Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIE
>, a déclaré le catholicos Aram Ier dans son message
aux fidèles à Washington

Dimanche 7 Septembre 2014, Sa Sainteté Aram Ier a présidé la Sainte
Liturgie et s’est adressé aux fidèles dans l’Église de la Sainte Croix
à Washington DC. L’Archevêque Oshagan, Prélat de la Prélature de l’Est
d’Eglise Apostolique Arménienne d’Amérique, a célébré la liturgie
après avoir accueilli Sa Sainteté et expliquer le but de sa présence à
Washington pour la congrégation.

La dernière fois que le Catholicos a visité Washington était quand il
était un étudiant de troisième cycle à l’Université Fordham. Il a
remercié l’archevêque, a salué les fidèles et a exprimé sa joie d’être
avec la communauté après tant d’années. Dans son message, il a dit aux
fidèles que >. Il a
ajouté que Jésus a transformé le sens et le but de la foi. Il a
poursuivi en soulignant que selon la Bible, Jésus a dit, > (Jean
14:16). >, a déclaré Sa Sainteté >>, signifie être
un disciple, tout abandonner et suivre la foi en le Christ est la
source de la vie, celui qui vit une vie chrétienne sera courageux face
aux défis du monde >>.

Se référant aux Arméniens, le Catholicos a dit, .
>, a-t-il ajouté, “a soutenu notre peuple à
travers l’histoire >>. Le Catholicos a ensuite exhorté les gens à
rester fidèles à leur foi et leur Eglise.

Enfin Sa Sainteté a parlé de 2015, de la commémoration du 100e
anniversaire du génocide et a demandé à tous les Arméniens de s’unir
et d’exiger la justice de la part de la Turquie pour les un-et
demi-million de victimes et le rétablissement des droits des
survivants >> avec une seule voix.

L’ambassadeur d’Arménie, le représentant du Karabagh et un membre du
Conseil de l’Église ont été parmi les personnes qui ont assisté à la
liturgie dominicale.

Après la liturgie sa sainteté Aram Ier a tenu des réunions avec
l’archevêque Oshagan, les membres du Conseil de l’Eglise et des
membres de la commission sur le génocide arménien.

dimanche 14 septembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Héritage
Sauvez le Musée Arménien de France !

Toujours sur le coup d’une mesure discriminatoire, le Musée Arménien
de France dirigé par Frédéric Fringhian est en danger de disparition à
la veille du centenaire du génocide des Arméniens.

Pour le sauver, un comité de soutien a lancé une pétition adressée au
président Hollande et à la ministre de la culture Fleur Pellerin afin
que le Musée retrouve les locaux qui ont de toujours abrité l’héritage
de la culture arménienne, sis 59 avenue Foch à Paris.

Signez ICI
Sauvez le Musée Arménien de France !

Frédéric Fringhian écrit :

Zhoghovurd: BAMO owner to start business in Germany

11:15 13/09/2014 >> DAILY PRESS

The BAMO Company of the Muradyan brothers is in a financial crisis,
Zhoghovurd writes. All their businesses in Russia have failed. When
Hovik Muradyan died after being stabbed in downtown Moscow in December
2013, their affairs became even more complicated. On August 21 of this
year, the Armenian government took over the company’s virtually only
major property in Armenia, Sports and Concert Complex because of
debts.

According to the newspaper, ex-Ambassador to Iraq Murad Muradyan has
moved to Germany. The newspaper’s sources say that the BAMO owner is
going to start business in that country and his ambassadorial
connections help him.

Source: Panorama.am

AZERBAIJAN HAS GOT A CHANCE TO BLOCK RUSSIAN SALES OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED AT ITS OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Azerbaijan Business Center
Sept 12 2014

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Azerbaijan has got a chance to block Russian
sales of products produced at its territories occupied by Armenia
(Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 regions around it).

This opportunity can officially be taken already on September 15.

The material is distributed only on private subscription conditions.

If you are interested in it please contact the Marketing Service of
Fineko Agency.

ARMENIAN LECTURE SERIES KICKS OFF TONIGHT

The Collegian, CSUF, CA
Sept 11 2014

By Alex Sheedy | September 11, 2014 | News

The Armenian studies program is hosting its first Fall Lecture
Series tonight at the University Business Center, flying in Dr. Simon
Payaslian from Boston University to discuss the concept of “cultural
congruence” in Armenian-American communities.

Barlow Der Mugrdechian, coordinator of the lecture series and
Armenian studies program, said the lecture series has a two-fold
purpose of aiding both students and faculty on campus, as well as
engaging community members.

