Author: Emma Jilavian

Azerbaijani Press: "Of course, I will run for president", Ilgar Mammadov

Emma Jilavian
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
Friday
“Of course, I will run for president”, Ilgar Mammadov
 
 ASTNA.biz
 
 
-It is easy to be jailed in our country for the political opinion posted on the social network. You spent about six years in Azerbaijani prisons. It’s too much. How can a decent, socially active person survives in the places of detention, how to preserve dignity and not to break.
 
– I think there are several ways to protect yourself in the emergency conditions of prison life. One way is to understand that the guards, prison system managers are far from sympathetic to the fact that you are there. Some of them directly sympathize with your political activities. There are many of them to make it relevant for your survival. It is necessary to respect those who are in places of detention by the will of fate. Not all convicted and suspected, even if they committed a crime, are bad people. Often the cause of a crime is social injustice in life. It happens that a person is forced to commit an offense, does not control himself, then regrets. If he had remained at liberty, he would have been much more valuable to society than others. But this is life. I often felt protected by guards and prisoners who sympathized with my social and political activities. People on a personal level sympathize with anyone who goes against the unjust system of power, the wrong social structure. This is a protest on a human level, relevant to the survival of political prisoners. Protection by the guards is mostly informational support, whispering important information to me, which is important and helps me navigate. But at the same time they were cruel to me.
 
– What can you do there not to worsen your position?
 
– There are a lot of bans, except for official prison orders. In prisons one cannot violate the customs of the prison community. In some cases, you limit yourself to match your status as a political figure. Such people are respected by prisoners and guards, even carrying out illegal repressive actions on my behalf. I cannot complain about the disrespect by prisoners and guards, even if they carried out illegal and repressive measures against me.
 
– Did you connected your family?
 
– Twice a week I was allowed to talk with my family for 15 minutes; it”s not allowed to call anywhere else by law. The telephone conversation was tapped, not even by one department. Twice a month I could meet with my family. I did not see how my daughter was growing up. She was 9 years old when I first went to prison, and now when I returned home she is 15.
 
Periodically, I was deprived of the right to talk on the telephone, as a reaction of the authorities to an international campaign in my support. In 2015, for a month and a half I was forbidden to call, sometimes restricted, allowing me to call once a week. In 2014, when I was in Sheki, I myself did not allow my family to come there, since Sheki is far from Baku. For a year I have not seen my child twice. Then they brought me to jail number two in Baku. By the repressive actions against me they wanted make me understand my worthlessness and helplessness, to humiliate me, to show complete power over me, wanted me give up, sign an appeal for pardon, repentance, confess guilt or something this kind of. I had to understand how they thought that no one in the world was capable of going against the government that was repressing my person. It was not always; it was from time to time.
 
At first I spent the day in the temporary detention center in Baku. Then about 10 months I spent in the Kurdakhani district detention center. Then, for two months, I was kept in the Ganja remand prison, from where I was taken to the Sheki court, on the way I was in the detention centers of Yevlakh and Mingachevir. Then I was transferred to Sheki prison for 10 months. Then, after the verdict came into force, in my biography, I was in the Shuvelyan isolator, and at the end they brought me to Bina, jail N2, for permanent detention. Eight institutions are enough to understand the places of detention in our country. I cannot compare these institutions, because sometimes there was a bad condition of content, but a good attitude of people, and vice versa. I will not give out, working there.
 
– Has society changed over the period when you were in imprisonment?
 
– I notice a change. For six years, there has been a deterioration in the standard of living, two devaluations of the manat, a decrease in incomes of the population. People have become much more attentive to the critical attitude towards power. If earlier society did not listen to what we said, now society is even more critical to power than political parties. This distinguishes an objectively emerging socio-political climate today compared to six years ago. The society is dissatisfied enough that the oppositional socio-political party can plan its activities with more confidence.
 
– What is your current status? What can you do and what is forbidden?
 
– The authorities even increased my punishment in terms of time. Initially, my conclusion was determined at seven years. Then, allegedly, in their opinion, the authorities accepted a compromise with the European structures, demanding the execution of the European Court”s decision on my release, and simply let me go conditionally. But at the same time increased my sentence term to seven and a half years. I had a year and a half before the end of my term, and now I live at home for two years, I can”t leave the country, change my place of residence without informing the authorities, every 10 days I have to register at the probation office and demonstrate by my behavior that I have taken the path of correction. These restrictions are noted in terms of my conditional release. It follows that until August 2026 I cannot be nominated in the parliamentary and presidential elections as a candidate.
 
– Why is this term appointed? Will the current government leave after 2026? Does your interview mean that you did not take the path of correction?
 
– They can keep in mind many things. It is the authorities who must correct, not us. I proved my innocence twice in the European Court. The government appealed twice, and with the help of lawyers, I twice won the appeal. I want to thank the lawyers Fuad Agayev, Javad Javadov, Khalid Bagirov, who was dismissed from the Bar Association because of my defense, and Shahla Humbatova. They, led by Fuad Agayev, helped me to win the European Court and to survive in prison.
 
– Is it possible to cancel a new sentence?
 
