Author: Ara Felekian

Asbarez – AsbArtist/activist Serj Tankian and actor David Alpay will join forces on Saturday, November 7, to celebrate Armenia Tree Project (ATP) and its mission to make sustainability for Armenia possible and to inspire environmental awareness.

The event, “Glamping with ATP,” will feature an outdoor Farm Table Dinner under majestic trees atop Coldwater Canyon, at TreePeople in Beverly Hills. The event will include a musical performance by Armenian Public Radio. Glamping with ATP—glamorous camping—will satisfy the craving for the outdoors and penchant for good food and wine, in a rustic yet elegant setting.

Over the past two decades, ATP has made tremendous strides in greening Armenia by planting more than 4.7 million trees and, in the process, has created hundreds of jobs. The organization’s current campaign is the Living Century Initiative, launched to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

“We not only plant trees in Armenia, but also work with the youngest of children to raise environmental awareness. In the same vein, we’re looking to bring together environmental stewards here in order to more effectively impact our work in Armenia,” explains Maral Habeshian, ATP’s West Coast Development Director.

Longtime friends of ATP, Tankian and Alpay are strong supporters of ATP’s initiatives. Tankian is a singer, poet, songwriter and activist, and the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System of a Down that most recently conducted the cross-continental Wake Up the Souls tour to bring awareness to the Armenian Genocide.

David Alpay is an actor, musician and producer, best known for playing Mark Smeaton in The Tudors and Professor Atticus Shane in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries. His debut into the world of Hollywood started with his role in “Ararat,” directed by Atom Egoyan.

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Sergei Kirienko, head of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.

President Sargsyan noted that nuclear energy is an important part of the agenda of Armenian-Russian allied partnership. The Armenian leader added he discussed the implementation of long-term projects in the field at a meeting with his Russian counterpart last month.

The parties spoke highly of the level of collaboration in the aforementioned sphere. Sergei Kirienko expressed satisfaction with the course and results of discussions, held today during the first Yerevan session of the RA Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Rosatom’s Joint Coordination Committee. The session was dedicated to the issue concerning the extension of the ANPP second energy block’s operation terms.

The Rosatom CEO presented to the president the intermediary results of the works carried out by the Russian side to give an overview of the ANPP second energy block, and touched upon the subsequent activities envisioned by the cooperation agenda.

The Indian portal presents the story of Zabel Joshi, the last surviving Armenian of Mumbai

By Vasundara R

The famous Dalal Street, home to the Bombay Stock Exchange always looks like a place that’s in a hurry to go somewhere. Tall and old buildings mark that street and the area surrounding it. Regardless of the age, there is one thing common amongst all of them – flourishing commerce. Amidst this hustle and bustle lies a far quieter and very old edifice, which stands still, almost forgotten.

St. Peter’s Armenian Church was built three centuries ago in 1796 for a thriving community of Armenians in the Bombay of old. Today, the number of Armenians in Mumbai has dwindled to exactly one woman, and the church has no Armenian priest to conduct their services.

“There are no services for Armenians, though we use the church to do our prayers,” says Zabel Joshi, the last surviving registered Armenian in the city. Mother to model-cum-actress Tulip Joshi, Zabel once had all her three daughters baptised in this church.

The Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Government in Turkey in 1915 may seem like another world away and in a different time zone to most of us Indians, but for Zabel Haykian, it has played a big part in establishing her roots.

“Due to the genocide, our ancestors were forced to leave and settle in different parts of the world,” she narrates. “I was raised in Beirut, blessed to have had wonderful parents, along with two brothers and a sister. Beirut, which was considered the Paris of Middle East, was home for me then.”

Zabel had whirlwind romance in Beirut with Gujarati cloth merchant Kishore Joshi, who made frequent trips to the city for his business. At the age of 23, Zabel married Joshi and moved to India and the romance continued, this time also with India and with Bombay, its melting pot of languages and cultures.

“Bombay has been very kind to me,” says Zabel. “I have a wonderful family and great friends who are Indian Hindus. In fact, today I feel like one. I speak Hindi fluently, I also speak Gujarati.”

Armenians first came to India via Kerala and established solid roots in Kolkata. They then expanded to Mumbai, Chennai, Agra, Gwalior and Lucknow. Over the centuries, the community has had significant economic and cultural association with the local Indians. Today, they are as much a part of India’s melange of cultures as anybody else, speaking the local language, absorbing some customs and feeling perfectly at home.

