Author: Badalian Vardan

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Carol Krikorian
Tel: (617) 354-0632
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

November 4, 2013
___________________

Young Deacon Begins Ministry at St. Sarkis Church

By Florence Avakian

“My calling started even before I was aware of the Armenian Church,” says
Benjamin Rith-Najarian, recently appointed deacon-in-charge at the St.
Sarkis Church in Charlotte, N.C.

In this new assignment, he says he is filled with “mixed emotions. I have
spent the past eight years preparing for this. With anything new, there is
always a little anxiety. Every day, there is something new. It’s a learning
experience. In the short time that I’ve been here, it has been exciting to
meet people, and listen to their ideas for the church, all of which is
bringing us closer to God.”

Born in Philadelphia, Benjamin and his family moved to Syracuse when he was
a year old, then to Ojibwe, a town in northern Minnesota when he was five.
His grandparents were born in the United States, but his great-grandparents,
from Shabin-Karahisar, were killed in the Armenian Genocide, except for his
great-grandmother who survived the death march. His father, Steven, served
in the U.S. Navy and later settled in Minnesota, where Benjamin’s family
still lives.

In his childhood, the nearest Armenian Church was in Wisconsin or Chicago, a
10 to 12 hour drive away. But Benjamin’s mother, Janet, who is of English
and German background, and his father had instilled in him Christian values,
and he had attended Christian services from a young age with his parents.
“My mother was very involved in the area’s Christian churches. She read the
Bible, visited nursing homes, and brought food to the homeless,” he said.

Benjamin also remembers singing Soorp Asdvadz and other Armenian Church
hymns with his father at bedtime. “My father also cooked Armenian
food-pilaf, kufte, dolma, yalanche, boereg-and taught my mother to make
these delicacies,” he said.

In 2002, the Armenian community in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul
purchased a church, and his mother “encouraged our family to attend the
Badarak there.” Benjamin was 18 years old at the time, and it was his first
contact with an Armenian Church.

When Benjamin graduated from St. John’s University in Minnesota in 2004,
with a major in the natural sciences, he met the Very Rev. Fr. Daniel
Findikyan, at the time the dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary. He says
Fr. Findikyan inspired him to attend the seminary’s college conferences-a
program that would change the course of Benjamin’s life.

The Moving Force

“I didn’t go to St. Nersess to become a priest, but to be more involved in
the Armenian Church and the Armenian language,” Benjamin said. But he soon
realized that “all of the background, the Christian love that I had been
taught in my childhood, fit with being a priest. My parents had told me the
story, but it was Fr. Daniel who planted the seed, and was the moving
force.”

Benjamin became interested in learning more about the Armenian Church, its
theology, history, and people. “All of it was new for me,” he said. “I was
realizing more and more that service was crucial, and that is where I was
being called.” In 2004, Benjamin went to Armenia and served for a month with
Habitat for Humanity. He later enrolled at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary and
completed his course of study in 2010.

Following his graduation from St. Nersess, he and his wife, Chicago-born
Danielle Der Asadourian, whom he had met at the St. Nersess summer
conferences, traveled to Jerusalem for 10 months. At the Armenian
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, he studied intensely and participated in the
services, while his wife taught at the Sts. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School.

Returning to the United States in June 2011, the young couple moved to New
Jersey, where he started an internship at St. Leon Church in Fair Lawn. For
two years he worked with the parish pastor, the Rev. Fr. Diran Bohajian.

“It was my first opportunity to do hands-on ministry,” Benjamin notes. He
preached a few times a month, worked with the ACYOA, and visited homes and
hospitals. “It was everything a priest does to run a parish.”

In January 2012, Benjamin began visiting St. Sarkis Church once or twice a
month. He is now the full-time deacon-in-charge at the parish.

He considers his work “a special journey.” He adds, “A priest is first and
foremost a servant of God. As a spiritual leader in the community, he is a
role model and someone who steps forward and helps his flock in time of
need.”

###

PRESS RELEASE
HAMAZKAYIN EASTERN UNITED STATES
Contact: Ara Nazarian

Email: [email protected]

Hamazkayin Eastern United States’ Second Minas and Kohar
Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary Literature

Watertown, MA – The Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural
Society of Eastern United States is pleased to solicit submissions for
the second annual Minas and Kohar Tölölyan Prize in Contemporary
Literature. This year, two prizes, one for the Armenian language
submissions and one for the English language submissions, will be
awarded as the winners of the Minas and Kohar Tölölyan Prize in
Contemporary Literature.

