Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS ANCHORED ON CLOSE FOREIGN POLICY COORDINATION – FM NALBANDIAN

17:22 * 06.04.15

In an interview with the Russian publication International Affairs,
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian spoke of the Armenian-Russian
strategic alliance, the developments in Ukraine, the integration
processes in Armenia following the country’s accession to the Eurasian
Economic Union, and the Armenia-Turkey relations.

The minister said he thinks that Armenia’s membership in the economic
bloc of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus will pave the country’s way
to a more protected market, increasing its trade potentials.

“We believe that the four freedoms underlying the Eurasian Economic
Union – the movement of goods, services, capital and labor force – will
be an additional stimulus for the economy and its better integration
into the EEU.

“It enables us to have a more simplified, I would say freer access
to protected goods markets and the common services’ market of the
Eurasian Union, bring investments, create industrial and agricultural
cooperatives, enter the resource base without customs fees and the
EEU transport corridors, facilitate the migration regime etc.

“The advantages are obvious,” he said.

The minister further spoke of the Armenian-Russian strategic alliance.

“Our bilateral relations are specific in terms of the close
foreign policy coordination, the effective military-political
and military-technical cooperation, successful partnership in the
trade-economic, energy and transport sectors, the decentralized
cooperation gaining more momentum by every year and the continuously
developing mutual cooperation in culture, and science and education.

Russia is our main trade partner and main investor in Armenia’s
economy. Over 1,400 joint ventures operate in our country and over
250 bilateral documents have been signed.

“The Armenian-Russian relations are strengthened thanks to effective
cooperation within international and regional organizations, including
the UN and the OSCE; I would especially single out the CSTO [Collective
Security Treaty Organization], the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent
States] and, of course, the Eurasian Economic Union. We continue the
search for new long-term trends to invest joint efforts.

“Whatever the interstate relations, they cannot be really strong if
there isn’t warmth in the relations between the peoples and among
people. In that connection, I would like to emphasize especially
the deep relations uniting our peoples and ordinary individuals,
which have stood the test of time.”

“The minister said he very much regrets for the developments in Ukraine
and tensions in that country’s relations with Russia. “That’s first
of all a grief that [provokes] a sense of a deep sympathy. It is not
only through diplomatic channels that the situation is familiar to
us. An Armenian community of 1.5 million people resides in all the
regions of Ukraine.”

“We are confident that the current situation has to find its solution
through a dialogue; that is why we were among the first countries
to welcome the agreements in Minsk, the declaration by the Normandy
Quartet leaders and the signing by the Contact Group of comprehensive
measures aimed at the implementation of the Minsk agreements,”
Nalbandian said, expressing hope that the deals would help reach a
comprehensive solution, paving way for peace and stability.

The minister said he finds that the sanctions against Russia affect
not only the sides involved in the conflict but also other countries.

“It cannot be in anyone’s interests,” he said, “We think that ways
for settling the problems can be searched only through negotiations
and a dialogue.”

The minister further commented on the upcoming commemorations of the
Armenian Genocide centenary and their impact on Armenia’s foreign
policies towards its direct neighbors. “The 100th anniversary of the
Genocide will be marked this year in Armenia, as well as around the
globe. Thousands of events are planned. They will focus on four key
trends, paying first of all the tribute of respect to the Genocide
victims. The Armenian Apostolic Church is going to canonize the
Armenian Genocide victims. ”

“The second trend is the gratitude to those who lent a helping hand to
the Armenian people at the moment of ordeal. And there are many such
countries and peoples. The Armenian people were not left alone. So
the 100th anniversary is an occasion to deliver a word of gratitude
yet another time.

“The third direction involves the efforts towards the prevention of new
genocides and new crimes against humanity. It is important not only for
Armenia and the Armenian people but also the international community.

“If the crime against humanity, committed behind the veil of World War
I, had been duly condemned, it would have been possible to prevent
all the others, including those committed behind the veil of World
War II and the crimes against humanity perpetrated later.”

“And the last, fourth trends is rebirth. The Armenian nation not only
survived the Genocide but also managed to be born anew. We were able
to recreate our statehood and our independence, to revive our culture
and science. And it was not only Armenia that saw the rebirth. The
Armenians managed to set up homes in many countries of the world,
promoting and still continuing to bring their contribution to those
countries’ development.

