Author: Babajanian Karo

LOWELL’S WHISTLER HOUSE PAYS TRIBUTE TO GENOCIDE VICTIMS WITH EXHIBITION AND SYMPOSIUM

Lowell Sun, MA
March 19 2015

By Nancye Tuttle, Sun Correspondent
Updated: 03/19/2015 09:13:16 AM EDT0 Comments

Genocide isn’t a pretty word.

Instead, it’s one that recalls images of mangled bodies in mass
graves, gas chambers and crematoriums, killing fields, death marches,
terrified people hiding from crazed captors and displaced millions
living in crowded refugee camps thousands of miles from the places
that they called home.

But as horrific as genocide is, it is worth remembering, too, so that
those who perished or were displaced did not suffer or die in vain.

April has been designated as International Genocide Month. To honor
and acknowledge that, Lowell’s Whistler House Museum of Art presents
Pursuing Justice Through Art: 2015, a Multi-Cultural Genocide
Exhibition and Symposium.

The exhibition, curated by Whistler House executive director and
board president Sara Bogosian, runs from March 18 to April 25 in the
museum’s Parker Gallery at 243 Worthen St. The opening reception is
on Saturday, March 21, from 2-4 p.m.

The symposium, featuring genocide experts, takes place on Saturday,
April 18, at the Whistler House from 1-4 p.m.

“2015 is a significant year in genocide history,” said Bogosian. “It’s
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the 70th anniversary
of the end of the Jewish Holocaust and the 40th anniversary of the
Cambodian Genocide.”

The word “genocide” was coined in 1944 to name a particularly shocking
and horrific crime of violence. It is the systematic and widespread
extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national,
racial, religious or ethnic group.

“That it has been put into practice so many times in one century is
even more shocking,” said Bogosian. “But, whether committed in time of
peace or in time of war, genocide is a crime under international law.”

Indeed, over 262 million people throughout the world were murdered as
a result of genocide in the 20th century. Armenian, Jewish, Cambodian,
Bosnian, Guatemalan, Rwandan, Sudanese and Native Americans are only
a few of the nationalities that have been affected by genocide.

“We hope that education and awareness through the medium of art will
help ensure a more peaceful future in the 21st century,” said Bogosian.

The Whistler House is “very proud to be presenting this important
program to the public,” she noted.

Bogosian first became interested in paying tribute to genocide victims
several years ago, when works by Arshile Gorky became a part of the
Whistler House’s collection.

“Gorky was the father of the abstract expressionism painting style and
is considered to be among the most famous survivors of the Armenian
genocide,” said Bogosian.

That sparked her interest, she said.

“Genocide has affected so many nationalities, and it is important
that we never forget,” she said.

For information on Pursuing Justice Through Art: 2015, the exhibition
and symposium, visit or call 978-452-7641. All
events are free and open to all.

The Artists

The exhibition features a “great cross-section of work,” said Bogosian,
who is the curator. It includes paintings, sculptures, photographs
and textiles from 75 artists, some locally known and others with
international credentials.

“We had 130 submissions from artists as far away as Cambodia, Bosnia
and the Sudan and as near as Lowell,” she said.

Artists featured include Mohammed Ali and Al Asadi, Gagik Aroutiunian,
Bayda Asbridge, John Avakian, Ani Babaian, Stephen Clements, Ellen
Davison, Adrienne Der Marderosian, Dave Drinon, Charlotte Eckler, Amy
Fagin, Areknaz Fanardjian (loaned by Stephen Dulgarian), Lynne Foy,
Gillian Frazier, Charles Gallagher, Mary Hart, James Higgins, Raymond
Howell (loaned by Eve Soroken), JoAnn Janjigian, Andrew Ellis Johnson,
David Jones, Lucine Kasbarian, Mico Kaufman, Chantha Khem, Puthearith
Kret, Sandra Lauterbach, Markus Lewis, Adam Mastoon, Talin Megherian,
Crissie Murphy, Ruth Naylor, Marsha Nouritza Obadashian, Judith Peck,
Dany Pen, Sandra Presley, Bill Reedy, Hope Ricciardi, Jennifer Rocco
Stone, Alain Rogier, Elliott Salloway, Linda Saphan, Ruth Segaloff,
Susanne Slavick, Jessica Sperandio, Rose Sielian Theriault, Nora Tang,
Sopheap Theam and New England Quilt Museum’s Community Quilters, Rita
Thompson, Robert Thurlow, Holly Tomlinson, James Aguer Tungarliit
(loaned by Susan Winship), Carol Vinick and Denise Warren.