Named after one of the major Armenian literary critics of the second
half of the Twentieth century and his wife, a devoted teacher of that
literature for decades, the annually awarded prize will recognize the
work produced by talented writers working in North America. The prize
is intended to encourage new work in all the major genres of literary
production, as they are currently understood in North America. In this
expanded understanding, poetry, short stories, novels and drama are
all included, but so are works of creative non-fiction, a genre that
includes memoirs, as well as personal, descriptive and literary
critical essays. Representatives of all these genres may be offered as
candidates for the prize. Work in Armenian and English will be
considered, as long as the authors are of Armenian ancestry, and/or
the work has an Armenian theme or revolves around an Armenian topic.

The primary purpose of the Prizes is to encourage and offer
recognition through the award and through the ensuing publicity for
those who wish to write about Armenian themes and topics. There will
also be a modest financial award of $1,500 each for the Armenian and
English language awards.

The jury judging all submissions will consist of Dr. Sima Aprahamian
(Montreal), Dr. Vartan Matiossian (New York/New Jersey), Mr. Gourgen
Arzoumanian (California), Mr. Yervant Kotchounian (California) and
Prof. Khachig Tölölyan (Connecticut).

The Prizes will be announced at Hamazkayin’s Annual Pan Gathering in
May of 2014. All submissions must be sent electronically to
[email protected] as a PDF file (highly encouraged) or
in hard copy format to Hamazkayin Tololyan Prize Committee at 80
Bigelow Ave, Watertown, MA 02472, by January 31, 2014. All submissions
must be accompanied by the Tololyan Prize Application found online at
The Armenian and English versions of the Rules
and Regulations of the Award can also be found at the above link.

Submissions may consist of work published either in 2012 or
2013. Recent work that has yet to be published may also be submitted.

This award has been made possible by the generosity of Mr. and
Mrs. Edward & Vergine Misserlian of San Francisco, CA.

###

The Eastern USA region of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural
Society, a 501 c (3) not for profit organization, constitutes one of
the branches of the worldwide Hamazkayin family, founded in 1928. The
Eastern United States region, headquartered in Massachusetts, consists
of eight chapters in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, New York,
Philadelphia, Providence and Washington, DC.

We aim to empower our chapters and membership to nurture and promote
Armenian arts and culture. Given our millennia long history, we are
cognizant of the dynamic nature of the concept of identity. To that
end, we strive to maintain our identity and heritage while encouraging
cultural innovation, and are committed to further the contribution of
the Armenian culture to the complex tapestry of world civilizations.

This message is intended for the use of the person(s) to whom it may
be addressed. It may contain information that is privileged,
confidential, or otherwise protected from disclosure under applicable
law. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination,
distribution, copying, or use of this information is prohibited. If
you have received this message in error, please permanently delete it
and immediately notify the sender. Thank you.

IN ARMENIA, UNANIMOUS PRAISE FOR RUSSIA’S MESSAGE ON KARABAKH

Monday, November 4th, 2013

Armenian and Russian flags in Gyumri, Armenia

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia’s leading political groups praised the
commander of Russian troops station in the country for stating that
his forces could fight on the Armenian side if Azerbaijan attempts
a military solution to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky made the statement in a recent interview with
a Russian Defense Ministry newspaper. He cited Russia’s “obligations
within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO).”

Azerbaijani officials were quick to condemn the statement. They
said that since Karabakh is an internationally recognized part of
Azerbaijan an Azerbaijani attempt to reconquer the disputed territory
cannot be considered an attack on Armenia warranting military action
by the latter’s CSTO allies.

“This is an indicator of poor subordination in the Russian state
hierarchy,” Mubariz Gurbanli, the deputy executive secretary of
Azerbaijan’s ruling party, told the Turan news agency. “Under a
normal state system a soldier making such a statement would have been
kicked out.”

Armenian reaction was diametrically opposite. The chief spokesman for
the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Eduard Sharmazanov, said
Russia thus openly questioned Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

“This is a clear message to Azerbaijan’s leadership that in case
of restarting hostilities they will find themselves in a very bad
situation,” Sharmazanov told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Aghvan Vartanian, a leader of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, called the Russian commander’s remark “unprecedented.” “It
means something,” he said.