“We, together with the international community, will commemorate the
Genocide centennial under the slogan Never Again,” he said referring,
further to the genocide prevention and condemntation resolutions
submitted to different international organizations, including the UN
and the Council of Europe.

“The Armenians around the world agree unanimously that the Genocide
must be condemned by the international community, but all those
who consider themselves part of the civilized world and share the
universal human values,” the minister added.

Nalbandian said that despite Armenia’s proactive steps to normalize
its relations with Turkey (the negotiations launched back in 2008
upon President Serzh Sargsyan’s initiative and the signing of the 2009
Swiss-mediated protocols aimed at the normalization of bilateral ties
and opening of the closed interstate border), the Turkish leadership
failed to demonstrate willingness to push ahead with the process
peacefully, imposing instead its preconditions on Armenia. “What’s
even more, the policy of denial and forging history is gaining a new
momentum in Turkey.”

“Last August. I delivered to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan the
invitation by President Serzh Sargsyan to attend the April 24, 2015
[centennial commemoration] events in Yerevan. Unfortunately, our
invitation remained unanswered, becoming yet another lost opportunity
for Turkey,” Nalbandian added.

S.O.S METS AYRUM PUBLIC CAMPAIGN INVITING JOURNALISTS AND GREEN ACTIVISTS TO MEDIA CAMPAIGN

14:43 April 03, 2015

EcoLur

Through the network of Aarhus Centers S.O.S Mets Ayrum public campaign
is inviting journalists and green activists to visit those areas,
which are exposed to environmental disaster because of the tailing
dumps owned by Akhtala Ore Dressing Combine and jeopardize Mets Ayrum
and Tchotchkan villagers.

AZERBAIJANI SINGER TAKES OFFENSE AT BIG APPLE MUSIC AWARDS ORGANIZERS AND SPECULATES ABOUT ‘ARMENIAN FACTOR’

15:13 06/04/2015 >> SOCIETY

Some time ago Azerbaijani media, citing People’s Artist of Azerbaijan
Aygun Kazimova’s page in the social network, reported that she
had allegedly rejected her prestigious Big Apple Music Awards and
dismissed their invitation to the awards ceremony due in July of
the current year because the organizers are Armenian. However, it
eventually turned out that Kazimova was rejected the award in the same
nomination where another People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, Brilliant
Dadasheva, had earlier been awarded. So, she ended up spreading
all sorts of rumors about the Big Apple Music Awards organizers,
Azerbaijani media outlet Moderator.az writes.

According to the article, Gulshan Kurbanbayeva sent an open letter to
the Azerbaijani press expressing her regret that the topic was still
being actively discussed on the Azerbaijani information platforms.

“Last year Brilliant Dadasheva was a Big Apple Awards winner. Later
we got an application-offer from Aygun Kazimova to take part in
the competition and approved it. Notably, she sent the completed
application form of the contest from her personal e-mail and
even thanked that her application was approved. However, she later
declared that she also wanted to get an award in the same nomination as
Brilliant Dadasheva. We calmly explained to her that it was impossible
as that nomination was designed only for traditional music performers.

Sadly, the angered singer, who apparently could not repeat Dadasheva’s
success, started to spread rumors about our Awards,” the representative
of the Awards said. She added that if some young star behaved like
that, they would try to understand her, yet the 45-year-old Azerbaijani
singer’s intention to achieve her aim using such methods was neither
comprehensible nor acceptable.

Remarkably, Kazimova’s producer, Tarikh Aliyev, in an interview to
Azerbaijani media outlet Qafqazinfo, flatly denied the statements
of the letter. He went on claiming that the Azerbaijani singer will
not take part in the Awards because of the Armenian organizers,
and threatened to fly to the US and ‘clear up all the matters with
that Kurbanbayeva.’

People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Brilliant Dadashova had become an object
of severe criticism after the media spread information according to
which the singer was honored with Big Apple Music Awards: the award
was organized by an Armenian company working in the US.

Earlier, in 2009, a questioning took place in Azerbaijan of everyone
who had dared to vote for the Armenian representatives in Eurovision
Song Contest. Then the Turkish singer Hadise also became the target
of Azerbaijani hysteria because of her brave position concerning the
issue of the Armenia-Turkey border opening.

