Author: Bedik Zaminian

Press: behind-the-scenes wars in the Constitutional Court

Bedik Zaminian
  • 08.03.2018

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  • Armenia:

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  • arm

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VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.


“time” the newspaper writes. “The composition of the future government is becoming more and more certain. It is known who will occupy the position of the prime minister, the first deputy prime minister, and now also the deputy prime minister. According to “Zhamanak”, that position will be occupied by the head of the presidential office Armen Gevorgyan: Let’s note that Gevorgyan has already held the post of Deputy Prime Minister twice, the first time when Serzh Sargsyan had just assumed the position of president and once again in 2014. Hovik Abrahamyan in the government. It remains to be determined who will be the second deputy prime minister, and it largely depends on whether the “Tsarukyan” alliance will form a new government.”


“Armenian Times” the newspaper writes. “Gagik Harutyunyan After being elected as the President of the Honorable Judicial Council, interesting behind-the-scenes developments are taking place regarding the election/appointment of the future President of the Constitutional Court. To remind, Hrayr Tovmasyan, the former chairman of the NA state-legal commission, who was recently elected a member of the Constitutional Court by the NA, is running for the position of the president of the Constitutional Court.


According to the information that has reached us, Hrayr Tovmasyan not only wants to be appointed the president of the CC, but also wants to perpetuate himself in that position in the last month of the transition to the parliamentary system, when the legal regulations of the Convention adopted in 2005 are still valid. The point is that Article 166, subparagraph 2 of the Constitution adopted in 2015 states that: “The Constitutional Court elects the President and Vice-President of the Constitutional Court from among its members for a period of six years, without the right to be re-elected.” Until then, the current Constitution stipulated that the President of the CC holds office for life. By the way, in the Constitutional Court, this issue is already behind the scenes wars are going on. The judges of the CC are very dissatisfied with the ambitions of Hrayr Tovmasyan.”


The same newspaper writes: “On the issue of calling a citizen a bosha by RA Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, a preliminary study is still being conducted in the ethics commission. Siranush Sahakyan, chairman of the ethics commission for high-ranking officials, said this in a conversation with “Haykakan Zhamanak” journalist Tirayr Muradyan.


Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan On January 13, he posted on his Facebook page, offering people to collect money for the operation of the wounded soldier Albert Dallakyan. The minister stated that it is not possible to compensate Dallakyan for operating abroad in accordance with the law. Facebook user Petros Sargsyan left a comment under the minister’s post, qualifying the phenomenon of initiating fundraising. “The 1000 drams got away, is it a form of pure laziness?” Vigen Sargsyan gave an insulting answer to the user. “Boshan are you?” Petros Sargsyan, to whom Vigen Sargsyan made insulting remarks, applied to the Ethics Commission weeks ago. The Ethics Commission also “put to rest” the application submitted by journalist Siranuysh Papyan against police chief Vladimir Gasparyan in 2016. This application is also at the stage of preliminary studies.”


“Fact” the daily writes. “Although he is the head of the parliamentary faction of the National Assembly RPA Vahram Baghdasaryan announced that the US ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills the view expressed the other day that the existing corruption in Armenia hinders economic growth, threatens the protection of human rights, democracy and even national security, it is not necessary to pay attention, because it is not the official view of the USA, it once again shocked the public. He also said that the official of any other country talking about corruption should first of all talk about the corruption of his own country and then someone else. Agree that it was not possible to expect a more witty statement and it remains to ask Vahram Baghdasaryan that if the country’s ambassador does not voice the official point of view of the given country, then whose opinion does he voice? And secondly, which European country’s corruption risks shake the state as much as Armenia’s, or which country has opened its doors to various miners and said: come, rob the mine and leave the garbage as a gift to our people.


President of “International Center for Human Development”. Tevan Poghosyan in my opinion, all the mechanisms fighting corruption in developed countries work normally and if we can use such mechanisms in our country and see what kind of punishment this or that official received and how he suffered it, nobody will be able to tell Armenia that the main obstacle to the country’s economic development is corruption.


