Author: Badalian Vardan

MKHITARYAN WILL BE PERFECT REPLACEMENT FOR GOTZE – BUNDESLIGA.COM

July 12, 2013

Borussia Dortmund needed a technically gifted, goalscoring midfielder
to replace the departed Mario Gotze in the 2013/14 summer transfer
window and they seem to have found the ideal candidate in Henrikh
Mkhitaryan, Bundesliga.com reports.

“Although born in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on 21 January 1989,
Mkhitaryan spent his childhood years in southeastern France. His
father, Hamlet, a respected professional player in his homeland, who
would go on to become an Armenian international, accepted an offer to
move to France and play for the now defunct ASOA Valence just months
after Henrikh’s birth. Tragically, Hamlet died of a brain tumor at
the age of just 33, after which the Mkhitaryans left France to move
back to Yerevan in 1995.

“Mkhitaryan joined Yerevan’s biggest club FC Pyunik in 1995, developing
into one of the country’s most talented players. After three seasons in
Pyunik’s senior team, he left Armenia for Ukrainian Premier League side
FC Metalurh Donetsk in 2009. Following a staggering first season in
which he scored 14 goals and became the club’s youngest-ever captain,
he moved across the city to Shakhtar.

With the Pitmen he simply got better, helping them win three successive
domestic doubles and becoming the division’s top scorer in 2012/13
with 25 goals.

“The [Borussia] fans should therefore have no qualms about learning
to hum along to the famous Sabre Dance by the Armenian composer Aram
Khachaturian, the song that was played whenever he scored for Shakhtar.

“He was voted his country’s Footballer of the Year in 2009, 2011
and 2012, as well as the CIS (Baltic and Commonwealth of Independent
States) Footballer of the Year in 2012. Lived abroad as a child has
given Mkhitaryan a talent for learning languages. As well as his mother
tongue Armenian, he speaks French, Russian, English and Portuguese,”
Bundesliga.com writes.

NEWS.am Sport

MOSCOW : HUNDREDS OF MERCENARIES, FIGHTERS FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES FIGHTING IN SYRIA

Jul 12, 2013

Moscow, SANA_ There are hundreds of mercenaries and militants from
various countries, including the countries of Europe and the United
States in addition to Russian citizens are fighting in Syria within
illegal armed groups, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, Special Envoy
of the President for the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov said.

Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying in a statement :
” Syrian and Russian special services are exchanging information in
connection with reports that about 600 foreign militants, including
from Russia, the USA and Europe, are fighting in the territory of
Syria, including persons came from Russia, Europe and the United
States.

Earlier last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that
about 600 fighters from Russia and Europe are fighting alongside the
armed groups in Syria.

Ghossoun /

CHRIS BOHJALIAN: IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO TELL THE STORY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

14:21 12.07.2013

Bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian had long been searching for
a way to write a book set in Tuscany during World War Two, but it
wasn’t until his daughter performed in “Romeo and Juliet” that all
the pieces came together.

The result was “The Light in the Ruins”, a tale centring on the doomed
love between an Italian woman from a noble family and the German
soldier she comes to know during the period in 1944 when Tuscany,
as Bohjalian puts it, “became an innermost ring of Dante’s Inferno.”

Bohjalian, the author of 15 novels including “The Sandcastle Girls”,
which deals with the killing of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks
during World War One that his grandparents survived, spoke with
Reutersabout history, anxiety and making use of darkness in writing.

Q: The idea of reimagining a classic is interesting, and sometimes
it works better than others. How was it for you?

A: In some ways, I thought it was going to be a project a bit like my
2007 project, “The Double Bind,” which is about a social worker who
believes she’s found Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby’s bastard son… But
the book took one of those surprising lefthand turns, and it evolved
well beyond “Romeo and Juliet”. It’s still a love story. I love big,
sweeping, epic love stories, especially love stories set in the midst
of war, but it grew beyond that. It’s not simply the love story of
Cristina and Friedrich. The characters that I think about most are
actually parallel women – both 19 in 1944, and then somewhat older
in 1955. Those two women are Cristina Rosati, my Tuscan nobleman’s
daughter, and Serafina, my partisan, who is both emotionally and
physically scarred by the war… Their paths will cross again in
1955 when Serafina is investigating the murders of the Risati women
in Florence.

