Author: Chatinian Lara

Greek Ambassador visits Nagorno-Karabakh on Azerbaijani propaganda tour

Chatinian Lara
     
by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS

Greek Ambassador to Baku Nikos Piperigos joined a propaganda tour for over 40 diplomats organised by the Azerbaijani regime to recently captured areas of historically-demographically Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh.

Piperigos was joined by the chargé d’Affaires of Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brazil, China, Afghanistan, Algeria, Palestine, Georgia, Croatia, Jordan, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Colombia, Korea, Qatar, Latvia, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Japan, Greece, Belgium, UAE, Chile, Estonia, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Libya, Romania, Slovakia, Sudan, and Venezuela, as well as representatives of the World Health Organization and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Azerbaijan.

It is recalled that only last year during the ceremony of handing over the Ambassador’s credentials, Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev said:

“I can tell you, and it is no secret, that Turkey is not only our friend and partner, but also a brotherly country for us. Without any hesitation whatsoever, we support Turkey and will support it under any circumstances. We support them [Turkey] in all issues, including the issue in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Yet, despite Ambassador Piperigos being told blatantly by the Azerbaijani dictator that his country will blindly support Turkey in their attempts to steal Greek maritime rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, he still joined the propaganda tour on the weekend.

The Turkish-sponsored invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh led to horrific war crimes such as beheadings, the use of white phosphorus and the deliberate targeting of churches – even double-tap attacks against journalists.

Azerbaijani scorched-earth strategy in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War with White Phosphorus.

It is recalled that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was the highest level foreign official to visit Armenia during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War after demands were made by the Greek public to express support for the embattled country.

However, the Greek public are now outraged that Ambassador Piperigos joined the propaganda tour organised by the Azerbaijani regime, especially since the U.S., Russian and French Ambassadors refused to join.

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan issued a joint declaration in January following the Second Round of Trilateral Dialogue of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which was held in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

In the joint declaration they reaffirmed to support each other’s territorial ambitions against Greece, Armenia and India.

Although Azerbaijan does not recognise the illegal entity known by Turkey as the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” its Nakhichevan autonomous region does in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 541 and UN Security Council Resolution 550.

This suggests that if the Armenian administration in the areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that were not invaded, based in the capital city of Stepanakert, ceased to exist, the Azerbaijani government would become the second country after Turkey to officially recognise the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

Decisionmakers in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku for now have not officially recognised the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” out of fear that Greece and Cyprus can retaliate by recognising Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent republic.

It then begs the question why Ambassador Piperigos joined a propaganda tour of the captured areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially when his American, Russian and French counterparts refused to do so.

Ambassador Piperigos has not responded to any requests for answers made by social media users.

The Greek Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions sent by Greek City Times at the time of publication.

Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 02-07-21

Chatinian Lara

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 02-07-21

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 17:21, 2 July, 2021

YEREVAN, 2 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 2 July, USD exchange rate down by 0.35 drams to 495.49 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.95 drams to 585.67 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.08 drams to 6.72 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.67 drams to 681.15 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 272.48 drams to 28379.96 drams. Silver price up by 7.59 drams to 418.33 drams. Platinum price up by 418.20 drams to 17300.38 drams.

Russian FM, UN High Commissioner discuss return of displaced persons to Nagorno Karabakh

Chatinian Lara

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 10:58,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi discussed the return of refugees and temporarily displaced persons to Nagorno Karabakh among many other issues during their meeting, the Russian foreign ministry reported.

“The return of refugees and temporarily displaced persons to Nagorno Karabakh and adjacent regions in accordance with the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed”, the statement says.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia reports 116 daily coronavirus cases

Chatinian Lara

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 11:06,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. 116 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 224,967, the ministry of healthcare reports.

3477 COVID-19 tests were conducted on June 28.

73 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 216,718.

The death toll has reached 4514 (4 death cases have been registered in the past one day).

The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19, but died because of another disease has reached 1099.

The number of active cases is 2636.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

In Dhaka’s empty Armenian church, a lone Hindu caretaker

Chatinian Lara
Dhaka Tribune , Bangladesh
June 22 2021
AFP
  • Published at 04:22 pm June 22nd, 2021
In this picture taken on February 11, 2021, devout Hindu Shankar Ghosh poses for a photo in front of an Armenian Church in Dhaka AFP

Baptisms and weekly mass haven’t been held in the church for several decades

With no priest to minister and no faithful to pray, an Armenian church in Bangladesh has one last parishioner: a Hindu caretaker doing his “sacred duty” to preserve a relic of the city’s former commercial elite.