– We are now filing an appeal. This is a tragicomic situation, since my case will be considered in the Supreme Court fourth time. Three times the Supreme Court was used to create an expectation in European organizations, that is, to delay the process. For the fourth time, the authorities use this technique. The authorities do not want to admit their wrongfulness in the European Court, therefore they are pulling with the last decision. They are just embarrassed to admit their clumsiness, rude and proven falsification of my case.
 
The international press does not speak much about this, but for the first time, the Article 46.4 of the European Convention on Human Rights is involved in the European Court. The initiation of this Article means the initiation of proceedings against Azerbaijan, which violated my rights. Now I am not in the European Court, but the governments of 47 states have initiated the process against Azerbaijan. After the decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court, theoretically, Azerbaijan could be deprived of membership in the Council of Europe.
 
– How do you see the place of Azerbaijan taking into account democratic reforms in Georgia and Armenia? How do we look from the outside, or should we be proud, because television speaks of successful democratization?
 
– There is nothing to be proud of. From the country of the nineties – the beginning of the two thousandth years, when we had a good socio-economic life, with powerful democratic traditions, more developed than in Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine, Azerbaijan has turned into a country that is in the tail of democratic progress. Now we have to solve several tasks simultaneously: democratization, return of the occupied territories and healthy integration into the world economic system, since Azerbaijan has actually become a raw materials appendage not only of Europe, but of all countries that need oil and gas; 90% of the country’s GDP is produced in Baku.
 
– Saudi journalist was killed by the monarchical government, and the United States is silent, because America is a strategic partner of Saudi Arabia. Doesn”t the same thing happen in Azerbaijan where the opposition is subjected to repression, but democratic countries are more interested in our energy resources?
 
– I would not blame the world as a whole for neglecting the democratic processes in our country. The world consists of different people, countries and interests. Democracy in Azerbaijan first of all is our concern. When you argue, blaming the world, you lose the desire to talk about our own responsibility for the lack of democratic development in Azerbaijan. And going back to a Saudi journalist, I will say that it is too early to put an end. Sanctions against Saudi Arabia must be of such depth and scope that the Saudi Arabia could not use its trump card as blackmail against the world community – the price of oil. The development of such a punishment is now taking place in order to neutralize the appetites of people who plan to use the oil factor for their political goals.
 
– The analytical group of the “Karabakh” committee issued its conclusion, according to which allegedly there are rumors in the society about imminent democratization in Azerbaijan, as a response to events in Armenia. The analytical group writes that our government will even attract the opposition to rule the country.
 
– So far the power attracts us only to criminal liability, I can say that for sure. Such analytics does not convince us. The government feels very comfortable, having a fat reserve of $ 40 billion in the Oil Fund. I don”t even see any prerequisites for believing that power opens up the country for democratic forces. We have missed a lot of time in democratic development, and it is high time to start acting, but, alas …
 
– The emergence of Nikol Pashinyan in the Caucasian political arena put Azerbaijan in a new situation in the Karabakh process. Is the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan doing the right thing?
 
– The Foreign Ministry does not solve much; the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister is simply implementing the policy dictated by the general situation in the country. Pashinyan”s belligerent rhetoric expires from his personal feeling that the world views Armenia as an island of democracy, while Azerbaijan remains an oil dictatorship. And Yerevan can use it. I think that fair mediators could have discarded him from such attempts. But Azerbaijan itself should learn from what is happening in Armenia, taking into account our situation in the Karabakh settlement. We must destroy the ideas of the world about democracy in Armenia and the dictatorship in Azerbaijan. The only way is to stop us being an oil dictatorship.
 
– You are the chairman of the party REAL, not registered in the Ministry of Justice. What future do you plan for your party?
 
– For us, participation in election cycles is important. In November 2020, there will be parliamentary elections, this is our main landmark now. We have enough time to prepare and win the next parliamentary elections to be held in two years. Winning means gaining a majority, at least a relative, of deputy seats. This is a real goal taking into account the mood in society. There can be extraordinary parliamentary elections, then we have less time for good preparation. Our task in this case is to obtain the possibility of creating our faction in parliament. I don”t know when the presidential elections will be now, after all, I. Aliyev extended the five-year presidency to seven years, without waiting for the completion of his five-year period. But there may be unexpected choices, when this happens – it’s hard to say. We must be ready for them. Of course, I will nominate my candidacy. We are asked: Republican Alternative is an alternative to what? We are a republican alternative to the power of one family, looking at which you see an analogy with absolute, non-constitutional monarchies of the 18th century. We need to demonstrate our alternative at all legal sites.

WB: Gini ratio based on consumption puts Armenia at a moderate level of property stratification

Emma Jilavian
Arminfo, Armenia
Oct 23 2018
WB: Gini ratio based on consumption puts Armenia at a moderate level of property stratification

Yerevan October 23

Emmanuel Mkrtchyan. The Gini ratio, a statistical indicator of the degree of social stratification based on consumption, puts Armenia at a moderate level of inequality, the WB report “Unequal opportunities in the South Caucasus” says.

According to the report, while the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia show some degree of heterogeneity in terms of inequality, with Gini ratio in the range from 0.25 to 0.45, for 15 years Georgia did not find any noticeable signs of deterioration. and in Armenia, the Gini coefficient based on consumption ranges from 0.30 to 0.35.

