Author: Badalian Vardan

Turkey Denies Report on Cancellation of Gallipoli Commemoration Events

By Weekly Staff on February 22, 2015

Sources close to the Turkish government have denied Sunday’s Zaman’s
report claiming the Gallipoli commemoration events have been canceled,
according to Daily Sabah. “Sources from both the Presidency and Prime
Ministry have refuted the claims that the commemorations have been
canceled, refraining from offering further details over how many and
which countries will participate in the Gallipoli centennial
commemoration,” reported Sabah, which highlighted Zaman’s link to the
Gulen Movement.

On Feb. 21, Sunday’s Zaman reported that the commemoration ceremonies
marking the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I were
canceled. The paper said the reason for cancellation was the low
number of heads of states who agreed to attend Ankara for the
ceremonies that were scheduled to take place on April 24–Armenian
Genocide commemoration day.

The paper quoted a government official, who wished to remain
anonymous, as saying, “The Gallipoli celebrations have been canceled.
All preparations have been suspended as the number of RSVPs to the
invitation is not positive. Only five countries have accepted the
invitation and they will not be represented by high-level officials.”

Leading up to the Gallipoli commemorations, Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan had sent official invitations to more than 100 world
leaders, including Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, to partake in
the ceremonies. The date designated for these commemoration
events–April 24–created uproar among Armenians worldwide, while
Turkish human rights groups urged world leaders to boycott the
Gallipoli events.

On Jan. 16, Sarkisian responded to Erdogan’s invitation to Turkey on
April 24, in a strongly worded letter. “Turkey continues its
conventional denial policy and is perfecting its instrumentation for
distorting history. This time, Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary
of the Battle of Gallipoli on April 24, even though the battle began
on March 18, 1915 and lasted until late January 1916, while the
Allies’ operation started on April 25,” he wrote, adding, “What is the
purpose [of this] if not to distract the world’s attention from the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?”

110 ANOS DEL POGROMO Y LA RESISTENCIA ARMENIA EN BAKÚ

Diario Armenia- Argentina
4 de feb. de 2015

En el segundo mes del año del Centenario adquiere mucha importancia
compartir los antecedentes del Primer Genocidio del Siglo XX, para
repasar las lecciones de una historia plena de ejemplos heroicos y
enseñanzas para dentro y fuera de la comunidad.

Lo ocurrido hace 110 años en Bakú -que han sido denominados como
“enfrentamientos” armenio-tartaros- son paginas de una historia que
parecen cronicas de la actualidad. Diarios, semanarios y revistas de
todo el mundo publicaron con fotos y detalles primero las noticias,
luego los comentarios y finalmente varios libros al respecto.

Es conocida la importancia de Bakú, a comienzos del siglo XX como
centro del incipiente capitalismo petrolero, el rol del zarismo
generando discordias para imperar sobre las naciones y etnias
del Caucaso y las acciones revolucionarias que buscaban formas de
convivencia y justicia social entre el trabajo y el capital. Allí
acudieron los gerentes de Rockefeller, los altos empleados de los
emires tartaros, los bancos e inversores ingleses, la nobleza georgiana
que habían impuesto a su Tbilisi como la capital del Virreinato,
gracias a su incorporacion a la corte imperial rusa ahí tambien surgio
el panturquismo.

En la escala piramidal de la capacidad de influir y hacer pesar sus
intereses, a pesar de ser una nacion originaria y de las iniciativas
de su burguesía, los armenios no ocupaban aún un lugar respetable.

Como ocurría con otras minorías del imperio ruso, y en otros imperios,
las acciones criminales de los estados eran otra forma de concretar
los negocios de los grupos dominantes.

En ese cuadro de situacion, el virrey georgiano resolvio
azuzar el fanatismo de los musulmanes contra los armenios. Las
primeras agresiones se iniciaron a principios de febrero de 1905,
hace justamente 110 años. Un testigo presencial, el periodista
centroamericano E. Gomez Carrillo, recopilo sus cronicas en el libro
“La Rusia Actual” publicado en París en 1906. En unos parrafos,
resumimos los hechos.

