Author: Badalian Vardan

CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER MEETS WITH ARMENIAN CONSERVATIVES

17:36, March 13, 2015

On March 4, members of the Armenian Canadian Conservative Association
(ACCA) met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper shortly after
he announced upcoming changes to legislation affecting Canada’s
justice system.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Honorable Peter MacKay,
Minister of Justice, and Ms. Roxanne James, the Parliamentary Secretary
to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Approximately twenty ACCA members were present, led by their Chair
Vatche Demirdjian and Vice-Chair Sevan Hajinian, who reiterated to the
Prime Minister the organization’s support for Canada’s Conservative
Government and its governing principles.

After Prime Minister Harper congratulated ACCA members for the founding
of their organization, Ms. Hajinian provided the Prime Minister with
a copy of her book, The Armenian Genocide Denied.

ICRC REPRESENTATIVES VISIT AZERI NATIONALS IN KARABAKH

16:42, 13 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross
visited the two Azeri national Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov
in Stepanakert. Communication Programs Director of the ICRC Yerevan
Office Zara Amatuni confirmed the news to Public Radio of Armenia.

ICRC representatives conveyed information about their families.

Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev are charged under Articles 7 and 5
of the Criminal Code of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. They are accused
of kidnapping and violence against a minor, murder committed by an
organized group motivated by ethnic hatred, espionage, unauthorized
border trespass, carrying artillery weapons.

The Azeri saboteurs crossed the NKR border in July, 2014. The third
commando, Hasan Hasanov, was killed, and his body was handed over
to Baku.

The actions of the subversive group left an underage resident of
Karvachar region and a soldier killed and a woman wounded.

The First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction sentenced Dilham
Askerov to life imprisonment, and Shahbaz Guliyev to 22 years in jail.

The Court of Appeals later upheld the verdict.

FOUNDING PARLIAMENT TO START ACTING APRIL 24

13:45 | March 13,2015 | Politics

This year we shall get rid of the regime, and we are starting
operations on April 24, Chairman of the Founding Parliament Movement
Garegin Chugaszyan said on March 13.

“There are different methods and tools to choose from but we shall
not reveal them for tactical reasons,” Mr Chugaszyan said adding that
if people are subjected to violence they have to right to revolt –
something that happened on March 1, 2008.

“We shall participation in the events commemorating the Armenian
Genocide Centennial, at the same time we shall fight for justice and
our rights,” he said.

Garegin Chugaszyan says all people who say ‘April 24 is a holy day’
can join their struggle on April 25. He does not exclude new arrests
and violence by April 24.

Founding Parliament, a successor of the Pre-parliament movement,
seeks a regime change in Armenia.

LYDIAN INTERNATIONAL COMPANY PLANNING TO PROCEED TO AMULSAR MINE CONSTRUCTION STAGE

15:02 March 11, 2015

EcoLur

President and CEO of “Lydian International” Company Howard Stevenson
said that “Lydian International” Company plans to ensure the complete
financing of Amulsar project and to proceed to the mine construction
stage in 2015, as “Geoteam” CJSC informs.

Lydian International presented its Amulsar Project at the World’s
biggest mining conference, the Prospectors’ and Developers’ Association
of Canada (PDAC) trade show and conference from 1-4 March.

“We are glad to be able to continue to present the project and Armenia
in high-profile events like PDAC. At these times of economic volatility
attracting investments is a challenge. We gave a presentation on
Amulsar project as part of the PDAC conference and we are glad that the
interest in the investment potential of Amulsar and Armenia is still
high. As we plan to proceed to the full financing of the project this
year, we look forward to the start of the construction and to building
a world-class mining project in Armenia, beneficial for the country,
the communities and the investors,” Howard Stevenson, President and
CEO of Lydian International said.

Reminder: “Lydian International” Company as represented by its
“Geoteam” subsidiary is going to develop Amulsar gold mine located
in the borderline of Vayots Dzor and Syunik Regions. “Lydian
International” Company shareholders are International Finance
Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD).

TOURIST VISITS TO ARMENIA GROW 11.3% TO 1.2 MILLION IN 2014

YEREVAN, March 12. /ARKA/. Armenia hosted over 1.2 million visitors
in 2014 – 11.3% more than a year earlier, Mekhak Apresyan, chief
of the Armenian economy ministry’s division in charge of tourism,
told journalists on Thursday.

he said.

In his words, the tourist inflow intensified in 2014 thanks the
government and the private sector’s vigorous activity and cooperation
with concerned agencies, which improved the tourist services provided
in the country.

he said.

Apresyan added that tourism in Armenia continues diversifying and that
the government’s policy in this area can be considered accomplished.

he said.

He also stressed that Armenia is becoming better known at the world
tourist market.

he said.

On October 23, 2013, Armenia’s government approved the program of
provision of competitive and sustainable air transportation services
in Armenia.

The program was based on a joint study by McKinsey & Company and the
National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia. Apresyan said that
thanks to the open sky policy in Armenia, the number of flights and
the number of passengers grew. —0—–

EGYPT: BELLY DANCER RISKS JAIL FOR ‘OFFENDING FLAG’: INDICTED FOR COSTUME RECALLING NATIONAL FLAG

ANSA English Media Service, Italy
March 11, 2015 Wednesday 12:27 PM CET

(ANSAmed) – CAIRO, MARCH 11 – The defense of Egypt’s national pride
with the rise to power of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has put a
famous Armenian belly dancer, who is very popular in the country,
in a difficult spot. After being arrested in August, Sofinar this
week was indicted for wearing a tricolor costume that recalls the
Egyptian flag, according to the website of broadcaster Al Arabiya.

She is charged with “offending the flag” based on a law approved last
June to coincide with the election of former general Sisi as head of
State. The charge, which will be examined by a court for minor crimes,
was sparked by a performance of Sofinar – known as Safinaz – who was
wearing a dress with a red bra, a white corset and a black skirt slit
at the front, as seen in pictures and videos posted to the internet.

The law provides for jail terms for anyone offending the national
flag, for example by raising it if it is torn or discolored or by
adding slogans and symbols on it, or using it improperly as in the
dancer’s case, according to the prosecution.

As reported by the website of Al Ahram, Safinaz was arrested at
the beginning of this month for performing with the controversial
costume in Ain Sokhna, a resort town on the Red sea south of Suez and
was released the same day on bail. She had already been arrested for
the same reason last August but this time she risks one year in jail,
although she is used to stating her love for Egypt, where she has been
living for the past two years. The artist is married to an Egyptian
and says she wants to stay in the country forever.

NEVADA GOVERNOR ISSUES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PROCLAMATION

12:59, 12 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, issued a proclamation commemorating the
Armenian Genocide, declaring April 19-26 as the “Day of Remembrance of
The Armenian Genocide,” reported the Armenian Council of America (ACA).

Spearheaded by the ACA Nevada Chapter, the proclamation condemns the
systematic murder and deportations of 1.5 million Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, highlighting the plight of the Armenian people and the
refuge they sought in the U.S. during that time, Massis Post reports.

The proclamation also honors the Armenian-American community in Nevada,
citing that the “thriving community is a proud reminder of survival
and determination even in the face of extreme injustice.”

Calling upon the House of Representatives and the President of the
U.S. to recognize the atrocities, the proclamation also reiterates
Turkey’s responsibility “to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian
Genocide.”

A full text of the proclamation can be found below.

WHEREAS, on the night of April 24, 1915, more than 200 leaders in
the Armenian community, in the city known today as Istanbul, were
arrested. Sent to prison, most were executed, beginning a horrible,
systemic killing and forced relocation of the Armenian people that
would last until 1923. During these years, the government of the
Ottoman Empire claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and forced
500,000 more from their homeland. The Armenian Genocide was a terrible
breach of human rights and an event that has outraged the world; and

WHEREAS, the atrocities carried out against the Armenian people
were grave and unimaginable, as they were subjected to deportation,
abduction, torture, starvation, and more. And as with any violent
conflict, Armenian women and children suffered the worst abuses. The
bulk of the Armenian population that was displaced from their homes
was forced to escape to neighboring as well as faraway countries. Many
fled to the United States; and

WHEREAS, today Nevada is honored to be home to a vibrant growing
Armenian-American population. This thriving community is a proud
reminder of survival and determination even in the face of extreme
injustice; and

WHEREAS, as Americans and Nevadans, it is our duty to raise awareness
of the Armenian Genocide and to participate in the remembrance and
mourning of the loss of innocent lives a century ago; and

WHEREAS, as Americans and Nevadans, we call upon Congress and the
President of the United States to recognize the atrocities committed
against the Armenian people, and call upon the Republic of Turkey
to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian Genocide and work toward a
just resolution;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BRIAN SANDOVAL, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEVADA,
do hereby proclaim April 19-26, 2015, as

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

SOLDIER KILLED BY ARMENIAN ‘SABOTAGE’ TEAM, SAYS BAKU

Journal of Turkish Weekly
March 12 2015

Anadolu Agency
12 March 2015

Azerbaijan military claims one soldier killed after ‘sabotage’ team
from Armenia attacked positions.

The Azerbaijan military has claimed that at least one of its soldiers
died during a clash with Armenian forces on Wednesday.

According to a statement from Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense an armed
incident took place on the direct border between the two neighbors
when “Armenian reconnaissance and sabotage teams” attempted to attack
Azerbaijani positions.

During the conflict, the Armenian side reportedly suffered losses and
retreated. The dead Azerbaijani soldier was identified as Anar Atayev.

No further details or confirmation were available.

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in conflict after the 1988
invasion of the Azerbaijan territory of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia.

Since the end of the war in 1994, Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations
have held talks over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh under the
supervision of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe’s Minsk Group.

ARF ABOUT TURKEY’S VAIN THREATS TO COUNTRIES THAT RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

18:10, 12.03.2015

YEREVAN. – Turkey’s threats to countries that have recognized the
Armenian Genocide in vain, ARF Dashnaktsutyun member Artsvik Minasyan
said commenting on Armenian parliament’s trip to Czech Republic.

According to him, in private conversations with Czech politicians,
he mentioned this fact, citing the example of France. When Paris
was going to criminalize denial of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s
politicians were threatening to burn their bridges, and now Turkish
firms are advertising goods as before.

“Genocide was recognized by Czech Republic’s neighbors Poland and
Slovakia, and no action by the Turkish side followed. And we see that
our Czech colleagues listened to these arguments,” he emphasized.

PRESS RELEASE
Glendale Public Library
222 East Harvard Street
Glendale CA 91205
Contact: [email protected]
Tel: 818-548-2030
FB:
TW:
Web:
TW:

Join me tomorrow, Thursday at 7 pm, at the Glendale Public Library for
a presentation of the newly published translation of Hagop Oshagan’s
seminal work, “The Remnants, Book 1.”

The presentation will be made in English by Hagop Oshagan’s
granddaughter Taline Voskeritchian who will take a tightrope walk
along Hagop Oshagan’s private and public life and works and attempt to
unravel the enigma of this little understood literary giant.

——————–

Hagop Oshagan’s “Remnants: The Way of the Womb”

GLENDALE, CA–On Thursday, March 12, 2015, at 7pm, the public is
invited to the presentation on the newly published translation by
G.M. Goshgarian of Hagop Oshagan’s Remnants: The Way of the Womb. Hagop
Oshagan’s granddaughter, Taline Voskeritchian, will be the presenter.

The presentation will take place at the Glendale Central Library
Auditorium, 222 East Harvard Street in Glendale. Admission is
free. The presentation will be in English. Library visitors receive 3
hours FREE parking across the street at The Market Place parking
structure with validation at the Loan Desk.

Remnants: The Way of the Womb is a literary reconstruction of the
pre-genocide world of the Armenians told through the collapse of a
family, the Nalbandians. It brings to life a lost world by
illuminating all the facets–political, social, sexual, religious and
quotidian–of that world, to the most minute detail. The novel itself
is the culmination of a series of powerful works whose theme is
Muslim-Christian, and especially Turkish-Armenian relations in the
Ottoman Empire. This volume is the first translation of a book-length
section of Oshagan’s unfinished 1500-page novel, his magnum opus,
written between 1928 and 1934 in Cyprus.

Oshagan intended the novel to include three parts (Part I: The Way of
the Womb; Part II: The Way of Blood; Part III: Hell) but was unable to
finish the third part, which was to be devoted to the extermination of
the Armenians, depicting the twenty-four hour period during which the
Armenian population of Bursa was annihilated.

Taline Voskeritchian, the granddaughter of Hagop Oshagan, was born in
Jerusalem. She teaches writing and literature at Boston
University. Voskeritchian’s prose has appeared in numerous magazines
and journals, such as American Literary Review, The Daily
Star/International, London Review of Books, MERIP/Middle East Report,
and The Nation.

###
CONTACT: Elizabeth Grigorian, Armenian Outreach Coordinator at the
Glendale Library, Arts & Culture

===========================================================
Copyright © 2015 Ara Oshagan Photography, All rights reserved.