The Symposium

A symposium, featuring experts in the field of genocide, will be
held on Saturday, April 18 from 1-4 p.m. in the Parker Gallery at
the Whistler House Museum of Art, 243 Worthen St., Lowell.

It is free and open to all.

Participants include:

Diana Der-Hovanessian, is a New England born poet, Fulbright professor
of poetry and author of over 25 books of poetry and translation.

Winner of numerous awards from the National Endowment for the Arts,
Armenian Writers Union, Armenian Ministry of Culture, and the Poetry
Society of America, among others, she is also featured in numerous
literary journals and anthologies. She serves as president of the New
England Poetry Club and works as a visiting poet and guest lecturer
on American poetry, Armenian poetry and the literature of human rights.

Kim Servart Theriault, Ph.D., is an associate professor of art history
at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. An authority on artist
Arshile Gorky, she has written extensively on him and given historical
lectures at such venues as the Library of Congress, National Gallery
of Art and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.

Dr. Elliott W. Salloway, is the USA founder of Project eXodus,
an international organization that explores issues of genocide and
human nature through art exhibitions to raise awareness throughout
the world. A Harvard Dental School faculty member and Worcester
periodontist, he is also an avid painter and photographer, whose works
have been exhibited locally and nationally. His artwork is featured
in the exhibition.

Sayon Soeun is a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide and featured in
the documentary Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey. He was abducted at age
six and exploited by the Khmer Rouge, his family life and education
stolen. After living in a refugee camp, he was adopted by a loving
American family. After over 35 years, he has re-connected with
siblings he assumed were dead. The documentary follows his journey
back to Cambodia to heal by finding his family and forgiving himself
for his complicity as a Khmer Rouge child soldier.

THREE SERVICEMEN AWARDED POSTHUMOUSLY

19:37 | March 19,2015 | Politics

On 19 March President Bako Sahakyan signed decrees awarding
posthumously servicemen of the NKR Defense Army’s N division Hakob
Khachatryan, Eduard Hayrapetyan and Arshak Harutyunyan with the
“For Courage” medal for bravery shown during the defense of the NKR
state borders.

CENTRAL INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC
PRESIDENT

THE FACEBOOK DRAMA THAT’S BROUGHT RUSSIANS TO TEARS

Big News Network, Australia
March 19 2015

RFE Thursday 19th March, 2015

Elderly Russian women — universally known as “babushki” — don’t
often have the distinction of becoming Internet sensations.

But that all changed this week, when 73-year-old Lida Ivanovna was
spotted staring wistfully at a celebrity tabloid in a vending machine
at a Moscow subway station.

Aleksandr Chernykh, a journalist with the Kommersant newspaper,
noticed Lida — “an absolute classic of her type, dressed in an old
coat and a colorful head scarf” — and asked if she needed money to
buy the magazine.

She declined. It wasn’t the tabloid she was after — just the cover,
which featured a photograph of one of her favorite singers, the
French-Armenian crooner Charles Aznavour, famous for songs such as
Emmenez-moi, or Take Me Along.

“He’s so handsome,” Chernykh, in a lengthy Facebook post, later
recounted her as saying. “I really love his songs.”

As Lida and Chernykh got on the subway escalator, Lida Ivanovna
elaborated, enthusing about not only Aznavour but another French
singer-songwriter, Joe Dassin, whose 1969 hit Les Champs Elysees
remains a beloved favorite of many Russians.