“The main emphasis of the US ambassador’s speech was that we should have an independent judicial system and a functioning law enforcement system. In addition, if the public learns about only one out of 1000 cases, for example, in the USA or in many democratic countries, at least 9 out of 10 cases are reported. Many, many countries have reached the level where, for example, they can call the country’s congressman, former or current president, prime minister for questioning, and if the guilt is confirmed, they will suffer their punishment. This is what distinguishes developed, democratic countries from those countries where even though everything is written on paper, it doesn’t work,” said T. Poghosyan.


According to the former deputy, the fight against corruption is not only spreading the message about the criminal case, but also its final examination – serving the punishment. And the day when we will be able to carry out such consistent work and inform the society about it, then they will no longer say about Armenia that corruption has reached such a level.


“As a landmark, we should take this road and go to the end, if we want no one to tell us that corruption is the main obstacle to the development of our country. Taxpayers as claimants have the right to know what happened to this or that official who was arrested for abuse of official position or embezzlement of public funds. It is the responsibility of the authorities to inform about this. There are cases where they are convicted, but they get out of prison very quickly or they serve the final punishment in a different way. In order to exclude all this, one must be consistent, which is the problem,” said T. Poghosyan.


According to the president of the International Center for Human Development, until society forces the authorities to work fully, no state institution will want to do it on its own. In addition, many and many functions are transferred to the executive power, and it should be taken into account that the National Assembly has the rights to exercise control over the executive. In other words, the legislature gets all the opportunities to call the executive to account.


“If before many problems were within the scope of the president’s powers and the National Assembly had no control mechanisms, now all the members of the government, from the prime minister to the deputies, can exercise control and demand clarifications. It is clear that it is better when these powers are in place, but the question arises as to how this will be implemented. And if the deputies cannot fully use all the mechanisms, that will be their weakness,” said T. Poghosyan”.


“Publication” the newspaper writes. “According to our information, in the upcoming session of the Supreme Spiritual Council, the person killed by the enemy’s bullet will also be discussed Grigor Yeghoyanthe issue of not allowing the funeral in Akhuryan’s church. To remind, the soldier’s body was first not allowed to be placed in the church, then he was buried not in a spiritual, but in a civil rite, because he was not baptized. According to our source, the priest of the church, who does not have much experience, tried to be careful, and since Grigor did not live in Armenia for many years (he was in Russia), to inform the leader of the Shirak Diocese. The latter said: what are you doing, he is a soldier, perform civil order. The spiritual council will discuss the general approach of how to act in such cases. The point is that in Father Zakaria’s book “Two hundred questions about baptism” it is written that a person can be baptized even after death, if he was not opposed to baptism during his life, but could not for some reason.


“People” the newspaper writes. “The government is trying to keep the Prime Minister secret as much as possible Karen Karapetyanthe full amount of money allocated from the state budget for visits to Switzerland and Kazakhstan. “Zhoghovurd” daily newspaper had the opportunity to reflect on these visits made by charter flights. And here, in response to our written request, the government informed us that for the expenses of the members of the RA delegation in Switzerland, representing the government staff, 6.7 million drams were allocated from the budget for official business trips abroad.


And 1.1 million drams were spent from the budget to participate in the session of the EAEU intergovernmental council in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan. The government does not inform about the Prime Minister’s personal expenses, arguing that the expenses for ceremonial, accommodation, and transportation services, according to Clause 2 of Article 15 of the RA Law on “Purchases”, are included in the procurement plan containing state secrets and are not subject to publication. Meanwhile, “Zhoghovurd” daily was only interested in the amount of money spent for this purpose, which is not a state secret.


“168 hours” the newspaper writes. “My advice regarding the historical territorial claims of both sides is to accept the framework of the fundamental principles of the Madrid document,” former US ambassador, former American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, director of the International Center for Defense Studies in Tallinn told “168 Hours”. Matthew Bryzareferring to the recent bellicose statements made by the Azerbaijani authorities.


Let’s remind that on February 8, speaking at the congress of the ruling “Yeni Azerbaijan” party in Azerbaijan, the president of that country Ilham Aliyev announced that Yerevan, Zangezur and Sevan (Gyoche) are “our historical territories, and we must return these lands to the Azerbaijanis”. “That is our strategic goal, we should gradually approach that goal,” Ilham Aliyev stressed. His statement was followed by the statement of the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Zakir Hasanov, that a war could start in the NK conflict zone at any time. Speaking first about Aliyev’s historical territorial ambitions, Matthew Bryza tried explain what the president of Azerbaijan probably meant.


