Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Holocaust memorial in Yerevan, Armenia vandalized

Ekmekjian Janet
Jerusalem Post
Feb 12 2021
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF  

FEBRUARY 12, 2021 12:31
The “To Live and Not Forget” Holocaust memorial in the Armenian city of Yerevan was desecrated with paint sprayed all over the Hebrew writings.
The memorial was built to honor both the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide victims and consists of two primary pillars, with “To Live and Not Forget: To the Memory of the Victims of the Genocides of the Armenian and Jewish Peoples” written in Armenian on the right pillar and Hebrew on the left pillar.
Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan’s spokesperson Hakob Karapetyan strongly condemned the desecration, noting that such incidents must be ruled out in Yerevan “where representatives of various nations are living side by side as Yerevantsis.”
“The desecration of any memorial is extremely unacceptable, moreover the kind of memorials which are related to the minorities living in the city. I think this problem should be solved through cooperation with the law enforcement agencies,” Karapetyan said when asked about actions for ruling out similar incidents in the future, given the fact that this is already the second time this particular memorial is targeted by vandals in the last few months, the Armenian Press website reported. 

Vice Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan from the ruling My Step bloc strongly condemned the desecration of the Holocaust and Armenian Genocide memorial in central Yerevan, the Armenian Press website also reported. 
“We strongly condemn the desecration of the memorial of the Genocides of the Jewish and Armenian Peoples located in the Yerevan Circular Park,” Simonyan said in a statement.
“This manifestation of vandalism is nothing else but a crime against universal values, and it should be properly investigated, and those who committed this crime should be held to account in order to rule out and prevent the repetition of such incidents in the future,” Simonyan said.
The World Jewish Congress reacted to the desecration on Twitter, calling it “vile antisemitic graffiti.”

Among the many people who posted pictures on Twitter of the vandalized memorial, Rabbi Zamir Isayev shared his consternation.

Yerevan Police said an investigation was launched to identify the vandals. 

COVID-19: Armenia reports 190 new cases, 358 recoveries in one day

Ekmekjian Janet

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 11:06, 3 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. 190 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 167,421, the ministry of healthcare said today.

358 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 158,693.

7 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 3096.

2580 tests were conducted in the past one day.

The number of active cases is 4855.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

President of the parliament of Armenia thanks UNDP Resident Representative for cooperation

Ekmekjian Janet

President of the parliament of Armenia thanks UNDP Resident Representative for cooperation

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 19:38, 4 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received on February 4 Resident Representative of UNDP in Armenia Dmitry Mariassin, who completes his mission in Armenia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the National Assembly of Armenia, at the beginning of the meeting Ararat Mirzoyan thanked Dmitry Mariassin for the cooperation and the joint programs implemented in various spheres.

During the meeting the sides referred to the cooperation between the Armenian parliament and the UNDP, which is aimed at the strengthening of institutional capacities of the parliament.

Resident Representative of UNDP in Armenia Dmitry Mariassin thanked for the effective cooperation with the National Assembly f Armenia during his tenure.

Mirzoyan also referred to the Azerbaijani military aggression against Artsakh last autumn and the heavy consequences of the war, assessing the urgent return of the POWs and other detainees as a priority. The President of the parliament also highlighted the speedy elimination of other humanitarian problems and the active involvement of international partners in those activities.

Ararat Mirzoyan wished Dmitry Mariassin new achievements in his future activities.

Konstantin Ishkhanov supports Khachaturian Trio’s return to concert activities

Ekmekjian Janet

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 15:41, 5 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The famous Khachaturian Trio, an ensemble which performs frequently and actively around the world under usual circumstances, was forced to take a break of almost a year — cancelling major tours in Europe (Germany and Austria), the USA and Russia. Their most recent public appearance was a tour of cities in Russia and the Baltic states in February 2020.

The light at the end of the tunnel, however, may fortunately be in sight, with 10th February marking the Khachaturian Trio’s first concert since early last year. Auspiciously taking place at the Khachaturian House-Museum, this concert will also serve as the trio’s inaugural performance of the year, with further appearances planned in March as the trio embarks on an eleven-date tour of cities in Russia.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the ensemble’s cellist and founding member, Karen Kocharyan, will not be present for these concerts. The trio warmly welcomes the talented young performer Artyom Ioanisyan, who will take Kocharyan’s place for these engagements.

