Author: Babajanian Karo

AGMI HAS PUBLISHED THE FIRST ISSUE OF “INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE STUDIES”

14:10, 26 Dec 2014

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute has published the first issue
of academic peer-review journal in English.

Director of AGMI and the chief editor of the journal Hayk Demoyan
says: “At the threshold of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide
the publication of this journal can be conceived as a long term
initiative enabling the next generation of genocide scholars to
develop new insights and research approaches in the study of all
genocides and their consequences. IJAGS aims to secure a firm place
in the global fight against the crime of the genocide and the scourge
and grave danger of denial. IJAGS will fight against denial of any
genocide. We envision this endeavor as part of the challenge of
establishing early warnings and working towards prevention for the
sake of global security”.

According to deputy Director of AGMI and editor of reviews of the
journal Suren Manukyan, the publication of this journal is to promote
the academic study of the Armenian Genocide. It is a double anonymous
peer-reviewed journal; each article has passed the examination of
two famous experts of the area and fits all the requirements for
international academic journal.

“International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies” publishes
articles and reviews related to the Armenian Genocide and other
genocides in general. The preference is given to articles related to
history, political science, anthropology, sociology, literature and
law. Articles of other themes will also be included in this journal,
if they are somehow related to the genocide studies.

BILAN DE LA SESSION DE LA COMMISSION INTERPARLEMENTAIRE ARMENO-IRANIENNE

ARMENIE

De retour de Teheran où les 15 et 16 decembre, une session de la
commission interparlementaire armeno-iranienne s’est tenue, Yervand
Zakharian, Ministre de l’Energie et des ressources naturelles,
qui copreside cette commission, en a presente le bilan. Selon lui,
5 ateliers armeno-iraniens ont discute pendant deux jours diverses
questions de cooperation bilaterale. Deux documents importants
ont ete signes : un protocole de bilan de la session et un accord
gouvernemental sur la construction d’une centrale hydroelectrique a
Meghri. Il est prevu que les travaux preparatoires de ce projet soient
termines en octobre 2015. La construction de la centrale durera 5 ans.

Le Ministre a egalement accorde une importance particulière a un autre
accord energetique, a savoir la construction d’une troisième ligne a
haute tension entre les deux pays. La construction doit commencer en
mars 2015 et terminer dans 18 mois. Ce projet permettra d’exporter
en Iran 7 milliards kw/h d’electricite au lieu de 1,2 milliards kw/h
aujourd’hui. Les journaux se taisent en ce qui concerne le financement
de ces projets. / Hayots Achkhar et Hayastani Hanrapetoutioun

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 19 decembre 2014

vendredi 26 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

L’UNION DES SYNDICATS DE L’ARTSAKH, UNE INSTITUTION FELICITEE PAR LE PRESIDENT SAHAKIAN

KARABAGH

Le president de la Republique du Haut Karabagh, Bako Sahakyan, a
tenu a feliciter les delegues presents au 3e congrès de l’Union des
syndicats de l’Artsakh, qui se tenait a Stepanakert. Dans son message,
le president Sahakian salue le travail effectue par cette organisation,
qui marquait dans le meme temps son dixième anniversaire. Il a remarque
qu’elle faisait partie desormais du paysage institutionnel de l’Artsakh
et qu’elle avait prouve son efficacite dans differents domaines
d’activites.

ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMON AVIATION ZONE WITH EU BEING DISCUSSED

December 26, 2014 15:19

Minister of Economy of Armenia Karen Chshmarityan

Yerevan /Mediamax/. The passenger flow of Zvartnots international
airport has grown by 23.3% as of January -November 2014.

Minister of Economy of Armenia Karen Chshmarityan said today the
frequency of flights as compared to the same period of 2013 increased
by 22%.

According to the Minister, the works of “Ensuring Sustainable and
Competitive Air Transportation Services in Republic of Armenia”
program will continue.

A number of international legal and contractual relations in the
aviation field have been reconsidered and the air communication field
has been liberalized with 6 countries – Austria, Russia, Iran, Spain,
Turkmenistan and Iraq.

“Alongside with negotiations with other countries, signing of an
agreement on common aviation zone with the European Union is being
discussed”, said the Minister.