“No. 1, it’s for the students, so that we bring people that give
different topics than what we do in the classroom,” Der Mugrdechian
said. “It’s always nice to hear somebody other than your teacher all
the time, so we invite somebody that has a topic that we don’t cover
in detail.”

“But it’s also been a way for us to tie in with our community,” he
added. “To tie them in with the university as the intellectual center,
as a place that they can come, they feel comfortable coming and can
meet scholars and ask questions.”

Payaslian, a friend of Der Mugrdechian, is the holder of the Charles
K. and Elizabeth

M. Kenosian Chair in modern Armenian history and literature at Boston
University.

His lecture, entitled “The Origins of the Armenian Community in
New England and the Construction of Armenian-American ‘Cultural
Congruence,'” will highlight the things that have changed and
influenced the Armenian identity.

Payaslian will discuss how Armenian communities functioned to preserve
their values, traditions and culture, and how they fostered a positive
image of themselves in American society.

Der Mugrdechian said that despite the discussion focusing on a
community so far from the Central Valley, there are parallels with
Fresno. He noted that both communities are over 100 years old and that
the topic’s discussion about cultural congruence could be applied here.

“There are probably 50,000 to 60,000 Armenians in the San Joaquin
Valley,” Der Mugrdechian said.

The lecture series has been part of the Armenian studies program for
over 35 years. For the last three years, the Leon S. Peters Foundation
has been sponsoring the series.

The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Alice Peters Auditorium
in the University Business Center. Parking for the lecture will be
free after 7 p.m. in parking lots P5 or P6 and the lecture is free
and open to the public.

The second lecture in the series will be held next Friday, Sept. 19
in the Alice Peters Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The session will be a book
presentation of the work by Vahan Tekeyan, with guests Edmond Azadian,
Dr. Arpi Sarafian and Tamar Hovhannisyan.

SEARCH FOR CAUSES OF USSR DISINTEGRATION IN KARABAKH -5

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 12 2014

12 September 2014 – 12:59pm

By Peter Lyukimson, Kuryer, Israel, N28-32, June 1992

Peter Lyukimson lived in Baku until 1991. He worked as a journalist
there in the late 80s-early 90s and witnessed the events preceding
the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh, Sumgayit, Khojaly…

The feature story “Nagorno-Karabakh: chronicles of the conflict. Notes
of a Jew from Baku” was written in 1992, soon after the move of
the author to Israel. It was published in a Russian-language paper
of Israel named Kuryer. Those were the times when the tone in the
cultural and the public life of the Russian-speaking community of
Israel was set by the Moscow and Saint Petersburg clerisy. It had a
big impact on the attitude of Israeli society towards the events on
the territory of the former USSR. They sympathized with Armenia in its
conflict with Azerbaijan. As it turned out, most Israelis knew nothing
about the origin of the conflict or the truth about its development.

The position of the Jewish clerisy on the issue was formed based only
on publications in the central Soviet and partly on Western press,
which were not always impartial.

After July 10, the Armenian population of the NKAO started open
confrontation with the forces and residents of Azerbaijani villages.

Shooting, arson, cattle thefts, attacks on cars, murders of Azerbaijani
shepherds started…

This could not go without concerns in Baku. In July 1989, a clerisy
group created the People’s Front of Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy
that the leaders of the PFA were saying from the very start that the
PFA was a people’s front, not a nationalistic one, it had no goal to
create the kind of mono-ethnic state that Armenia had become after
driving out Azerbaijanis.

The August of 1989 brought more tensions. Armenia started shelling
Azerbaijani border villages, murders in Karabakh continued… Soon,
“the assembly of authorized representatives of the NKAO” confirmed
that the region was not part of Azerbaijan. In response, the PFA held
many-thousand-strong protests. The city was in anti-Armenian hysteria,
exacerbated by the right wing of the PFA and the sacking of Armenians.

The expulsion process gained momentum after December 1, when the
Supreme Council of Armenia passed the decree on restoration of
the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh. In general, it was a simple
declaration of war on Azerbaijan. Airborne forces of the Armenian
National Army started deploying in the NKAO, declaring full transfer
of Azerbaijanis from Karabakh…

In such conditions, the PFA called for the formation of Azerbaijan’s
own national army and immediate deportation of Armenians from Baku
according to the international eviction laws of citizens whose country
is at war with another state. The communist regime in Azerbaijan was
in danger, and Moscow had had to understand it… In early January,
the Armenian Armed Forces added the economic development plan of the
NKAO to the state plan of the Armenian SSR. Moscow was silent.