Suddenly, Lida burst into song, moving from Les Champs Elysees to
the dreamy Dassin hit Et Si Tu N’Existais Pas and finishing with Je
Ne Regrette Rien by the legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf.

“It was even more piercing than Piaf’s version…. She turned out
to have a wonderful voice and amazing French pronunciation,” wrote
Chernykh, who managed to film a brief clip of Lida Ivanovna singing
another Piaf number, Milord.

Asked where she had learned her French, the babushka said in the
1960s, while still in her 20s, she had spent many happy hours at the
library, where visitors could reserve a special cabinet and listen
to records. “You would go, listen to records through earphones, and
you’d remember everything,” Chernykh quotes her as saying. “It was
a very fashionable thing to do. We all went.”

Chernykh gave her his telephone number, hoping he could record her
again or even escort her to an Aznavour concert she had seen advertised
on the magazine cover.

But as they parted, he assumed it was the last he would see of Lida
Ivanovna. He wrote up the fleeting encounter and posted it and the
video on Facebook, where it quickly drew nearly 400,000 viewers
enchanted by Lida Ivanovna’s story.

“This story brought me to tears,” wrote one user. “Now Lida will no
longer be lonely. Simply an incredible elderly lady.” Another reader
wrote, “Thank you for not walking past this babushka.” “Bravo! There
are still kind souls in Russia,” a third wrote.

It wasn’t just Russians captivated by Lida Ivanovna’s story.

Organizers for the 90-year-old Aznavour, who is due to perform in
Moscow on April 22, wrote to Chernykh, saying the singer wanted to
personally meet her backstage.

Since then, Aznavour has posted an online video from his home in
France, in which he pledges to lower ticket prices so that elderly
fans might find it easier to go.

The news delighted Russians following the story. But without a phone
number — she had said she didn’t have a phone — Chernykh had no
guarantee he would ever find her again.

But his Facebook post did the trick. Within 24 hours, journalists
from the Armenian news site Barev Today had their with Lida Ivanovna,
whom they recognized from Chernykh’s video.

Chernykh was contacted by Barev Today and was delighted to have another
chance to speak to Lida Ivanovna, who he continues to identify only
by her name and patronym. They sat in a McDonald’s and talked until
midnight. She was a Moscow native, divorced, and had worked as an
accountant. Her father and brother had died in World War II.

Now she shared a tiny flat with her granddaughter, her granddaughter’s
husband, and their baby. “Probably, in order not to bother her family,
she spends the entire day walking around the center of Moscow,”
Chernykh recounted in a subsequent Facebook account, saying she knows
the names and stories of all the street musicians she encounters.

But told about the offer of tickets from Aznavour, Lida Ivanovna flatly
refused. “I’m not in good health, I have headaches, how would I be
able to sit there so long?” she told Chernykh. “And all the people
around me will be beautifully dressed, and I have nothing to wear.

They’ll ask, ‘What is this toothless old lady doing here?'”

Chernykh says he still hopes to persuade her to change her mind. Even
if he fails, the chance meeting has clearly left him in a philosophical
mood about the fate of Russia’s elderly, who live largely in the
shadows.

“She worked all her life, never left Moscow, just lived and sang —
an ordinary person. But see what kind of unexpected magic can happen
to all of us. A world-famous French singer wants to meet a Moscow
babushka in a head scarf. Such stories are taking place in our city.”

KUWAIT TO FINANCE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS IN ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 19 2015

19 March 2015 – 5:47pm

Armenian Minister for Economy Karen Chshmarityan said today that an
agreement was reached with the Investment Fund of Kuwait. The latter
will finance infrastructure programs in Armenia, Tert.am reports.

The minister expressed hope that Kuwait-Yerevan flights will have
started by the end of this year. The issue was raised at a meeting
with Prime Minister Ovik Abramyan.

Chshmarityan noted that another agreement was reached. It stipulates
presentation of Armenian business program to the Investment Fund of
Kuwait by the Commerce and Industry Chamber.

TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN LASHES OUT AT ARMENIAN DIASPORA

BGN NEWS, Turkey
March 19 2015

“The purpose of this campaign against Turkey is to treat our country
as an enemy, instead of keeping alive Armenians’ sorrow,” said Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At the target of Erdogan’s Thursday statements in Ä°stanbul are
the vast numbers of diasporic Armenian groups campaigning. Ethnic
Armenians live in a number of nations, including the United States,
Russia and France amongst others. Armenians will commemorate the
100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents on April 24. Erdogan added,
“We do not have to give an account to anyone on this issue. If we
pursue our own nation’s 100, 150 years of sorrow we can find more
than Armenian allegations.”

The debate on the term “genocide” between the present-day Turkish
government, the Armenian diaspora populations, and the current
administration in Yerevan still generates political tension between
Turks and Armenians. Turkey officially views the 1.5 million Ottoman
Armenian deaths as a result of conflict which inflicted fatality on
both sides, and did not constitute a genocide.

“Oh Armenian diaspora, oh Armenian administration, our archives are
here. We have hundreds of thousands of documents, over a million
documents. How many documents do you have? Bring your documents, and
we task the historians, political scientists, even archeologists and
lawyers [with studying them] … let’s seek the truth here,” he said,
adding that, “anti-Turkey campaigns carried out by paying money and
forming lobbies will not earn you anything.”

An important aspect of the Armenian issue rests with how the United
States treats it, as hundreds of citizens of Armenian descent live
there. In past official April 24 addresses, US presidents have
refrained from using the word genocide. Close to 40 members from the
US House of Representatives have issued a draft resolution to Congress
to define the casualties as a genocide.

March 19, 2015 | BGNNews.com | Ä°stanbul

HOUSE TAKES UP NEW ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

The Fresno Bee, CA
March 19 2015

By Michael Doyle

Bee Washington BureauMarch 18, 2015

WASHINGTON — California lawmakers on Wednesday helped relaunch the
latest, long-shot bid to put the House of Representatives on record
as recognizing the Armenian genocide.

A perennial effort that always faces stiff political and diplomatic
headwinds, the familiar resolution was introduced Wednesday with
more than 40 co-sponsors, some of them House freshmen. The intention,
though, remains the same as it has been for several decades.

“It’s our responsibility as members of Congress . . . and as friends
of the Armenians that live in our communities today, to make sure
this atrocity that happened is remembered,” said Rep. David Valadao,
R-Hanford. “We have a responsibility to make sure the president and
Turkey recognize what happened.”

Jim Costa, the Fresno Democrat in the House, noted that the 100th
anniversary of the genocide will be marked next month. “Acknowledging
this atrocity would finally allow a fair, just, and comprehensive
international resolution of this crime against humanity,” he said.

“Our detractors will always say, ‘Now is not the right time.’ I say,
‘The time is now!’ Congress and the president should go on record
acknowledging this atrocity once and for all.”

Dubbed the Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution, the
nonbinding measure calls on President Barack Obama to help restore
Armenian-Turkish relations “based upon the Republic of Turkey’s full
acknowledgment of the facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian
Genocide.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the horrific
series of events that left, in the words of the House members’ joint
statement Wednesday, “1.5 million Armenians dead and millions more
displaced.”

Historians and myriad governmental bodies have characterized the
events that took place between 1915 and 1923 as genocide, a term
first recognized in international law in 1948 as referring to actions
intended to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial
or religious group.

Turkey, a key NATO ally, vigorously disputes the accuracy of the
genocide term. A spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington
declined to comment pending guidance from officials in Ankara.

As a senator, Obama used the phrase “Armenian genocide,” and the
adviser who became his United Nations ambassador, Samantha Power,
effectively assured Armenian American voters in a campaign video that
Obama would continue to do so once elected.

“He’s a person who can actually be trusted,” Power said then, “which
distinguishes him from some in the Washington community.”

But as president, like others before him, Obama has carefully avoided
the diplomatically delicate phrase. Further underscoring the very
long odds against the resolution reaching the floor, House Speaker
John Boehner has previously declared that what happened “ought to
be a subject for historians to sort out, not politicians here in
Washington.”

The 10-paragraph resolution is not especially partisan. The measure’s
initial batch of co-sponsors includes Republicans and Democrats,
a number of whom represent districts with significant Armenian
American populations.

“We in Congress and the president have an opportunity and an obligation
to send a strong message that we will never forget those who were lost,
and we will call this crime against humanity what it was: genocide,”
said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Costa was an early co-sponsor, as were other lawmakers from the state’s
Central Valley, including Valley Republican Reps. Jeff Denham, Devin
Nunes, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Redding.

Over many years of trying, the House has twice passed an Armenian
genocide resolution, in 1975 and again in 1984.

Representatives from California’s Central Valley have long led
the resolution efforts, going back at least as far as 1979, when
Fresno-area Republican Rep. Charles “Chip” Pashayan introduced one
version. But it went nowhere.

In 2000, then-Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., was literally within
minutes of getting a resolution to the House floor before then-Speaker
Dennis Hastert yanked it at the request of the Clinton administration.

In 2007, a resolution had momentum before 25 co-sponsors had second
thoughts and withdrew their support in the face of Bush administration
concerns.

“I don’t want to suggest it’s going to be an easy task,” Rep. Frank
Pallone, D-N.J., acknowledged Wednesday. “It is tough.”

The Turkish government also employs a battery of lobbyists to make
its case, led by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt. Turkey
is paying $1.7 million for the lobbyists between March 1 and the end
of 2015, according to the most recent Justice Department filing.

Among the other lobbying firms now registered to aid Turkey’s cause
is the one that employs Hastert, the former speaker who killed the
genocide resolution in 2000 and who resigned in 2007.

HOW AN ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER CAUGHT THE IRANIAN FLU

JNS.org (Jewish & Israeli News)
March 19 2015

By Alexander Murinson/JNS.org

Historically, Jerusalem has played the role of a coveted possession
in the geopolitical calculations of many regional and global powers.

International religious rivalries over access and ownership of the
Israeli capital’s holy sites continue unabated. The status of the
Old City of Jerusalem and those holy places also presents one of the
thorniest issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The latest installment in this long-drawn drama involves the Republic
of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Armenian leadership’s
cancellation of a planned visit to Jerusalem in February 2010 by
then-prime minister Tigran Sargsyan provided a cause for concern and
puzzlement for the Israeli government that persists to this day.

Until recently, the Armenian government had not sent a single
delegation to Israel since the cancellation of Sargsyan’s visit. In
contrast, an Armenian neighbor, the Muslim-majority Republic of
Azerbaijan, has sent a series of top-level delegations, including
cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, and Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov.

In what was reportedly a bit of damage control, on March 5, Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan arrived in Israel for what the
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as a “private visit.” It
was reported that Nalbandyan promoted a decidedly anti-Turkish and
anti-Azeri agenda. Nalbandyan received a less-than-warm welcome due
to the well-documented and increasing wave of anti-Semitism in the
Armenian media as well as the prolific state-sponsored anti-Israel
propaganda that makes Armenia such a darling of Iran.

What really caused the cancellation of the visit of Armenian prime
minister Sargsyan to Israel? Interestingly, in mid-February 2010,
Yerevan notified Israel that Sargsyan had become ill with the flu
and was unable to travel. Other diplomatic sources in Jerusalem noted
that the flu struck the Armenian prime minister in “a strange manner
after a meeting with the advisor of Iranian President Mehdi Mostafavi.”

Nearly at the same time as the Armenian official trip, the Iranian
ambassador in Yerevan, Seyed Ali Sagayan, announced that the Islamic
Republic would act as an intermediary, promoting the normalization
process between Armenia and Turkey. This was preceded by a visit to
Tehran of then-Armenian minister of transport and communication Manuk
Vardanyan, who oversaw a number of bilateral strategic projects,
an invitation to the defense minister of Armenia to Iran, and the
arrival in Yerevan of a head of the Iranian diplomatic delegation.

According to information received in Jerusalem, Tehran feared that
the Israelis would try to negotiate with the head of the Armenian
government about the tacit cooperation on the Iranian issue. Although
Iran remains a major regional partner of Yerevan, no less important for
the Armenians is their position in Jerusalem at the city’s holy sites.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church controls
many Christian shrines in the city (including a part of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre). The Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem (where
about 2,500 people live) is the spiritual center for the influential
Armenian diaspora in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, and
Iran. This quarter is even called the key to the “Armenian factor”
of Middle East politics. For Armenians, these places are particularly
sensitive because of the long-term confrontation with the Greeks
regarding control over the Jerusalem sites. In resolving a number of
conflicts between the Armenians and Greeks, the Israeli authorities,
in particular the Ministry of Religious Affairs, plays a critical
role. On such matters, Israeli state agencies prefer to remain neutral.

But recently, representatives of the Armenian Church began to
express fears that amid the crisis with Turkey, Israel had decided to
strengthen the partnership with Greece, and by consequence the Israeli
government may prefer the Greeks in the conflict over Jerusalem’s
holy sites. It is significant that less than a month before the
announcement of the visit of the Armenian prime minister to Israel,
one of Jerusalem’s priests, Step Karapetyan, stated publicly, “Holy
Mount Zion to the Jews actually is in the possession of the Armenian
community and the Israeli government is implementing a systematic
policy to force Armenians out. Armenia as the state did not oppose
this policy.” He further noted that “in such circumstances, conflicts
and collisions will occur and further, because the problem is not
only religious but also political and geopolitical conditions.”

The Iranians reportedly feared that in exchange for some assistance in
the matter of holy places, Sarkisian would agree to tacit cooperation
on subjects of strategic importance for Tehran, according to Israeli
diplomats. The Armenians quickly backed down under pressure from Iran.

The Iranian regime has never ceased to support Armenia in its
megalomaniac policy of occupation of the sovereign Azeri territory.

Recently, on behalf of Armenia, a blatant attack on an Azeri senior
diplomat–Baku’s ambassador to Washington, Elin Suleymanov–was
aired in the Azeri language by the official Islamic Republic of Iran
broadcaster Radio Tabriz. The Iranian broadcast used egregious lies
in accusing Suleymanov of “lobbying activities against Armenia in
Washington, DC.” The Iranians used a classical anti-Semitic ruse by
calling any diplomat who has healthy relationship with Jewish people,
especially American Jewry, a “secret agent” of Zionists. The broadcast
contained a ridiculous accusation against the Azeri ambassador of being
“Azerbaijan’s Jewish politician and promoter of the Zionist regime in
[Azeri President] Ilham Aliyev’s government.” The broadcast added,
“This Jewish politician does his best to work for the benefit of
American and Zionist regime, not for Azerbaijani state and its people.”

The mullah-controlled regime in Tehran manifests a growing concern
over the invigoration of relations between Israel, Azerbaijan, and the
states of Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan. The Iranians fear
that the Israeli strategy of containing the Islamic Republic–which
thankfully continues to stall the P5+1 negotiations over Iran’s nuclear
program–is gaining momentum, while Armenia is still suffering from
the Iranian flu.

Alexander Murinson, Ph.D., a researcher for the Begin-Sadat Center
for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, also serves on the
International Advisory Board of Outre-Terre (European Geopolitical
Review), a French-language scholarly journal. He is the author
of various articles and books, including the “European Journal of
Geopolitics,” “Turkey’s Entente with Israel,” and “Azerbaijan: State
Identity and Security in the Middle East and Caucasus.”

ARMENIA STARTS MARKETING 10-YEAR US DOLLAR BENCHMARK

Reuters
March 19 2015

By Helene Durand
Thu Mar 19, 2015 5:11am EDT

LONDON, March 19 (IFR) – The Republic of Armenia has started marketing
a new 10-year US dollar benchmark bond issue, according to a lead.

Initial price thoughts on the US$500m expected trade have been set
7.625% area.

Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan are leading the Ba3/B+
(Moody’s/Fitch) rated trade that is expected to be priced later today.

(Reporting by Helene Durand, editing by Anil Mayre)

REFERENDUMS IN MAY: SEVERAL ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES TO BE ASKED ON ENLARGEMENT ISSUE

NEWS | 19.03.15 | 14:00

GOHAR ABRAHAMYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Referendums to be held in May in several communities in Armenia will
mark the practical start of the initiative of the Armenian Government
to enlarge communities.

At the government meeting on Thursday Armen Yeritsyan, Minister of
Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations, said that a local
referendum is scheduled for May 17, 2015 with the purpose to unite
the communities of Dilijan, Haghartsin, Teghut, Gosh, Aghavnavank,
Khachardzan, Hovk in the province of Tavush. The following question
will be put to the referendum: “Do you agree if the communities of
Dilijan, Haghartsin, Teghut, Gosh, Aghavnavank, Khachardzan, Hovk are
united under the name Dilijan, with Dilijan as the community center?”

Referendums will be held on the same day also in several communities
in the provinces of Syunik and Lori. The communities of Shinuhayr,
Tatev, Halidzor, Hazhis, Svarants, Khot, Tandzatap, Kashuni in the
province of Syunik are suggested to be united under the name Tatev with
Shinuhayr as the community center, and in the province of Lori – the
communities of Tumanyan, Marts, Karindz, Lorut, Shamut, Atan, Ahnidzor,
under the name Tumanyan with Tumanyan as the community center.

Still last year the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration
developed a pilot project of enlarging communities in order to
centralize and efficiently spend community resources. Two models of the
program were discussed – program and administrative. The former implies
enlarging within some program, and in case of the administrative model
enlargement takes place according to the distance between communities,
population and compatibility. A total of 14 community clusters have
been formed.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan introduced the community enlargement
as a step toward improvement.

“We will move toward community enlargement and in the given communities
there will be no complaints, arguable issues. This will be official
and will be continuous,” Abrahamyan said.

Referendums will be organized with the means of the reserve fund of
the state budget, 42 million AMD (nearly $87,500) will be allocated
to the Central Election Commission (CEC), and more than one million
(nearly $2080) – to the police.

It is noteworthy that these referendums will be held right before
the referendum planned for a constitutional referendum expected in
fall or at the beginning of 2016, and might serve as a touchstone
for that nationwide referendum.

JOURNEE DES JUSTES DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

ALLEMAGNE

Une “Journée des Justes” a eu lieu au Parlement du Landtag de
Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie a Dusseldorf. C’était une mise en Ã…”uvre
réussie de la nouvelle journée européenne de l’évaluation des
personnes ayant fait preuve d’un courage moral – pour la première
fois dans un parlement allemand. A l’invitation du Président de la
Diète, Carina Gödecke, la société international Armin Wegner en
collaboration avec le Bureau de la Diète a concu une cérémonie
très impressionnante.

La thématique était la mémoire du génocide des Arméniens il y
a 100 ans – et l’évaluation des ” juste ” qui ont franchi le pas
hier et aujourd’hui, de rompre le silence de ce crime. L’invitation a
également réuni des concitoyens turcs et kurdes – en particulier mais
aussi des représentants des Arméniens en Allemagne. Le président
de la société Armin T. Wegner, Ulrich Klan a dans son discours,
exprimé la joie que l’archevêque Karekin Bekdjian, le chef spirituel
de l’Eglise arménienne en Allemagne, ait répondu a l’invitation du
Président du Parlement.

Après une exposition de la société Armin Wegner a été ouverte
qui comprend des photos des déportations des Arméniens en 1915.

Parmi les ” Justes ” d’aujourd’hui figurait l’écrivain germano-turc
Dogan Akhanli de Cologne.

Dogan Akhanlı a remercié les présents dans un bref discours dans
lequel il a exposé son concept d’un “espace transnational de la
mémoire du génocide.”

jeudi 19 mars 2015, Stéphane ©armenews.com