Author: Ara Felekian

Whoever wins the presidential election in Iran, there won’t be serious changes in the relations with Armenia, expert of Iranian studies says.

“Iran’s foreign policy towards Armenia is not conditioned by persons. The political line will not undergo serious changes whoever is elected,” expert of Iranian studies Vardan Voskanyan told a press conference today. Therefore, he said, it’s hard to judge which of the candidates is preferable from the Armenian viewpoint.

As for the Armenian community’s stance, Vardan Voskanyan said there is a huge difference when compared to those in the United States or France.

“The Armenian community of Iran does not back any single candidate, Armenians are free to express their will and vote for the candidate they prefer,” the expert said. He noted, however, that most Armenians back reforms, but it does not mean conservatives have no supporters among Armenians.

According to Voskanyan, being an Armenia in Iran is a privilege in a certain sense. He emphasized the special attitude towards the Armenian community and said “elections will not change it.”

Speaking to , Member of Iranian Majlis Karen Khanlaryan said “Armenians have different affiliations.”

He said the community issues will be presented to all candidates and voiced hope the newly elected President would take steps to ease the difficulties Armenians face.

He said the main demands include recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, material support and some legal issues.

Unlike Vardan Voskanyan, the lawmaker considers that the approaches of the elected President will lead to changes in Armenian-Iranian relations.

“The strategic and tactical guidelines will change,” Karen Khanlaryan said.

Iran will hold presidential elections on May 19. The candidates include incumbent  President Hassan Rouhani, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, Astan Quds Razavi chairman Ebrahim Raisi, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Mostafa Mir-Salim and Mostafa Hashemitaba. The main competition is expected between reformist Hassan Rouhani and conservative Ebrahim Raisi.

Armenia is ranked 79th among 180 countries in the 2017 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders.

According to the report, “the print media in Armenia are diverse and polarized, investigative journalism prospers on the Internet, but pluralism lags behind in the broadcast media. In the crucial transition to digital TV, a future space for critical broadcasters will depend on the impartiality of the frequency bidding process.”

Other countries in the region are placed as follows: Russia – 148th, Georgia – 64th, Turkey – 155th, Azerbaijan – 162nd, Iran – 165th.

Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands are ranked as the countries with the highest degree of freedom for journalists.

North Korea ranked last, with Reporters Without Borders saying the country “continues to keep its population in ignorance and terror.Also at the bottom of the list, just ahead of North Korea, were Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and China.

The Selection Committee for the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity has today announced the names of the five 2017 finalists who have been chosen for their exceptional impact, courage and commitment to preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes. They are:

• Ms. Fartuun Adan and Ms. Ilwad Elman, Founders of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, Somalia – Mother and daughter who are unwavering in their mission to protect human rights, women’s rights, and facilitate peace building, development and the rehabilitation of child soldiers amidst insecure and dangerous conditions
• Ms. Jamila Afghani, Chairperson of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization, Afghanistan – a polio victim who accidentally received the gift of reading and has dedicated her life to bringing reading and education to girls and women, while enlisting the help of Muslim leaders of faith in her mission.
• Dr. Tom Catena, Surgeon at the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan – A Catholic missionary and doctor who for nearly a decade remains the only permanent doctor to treat the remote and war-torn region’s half-million population, performing more than 1,000 operations each year
• Mr. Muhammad Darwish, Medical Doctor at the Madaya Field Hospital, Syria – A student of dentistry returned to his hometown and took on the full responsibilities of a medical doctor, began to perform medical procedures, offered care and maintained meticulous documentation of the conditions of patients, many of them children, affected by persisting violence, thus bringing international attention to the besieged area
• Dr. Denis Mukwege, Gynecological Surgeon and Founder of the Panzi Hospital, The Democratic Republic of the Congo – An obstetrician turned gynecological surgeon who is providing physical, psychological and legal support to more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence in the war-torn country while fearlessly seeking to bring to justice those responsible

The finalists will be honored at the Aurora Prize Ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia on May 28, 2017 when one will be chosen as the 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate. The Aurora Prize Laureate will receive a grant of US$100,000 to support the continuation of their work, as well as a US$1,000,000 award, which will give them the unique ability to continue the cycle of giving by supporting organizations that have inspired their work.

The Selection Committee, co-chaired by Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney, includes Nobel Laureates Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi and Leymah Gbowee; former president of Ireland Mary Robinson; human rights activist Hina Jilani; former Foreign Minister of Australia and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans; and former president of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo. The Committee shortlisted the five finalists from more than 550 nominations for 254 unique candidates submitted by the general public from 66 countries and in 13 languages.