Speaking of their anticipation for the upcoming performances, the trio’s pianist and Director of the Khachaturian House-Museum, Armine Grigoryan, said: “It has been a long time since I have appreciated the value of rehearsals so much and had such a desire to play music, as I do now. It feels like we are preparing to go on stage for the first time all over again, even though the ensemble is more than twenty years old. We are very pleased with this opportunity, and we are immensely grateful to the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) and personally to Konstantin Ishkhanov, the President of the Foundation, who supported our idea for this series of concerts”.

Noting their longstanding collaboration and his close following of their performances, EUFSC President, Konstantin Ishkhanov, said: “I must say that we have cooperated often and successfully in the past. The Khachaturian Trio has performed at our festivals in Malta, Kazakhstan, Russia and Italy, and I am very happy to be able to help the ensemble get back to full-fledged concert activity. The development and success of Armenian musicians such as the Khachaturian Trio is very important to me, and I hope we will continue to work together on projects in the future.”

The Khachaturian Trio will perform at 19:00 on February 10th at the Khachaturian House-Museum in Yerevan. The programme includes works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak, and the premiere of a new trio by Alexey Shor.

Armenia PM: We must try to make decisions within framework of Amulsar gold mine investment project

Ekmekjian Janet
News.am, Armenia
Feb 4 2021
14:15, 04.02.2021

Whether we like it or not, the mining industry plays a very important role in the development of Armenia’s economy, including in the security context. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia, referring to the Economic Response Program and the preliminary action plan, which was approved at this meeting.

“It is important to note that here, too, we must make decisions, make certain investment projects more important and acceptable for Armenia and Armenia’s society. Here, too, we must try to make such decisions, including within the framework of the well-known investment project of Amulsar [gold mine], taking into account the balanced interests of Armenia, we must try to find solutions,” Pashinyan added.

Armenians who repatriated to Armenia meet with opposition’s unified candidate for PM Vazgen Manukyan

Ekmekjian Janet
News.am, Armenia
Feb 3 2021
Armenians who repatriated to Armenia meet with opposition’s unified candidate for PM Vazgen Manukyan
20:52, 03.02.2021

The opposition Homeland Salvation Movement has posted the following on its Facebook page:

“During a meeting with Vazgen Manukyan, the opposition’s unified candidate for Prime Minister of Armenia, a group of Armenian repatriates told Manukyan that no government of Armenia has ever presented a serious plan for repatriation.

The leaders and representatives of the Return to Armenia organization dealing with repatriation and integration issues and the Repatriation Advisory Office of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party talked about the problems facing Armenians in the Diaspora, the current perceptions of the ideology of repatriation in Armenia and abroad and discussed what can be done to help Armenians abroad return to Armenia.

“Armenia must first have a vision for repatriation and formulate the goals and objectives of repatriation, after which it can develop programs and a strategy,” Manukyan said, adding that these issues were part of the future government’s agenda during the Movement that began in 1988.

The state policy on repatriation must be hinged on not only patriotism and emotions, but must also derive from economic calculations, the country’s security, demography, human and professional resources. The repatriates expressed their views and presented the problems that are creating obstacles for the return to Armenia and later integration.

Manukyan suggested that the attendees prepare a document that can serve as a ground and benchmark for the future authorities of Armenia to develop a concept paper on repatriation and organize the future processes.”

PACE concerned with rapid changes in the composition of Armenia’s Constitutional Court without the opinion of the Venice Commission

Ekmekjian Janet
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 26 2021

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted on Monday its annual report taking stock of its monitoring activities in 2020 and making a series of assessments of the progress of the countries subject to the monitoring procedure or engaged in post-monitoring dialogue.

The adopted resolution, based on a report by Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark, ALDE), welcomes positive developments and progress made, and expresses concern at remaining shortcomings in each of the countries concerned, including Armenia, as well as making specific recommendations. The report was adopted with 70 votes in favour, 22 against and 18 abstentions.

According to the adopted text, the Assembly welcomes the progress in the fight against corruption in Armenia reflected by the improvement in the ranking established by the NGO Transparency International, the adoption of the 2020-2022 strategy to reform police forces, which foresees creating a new Ministry of Interior responsible for law enforcement agencies, the declared intention of the Armenian National Assembly to increase the transparency of political financing, and the ratification of Lanzarote Convention. 

At the same time, the Assembly expresses its concern about the rapid changes in the composition of the Constitutional Court without the opinion of the Venice Commission being fully taken into account. 

The assembly calls to continue pursuing the democratic path it has chosen, and to solve the political crisis that followed the signature of the trilateral statement within the framework of a democratic state that respects the rule of law. 

With regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Assembly calls on all parties involved to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric hindering political dialogue, Armenia and Azerbaijan to implement as soon as possible the provisions of the trilateral statement related to humanitarian issues, all parties involved to immediately put in action the exchange of prisoners of war and bodies, to respect cultural heritage; it invites the Monitoring Committee to explore avenues to contribute at parliamentary level to an atmosphere conducive to the peace process. The Assembly expresses its serious concern about reports and allegations of violations of humanitarian and human rights law by all sides during this conflict and allegations of degradations to some religious sites and monuments, as well as destruction of private property, and expects these reports to be fully investigated and any violations to be remedied and the perpetrators prosecuted.

 

CivilNet: Russia’s Kommersant Publishes Map of Armenia-Azerbaijan Transport Corridors

Ekmekjian Janet
CIVILNET.AM

13 January, 2021 20:28

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper has published a map showing the transportation corridors and railways in the South Caucasus, the opening of which was agreed upon by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan during a meeting in Moscow on January 11.

According to Kommersant’s map, Azerbaijan will get a transport corridor and a railway to its enclave Nakhichevan located west of Armenia (see black and orange lines). These links, which go through Armenia’s southern Syunik region, will connect Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Armenia will be allowed to use that same railway, which goes from Yerevan to Syunik and passes through Nakhichevan (see black line).

Thus, the “transportation agreement” signed in Moscow will effectively open Azerbaijan’s path to Nakhichevan and Turkey,  Russia’s path to Turkey and Armenia, and Armenia’s path to Russia and Iran.

The railway route from Armenia to Russia will pass through the following areas: Yerevan-Nakhichevan-Syunik-Horadiz-Baku-Dagestan.

These routes were actively used during the Soviet years, but have not been operating since the start of the Karabakh conflict. As a result, the Armenian railways were de facto reduced to a small section connecting Yerevan to Tbilisi. Goods from Russia are transported to Armenia via the Lars area, which is regularly closed due to weather conditions.

At the moment, the plans and strategies for ensuring the security of these roads and railways remain uncertain. Those who live near these roads and those who used them during the Soviet times are skeptical about safety guarantees. They tell CIVILNET that even before the start of the Karabakh conflict, during the USSR period, there were significant issues with the security of the roads. It is expected that Russian peacekeepers will play some role in their protection. 

“Kommersant” also notes that the result of the January 11 meeting were received differently in Baku and in Yerevan. In Azerbaijan, the meeting was considered successful because an agreement was reached to unblock economic and transport ties in the region. But in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was blamed for not prioritizing the public’s most urgent issue, which is the return of the captives currently in Azerbaijan. Instead, he discussed an economic agenda during the trilateral negotiations.

Armenpress: Biden names Ike Hajinazarian as White House Regional Communications Director

Ekmekjian Janet

Biden names Ike Hajinazarian as White House Regional Communications Director

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 15:04,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. US President-elect Joe Biden has named Ike Hajinazarian as the White House Regional Communications Director.

Ike Hajinazarian most recently served as the Western Pennsylvania Regional Press Secretary for the Biden campaign after working on the campaign in communications roles during the primary and general elections in New Hampshire, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, and other states, Biden’s office said in a news release.

Prior to joining the campaign, he worked on Capitol Hill, first as Press Assistant to Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana, and later as the Deputy Press Secretary on the House Homeland Security Committee’s Majority Staff. Born in Columbus, Ohio to Lebanese-Armenian immigrant parents, Hajinazarian is a graduate of Indiana University and the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management.

Governor of Shirak Tigran Petrosyan tenders resignation

Ekmekjian Janet

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 12:48,

GYUMRI, JANUARY 15, ARMENPRESS. The Governor of Shirak Province Tigran Petrosyan has tendered his resignation, the acting director of his administration’s press service Araksya Kirakosyan told ARMENPRESS.

Kirakosyan said that Petrosyan will elaborate on the reasons of his resignation after the Cabinet will approve it.

He served as Governor of Shirak since February 2019.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan