Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Music From Her Homeland

Emil Lazarian
May 1 2022

 

BY JUDY CARMACK BROSS

“At this time when we cannot ignore the suffering in Ukraine, we also honor through our music the Armenian people, victims of genocide in 1915, by looking at what they lost and what it means to be lost.” –Pianist Marta Aznavoorian

 

Marta Aznavoorian.

Multiple Grammy-nominated pianist Marta Aznavoorian chose April 24, the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when 1.2 million women, children, and the elderly were arrested and exiled on death marches from Turkey, as the release date of her album Gems From Armenia. She and her sister, cellist Ani Aznavoorian, will perform music from the album, which spotlights music from their ancestral homeland, at the Music Institute of Chicago’s concert May 15th in Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.

“We were raised in the Chicago area, but we look back two and three generations to see what it must have been like for those brave people who survived to abandon their own country and enter a new one. We reflect on Ukraine and the Holocaust as well. Even after 100 years, the Armenian community still feels the impact of that genocide,” she says.

 

Aznavoorian with sister Ani.

The Cedille Records’ album marks the recording debut of her and her sister’s joint ensemble, the Aznavoorian Duo. She describes the Armenian music chosen for her CD as “very melancholy, very passionate, all in a minor mode.” Among the works that the Aznavoorian Duo have chosen will be by the Armenian priest, Komitas, the composer, musicologist, and singer thought to be the founder of the Armenian national school of music.

During the genocide, he was one of the many Armenian intellectuals arrested and sent to a prisoner of war camp by the Ottomans. A few years before the genocide, Komitas spent summers in the Armenian countryside, developing a close relationship with villagers, transcribing and preserving rural Armenian songs that became his book of 50 songs. In saving and recording so many of these folk songs, Komitas is thought to have saved the cultural heritage of Western Armenia.

“Komitas documented thousands of songs, which have survived. Even though he survived the genocide and was finally moved to a hospital in Paris, the atrocities that he saw were too much for him,” Aznavoorian explains.

The program also features selections from the CD, including works by Alexander Arutiunian, Arno Babajanian, Aram Khachaturian, Serouj Kradjian, Vache Sharafyan, and Avet Terterian.

 Aznavoorian grew up in Barrington in a family that loved classical music: “I often performed at church as I was growing up, and I think my father always hoped that my brother, sister, and I would perform as a trio. I began my classes at the Music Institute as a young child and studied there until college.”

She continues, “The Music Institute has really expanded in recent years and offers education at a very high level. There are many more live performances and efforts to make its music accessible for all. I love exploring music with my students, both children and adults. I am teaching most of the day, with travels to performances usually every other weekend.”

Having performed internationally as an orchestral soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, and many other acclaimed institutions, she is a founding member of the celebrated Lincoln Trio, which has toured the world with its performances.

A faculty member in the Music Institute’s Piano Department since 1999, she recently was named to the prestigious position as Artist in Residence. This position, made possible by the support of Jim Stone, encourages, promotes, and rewards excellence in musicianship and instruction while acknowledging excellent faculty contributions to their field, the Institute, and the community. She is expanding her ambassadorial work for the Music Institute to support performances, master classes, community outreach, and fundraising activities.

Aznavoorian, also a lecturer at the DePaul School of Music, has recently founded Keynote Productions, a non-profit which awards scholarships to underserved students wanting to further their musical education.

On teaching online during the pandemic, she says, “In that dark and lonely time, I discovered that this was a very nice alternative. I still have students who prefer to study online and if someone is feeling a little sick, you don’t have to worry. I love to teach and this is a great opportunity for me too, so even when I am on the road, we have been able to carry on with my students’ love of music.”

Though she feels she is not yet at the “finish line” of her career, Aznavoorian is enjoying all that she does and the close relationships she has with places like the Music Institute: “I have great admiration for Mark George, the Institute’s president and CEO, who with all his other accomplishments has made the faculty feel like family to one another. As Artist in Residence, I am asked to represent the Institute whose mission is very compatible to my own. I now have more opportunities to make decisions, be more of a presence in my master classes, and cultivate our mission.”

