Speaking at the “Yes” propaganda referendum campaign in Jermuk, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that if necessary the campaign will be interrupted agreed with spread of coronavirus in the country.
“As of the moment the campaign continues. If there is a need to interrupt it, we will do it. As far as we have not done it yet, it means there is no such need yet,” Pashinyan said.
Spring is here. And while it’s a weird time to be thinking of travel, it’s still something that’s on our minds.
And while traveling abroad might seem like a daunting task, life around the world continues and the local guides and small tour operators that rely on tourism as their main source of income need you now more than ever.
So, while I’ve asked some of my favorite travel experts to weigh in on the best spring destinations to visit this year, there’s always spring 2021 to start planning and looking forward to. Fall is also a pretty incredible time to check a new, beautiful destination off your bucket list, if you need a trip to look forward to sooner rather than later.
Where: Hunza Valley, Pakistan
Where: Gyumri, Armenia
Recommended by: Aram Vardanyan and Megan Starr, Travelers and Founders, AbsoluteArmenia.com
Why: With new budget airline routes to Gyumri from Germany and Greece, Armenia’s second city is finally stepping into the spotlight for more than just its association with the 1988 Spitak Earthquake. Spring is a fantastic time to visit Gyumri as the harsh winters subside and flowers saturate the city as it prepares to celebrate Easter with juicy fruits and heaping plates of pilaf. Gyumri is home to hip cafes and concept shops like Konjelazia Tourism & Design, several cultural spaces, unique places to stay like Masters’ House Bed & Bar and Loft Gyumri, and Armenia’s most humorous locals.
Pro Tip: Stop into Gwoog Gastrohouse for a local taste of Gyumri and try their Panrkhash, a dish made from cheese and lavash. Local herbs create tasty tea at Herbs & Honey, a beautiful cafe located in the center of Gyumri and the perfect place to stop before checking out a show at the Alikhanyan Puppet Theater. And, if you’re looking for a souvenir to take home from Gyumri, look no further than HayAr Jewellery where all accessories are made from repurposed bullets by Gyumri artist Artak Tadevosyan.
Herbs & Honey café in Gyumri, Armenia.
ARAM VARDANYAN
Where: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
By Emilio Luciano Cricchio
In late February, Azerbaijani media reported that the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan had destroyed significant amounts of products from Armenia.
In accordance with a court ruling, mobile phones, Armenian cognac, foodstuffs, household items, cigarettes and souvenirs were burnt in front of journalists and cameramen, in a landfill near the Azerbaijani city of Sumgayit.
But how did these products end up in Azerbaijan?
It is believed that many of these items reach Azerbaijan via foreign tourists traveling through the South Caucasus region, which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Many of these tourists recounted that they would bring Azerbaijani products into Armenia, but would rarely be confronted by Armenian customs officers.
Recounting his own experience with Azerbaijani authorities confiscating Armenian products, Civilnet reporter Tatul Hakobyan mentioned that during a book presentation he did in Tbilisi in 2014, an Azerbaijani journalist bought one of his books about Nagorno-Karabakh.
Once the Azerbaijani journalist reached the Georgian-Azerbijani border, the book was marked as “extremist literature” and was confiscated.
Hakobyan said that later when researchers and journalists in Azerbaijan wanted to obtain his books, he would send them to Baku with European or American friends who were traveling to Azerbaijan by plane.
But were Azerbajiani authorities always so strict about preventing Armenian products entering Azerbaijan?
Hakobyan remarked that before 2003, when Ilham Aliyev took over the presidency after the death of his father, President Heydar Aliyev, Armenian-made products were commonly transported into Azerbaijan by merchants and openly sold in a Georgian-Armenian market in the Azerbaijani-majority town of Sadakhlo, just across from the Armenian border.
Furthermore, prior to 2003, carrots and cabbage from Sevan or Spitak were also sold in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani tea was sold in Stepanakert until the 2000s. To this day, pomegranates from the Azerbaijani city of Ganja are in high demand in Armenia.
Transcaucasian Tourists
During a recent presentation on the history and conflict of Karabakh, Hakobyan was asked by representatives from tour agencies how they should respond to foreign tourists who are on Transcaucasian tours and want to buy Armenian products? Should tour guides warn tourists that there is a likelihood that Armenian cognac or souvenirs may be confiscated or destroyed once they cross into Azerbaijan?
Many of these tour guides noted that they wanted to encourage tourists to buy Armenian-made products, but weren’t sure whether they should inform tourists that these products may well not make it out of Azerbaijan.
The tour guides informed Hakobyan that it was foreign tourists who were bringing Armenian products into Azerbaijan.
