Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

ASTOR GUZELIAN GIVEN AYF SPIRIT AWARD
by Tom Vartabedian

November 9, 2012

>From AYF Olympics 2012 Special Issue

BOSTON, Mass.-Spirit may be the name of a determined horse in a Disney
movie, but it’s also an award presented by the Varadian family of
Providence each year to a distinguished member of the AYF Olympic
community.

This year’s winner was Astor Guzelian, a man who oozes with spirit
at every turn. In the bigger picture, though, nothing brings the
man greater pride-and spirit-than his family for maintaining those
very same

Astor Guzelian with his grand-children convictions.

Son Michael co-chaired the Olympic Steering Committee with Tamar
Kanarian, making it one of the most profitable and successful ventures
in AYF history.

Eric and Gail are two other children who carved their own niche in
the community, not to mention wife Lucy and a host of other relatives.

Putting it succinctly, the Guzelian clan is a work in progress when
it comes to deed and accomplishment.

“If I could dedicate this award to anyone, it would be to my parents
Mihran and Makrouhi,” Guzelian brought out. “My father was the
godfather of the church [St. Stephen’s] and my mother was the first
chairwoman of the Ladies’ Guild. They were good examples to follow
for my three children and seven grandchildren.”

First over to congratulate the recipient was Butch Varadian, son of
Mal Varadian who just passed away. The moment proved an emotional one.

“I feel bad that Mal wasn’t around to see me win the award,” added
Guzelian. “I talked to him just before he died. He’s the one who
truly personified spirit.”

The son of genocide survivors, Guzelian was raised in the Boston area.

He joined the Cambridge “Ararat” AYF and later transferred to the
Boston Chapter where he met Lucy and a coterie of lifelong companions.

Guzelian helped with the construction of Camp Haiastan and has served
at St. Stephen’s Church as a trustee, is an NRA delegate, and a men’s
club aficionado. Notably, he is a founding member of the Armenian
Cultural and Education Center (ACEC) in Watertown, which has served
as a mecca for social and educational venues.

Additionally, he worked to establish the St. Stephen’s Elementary
School, coached the Junior and Senior Watertown “Gaidzag” AYFers, is
a fixture at Bingo, and has remained a wealth of knowledge throughout.

“People like him carry that perpetual spirit that is admired by all,”
said Kanarian, who made the presentation. “He’s been a role model
for many of us.”

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIA TO HOST FORUM FOR ASSYRIANS

November 8, 2012 – 21:54 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia will host a large-scale forum of Assyrians
worldwide in 2013, chairman of “Arthur” Association of Armenia’s
Assyrian community said.

As Arsen Mikhailov told a press conference, representatives of leading
Assyrian organization visited Armenian Genocide Memorial on April 24,
2012, unveiled Assyrian genocide monument in downtown Yerevan and
held a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

Mr. Mikhailov further said the forum is planned to be held in April,
2013.

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM TO PARTICIPATE IN 2014 EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP

November 8, 2012 – 19:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian men’s basketball team will participate
in 2014 Europe Division C Men’s Championship. Yerevan is planned to
host team practice sessions and friendly matches to secure the team’s
participation in the event.

Chief coach Karl Bardakyan is currently picking U.S. based gifted
Armenian players, who will further become famous in Armenia and
other countries.

“I’m truly happy to be included in Armenian national team,” RA
basketball squad member Zareh Zargaryan said.

From: Baghdasarian

MAJID NAMJOO: AFTER 15-YEAR PERIOD EXPIRES, MEGHRI HPP WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO ARMENIA

Panorama.am
08/11/2012

We attach particular importance to our relations with Armenia which
are based on both cultural cooperation and cooperation that became
stronger with time. The construction project of Meghri hydroelectric
power plant (HPP) is a bright evidence of it, Iranian Energy Minister,
Iranian Co-Chair of Armenian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on
economic cooperation Majid Namjoo said during the foundation laying
ceremony of Meghri HPP.

The Iranian Minister noted that Iran has a rich experience of
cooperation with its neighboring countries, in particular, with
Turkmenistan, in reservoir construction, and construction of Meghri
HPP is the first attempt to implement a joint project with Armenia.

The main works will be implemented by a private Iranian company. Local
Armenians will also participate in the construction works, said
Majid Namjoo.

The construction of Meghri HPP will be implemented by the Iranian
Tavan Ab Araz Company, as part of an agreement signed between Armenia
and Iran on October 15, 2010. The Iranian company will solve the
financing problem and all organizational problems concerning the
construction and operation of the HPP. The Armenian government will
help the company get all necessary permissions and licenses.

Majid Namjoo stated that after 15-year period expires, Meghri
hydroelectric power plant will be transferred to Armenia.

According to the prognoses of Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural
Resources Armen Movsisyan, if transferred to Armenia, the power plant
will provide 10-12 percent of the electricity generated in the country.

Presently, Armenian power companies generate about 6.5 billion kWh
of electricity per year.

From: Baghdasarian

ALEXANDRA AVAKIAN: “ARAFAT CALLED ME A TROUBLEMAKER BUT ALLOWED ME TO PHOTOGRAPH”
Anush Kocharyan

21:57, November 7, 2012

Alexandra Avakian, a photojournalist who has worked with the National
Geographic Society since 1995, has come to Armenia.

Today she was on hand at the opening of her photographic and written
memoir, Windows of the Soul: My Journeys in the Muslim World,
exhibition at the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art
(NPAK) in Yerevan.

Photojournalist Alexandra Avakian has covered many of the most
important issues of her time. Her photographs have been published
in National Geographic, Time, LIFE, the New York Times Magazine,
and many others in the U.S. and throughout Europe.

Born in New York, Avakian has covered the Soviet Union, its fall,
and the aftermath, including several civil wars, uprisings, and the
1991 coup for Time magazine and others. Avakian also covered the
first Palestinian Intifada for seven years and many other stories in
the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean for the
major magazines of her time. She spent seven months covering Haiti
in 1986-87. She documented the civil war and famine in Somalia and
Sudan for Time. Her subjects have also included the 1988 earthquake
in Armenia, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Czechoslovakia’s Velvet
Revolution for LIFE magazine, the funeral of Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini
in 1989 for Time, homelessness and drug addiction in New York, and the
migration of raptors through Mexico for Audubon, etc. Avakian lived
in Moscow for two years (1990-92), Somalia for six months (1992-93),
and Gaza for two years (1993-95).

The Yerevan exhibition of photos of the Muslim world also includes
two from Artsakh. One shows a mother and father burying their son
who has dies on the battlefield.

“I was born and raised with surprises, in a creative family interested
in the cinema. When I turned nineteen and my grandparents were no
longer alive I tried to personally understand what was meant by the
terms refugee and escape. I threw myself into that area because it
was the imperative, my mission,” Avakian says.

Alexandra Avakian was born in New York to writer and poet Dorothy
Tristan and film editor and director Aram Avakian.

Meeting with reporters today at the opening of the exhibition, Avakian
recounted the many and varied problems she’s encountered during her
worldwide photo assignments.

In particular, she spoke about her meeting with PLO head Yasser Arafat.

“I was received quite warmly by Arafat. He gave me permission to
take photos even though he called me a dictator and troublemaker,”
Avakian recounted.

She spoke of her time spent in Artsakh in 1988, living in the
underground bunker of the prime minister’s family or a hotel full
of refugees.

“I was with the Askeran unit in the trenches. Opposite us were the
Azerbaijanis. All the time, the farmers continued to work in the
fields. It was a crazy situation. I was in the commander’s car and
it suddenly stopped in the middle of the field. I could feel the
bullets whizzing by. I just wanted to get out of that insanity. And
the farmers kept working.”

The exhibition will run until December 15.

The exhibition has been organized with the financial assistance of
the Civilitas Foundation and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of
Public Affairs.

From: Baghdasarian

Armenian Human Rights Council of Canada
72 Holford Crs.
Toronto, ON
M1T 1M2

Nov. 8, 201
Contact: Sevan Hajinian
Tel. (416) 497-8972

Judge Babikian Honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal

Toronto- During the Sept. 28, 2012 celebration of the 21st anniversary of
the Independence of Armenia, which was organized by Toronto Armenian
Cultural Associations under the auspices of His Excellency Armen Yeganian,
Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada, Citizenship Judge Aris Babikian received
the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his 35 years
of contribution to the Canadian civil society.

The medal was presented to Judge Babikian by Don Valley East Member of
Parliament Joe Daniel on behalf of the Governor General and the Government
of Canada. In his remarks Mr. Daniel touched upon the momentous occasion of
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Diamond Jubilee Medal
objective, and the rational to bestow Judge Babikian with the medal.

Mr. Daniel cited some of Judge Babikian’s long-time valuable
contributions to Canadian multicultural, human rights, political,
journalistic, and social spheres. Among them are his position as agent
general to the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada in
Ottawa, short-term international elections monitor of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s, participation in the
National (Canadian) Umbrella Organizations’ roundtable on the “UN
World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance,” and the preparation of briefs and testimony at
the House of Commons Heritage Committee hearings related to
multicultural, Canadian culture and heritage issues, and the Canadian
Radio and Television Commission (CRTC).

Judge Babikian was the President of the Armenian National Federation of
Canada and the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of
Canada’s national office in Ottawa.

Furthermore, Judge Babikian has acted as the secretary of the Canadian
Ethnocultural Council (CEC), chaired the Political Affairs Committee of
CEC, and served on the media, immigration, census, and redress committees
of the CEC.

After the presentation of the medal, Judge Babikian thanked the government
of Canada and Mr. Daniel for nominating him for the honor and privilege. He
said, “There is no higher calling than to serve the people and the
government of Canada.” He added that volunteering and contributing to the
betterment of our great nation is a small token of appreciation for what
Canada has offered him and his family. Judge Babikian also thanked over the
350 attendees and the rest of the community for their support and
solidarity during the past 35 years.

Among the previous recognitions Judge Babikian has received from various
level of government and civil society organization are the National Ethnic
Press and Media Council’s Human Rights/Social Justice Award, Ontario
Volunteer Service Award (for 25 years of service), the Queen’s Golden
Jubilee Medal, the Canadian Ethnocultural Council’s Citation for
Outstanding Services, and Canada’s 125th Confederation Commemorative Medal.

Photos

3420 – Judge Babikian (Right) with MP Joe Daniel (Left) and His Excellency
Armen Yeganian.

3430 – Judge Babikian (Right) with MP Joe Daniel (Left) and His Excellency
Armen Yeganian.

3431- Judge Babikian (Centre) with His Excellency Armen Yeganian (far
right), MP Joe Daniel (Right), and his Mother and Niece (Left and Far Left)

From: Baghdasarian

PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN TO LEAVE FOR FRANCE WITH AN OFFICIAL VISIT

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Serzh Sargsyan, President of the
Republic of Armenia is scheduled to head to the Republic of France
by an official visit on November 11. As Presidential press office
informed Armenpress, Serzh Sargsyan is set to have meetings with
President of France Francois Oland, France Prime Minister Jean-Marc
Ayrault, National Assembly Chairman Claude Bartoloni and President
of the Senate Jean-Pierre Bel.

Meetings are scheduled with National Assembly and Senate France-Armenia
Parliamentary friendship group members.

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the French
Republic were established on 24 February 1992. Vigen Chitechian was
appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic
of Armenia to France on 2 October 2009. Henri Reynaud, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Armenia,
presented his credentials to the President of the Republic of Armenia,
Serzh Sargsyan on 5 November 2010.

From: Baghdasarian

LE PRESIDENT SARKISSIAN EN VISITE OFFICIELLE EN FRANCE
Jean Eckian

armenews.com
vendredi 9 novembre 2012

Le President de la Republique d’Armenie, Serge Sarkissian, sera en
visite officielle en France du 11 au 13 novembre prochain.

L’agenda prevoit qu’il doit rencontrer Francois Hollande, le Premier
ministre Jean-Marc Ayrault, le President de l’Assemblee nationale
Claude Bartolone et le President du Senat Jean-Pierre Bel. Il est
egalement prevu que Serge Sarkissian rencontre les membres de la
Convention France-Armenie et se rende a Lyon, a l’nvitation de
Philippe Grillot (President du CCI), accompagne d’Edward Nalbandian
et du Ministre de l’Economie Tigran Davtyan.

vendredi 9 novembre 2012, Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY SEARCHES ARMENIAN PLANE EN ROUTE TO SYRIA

Today’s Zaman
Nov 8 2012
Turkey

Turkey intercepted an Armenian airplane en route to Syria and searched
its cargo on Thursday in another effort to prevent the use of Turkish
airspace to supply the Syrian military.

Officials from the Civil Aviation General Directorate (SHGM) in
Erzurum allowed the plane to depart after a search that lasted about
four hours. The technical team that inspected the aircraft confirmed
that the plane carried nothing but basic foodstuffs and seized none
of the Air Armenia plane’s cargo.

Also, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım has confirmed that
the Armenian airplane have been ordered to land as part of a routine
inspection, saying that the aim in such procedure is to prevent any
arms delivery to war-torn Syria that would claim more Syrian lives.

Turkish diplomatic sources speaking to Today’s Zaman noted that
the plane was stopped in accordance with procedures defined in the
1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the
Chicago Convention.

Diplomatic sources added that before the flight Air Armenia had asked
Turkish authorities for permission to carry 15 tons of humanitarian
aid from Yerevan to Aleppo using Turkish airspace.

According to some Turkish reports, the Turkish technical team
inspecting the airplane included biologists to determine if the plane
carried anything that could be used to make biological weapons.

Diplomatic sources have not confirmed these claims.

Ankara has stepped up efforts to prevent its airspace from being used
to supply the Syrian military. Another Armenian plane flying to the
Syrian city of Aleppo was grounded and searched in mid-October, as
well as a Syrian airliner traveling from Moscow that was suspected
of carrying Russian munitions destined for Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad’s military. In both cases, the planes were allowed to continue
on their way to Syria after being inspected.

From: Baghdasarian

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF AZERBAIJAN IN ICAO: ARMENIA’S INTENTION TO USE THE KHOJALY AIRPORT IS CONTRARY TO INTERNATIONAL LAW

Trend
Nov 8 2012
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Ambassador in Canada and permanent representative of
the country in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Farid Shafiev spoke at a meeting of the organization on wednesdya,
said in the statement.

During his speech, Ambassador drew the attention of the Council of
ICAO for the intentions commissioning airport in Khojaly by Armenian
occupation forces. Ambassador Shafiyev noted that this provocation was
contrary to international law and undermines security in the region.

Later, the ambassador also noted that the air space of occupied lands
closed to civil aviation, and the departure of any aircraft in this
area means that live of passengers is in danger.

Ambassador criticized irresponsible step of Armenia and noted that
Azerbaijan has the right to defend its airspace under the relevant
articles of the Chicago Convention.

Khojaly airport and airspace over Nagorno Karabakh and other occupied
territories under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan, he added.

Shafiev also confirmed the illegality of the organization of any
flights of other countries without the permission of Azerbaijan.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. –
are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

From: Baghdasarian