Kolkata still has a visible Armenian community of over 150 people, but Chennai’s Armenian population is long gone and over the years, Mumbai’s Armenian population or what was left of it migrated to the US and Canada, while the older generation joined their ancestors in the cemetery at Antop Hill. Zabel now remains the sole registered Armenian in Mumbai and the trustee for the Church.

With no community to conduct services for and no priest to conduct the services either, St. Peter’s stayed shut for a long time. But the ivory coloured walls of the cathedral speak of cheerful tales, of a happy community that once got together for festivals, for Easter and for a Christmas, that was celebrated twice.
“That’s my favourite part about Christmas-having two Christmases!” gushes her daughter Tulip Joshi. “Armenian Christmas is on January 6, so we celebrate both Christmases – the regular one in December and the Armenian one. We decorate the tree and have traditional sweets and Christmas pudding (anooshabour).”

Tulip and her sisters, all of whom speak Armenian fluently, are particularly fond of Armenian food. “It’s so healthy – it’s very Mediterranean in flavour and composition. And I just love the dolmas and sarmas that my mum makes – that’s grape leaves rolled and stuffed with either vegetables or minced meat and steamed until soft.”

Zabel’s memories with the Armenians in Mumbai go beyond just festivals, though. “Every Sunday morning my family would attend Sunday mass along with many Armenians who were alive back then,” she says. “In fact we used to wait for Sundays. Easter was our favourite one. After the mass, we would go for lunch and play Easter games.”

“Things are very different now,” she continues. “I am the only Armenian living in this city. Of course, my children have Armenian blood and I am proud to say that they speak the language, which is really the first step towards preserving anything that might not be around forever.”

Recently, St.Peter’s Church, after lying forlorn and silent for years, has opened its doors to the Syrian Christians of its sister church – the Malankara Orthodox Syrian church for use during Sunday services. Feet once again troop through the doors of the church, the pews now sigh under the weight of the faithful, but they are not the people the church was built for.

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Several weeks ago, Sarkis Assadourian, a former Member of the Canadian Parliament, informed me that at his request Parliamentarian Judy Sgro had nominated Pope Francis for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

In her nomination letter, MP Sgro praised His Holiness for crafting “a papacy of inclusion, openness and reform.” She described the Pope as “an inspirational force for good” and “a symbol of hope…. From his efforts at reconciliation of past misdeeds and conflicts, to his work geared to promote peace and a greater understanding and tolerance of those with differing viewpoints, Pope Francis has already established himself as a genuine and constructive instrument of global change.”

Assadourian asked me if I could find a U.S. legislator who would likewise nominate Pope Francis for the Nobel Peace Prize. I immediately contacted Cong. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who not only agreed to nominate the Pope, but also sought the support of other House Members by circulating a letter addressed to the Nobel Committee.

Cong. Schiff’s Sept. 23rd letter states: “With unsurpassed eloquence, humility and compassion, the Pope has used his pulpit to exhort people and nations around the world to conduct their affairs with spirituality, morality and integrity…. Pope Francis has been a powerful advocate for peace, urging an end to conflict and support for constitutive ties among nations. He has called on the world to use diplomacy and discussion to solve disputes, rather than military force, coercion or intimidation. This commitment to nonviolence, which the Pope has put into practice every day through his words and actions, is at the core of the principles behind the Nobel Peace Prize.”

In view of the Pope’s reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide during a Vatican Mass in early April, Cong. Schiff commended “his courageous stand for human rights and his condemnation of all genocides, both past and present.” His Holiness has also condemned “the persecution of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq.”

Cong. Schiff also characterized Pope Francis as the “leading advocate of relief” for large numbers of refugees currently flooding Europe. The Pontiff has even invited “a Syrian refugee family to reside in his residence at The Vatican.”

Finally, in his letter of nomination, Cong. Schiff emphasized that “Pope Francis has also worked to galvanize the international community to take on global problems, such as the changing climate and environmental degradation…. Pope Francis casts the issue of an unhealthy earth in religious terms, emphasizing our joint duty to care for the world and to pass on an unspoiled environment to future generations.”

Coinciding with the Pope’s U.S. visit and address to the joint Houses of Congress, Schiff’s letter attracted great attention from colleagues and the media. The Washington Post, for example, in a lengthy article, “Should Pope Francis receive the Nobel Peace Prize?” noted that “a peace prize for Francis would be historic: no Pope has ever won the honor.”

A nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is considered valid only if it is submitted by a person who falls within one of the following categories:

Members of National Assemblies and governments of states;
Members of international courts;
Members of Institut de Droit International;
University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology;
Directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
Board members of organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; and
Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Pope’s nomination would be considerably strengthened if it is also backed by U.S. Senators and legislators from other countries, including Armenian Parliamentarians. The deadline for submitting nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize is February 1, 2016. The recipient is selected by a 5-member Norwegian Nobel Committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. The prize is awarded each year on December 10 in Oslo City Hall.

Pope Francis fully deserves the Nobel Peace Prize even though he is too modest to seek it or even accept it. Should he win the Prize, His Holiness would most probably donate the $1.5 million award to the poor and the destitute around the world.

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Sepp Blatter, the head of football’s world governing body Fifa, the BBC reports.

The attorney general’s office said he was suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal and of a “disloyal payment” to European football chief Michel Platini.

Mr Blatter was being questioned, and his office was searched, it added.

Fifa said it was co-operating with the investigation.

Mr Blatter, 79, has run Fifa since 1998 and has always denied any wrongdoing.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will leave for New York on September 24 to participate in the 70^th session of the UN General Assembly.

Within the framework of the visit Minister Nalbandian will participate in a number of high-level conferences and meetings.

The Armenian Foreign Minister is expected to meet with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister.

Edward Nalbandian will also hold meetings with his counterparts from a number of countries.

Heidi Hautala (Member of the European Parliament, FIN) and Victor Dolidze (Member of the Georgian Parliament), Co-Presidents of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, made a joint statement to express their deep regret over the decision of Azerbaijan’s Milli Mejlis (parliament) to start the procedure leading to a withdrawal of the country from the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, APA reports.

As of today, this decision was communicated to the European Parliament component of the Euronest  PA, said the statement.

“As soon as the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis formally notifies both Co-Presidents, the Bureau of the Euronest PA will take stock of these developments in order to propose the appropriate measures ensuring the continuation of smooth functioning of the Euronest PA,” the statement said.

The Euronest PA, indeed, remains the multilateral parliamentary dimension of the Eastern Partnership, the statement said, adding that as such, it will continue to function, in a spirit of integration and openness, in order to promote the necessary conditions to accelerate political and economic integration between the European Union and the Eastern European Partners.

According to the statement, participation in the Euronest PA remains, first and foremost, the voluntary and sovereign choice of each concerned Eastern Partner which fulfils the criteria.

“In this sense, we take note of and respect the decision of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis to withdraw. However, we believe that this development is unfortunate, and will also prevent Milli Majlis members from speaking their voice in joint parliamentary proceedings of evident importance for the region. The Constituent Act of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly provides for a year’s notice before any withdrawal becomes effective: within this period, we reiterate our availability to openly discuss with the Milli Majlis the situation,” said the statement.

Armenia ranks 43rd among 96 countries in the developed and constructed by HelpAge International.

The aim of the Index is both to capture the multidimensional nature of the quality of life and wellbeing of older people, and to provide a means by which to measure performance and promote improvements.

The HelpAge International has chosen 13 different indicators for the four key domains of Income security, Health status, Capability, and Enabling environment.

The best 10 countries to grow old are Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Iceland, Japan, United States, and United Kingdom. The worst countries are Mozambique, Malawi and Afghanistan.

Armenia’s neighbors Georgia and Turkey are ranked 29th and 75th respectively. Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic union are placed as follows:  Russia – 65^th, Kyrgyzstan – 51^st, Belarus – 64^th.

Armenia ranks moderately on the Index, at 43 overall. It ranks highest in the capability domain (9). It also ranks high in the income security domain (32) with 100% pension income coverage. It ranks low in the enabling environment domain (73) with the lowest value in its region for the civic freedom indicator (42%). It ranks lowest in the health domain (74), with below average life expectancy at 60 compared to other countries in this region.

The Azerbaijani side intensively violated the ceasefire regime at the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh over the weekend.

The rival used  artillery weapons of different caliber (including 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars) to fire in the direction of the Armenian forces.

The front troops of the NKR Defense Army resorted to retaliatory measures to pressure the activeness of the Azerbaijani side.

NKR Defense Ministry reports, quoting reliable sources, that at least 4 Azerbaijanis were killed, another 15 wounded.

 

Prince William clocked in for his first shift as an air ambulance pilot on Monday, nervous but excited about his new job, the Associated Press reports.

The second-in-line to Britain’s throne will face emergencies ranging from traffic accidents to heart attacks in his role working for East Anglian Air Ambulance in eastern England.

William will juggle his royal duties with nine-and-a-half hour shifts in the first few months — including night shifts — as part of a rotation where he will work four days and then have four days off. He’ll work less in the future to accommodate royal tasks.

The prince, who will donate his salary to charity, has previously been a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot based on an island off Wales.