It is also remarkable that the Azerbaijani media write that the recent
period has seen an increase of articles and stories about Armenia
and the Armenians in the press of the country that contain insults,
obscene language and unflattering remarks. In early November 2014,
the head of the Department of expertise, programming and analytics
of the National Television and Radio Council of Azerbaijan, Tavakyul
Dadashev, called on Azerbaijani media to go on using insults in the
articles about Armenia as much as possible.

Recently calls to ‘keep away’ from the Armenians yet another time were
voiced in the Azerbaijani media, and even a most insignificant contact
with the Armenians was characterized as ‘criminal collaboration against
the interests of Azerbaijan.’ Moreover, the cultural representatives
who had ever taken a photo with an Armenian and posted the selfie on
the social networks were sharply criticized.

Related:

Azerbaijani singer faces criticism in homeland because of selfie with
Georgian and Armenian nationals

Another “Armenian scandal” boils up in Azerbaijan; this time bullying
victim became folk singer

Azerbaijan’s Attack On Eurovision Voters and Hadise

Yeni Musavat: Armenophobia becomes nation-wide activity in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan they call to make abusive speeches on air addressed
to Armenia

Central de Noticias, Argentina
4 abril 2015

Diputados proponen adherir al día de acción por la tolerancia y el
respeto entre los pueblos.

Ingresó en la Cámara Baja de la provincia un proyecto por el que se
propone adherir a la Ley nacional 26.199, mediante la que se declaró
el 24 de abril de todos los años como ‘Día de acción por la tolerancia
y el respeto entre los pueblos’, en conmemoración del genocidio del
que fue víctima el pueblo armenio y con el espíritu de que su memoria
sea una lección permanente sobre los pasos del presente y las metas de
nuestro futuro, informaron a AIM.

La iniciativa que busca que el Estado entrerriano se pliegue mediante
una norma a la conmemoración del genocidio del que fue víctima el
pueblo armenio ingresó en la última sesión y pasó a la comisión de
Legislación General para su análisis.

Este 24 de abril se cumplen 100 años del inicio del primer genocidio
del siglo XX. Entre 1915 y 1923, alrededor de 1.500.000 armenios
fueron víctimas de masacres y deportaciones en manos del estado turco
otomano, abriendo un círculo de violencia, intolerancia y horror a
escala mundial.

La fecha evoca el arresto y asesinato de 800 personas de origen
armenio, entre los que se encontraban intelectuales, líderes
religiosos y políticos, profesionales y artistas de ese origen. En una
sola noche, el gobierno turco eliminó a todos aquellos que podían
elevar la voz del pueblo armenio y denunciar ante la comunidad
internacional las atrocidades que sobrevendrían: más asesinatos;
deportaciones masivas de mujeres, niños y ancianos que morían en su
marcha forzada por el desierto, así como la destrucción sistemática de
cualquier vestigio de la cultura armenia. El 24 de abril resume
simbólicamente todos aquellos crímenes de lesa humanidad, que las
fuerzas del impero turco-otomano cometieron en perjuicio del pueblo
armenio.

Esta matanza, silenciada mediante presiones y extorciones del gobierno
turco durante décadas, fue reconocida como un genocidio en 1985 por la
subcomisión de Prevención de las Discriminaciones y Protección a las
Minorías de Naciones Unidas.

El genocidio es un delito internacional que, según la definición de la
Convención para la prevención y la Sanción del Delito de Genocidio,
comprende “cualquiera de los actos perpetrados con la intención de
destruir, total o parcialmente, a un grupo nacional, étnico, racial o
religioso como tal”, estos actos comprenden la “matanza y lesión grave
a la integridad física o mental de los miembros del grupo,
sometimiento intencional del grupo a condiciones de existencia que
hayan de acarrear su destrucción física, total o parcial, medidas
destinadas a impedir nacimientos en el seno del grupo, traslado por la
fuerza de niños del grupo a otro grupo”.

El recuerdo del genocidio armenio interpela a la sociedad actual sobre
las consecuencias que pueden generar la intolerancia y la
discriminación, e invita a reflexionar sobre el significado del
respeto entre los pueblos y las personas y la importancia de una
memoria activa y permanente contra la injusticia y la impunidad. El
reconocimiento, el repudio y la denuncia son las bases para la
prevención de que este aberrante delito pueda volver a ocurrir.