According to Matthew Brazya, these statements reflect the memory of the Yerevan gubernia (province) within the Russian Empire, which was formed in the middle of the 19th century. “My understanding is that while the majority of residents of Yerevan Governorate were Armenian, some regions, including Yerevan itself, had an Azeri majority, according to the results of the 1897 census of the Russian Empire. However, my advice regarding the historical territorial claims of both sides is to accept the framework of the fundamental principles of the Madrid document,” said Matthew Bryza.


Referring to Hasanov’s statement and the rumors about starting a war on the Azerbaijani side at this stage, the diplomat said that it is unlikely that the Azerbaijani side will initiate a new war, especially when the presidential elections are approaching.


“At the same time, I don’t know what Defense Minister Hasanov had in mind when he made the statement you quoted. It is true that military conflict can erupt at any moment along the contact line. At the same time, the resumption of full-scale war would require significant time and effort to move heavy weapons and large numbers of troops to the intended location. The threat of war, however, is a traditional tool of diplomacy, as US President Donald Trump reminds us in the context of South Korea,” said Matthew Bryza.”

Music: One of the greatest cellists became the chairman of the jury of the 14th International Khachaturyan Competition

Bedik Zaminian
ArmInfo, Armenia
March 1 2018
One of the greatest cellists became the chairman of the jury of the 14th International Khachaturyan Competition

Yerevan March 1

Alexander Avanesov. Suren Bagratuni (USA / Armenia) became the chairman of the jury of the 14th Khachaturyan International Competition, which will be held from June 6 to 14. The winner of many competitions Suren Bagratuni – one of the most famous and popular cellists of our time. He acts as a soloist with the best orchestras under the guidance of famous conductors. The name Suren Bagratuni is associated with the most serious achievements in the field of cello. Bagratuni is a professor of cello at the Michigan State University, he is chairman of the Faculty of Strings. A prestigious musician and an experienced teacher agreed to become chairman of the jury.

The 14th International Khachaturyan Competition, which will be held in 2018, will be held in the specialty “cello”. The competition starts on June 6, the birthday of the great Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian and ends with a gala concert on June 14.

The international contest will be held within the framework of events dedicated to the 115th anniversary of the great Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. The international competition of Khachaturian is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.

The Khachaturian Competition is the first and only Armenian contest, which received such an honor. The competition is held according to the standards of this global organization. The age of the contestants for the specialty “cello” should not be less than 16 and not older than 32 years inclusive. The international competition consists of a qualifying round and three main rounds. Applications for participation are accepted until April 25, 2018.

