Author: Boshkezenian Garik

The Master Singers of Worcester and the Armenian Church of our Savior (in Worcester), the first Armenian Church in America, will honor the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m., with a concert featuring sacred and secular music of Armenia. The Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemorative Concert will take place at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, reports.

The program also includes the world premiere of “A New Armenia!” by Worcester composer Stephan Barnicle and the Worcester premiere of Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living,” with chamber orchestra and organist William Ness.

The Master Singers will be joined by singers and dancers from the Armenian community, and the children’s choirs of First Congregational Church and St. Mary’s Church of Shrewsbury.

The concert is funded in part by a grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and supported in part by an Alfred Patterson Grant from Choral Arts New England.

Within the framework of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Musa Dagh, pilgrims from all parts of the world visited the school after Franz Werfel in the village of Musaler.

The guests learnt about the history of the school, talked to students and teachers. Pupils staged excerpts from Werfel’s novel “40 days of Musa Dagh.

Yesayi Havatyan, chairman of the Central Body in charge of organizing the events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Musa Dag expressed gratitude to the leadership of the school.

“We must always be proud of being Armenian,” he said.

The pilgrims headed for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to meet with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

When Mark Moogalian saw the gunman on the train, he was the first to rush him and tried to wrest an assault rifle from his grip.

The two men struggled, and Moogalian was shot in the neck. The Armenian-American Professor collapsed to the floor, bleeding heavily.

He made eye contact with his wife.

“C’est fini,” Moogalian told her. “It’s over.”

“I really thought he was going to die,” his wife Isabelle Risacher Moogalian said in an interview with .

In an exclusive TV interview, Risacher Moogalian said her husband played dead to avoid getting shot again.

Moogalian was one of five passengers on the Amsterdam-to-Paris train to try to disarm the gunman, who wielded enough weaponry to kill everyone on board.

Moogalian, who’s currently recovering at a hospital in France, spoke exclusively to

Mark and his wife Isabelle were sitting in carriage 12 with their dog quietly sleeping under the table. They were playing cards to pass the time.

Half an hour after the train stop in Brussels, Mark noticed a man with strange behavior through the glass door.

“”I saw a young man arrived with a large suitcase with wheels. He entered the toilet with his luggage. It was odd, unusual. I waited for him to exit, but it dragged on. So I decided to go and see. I got up. I saw him coming out of the toilet.”

“I grabbed the gun. We fought. I do not know how, but I managed to tackle his Kalashnikov,” Moogalian said.

Photo from Paris Match

The United States has voiced confidence in the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, AzerNews reports.

Richard Hoagland, the U.S. principal deputy assistant Secretary of State told reporters in Baku on July 23 that the parties must settle the issue on the basis of mutual respect.

On June 8 Armenian Ambassador to Germany Ashot Smbatyan handed his credentials to Federal President Joachim Gauck.

Congratulating the Ambassador on appointment, President Gauck voiced hope he would make an important contribution to the further deepening and reinforcement of mutually beneficial cooperation between Armenia and Germany.

Amb. Smbatyan briefed the German President on the process of development of Armenia-EU relations.

The interlocutors referred to issues related to political dialogue, trade-economic cooperation, regional developments and peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The Ambassador expressed gratitude for the continuous support of the German side to Armenia’s development.

“Kirk Kerkorian was a unique, rare and very special person. He was a man of extraordinary generosity,” renowned singer Barbra Streisand has said about the late Armenian-American businessman.

Barbra Streisand left the following note on her official Facebook page:

“Kirk Kerkorian. 1917-2015.

Throughout the years, Kirk Kerkorian was a man of extraordinary generosity. He rarely sought attention or acknowledgement for his contributions.

In 1969 I opened Mr. Kerkorian’s International Hotel in Las Vegas. Not until New Year’s Eve 1993 did I return for the opening of his magnificent MGM Grand Hotel. At that time, because of his generous contribution to my foundation, I was able to give support to the fight against AIDS and the fight for Women’s & Children’s Rights and the Environment.

Princess Charlotte has been christened at a church in Sandringham after the Cambridges made their first public outing as a family of four, the BBC reports.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pushed the princess in a pram the Queen used for two of her own children.

Several thousand well wishers greeted the royals, while Prince George delighted the crowds on foot.

The royal couple announced ahead of the christening that they had chosen five godparents for the princess.

The christening was held at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, and attended by guests including the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.

Other attendees included Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Catherine’s parents Michael and Carole Middleton and her two siblings, Pippa and James.

The baptism, conducted by Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend Justin Welby, was held in private.

Armenia and Georgia have reached agreement to extend the hours of operation of the Stepantsminda-Lars checkpoint from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.

The move aims to ensure the uninterrupted export of agricultural products from the Republic of Armenia.

Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan negotiated the issue with Georgian counterparts upon the instruction of Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

Hovhannes Tumanyan’s house in Tbilisi has been handed over to the Georgian Armenian Diocese, Hayartun Cultural Center informed on its Facebook page.

On this occasion an Armenian delegation headed by Edward Militonyan, President of the Union of Writers, visited Tbilisi on June 8.

EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan says that EU six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, Sputnik News reports. 

The European Union’s (EU) six Eastern Partnership nations will not be expected to join the Union’s sanctions against Russia, EU Ambassador to the United States David O’Sullivan told Sputnik.

“In none of these cases do we expect alignment on European Union foreign policy, that is expected of [EU]candidate countries,” O’Sullivan said on Thursday.

O’Sullivan noted that only EU candidate countries are expected to come in line with the sanctions policy, “which is not yet the case for any of the Eastern Partnership countries.”

In a Thursday speech to the Atlantic Council, EU Commissioner for European Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said relations with the six Eastern Partners were “not black and white.”

Hahn cited Armenia as an example “to demonstrate that it is possible to be a member of the Eurasian [Economic] Union, but also to explore… the scope of cooperation with the European Union.”