“Of course for us the key thing is to be able to defend us and
Nagorno-Karabakh by ourselves. But CSTO member states have certain
obligations here,” added Vartanian.

Tevan Poghosian, a parliament deputy representing the opposition
Zharangutyun party, claimed that the statement reflects mediating
powers’ reluctance to help Azerbaijan regain control over Karabakh.

“They realize that Artsakh is not part of Azerbaijan,” he said,
referring to Russia, France and the United States.

DARCHINYAN VOWS VENGEFUL KO VICTORY OVER DONAIRE

Inquirer.net, Philippines
Nov 4 2013

Philippine Daily Inquirer
10:49 pm | Monday, November 4th, 2013

THE FIRST time they fought on July 7, 2007, Nonito “Filipino Flash”
Donaire Jr. brutally stopped Armenian Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan
in the fifth round to grab the IBF flyweight crown.

On Nov. 9, more than six years and an additional 14 pounds later,
the multi-division world champions will tangle again in a 10-round
grudge rematch as featherweights in Corpus Christi, Texas.

And Darchinyan, now 37 years old, believes it’s going to be payback
time.

“I am still looking for the knockout,” Darchinyan told Armenpress.

“This time I won’t be silly with one punch. This time I will use
my skill.”

The then unbeaten Darchinyan was plodding in, going for the knockout
when Donaire caught him with a monster left hook that sent him down.

Though the Armenian staggered to beat the count, he fell again and
the fight was waived off.

That one-punch wonder eventually earned for Donaire the Knockout of
the Year and Upset of the Year honors.

Advertisement:Replay Ad

Rather than be concerned for his health, however, Darchinyan downgraded
Donaire’s triumph.

“I know he is a scared chicken. I am coming to prove it. I have been
in with him, I know how scared he is of my punches. I will come to
demolish him. I am coming to destroy him. I made him, I am coming
to beat him,” added Darchinyan, who totes a 39-5-1 record with 28
knockouts.

The 30-year-old Donaire (31-2, 20 KOs), adjudged 2012 Fighter of
the Year is bent on repeating the feat by setting the come-forward
Darchinyan up.

Reunited with his father-trainer Nonito Sr. and inspired by infant son
Jaren, Donaire wants to bounce back after losing his super bantamweight
crown to Guillermo Rigondeaux last April 13.

He also wants to keep Darchinyan’s loud mouth shut. Roy A. Luarca

ARMENIA’S NEXT YEAR BUDGET DOES EARMARK MONEY TO SUBSIDIZE GAS PRICE HIKE – MINISTER

YEREVAN, November 4. / ARKA /. Armenia’s energy and natural resources
minister Armen Movsisyan said today next year’s draft budget does
not earmark funds for a 30 percent subsidy of the increased price
of natural gas, ‘since the issue was solved in cooperation with the
Russian side after intense talks.’

The current price of Russian gas for Armenia is $189 per 1000 cubic
meters plus 30% customs duty, which makes it $270. Earlier the
minister had said the Russian side was ready to eliminate the 30
percent customs duty on gas shipped to Armenia.

He said after Armenia’s decision to join the Russia-led Customs Union,
the gas price issue will be resolved in a new way. He said a new gas
delivery contract will be signed before the end of this year.

On July 7 Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC)
raised the prices of gas and electricity by 18 percent and 27 percent
respectively, citing a surge in the price of gas imported from Russia.

The price hikes would have been even sharper had the government not
pledged to subsidy the gas tariff for households by 30 percent.

Households will pay 156,000 drams per one thousand cubic meters,
up from 132,000 drams.

ArmRosGazprom, established in 1997, enjoys the sole right for importing
and distributing Russian natural gas in Armenia. Russia conveys its
gas to Armenia through Georgia. The company’s shareholders are Russia’s
Gazprom (80 percent) and the Armenian government (20 percent). -0-

– See more at:

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO DO WHATEVER NECESSARY TO SPUR CONSTRUCTION

YEREVAN, November 4. /ARKA/. Extension of long-term loans to
construction companies is one of the key focuses of the program
Armenian government is developing now to slow down decline in this
area, Urban Planning Minister Samvel Tadevosyan said Monday at budget
hearings in the National Assembly.

He said that the decline in construction was first of all due to
contraction of international lending and added that to regain momentum
this area needs financial resources.

Tadevosyan said that a special commission has been set up for dealing
with the problem.

“Special attention will be paid to social housing programs and
extension of long-term loans to construction companies,” he said.

One day earlier, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that the
8.5-percent decline recorded in construction in Jan-Aug 2013 was the
main obstacle for economic growth. He said that construction make up
12% of the country’s GDP.

In the 2014 draft government budget, AMD 10 billion 750 million is
earmarked for urban planning. ($1 – 405.26). —0—

– See more at:

PROGRESS IN ARMENIA-GEORGIA TIES LONG OVERDUE: RUSSIA CIVIC CHAMBER REP.

November 4, 2013 – 14:30 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The ties between Armenia and Georgia, most ancient
Christian nations of Transcaucasia, are gaining an increasingly
fundamental meaning, a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber said.

According to Denis Dvornikov, improvement of Georgia-Armenia relations,
which are far from subtle, is long overdue. “Especially so, since
actions aimed to deprive Christian states of the South Caucasus of
their identity have been in progress.”

“At the same time, Georgia doesn’t have to join forces with Armenia
against the third side. Rather, considering its geographic location
and regional leadership goals, Tbilisi might become the center of
peacemaking and humanitarian initiatives,” Dvornikov said.

“The history of nations professing Christianity in Transcaucasia must
not be forgotten, as well as their goal to preserve their independence
and territories, in which they did not always succeed. Mount Ararat
being in the painful pages of Armenian history, Georgians might recall
the history of Samsun and Trabzon, as well as Turkish politicians’
remarks suggesting the Black Sea is Turkey’s internal sea.

Ankara’s refusal to Recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia must not
mislead Tbilisi. Considering active Turkification of the Georgian
shore, as well as active increase of Turkish presence in Sukhum,
it is well possible for Ankara’s recognition to come overnight.”

According to Dvornikov, Armenian presence in Georgia was always
significant though not aggressive, contrary to what some propagandists
are trying to suggest. “Issues in bilateral ties are not a reason
to foment animosity between the two fraternal Christian nations,
with Armenians always showing dedication to the country which became
their new homeland.”

“Aggression, massacres, unscrupulous use of mass propaganda must
prompt the nations to unite to save their land, faith and history.

With all of this in mind, Armenia and Georgia must have no doubts in
the choice of their regional ally,” Dvornikov concluded.

WHAT CAUSED OUTBURST OF HYSTERIA IN RUSSIA

It would be difficult to imagine during any of attempts of Ukraine
to escape from Russian dictate at different periods what currently
is happening in the Russian mass media. The main thesis is Yanukovich
will not manage to sign the Association Agreement in Vilnius and the
economy will collapse and so will the country do.

In addition, it is not forgotten that the remains of the Russian car
industry survive thanks to expensive black metals and special steal
from Ukraine and Ukrainian exports are increasingly oriented to the
European market, and Kiev is taking serious steps to increase its
energy dependence on Russia.

Talented economists talking on Russian channels obviously feel awkward
when they are compelled to tell all these fairy tales on the Ukrainian
economy.

So far Ukraine has not been integrated with European economy and
experienced permanent cruel pressing by Russia. Has this led to a
way out of the present situation?

Interestingly, in the case of Armenia, Russia does not have more
or less solid experts who would like to act with such demagogic
air. Some complete chauvinists were dug out, such as A. Prokhanov who
states bluntly what technology should be used to fragment Ukraine in
case the Agreement is signed in Vilnius. There was a time when these
chauvinists kept close to Azerbaijani lobbyists and made friends with
Polyanichko and Safonov – executors of Karabakh.

A distorted remake of “The Days of the Turbinniys” by Mikhail Bulgakov
is going on the Russian Kultura Channel the author of which, allegedly
a patriot of Ukraine, presents the Ukrainians as stupid people,
or rather beasts, not people. And the main conclusion is that if the
Ukrainians want to be people, they must stay humble to Russia. Mikhail
Bulgakov never meant this.

Russia’s policy caused such a politician committed to Russia as
Viktor Yanukovich, practically a Russian agent, to lead Ukraine to the
European Union despite old and obsolete factors and arguments that the
southeast of Ukraine is pro-Russian. It should be noted that in the
previous parliamentary and presidential elections it was demonstrated
that the majority of the youth living in the southeast of Ukraine
voted for the political party for integration with the European Union.

Yulia Timoshenko’s Batkivshchyna had great success in the southeast.

Recently, the German and French companies have done huge organizational
work to set up more or less apprehensible relations with mining,
chemical and metal processing industry in Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk
and Lugan , and they no longer have fears from potential markets.

At present the authorities in Kiev are traditionally pro-Russian people
and do not even speak fluent Ukrainian but they are convinced that
Ukraine must integrate with the European Union. Analogical moods exist
in the southern regions of Ukraine which does not have big industries.

At the same time, it should be understood that the borders of West
Ukraine have expanded towards east and reached the Dnepr. Millions
of Russified Ukrainians living in different regions of the country
feel inhibited due to this propaganda and are blaming Moscow for such
disgusting turns. Most people do not want to admit that this is true.

Ukraine is different, and this cannot be ignored.

Nevertheless, Russia is boosting nationalistic rather than pro-Russian
moods in Ukraine, bringing into being new political parties supported
by 15-20 million people, not marginal.

This abnormal hysteria in Moscow could be explained in two ways.

Either Russia understands that its policy is doomed and is aiming
at state and territorial split of Ukraine or Moscow’s policy is
designed and implemented by other centers of political will which
aim at Russia’s full geopolitical isolation.

It would be good to figure out what is happening in this case. It
might be useful for everyone.

Igor Muradyan 12:12 04/11/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

CIVIL INITIATIVE AGAINST RISE IN GAS TARIFF TO COLLECT SIGNATURES AGAINST STATE PUBLIC SERVICES REGULATORY COMMISSION

by Nana Martirosyan

ARMINFO
Monday, November 4, 14:16

The Civil Initiative Against the Rise in the Gas Tariff has urged
people to come to Liberty Square on Nov 15 at 06:00 PM to sign a
petition to organize a public court hearing of the initiative’s appeal
against the July 7 decision by the State Public Services Regulatory
Commission to raise the gas and electric power tariffs.

“We believe that the public hearing will show that the Commission’s
decision was groundless while the petition will prove that not only
we but the whole people are concerned about it,” says the initiative.

On July 7 2013 the gas and electric power tariffs in Armenia were
raised by 18.2% and 26.7%, respectively, following a rise in Gazprom’s
price for Armenia from $180 to $270 per 1,000 c m.

SISTEMA ARMENIA MUSIC PROGRAM STRUGGLES TO FIND INSTRUMENTS

10:39 04/11/2013 ” CULTURE

50 children between the ages of 9 and 17 are waiting in line to
join the Sistema Armenia Youth Orchestra (SAYO). With 2 cellos, 4
basses and 4 violas the existing SAYO group of 40 young musicians can
nearly double in size. Non-profit organization, ONEArmenia is using
crowdfunding to buy them the instruments they need so they can stop
waiting and start playing.

Music schools are very common in Armenia. However, the vast majority
of them use teaching methods that are individualistic, lacking the
ability to work together for a common goal. That’s where Sistema comes
in. Sistema Armenia builds a community atmosphere where children learn
to work together to create art. It also breaks away from old methods
of teaching one on one in the classroom into the streets where art
becomes public and for the people.

“Armenia is so focused on soloists and doesn’t give our kids much of an
opportunity to work together,” said Anna Mikaelian Meschian, Founder
& Executive Director of SAYO. “Playing together in an orchestra is a
very special and joyful experience, which requires us to listen to each
other, to care about details, to communicate, and to overcome all kinds
of difficulties together. Experiencing the power of a moment created
in unity with others is really all the kids need. The hunger for this
sort of way of thinking, working and living is palpable in Armenia.”

Anna was inspired by El Sistema, which was founded 38 years ago in
a parking garage in Venezuela with 11 children. It now teaches music
to 400,000 of Venezuela’s poorest children, demonstrating the power
of ensemble music to dramatically change the lives of thousands of
youth while transforming the communities around them.

Sistema Armenia has only just begun and has the potential to grow
indefinitely – creating jobs and building communities with youth
orchestras popping up all over Armenia. Who wouldn’t want to be a
part of that?

ONEArmenia is a non-profit organization that crowd-funds and
crowd-sources innovative projects that shift Armenia’s educational,
environmental, humanitarian and cultural progress forward. The
ONEArmenia network makes it possible to not only raise money for
a project based in Armenia as a worldwide community, but to also
transparently report progress of projects from start to finish.