contain new dangers for the Armenian community of Lebanon and Christians living in the Western Asian country in general.

The United States, in turn, is calling for a de-escalation of tensions, following the resignation of Saad al-Hariri as Lebanon’s prime minister while in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. State Department said it was “monitoring the situation very closely.”

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Thursday, November 9: “We would call for no kind of escalation of any sort of threats or something in that arena. But we also recognize that a government has the right to communicate with its own citizens.”

In a conversation with the Voice of America, mother Olga – the daughter of an Armenian mother and an Assyrian father – said that the Christian community of the Middle East has always suffered because of clashes of different forces.

According to her, Christians suffered when the Iraqi Kurdistan declared independence and started their revolt against the government.

She says that clashes against the Islamic State and other militant group lead to the destruction of Christian communities of the region.

Investors Club of Armenia to announce about 1 billion USD programs in November – President Sargsyan

Antonian Lara
| 12:25 | November 1 2017
Category
BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Yerevan and Moscow are developing the roadmap for implementation of programs within the frames of a joint investment fund: the resources can also be directed for financing the programs in IT and energy field, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview to RIA Novosti.

The project on creating Armenian-Russian investment fund was submitted in late January 2017. It will finance those fields which can ensure increase of trade turnover, exchange of import, development of industrial cooperation between the two countries.

“As for the Russian-Armenian fund, we continue working. Recently the representatives of the fund visited Armenia. If we talk about the fields for investments, they are the IT, energy, high technology production…At the moment the sides are working on forming a roadmap”, President Sargsyan said.

At the same time, the President said another two investments funds have been established in Armenia: one of them is the Pan-Armenian investment fund, and the second is the Investors Club of Armenia. “On November 13 this fund will hold a great presentation in Yerevan on launching an investment program (a little more than one billion USD). Those are investments mainly in Armenia’s energy fields which includes the modernization of Armenian electric networks, construction of new hydroelectric power plant and organization of production for Schneider Electric energy company. And I think that this production will find its consumer in the Russian market as well”, Serzh Sargsyan said.

Children of Armenians from other countries will be able to obtain Armenian citizenship in a simplified manner

Antonian Lara 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday
Children of Armenians from other countries will be able to obtain
Armenian citizenship in a simplified manner
Yerevan October 27
Alexander Avanesov. Children of Armenians, who are citizens of other
countries, will be able to obtain Armenian citizenship in a simplified
manner. Corresponding amendments to the Law "On Citizenship" were made
at the meeting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on
October 27.
In addition, as the Deputy Chief of Police of Armenia Vardan
Yeghiazaryan stated, in order to reduce the number of fictitious
marriages for the purpose of acquiring citizenship, the law requires a
minimum of two years to live with a citizen of Armenia in a registered
marriage, provided that they live in Armenia for one year. Issues
related to the granting of citizenship will be handled by an
interdepartmental commission that will submit proposals to the Prime
Minister, and the latter will have the right to apply to the president
for granting citizenship.

Hamshen Couple Arrested in Turkey for Being Armenian

Antonian Lara
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From left to right: Nurcan Vayiç and Cemil Aksu

8-Year-Old Daughter Left Without Parents

HOPA, Turkey – A Hamshen Armenian husband and wife have been arrested by Turkish authorities within two days of each other for being Armenian. As a result of the arrest, their eight-year-old daughter Arev, who witnessed her parents being hauled away, is now alone.

According to Turkish media, Cemil Aksu was arrested Wednesday while Nurcan Vayic was arrested two days prior during when Turkish police raided their house in the middle of the night.

Vayic has already been convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment for her anti-government writings online while the husband has not been charged yet.  Aksu and Vayic were both bloggers who actively criticize the Turkish government.

Vayic has extensively written about the growing fascism in Turkish government, which has recently called for persecution of the people of Hamshen. Her friends are convinced that her arrest was a direct result of an organized plot against her.

The town of Hopa, in the Hamshen region of Turkey is 11 miles from the Georgian border near Javakhk.