There’s a good reason why anti-Muslim ideology hasn’t found a home in Portugal

Bedik Zaminian 
The Independent - Daily Edition
 Friday
There's a good reason why anti-Muslim ideology hasn't found a home in Portugal
by ROBERT FISK
The ramparts of the Portuguese Castle of the Moors - "Castelo dos
Mouros" - fell to the Christians of the Second Crusade in 1147, a
bunch of thieves and drunkards, according to local reports, which
included a fair number of Brits. There's a story that a huge fortune
in gold and coins still lies beneath the castle's broken and
much-restored walls, hidden there by the Moors when Afonso Henriques'
thugs were climbing the hills above Sintra. My guess is there's none.
Our relations with the Muslims have always revolved, it seems to me,
around money and jealousy. Besides, the Crusaders looted their way
across Lisbon - after a solemn agreement with the King that they could
do so - and then massacred and raped their way through the
panic-stricken Muslim population.
It was the only victory the Second Crusade achieved - things went
badly wrong for it in the real Middle East. After that - and the
15th-century expulsion of the Muslims - Portugal's conflict with the
region was economic rather than military, trying to grab the Indian
trade routes from Yemeni Arabs. When Vasco da Gama "discovered" India
and reached Calicut (Calcutta) on 20 May 1498 - this story comes from
Warwick Ball's Out of Arabia - he was greeted by an Arab from Tunisia
with the words "May the devil take you! What brought you here?"
But that was about it. Only well over four hundred years later do we
find the Christian nationalist dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar -
who kept Portugal neutral in the Second World War and thus preserved
its "oldest ally" relationship with Britain - declaring that in the
15th and 16th centuries, his country had defended "Christian
civilisation against Islam", a remark that might have come from Viktor
Orban of Hungary today. It was historical rubbish, and may be the
reason why there is no anti-Muslim ideology in Portugal. If you visit
the enormous tomb of Da Gama in the Jeronimos Monastery church at
Belem, the catafalque carries two magnificent sculptures of medieval
merchant ships but no reference to Muslims. Da Gama's sword is
sheathed under stone drapery. The Manueline monastery cloisters which
I walked through next door, however, are dripping with Arab-style
archways and Arabesque tiles (which you might find today in Algeria
and Tunisia).
The Department of Home Truths, a Fiskian institution I have found it
necessary to deploy around the Middle East, would point out, of
course, that Portugal visited its violence and ethnic cleansing and
racism and slavery not upon the Middle East but upon the peoples of
Africa, where later wars in its very own colonial possessions -
especially Angola and Mozambique - helped to bring down the
pseudo-fascist regime of Marcelo Caetano, Salazar's successor, in
1975.
The Arabs, however, were regarded as exotic and educated peoples whose
own culture was never erased from the streets of Portugal's cities.
The museum commemorating prisoners of 20th-century dictatorship is
located in an original Moorish building in Lisbon called Aljube, which
in Arabic means, "Street of the Watercourse". It can also mean
"prison" - which is what it was under Salazar. Iberian languages, I
should add, are equally strewn with Arabic. The warrior El Campeador,
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (of Charlton Heston fame), is best known to us
by his Arabic nom-de-guerre, "Sayyid" - El Cid ("the Lord").
Nowhere can present day connections between the Muslim and European
past be more perfectly illustrated than in Lisbon's Calouste
Gulbenkian Museum in the northern suburbs of Lisbon. Old Gulbenkian,
the richest Armenian of his time, the original "Mr Five Per Cent" of
oil earnings, was an extraordinary philanthropist of his time, his
foundation even trying to bridge the insurmountable gap between the
Armenian peoples and their genocider Turkish fellow citizens after
1915. This may be why the short biography of the man available at the
Lisbon institution refers to the Armenian genocide - disgracefully -
as merely "the tragic events".
But the museum displays Muslim/Arab art scarcely a couple of rooms
from Dutch old masters, Thomas Gainsborough's Mrs Lowndes-Stone and a
couple of Turners. A Syrian Mamluk mosque lamp and an Armenian
illuminated bible stand only a few metres from Renoir's Portrait of
Madame Monet. A new exhibition looks at botanical knowledge shared by
Europe with the Mughal empire of Shah Jahan.
But there is one majestic volume among the Muslim books, a
16th-century Iranian copy of the 14th-century poetry of Hafiz, the
400-year-old Safavid scholar's handwriting swooping delicately across
an open page of the volume - but a text, alas, untranslated, and thus
rendered as art rather than literature. But here, abbreviated and
forced into English, is what some of the words say: "If, by good
fortune, I can obtain the dust from my beloved's foot, above my eyes I
will inscribe a line. If her moth searched for my soul like a candle,
I would give up my soul at that very moment ??? After death, even the
wind will not be able to take my dust away from your door."
The lines are not unlike the more ascetic, broken, almost negative
verse of that undeniably finest of modern Portuguese poets, Fernando
Pessoa, who reminds his devotees of both Joyce and Samuel Beckett:
"In the dead afternoon's gold more - The no-place gold dust of late
day Which is sauntering past my door And will not stay -
In the silence, still touched with gold, Of the woods' green ending, I
see The memory. You were fair of old And are in me???
Though you're not there, your memory is And, you not anyone, your
look. I shake as you come like a breeze And I mourn some good..."
This is Jonathan Griffin's translation from the Portuguese, but
Pessoa's work immediately prompted a Muslim visitor to Lisbon to
remark to me how similar it was to the 11th-century Persian poetry of
Omar Khayyam, whose Rubaiyat was itself translated (though not very
well) by the English poet Edward FitzGerald. Pessoa spoke fluent
English.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, to discover that Pessoa not only
read and took copious notes on the Rubaiyat all over the title page of
his copy of FitzGerald's work, but became almost obsessed by Arab
philosophers, including the 11th-century Arab-Andalusian poet
al-Mu'tamid. And he condemned the Middle Ages Arab expulsion from the
Iberian peninsula. Thanks to the work of Italian scholar Fabrizio
Boscaglia and Brazilian researcher Marcia Feitosa, we find Pessoa
espousing "our [Portuguese] great Arab tradition - of tolerance and
free civilisation. It is in the manner in which we are the keepers of
the Arab spirit in Europe that we will have a distinct
individuality??? Let us revenge the defeat inflicted by those from the
North to our Arab ancestors. Let us redeem the crime we committed when
we expelled from the peninsula the Arabs that civilised it."
Perhaps it's no wonder that less than two years ago, Portugal's Prime
Minister Antonio Costa said that his country would receive 10,000
Syrian refugees - double the number it might have taken under the EU's
relocation programme. Compare that to the "protectors" of our
Christian "civilisation" further east.