Daily Sabah, Turkey
April 4 2015

Ankara: Greek Cypriots banning denial of genocide not worthy of comment

DAILY SABAH WITH ANADOLU AGENCY
ISTANBUL

Ankara has rejected the Greek Cypriot law banning denial of Armenian
claims over the 1915 incidents. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju
Bilgiç said in a statement late on Thursday: “Greek Cyprus’s decision
is null and void for Turkey and not worthy of comment.”

“It is without doubt that those who try to exploit the 1915 incidents
at every opportunity by using simple political ambitions cannot get
any result,” Bilgiç added.

Earlier on Thursday, Greek Cypriot parliament passed into law a bill
that criminalizes disavowal of Armenian allegations over the incidents
of 1915, what they term as genocide, involving the Ottoman Empire
during World War I.

Thursday’s move by Greek Cyprus, which remains at odds with the
Turkish Cyprus over the future of the divided island, came in the very
month when Armenia will hold a mass commemoration ceremony in the
capital Yerevan to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents on
April 24.

The draft bill, which was jointly submitted by all political parties
to Greek Cypriot parliament, can impose a penalty five years in prison
and fine of ?10,000 on those who deny the Armenian genocide. Vartkes
Mahdessian, a lawmaker of Armenian origin in the Greek Cypriot
assembly, also announced that a series of events would be organized in
Greek Cyprus to mark the 1915 events.

President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an recently said Armenia would not gain
anything from propaganda against Turkey. Armenians will commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents, which they term as
genocide, on April 24. Armenia also accelerated its efforts in the
international arena to convince countries recognize the incidents as
genocide. It has, however, received little support thus far. Yet
countries like Norway and Australia have said they will not attend the
ceremonies in Yerevan and avoided Armenian pressure to officially
define the incidents as genocide. “The purpose of this campaign
against Turkey is to treat our country as an enemy instead of keeping
Armenians’ sorrow alive,” ErdoÄ?an said as he called on Armenians to
study archives pertaining to the era in order to uncover what actually
happened between the Ottoman government and its Armenian subjects.

The 1915 incidents took place during World War I when a portion of the
Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire. A decision by the
Ottoman Empire to forcibly relocate Armenians to eastern Anatolia
followed the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties during
the relocation process.

Avvenire Italia
4 aprile 2015

ARMENI Papa Benedetto XV contro il genocidio

Vito Punzi
4 aprile 2015

Dopo una lunga ricerca sviluppatasi tra Archivio Segreto Vaticano e
nunziature di Monaco di Baviera e Vienna, lo storico Michael Hesemann
ha appena pubblicato i frutti del suo lavoro dedicato al genocidio
degli armeni (Völkermord an den Armeniern, Herbig Verlag, pp. 352,
euro 25), il cui valore è dato dall’aver potuto consultare circa
duemila pagine di documentazione inedita. Autore di una biografia su
Pio XII, nel 2008 il tedesco di Düsseldorf stava lavorando ad un
secondo libro sul Pastor Angelicus al fine di dimostrare in forma
ancor più convincente il suo impegno coraggioso a difesa degli ebrei
perseguitati, quando – ottenendo per la prima volta l’accesso
all’Archivio Segreto Vaticano – poté prendere visione dei documenti
concernenti l’attività di Pacelli quale nunzio a Monaco e Berlino
negli anni 1917-1929.

>.

Ci sono dunque novità emergenti da quegli atti? Il suo libro aveva
forse l’intento di riscrivere la storia del genocidio armeno?
.

Che cosa in concreto?
.

Nel suo libro lei accusa duramente il Reich, nel senso che il
genocidio armeno avrebbe potuto essere evitato…

Spondasud News-Italia
02 apr 2015

Petizione. 24 aprile: 100° anniversario del genocidio armeno ` La TV
non lo dimentichi

Gentili Direttori,

il 24 aprile ricorre il centesimo anniversario del genocidio armeno.
Oltre 1.500.000 mila armeni furono sterminati durante le estenuanti
`marce della morte’, dall’Anatolia orientale verso le zone
desertiche.
Sul genocidio vige un silenzio colpevole, che va rimosso, nel rispetto
della verità storica.
Nel `giorno della memoria’ sarebbe opportuno che le emittenti
televisive dedicassero alcune ore a questa immane tragedia.
Non mancano preziose testimonianze riportate in numerosi documentari e
anche il cinema ha prodotto opere di grande pregio, purtroppo
sistematicamente ignorate in Italia.
Si trascrivono, di seguito, i film e i documentari più importanti
disponibili sull’argomento.