Q: Obviously “The Sandcastle Girls” is on a subject that’s closer to
you personally than a lot of your books, did this make it harder or
easier for you?

A: Sometimes a book is a book, and sometimes a book becomes a mission.

And “The Sandcastle Girls” became for me a deeply personal mission.

Outside of the Armenian Diaspora, most of the world knows next
to nothing of the Armenian genocide. I’m the grandson of genocide
survivors, so it was important for me to tell this story and tell
it in a way so that everyone would want to read it, which was why I
framed it as a love story.

Q: I read that you’ve said “The Sandcastle Girls” helped you understand
the geography of your own soul, how did “The Light in the Ruins”
compare?

A: “The Light in the Ruins” was a different kind of project, because
it was dealing with a landscape I cherish. I’ve been going to this
part of Tuscany every summer for 10 years. This landscape isn’t the
geography of my soul the way Armenia is, but in some ways it’s the
geography of my immediate family. So many of my favorite memories of
my wife and my daughter come from this area. So in some ways when I
was tearing it apart and showing the deprivations and the horror of
war, I couldn’t help but imagine what it must have been like for so
many of the people I’ve met there in my years of visiting.

Q: What was it like to tear apart a place that you love and show that
dark underside?

A: Clearly I am capable of compartmentalization. I will always be known
best as the novelist whose character cut into the pregnant woman in
“Midwives.” That’s always going to be part of my legacy. Likewise I’m
now always going to be known as the writer who tried to give voice
to the whispers of the victims of the Armenian genocide. For a book
such as “The Light in the Ruins,” I’m shedding light on a topography
that most of the world sees only as a vacation resort. Today,
Tuscany is Disneyland for many tourists. It’s all about the food,
and the vineyards, and the sunflowers, and the bike tours. But it
has this interesting, fascinating recent history. When I was writing
this particular book I couldn’t help seeing it through that lens,
and I hope I’m clarifying what Tuscany really is and what the people
who lived there endured. For a lot of Tuscans, they were the grass
beneath the battling elephants’ feet.

Q: I also think that finding that kind of history in a place that
today might be a kind of Disneyland really adds to your overall view
of it. It’s an important thing to remember.

A: One of my favourite literary therapists is Thomas Moore, who wrote
“Care of the Soul.” One of the things he talks about is that sometimes,
the soul needs gray – and you simply have to allow the soul its access
to gray. You can’t force a haloed cheerfulness on certain subjects and
on certain days. And maybe that’s one of the things I do in my work,
is that I allow the soul to access its gray.

FRENCH ENVOY HAILS HIGH LEVEL OF ARMENIAN-FRENCH RELATIONS

12:59 12/07/2013 TOPIC OF THE DAY

Armenian-French relations in all areas are at a high level, French
Ambassador to Armenia Henri Renaud told reporters in Yerevan.

“Our political relations are rather active, with mutual visits between
our Presidents taking place every year,” said the Ambassador.

According to him, as a co-chair country, France has an active role
in the OSCE Minsk Group.

Armenian-French economic relations are also rather active, with France
being one of the major investors in Armenia, Mr Renaud said.

“I hope there will be new proposals for bilateral economic cooperation
in the near future,” the Ambassador concluded.

Source: Panorama.am

WHAT IS US AMBASSADOR’S VIEW ON ARMENIA’S OFFSHORE SCANDAL? – NEWSPAPER

July 12, 2013 | 07:52

YEREVAN. – US Ambassador to Armenia, John Heffern, on Thursday attended
the official signing of the letter of intent between the Armenian
Ministry of Justice and the USAID-funded Enterprise Development and
Market Competitiveness (EDMC) Project, Aravot daily reports.

“Since the ‘offshore’ corruption scandal linked to Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan is the subject of a heated debate in recent
times, Aravot asked Mr. Ambassador his view on this scandal.