It is noted that, as of November 2017, income inequality in Armenia and Georgia is significantly lower, on average, among 30 low- and middle-income countries. For example, Gini coefficients calculated for final income and considering pension payments as deferred income in Armenia and Georgia are 0.36 and 0.38, respectively, which is significantly lower than the 0.41 coefficient for an average of 30 countries.

Moreover, as noted in the report, citizens’ perception of property inequality is often more important than the actual state of affairs, since perception is more closely linked to effective political actions, such as voting, behavior, or government policy. As a result, despite rather unremarkable tendencies, the understanding that inequality is widening is rather widespread among the residents of Armenia and Georgia. Over 75% of respondents in Armenia and 60% in Georgia believe that inequality is widening. Armenia is distinguished by the fact that the proportion of the population that believes that the gap between the rich and the poor should be reduced exceeded 80% of the respondents and is one of the highest in the region, while Georgia is among the countries of the region with a relatively smaller share of the population adhering to this opinion.

According to experts, such an approach of the population is associated with certain difficulties associated with inequality of opportunities for people and a less transparent procedure for the allocation of resources, which increases the degree of discontent among people. In Armenia, this issue is most acute not so much due to the gap between the poor and the rich, as a large gap between the poor and middle classes and a huge gap between the poor and oligarchs, which since the early 1990s due to uncontrolled privatization and other illegal ways have accumulated incredibly huge wealth. Thus, according to experts, “collapsed social contract”, and the majority of the population realized that they face difficulties related to unequal access to markets in the absence of competition and inadequate regulation. This is a process in which even a good education and significant efforts do not contribute to the growth of well-being.

Such feelings of inequality are likely to be relevant in Azerbaijan and Georgia, since these countries share similar institutional problems in Armenia caused by the imperfection of the transition period, experts at the World Bank emphasize.

Azerbaijani Press: Population Growth in Azerbaijan to Stop

Emma Jilavian
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
Oct 12 2018
Population Growth in Azerbaijan to Stop


The economist Gubad Ibadoglu, after analyzing the demographic situation in Azerbaijan, came to the conclusion that in the next 10 years there will be no population growth.

Analyzing on the basis of official reports, the economist noted that, compared with 1989, the population growth in Azerbaijan was 40.7%, and in Georgia – 31.44%. Over the past 30 years, the population in Armenia has decreased by 9.12%.

“Starting from 2011, the population growth rate in Azerbaijan has decreased. The coefficient of reproduction in Azerbaijan during the reporting period fell from 2.4 to 1.9. This means that at this rate in the next 10 years, population growth will stop.”

According to the State Statistics Committee, since the beginning of the year, the population growth in the country amounted to 0.5% or 52,427 people. As of September 1, 2018, the population of the country was 9,950,512 people. Compared to the same period last year, in the first eight months of this year, the growth rate of the population decreased from 0.9% to 0.5%.

Ibadoglu believes the main reason for the decline is the incipient increase in the number of divorces, the increase in the number of abortions, according to the sex of the fetus, a decrease in the state”s care for children under deteriorating living conditions, the increase in the number of deaths, the rejuvenation of death, and the increase in migration to other countries.

The economist has come up with suggestions to prevent this trend in the demographic situation. One of his proposals is to double the one-time benefit for newborns, taking into account inflation and a sharp increase in the minimum expenditure for children.

Since September 2013, the size of a one-time allowance for newborns has been 90 manat.

Comparing this figure with similar data from other countries, G. Ibadoglu noted that in Germany a one-time allowance for 3 children is 588 euros, and in Denmark it is 733 dollars. In his opinion, a link should be created between family income and tax payments, taking into account the number of children in a family, and developing care packages for low-income families and for children without a mother or father. Among his proposals is the issuance of a package of compulsory medical insurance for children up to 18 years.

In 2011, the natural growth of the population of Azerbaijan was 122,310 people, in 2012 – 119,452 people, in 2013 – 118,288 people, in 2014 – 114,855 people, in 2015 – 111,513 people, in 2016 – 102,816 people, and in 2017 – 86,932 people.

The coefficient of procreation shows the ability of one woman to give birth to a certain number of children in the reproductive period (15-49 years).

Entertainment: Stephen Belafonte claims ex Mel B is a racist who ‘believes she is Armenian’

Emma Jilavian
The London Free Press
Oct 12 2018
WENN – World Entertainment News Network
Updated:

Mel B’s custody battle with her ex has just got really messy – he’s accusing her of being racist.

In new court documents obtained by The Blast, Stephen Belafonte claims the Spice Girls star has a “distaste towards African Americans” and believes she is Armenian.

The allegations are listed in Belafonte’s latest legal missive aimed at his former wife, in which he has opposed a string of requests concerning their daughter, Madison.

“Simply put, I believe Petitioner is simply upset that I hired an African American nanny and that Madison has African American friends when she is with me,” Belafonte writes.

He claims Mel B referred to one of their daughter’s friends as “a black boy”, while suggesting his family had “needles and glass pipes” in the house.

He also alleges his ex berated him for not having a job, calling him “lazy like every other black man”.

“I am concerned Petitioner will try and pass her racist agenda off to our daughter (as Petitioner believes she is Armenian),” he adds.