Konstantin Kosachev highly appreciates Armenian President’s speech at Munich Security Conference

Bedik Zaminian 
Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Monday
Konstantin Kosachev highly appreciates Armenian President's speech at
Munich Security Conference
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of Russia, says
the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at Munich Security
Conference on February 16-18 was one of the most important speeches of
the conference relating to security issues which was distinguished by
its constructivism and balance.
“The discussion, which was attended by the Armenian President, the
Moldovan Prime Minister, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood
Policy & Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and me, was one of the
examples that the agenda of the Munich conference becomes more
comprehensive and starts presenting different views, and such tendency
can just be welcomed. I have expressed my sincere gratitude to Serzh
Sargsyan for his perfect speech as he had his constructive
contribution to the discussion, made a balanced and responsible
analysis on what is happening now in Armenia and on regional relations
in general, as well as in a more global context where Armenia
undoubtedly plays its unique role. Without exaggeration his speech was
focused and was under the attention”, he told Armenpress.
Konstantin Kosachev said the conference participants were focused on
Armenia’s multivector policy, in other words, the experience by which
Armenia combines its participation in the EAEU and EU integration
processes.
“This is really perhaps the only and unique case”, he said, recalling
Ukraine’s experience. “The same didn’t happen in case of Armenia, and
this agreement was made in accordance with Armenia’s interests with
its whole cooperation range taking into account also its obligations
in the EAEU. This is the example on how it is possible to act by
finding a solution to hard and perhaps quite delicate matters by
normal and constructive way. In 2012-2013, before the Ukrainian
crisis, we proposed the EU and Ukraine to organize a similar
discussion to avoid some contradictions: that time the EU gave us
tough response stating that it is not a subject of discussion, it is
the internal problem of that relations, but we all know what this
resulted in”, the Russian official said, stating that it only can be
welcomed that Armenia runs a right policy on the way of cooperation
with different integration structures.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan delivered speech at the Munich
Security Conference touching upon Armenia’s foreign policy, as well as
a number of regional issues.
Syuzi Muradyan

Sports: Armenian boxers heading to Bulgaria for Strandzha Cup

Bedik Zaminian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Feb 19 2018
– 17:49 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Strandzha Cup international tournament will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 19-25, with seven Armenian boxers set to participate in the event.

According to preliminary applications, 300 athletes from a total of 34 countries will compete in the oldest international amateur boxing competition in Europe.

Artur Hovhannisyan (49kg weight category), Vahe Badalyan (52 kg), Zhirayr Sargsyan (56 kg), Hrayr Shahverdyan (60 kg), Gurgen Madoyan (69 kg), hambardzum Hakobyan (75 kg) and Gurgen Hovhannisyan (+91 kg) will represent Armenia in Sofia.

Bulgarian boxers have predominantly won the tournament in the past.

Far-right German politician lashes out at Turks as ‘camel herders’

Bedik Zaminian 
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
 Wednesday 8:41 PM EST
Far-right German politician lashes out at Turks as 'camel herders'
Dresden, Germany
DPA POLITICS Germany politics AfD  Far-right German politician lashes
out at Turks as 'camel herders' Dresden, Germany
Germany's Turkish community got slammed as
"camel herders" on Wednesday by a leading member of the far-right
Alternative for Germany (AfD) party who was incensed by opposition to
a proposed new ministry.
The proposed home affairs ministry came up last week amid talks
around forming the next German government. The plan would see
Bavaria's conservative premier Horst Seehofer take on the Interior
Ministry portfolio, but with the agency expanded to include a special
focus on home affairs.
That would likely mean more efforts to boost underdeveloped parts of
the country. But several Turkish groups have opposed the concept,
saying the new addition - a Heimatministerium - reminds of historical
concepts of a German homeland, popular in the Nazi era, that might
divide the country rather than unite it.
But the plan is popular with the AfD, which bounced into the German
Bundestag in last year's elections and has only seen its support grow
amid political bickering by the more established parties.
"These caraway traders have the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians
weighing them down ... and they want to tell us something about
history and homeland? They're nuts. These camel herders should set
off to where they belong."
He was referring to the World War I-era deaths of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians in Turkey, an event that has been recognized
as a genocide by several countries, despite Turkey's rejection of the
term.
He also lashed out at calls by the country's Turkish community for
dual citizenship, which he said results in nothing "but homeland- and
fatherland-less riff-raff."

Far from Baku and Yerevan’s political games: life goes on in the border villages

Bedik Zaminian
OC Media
Feb 9 2018

9 FEBRUARY 2018 BY DAVID STEPANYAN

(David Stepanyan/ OC Media)

In the Armenian villages along the Azerbaijani border, sporadic violence intermingles with people’s daily lives. While people here try to build a future, they are aware that their livelihoods are often at the mercy of politicians from both sides.

Several years ago, after machine gun fire shot through Mayranush Aleksanyan’s garden, the 58-year-old woman asked her husband to teach her how to shoot. Zakar Aleksanyan is a member of Armenia’s Union of hunters, so there are always registered guns in their house.

Zakar has played a part in the defence of his village, Voskevan, since 1992. The village is just a kilometre away from the Azerbaijani border, in Armenia’s Tavush Province. Weapons were in short supply back when war broke out, which is why he and his friends went by truck to Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and brought back weapons and ammunition in diesel barrels.

‘All this was distributed to rural volunteers; this was how we defended ourselves. But the authorities now, for some reason, are not happy about us having these weapons, and over the last few years all the weapons have been taken away by police. They took them away, but let those in Yerevan always remember that we are here to protect not only ourselves, but also them’, Mayranush said.

When police searched the Aleksanyan’s house not long ago, they did not find anything. According to many residents, it was the weapons in their homes that let them sleep at night.

Mayranush is confident that no ordinary villager wants war, especially mothers with young boys. Nevertheless, in the 23 years since the conclusion of the armistice agreement, for residents of Voskevan, the war has not ended.

‘No mother deserves this, and there is no difference between an Armenian or Azerbaijani mother in this. I wish that all those who sow tension at the border and prevent us from living in peace would live as we have been living for 25 years’, she says.

Every time she hears her neighbours gloating about the deaths of Azerbaijani servicemen, she feels uncomfortable.

‘The war manifests itself in that we cannot cultivate our own land, it manifests itself in explosions of mines laid back in the 90’s, and most importantly, the war is propagated by the authorities of our countries’, Mayranush says.

Karen Mamikonyan (not his real name), a contract serviceman from a neighbouring village also blames politics for the conflict. He says it was used for political gains during the last parliamentary election campaign in Armenia.

When Seyran Oganyan, one of the leaders of the opposition Oganyan–Raffi–Oskanyan bloc went to visit the border villages, he was forced to turn back.

‘We received an order from Yerevan, they said to start shooting at Azerbaijani positions. After the Azerbaijanis returned fire, including at the highway, Oganyan’s convoy turned back for security reasons’, Karen said.

Mayranush Aleksanyan (David Stepanyan /OC Media)

The village, like many in Armenia, suffers from the seasonal migration of men. With the coming of spring, about 80% of men between 20 and 50 travel for seasonal work, mainly to Russia.

‘This is our greatest pain. Most of the arable land is there’ — Mayranush points to the east — ‘and we cannot cultivate it, of course. But the fact that our men are not at home three out of four seasons prevents them from cultivating land outside the zone of shelling as well. We just don’t have enough hands.’