– See more at:

PRESS RELEASE
The Armenian Center at Columbia University
Media Contact: Taleen Babayan
Ph: (201) 693-3453
Email: [email protected]

Symposium on `Monuments and Memory: Material Culture and the Aftermaths of
Histories of Mass Violence,’ with a Focus on the Ruins of the Armenian City
of Ani, to be Held at Columbia University, February 20, 2015.

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a
groundbreaking symposium will be held at Columbia and sponsored by the
Armenian Center of Columbia University, Columbia’s Institute for the Study
of Human Rights and the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.
Peter Balakian, Donald M. Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities at
Colgate University, and Rachel Goshgarian, Assistant Professor of History
at Lafayette College, are organizers and hosts of the event.

The symposium will be groundbreaking in its comparative analysis of Jewish
monuments in eastern Europe, Muslim monuments in the Balkans, and Armenian
Christian monuments in Turkey. Issues of preservation, social justice, and
restitution will be discussed.

`The goal of this conference is to place the lamentable situation of
Armenian monuments in Turkey into larger contexts,’ said Dr. Rachel
Goshgarian, Assistant Professor of History at Lafayette College. `After
visiting so many Armenian constructions in Turkey — in various states of
repair or disrepair — over the course of the past ten years, one question
consistently came to my mind: what happens to monuments when they kind of
lose their monumentality? This question is worthwhile in many contexts, but
in the framework of modern Turkey, offers us the opportunity to consider
the differences between the ways in which people living with Armenian
monuments might differ from overarching governmental actions or concerns.’

`The aftermath of human rights violence is always long and complex and the
fate of material culture and especially major and sacred monuments such as
churches, synagogues and mosques raise complex issues about restitution,
identity, and social justice,’ said Balakian. `Our symposium will bring
together some major scholars from around the world to discuss these issues
and others.’

The symposium will take place in Room 1501 of Columbia University’s
Morningside Campus International Affairs Building, located at 420 West
118th Street, from 10 am until 6 pm with breaks for lunch and coffee. A
reception will follow. This event is free and open to the public.

HOW AN ARMENIAN MONK BROUGHT GINGERBREAD TO THE WEST

17:45, 25 Dec 2014

Eaten in England, Germany, the U.S., Romania and more Nordic
countries than you can remember – the humble gingerbread has been a
winter holiday favorite, accompanying other delicacies on tables for
centuries, but always standing out thanks to a delicious combination
of ginger, molasses or honey.

So deeply rooted in Europe, it is perhaps odd, yet also delightful,
that it was actually an Armenian monk who introduced the sweet, dark
confection to the continent over one thousand years ago, the Ianyan
Magazine reports.

It was the year 991, when archbishop Gregory Markar traveled from
Nicopolis, a city in the ancient kingdom of Pontus now located in
modern day Anatolia, Turkey, after being chased out by the Persian
Army. Tired and weary, he made his way across Europe, arriving
in the Gâtinais, part of the Loire Valley region in France. With
permission from local officials, Gregory became a hermit, choosing
to live close to the Saint Martin-le-Seul church in Baudrevilliers,
which was previously abandoned by Vertou monks.

According to the Logis hotel chain, which details the region’s
gastronomic delights like gingerbread on their site, Gregory’s “tiny,
natural cell, no larger than his body, enabled him to lead a hermit’s
existence of penitence and reclusion.” Gregory lived like this for
seven years, “spending his time in long contemplations, living off
edible roots and wild honey,” which the region was known for.

According to the 1901 book, “A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative,
Realistic and Dogmatic” by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, “Gregor of Armenia”
fasted entirely every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. “On
Tuesday and Thursday, he ate three ounces of food after sunset. On
Sunday he did did not fast but ate very sparingly. He never ate meat
or butter but his chief food was lentils, steeped in water and exposed
to the heat of the sun. His rule was to eat as many as he could take
up in his left hand.”

Gregory became a bit of a popular holy man in the French countryside,
attracting “bourgeois and peasants alike” whom he would offer his
Eastern hospitality to, “finishing the meal with a cake that he made
himself, according to a recipe from his country, and comprising of
honey and spices, in the fashion of his far away homeland in Armenia.”

This is recorded, according to several sources, in a 10th century
manuscript from the Micy Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the region
in which it is recounted that Gregory made, by hand, cake with honey
and spices, “just like in his homeland.”