The exes were in court on Thursday. They are scheduled to return next month.

     

    Press: Ara Babloyan wanted to resign in panic, but they did not let him

    Emma Jilavian
    • 06.10.2018

      •  

    • Armenia:

      •  

    • arm

    17
     1135

    VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.


    “time” the newspaper writes. “On October 2, when a part of the people gathered in Baghramyan Avenue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan he entered the NA territory accompanied by the NA President Ara Babloyan Panicked, he wanted to write a resignation letter. However, RPA MPs eventually managed to dissuade him from that idea. Babloyan understands that, regardless of everything, his days as the Speaker of the National Assembly are numbered, and he does not want to spoil relations with the new government in that short period of time, taking full responsibility for the conflict between the executive and legislative authorities.”


    “Publication” the newspaper writes. “During the extraordinary session on October 2, when a crowd gathered at the gates of the National Assembly and they were informed that some deputies were not allowed to enter the building, others were not allowed to leave, they realized that the situation was heating up. Ara Babloyan decided to call Valery Osipyan, to inform him about the situation, and he will take measures to prevent further developments. However, the chief of police did not answer the calls. The Speaker of the National Assembly experienced the next humiliation the next day, when the gates of the National Assembly were opened by the Prime Minister’s decision. The security forces operating in the NA territory always acted on the orders of the NA president and the gates could be opened only by his order, but the prime minister decided to show that he makes decisions himself, even in the NA territory. And this is in the case of a parliamentary country, where the National Assembly is the main political body according to the Constitution.”


    “Publication” the newspaper writes. “On October 9, there will be a meeting of the Analytical Council of the National Assembly to discuss the internal and external political situation in Armenia, the challenges, the ways out. Keynote speakers are experts Davit Shahnazaryan and Stepan Safaryan. It is not known whether the collection of analytical support will match Nikol Pashinyan with resignation. Let’s remind that yesterday the chairman of the “Yelki” NA faction Lena Nazaryan he said on television that Pashinyan will resign in the coming days.”


    “time” the newspaper writes. “According to our information, in the near future, the leader of the PAP Gagik Tsarukyan will start intensive negotiations with extra-parliamentary forces to participate in early elections with a broad alliance. Possible allies include “Heritage”, ANM, Andrias Ghukasyan, Samvel Babayan, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, ANC and a number of other small parties and civil movements. Gagik Tsarukyan has decided to offer cooperation to the “Sasna Tsrer” pan-Armenian party, many of whose members have been released with the guarantee of deputies of the “Tsarukyan” bloc faction and money given by Tsarukyan himself as a pledge.


    “People” the daily writes. “The issue of having or not having bodyguards has again become an agenda item in Armenia. As is known, many businessmen or officials register their relatives in their own security companies, thereby giving them the status of bodyguards. Newly appointed Minister of Emergency Situations, former Deputy Director of the NSS Felix Tsolakyan In a conversation with “Zhoghovurd” daily, he stated that “You understand, it is a professional issue. What is the bodyguard that exists today, they are not specialists, they go in cars? They are their relatives, the brother’s son, the sister’s son, they follow behind, they are not bodyguards. A bodyguard should be a seriously trained person, which, unfortunately, is not so much today. There is a name that there are many, but it is not so, the bandit becomes a bodyguard. It really should be dealt with, what is it about, the bodyguard should be a smart person who knows the nuances of how to ensure the security of the guard.”


    “People” the daily writes. “Parliament has been almost inactive lately. After the Velvet Revolution Nikol Pashinyan the government is in no hurry to submit legislative projects to the parliament. As a result of a small study, “Zhoghovurd” daily found out that until now the government has presented only two or three important projects, the rest were legacy projects, which often involve editorial changes. At the same time, the deputies of the National Assembly are completely idle, and they in turn do not author bills, turning into a group of button pushers, of course, receiving a salary of about half a million drams from the RA budget. And as a result of all this, the NA sessions last only one or two days and no more. And, for example, there were only 5 questions in the agenda of the regular sessions that started on October 2, and the agenda was exhausted in half a day. All this is another argument in favor of holding extraordinary NA elections. in the end, the cooperation between the new government and the council is not working.


    “Publication” the newspaper writes. “Artak Zeynalyan Regarding whether to remain a minister or not, you said that Pashinyan appoints and removes himself, but Artak is a member of your team. will he remain in that position or will he be recalled, asked the head of the “Republic” party Aram Sargsyan. “I must insist. if Zeynalyan is removed, Pashinyan will leave, if he is not removed, he will stay.” What does Aram Zavenich think about Nikol Pashinyan’s speech from the UN podium, when he publicly announced that he had only 4 deputies in the parliament in April? “You know, he was talking about trust. each person independently, with his own feelings, evaluates who is trustworthy and who is not. It is the domain of his way of thinking. Doesn’t that offend you? “No, I can’t get hold of his feelings.” Is Aram Zavenich “white” or “black” now? “Aram Zavenich is an artist. “He loves all colors.”


    “Fact” the newspaper writes. “Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ruben Rubinyan’s funds as of the day of assuming office amounted to AMD 500,000. We are informed about this by R. Rubinyan, published on the website of the Ethics Commission of High-Ranking Officials in 2018. from the declaration of assumption of office. 2018 The income received from January 1 to the day of assuming official duties amounted to AMD 150,000. R. Rubinyan did not declare real and movable property. It should be noted that the deputy foreign minister is a founding member of the “Civil Contract” party, a member of the board, and was also the party’s press spokesperson.


    “Publication” the newspaper writes. “Four months, General Manvel Grigoryan is detained, but the preliminary investigation body has not charged him yet. It is true that weapons, ammunition, tushonka-sgushchonkas, a car park, and a zoo were found in the area belonging to him, but a large number of people entered that area, and the investigators are unable to prove that the author of the criminal acts is the general himself, and not the head of his bodyguard (who is on the run), his wife, employees, and relatives. The general himself does not testify, the defense tactic is: you are caught, prove your guilt. Even regarding the tushonkas, they cannot confirm that they were brought by Grigoryan’s order, and he was aware of it. We learned that the general was offered to testify in the March 1 case Robert Kocharyan against, at least to say that at the time he had passed Ter-Petrosyanside and was relieved from the position of Deputy Minister of Defense by the RA President, there was pressure on him, of course, they promise to alleviate his guilt, but the general refuses. By the way, the forensic examination has been completed, the specialists of the “Armenia” medical center found that the general has 16 diseases and a new tumor on the lung, but they carefully wrote: it is not known whether the nature is malignant or not. He receives some treatment in the detention center, but there is a medicine that his relatives bring from France, and since it is not registered in Armenia, they do not allow to transfer it to him. There is a restriction not only on visits, but also on talking on the phone. They also take a limited amount of food. In short, the general is not under pre-trial detention, but is already serving a sentence.


    “People” the daily writes. “Today is a day of mourning in Armenia. In memory of the great Hay Charles AznavourOn the day of his funeral, the Armenian tricolor will bow. And yesterday, the Armenian national anthem was played at the “Home for the Disabled” in Paris, where the funeral of Charles Aznavour was held. The Armenian duduk also sounded. Aznavour’s remains were brought to the sound of “dle yaman”, where the leaders of Armenia and France paid their respects to him. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Emmanuel Macron also made speeches. The scene, the words uttered were really touching. And it was obvious that everything was done at the highest state level in Paris to emphasize Aznavour’s personality, the personality of Aznavour, born in France but also Armenian, the personality of Aznavour, who is considered a symbol of close friendship between the two countries. The whole world mourned his death, everyone went to say goodbye to him: not only artists, but the entire ruling elite of France, as well as the former presidents of that country, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. RA President Armen Sargsyan was also there. But, unfortunately, the three former presidents of RA, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, were not there. And although Aznavour was appreciated and honored as he deserved during the years of their rule, it would be desirable if the former leaders also honored the memory of the great Armenian in their presence in Paris.

    Links to French Language reports on Charles Aznavour.

    Emma Jilavian
    Armenian News Note:
     
    The following are link to reports on Charles Aznavour’s  funeral
     
     
    Aznavour, un visage de la France
    http://www.magcentre.fr/163646-aznavour-un-visage-de-la-france/
     
     
    Les Arméniens pleurent encore Charles Aznavour
    https://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/10/06/les-armeniens-pleurent-encore-charles-aznavour
     
    Charles Aznavour, l’Arménien
    https://actu.orange.fr/societe/videos/charles-aznavour-l-armenien-VID0000002Hn94.html
     
    PHOTOS. Michel Drucker, André Manoukian… les amis de Charles Aznavour à la cathédrale arménienne de Paris pour les obsèques du chanteur
    https://www.telestar.fr/people/photos-michel-drucker-andre-manoukian-les-amis-de-charles-aznavour-a-la-cathedra-381714
     
     
    Charles Aznavour : les arméniens en Sarthe lui rendent un dernier homage
    https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/societe/les-armeniens-de-sarthe-rendent-un-dernier-hommage-a-charles-aznavour-1538842326
     
    Dernier hommage à Charles Aznavour à l’église arménienne de Paris
    https://www.rtn.ch/rtn/Actualite/Culture/Dernier-hommage-a-Charles-Aznavour-a-l-eglise-armenienne-de-Paris.html
     
    Les Arméniens de Nîmes ont fait donner une messe en mémoire de Charles Aznavour
    https://www.midilibre.fr/2018/10/06/les-armeniens-de-nimes-ont-fait-donner-une-messe-en-memoire-de-charles-aznavour,4722066.php
     
    Une dernière fois, les fans ont chanté «Emmenez-moi» pour Charles Aznavour
    http://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/une-derniere-fois-les-fans-ont-chante-emmenez-moi-pour-charles-aznavour-06-10-2018-7912638.php
     
    Charles Aznavour : dernier hommage rendu à l’église arménienne de Paris
    https://www.linfo.re/france/societe/charles-aznavour-dernier-hommage-rendu-a-l-eglise-armenienne-de-paris
     
    Arménie : 10 sites somptueux au pays de Charles Aznavour
    https://www.planet.fr/monde-armenie-10-sites-somptueux-au-pays-de-charles-aznavour.1641723.1608.html
     
    Charles Aznavour : l’hommage des Arméniens
    https://actu.orange.fr/france/charles-aznavour-l-hommage-des-armeniens-francetv-CNT0000017bg8Q.html
     
    Hommage à Aznavour : l’émotion et la fierté des Arméniens de Valence
    https://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/musique/hommage-a-aznavour-l-emotion-et-la-fierte-des-armeniens-de-valence-280307
     
    Pour les admirateurs d’Aznavour aux Invalides, «La Bohème, ça voulait dire beaucoup»
    http://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/2018/10/05/03006-20181005ARTFIG00222-pour-les-admirateurs-d-aznavour-aux-invalides-la-boheme-ca-voulait-dire-beaucoup.php
     
    Charles Aznavour: «Pour toi, Arménie», la chanson qui marquera tout un pays
    http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20181005-charles-aznavour-toi-armenie-chanson-marquera-tout-pays
     
    2 000 personnes dans la cour des Invalides pour l’hommage à Aznavour
    https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/10/05/2-000-personnes-dans-la-cour-des-invalides-pour-lhommage-a-aznavour
     
    Arménie: important dispositif pour l’hommage à Aznavour
    http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2018/10/05/97001-20181005FILWWW00101-armenie-important-dispositif-pour-l-hommage-a-aznavour.php
     
    Hommage national à Charles Aznavour : revivez la cérémonie aux Invalides
    https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/live/2018/10/05/en-direct-la-france-rend-hommage-a-charles-aznavour_5364950_3382.html
     
    A Charles Aznavour, l’église arménienne de Paris reconnaissante
    https://www.cnews.fr/videos/france/2018-10-05/charles-aznavour-leglise-armenienne-de-paris-reconnaissante-796239
     
    La France rend hommage à Charles Aznavour, « conteur fraternel »
    https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1128074/arts-musique-france-aznavour-deces-hommage
     
    La France et l’Arménie rendent hommage à Charles Aznavour
    https://www.rfj.ch/rfj/Actualite/Culture/La-France-et-l-Armenie-rendent-hommage-a-Charles-Aznavour.html
     
    Aznavour, le plus arménien des Français

    Master of the French chanson who never forgot his Armenian heritage

    Emma Jilavian
    The Independent – UK
    October 3, 2018 Wednesday
    Master of the French chanson who never forgot his Armenian heritage
     
    by SPENCER LEIGH
     
     
    It would be difficult to place the master practitioners of the French chanson in order of merit, but Charles Aznavour, who has died aged 94, was unique with his vast output, his aptitude to write compassionately about intensely personal matters and his ability to perform 90-minute concerts even in his nineties in the world’s major theatres. A box set of no less than 60 CDs released in 2015 stands testament to his body of work.
     
    He was not an angry writer like Jacques Brel nor sex-obsessed like Serge Gainsbourg and this worked in his favour as middle-of-the-road audiences around the world wanted to hear him sing “She”, “The Old-Fashioned Way” and “Yesterday When I Was Young”, but many of his best known songs were queasy rather than easy listening.
     
    “For all his success, Charles Aznavour is very underrated,” says Marc Almond, whose career began with Soft Cell. “He and Jacques Brel had so much in common although in other ways they were miles apart. Aznavour is much more sentimental and nostalgic than Brel, who was world-weary and cynical, although both can be romantic. The general public thinks that ‘She’ and songs like that are all that Aznavour did and they are so wrong. It is a huge and varied catalogue.”
     
    When I saw Charles Aznavour at the Royal Albert Hall in 2015, he introduced Herbert Kretzmer by saying he had been “working for me over the years”, which made his English lyricist sound like his roadie. In fact, Aznavour’s sensitive and poetic lyrics have been beautifully served by Kretzmer, who also persuaded him in 1974 to write the theme music for a London Weekend Television drama series, The Seven Faces Of Woman.
     
    “They wanted a song about a woman’s mystique,” Kretzmer told me, “and I felt it should be a song about a woman as seen by a man, and what better man than Charles Aznavour, who sings about love and romance. I brought him into the project and it turned out terribly well.”
     
    But writing that theme song was no easy ride: “The first verse could only run for 35 seconds, the time before the play began, and it had to run over the main titles and be complete in itself. Then it had to be stretched out for a record so that it did not sound like padding. At the time Aznavour was touring all over the place and it took some time to get a melody from him. The moment he played me that long, opening note, the word ‘She’ jumped into my mind and I knew we had the song.”
     
    “She” topped the UK charts and was again a hit in 1999 when Elvis Costello revived it for the opening credits of the film Notting Hill. After singing “She” in 2015, Aznavour joked, “I think, ‘Who is this stupid man who demands these long notes’, but then I realise the songwriter is me.”
     
    Although Charles Aznavour was born in Paris in 1924, he did not consider himself a Frenchman. “I am Armenian,” he told me proudly in 1979. “Everybody figures that I am a Frenchman because I sing in French. I act like a Frenchman and I have all the symptoms of a Frenchman but my parents are Armenian.”
     
    His parents, Mamignon (known as Misha) and Knar Aznavourian, had left Armenia when the Turks started killing the Armenians. Aznavour was to write about it in “Ils Sont Tombés (They Fell)” in 1975:
     
    And I am of that race
     
    Who died in unknown places
     
    Who perished in their pride
     
    Whose blood in rivers ran
     
    His father Misha ran a small restaurant in Paris but it never made much money because Misha would feel obliged to feed any homeless Armenian adrift in the city. He imbued his son with a love of singing, while his mother showed him how to write poetry in Armenian. He went to an acting school, appearing in his first film when he was nine years old. He was to appear in several French, English and American films, usually in cameos. He played the title role in Tirez sur le Pianist (“Shoot The Piano Player”), a 1960 film directed by Francois Truffaut.
     
    In 1942 Aznavour teamed up with Pierre Roche and they wrote and performed songs together including one of his best-known “J’ai bu (I drank)”, often singing in the Forbidden Zone in war-torn Paris. Aznavour and his family helped the resistance by hiding Jews who were on the run. After the war, Roche and Aznavour had success in cabaret in Canada but Aznavour’s first wife wanted to return to France, while Roche wanted to marry a Canadian girl.
     
    Now performing on his own, Aznavour was championed by the leading French singer, Edith Piaf. Piaf was always looking for good songs as Aznavour explained: “I think ‘Il Pleut’ was the first song that Piaf liked of mine and she recorded seven of them. No. I correct that. I translated Frankie Laine’s ‘Jezebel’ for her and that makes it seven and a half. When I gave her ‘Je hais les Dimanches (I Hate Sundays)’, she said, ‘Give that to an existentialist singer.’ I took her at her word and gave it to Juliette Gréco. She was up in arms when she heard what I had done. She said, ‘You idiot! You have given my song to that girl. Now I’ll have to show how to sing it.’ So Piaf made a record of it too.”
     
    Aznavour was never one of Piaf’s lovers, but she did arrange for him to have a new nose: “I am very glad about that. I used to use up as many handkerchiefs as a whole orphanage.” Although Aznavour was no pin-up, he had a very compelling look. Like Piaf, he performed with multiple gestures and he often acted out his songs like Marcel Marceau, being a frustrated painter in “La Bohème”. It certainly helped when he was performing French songs to an English audience.
     
    Aznavour was impressed by the way Charles Trenet could put poetical thoughts and images into his songs. Even when he was a young man, Aznavour was writing about death and old age, never better than in “Yesterday When I was Young (Hier Encore)”, first released in 1964.
     
    Yesterday the moon was blue
     
    And every crazy day brought something new to do
     
    I used my magic age as if it were a wand
     
    And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond
     
    In the rock world, there has been much critical commentary about Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Warren Zevon writing about ageing but it was state normal for Aznavour, almost his default position. In later years, he would joke on stage: “My songs have been waiting for me to get old.”
     
    In January 1964 the Beatles were becoming the biggest selling and most popular act in the world. They were very successful at the Paris Olympia but for all that the best-selling record in France was Charles Aznavour’s “La mamma”, although the Beatles had two songs in the Top 10. “La Mamma” was given an English lyric, “For Mama”, by Don Black and it became a UK hit for Matt Monro.
     
    In 1973 Aznavour found international success with “The Old Fashioned Way (Les Plaisirs Démodés)” which had been prompted by the friction between the rock and the pop singers in France. He famously performed it at the Royal Variety Performance in 1975 when he turned his back on the audience and pretended he was being caressed by his partner. With the Goodies mocking him as well, soon the whole of the UK was impersonating “Charles Aznovoice”.
     
    The B-side of the French single of “Les Plaisirs Démodés” was “Comme ils dissent”, which he recorded in English as “What Makes a Man”. It is a highly sensitive song about a drag act in a striptease bar and his relationships with those around him:
     
    Each night the men look so surprised
     
    I change my sex before their eyes
     
    Tell me if you can
     
    What makes a man a man?
     
    The song was recorded by Marc Almond in 1992: “I love that song as it has a beginning and an end and it tells a story. I first saw it performed by a drag queen who was removing the makeup and wig and dress as he sang and then he put on his raincoat and fedora and went into the street. I would love to do it that way myself but I can’t really see myself in heels and a wig.”
     
    Aznavour liked writing about subjects that were new to popular songs. He painted a bleak picture of married life in “You’ve Let Yourself Go (Tu t’laisses aller)”, in which his partner is now argumentative and overweight, but at the same time the song is considerate and sympathetic. Similarly, there is the frustration of “Happy Anniversary (Bon Anniversaire)” where everything that could go wrong does go wrong on his 20th wedding anniversary.
     
    “I loved working on his songs,” says Herbert Kretzmer, “I’m generalising but the American songwriters have only got two themes – one is ‘Life is good, hooray!’, and the other is ‘Life is awful, let’s sing the blues about it.’ They think that covers the spectrum, but Aznavour covers the infinite complexities of life.”
     
    Although Aznavour could speak good English, he was unsure about writing English lyrics himself. “When I first came to England, I heard people saying ‘Shit, I’ve done this’ or ‘Shit, I’ve done that’ and I wrote ‘Pretty Shitty Days’. I didn’t know that it was not a nice word.”
     
    Jack Jones recorded a tribute album Write Me A Love Song, Charlie in 1975 and as his songs were being recorded by the world’s most popular singers, he became wealthy, but in 1976 he was found guilty of illegally channelling his earnings into Switzerland and was fined 10 million francs. He showed no remorse about this in his autobiography, Yesterday When I Was Young, in 1979, writing “It is useless to argue with them.” But Aznavour was not an avaricious man, undertaking much charitable work, especially for survivors from the earthquake in Armenia in 1988.
     
    Aznavour often toured with Liza Minnelli and they made a passionate live album, Paris – Palais des Congrès: Intégrale du Spectacle in 1995. Minnelli’s performance of his song “Sailor Boys” is a high point of both their careers. Minnelli was one of the guests on another double CD, Duos (2008), in which celebrities such as Elton John, Carole King and Sting joined him for English and French versions of the same song. With the aid of modern technology, he joined Frank Sinatra on “You Make Me Feel So Young”, a rare example of Aznavour not singing his own material. Although Bob Dylan was not included, he has performed Aznavour’s “The Times We’ve Known (Les Bons Moments)” in concert.
     
    As Aznavour was a proud man with a fear of rejection, he would never ask Herbert Kretzmer to write an English lyric for one of his songs. Rather, he would play him the original version and wait for Kretzmer to ask if he could do something with it. Kretzmer felt that his musical Lautrec was not right for the West End and passed on it, and it only lasted a few weeks in 2000. More recently, it has been substantially reworked for a Broadway show My Paris in 2016.
     
    Aznavour married his third wife, the model Ulla Thorsell, in Las Vegas in 1967 and outside of touring and writing, he spent his later years with his children and grandchildren, one of his granddaughters being a backing vocalist for him. He enjoyed performing to the end, his final concert appearances being in Japan in September. “Some singers have their voices enhanced with technical tricks. There is nothing anyone can do with this broken voice. This is my real voice you are hearing.” There was never any doubt about that.
     
    Chalnough Vaghnag Aznavourian, Charles Aznavour, singer and songwriter, born 22 May 1924 Paris, married Micheline Ragel (divorced); one daughter; married Evelyne Plessis (divorced); married Ulla Thorsell 1967; two sons, one daughter; died, 1 October 2018, Mouriés, France
     
     
     

    France and Armenia mourn loss of ‘unique’ singing great Aznavour

    Emma Jilavian 
    Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
October 1, 2018
France and Armenia mourn loss of 'unique' singing great Aznavour
by Christian Boehmer, Sabine Glaubitz and Sebastien Kuenigkeit in
Paris and Robin Powell in Berlin
Paris (dpa) -
One of France's most beloved singers and songwriters, Charles
Aznavour, has died at the age of 94.
The French-Armenian musician composed some 1,300 songs during his
seven-decade career, and played roles in about 70 films.
Aznavour's heartfelt, often raw delivery, and songs of love, family,
life on the margins and his parents' native Armenia, won fans
worldwide. He sold more than 180 million albums.
President Emmanuel Macron described Aznavour as "profoundly French,
attached viscerally to his Armenian roots and celebrated around the
world."
"His masterpieces, his voice, his unique brilliance will endure long
after his death," Macron wrote on Twitter. His music had "accompanied
three generations of joy and grief."
"The French people will join the Armenian people in mourning," Macron said.
"This is truly a painful day for the history of our people and our
country," said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
"Aznavour is a man who created not only national, but universal
values, which for many years will accompany mankind towards love and
solidarity, and will guide people for the righteous," Pashinyan said,
according to state news agency Armenpress.
A candle-lighting ceremony was being organized for 8 pm (1600 GMT) at
Charles Aznavour Square in the Armenian capital Yerevan to remember
the late singer.
Aznavour's death brought an outpouring of grief on social media as
soon as it was first reported, and was later confirmed by the mayor of
the southern French commune of Mouries, where he had a residence.
Born on May 22, 1924, he first started singing at his parents'
Armenian restaurant in Paris at the age of 9. Performing was in his
blood, following his singer father and his mother, an actress, who
both arrived in Paris after fleeing violence in Armenia.
A critical turning point for the singer, dubbed the "French Frank
Sinatra," came in 1946, when he met one of the most famous
songstresses at the time, Edith Piaf, who invited him on tour through
France and the United States.
Able to sing in eight languages, the diminutive Aznavour was regarded
as the last great singer of "chansons" - poetic lyric-driven songs
delivered in a half-sung, half-spoken style.
Among his most well-known songs were "La Boheme," "Du laesst dich
geh'n," and "She" - which was covered by Elvis Costello for the hit
Hollywood film "Notting Hill."
His own acting breakthrough came in the French New Wave, with "Don't
Shoot the Pianist," directed by Francois Truffaut in 1960. Dozens more
movie roles followed.
Aznavour received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August last
year. Organizers described him as "an international recording artist
and singing sensation."

    French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Armenia October 11-12

    Emma Jilavian
    | 15:28 | September 28 2018
    Category
    World

    President of France Emmanuel Macron, one of the main guests of the Yerevan La Francophonie summit, will be in Armenia for the event October 11-12, French Ambassador Jonathan Lacote told ARMENPRESS.

    The ambassador said that Macron will be accompanied by his foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, among others.

    The International Organisation of La Francophonie represents one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world. Its members share more than just a common language. They also share the humanist values promoted by the French language. The French language and its humanist values represent the two cornerstones on which the International Organisation of La Francophonie is based.