[Read also at OC Media about labour migration in neighbouring Gegharkunik Province: The manless villages of Lake Sevan]

Fortunately, Mayranush’s family — her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren — are always with her.

The family is trying to lead a normal life despite the constant tension on the border. For over five years, the Aleksanyans have been participating in a programme to develop local organic products supported by the European Union.

The programme gave the Aleksanyans and 20 other Voskevan families a stable income, the opportunity to continue living in their native village, and most importantly, a belief in a better future.

‘Today we grow things in our own gardens, forage in the forests, and dry everything that grows in our village: fruits, vegetables, herbal teas, and medicines’, Mayranush says, proudly displaying a package of dried fruits on the table with the label ‘Made in Voskevan’.

According to her, the main problem the villagers have faced has always been the remoteness of Voskevan: 177 kilometres from Yerevan and 44 kilometres from the regional centre of Ijevan.

The programme has managed to overcome this, with the Centre for Agricultural Assistance, a local NGO, exporting all the produce to France. At the very beginning of the programme, the French partners invited the beneficiaries to France to familiarise themselves with the technology of drying and harvesting fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Mayranush Aleksanyan demonstrating a device for drying fruit (David Stepanyan /OC Media)

‘For us, residents of a border village, such support is truly priceless. It’s very important that we were helped not only to establish correct production techniques, but also to open the way to the market where we can sell our products. However, our cooperation is mutually beneficial, all our products are environmentally friendly and, accordingly, are in great demand in Europe. This, of course, we are proud of’, Mayranush said.

Once a week, Zakar sits behind the wheel of a minibus connecting Voskevan with Vanadzor — the regional centre of the neighbouring Lori Province. Zakar knows all the villagers, and often takes the needy free of charge, earning him a reputation as a local hero.

‘Uncle Zakar is often compared to Seyran Oganyan’, says Artur, a neighbour’s boy. The mention of the former Minister of Defence encourages other neighbours to start talking about him. According to them, Oganyan frequently helped the Tavush people while in office.

‘One of our guys has been lying in coma for 10 years because of an Azerbaijani bullet. And all these 10 years his family has always been cared for by the Ministry of Defence. You can talk about our minister for a long time, but is it worth it? The main thing is that we do not forget him today, when he is no longer in office. Our doors are always open to him’, Mayranush says.

But Voskevan’s residents don’t have open doors only to benefactors. Aleksanyan’s family greet all guests with hospitality: from Armenia, from Russia, from France. The head of the family, Zakar, says he hopes to one day, as in the good old days, welcome guests from Azerbaijan.

This article is published as part of International Alert’s work on the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, which is part of the European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK), a European Union Initiative. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and may not necessarily reflect the views of International Alert or its donors.

Chess: Armenian chess players to compete at Aeroflot Open 2018

Bedik Zaminian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 8 2018

12 Armenian chess players will take part in Aeroflot Open 2018 international chess festival in Russia.

The major chess championship scheduled for Moscow from 19 February to 2 March consists of three tournaments, the National Olympic Committee reported.

Members of the Armenian national team Gabriel Sargissian, Haik Martirosyan, as well as GMs Manuel Petrosyan, Arman Mikayelyan and IMs Aram Hakobyan and Shant Sargsyan will compete at Tournament A.

A total of six other Armenian chess players will compete at Tournaments B and C.

Air ensigns of the Russian military base have started practical training in Armenia

Bedik Zaminian
  • 19.01.2018

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  • Armenia:

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  • arm

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  • rus

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Air ensigns of the Russian military base in Armenia master the procedure of directing fighter and army aviation on the most important objects of the conventional enemy during practical training.

We learn from the press service of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation that the exercises are held at the “Alagyaz” military test site, located at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters above sea level.

In the field, the signalmen direct the fighters and helicopters flying at high and low speeds in the difficult meteorological conditions of the mountainous terrain on the conventional enemy’s armored vehicles and helicopters. In addition, officers improve aviation guidance skills independently, in pairs and in rings, in cooperation with motor-gun, artillery, anti-aircraft, missile units.


It is noted that more than 30 servicemen from the number of regular and non-regular marksmen, and about 50 units of military, fighter and army aviation equipment participate in the practical training.