Shankar Ghosh makes the sign of the cross before opening the entrance of the striking white and yellow edifice, built 240 years ago in the capital Dhaka. 

Back then the city was home to hundreds of Armenians, a diaspora that traced its roots in the Muslim-majority nation back to the 16th century and eventually rose to become prominent traders, lawyers and public officials.

The last known descendant of this community left Bangladesh several years ago — but not before entrusting the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Holy Resurrection to Ghosh, who had already lived within its grounds for half of his life.

“I love this work. I consider it a sacred duty bestowed upon me,” the 61-year-old told AFP.

“Whether it is a church, temple or mosque, I believe all are for one God.”

Four decades ago, Ghosh worked at a jute factory — an industry pioneered by Armenians in the region — where he struck up a friendship with the family running it.

Through them, he met church custodian Michael Joseph Martin, who invited Ghosh to be his assistant. 

The young man moved into the church compound in 1985 and never left.

“It is a home of God and I thought no other work would better suit me,” Ghosh said.

His 30-year-old son was born in the compound and acts as its resident historian. When Martin moved to Canada in 2014, he handed his protege the keys to the church.

Ghosh became full-time custodian after Martin died last year at the age of 89, and is now supported by overseas Armenians — led by Los Angeles-based businessman Armen Arslanian — who keep the church running.

In this picture taken on February 11, 2021, devout Hindu Shankar Ghosh works inside of an Armenian Church in Dhaka /AFP

‘This beautiful place’

Ghosh is drawn to tranquillity of the grounds in the heart of the capital’s Armanitola neighbourhood, which was named for the city’s Armenian community.

Narrow and congested roads, flanked by residential blocks and wholesale markets, lay just beyond the compound.

But within the grounds, the cacophony of traffic horns fade away and birdsong rises from a small garden.

Young couples and students gather under the garden’s trees, sharing private moments in the shade.

Each morning, Ghosh emerges from the compound where he lives with his wife and two children to open the church doors and light candles on the altar.

He utters a non-denominational prayer for 400 Armenians — once prominent members of Dhaka and now buried under neat rows of tombstones next to the building.

Several assistants help him maintain the church and feed the half a dozen stray dogs living in the grounds. 

Baptisms and weekly mass haven’t been held in the church for several decades.

But the church comes to life every Easter and Christmas, when a Catholic priest holds services attended by ambassadors stationed in Dhaka.

Ghosh often strolls around the tombstones — the earliest dating back to 1714, decades before the church was built.

Laying a flower on the grave of Martin’s late wife Veronica — the last Armenian to be buried in the compound, in 2005 — Ghosh hopes her husband’s remains are brought back to Dhaka.

“He belongs here in this beautiful place,” he said, adding that he too hoped to be buried in the grounds after his death.



https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2021/06/22/empty-armenian-church-s-last-worshipper-in-bangladesh
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USC Tacori Center Workshop Series Focuses on Challenges Facing Armenia

Chatinian Lara

Scenes from USC Taacori Center’s program sessions, which were held between April and June of 2021

Imagine an academic center in Armenia hosting artists, policymakers, scholars, authors, practitioners, scientists from all over Armenia, Artsakh and the world – giving them time and space to work, to learn from each other, and to turn ideas into actions.

Twenty-five minutes outside of Yerevan, Armenia, in the serene village of Maiakovski, The USC Tacori Center will do just that.

The USC Tacori Center has piloted several programs in anticipation of an official opening later this year. No longer delayed by COVID-19, the Center has already begun to serve as a hub for international scholars, students, artists, and journalists, offering a shared space for research, collaboration, and creation.

The Tacorian Family, founders of Tacori Jewelry, gifted the university the use of their large two-story house and continue to offer support for the programs that take place there. The house, and its adjacent mini-fruit orchard, are in a beautiful village named for Russian poet, playwright Vladimir Maiakovski (1893 to 1930).

The Institute is grateful to the Tacorian family for their vision at such a pivotal time in Armenia’s and the Diaspora’s future.

Already this year, five different program sessions took place between April and June.

First, there was Dee-Zoom, a program that invited members of Armenia’s design community and design specialists from six countries for a discussion on challenges and industry gaps. Local and international best practices were shared to improve the diversity and quality of the design industry in the country. 