“Heffern listened to the question until the end, but he preferred to
refrain from answering and [making] comments, [and] he left with a
slight smile,” Aravot writes.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Hetq.am News Agency had
written that PM Tigran Sargsyan, Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan-the
Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church-, and “jeweler” Ashot Sukiasyan are shareholders
in an offshore company called Wlispera Holdings Limited, which is
registered in Cyprus. Sargsyan and Kjoyan, however, have denied their
involvement in such company.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

AZERBAIJAN’S ARMS RACE THREATENS REGIONAL STABILITY – ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT VICE-CHAIR

July 12, 2013 | 12:19

YEREVAN. – The arms race, which Azerbaijan has unleashed, threatens
regional stability.

Armenian National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov
stated the aforesaid, on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus, during his talk
with Speaker Vladimir Andreichenko of the House of Representatives
of the National Assembly of Belarus.

The Armenian NA vice-chair underscored the high level of
Armenian-Belarusian relations, Sharmazanov’s staff informs.

The interlocutors highly appreciated the positive dynamics in
interparliamentary cooperation, and recorded that the meetings of the
Armenian-Belarusian Interparliamentary Commission are long-established.

Sharmazanov highlighted the collaboration in international arena and
the more active engagement within international organizations.

Reflecting on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, the Armenian
parliament vice-chair stressed that the arms race, which Azerbaijan has
unleashed, threatens regional stability. In his turn, Andreichenko
noted that Belarus favors solely a peaceful settlement to this
conflict.

The parties pointed that the trade and economic collaboration between
Armenia and Belarus is considerably below the level of political
relations between both countries.

Eduard Sharmazanov and Vladimir Andreichenko expressed a hope that a
wide array of issues of mutual interest would be discussed during the
seventh session of the interparliamentary commission on cooperation
between the NAs of Armenia and Belarus.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

L’ARMENIE EST L’UN DES LEADERS AU NIVEAU MONDIAL PAR LA TAILLE DU CHOMAGE CACHE SELON ABEL AGHANBEGYAN

ARMENIE

L’Armenie est un des pays leader au niveau mondial par la taille
du chômage cache, selon Abel Aghanbegyan, chef du departement de
la theorie economique et politique a l’Academie russe de l’Economie
nationale et de l’administration publique.

” Le taux de chômage en Armenie est extremement enorme.

Officiellement, il y a 265 000 personnes au chômage mais en fait sur
2,3 millions de citoyens en âge de travailler seulement 1,1 million
sont employes, le reste n’est pas considere au chômage. Ces chiffres
ne peuvent etre trouves dans un autre pays “a-t-il dit.

Selon le Service national des statistiques d’Armenie, le nombre de
chômeurs officiellement enregistres en fevrier 2013 s’elevait a 61300
soit 8,6% de moins a celui de fevrier 2012

vendredi 12 juillet 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

A LOOK AT SAYAT NOVA / ARMENIAN FOOD

Chicago Now, IL
July 11 2013

By Matt Mosconi, Wednesday at 11:41 pm

I mentioned before how Roupen and his restaurant take pride in their
cooking and their fresh ingredients. Roupen mentioned to me how
they even butcher their own meats. Everything at this restaurant
is made from scratch. You can notice the freshness in the food,
but even just looking at the economics you can get an idea what
to expect. When Roupen’s father opened the restaurant in 1969,
Streeterville wasn’t what it is today. But now… Streeterville is
swanky and all fancy-pants, and I’d suspect that comes with some
fancy-pants rent prices. And still, the restaurant remains. So there
are obviously good things going on here. Check it out.

Number time.

Where is it? 157 E. Ohio, in Streeterville

Is there a website? Yep. Lots of
fun stuff on here.

A new experience (have folks heard of it and eaten it before?):
3.5 out of 5

– I’d say that Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine in general gets a
2.5. People in suburban bubbles might not have had it, but even then
it’s growing in the ‘burbs, and most city dwellers have had at least
some kabobs or falafel or something. Armenian specifically gets a
4.5 out of 5. Most people probably don’t know much about the country
or the food, and I found some of the specific Armenian twists to be
pretty unique. So overall that average gets a 3.5.