Thanks to Gregory, Pithiviers retained its rich gingerbread making
tradition until this day – a “Saint Gregory of Nicopolis Gingerbread
Brotherhood” or Brotherhood “du Pain d’Epices” if you’re French and
fancy exists in the region, making gingerbread “according to the
recipe passed down by Saint Gregory the Armenian.”

After teaching gingerbread making to the French, they in turn taught
the Germans who brought it to Swedish monasteries, according to the
2010 book, “FoodFest 365!: The Officially Fun Food Holiday Cookbook” by
Yvan Lemoine, who also adds that it was the “court of Queen Elizabeth
responsible for creating the iconic man.” How very dainty, and also
very British.

A tale about an Armenian monk traveling to France and inadvertently
bringing gingerbread to the Western world was too good to just tell you
about, so we decided to show you, using gingerbread baked and designed
in the Ianyanmag test kitchen for a short stop-motion animation film:

ARMENIA HIRES CELEBRITY LAWYER AGAINST TURKISH POLITICIAN

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 24 2014

YUSUF ZIYA DURMUÃ…~^

Armenia has hired celebrity lawyer Amal Clooney for the next round in
a case in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against Turkish
politician Dogu Perincek. The ECtHR had previously ruled his denial
of the Armenian genocide was protected under freedom of expression

Dogu Perincek, chairman of the opposition Workers’ Party (Ä°P) will
face Armenia in the next stage of his legal battle after the European
Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cleared him of the charges of racial
discrimination and genocide denial by a Swiss court where he made
remarks defining the Armenian “genocide” as an “international lie.”

Armenia decided to be a co-plaintiff in the case at the next hearing on
Jan. 28, and in an apparent aim at publicity for the case, hired Amal
Clooney (nee Alamuddin), wife of Hollywood superstar George Clooney,
whose wedding overshadowed her work as a London-based barrister
and activist.

Perincek, known for his fervent stance against the allegations of
genocide, was found guilty by a Swiss court in 2007 after he made a
speech calling the genocide “an international lie” during an event
in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2005. A Swiss court ruled his remarks had
racist motives, pointing to anti-racism laws in place that criminalize
denial of genocide. In a 2013 decision in favor of Perincek, the ECtHR
ruled that Swiss legislation criminalizing the denial of genocide
violated the principle of freedom of expression.

However, the ECtHR approved an appeal by Switzerland to the ruling
last June, much to the chagrin of Ankara, which described the move as
“politically motivated.”

Encouraged by the ECtHR’s approval of the appeal, Armenia, which
shied away from the previous hearing, has joined the legal battle as
a co-plaintiff. Armenian media reported that Clooney will join her
associate Geoffrey Robertson and two representatives for the Armenian
government in the appeal hearing in Strasbourg, France.

Assessing Armenia’s decision to take part in the appeal hearing,
Perincek said it was quite normal since Turkey also participated in
the proceedings.

Perincek is confident that he will win the case. “We have the upper
hand in this case since we have a solid defense,” he said.

He underlined that the case is not just about freedom of expression
and claimed the previous ruling by the ECtHR made clear that the
1915 incidents cannot be defined as genocide, “for instance, like
the Holocaust.”

“As I was preparing my defense, people told me to focus on my right of
freedom of expression instead of saying that the genocide did not take
place, but I did not. Eventually, the court issued an extraordinary
ruling. The Turkish government lauded it and described it as a landmark
[decision], a revolting verdict,” Perincek said. “Indeed, this case
put an end to the debate on a century-old issue and the court issued
a very brave verdict,” he said.

Perincek, whose party pursues a strict anti-American policy, claimed
the court’s ruling dealt a blow to the U.S. and European countries
advocating for the acceptance of the Armenian genocide. “They were
staunch defenders of [calling it] genocide, even more than the Armenian
diaspora,” he said.

He said that the debate over the genocide issue was the work of those
trying to defame Turkey and was deliberately brought into question
in the past two decades in the light of Turkey’s struggle against the
PKK. “There have been attempts to brand the Turkish army’s crackdown
on terrorism as genocide in the same vein of the Armenian ‘genocide,’
” Perincek said.

Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act
of genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 during World War I. Turkey
accepts mass deaths of Armenians during their forced deportation during
the war but claims the death toll was much lower and attributes mass
deaths to diseases and isolated cases of attacks. Ankara has also
urged Armenia to let historians handle the matter, though Armenia
demands recognition of the genocide in order to advance relations
between the two neighboring countries.

The ECtHR’s first ruling in favor of Perincek was hailed as landmark
decision by some as it had implications for other countries attempting
to criminalize the denial of genocide including France. The French
parliament passed a bill criminalizing the denial of genocide in 2012,
but the French Constitutional Court struck it down on the grounds
that it violated freedom of expression and speech.

ARMENIA ESTABLISHES FUND FOR TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Dec 25 2014

25 December 2014 – 4:33pm

The Social Investment Fund of Armenia has been renamed. Now it is the
Territorial Development Fund of Armenia. The decision was approved
at today’s cabinet meeting.

Armenia establishes Fund for Territorial Development

The Social Investment Fund of Armenia has been renamed. Now it is the
Territorial Development Fund of Armenia. The decision was approved
at today’s cabinet meeting.

The main objective of the renaming is ensuring the implementation of
investment programs in communities, as a result of which the existing
imbalance in the Armenian territorial socio-economic development will
be ameliorated, Armenia Today cites a cabinet statement.

The World Bank (WB) plans to actively promote the implementation
of the country’s development strategy. This fact is reflected in
the document named “Partnership Strategy 2014-2017 biennium of the
country.” which was designed for Armenia. The main emphasis of this
document is placed on accelerated economic growth. The Government
will receive assistance to achieve this goal.

In addition, various donors will consistently promote the
implementation of programs aimed at different aspects of territorial
development. In addition, this assistance needs to be coordinated to
ensure its maximum efficiency

The main objective of the renaming is ensuring the implementation of
investment programs in communities, as a result of which the existing
imbalance in the Armenian territorial socio-economic development will
be ameliorated, Armenia Today cites a cabinet statement.

The World Bank (WB) plans to actively promote the implementation
of the country’s development strategy. This fact is reflected in
the document named “Partnership Strategy 2014-2017 biennium of the
country.” which was designed for Armenia. The main emphasis of this
document is placed on accelerated economic growth. The Government
will receive assistance to achieve this goal.

In addition, various donors will consistently promote the
implementation of programs aimed at different aspects of territorial
development. In addition, this assistance needs to be coordinated to
ensure its maximum efficiency.

AUGUST EVENTS DESTROYED MYTH CREATED BY AZERBAIJAN – EXPERT

17:42 25/12/2014 >> POLITICS

The August events demonstrated to Azerbaijani public that the opinion
created by the Azerbaijani authorities that they allegedly can resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a military way is simply a myth,
chairman of European Integration NGO Karen Bekaryan told a press
conference on Thursday.

The analyst noted a regress in the Karabakh peace talks. “There
is certain progress in the psychological and logical aspects,”
Bekaryan added.

“It is necessary to focus on raising the level of internal integration
between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,” he stressed.

Source: Panorama.am

UN MEMBRE DU GOUVERNEMENT SIGNALE DES PLANS POUR UNE NOUVELLE HAUSSE DU TARIF DE L’ELECTRICITE EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

Le vice-ministre de l’energie et des ressources naturelles, a
declare que la depreciation de la monnaie nationale va conduire a
une augmentation des tarifs d’electricite.

S’exprimant lors d’une conference de presse a Erevan, Areg Galstyan
a dit : “Ce que nous avons vu le mois dernier aura son impact direct
sur nos calculs et les approches.”

Prie de dire s’il y avait des mesures visant a eviter la hausse des
prix de l’electricite, le vice-ministre a declare que “personne ne
peut repondre a la question maintenant.”

“Mais une chose est claire, l’influence sera inevitable,” a-t-il dit.

Le tarif de l’electricite a deja ete releve a deux reprises en Armenie
dans les deux dernières annees. En Juillet 2013, la Commission de
regulation des services publics l’a augmente de 27 pour cent, avec une
augmentation supplementaire de 10 pour cent approuve un an plus tard.

À l’heure actuelle, les menages paient en Armenie 41,85 drams par
kilowatt d’electricite (31,85 drams pour les heures de nuit).

jeudi 25 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com