 

The Aznavoorian Duo will perform Sunday, May 15, at 3 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. The performance also will be available online streaming live. For more information, visit nicholsconcerthall.org.

https://classicchicagomagazine.com/music-from-her-homeland/

Armenian Labor Migrants Reassess Work in Collapsing Russian Economy

Emil Lazarian
May 1 2022
By Ani Mejlumyan for Eurasianet

Despairing of the economic options in her home country, Marine Khachatryan found work at a flower shop in Moscow’s outskirts in 2020, while her husband got work in construction.

But then came the invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in punishing Western sanctions and a crisis in Russia’s economy.

“We came here to make money and up until the war, we were fine. Now, nobody wants to buy flowers and the owner [of the shop] keeps losing money,” said Khachatryan. “I thought about trying to get another job, but Russia is getting more expensive.” So instead she has decided to move back to Armenia. “It’s a nightmare. I can go back to working in beauty salons, but I don’t know what my husband will do.”

Every year, tens of thousands of Armenians — especially men from smaller towns and villages — travel to Russia for seasonal labor, particularly in construction.

Estimates of exact numbers vary widely. Armenia itself reports that about 80,000 go to Russia for seasonal work every year. But Russian data puts the figure at 300,000, which would be more than 10% of Armenia’s population. 

Unknown numbers of other recent migrants from Armenia live in Russia more permanently, some even gaining Russian citizenship, but still send money back to family in Armenia, a critical part of the country’s economy.

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In 2021, remittances from Russia amounted to $865 million, according to Armenia’s central bank. That was equivalent to nearly 5% of the country’s GDP. 

That figure is now set to drop dramatically. “It could be up to a 40% decrease,” Finance Minister Tigran Khachatryan told the Armenian state news agency on March 28. 

Armenian labor migrants say that many jobs in Russia are disappearing, and in the ones that remain, the salaries – once converted to Armenian drams – are unpredictable. In the early days of Russia’s invasion and the sanctions that were swiftly imposed in retaliation, the ruble lost half its value, though it has since recovered.

“Salaries have shrunk, and it’s possible that employers are not going to be able to pay at all,” said Tatevik Bezhanyan, an expert on migration at the charity group Armenian Caritas. “For now they can still pay, but if the situation doesn’t get better there definitely are going to be issues,” she told Eurasianet.

Remittances “are likely to decline with weaker economic activity in Russia, the depreciating ruble, and restrictions on financial flows from Russia,” the World Bank said in a report last month. “Under a more severe contraction in Russia, many migrants may be forced to return to Armenia putting pressure on labor markets and fiscal spending.”

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the World Bank had projected Armenian GDP growth of 5.3% in 2022. Now it’s revised that down to 1.2%. 

Russia has not released figures so far this year measuring migrant flows and how they might have changed. Usually the Interior Ministry publishes data by April, but this year the release is late, Bezhanyan said. “My Russian colleagues say that there is just a big outflow out of Russia and so maybe they are being cautious about this,” she said. 

Seasonal migrant laborers typically start arriving in Russia in March, when the weather begins to allow construction work. So it is still early to judge the impact of the new situation on labor migration, but Bezhanyan said that initial indications are not good.

“We have already received notices that employers are having difficulties paying,” she said. One practice employers have been trying, in order to save money, is to ask workers to work off the books. “But we always advise not to agree to that, since it can result in getting deported. And if there is no contract specifying the amount of the salary, they can forget about getting paid. We have already been seeing problems like this.”

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Arsen, a construction worker (who asked that his last name not be used), has been working in Russia’s Urals region since February.  

“When the ruble collapsed we talked to our foreman, since we would be making half of what we were getting before,” he said. “After two weeks, they told us that we could get higher pay if we terminated our contracts and worked off the books. We did it, and now we haven’t been paid in two months.”

Because of international financial sanctions against Russia, transferring money back home also is more difficult, with the Russian Zolotaya Korona service now the only option for sending money to Armenia and new restrictions on the amounts that can leave Russia. 

As a result, many regular migrants are staying home this year. “Some found jobs here and are not complaining about the pay, given the costs in Russia. They can live in their houses in Armenia and see no reason to go to Russia,” Bezhanyan said. 

So far, the Armenian government has only come up with an indirect way to address the issue. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has introduced a proposal to boost the construction sector by offering subsidized loans for home renovations that include improving energy efficiency. 

“Due to well-known circumstances, uncertainties have arisen regarding our citizens going abroad for work,” he said at аn April 15 cabinet meeting. “We have decided to launch a state program, within the framework of which we offer citizens to take subsidized loans to rebuild their apartments. […] We hope that with this we will make a significant contribution to housing, the economy, small business, and poverty alleviation.”

Bezhanyan is skeptical. “This is definitely an indirect approach,” she said. “It’s clear that these people see the danger [in staying in Russia] and they are creating a foundation for themselves to be able to move to Armenia, but we need to take steps so they don’t come back to Armenia and then leave for another country. There has to be a more systematic approach.”

This story was first published by Eurasianet.org.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/01/armenian-labor-migrants-reassess-work-in-collapsing-russian-economy-a77545

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https://eurasianet.org/armenian-labor-migrants-reassess-work-in-collapsing-russian-economy

Armenia opposition MP: How did US, France, Russia talk about Karabakh status after war?

Emil Lazarian
NEWS.am
Armenia – May 1 2022
17:31, 01.05.2022

Nikol speaks about the need to lower the bar in the Artsakh issue. But how was it that after the war the United States, France, and Russia were talking about the status of Karabakh? Hayk Mamijanyan, the secretary of the opposition “With Honor” Faction of the National Assembly of Armenia,  stated this during the opposition’s large rally Sunday at France Square in downtown Yerevan—and referring to PM Nikol Pashinyan’s recent statement.

“It means that either our country is in a worse situation than after the [Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)] war [in the fall of 2020], or you, Nikol, want to lower the bar [on the status of Artsakh]. In both cases the answer is the same: Nikol, you have to leave [power]! I call on citizens to join the rally. You shape the future of the country. Traitors have no place in that future,” Mamijanyan added, in particular.

Armenia ex-President Serzh Sargsyan: For 10 years international community said Artsakh should self-determine

Emil Lazarian
NEWS.am
Armenia – May 1 2022
23:17, 01.05.2022

Don’t pay attention to the statements that the international community was saying that the status bar of Artsakh should be lowered. Third President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia told this to reporters at France Square in downtown Yerevan.

“For ten years the international community was saying that Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] should self-determine,” Sargsyan added.

Armenian Speaker of Parliament receives Georgian Foreign Minister

Emil Lazarian

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 12:59,

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan received today Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ilia Darchiashvili, the Parliament’s press service said.

Alen Simonyan congratulated Ilia Darchiashvili on assuming office and on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He said that the constant development of the special friendly relations with Georgia is among Armenia’s priorities, which is also reflected in the Armenian government’s 2021-2026 action plan.

The sides discussed issues relating to regional security and stability. The Parliament Speaker said that for this purpose Armenia is taking steps to improve the relations with all its neighbors.

He reminded Azerbaijan’s constant violations of the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement, stating that these actions are directed to exerting psychological pressure on the people of Nagorno Karabakh and disrupting the normal operation of vital infrastructure there. The meeting also touched upon the issue of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives held in Azerbaijan. Alen Simonyan reaffirmed the priority of guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh and the importance of the status of Nagorno Karabakh, attaching great importance to the launch of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan around a peace treaty and the implementation of other respective actions.

The Georgian Foreign Minister thanked for the welcome and said that Georgia is always ready for close cooperation and support to contribute to peace. He said peaceful neighborhood and resisting challenges together are important for the development of the region.

The sides highlighted the necessity of moving on in all directions for developing the bilateral ties.

Armenia offers Babylon-era maps to Azerbaijan to demarcate borders

Emil Lazarian
PanARMENIAN
Armenia –
– 11:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev statement that the process of clarifying the borders with Armenia will be based on all the maps beginning from 1918 and to those that existed before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Aliyev maintained that according to some of the maps of 1918-1920, Yerevan and the province of Syunik were allegedly part of Azerbaijan.

“We are not against researching maps. But why limit ourselves to the 20th century? We can start from the maps created in Babylon in the 6th century BC, or by Herodotus in the 5th century BC, or by Strabo in the 1st century BC, or created by Claudius Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, or from the maps created by Pliny the Elder in the same period, and then to continue with numerous Latin, Byzantine, Arabic and other geographical descriptions and maps of later periods. Armenia has no fear of not finding itself on those maps,” A.

However, given that we are interested in the effective work of the future Commission on demarcation and border security, the Republic of Armenia believes that this work should be based on maps that are accepted by both sides and have legal value.

Aliyev has said on numerous occasions that the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Sevan and Syunik are all “historical lands” of Azerbaijan.

Destruction of Armenian cultural, religious heritage in territories under Azerbaijan`s control especially grave problem – Armenian FM

Emil Lazarian
ARMINFO
Armenia –
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan continues violating international law and the relevant points of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, keeping the Armenian POWs and  civilians, Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan stated at a news conference  held jointly with his Georgian counterpart Ilya Darchiashvili. 

He pointed out unsolved humanitarian problems in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

“An especially grave problem is Azerbaijan changing the identity and  destroying the Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the  territories under Azerbaijan’s control after the 44-day war. The last  example is the desecration of the Holy Resurrection church in Hadrut.  A visit of a UNESCO fact-finding mission to the region is extremely  important for preventing further acts of vandalism,” Mr Mirzoyan  said. 

Blinken says U.S. trying to prevent Yerevan, Baku from taking steps that would revert to conflict

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The United States is negotiating with Azerbaijan and Armenia to prevent any steps that would lead to a renewed conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday.

His remarks came after Congressman Jim Costa asked him to comment on the situation around Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) at a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“This is something I have been very engaged on, including throughout the Ukraine situation,” Blinken said.

“I have spoken repeatedly with Prime Minister Pashinyan from Armenia as well as President Aliyev of Azerbaijan, trying first of all to make sure that no one takes any steps that would potentially revert to conflict, but also to try to advance and support a long term political settlement,” the diplomat said, adding he has also repeatedly spoken with the foreign ministers of the two countries.

MP Abrahamyan reacts to Aliyev’s statements on border delimitation with Armenia

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

MP Tigran Abrahamyan of the opposition With Honor (Pativ Unem) bloc on Friday reacted to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statements on the border delimitation and demarcation with Armenia.

“Today, the Azerbaijan president spoke about the process of delimitation and demarcation of the border with Armenia, noting that there is no specific map on the basis of which a border agreement will be signed with Armenia in the future,” the lawmaker wrote on Facebook.

“The latter noted that the history and maps created after the Sovietization of the South Caucasus should be taken into account when determining the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but the process should not be based on a single map. As an example, Aliyev pointed to the 1920 map alleging that “Yerevan and Zangezur were Azerbaijani territories, while Armenia had no border with Iran.”

“It’s now clear what the “peace agenda” of Armenia and Azerbaijan is about, isn’t it? In addition to distorting history, Azerbaijan has now decided to build its policy selectively: to take the most favorable circumstances for Azerbaijan from maps of different times and to settle all disputes concerning the uncertainty of maps in line with its maximalist approaches and the threat of force,” Abrahamyan said.


Consultation chaired by Nikol Pashinyan and Arayik Harutyunyan held in Yerevan

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

A consultation took place at the government of Armenia chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Artsakh’s President Arayik Harutyunyan on the programs being implemented in Artsakh and the ways to solve the existing problems. Officials representing the financial and economic bloc of the governments of Armenia and Artsakh took part in the discussion, the prime minister’s office reported on Friday.

Before starting the discussion, Nikol Pashinyan and Arayik Harutyunyan made opening remarks, which are provided below.

Nikol Pashinyan:

Honorable President of the Republic of Artsakh,

Dear colleagues,

I am glad to see you, welcome. Of course, we are in constant, daily contact, but such meetings give an opportunity to summarize the joint work, to plan further activities.

I want to emphasize the following circumstance. In fact, both before and after the 44-day war in 2020, and also during the war, we always coordinated our work and assessed it important that the authorities of Artsakh be fully informed about our plans, including the content and process, challenges and opportunities of the negotiations on Nagorno Karabakh conflict.This principle has always been observed, will remain the same.

You know, sometimes I think that there is no need to emphasize that, because it’s so logical that sometimes it can even be superfluous. But once again I want to state that the number one beneficiary of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is Artsakh, the people of Artsakh. And, consequently, thinking about negotiating, implementing something secretly is simply illogical, it is simply impossible to imagine such a thing.

That’s why we are always in touch with you, Mr. President. Our other partners also work in parallel with Artsakh’s partners.

I consider it important, I appreciate your recent statement that the Artsakh authorities are also, in fact, adopting the peace agenda. And I want to say that the agenda of peace is in no way an agenda of defeat. The agenda of peace is the agenda of overcoming the horror of war, the difficulties that followed the war, it’s an agenda to guarantee the security, the rights, the future of the people. And I must say that as a result of very hard work, I have to state today that I see the way, moreover, I see the sequence of steps that should lead us to the destination that we are constantly talking about, discussing. That is, the guarantee of the security and rights of the people of the Republic of Armenia, of the Artsakh Republic and, as I have said before, there is a very important principle, that is the people of Artsakh should live in Artsakh, consider themselves Armenians of Artsakh, Armenian of Karabakh, Armenian in one word. And this is the agenda that we must move forward together.

But I also want to say that a huge part of our joint work is related to the socio-economic sphere. And this is a key issue, because it is essential that we do everything to make conditions for the people to live in Artsakh, to feel safe, to see their future living in Artsakh. Of course, this also goes for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, about the Republic of Armenia, I am convinced that we are moving in the right direction. This is very important. I am convinced that we are moving in the right direction, I am happy, when the Artsakh authorities share that conviction.

I once again welcome you, Mr. President, dear colleagues, wishing a fruitful discussion today.

Arayik Harutyunyan

Honorable Mr. Prime Minister,

Dear colleagues,

Fortunately, today there is a general political atmosphere in Artsakh, the Armenians of Artsakh first of all, of course, welcome and accept the agenda of peace, because there might be no one who knows the price of peace better than the people of Artsakh. But, on the other hand, I want to note that we do not see any direction to deviate from our right to self-determination, which we started from the first day of the movement. Therefore, I want to thank you for the opinion that any topic, any document will be discussed with the Artsakh government, and naturally, will stem from the mood of the people. Of course, it should be noted that no other way is possible, that is, it is not possible to have a document that will be rejected by the people of Artsakh. We all understand that, and in that sense we have a long political struggle.

The second is the security component, which is the most important today. Fortunately, recently it seems to have stabilized with the direct mediation of Russian peacekeepers, and today provides an opportunity to discuss socio-economic programs.

And the most important is the socio-economic at this stage. If there is no population in Artsakh, then it becomes meaningless to talk about the political struggle and security. That is why the demographics, the socio-economic programs are becoming important again today, the programs that started after the war are continuing. And we think that they should not only continue, but awe should also complete the ambitious programs we have started. And our main goal, the main issues at this stage are the political, security, demographic and socio-economic issues. We never faced any problems over those. But there are some questions on which we expect to receive answers during today’s discussion, which will determine our further steps in terms of continuing those programs. Thank you.

Nikol Pashinyan:

Mr. President, you have rightly noted that security is the number one issue today, and I have to note that the invasion of the Azerbaijani units into the responsibility zone of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh continues to be a concern for us. And we, as we have said several times, continue to hold that position, expressing hope that the representatives of the Russian peacekeeping contingent will consistently ensure the withdrawal of Azerbaijani units from the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh. This is an important issue, I think it is an important issue also for the people of Artsakh for assessing the system of security guarantees that is currently introduced in Artsakh. Thank you.