Author: Badalian Vardan

US Fed News
February 27, 2015 Friday 10:55 PM EST

LEBANESE PIANIST TO PERFORM ARMENIAN CLASSICS

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Feb. 27 — The University of Arkansas issued the
following news release:

Award-winning Lebanese maestro Annie Balabanian will perform a solo
piano recital featuring works by Armenian composers 8 p.m. on Friday,
Feb. 27th in Giffels Auditorium. Balabanian will also present a
lecture titled “West Meets East: Classical Music and Culture in
Lebanon” Monday, March 2 at 12:30 p.m. in Old Main Room 421. Both
events are free and open to the public.

Acclaimed for her passionate performances, beautiful sound, wide
palette of tonal colors, and deep lyricism, Balabanian is a pianist
with a growing career as a soloist and chamber musician. Praised by
the “Agenda Culturel” for demonstrating the “exciting temperament of a
magnificent concert pianist,” Balabanian has captured numerous prizes
and awards, including first prize at the Margot Babikian Chamber Music
Competition (Beirut 2010) and second prize at the Schubert Piano
Competition (Beirut 1997), and has participated in international music
festivals and workshops.

Born in Beirut, Balabanian began piano studies at the age of 5. As a
recipient of a full summer scholarship from the Playing for Peace
Festival (New Hampshire, 2001), and a partial scholarship from the
International Keyboard Institute and Festival (New York, 2006),
Balabanian has participated in several international music festivals
and workshops such as the International Piano Academy (Freiburg 2014)
and the Euro Arts Music Festival (Leipzig 2009), and has also studied
with world famous pianists and pedagogues. Balabanian performs
frequently with chamber groups and currently teaches piano at the
National Higher Conservatory of Music in Beirut, Lebanon.

Her concert, sponsored by the Fulbright College Piano Performance
Program in partnership with the King Fahd Center for Middle East
Studies, will include works by Aram Khachaturian, Boghos Gelalian,
Edvard Mirzoyan and other notable Armenian composers who adapted local
and regional folk tunes and melodies into Western classical
composition.

For concert information, please contact Jura Margulis, McAllister
professor of piano, at 479-575-4178 or [email protected] For lecture
information, contact the King Fahd Center at 479-575-2175.

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Syria
February 26, 2015 Thursday

French delegation visits French Hospital and Armenian Church, Vial to
SANA: siege on Syria unreasonable

Damascus, SANA- French Senate member, Head of the Senate’s
French-Syrian Friendship Committee Jean-Pierre Vial and member of the
Senate and Mayor of Laval city François Zocchetto inspected the work
of the French Hospital in Damascus and the services it provides.

The senates were briefed on the needs of the Hospital and mechanisms
of work as well as the bad effects of the crisis on medical
institution in terms of capacity and medical equipment and drugs.

On the situation of the Hospital, Sister John Feiv said that a big
volume of medicine and equipment are not available in most cases due
to the siege and sanctions impost on the country.

She stressed that the French policy towards Syria should change
because the situation is getting more deteriorated, highlighting the
great sufferings of Syrians in different areas, particularly residents
of Hasaka where terrorist besiege its towns, leading to the death of
many children.

The two senates also visited Armenian Orthodox Church of Damascus
Diocese where they met Bishop Armash Nalbandian, who explained the
situation in Syria in general and particularly in cities of Damascus
and Aleppo in spite of the crisis taking place in the country.

For his part, Bishop Nalbandian indicated that national unity is still
embracing the fabric of the Syrian society, and all Syrian spectra are
united in countering the takfiri ideology that is targeting Syria.

He added that Turkey has played a big aggressive role in the crisis,
opening its borders to the terrorist organizations where perpetrated
massacres against the Syrian Armenians in the city of Kassab and other
Syrian cities, as their Ottoman predecessors did in 1915, committing
horrific genocide against the Armenians.

Bishop Nalbandian stressed that Armenians are deeply rooted in their
homeland, Syria, and they are part and parcel of the Syrian people, as
they wish that the solution to the crisis should be comprehensive- not
restricted to particular cities.

“A lot of innocent people in Damascus have been killed in almost daily
terrorist attacks with rocket and mortar shells,” Bishop Nalbandian
said, adding that the Church was targeted twice last year leaving many
children dead.

Vial stressed that the delegation’s visit to Syria is very important,
clarifying that Syria has always been a place for all sects and it is
exemplary for the co-existence and tolerance among its people.

In a statement to SANA, Vial considered that the siege imposed on
Syria has become unreasonable and it increases sufferings of the
Syrian people and leads to the lack of basic needs, especially
medicines.

He clarified that the delegation visited makeshift centers,
international organizations, schools, clergymen, hospitals in addition
to visiting a number of Syrian officials, pointing out that the
absence of France from Syria is because of its Embassy’s shutdown,
which should be put into consideration for restoring relations between
the two countries.

Vial said the latest attacks that hit Europe and France caused a shock
to the Europeans, who thought that terrorism is a plague targets
others in Syria and the Middle East and it will not reach them, yet it
turned out and reached Europe.

On the crisis in Syria, Vial saw that the solution lies in Aleppo
initiative proposed by the UN Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura and
supported by the Syrian government, as it should be accompanied with
the support of effective states to bear responsibility in this regard.

Rasha Milhem/ Barry

Enemy Attempted Reconnaissance-in-Force: 2 Armenians Killed

Lragir.am
Country – 28 February 2015, 23:31

On February 28, at around 14:25, the enemy undertook an attempt of
reconnaissance-in-force in the direction of one of the military posts
of one of the northeastern military units of the Defense Army. The
front units of the defense army detected the advancement of the
enemy’s special troops and pushed them back to their starting
positions. Unfortunately, there are victims on the Armenian side.
Artak Sedrak Aghekyan, 1979 and Haik Grigor Baroyan, 1995, were killed
during the fight. The NKR Ministry of Defense expressed its
condolences to the families, friends and fellow servicemen of the
killed servicemen.

NKR PM VISITS ARMENIAN NATIONAL SCHOOL IN KUWAIT

17:05, 2 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 2 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic Arayik Harutyunyan; Catholic Vicar of the Armenian Diocese
of Kuwait, Father, Supreme Archimandrite Massis Zobuian; Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Kuwait
Fadey Charchoghlyan; members of the “Ari” Company (the company carries
out investment programs in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) and member of
the ARF-D Bureau Beniamin Bchakjian visited on March 1 the Armenian
National School in Kuwait, as posted on the Facebook page of the
Armenian Prelacy of Kuwait, according to “Armenpress”.

In his speech, Father, Supreme Archimandrite Massis Zobuian considered
the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora triumvirate the pillar of Armenian
statehood, affirming that the Armenian community of Kuwait has always
supported Armenia and Artsakh with its church and national school and
that it will continue this mission for nation-building and national
preservation with dedication and through contributions.

Prime Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan
expressed his amazement, emotions and infinite joy to the teachers
and administration of the Armenian National School for their infinite
sacrifices for the preservation of the Armenian identity. The Prime
Minister pledged to help establish close ties between the national
school and schools of Artsakh so that Armenian students of the Diaspora
can become familiar with the daily activities that are carried out
for their compatriots in Armenian schools abroad.

ARMENIANS NAME HERITAGE AS THE MOST OPPOSITIONAL PARTY

YEREVAN, March 2. / ARKA /. An Armenian political party led by an
American-born Raffi Hovanessian, who was Armenia’s first foreign
minister after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, was named by
Armenian citizens as ‘the most oppositional party’ in the country,
according to a survey conducted by Gallup International Association
in Armenia from November 20 to 27 in 2014 embracing 1,067 respondents.

The party called Zharangutyun (Heritage) scored 3.7 points on a 5 point
scale. It was followed by the Prosperous Armenia Party, led by one
of the wealthiest Armenian businessmen Gagik Tsarukyan (3.63 points).

The Armenian National Congress led by the first post-Soviet Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrosyan was third with 3.62 points. Orinats
Yerkir (Country of Law) was named as the least opposition party with
2.4 points. The findings were unveiled today by Aram Navasardyan,
head of Gallup International Association in Armenia.

According to the survey, 40% of respondents predicted a political
failure to these three parties which until lately made the so-called
‘non-governing troika.’

“Only 11% of respondents said that the authorities will be forced
to negotiate with the troika and offer it levers of power and 9%
believe that the current administration will be forced to resign,”
said Navasardyan.

Also 65% said the troika was largely financed by the Prosperous
Armenia Party. Three percent believed it was Heritage and another 3
percent that it was the Armenian National Congress.”-0-

SHANT HARUTYUNYAN’S ADVOCATES FILE APPEAL WITH COURT OF CASSATION

13:09 | March 2,2015 | Politics

The advocates of Shant Harutyunyan, the leader of the opposition
Tseghakron party, and his friends have lodged an appeal to the Court
of Cassation requesting the latter to review the ruling of a lower
court. They have filed a motion to acquit their clients.

On October 19, a court in Yerevan found Shant Harutyunyan, leader
of the radical opposition party, his underage son Shahen Harutyunyan
and ten other activists who also participated in the November 5, 2013
anti-government protest, guilty of acts of hooliganism and sentenced
them from 1 to 7 years in prison. The court sentenced Shant Harutyunyan
and his son to 6 and 4 years in prison, respectively.

In February 2015, the Court of Appeal upheld the verdict against
Shant Harutyunyan and his friends.

SOLDIER OF NKR DEFENSE ARMY SHOT DEAD: OFFICIAL VERSION SUICIDE

03.02.2015 12:32 epress.am

On February 27, at approximately 8:40, soldier Albert Safaryan (born
1996) died from a fatal gunshot wound at a defensive military outpost
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, reported the NKR Ministry of
Defense official website.

Further details were not mentioned in the NKR Ministry of Defense
statement. Later on the Investigative Committee released a statement
noting that Safaryan, according to the initial details, had fatally
shot himself under the chin with his service gun. A criminal case
has been initiated based on Article 110.1 of the RA criminal code,
i.e., Commission of Suicide.

In 2015, this is the 14th death of a soldier in the Armenian and
Nagorno-Karabakh armies.

CHURCH DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL TO BE BUILT IN BLAGOVESHCHENSK, RUSSIA

14:50, 02 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

An Armenian Church dedicated to Gregory the Illuminator is planned
to be built in the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk.

The church will be dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide in the Ottoman Empire, Bishop Lucian of Blagoveshchensk
and Tyndinsky said at a meeting with the local Armenian community,
Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.

He called on the Armenian community to support the initiative. Bishop
Lucian informed that an Armenian cross-stone will also be erected
in Amur.

The site of construction of the church should be determined this week.

TURKISH PRESIDENT SLAMS US, RUSSIA OVER UNSETTLED KARABAKH CONFLICT

12:05 * 02.03.15

Turkey’s president has criticized Russia and the United States over
a failure to reach an accord over the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

According to the Turkish publication Sabah, Recept Tayyip Erdogan
addressed the topic on his way to Saudi Arabiya as he was asked by
journalists to comment on the Armenian-Turkish relations and the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Karabakh.

“As long as Armenia has not made any step over the seized lands,
we are not going to open the border,” he said.

Erdogan said he thinks that both the United States and Russia will be
able to resolve the problem whenever they wish so. “As a matter of
fact the US and Russia will resolve the issue if they wish to. The
Azerbaijani nation’s civilization and belief is known also to the
opposite side. That’s what I think they base their judgment on,
not managing to demonstrate a fair approach,” he added.

FORMER POLICE OFFICIAL SENT TO PRISON OVER DINK MURDER

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 27 2015

27 February 2015 13:26 (Last updated 27 February 2015 22:03)

Akyurek was charged with negligence on the job at the time of the
Turkish-Armenian journalist’s murder.

ISTANBUL

Former head of Turkey’s police intelligence, Ramazan Akyurek, has
been sent to prison late Friday over the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, according to police sources.

Akyurek had been in police detention since Thursday on charges of
negligence on the job at the time of Dink’s murder.

Earlier Friday, the former intelligence chief was taken to Istanbul’s
Caglayan court for questioning after his lawyer said his client would
not answer questions at the Ankara police department.

The Istanbul public prosecutor’s office questioned Akyurek for four
hours at the court and charged him of “causing death by negligent
behavior,” “forgery of official documents,” and “malfeasance.” The
prosecutor’s office urged the court to order his arrest.

Dink was one of the founders of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos. He was assassinated outside his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19,
2007.

His murderer, Ogun Samast, who was 17 years old at the time, was
tried and convicted in 2011.