Many protests demanded the resignation of the communist government…

Rumours that Baku would start Armenian pogroms on January 13 appeared.

The Central Committee, the KGB and the Interior Ministry could not
have been unaware of it…

On January 13, pogroms did start. Some mobile groups of 10-12 people
were breaking into Armenian houses and throwing their owners out
onto the street, looting and committing violence. The police and the
military responded to calls of neighbours roughly as follows:

“What can we do? We have not been given any orders…” Tens of
thousands of people at the Central Committee were demanding its
resignation.

On the night of January 19, it became clear that Yazov was on his
way to Baku to restore order in the city personally…

At the ambulance sub-station, at 11.00, calls were received, asking for
Kala pilots to the village struck by shootings, there were killings
and injuries… Doctors tried to make it through tanks. Doctor
Sasha Markhevka, sitting next to the driver, screamed and hit the
windshield. A bullet in his hand span around blood vessels, went
through a lung and out through the back. Bullets with an offset
balance were used, they are banned under international law. Another
ambulance made it through and helped the injured. On the way back,
it was stopped by patrols and the injured were thrown out of the
car. 7-8 hours were left before the curfew…

At midnight, the order to unblock was given. Breaking the walls of
the Salyan barracks, tanks and armored vehicles moved through the
streets of the city, shooting at houses, crushing trucks and cars
and leaving dozens of twisted corpses behind. Protesters scattered,
a real hunt for them began… Houses were under fire, bullets were
finding newer victims. That is how 15-year-old Vera Bessantina,
a girl with amazing eyes who was writing poems, died that night.

She was not the only child whose time came to an end. Coming out on
the streets in the morning, Baku residents saw corpses on roads and
sidewalks, heads and arms lying under their feet, blood over asphalt,
on walls of houses. Helicopters were circling around the city, throwing
leaflets. They said that a curfew had been imposed on Baku last night
and the military were calling for peace. “It was done by the Russian
army!” was the reaction. There was nothing surprising that threats
towards Russians were heard in ships and on streets on January 20. The
commandant’s office was in a hurry to organize an evacuation…

soon, thousands of refugees appeared in Russian cities, speaking
about the cruelty of Azerbaijanis and assuring that the military
had entered the city to protect the Russians. It was just what the
propaganda machine of Moscow needed, it hurried to announce that the
forces in Baku had needed to interfere to prevent the Russian-speaking
population of the city from being butchered. Yes, there were victims,
several terrorists died, condolences to their families…

The terrorists were Sasha Markhevka, Vera Bessantina (by the way,
they were both Jews), 9-year-old Larisa, a Mrs Mamedova, and a boy
whose corpse has never been identified.

“Voices against Russians sounded here,” shouted an orator through
the microphone, “But what have Russians got to do with that, not to
mention Baku residents. The communists, they were the ones saving
themselves last night, they were the ones the soldiers protected,
they were responsible for what happened! Can honest people stay in
the party of fascists after all that happened?” And people started
throwing away their party membership cards then.

To be continued

CHRISTENSEN GRATEFUL FOR ‘STAR WARS’ BUT WANTS TO BE KNOWN FOR OTHER WORK TOO

Vancouver Sun, BC, Canada
Sept 12 2014

By Diana Mehta, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Hayden Christensen knows his name will always be associated
with “Star Wars,” but the actor famous for playing Anakin Skywalker
and Darth Vader is eager to take on roles that allow audiences to
see a different side of him.

The 33-year-old Canadian appeared bashful when asked how he’s sought
to define himself ever since the films that made him something of a
household name.

“It was a big part of my life for like five years and it was an amazing
experience and did a lot for my career but afterwards I needed to
kind of take a little bit of a break and I did,” he said during an
interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he was
promoting his new film “American Heist.”

Christensen explained that he took a few years away from acting to
focus on his family after “Star Wars” — a move that was “really
important” to him.

As he returned to the acting world, Christensen said he remained
grateful for all that “Star Wars” had done for him.

“I think obviously the franchise will always be with me and that
probably is what I will always be known for,” he said.

“I knew that when I was signing up for it. It’s so pervasive in our
society, it’s a part of public domain and I got to play Darth Vader
and that was awesome so that was very cool, very cool.”

Currently, however, Christensen wants to be able to offer more to
his audiences.

“Now I’m looking to go and sort of do different types of films and
play characters that will hopefully allow people to see different
aspects of my work,” he said. “That’s very exciting for me right now.”

One such role is the character he plays in “American Heist,” which
follows two brothers who become caught up in a high-stakes bank
robbery.