“Poco a poco una siniestra claridad va iluminando las matanzas de
Bakú…La version mas autorizada, nos dice que las matanzas comenzaron
el 19 de febrero (viejo calendario ortodoxo) y que duraron cuatro
días consecutivos… Antes de esa fecha el gobernador llamo a las
notabilidades turcas y les aconsejo… contra los armenios. Al mismo
tiempo se armo a la poblacion tartara de Bakú… Solo unos cientos
de obreros de la Federacion Revolucionaria Armenia, lograron, a pesar
de los cosacos, con su bravura, rechazar a los musulmanes de algunos
barrios armenios… El comite armenio de París publica documentos
interesantísimos… Lo primero que se ve, es la complicidad de la
policía, lo mismo que en los asesinatos de judíos”.

El contenido completo de estos textos, y muchos valiosos testimonios
seran publicados proximamente por ARMENIA. Seguimos trabajando por
la verdad, la memoria y la justicia.

Carlos Luis Hassassian

ASUC SENATE PASSES DIVESTMENT FROM REPUBLIC OF TURKEY IN UNANIMOUS VOTE

Daily Californian
Feb 19 2015

By Angel Grace Jennings | Staff

The ASUC Senate unanimously passed a bill urging UC Berkeley, the UC
Berkeley Foundation and the University of California to divest from
the Republic of Turkey and an affiliate institution Wednesday night.

The bill cites the Republic of Turkey’s denial of what many countries
recognize as a genocide of the Armenian people beginning in 1915, as
well as what the bill calls a “campaign of Armenian cultural erasure,”
as its impetus for divesting funds.

The bill calls for divestment from both the Republic of Turkey and
the Export Credit Bank of Turkey, of which the Turkish treasury is
the sole shareholder. The UCLA student government unanimously passed
a similar measure last month.

The University of California’s investment holdings in the Republic
of Turkey and the Export Credit Bank, as reported in 2012, totaled
more than $74,000,000.

“I’m a descendant of the Armenian Genocide and, as a student who pays
tuition to the UC, I felt that it wasn’t fair that my tuition money
was going to a government that denies my history and the history
of my people,” said Sareen Habeshian, a UC Berkeley sophomore and
blogger at The Daily Californian, who co-authored the bill.

Independent Senator Marium Navid, primary sponsor of the bill, said
she expects other UC campuses to follow the example set by UC Berkeley
and UCLA.

“As students, if we keep pushing at this level for years to come and
have a unified voice, it will send the message we need,” Navid said.

Yusuf Mercan, a UC Berkeley graduate student who voiced opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said he objects to the “casual” use of
the terms “genocide” and “denial” in the bill.

“This is a very specific and serious crime, and the senate should
not pass judgement on such an issue and act as a tribunal,” he said
in an email.

Mercan said he believes that since the bill directly references the
Republic of Turkey, the Turkish Student Association should have been
informed in advance. Habeshian, however, said the bill did not intend
to target any particular students on campus, and that the authors
didn’t think it was their responsibility to reach out to the Turkish
Student Association.

“We have had Turkish students who support us and who recognize the
genocide, but they are too afraid to speak up,” Habeshian said.

Omer Selamoglu, a UC Berkeley law student who also spoke in opposition
to the bill at the meeting, said the senate’s proceedings were biased
and did not present a neutral place to discuss the issue.

“The ASUC’s decision was made without adequate information in an
intimidating atmosphere — how democratic can that be?” said Efe Atli,
a junior and former Daily Californian staffer who was born in Turkey,
in an email.

Before committee members voted on the bill, nearly every senator and
several executive officers asked to be listed as co-sponsors.

Despite this, Navid was not confident that the regents would
immediately respond to the bill. She said that based on past divestment
campaigns, she believes “it takes many years for the message to
be sent.”

The regents’ most recent statement about their divestment policy,
released in 2010, says that the University of California will only
divest if the federal government declares that a foreign regime is
committing acts of genocide.

KARABAKH RULES OUT RELEASE OF JAILED AZERBAIJANI NATIONALS

Big News Network, Australia
Feb 19 2015

RFE Thursday 19th February, 2015

Authorities in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh have
refused to consider the release of two Azerbaijani nationals who were
convicted and jailed last year on charges of committing a number of
crimes, including murder.