FILM
Mayrig, di Henri Verneuil (1991)
Quella strada chiamata paradiso, di Henri Verneuil (1992)
Ararat, di Atom Egoyan (2002)
La masseria delle allodole, di Paolo e Vittorio Taviani (2007)
(Basato sul romanzo omonimo di Antonia Arslan)
Il padre (The Cut), di Fatih Akın (2014) ` (Al cinema dal 9 aprile)

DOCUMENTARI
Screamers, di Carla Garapedian (2006)
Memories, di Avedis Ohanian (2006)
Storie senza storia, di Paolo Facco e Federico Rorato, (2008)
I figli dell’Ararat, di Piero Marrazzo (2012)

L’umanità intera ha un debito nei confronti del popolo armeno, anche
in considerazione delle distoniche logiche di `realpolitik’, che
inducono tanti stati a obnubilare la veritÃ.
L’Italia, per fortuna, è tra i 21 stati che hanno riconosciuto il
genocidio armeno, ma tanto i fatti accaduti, quanto le problematiche
che da essi scaturiscono, sono ancora materia ignota per troppe
persone.
Cerchiamo di colmare questa lacuna.

World Bulletin, Turkey
April 5 2015

American Turks launch new campaign over 1915 events

The “Let History Decide” campaign in the U.S. will counter Armenian
allegations over the events of 1915 involving the Ottoman Empire
during World War I.

World Bulletin / News Desk

American Turks have launched the “Let History Decide” campaign in the
U.S. to counter Armenian allegations over the events of 1915 involving
the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The campaign has been organized by the Turkish American Steering
Committee, which consists of 145 Turkish American organizations.
Several events have been planned under the campaign that will take
place in different parts of the U.S., including Washington DC, New
York and Texas.

The main slogan of the campaign is: “Unite us, not divide us.”
According to the Turkish American Steering Committee’s website, a
peace and solidarity walk is being organized on April 24 in Washington
DC, which will begin in front of the White House and end at the
Turkish Embassy.

After the walk, American Turks and their campaign supporters will
remain in front of the embassy in response to the Armenian groups, who
too gather there on April 24 each year to “occupy the sidewalk,” a
committee representative says.

The committee has said it will also launch a Twitter hashtag
#lethistorydecide on April 18.

Turkish citizens at home and abroad feel that smear campaigns
involving the 1915 events have turned into attacks against Turkey.

In early March when a group of Congressmen introduced the “Armenian
Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution”, Republican Congressman Curt
Clawson called President Barack Obama to form a committee to reconcile
Turkish-Armenian relations and seek support for his resolution in
Congress.

“Turkey and Armenia are very important to the American interests,”
Clawson wrote in a letter to House colleagues. “U.S interests (in the
region) can be advanced by both countries acting to cultivate peace
and understanding.”

– 1915 events

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of the
Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

A decision by the Ottoman Empire to relocate Armenians in eastern
Anatolia followed the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties
during the relocation process.

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey
officially refutes Armenian allegations over the incidents, saying
that, although Armenians died during relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

The debate and differing opinions between present day Turkish
government and the Armenian diaspora, along with the current
administration in Yerevan, still generates political tension between
Turks and Armenians.

– Turkey’s position

Ankara acknowledges that past experiences were a great tragedy and
that both parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of
Muslim Turks.

Turkey also agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties
during World War I.

In January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent invitation
letters to more than 100 leaders, including Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, to participate in the commemoration of the Battle of
Canakkale on April 24.

Sargsyan reportedly denounced Erdogan’s invitation as a
“short-sighted” attempt to overshadow the 100th anniversary of the
1915 events, according to armenianow.com.

What Is Awaiting Armenian Economy?

Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Comments – 04 April 2015, 18:56

The economists say the pessimistic economic forecasts of the World
Bank for Armenia are quite realistic, considering the existing
situation.

Note that the World Bank has recently forecast a zero economic growth
this year, and economic recession in case of shocks. “The World Bank
representative broke the news, saying – dear Armenian people, a very
difficult year is expected, and do take relevant measures. However,
our people have no opportunities to take such measures, those are in
the hands of the government while the government is not doing
anything,” the economist Vahagn Khachatryan said in an interview with
Lragir.am.

He recalls that prior to the World Bank’s country manager, the Central
Bank of Armenia had announced that the economic situation is causing
concerns, forecasting a 0.4-2% growth provided the negative economic
signals from the Russian economy. This forecast is based on the
dropping amount of remittances from Russia to Armenia.

Vahagn Khachatryan says remittances from Russia are down by 45%,
forecasts on the economy of this country have improved recently but
the economy is expected to contract by 3-4% this year. By the best
broadcast, a 2% growth will be expected in Russia only in 2017.

“In other words, the forecasts were made in Russia but we do not visit
them in any way. Russia revised its budget, cut government
expenditures by 17%, suspended or cut investments. Three months have
passed but we are not doing anything. Who are we waiting for? Are we
waiting for someone to come and get the economy working with a magic
stick?” he says.

According to the economist, the existing situation is similar to the
crisis year of 2009, i.e. recession, increase of poverty, rise in
unemployment, problem with tax collections. The difference between
today and 2009 is then it was possible to borrow to reduce social
tension. Today we cannot boost the national debt because Armenia is
already close to the red line.

“This situation was visible after the second half of 2014 when
negative tendencies were noticed,” the economist notes. He believes
that aside from external factors, there are also internal problems,”
the economist says. Having boosted the foreign debt since 2009, we
have not achieved economic success. I still cannot understand the
direction of development of our economy, he notes. Armenia went
through different terminologies, including economic diversification,
becoming a world financial center, tourism center, but no clarity
ever. Armenia has arrived at this by resolving situational problems.

“At this point the second problem has occurred – the state of the
Russian economy. We depend on the Russian economy, only remittances
are enough. The World Bank noted that Armenia is in top ten by a high
ratio to remittances to the GDP. Remittances are 21% of our GDP. In
other words, it was clear that if the situation in Russia got worse,
our economy would appear in a far more difficult situation,” he
underlined.

Vahagn Khachatryan says the issue of monopolies is pending since 2009.
In 2012 the World Bank carried out a serious study. However, the
government never admits that there are monopolies in Armenia or
considers it normal, explaining that the Armenian economy is too
small. However, according to the economist, it is not a true judgment
because the size of the economy has nothing to do with monopolies.

“In other words, the problems were not resolved, and we faced shortage
of financial flows, limitations to the national debt,” he notes.

The economist Vardan Bostanjyan also believes that the World Bank’s
forecast will be realistic.

“In fact, at the moment the economic activity, movement and relations
in Armenia do not let hope for having something like growth,”
Bostanjyan says.

According to him, in economic collapse economic growth is not
possible. The Armenian government is not undertaking urgent measures,
which Vardan Bostanjyan interprets in the following way: “In our
system of governance I cannot see efforts by any branch of power. Most
probably, the system is such that the branches of the government are
deprived of initiatives.”

There is one solution to the existing situation – govern the country,
don’t let it unattended.

myCentralOregon.com
April 5 2015

Armenian Musicians Coming To Bend

Bend, Ore. – Central Oregon Community College is hosting musicians Bet
Williams and John Hodian on Wednesday, April 8, in Wille Hall in the
Campus Center on the Bend Campus. There will be a free cultural talk
on Armenian music from 3 to 4 p.m. and a musical performance at 7 p.m.

>From ancient monasteries in Armenia to music festivals throughout
Europe, Williams and Hodian have been creating and performing music
together for more than 20 years. With the world music ensemble
“Epiphany Project,” the blues based “Bet Williams Band” and the
Armenian classical music group “Naghash Ensemble,” the music these two
artists create is a vast quilt of influences and inspirations.

Tickets for the public are available at the door for $15. For
information, call 541-383-7412.

If you see local news happen, call the Horizon Broadcasting Group News
Tip Hotline at 541-323-NEWS, or email us.