The tour guides also implored Hakobyan to write about this issue so that Armenian authorities could be informed of this dilemma and seek a possible solution.
Hakobyan remarked that this raises the issue of anti-Armenian sentiments and how far fetched a peaceful reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan is, when not even Armenian products can enter Azerbaijan, in the custody of tourists, without being confiscated or destroyed.
Armenian border guards, in turn, do not confiscate luggages of foreign tourists arriving in Armenia from Azerbaijan and do not confiscate Azerbaijani goods or souvenirs.
Hakobyan suggested that it is time to start real attempts at Armenian-Azerbaijani reconciliation and that interfering with trade and tourism is a futile exercise.
Tue 10 Mar 2020 06:11 GMT | 10:11 Local Time
President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be taking “major” steps to gird the U.S. economy against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak and will discuss a payroll tax cut with congressional Republicans on Tuesday.
Brent crude futures rose $2.51, or 7.3%, to $36.87 a barrel by 0418 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $2.15, or 6.9%, to $33.28 a barrel.
Both benchmarks plunged 25% on Monday, dropping to their lowest since February 2016 and recording their biggest one-day percentage declines since Jan. 17, 1991, when oil prices fell at the outset of the U.S. Gulf War.
Trading volumes in the front-month for both contracts hit record highs in the previous session after a three-year pact between Saudi Arabia and Russia and other major oil producers to limit supply fell apart on Friday.
“In times of turmoil, nothing is more important in restoring confidence than the government appearing calm and in control of the situation, how tenuous that control may be,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at broker OANDA in a note.
Asian shares bounced and bond yields rose from historic lows as speculation of coordinated stimulus from global central banks and governments calmed panic selling.
Crude was also supported by hopes for a settlement and potential U.S. output cuts, although gains could be temporary as oil demand continues to be hit by the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, analysts said.
“Oil’s rally right now will likely be short-lived as the drivers for both the supply and demand side will remain bearish for now,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Saudi Arabia plans to boost its crude output above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April from 9.7 million bpd in recent months, and has slashed its export prices to encourage refiners to buy more.
Russia, one of the world’s top producers alongside Saudi Arabia and the United States, also said it could lift output and that it could cope with low oil prices for six to 10 years.
U.S. shale producers rushed to deepen spending cuts and could reduce production after OPEC’s decision to pump full bore into a global market hit by shrinking demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“When you look at the leverage the industry is in, at prices of around $30, it’s not profitable,” said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer Probis Group.
“Saudis and other Middle Eastern producers have their budgetary constraints, Russia is starved for cash and the breakeven for .. shale has to be around $50 a barrel. So the dynamics of all those put together will mean they will come to an agreement somewhere.”
On the demand side, the International Energy Agency said oil demand was set to contract in 2020 for the first time since 2009.
13:09, 2 March, 2020
YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. According to unconfirmed media reports India has secured a 40 million dollar deal in Armenia on supplying four units of its SWATHI weapon locating radars.
India Today reported citing sources that India has already started supplies.
According to reports Armenia favored the India-made systems against competing bids from Russia and Poland.
The Armenian military hasn’t yet commented on the information.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
17:45, 2 March, 2020
YEREVAN, 2 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 2 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.20 drams to 478.80 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.84 drams to 530.41 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 7.19 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 6.68 drams to 611.00 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 638.23 drams to 24781.67 drams. Silver price down by 13.20 drams to 264.54 drams. Platinum price down by 625.28 drams to 13407.98 drams.
Pope Francis tests negative for coronavirus – report
12:04, 3 March, 2020
YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis has tested negative for the novel coronavirus after having canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy because he is suffering from a cold, Reuters reported citing the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
The Vatican hasn’t immediately commented on the report.
Pope Francis was scheduled to take part in the week-long retreat with senior Vatican officials that began on Sunday night at a Church residence south of Rome. But in a surprise announcement hours earlier, he said he would be following it from his residence in a Vatican guest house, at a time when Italy is battling the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The author, Joseph Kazazian (right) with the late Khatcho Achadjian and activist Hasmik Baghdasaryan
BY JOSEPH KAZAZIAN
We Lost a Titan of our Community.
Words will not do justice for the loss I felt when I hard that former California State Assemblyman, Former Congressional Candidate Katcho Achadjian had left us.
I had a flood of so many good memories of the man that was Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, that I feel compelled to tell you, the reader. While a simple google search can show you voluminous information about the work he did for Californians everywhere, I’d like to share with you how the man, who became everyone’s uncle, impacted me.
I first met Katcho Achadjian at a meet-and-greet sponsored by the ANCA Western Region as an intern. I was very green; a kid still trying to figure it out. I was there representing an organization I had officially joined as an intern just one week before this event. I saw a kind, spirited, yet soft-spoken man standing in the corner, away from the main crowd, just talking to people. I had not been to many functions like this before, so I was doing what any ANCA intern would do; I struck up a conversation with this man, who was wearing his ARF “zinanshan,” knowing he would be safe to talk to. Just minutes later, he introduced himself to the people there as “Katcho.”
He was in my hometown of Glendale, and came to visit from the California’s central coast, his home town Arroyo Grande to be exact. He told his story… a story of a person, much like my own father, who came to the United States with a dream.
But behind that story was a man who had a deeper, more inspiring story. He moved to the United States from Lebanon. He was the offspring of genocide survivors. He went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He ran a successful business, which later became several successful businesses.
But he took it many steps further, as one of the most beloved elected officials of the central coast, in all of California, as a well-respected Republican who worked with people across the aisle, a person loved by his colleagues, and a giant for the Armenian cause.
For me, the most inspiring and beautiful thing about him was his love for Armenians everywhere. You could not get him to say something about the Armenian cause without him breaking a tear. When the Turkish Lobby would visit Sacramento, Assemblyman Achadjian would politely decline meetings with them, but sternly remind them of the terrible wrongs that they were continuing to perpetrate. Same with the Azeris. Same with anyone who had the nerve to paint our community in a less-than-stellar light.
Over the years, through my activism, I had the privilege of seeing him in Sacramento through Advocacy Day. He wasn’t just another politician; he was the man who would run point for the ANCA. Through the Western Region’s Government Affairs Committee, we developed an intimate working relationship with him and his staff. His office was our home base.
Walking in and introducing him to constituents was a distinct privilege, as I would tell them that they would be pleasantly surprised, just before the assemblyman would show us to his office.
It was definitely a wonderful office, but with a familiar twist. He had a wall clock made of petrified wood, and I promise you if you go to any Armenian household in Hollywood, you will see the same clock.
He had an ARF “zinanshan” to the right of his desk, which I’m sure was common in every Armenian office from Beirut to Baalbek, from Ainjar to Aleppo. It felt more like the office of a private Armenian School principal. Of course, it would not be complete without Saroyan’s “See if They will not Create a New Armenia” passage, in the form of a framed poster. In that corner of his office, you would see a memento about every three inches that was related to his Armenian roots; a tri-color, the coat of arms of Armenia… There was just the feeling of, at any minute, someone from the staff showing up with mezze and sourj. Of course, that last part was wishful thinking, until the first time I visited him in his hometown of Arroyo Grande.
When the ANCA-WR wanted to branch out deeper into into the central coast, several of my colleagues and I were tasked with reaching out to the community, and that meant none other than having Assemblyman Achadjian’s support. I knew the area well, because I went to UC Santa Barbara, and any town on the central coast was similar in character to where my alma mater is located.
I have to confess. At that point, he wasn’t even Assemblyman Achadjian anymore. He just became “Amo.” Katcho was just like an uncle, a composite of an Armenian man who had lived a similar life to my or your uncle.
It was surreal. I was talking to someone who was essentially a family member at that point, yet having to remind myself that this man was an elected official. But that was Amo. Everything about him was so genuine and wholesome. While in town, everyone would greet him by first name when we went to have lunch together. With each discussion of legislation or policy, it was interwoven with a lighthearted memory of his times in Lebanon, his stories as an assemblyman n Sacramento… He even offered me a cigar, which I politely declined.
Not long after, when he ran for congress, several Armenian community activists, including Hasmik Baghdasaryan and I, had the privilege of being at the Santa Barbara courthouse as he made his announcement, in familiar hues of Spanish architecture, just minutes from where I graduated. It was one of those proud moments you get to experience as an activist: knowing that a good person, a kind spirit, is about announce his run for federal office.
Katcho Achadjian was one of the lions of our community; educating, donating books, quietly proud of his roots, and always making sure everyone felt welcomed around him. You would never even hear a peep about his advocacy for our cause, because he did it quietly and proudly, without being boastful like so many others who hold elected office. He let his work do the talking.
Of my many dreams, one was to share a scotch and a cigar with him and talk shop, when I earned that privilege. That never happened, but I was certain that one day it would.
But I will tell you the things that would happen. He would, even with his busy schedule, take time to comment on my Facebook posts, message me privately and encourage me to keep fighting the good fight, and would often say “I’m proud of you.”
Amo, our entire community will forever be proud of you. May you forever rest in power.