In May 2021, graduate level students from Armenia gathered at the USC Tacori Center for a four-day Critical Social Science Workshop with Professor Vicken Cheterian from Geneva’s Webster University. The students participated in sessions on Armenia’s geopolitical challenges in the context of domestic expectations and post-Soviet constraints. 

During the same month, media representatives and professors gathered for three additional workshops to define methods of collaboration and to begin to set Armenia’s research agenda –  what are the urgent questions that need to be asked and answered?

The Center’s future programs will invite participants from Gyumri, Vanadzor, Stepanakert and other regions, for art residencies, translation workshops, international student retreats, exhibitions, and conferences, all of which will examine some aspect of the social, cultural, educational, and political challenges facing Armenia, Karabakh, and the Armenian communities in the Diaspora.

‘Page of falsifying election results irreversibly closed in Armenia’ – caretaker PM

Chatinian Lara

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 11:50,

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The assessment of the local and international observers is definite that the elections were held in accordance with the international standards, Caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during today’s Cabinet meeting.

“We, in fact, have set a new standard. When snap parliamentary elections were held in 2018 and received an unprecedented high assessment by the international community, there was such a context that time, which said that the results of the elections were obvious to all from the very beginning, and the government had no need to falsify them.

The possible results of the 2021 elections were not predictable, all knew that perhaps the most unpredictable elections in the history of the third Republic were being held. And it’s very important that we have recorded our political will and value system that voters’ _expression_ of free will is a crucial value for us”, Pashinyan said.

Commenting on the criminal cases launched over election bribes, he stated: “Of course, there are criminal cases over election bribes and illegal influence on voters’ will. I am sure they will be properly examined, but I want to believe that the page of falsifying the results of the elections is irreversibly closed in Armenia”, he said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenpress: Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 22-06-21

Chatinian Lara

Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 22-06-21

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 17:47,

YEREVAN, 22 JUNE, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 22 June, USD exchange rate down by 0.22 drams to 513.07 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.98 drams to 609.73 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.02 drams to 7.01 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.30 drams to 711.63 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 19.62 drams to 29280.48 drams. Silver price down by 7.28 drams to 428.14 drams. Platinum price down by 502.43 drams to 17155.41 drams.

Armenia ombudsman: Acting PM’s constant display of hammer, figurative comparisons are inadmissible

Chatinian Lara
News.am, Armenia
June 16 2021
13:34, 16.06.2021

This statement refers to a number of problematic issues from the point of view of human rights, which were recorded during yesterday’s campaign in Syunik Province. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Armenia (RA), Arman Tatoyan, on Wednesday wrote this on Facebook, and in connection with Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s election campaign Tuesday in Syunik.

“1. The constant display of a hammer and the figurative comparisons, which can make people think of solving problems with a hammer, are inadmissible. (…).

Threatening—with law enforcement agencies (…)—other political forces participating in the election campaign is inadmissible.

The context in which the term ‘steel mandate’ is constantly used associated with human rights violations is worrying.

After speeches with such rhetoric by the acting Prime Minister, other high-ranking officials also start—with the same principle—making statements with a vocabulary of hatred and violence, threatening with the intervention of the Police (…).

2. The status of the RA Prime Minister does not include making threats against local self-government bodies, in particular, community leaders.

The matter is that community leaders are officials elected by a primary mandate, by secret ballot of the RA citizen, whereas such an assessment by the Acting Prime Minister is first of all problematic in terms of guaranteeing the citizens’ political rights, first of all the right to elect.

3. The speech of the RA Acting Prime Minister about mass dismissals is connected with mass violations of labor rights and arbitrary interventions.

The need to address the mentioned issues is also conditioned by the fact that the RA Acting Prime Minister is perceived by the people as the RA Prime Minister, and not as the acting, during the election campaign rallies,” Tatoyan added, in particular.

CivilNet: #ArmVote21 Candidates Debate the Karabakh Issue

Chatinian Lara
CIVILNET.AM

16 Jun, 2021 09:06

The Civilitas Foundation organized a discussion-debate on the “Artsakh Conflict and Security” on June 16.

The speakers were the representatives of the ten major political forces which are running in the June 20 snap parliamentary election. 

The Liberal Party, the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Bright Armenia Party, the Armenian National Congress Party, the I Have Honor Alliance, and the Citizen’s Decision Party were among the participants.