Christensen plays James, the younger but seemingly more mature brother
to Frankie, played by an electrifying Adrien Brody.

“There was just something compelling about the relationship about
these two brothers that really spoke to me,” Christensen said. “I
knew there was something there that was valuable.”

The film, which premiered at TIFF, is directed by Armenian filmmaker
Sarik Andreasyan and also features hip hop singer Akon.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs until Sunday.

ARE ROBERT KOCHARYAN AND HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN WAITING FOR THE PRESIDENT’S CHAIR WITH THEIR “HEADS PREPARED”?

September 11 2014

According to Davit Hakobyan, the Union of Slavic states will come
to replace the Eurasian Union “It does not matter what will be
signed by Armenia on October 10. The new geopolitical center will
be initiated after January by coming of Ukraine’s total Slavic
civilization on stage,” said the leader of Marxist party of Armenia,
David Hakobyan, in the conversation with “Aravot”, referring to the
next upcoming October 10 Eurasian Economic Union Forum in Minsk,
which provides that Armenia would sign the document of accession
to the EaEU. “Kazakhstan has lost its right to act in the role of
first violin, and Putin realized that in contrast to the Pan-American
hegemony, a new geo-political union should be established with the
union of three Slavic states. With artificial splitting of these
states, the Soviet Union collapsed, and with the union of these states,
a new geopolitical center, a Slavic empire, will be established,”
opines the Marxist, adding that in this situation there emerges a
historical need for a new head in Armenia. “The situation will lead
to early parliamentary and presidential elections, because today
there is a need for a leader in the foreign policy who can handily
and skilfully taking the advantage of controversies of interests by
superpowers can establish a new diplomacy for Armenia and resolve
the issue of recognizing Artsakh’s independence.” Armenia’s number
one Marxist believes that the situation is explosive for “Republican
junta”. “With the package of Constitutional reforms, the president
deliberately dissolves the presidential institution, moreover with the
Republican faction rather than by all-nation referendum. This step is
not only an anti-constitutional move, but also deprives people of the
right to carry out regime change from below. We go back to the sources
of Dashnaks in 1918. To dissolve the presidential institute, by turning
the election into mayoral elections, at this stage is a state crime.

In this case, those who are getting ready for the presidential
elections with their heads prepared will not allow holding
a constitutional package in the parliament. Until the president
manages to dissolve the presidential institute, they will dissolve the
Parliament.” According to the Marxist, the main forces aspiring for
the presidential chair are Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Hovik
Abrahamyan, also Gagik Tsarukyan if he “dares to come out of the status
of a servant.” Already in the context of geopolitical developments,
our interlocutor noted that the ceasefire in the Ukrainian crisis
“in the result of great intelligence of an Emperor, ended with
winning of Russian bayonets.” He compares Putin to Heracles in the
battle of Nineveh, who not only vanquished Parthian civilization,
but also moved the outraged cross of the Christ to Jerusalem, which
the Persians had made it a haunt and brothel. “By the victories in
Ukrainian steppes, the emperor returned the once glory and allure of
the Russian Empire to the Kremlin, which in the 1990s the generation
of yeltsinoids and gorbachov-follower had turned into a political
brothel and haunt.” The United States defeat describes it as follows,
“The Black crown prince blackened the US’s glory as a state running
a balanced foreign policy. Today, this state needs new Roosevelts
or Kennedys.” David Hakobyan thinks that today Putin is exercising
the directions of Stalin’s Potsdam Agreement. “Slavs, unite”. He is
confident that Putin will not recognize the territorial integrity of
Donetsk and Lugansk united states, nor will unite to Russia but will
be smarter by creating a Slavic empire. The Marxist view to Ukrainian
crisis is as follows, “Politicians with limited historical, vulgar,
simplistic judgments would characterize it as a civil war, allegedly
a struggle between the European values worshiping political forces
and Ukraine splitting Russian allegedly barbarian separatists. While
the Marxist historiography describes it as a decisive struggle of
worldwide superpowers of the USA and the Russian Empire, Anglo-Saxon
and Slavic civilizations, in which the United States under the banner
of false and vile democracy strives for world domination, and as an
all-earthly political gendarme is trying to split the Slavic states,
their peoples, possess their belongings by making them a cheap
labor market, and to create a unipolar world. It was necessary for
him to establish a marionette springboard in Ukraine to subjugate
the Russian Empire to blockage for the future new splitting of the
second phase. It acts here as a great Biblical and Western libertine
in the role of Babylon ready to tear any nation and statehood into
pieces for the sake of its interest. Like once Armenia was sacrificed
on the altar of diplomatic victories by European jackals, likewise
Ukraine received the status of sacrifice in the playing cards. Not
only the fate of Slavic civilization is decided in Ukrainian steppes,
but also the future fate of the world civilization.”