Balayan: Baku tries to distract the attention of the international community from the corruption scandal through the Karabakh conflict

Antonian Lara 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Tuesday
Balayan: Baku tries to distract the attention of the international
community from the corruption scandal through the Karabakh conflict
Yerevan October 24
Marianna Mkrtchyan. Baku once again misused the site of the
international conference in Palermo, which has nothing to do with the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This was stated in his microblog on Twitter
by the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran
Balayan.
"These manipulations are aimed at diverting attention from the
corruption scandal, better known as Landromat, which has disgraced
Azerbaijan to the whole world because of corruption and aggressive
criminal positions," Balayan wrote.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on October 24 in Palermo
takes Participation in the OSCE summit on flows of refugees and
migrants.Recall that the Center for the Study of Corruption and
Organized CrimeCrime (OCCRP) unveiled an investigation into the
establishment of the authorities Azerbaijan fictitious companies in
the UK for the purpose of money laundering. In total, it is about 2.9
billion dollars, which went to pay bribes to European politicians, the
acquisition of luxury goods and other self-serving purposes. The
document notes that from 2012 to 2014, against the background of mass
arrests of activists and journalists in Azerbaijan, representatives of
the ruling elite of the country bribed European politicians who
lobbied Baku's interests in the EU and blocked resolutions condemning
human rights violations in the transcaucasian republic. From the
accounts of these fictitious companies, personal expenses of
high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan were also paid.
In addition, the accounts of these companies received tens of millions
of euros from the Russian supplier of arms - Rosoboronexport, the
investigation notes. Later, this money was transferred to the account
of the first vice-premier of Azerbaijan. Companies in the UK that
participated in money laundering were registered with front men from
Azerbaijan. These firms provided fictitious accounts, although
billions of euros passed through their accounts. All of them were
serviced in the Estonian branch of one bank - Danske Bank from
Denmark. Data on the flow of money on their accounts was received by
the Danish newspaper Berlingske, which shared them with the Organized
Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The case was
conditionally called "Laundromat".

Sports: Armenian weightlifting team comes the first at the European Championships, returns home with 32 medals

Antonian Lara
Panorama, Armenia
Oct 23 2017
Sport 14:50 23/10/2017Armenia

The Armenian weightlifting team recorded an outstanding result winning 32 medals, including 18 gold, 8 silvers, and 6 bronze at the U-20 and the U-23 European Weightlifting Championships held from October 15 -21 in Durres. Albania

As the country’s ministry of sport and youth affairs reported, in the U-20 tournament the representative of Armenia Arpine Dalalyan, competing in the 90+ weight class, was named the European champion with a total score of 228kg, claiming small gold medals both in the snatch and the sneak and jerk.

In the 75kg weight category, Sona Poghosyan of Armenian claimed the title of the European Champion. In the men’s competition of the U-20 tournament Simon Martirosyan claimed gold medal in the 105+ kg weight category, with a total score of 433kg, winning the gold in both events.

In the men’s competition of the U-23 tournament Gor Minasyan, competing in the 105+ kg weight class, Karush Ghukasyan – in the 94kg weight class, and Andranik Karapetyan – in the 85kg weight class, were declared European Champions.

Meanwhile Simon Martirosyan and Andranik Karapetyan were named the best athletes of respectively the U-20 and U-23 tournaments and awarded with special prizes.

The final results placed the Armenian national team the first at the championships with the most number of medals won during the competition.

Azerbaijani Press: Will Sargsyan dare to withdraw troops from occupied Azerbaijani territories?

Antonian Lara
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2017
17:49 (UTC+04:00)
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva / Trend

The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian in New York was rather technical, where the sides discussed ways out of the current stalemate in the region.

At the meeting, Mammadyarov and Nalbandian agreed to continue serious negotiations on the existing documents which are on the negotiating table.

The essence of these documents was voiced by former US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Richard Hoagland in the middle of summer. This is an open public document now, in which the first point by priority is the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

In New York, the sides also discussed the possibility of arranging a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Such a meeting will be significant only if the negotiators, as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia have a clear and specific agenda to be discussed by President Aliyev and President Sargsyan.

According to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, such an agenda has been outlined and the sides are ready for substantive negotiations, at which concrete actions, rather than abstract ones, will be discussed.

If the proposals, voiced by Hoagland, are approved at the presidents’ meeting, it will be necessary to begin to implement these agreements, the first point of which is the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

By the way, the so-called Lavrov’s plan implied the same point, namely, the Armenian armed forces must be withdrawn from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and internally displaced people must return to their native lands.

Hoagland’s statement, by the way, implies that the US and Russian negotiators are unanimous on many points. France supports the main development, which also means the EU’s support. The UN also supports this process.

However, the number one issue in this situation is whether President Sargsyan will come to the meeting.

For example, following the meeting in St. Petersburg in 2016, at which a concrete plan of action was discussed, Sargsyan organized a tragicomedy with hostage-taking in Armenia to avoid the necessary steps to resolve the conflict.