Azerbaijan does not recognize the legality of the trial in which its
citizens, Dilham Askerov and Shahbaz Quliyev, were sentenced to life
and 22 years in prison, respectively.

Askerov, 54, and Quliyev, 46, are charged with murder, espionage,
illegal border crossing, and illegal weapons possession.

Authorities in the self-proclaimed government of Nagorno-Karabakh
say they crossed into the breakaway region on July 12 and killed an
officer of its military.

Azerbaijani officials say the self-proclaimed government, which is
not recognized by any nation, has no legal right to try the men.

Baku and Yerevan have been locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s
breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh for years.

Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated
region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed
some 30,000 people and displaced many more.

Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict have brought little progress.

HRAIR HAWK KHATCHERIAN: PHOTOGRAPHER TALKS ABOUT ARMENIA’S UNREALIZED POTENTIAL ON EVE OF 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE

16:01, February 18, 2015

By Naira Hayrapetyan

“I was born in Lebanon, but my grandfather was born in Zeytoun, where
he participated in the self-defense struggle. But fighting probably
wasn’t the right thing to do, which is why he ended up in Lebanon,”
photographer Hrair Hawk Khatcherian said.

Many recognize his photography at first glance.

Khatcherian has probably taken more photos of Armenian churches than
any other photographer. He came to Armenia during the Artsakh war
and to this day he continues to reveal and become acquainted with
the Armenian world.

He has published many books of his photography, including Artsakh:
A Photographic Journey (1997),40 Nudes (2001), Karabagh: 100 Photos
for the Independence (2002), Yergir (2005), Armenian Ornamental
Art with Armen Kyurkchyan (2010), Armenian Ornamental Script (2012)
and One Church, One Nation (2013).

Hawk was simply a nickname that he used to sign letters, and it
eventually became a second name shown in his passport. Everyone knows
him today as Hawk. “We’re alike in many ways,” he said. “A hawk has a
good eye, he loves to soar and when he’s hunting he sights his target
very well.”

He was 11 or 12 years old when he first became interested in
photography. The brother of one of his classmates, who was older,
was holding a photo.

“I asked him how he created it and he laughed, ‘You’re out of
your depth. Grow up and maybe you’ll understand something,'” Hawk
explained. “I decided that I’d definitely find out the secret. I bought
a small camera and started shooting my classmates, them playing soccer,
class time, trees, streets. Step by step my snapshots started to have
more meaning.”

The innocent photos were followed by bitter images of the Lebanese
civil war–traces of exploded bombs, people who survived or perished.

Later in the US, when he was learning to become a pilot, he observed
that there was more to the world’s beauty from up above. Later on,
images of Armenia would appear in Hawk’s most beautiful photography
book, taken from the perspective ofa hawk in flight.

“In school I didn’t learn anything about the Armenian language,
history or geography,” Hawk said. “I was only interested in math,
photography and English. My teachers broke a lot of sticks over
my head. I didn’t understand anything they told us about Ani, the
Armenian alphabet and history. It all seemed like a mystery to me until
I found my way. I had to see, touch and feel it. My chosen path was
sort of a way for me to understand myself. Through photography I also
learned about my history, my culture, and I got to know my people,
to love and experience that consciousness.

With 12 photography books already under his belt, Hawk’s latest
work, 100: 1915-2015, is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. It describes Armenian culture, history and heritage
though imagery–churches still standing or in ruins, architectural
masterpieces, samples of Armenian manuscripts from all around the
world and various cultural gems.

Hawk’s camera has been all over, capturing and assembling everything
related to Armenians and being Armenian. At the same time, they are
facts that are being erased yearly as a consequence of a policy of
denialism and intolerance. The aim is to clearly inform the reader
about where Armenians were established in a particular century,
what their ancestors were like and what have they become today.

The beautiful imagery of the trilingual book (Armenian, English,
French), thanks to the chosen narrative, leaps off the pages. Hawk said
his intention was to present Armenia’s richness and magnitude from
the perspective of a victorious people. The most recent presentation
of the book was done in Shushi.