Speaking on behalf of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, Vartan Gregorian, Committee Member, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative said, “We are gratified by the enormous response generated by the call for nominations. It is an acknowledgment of our shared humanity and values. While geography and circumstances differ for each nominee, it is the similarities that unite them all. Individual human beings risk their own well-being and safety in order to rescue those in desperate need of help, and it is Aurora’s mission to support these saviors. We believe that those who are rescued will themselves continue the cycle of gratitude and giving.”

Marguerite Barankitse from Maison Shalom and REMA Hospital in Burundi was named the first Aurora Prize Laureate on April 24, 2016 in Yerevan, Armenia. Following the horrifying experience of being forced to witness the execution of 72 Hutu neighbors whom she tried to hide to keep safe from persecution, Ms. Barankitse, a Tutsi, has spent the last 20 years providing safe haven for orphans and refugees escaping violence and abuse during her country’s civil war. She has rescued and educated roughly 30,000 children, and the hospital she opened in 2008 has treated more than 80,000 patients to date.

“Children from Brazil to Ethiopia to the many Burundian refugees in Rwanda are thriving today because they now have the love, education and support they need, thanks to the generous backing of the 2016 Aurora Prize,” said Barankitse. “The powerful work of the 2017 finalists is truly awe-inspiring. These individuals embody the spirit of gratitude in action by keeping hope alive for so many of our brothers and sisters around the world. Their work is destined to unleash the human potential for love.”

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was established in 2015 by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. The Aurora Prize will honor an Aurora Laureate each year until 2023, in remembrance of the eight years of the Armenian Genocide (1915 -1923).

– It’s been years in the works, but the church that serves Armenians across the region has completed the first phase of its new complex in Haverhill near the North Andover line.

The Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe will open its new Family Life and Cultural Center this weekend, less than a year after construction began. The center cost $2.7 million, church officials said.

While plans are being made to build a new sanctuary on the grounds, the new family center will allow church members to attend “Badarak” — Armenian for church service — until the actual church is completed next to it on 9 acres that the parish bought in 2000.

Parish members have been attending Sunday Mass at Sacred Hearts Church, ever since their former church, St. Gregory the Illuminator across from City Hall, closed last fall. St. Gregory is expected to be demolished to make way for a proposed restaurant.

“Our first service in the new building will be held on Sunday,” said the Rev. Vart Gyozalyan, pastor of Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe.

Gyozalyan said the new building is a testament to the dedication of Armenians whose ancestors survived the genocide of 1915 and came to America to build a new life.

“Their decedents continue in their footsteps by building a new church and family center, to pass on to their children their faith, their culture and their history,” he said.

“There is a sense of relief, and there are a lot of emotions involved in the opening of our new center,” Gyozalyan said. “One parishioner dropped by on Wednesday and started to cry. She told me, ‘I never thought I’d see this day.’

“I knew there would be excitement, but I did not expect tears of joy,” Gyozalyan said. “People love the building. Especially our older members, as the building is one level and they don’t have to climb stairs as they did at St. Gregory. I had some parishioners who could not climb those stairs at all, so they stayed downstairs in the church hall.”

Gyozalyan, the church’s pastor since 2011, said his congregation has been counting the days until they could set foot in the new center.

He said his parishioners should love the new sound system, especially those who had difficulty hearing him speak during Masses at St. Gregory.

“I was getting complaints … We didn’t have the right equipment to deliver God’s message,” he said. “Now we have a system where everyone will be able to hear me, no matter where they sit.”

The church has about 120 members hailing from Portland, Maine; several Southern New Hampshire communities; Haverhill; Methuen; Dracut; North Andover and Andover; Reading and North Reading; Stoneham;  Lynn and Lynnfield; Groveland; Georgetown; and Manchester, New Hampshire.

The next phase of the complex, the worship area, will cost $1.5 million to $1.9 million, church officials said.

In addition to temporarily serving as a sanctuary for Masses, the Family Life and Cultural Center has six classrooms for Sunday school, three parish offices, a meeting room, a fellowship hall for 75 people, a large, commercial kitchen with appliances and a great hall that can accommodate 390 people.

The entire 15,000-square-foot Family Life and Cultural Center can accommodate 788 people.

A grand opening celebration for the Family Life and Cultural Center takes place on Saturday, beginning with a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m.

The sold-out event will include special guests Armenian Achbishop Khajag Barsamian, Armenian Olympic Gymnast Houry Gebeshian. Armenian clergy from throughout the region, Haverhill clergy members, and city and state officials.

The Armenia Airline will start direct flights between Yerevan and Tel-Aviv under an agreement reached between the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Armenian Government and the relevant authorities of Israel.

The flights will be launched on May 17, 2017 and will be operated twice a week – on Thursdays and Sundays.

The Armenian side is confident the flights will have a positive impact on the development of tourism and economy.