What “common” cuisine comes closest? Mediterranean/Middle Eastern

– I’d call the Armenian cuisine at Sayat Nova 7 parts standard
Mediterranean (with an emphasis on Turkish), 1 part Greek, and 2
parts unique Armenian twists.

Spicy: 2 out of 5

– Actually not that spicy. This is another place where you can have hot
sauce with your meal if you wish (and yes, Sayat Nova makes their own
hot sauce too), but it’s not standard and while I enjoy Mediterranean
hot sauce I’ve never found it as spicy as, say, the spicier Thai or
Indian dishes.

Vegetarian/vegan/gluten friendly: 5 out of 5

– These guys are studs in this department. Mediterranean food is
awesome for vegetarians and vegans, and there’s even a quote on the
menu that says “most dishes can be made gluten free”.

Variety: 3 out of 5

– Pretty good. Roupen mentioned how he keeps to a more limited menu
and just makes sure to make everything on the menu well, but all
told I’m thinking there are roughly 20-30 menu items, and they’re
not all just similar variations on a dish (i.e. there are four entree
categories). Some desserts, too.

How big is the restaurant? Smaller and swanky, and skinny in shape.

I’d guess there are 20-25 tables plus another 4 outside.

What could Ulysses S. Grant get me? A meal and an appetizer each,
for two people. Appetizers are $5-10, entrees are in the upper teens,
and desserts are about five bucks. Lunch is cheaper.

What’s up with booze?

– There’s a fun bar on one side in the center of the restaurant. The
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From: Katia Peltekian
Subject: A look at Sayat Nova / Armenian food

Chicago Now, IL
July 11 2013

A look at Sayat Nova / Armenian food

By Matt Mosconi, Wednesday at 11:41 pm

I mentioned before how Roupen and his restaurant take pride in their
cooking and their fresh ingredients. Roupen mentioned to me how they
even butcher their own meats. Everything at this restaurant is made
from scratch. You can notice the freshness in the food, but even just
looking at the economics you can get an idea what to expect. When
Roupen?s father opened the restaurant in 1969, Streeterville wasn?t
what it is today. But now… Streeterville is swanky and all
fancy-pants, and I?d suspect that comes with some fancy-pants rent
prices. And still, the restaurant remains. So there are obviously
good things going on here. Check it out.

Number time.

Where is it? 157 E. Ohio, in Streeterville

Is there a website? Yep. Lots of
fun stuff on here.

A new experience (have folks heard of it and eaten it before?): 3.5 out of 5

– I?d say that Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine in general gets a
2.5. People in suburban bubbles might not have had it, but even then
it?s growing in the ?burbs, and most city dwellers have had at least
some kabobs or falafel or something. Armenian specifically gets a 4.5
out of 5. Most people probably don?t know much about the country or
the food, and I found some of the specific Armenian twists to be
pretty unique. So overall that average gets a 3.5.

What ?common? cuisine comes closest? Mediterranean/Middle Eastern

– I?d call the Armenian cuisine at Sayat Nova 7 parts standard
Mediterranean (with an emphasis on Turkish), 1 part Greek, and 2 parts
unique Armenian twists.

Spicy: 2 out of 5

– Actually not that spicy. This is another place where you can have
hot sauce with your meal if you wish (and yes, Sayat Nova makes their
own hot sauce too), but it?s not standard and while I enjoy
Mediterranean hot sauce I?ve never found it as spicy as, say, the
spicier Thai or Indian dishes.

Vegetarian/vegan/gluten friendly: 5 out of 5

– These guys are studs in this department. Mediterranean food is
awesome for vegetarians and vegans, and there?s even a quote on the
menu that says ?most dishes can be made gluten free?.

Variety: 3 out of 5

– Pretty good. Roupen mentioned how he keeps to a more limited menu
and just makes sure to make everything on the menu well, but all told
I?m thinking there are roughly 20-30 menu items, and they?re not all
just similar variations on a dish (i.e. there are four entree
categories). Some desserts, too.