Mrav

“I’m doing these photography books for me first of all, and that’s
not being selfish, they are addressed to me,” Hawk said. “At the same
time I’m learning from my own photographs. Second of all they’re being
passed on to my two daughters. Both of them went to Armenian school
and they more or less speak Armenian. I want them to know about their
people and not forget, but rather strengthen their language skills.

Not only that, I’m doing it for every single Armenian youth raised
in the Diaspora and Armenia. The book is printed in three languages
so that it’s accessible to non-Armenians, so it reveals Armenia to
the world. When people from various countries open this book they’ll
discover Armenia, its culture, its manuscripts. There are 2,500 copies
printed, 1,500 of which will be distributed to various universities
and libraries, so that others don’t look upon us as a third-world
country, but as a strong people.

Van

Hawk came to Armenia for the first time in the 1990s. He did all the
things that tourists typically do, like visit Khor Virab, see Ararat
and so forth, camera in hand.

“The country was experiencing tough times, but the trip launched
the beginning of my future in Armenia, coming from the other side
of Ararat,” he said. “So my ties were already made between myself
and Armenia.”

Then he travelled to Artsakh to document the traces of war through
photography, while witnessing the strong spirit of those patriots
willing to give their lives for freedom, the same epic tale he had
only heard about. It left a lasting impression on him. He’s convinced
that in order to love and defend the motherland, you have to see it.

In 1993, as he prepared to leave for Canada, he told his friends
that he would be back in Artsakh soon to continue his work there. But
something unexpected awaited him.

The First Church Service in Akhtamar in 95 Years The Window of Life

“The doctors found I had lung cancer, which had already begun to
spread, and they gave me only 10 days to live,” Hawk said. “The
first thing that came to mind was the kids. I was afraid, wondering
how I was going to leave my girls aged 3 and 4 behind. I was still
responsible for their futures. That sickness made me seriously think
about my whole life. Logically, I was either going to die or battle
it out no matter the cost so I could grow older with my kids. I gave
my oath on a cross in my room that if I were saved, I would photograph
all the Armenian churches throughout the world.”

Hawk lived by his oath and stated the value of his new life’s
expectations, thereby leaving his mark on history.

Artsakh: A Photographic Journey came out in 1997. The book reveals
the history, informationand cultural heritageof the region. The other
books followed and more will be released in the future.

“I’m self-taught,”he said. “We’re living in the age of technology where
photography has become very accessible. Anyone can photograph now,
either by using a camera or a cell phone. Lots of technical issues are
solved immediately. But you know, you need put your mind and spirit
into it so you can pass on what you’ve seen as being important. For
100: 1915-2015, I visited Western Armenia about 30 times, and each
time I went to Akhtamar I saw it in a new light.

During the church service the smoke from the incense and sunlight
entering the church seemed different to my eyes, as if the silence
of so many years began to speak beauty. For many, those photographs
may seem ordinary, but for me they totally show ties to nature,
the world and the universe, especially during prayer.”

St. Gayaneh Monastery

April 23 is Hawk’s birthday. When asked whether he would be in Armenia
for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, he replied “No.”

He added that he felt what would transpire would be superficial.

“Superficial is a strong word of course, but I’m not saying that
whatever takes place will be so,” Hawk said. “For me at least, the
reason why it will be superficial is because people continue to leave
the country, life in Armenia is still full of difficulties and people
earn such low salaries that they can’t live on their own soil. My hope
is that the youth will return with their knowledge, make things right,
strengthen our country and put conditionsin place so that they’ll
make life just for everyone. For the 100th anniversary this country
should have been so strong so we don’t continue to weep with mournful
faces in front of memorials but instead tell the world how determined,
developed and technologically advanced our country is. I’m trying to
do that with my books. I want people to starting thinking positive,
to instill within them a sense of trust, respect and faith in the
country. I’m not doing this with emotions; I’m showing them what
they have. That still needs to take hold and develop. Everyone has
to start being positive and stop saying that we don’t have anything
in this country.”

LES ALEVIS BOYCOTTENT LES COURS POUR RECLAMER L’ENSEIGNEMENT LAQUE

TURQUIE

Des associations d’Alevis, une minorite musulmane liberale de Turquie,
et un syndicat d’enseignants ont appele vendredi un boycott des ecoles
publiques pour reclamer un “enseignement laïque” dans un pays domine
par la confession sunnite.

Selon les medias turcs, ce mouvement a ete largement suivi dans de
nombreuses villes, dont Istanbul, Ankara et Izmir (ouest).

Dans cette dernière cite, la police a disperse une manifestation
d’environ 2.000 personnes, pour la plupart des enseignants, avec
des canons a eau et du gaz lacrymogène, a rapporte l’agence de
presse Dogan.

Au moins 40 personnes y ont ete interpellees, selon le barreau de
la ville.

Environ 2.000 protestataires ont defile dans le centre-ville d’Ankara
et un millier d’autres a Istanbul, dans le quartier asiatique de
Kadikoy.

“Je n’envoie pas mon enfant a l’ecole aujourd’hui pour denoncer
l’islamisme rampant pratique dans l’enseignement public qui est devenu
l’enseignement islamique”, a indique a l’AFP Ahmet, un fonctionnaire
residant dans le centre d’Ankara qui n’a pas souhaite divulguer son
nom de crainte de poursuites.

Ce père de famille de confession alevie a denonce les cours de religion
obligatoires dans les collèges et lycees publics, un système recemment
amende par le gouvernement islamo-conservateur au pouvoir depuis 2002.

Les Alevis jugent notamment que ces cours nouvelle formule privilegient
la seule approche sunnite de l’islam et denigrent l’apprentissage
des sciences.

“Les enfants peuvent apprendre la religion a la maison, c’est injuste
de leur imposer ca a l’ecole”, a souligne le parent d’elève.

Dans un arret rendu en septembre dernier, la Cour europeenne des droits
de l’Homme (CEDH) a juge que l’apprentissage obligatoire des religions
impose en Turquie ne respectait pas la liberte de conviction des
parents et demande aux autorites une reforme “sans tarder” du système.

Seuls les elèves de confession chretienne ou juive, les deux minorites
religieuses reconnues en Turquie, peuvent en etre dispenses.

Le Premier ministre Ahmet Davutoglu a denonce le jugement de la CEDH,
jugeant que l’apprentissage obligatoire des religions constituait un
rempart contre la “radicalisation” des groupes jihadistes, en Syrie
et en Irak notamment.

La communaute alevie, un groupe musulman heterodoxe et progressiste,
constitue environ 20% des 77 millions d’habitants de la Turquie,
dont l’immense majorite de la population est sunnite. L’Etat turc
n’a jamais reconnu cette confession.

L’actuel president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, qui tient les renes de son
pays depuis 2003, est accuse par ses detracteurs de vouloir “islamiser”
la Turquie. Sous son règne, le port du voile islamique a ete autorise
dans les universites, les lycees, puis la fonction publique, et la
vente et la consommation d’alcool ont ete serieusement encadrees.

L’education est devenue l’un des enjeux de cette confrontation.

En septembre dernier, une reforme de la carte scolaire a ainsi
contraint plusieurs milliers d’elèves auparavant inscrits dans le
secteur public a poursuivre leur scolarite dans des ecoles religieuses,
les “imam hatip”, suscitant de nouvelles critiques.

vendredi 20 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

February 18, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

INNOVATE ARMENIA

Innovate Armenia, a festival of innovation, is a program of the USC
Institute of Armenian Studies, and will take place all day on the USC
Campus, in Founders Park, on Saturday, February 21.
The tightly-packed schedule for the day begins at 10.00 a.m. with
artist Vahe Berberian on the indoor stage and the band Ooshatsank on
the outdoor music stage. The program will continue by featuring tech
companies from Armenia, tech entrepreneurs from California, innovative
civil society, as well as media and educational organizations from
Armenia and the Diaspora.
The outdoor stage will be a festival of old music fused with a
contemporary flair, performed by familiar and new names: Sima
Cunningham, Bei Ru, Element, Palm of Granite, Greg Hosharian Trio,
Antranig Kzirian, Artyom Manukyan and Vahagni, Capital Cities’ Sebu,
and the Collectif Medz Bazar from France.
Throughout the afternoon, global change-makers Alexis Ohanian, Raffi
Krikorian and Lara Setrakian will be speaking about innovation and the
importance of asking the right questions and searching for
out-of-the-box answers. In the same spirit, #InnovateArmenia will be
the hashtag used by participants and those in the Twitterverse will be
invited to articulate the issues facing community and nation. Some
questions require rigorous scholarship and
ongoing research; others need new thinking and new approaches to
reformulate questions.
Everyone is invited to participate. The event is free. Public is
invited to arrive early, enjoy innovative food, listen to creative
music and engage
in thoughtful conversations. Exit the 110 Freeway at Exposition
Boulevard, make a right on Figueroa Street, and follow the signs.

For updates and more information, please follow the USC Institute of
Armenian Studies on social media:
Twitter: @ArmenianStudies
Facebook: /USCArmenian

INDOOR STAGE – ENTREPRENUERS
Taper Hall of Humanities, Auditorium 101 (First-come, First-seated)
10:15 am Artist Vahe Berberian
10:45 am Filmmaker Eric Nazarian
11:15 am Al Eisaian presents Zangi, LionSharp, HIVE, Teamable, as well
as Paolo Pirjanian of iRobot, Zareh Baghdassarian of Armorway and
Alexander Seropian of HALO
12:30 pm Alexis Ohanian
1:00 pm Alex Sardar presents TUMO, Homeland Development Initiative
Foundation, Paros Charitable Foundation, Houshamadyan, American
University of Armenia, Foundation for the Protection of Wildlife &
Cultural Assets
2:00 pm Lara Setrakian
2:30 pm Alex Sardar presents CivilNet, Birthright Armenia, Repat
Armenia, Urban Lab, Impact Hub, the Armenian Center for Contemporary
and Experimental Art
3:30 pm Raffi Krikorian
4:00 pm Raffi Krikorian, Alexis Ohanian & Lara Setrakian in
conversation with Salpi Ghazarian

In between presentations, photos from Scout Tufankjian’s ARMENIAN
DIASPORA PROJECT will be featured.

OUTDOOR STAGE – MUSIC, OLD & NEW
Founders’ Park (Outdoor Seating)
10:00 am Ooshatsank
11:00 am Sima Cunningham
11:45 am Palm of Granite
12:30 pm Greg Hosharian Trio
1:15 pm Antranig Kzirian, Artyom Manukyan & Vahagni
2:00 pm Bei Ru
2:30 pm Bei Ru (Speaking)
3:00 pm Element Band
3:40 pm Collectif Medz Bazar
4:10 pm Sebu

###

February 18, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

USC’S YEAR100.ORG DOCUMENTS HOW THE WORLD COMMEMORATES THE GENOCIDE

The University of Southern California Institute of Armenian Studies
has launched a global directory of events — Year100.org — to boost
awareness of the variety of publications, conferences and other events
and activities, marking the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, and
thus augment their impact.

“Year100.org does more that just shed light on the past and its place
in memory and scholarship today; it is, in its broadest sense, a
centralized indicator of directions that scholarship and community can
take,” said Salpi Ghazarian, Director of the Institute of Armenian
Studies.

“It is heartening to see how scholars, artists, writers, activists
throughout the world are commemorating the centenary of the Armenian
Genocide in myriad new and significant ways. The directory includes
not just the work of Armenians, or scholars, but of people of
conscience everywhere. We believe it is our responsibility to share
information about events, activities, books and websites, in order to
maximize the flow of information and the conversation around the
content,” said Ghazarian.

The site is in three languages: English, Armenian and Turkish. The
purpose is to reach a broad range of scholars, students and anyone
wanting more information about the Genocide itself, or trying still to
understand its causes and consequences, and the ways in which it is
remembered, studied and discussed. This is a work-in-progress and will
continue to grow as new events are added.

The content on Year100.org is significantly enhanced by the
presentation of evocative images by photographers Hrair Hawk
Khatcherian (Canada), Stepan Norair Chahinian (Brazil) and Matthew
Karanian (US). New publications and exhibitions by each of these
photographers constitute a part of Year100 activities. In addition,
these pictures are the most direct representation of the loss of land
and way of life that are being memorialized through the events listed
on the site, as well as survival and revival.

“It’s the 100th year after the genocidal events of 1915. And this
directory demonstrates that this nation and people have moved past
survival to revival and growth and creation,” concluded Ghazarian.

Year100.org intends to be comprehensive, not selective. The
availability of information and its accuracy depends on organizers
from around the world ready to share their programs and
plans. Submissions are encouraged and welcomed at

“One of the positive outcomes of this commemorative year is the
readiness of many in the international scholarly and artistic
community to share in the memorializing. The variety of types of
events – readings, concerts, books, conferences, exhibitions, lectures
– and the variety of locations from South America to Southeast Asia —
will also spur further sharing by communities, institutions,
organizations thus broadening the reach and impact of each activity,
and supporting deeper inquiry into the subject,” concluded Ghazarian.

Year 100.org is a project of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies
which supports multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and
study the complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian
experience — from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia
to the evolving Diaspora. The Institute encourages research,
publications and public service, and benefits from communication
technologies to link together the global academic and Armenian
communities.

###

PRESS RELEASE – Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (+961- 4) 410001, 410003
Fax: (+961- 4) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Catholicos Aram I Sends Condolence Letters to Egyptian President &
Patriarch Tawadros II

ANTELIAS – 17 February 2015. His Holiness Catholicos Aram I sent
letters of condolences and solidarity to President of Egypt Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi and Patriarch Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, for
the killing of 21 Egyptian Copts by Islamist extremists in Libya.

After expressing his condolences His Holiness reminded the dangerous
consequences of extremism that could jeopardize the peaceful
Christian-Muslim coexistence in the region.

After reminding that extremism is a global evil Catholicos Aram I
emphasized the crucial urgency of combating extremism in all its forms
and expressions.

Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
PO Box : 70 317 Antelias – LEBANON
Tel: (+961-4) 410 001 / 3
Fax: (+961-4) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]

WORLD BANK TO OFFER GOVERNMENT SUPPORT IN NAIRIT PLANT’S FUTURE: EMPLOYEES STILL WAITING FOR 18 MONTHS WORTH OF SALARIES

02.19.2015 13:18 epress.am

On February 19, the World Bank released a statement in which the
organization plans to support the Armenian government in the prolonged
dispute between the Nairit Rubber Plant and its employees.

“Armenia’s future economic growth highly depends on the development of
a vibrant modern knowledge-based economy, foreign direct investments,
and several other factors, including addressing adequately the
legacy of economic activities in the previous era. The organization
stated that they would help provide a “highly-respectable and
globally-experienced” consulting firm to look over the “technical
and financial viability” of the Nairit plant’s operations in order to
make significant decision for the plant’s future,” reads the statement.

World Bank Country Manager in Armenia Laura E. Bailey clarified saying
that “we have agreed with the Government to mobilize grant resources
of more than $110,000 from within the World Bank for the proposed
expertise that will ensure the quality of analyses the counterpart
needs from internationally recognized experts. We had hoped to have
the work begin in early February, but it took some time to ensure
that we selected the best possible experts.”

The rest of the statement lists details for their plans:

“Throughout the first phase, which is scheduled to begin on 25 February
and take two and a half months, the consulting firm will specifically
review four elements:

– An overview of the global market for the main products that could
be produced by the plant;

– An assessment of the technical feasibility of production based on
the existing plant;

– An assessment of the financial viability of production given current
cost structures; and

– A strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis.

In the second phase, a basic environmental review of Nairit operations
will be undertaken.

The World Bank will provide close monitoring and quality review for
this analysis of Nairit, however we would like to clarify that this
analytical work will be conducted under the leadership of the Minister
for Energy and Natural Resources as part of the cooperation between
the Government of Armenia and the World Bank.”

Recall, Nairit employees have been protesting for over a year for 18
months of unpaid salaries by the failing factory. In recent months,
the workers were promised by the Minister of Energy and Nature
Protection Yervand Zakharyan that they would receive one month’s
salary by February 2, but were left unpaid. On Monday, the workers
demonstrated demanding their salaries in front of the Government
building and were told that their complaints would be responded to
on Friday, February 20, by the Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.