Nelly GRIGORYAN

Read more at:

RUSSIAN TOURISM INDUSTRY TURMOIL UNLIKELY TO AFFECT ARMENIA, SPECIALIST SAYS

SOCIETY | 12.09.14 | 10:26

Armenia is by and large immune to the kind of mass bankruptcies
of travel agencies that Russia has seen in the past several months
and weeks.

Dozens of tour operators involved in providing mainly outgoing tourism
services have been shutting down in Russia in August and September
defaulting on their financial obligations, which has left tens of
thousands of holidaymakers stranded on foreign resorts.

Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has even mulled a special
plan on the evacuation of Russian tourists who have been evicted from
their hotels and not allowed to embark on homebound flights because
of the absence of money transfers from their tour operators.

In explaining the phenomenon of a wave of bankruptcies of Russian
travel agencies some experts cite the so-called ‘snowball’ effect.

They say that since the first reports about trouble with some tour
operators many potential holidaymakers have preferred finding their
travel and hotel options themselves using the internet, which resulted
in a customer base slump and eventually led to huge losses of the
agents involved in the tourism market.

Artur Voskanyan, the head of the Association of Armenian Travel
Agencies, says, however, that the Armenian market remains largely
unaffected by the development in Russia and is unlikely to experience
similar troubles.

“Armenia has an insurance system for tourists, but we do not have one
for tour agencies,” he says. “Besides our tour agents work directly
with Turkey, Egypt, Dubai, and I don’t think that troubles in Russia
will affect Armenia.”

Separate problems with tour operators have also happened in Armenia
before. Thus, in one such case in January 2013 some 130 holidaymakers
were ‘trapped’ in Egypt amid a financial dispute between an Armenian
travel agency and its Egyptian partner. But no mass problems in the
sphere have been observed.

Some experts also cite poor management as one of the reasons for
bankruptcies of tour operators in Russia.

Rector of the Armenian Tourism Institute Robert Minasyan believes
that while large investments have been made in the tourism sector of
Armenia in the past several years, the shortage of trained specialists
still remains a concern.

“Liberal policies have resulted in a situation in which anyone can do
business in the tourism sphere, even those who are mainly involved
in construction, trade, try to do something in tourism on the side,
which is unacceptable for me. It is important who represents the
country, there are many responsible, bright minds, but, unfortunately,
irresponsible people whose presentation of the country is not ever
checked work next to them,” Minasyan said, adding that specialists
working in the sphere of tourism should be registered and controlled.

Minasyan believes that if managed properly, tourism can serve as a
powerful trigger for developing other sectors of the economy as well.

DASHNAKTSUTYUN IS NOT GOING TO BACK GOVERNMENT-PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS (VIDEO)

21:25 | September 11,2014 | Politics

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun is not going to
support the government-proposed constitutional amendments; Dashnaks
have their claims.

“If our demands are not met, the constitutional amendments won’t cost
a dime,” says Dashnaktsutyun lawmaker Artsvik Minasyan.

Dashnaks know that if they entrust the amendments to the Republicans,
they will do everything to guarantee their reproduction. At present,
Mr Minasyan does not see any option for Serzh Sargsyan’s stay in
power after 2018.

“They say that the acting president will become parliament speaker. In
2017, he will still be heading the country, which means that in the
forthcoming parliamentary elections, if of course, they are held
normally, the country’s president cannot resign office to assume a
post in parliament. Even if he does it, we shall witness the opposite:
the formation of a parliamentary republic,” he says.

Dashnaktsutyun has submitted its proposals to the government
which exclude Serzh-Sargsyan’s participation in the decision-making
process of the future government. They also exclude election rigging,
corruption, laying the primary accent on human rights.

“The Constitution must not only declare and recognize the existence
of basic fundamental human rights and freedoms, but must also
determine mechanisms for their monitoring and protection, including
the obligations of responsible authorities, who must ensure [with
their actions] the realization of citizens’ rights,” says Mr Minasyan.

He cannot understand the behavior of the two opposition forces that
earlier called for a change in the system of government and today
support the acting model.

“Today the authorities say they want to change the system. Instead
of posing our demands to them and forcing them to meet them, we put
their intention under question and oppose the initiative. This is
not a serious approach.”

The Dashnak lawmaker would like the opposition forces to put their
demands in the package of constitutional amendments, first of all
demanding that the constitution exclude Serzh Sargsyan’s reproduction.