How big is the restaurant? Smaller and swanky, and skinny in shape.
I?d guess there are 20-25 tables plus another 4 outside.

What could Ulysses S. Grant get me? A meal and an appetizer each, for
two people. Appetizers are $5-10, entrees are in the upper teens, and
desserts are about five bucks. Lunch is cheaper.

What?s up with booze?

– There?s a fun bar on one side in the center of the restaurant. The
back wall is lit up in green light. You can get a lot here — beer,
wines, Armenian cocktails, and other cocktail specialties. I had the
Kilikia, an Armenian lager. Standard better-than-Bud version of a
foreign lager, though had just a little bit more bite to it.

UK PARLIAMENT WINS VETO OVER ANY MOVE TO ARM SYRIAN REBELS

July 11, 2013 – 20:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Britain’s parliament backed a motion on Thursday,
July 11 requiring Prime Minister David Cameron to give it a veto
over any future move to arm Syrian rebels, in a symbolic vote the
government said it would heed, according to Reuters.

Britain says it has not yet taken any decision to arm rebels fighting
to topple President Bashar al-Assad, but its role in helping to lift
a European Union arms embargo on Syria in May fuelled speculation it
was planning to do just that.

The lower house of parliament voted by 114-1 to back a motion requiring
the government to seek its “explicit prior consent” for any future
decision to provide lethal assistance.

Though symbolic, the move is significant as it means Cameron will
find it almost impossible not to give parliament a vote on the issue,
something government sources say would amount to an effective veto
over any decision to supply arms.

Ministers expect the 650-member lower house to vote against sending
arms if the issue arises, said one government source.

Many lawmakers in Cameron’s Conservative Party say they are worried
a decision to arm the moderate opposition in Syria would escalate
and widen the conflict and risk weapons falling into the hands of
Islamist extremists.

“The government has discussed the option of arming the rebels. This
would be a major policy change. This debate allows us to mark the
government’s card,” said John Baron, a Conservative lawmaker who
secured Thursday’s vote.

The uprising led by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority is increasingly
rallying around Islamist appeals as Assad’s forces notch up battlefield
gains against the rebels in a conflict that has killed more than
100,000 people since 2011.

ARTSAKH STATE CHAMBER CHOIR PARTICIPATED IN THE INTERNATIONAL SACRED MUSIC CHOIR FESTIVAL

>From July 3-8 2013 Artsakh State Chamber Choir “Mrakats” participated
in the 4th International Sacred Music Choir Festival & Competition
“Laudate Dominum”, organized by “Gratulationes” in Vilnius.

10 choirs, including 3 from Lithuania, 3 from Russia, 3 from Poland
and 1 from Artsakh took part in the festival within the framework of
which they had concerts in several cultural institutions and churches
of Vilnius.

In accordance with the festival program, choirs were to perform 3
sacred songs from their repertoire and one Lithuanian song, as an
obligatory part of the program. All songs had to be sung a cappella.

As a result, “Mrakats” took the third prize in the general program
and the first prize in the obligatory program, having performed
“Tristis est anima mea” by Lithuanian composer Juozas Naujalis .

18:24 11/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

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From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Artsakh State Chamber Choir participated in the International Sacred
Music Choir Festival

Artsakh State Chamber Choir participated in the International Sacred
Music Choir Festival

>From July 3-8 2013 Artsakh State Chamber Choir ?Mrakats? participated
in the 4th International Sacred Music Choir Festival & Competition
?Laudate Dominum?, organized by ?Gratulationes? in Vilnius.

10 choirs, including 3 from Lithuania, 3 from Russia, 3 from Poland
and 1 from Artsakh took part in the festival within the framework of
which they had concerts in several cultural institutions and churches
of Vilnius.

In accordance with the festival program, choirs were to perform 3
sacred songs from their repertoire and one Lithuanian song, as an
obligatory part of the program. All songs had to be sung a cappella.

As a result, ?Mrakats? took the third prize in the general program and
the first prize in the obligatory program, having performed ?Tristis
est anima mea? by Lithuanian composer Juozas Naujalis .

18:24 11/07/2013
Story from Lragir.am News: