Author: Eduard Nalbandian

Head of CoE Office in Yerevan on Armenia signing Istanbul Convention

Eduard Nalbandian
News.am, Armenia
July 3 2019
Head of CoE Office in Yerevan on Armenia signing Istanbul Convention Head of CoE Office in Yerevan on Armenia signing Istanbul Convention

19:25, 03.07.2019
                  

The signing of the Istanbul Convention by Armenia is a big step in the fight against domestic violence. This is what Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Natalia Vutova said in her speech during the launch of the Warning of and Punishment of Domestic Violence in Armenia: Continuation of Work for Ratification of the Istanbul Convention Project today.

According to Vutova, the understanding that men have to be leaders in everything and women must only be passive in society is widespread in not only Armenia, but also other parts of the world.

Vutova added that the EU has created appropriate tools and mechanisms against domestic violence and violence against women.

“Increase of the role of women is in the interests of the whole society. I am glad to mention that the Armenian authorities are widely engaged in the development of the relevant provisions, and this goes to show the existence of political will,” she explained.

Bako Sahakyan attends concert dedicated to 30th anniversary of re-founding of Artsakh Diocese

Eduard Nalbandian

Bako Sahakyan attends concert dedicated to 30th anniversary of re-founding of Artsakh Diocese

Save

Share

10:51,

YEREVAN, JUNE 29, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan attended on June 28 a concert devoted to the 30th anniversary of re-founding of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church held in the Shoushi Culture and Youth Center, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of Artsakh’s President.

World famous singer Patrick Fiori (France), musician Armen Aharonyan (USA), performers from Armenia and Artsakh partook in the concert. 

Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, National Assembly chairman Ashot Ghoulyan, representatives from Armenia and the Diaspora, other officials were present at the event.

Art: Japan to host Ara Guler photo show

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia

An exhibition featuring the works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler will open in Kyoto, Japan on 30 June.

Following successful runs in London and Paris, the Guler show will be exhibited at 800-year-old historical Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto through July 10, timed to coincide with the G20 Summit in the country.

The exhibition’s next stop will be New York City, U.S., at the end of September and is expected to reach many tourists from different countries worldwide.

Another exhibition of the great photographer’s works is set to open at the Turkish Embassy in Italy, Rome in January 2020.

Guler, nicknamed the “Eye of Istanbul,” passed away at a hospital in the Turkish capital in October 2018 after attempts to revive him failed. For years he had suffered from kidney failure and underwent dialysis three times a week.

ANCA-WR Hosts Meetings About Updated L.A. County Election System

Eduard Nalbandian
  • Community

    •  

  • Latest

    •  

  • News

    •  

  • Top Stories

10 hours ago

Residents in the North Hollywood area gather at the ACF Community Center of the Eastern San Fernando Valley to learn about the upcoming changes

Voters from North Hollywood, Burbank, Pasadena, and across Los Angeles County came out for Vote Center Community Meetings. Those in attendance learned more about the updated countywide voting system, set to be implemented for the 2020 Elections. These meetings were hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region and its three local chapters: Crescenta Valley, East San Fernando Valley, and Pasadena.

The ANCA is one of several community organizations asked to help in partnership with L.A. County’s Voting Solutions for All People, or VSAP initiative. Dozens of voters attended these community meetings that were organized at the ACF Community Center of the Eastern San Fernando Valley, the Burbank Public Library, and the Pasadena Convention Center on May 18, May 29, and June 4 respectively. All the meetings were organized with the support and cooperation of the local City Clerk’s Office Elections’ Division.

ANCA-WR Government Relations Coordinator Serob Abrahamian facilitating the Community Meeting at the Burbank Public Library

“The ANCA Pasadena Chapter was proud to collaborate with the City of Pasadena and, in particular, the City Clerk’s office led by City Clerk, Mark Jomsky, as well as partner up with LA County to educate and inform local residents about the important upcoming changes to the voting system. It’s essential that we work with the county in providing election services in a fair, accessible and transparent manner,” remarked ANCA-Pasadena Chapter Board Member Donig Donabedian.

These Community Meetings allowed attendees to learn about the new innovative and accessible voting experience, and the implementation of vote centers that will provide convenient locations for voting anywhere in the County over an 11-day voting period. An ANCA representative at each meeting facilitated the meeting and delivered a slideshow presentation detailing the new ballot marking system, which features a touch screen device with a port for headphones and will provide voters with a digital ballot. The presentation also included a short tutorial on how the ballot marking devices will work, as well as a short documentary, called “Democracy by Design,” about VSAP and its collaboration with IDEO, a Silicon Valley design firm helping to build the ballot marking devices.

Residents in Pasadena came together at the Pasadena Convention Center to learn about the changes coming to the voting process in 2020

L.A. County will test the new voting system with a mock election on September 28 – 29 at 50 vote centers. Demo centers will simulate the new process for voters to see and test during weekdays and weekends throughout the county between October and January. The new system will be in use by March 3, 2020, the day of the 2020 California Primary Election.

This service was provided to facilitate information in Armenian in an effort to better serve our community and encourage civic engagement through the ANCA-WR HyeVotes initiative to make our collective voice heard in the electoral process. Additional information and resources on VSAP and its components can be found online.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

Squeeze on Christians in the Holy Land

Eduard Nalbandian
The Times (London)
Saturday
Squeeze on Christians in the Holy Land
A court has upheld a dubious deal giving a Jewish settler group possession of church owned buildings
 
by Michael Binyon
 

The Petra Hostel at Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem, is one of the church-owned properties awarded to the group Ateret CohanimAHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Christian leaders in Jerusalem are aghast at an Israeli Supreme Court judgment this week that upheld a secret and dubious deal giving an extremist Jewish settler group ownership of several strategic properties in the Christian quarter of the Old City.
 
There is a fear among all churches that this will increase pressure on the dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land and encourage fresh attempts by right-wing Israeli politicians to impose new taxes on the large property holdings of many churches. Christian leaders also fear that settler determination to "Judaise" Jerusalem could accelerate Christian emigration, hollowing out the community and threatening regular worship and ageold Christian festivals.
 
The ruling comes 15 years after a former Greek Orthodox Patriarch leased four sites, including a hostel right beside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to Ateret Cohanim, whose aim is to "redeem" land in Jerusalem and expel the city's long-term non-Jewish residents. The 99-year leases were negotiated in secret by a junior 29-year-old official of the patriarchate for a sum less than half the market value. He subsequently fled to Greece, where he was arrested with more than (EURO)100,000 in cash and more than that again in jewellery and watches. He then escaped to Panama.
 
News of the deal caused fury in the Greek Orthodox Church and among other Christian denominations in Jerusalem. Patriarch Irineos was deposed within weeks and reduced in status to a monk, but key documents relating to the contract disappeared. A new patriarch, Theophilos III, was elected and he declared the leases invalid because they were obtained by fraud, without the agreement of the Holy Synod or the patriarch's signature.
 
Ateret Cohanim waited four years before taking legal action in 2008 to take possession of the four sites, comprising a substantial hotel at Jaffa Gate, a smaller nearby hotel, a property near Herod's Gate and the St John hostel, now occupied by settlers with armed guards.
 
In 2017 a Jerusalem district court hearing ruled against the church, which then appealed. The appeal court delivered its final verdict on Monday. Unless substantial new evidence can be produced, this cannot be challenged, even though the judges in both court cases criticised the methods used by Ateret Cohanim.
 
The behaviour of former Patriarch Irineos was widely condemned by Christians in the region and by the other churches, especially because the Greek Orthodox Church is the most senior, has by far the largest land holdings and is one of the three churches – together with the Armenians and the Roman Catholics – with responsibility for guarding the Holy Sepulchre.
 
Recent relations between the Israeli authorities and the 13 Christian churches in Jerusalem have become increasingly fraught. Until recently the city's former mayor Nir Barkat respected the churches' cherished "status quo", which broadly argues that their rights and properties, most of which were established in Ottoman times, should not be changed until the overall political status of Jerusalem has been settled in an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
 
Two years ago, however, he announced new property taxes on church land backdated for the past 27 years, amounting to about $200 million. Fearing bankruptcy, the churches reacted swiftly and in February last year closed the Holy Sepulchre for three days, an unprecedented move, which caught public attention in the US and alarmed Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Within days the new taxes were set aside. However, the churches, co-ordinating their responses to the civil authorities through a council of them all where the Anglicans provide the secretariat, fear that because of the severe shortage of building land in Jerusalem there will be new attempts to tax their properties.
 
In a statement the Greek Patriarchate said: "Our legal team presented a clear case of bribery and corruption at the hands of the plaintiffs, Ateret Cohanim. It is depressing that such corruption is not regarded by the court as having a material impact on the sales that resulted from it." The church's concern now was for the tenants of the properties.
 
Founded in 1978, Ateret Cohanim runs a yeshiva (religious school) in the Old City and buys property from Arabs and Armenians. The organisation reportedly owns more than 70 buildings in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. Most of its considerable funds come from supporters in the US. The judgment on Monday noted that the organisation had paid $35,000 to the Greek patriarchate official who negotiated the deal, and criticised its failure to explain this in court. But it ruled that this did not affect the validity of the sale.
 
Many of the churches in Jerusalem run schools and hospitals, funded by the rents collected from tenants on their lands. The churches say they fulfil a vital function in offering Christians education, although many Muslims also attend these schools, seen as generally of higher standard than state schools in the West Bank. The exodus of Christians from across the West Bank and Jerusalem makes these schools less viable and weakens the argument for the need for churches to retain the large property holdings inherited from Ottoman times.
 
Christian leaders argue, however, that they also have a huge responsibility to maintain holy places and shrines and minister to the increasing number of pilgrims arriving each year. More than two thirds of tourists to Israel are Christians visiting the Holy Land, a factor that carries some weight in the present arguments between various right-wing groups in Israel.
 
The junior official who negotiated the deal has fled to Panama
 
 

EPIC Entrepreneurs Prepare for 10-day Tour of Silicon Valley

Eduard Nalbandian
American University of Armenia
40 Marshal Baghramyan Ave., Yerevan 0019, Republic of Armenia  
Tel: (+374 10) 32 40 40; (+374 60) 69 40 40 | Fax:  (+374 60) 61 25 12  

Webpage: www.aua.am

In one week, student entrepreneurs from the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) will depart Yerevan for Silicon Valley – the global center for high technology, innovation, investment, and social media. In partnership with San Jose State University (SJSU), a dozen students will visit cutting-edge technology companies, interact with entrepreneurs, and participate in workshops and seminars with world leaders in innovation, business, and the tech ecosystem. The program is funded by EPIC benefactor Sara Chitjian.

Students will learn about innovative concepts in both technology and business entrepreneurship, as well as meet and network with Diasporan business leaders, entrepreneurs, and university students. Earlier in the spring, a different group of EPIC student entrepreneurs toured companies in Beirutand visited startups and entrepreneurs in the Beirut Digital District.

Besides the student entrepreneurs from EPIC, all of whom have launched their own startups, the trek will include top performing students from AUA’s Akian College of Science and Engineering (CSE) and the Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics (CBE).  During this tour, students will visit large, high-profile companies, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Pinterest, as well as fast-emerging companies like Doordash, and Parkstash. They will also have the opportunity to visit Silicon Valley’s leading startup incubators, accelerators and investors, including Berkeley SkyDeck, Draper, and Index Ventures.

“It will be an intense 10 days of new information and experience for our students,” said Professor Michael Kouchakdjian, Director of EPIC. “In addition to talks and workshops on leading-edge topics, such as the sharing economy, disruptive innovation, self-driving vehicles, big data, machine learning, and the internet of things, we have organized meetings with the Innovation group at Paypal, the Disruptive technologies team at Google, and a tour of the robot-operated Amazon Fulfillment Center.”

This trip has been carefully designed in partnership with SJSU to enrich and to foster knowledge and growth of Armenia’s young entrepreneurs. This is the first trip to Silicon Valley for most of the students in the group and will be a memorable learning experience while providing them with opportunities to network and advance in their entrepreneurial endeavors. Aside from building business contacts, the students will have time to explore San Francisco and Santa Cruz over the weekend.

“Being a business student, I always dreamed about visiting Silicon Valley – the center of high technology and innovation,” said Naira Paronikyan, an AUA student. “On this trip, I expect to meet influential people who will inspire me to continue to grow. I look forward to hearing about their experiences and career paths, which I hope to apply in my own startup.”

EPIC will be sharing photos and stories from the trek in real time. You can join this trip online by accessing.

Telethon for Georgia’s Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti to be held Sunday in US

Eduard Nalbandian
news.am, Armenia
June 2 2019
 
Telethon for Georgia’s Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti to be held Sunday in US
16:11, 02.06.2019
 
 
A telethon devoted to the densely-Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti Province of Georgia will be held in the United States Sunday, starting from 7pm Armenia time.
 
The event is organized by the Diaspora Unity Platform, the Support to Javakheti Foundation informed in a Facebook post.
 
Those behind this initiative stated that thanks to each and every small donation, Javakheti’s Akhaltsikhe town can have a sports and cultural center.
 

Sports: Armenia’s beach volleyball team takes part in qualifying tournament

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Sport 11:21 28/05/2019 Armenia

The beach volleyball team of Armenia has taken part in the Continental Cup in London, a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The Armenian team included in group B spent two games losing to the teams of England (0-2) and Switzerland (0-2).

The Armenian volleyball players ended up third in the group with a total of 48 points, the Armenian National Olympic Committee reports.

The Bulgarian team included in the same group missed the tournament.

Հայ ժողովուրդն ունի իմաստնություն՝ հաղթահարելու խնդիրներ. նախագահը՝ ՀՀ-ում իրավիճակի մասին

Eduard Nalbandian
  • 20.05.2019

    •  

  • Հայաստան

    •  

  • arm

    •  

  • rus

 53

Հայաստանի Հանրապետության նախագահ Արմեն Սարգսյանն այսօր հանդիպել է Ղազախստանի Հանրապետության խորհրդարանի Վերին պալատի նախագահ Դարիգա Նազարբաևայի հետ: Այս մասին հայտնում են նախագահի մամուլի ծառայությունից:


Հանդիպման ընթացքում քննարկվել են երկու երկրների խորհրդարանների միջև փոխգործակցության խորացման, ինչպես նաև տնտեսական, մշակութային ու հումանիտար ոլորտներում հարաբերությունների զարգացմանն առնչվող հարցեր:


Դարիգա Նազարբաևան շնորհակալություն է հայտնել նախագահ Արմեն Սարգսյանին Ալմաթիում կայնալիք Եվրասիական մեդիա ֆորումին մասնակցության և ֆորումի կայացմանը աջակցության համար:«Դուք շատ բան եք արել արևմտյան մեդիա հանրույթում այս ֆորումի առաջխաղացման համար»,-նշել է նա:


Դարիգա Նազարբաևան հայտնել է, որ իրենք ցանկանում են ընդլայնել համագործակցությունը Հայաստանի Ազգային ժողովի հետ, լիարժեքորեն օգտագործել խորհրդարանական բարեկամական խմբերի ողջ ներուժը:


Զրուցակիցները խոսել են նաև երկու երկների միջև համագործակցության հեռանկարային ուղղություների մասին: Հանրապետության նախագահ Արմեն Սարգսյանը նշել է, որ երկկողմ հարաբերությունները և փոխգործակցությունը խորացնելու մեծ ներուժ կա: «Ներկայիս գործակցության ծավալը շատ փոքր է ու չի համապատասխանում առկա ներուժին և մեկ տնտեսական գոտում գտնվող բարեկամ երկրների հարաբերություններին»,- ասել է նա: Նախագահը հատկապես կարևորել է համագործակցության զարգացումն այնպիսի ուղղություններով, ինչպիսիք են տեղեկատվական տեխնոլոգիաները, արհեստական բանականությունն ու սննդի անվտանգությունը:


Նախագահը Դարիգա Նազարբաևայի խնդրանքով անրադարձել է նաև Հայաստանի ներքաղաքական իրավիճակին: Նա ընդգծել է, որ հայ ժողովուրդն ունի իմաստնություն՝ հաղթահարելու խնդիրներն ու առանց ցնցումների անցնել զարգացման նոր ճանապարհով:

Istanbul-Armenian writer Sevan Nisanyan grated Armenian citizenship

Eduard Nalbandian
Panorama, Armenia
Society 12:06 17/05/2019 Armenia

Istanbul-Armenian writer, linguist, reporter and columnist Sevan Nisanyan, who escaped prison and fled Turkey in 2017, has been granted Armenian citizenship.

“I received my Armenian passport and citizenship papers today from Mr Fadey Charchoghliyan, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in Athens.

“I take pride in being a member of a peaceful and civilized nation that has withstood the tribulations of history by its labor alone.

“I thank Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and all others who helped me achieve this great honor,” he said in a post on Facebook. 

Nisanyan was jailed in Turkey in December 2014, for “construction infractions” and sentenced to over 11 years in prison. The charges that had him locked up stemmed from the renovations and additions to hishotels in Sirince, an old Greek village in Izmir that has become a tourist destination thanks to Nisanyan and his rustic hotel business. However, many intellectuals believed Nisanyan was jailed due to his book ‘The Wrong Republic’, in which he dared to criticize the official history of Turkey.