Author: Garo Vardanian

After more than half a century kept in Armenia, Gagarin’s Kremlin limo set to be auctioned

Garo Vardanian

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 17:52, 8 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS. A unique Soviet-made limousine which carried Yuri Gagarin to the Kremlin for a meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev after he became the first human to journey into outer space in 1961 is being auctioned off in Moscow, Russia, according to Zvezda TV.

The ZIL-111V limousine is one of the 12 of its kind ever made. One of these vehicles was gifted to Cuban leader Fidel Castro by the Soviet leadership.

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin traveled in this vehicle only once, on April 14th 1961. Ever since, the car has not undergone any renovation, and the paint and tires are still the original ones. Even more interestingly, all this time the car was parked in a special designation garage in Armenia, where it was taken during the Soviet years for the Shah of Iran’s visit.  The auction will take place on February 15th in Moscow’s Old Time showroom.

 

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan




Armenia considers evacuating citizens from China amid coronavirus outbreak

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 30 2020

Avet Adonts, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, on Wednesday met with China’s Ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong. During the meeting, the situation related to the spread of the novel coronavirus in China was discussed, the Foreign Ministry’s press service reported.

Ambassador Tian underscored the readiness of the Chinese side to continue close cooperation with the Armenian side to resolve different issues arising from the spread of coronavirus. During the meeting, the problems facing the Armenian citizens in China’s Hubei Province and the steps to be undertaken to address those problems were comprehensively touched upon.

The deputy FM noted that around 400 citizens of Armenia currently residing in different provinces of China, 7 of whom in Hubei, were registered at the Embassy of Armenia in China and the embassy is in constant contact with all of them. The Armenian Embassy also takes measures to address the questions and issues of the Armenian citizens as far as possible.

Avet Adonts also added that the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and the Embassy of Armenia in China have been in constant contact with the Chinese government and other partner countries concerning the evacuation of the citizens of Armenia. 

Vladimir Vardanyan named new chair of PACE Sub-Committee on Human Rights

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 30 2020
Politics 11:42 30/01/2020Armenia

A member of Armenia’s delegation to the PACE, Vladimir Vardanyan has been elected Chairperson of the PACE Sub-Committee on Human Rights.

Vladimir Vardanyan, who heads the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, represents the My Step alliance faction.

Edmon Marukyan, another member of the Armenian delegation who heads the Bright Armenia faction, has been elected First Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, one of the most important PACE committees. The committee has three vice chairmen.

Marukyan had been nominated by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). The PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights is composed of 91 members representing the national parliaments of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. The committee has three sub-committees.

PACE is holding its winter session in Strasbourg from January 27-31.

Armenia delegation to PACE issues declaration on 30th anniversary of Armenian pogroms in Baku

Garo Vardanian
News.am, Armenia
Feb 1 2020

17:15, 01.02.2020
                  

Armenia’s delegation to PACE has issued a declaration on 30th anniversary of large-scale pogroms of the Armenian population in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. The declaration runs as follows:

“We, the undersigned, declare the following:

On 13-19 January 1990, hundreds of thousands of Armenians living in Baku, Azerbaijani SSR, faced a large scale series of pogroms, the manifestations of Azerbaijani policy of systematic attacks against the ethnic Armenian population. Hundreds of Armenians were murdered, mutilated, persecuted, displaced. Under the threat of extermination, around 250 000 Armenians were forced to flee Azerbaijan.

The Baku massacres became the culmination of the State policy of racism and xenophobia against Armenians (armenophobia). Contrary to the facts recorded by the international community, human rights organisations and the European Parliament (Resolutions of 1988, 1990, 1991), the Azerbaijani authorities deny those crimes and evade responsibility. 30 years after those outrages, there is no respect and compassion for the victims of Armenian massacres in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis who tried to speak about the pogroms are officially considered betrayers.

Regarding this, we:

– commemorate the memory of the Baku pogroms victims;

– condemn any manifestation of racism and xenophobia;

– reaffirm that crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations and emphasise that condemnation of past crimes is the most important guarantee for preventing new ones;

– deplore that the organisers and perpetrators of the pogroms have not yet been brought to justice.

A number of PACE MPs from different countries and different political groups also joined (signed) the written declaration.”

Asbarez: Consul General Meets with Glendale Police Officers

Garo Vardanian

Ambassador Baibourtian with Glendale police officers

GLENDALE—Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles Ambassador Armen Baibourtian met with high-ranking representatives of the Glendale Police Department, led by Police Chief Carl Povilaitis.

During the January 16 meeting, Ambassador Baibourtian discussed the upcoming events planned by the Consulate General, including the Armenian festival project, which is set to take place in May in Glendale, as well as initiatives aimed at improving inter-community bonding. It was agreed during the meeting to organize a lecture-presentation for the Glendale Police Department on Armenian culture, its history, Armenia as a country, highlighting significant contributions of the Armenian-American community in the United States. Ambassador Baibourtian expressed his appreciation for the work of the Glendale Police in maintaining high standard of safety and security in the city.

In their turn, Chief Povilaitis and Captain Tim Feeley expressed their readiness to work closely with the Consulate General of Armenia. The Consulate’s General Counselors Edgar Grigoryan and Varazdat Pahlavuni participated in the meeting.

President Sarkissian meets with members of Swiss-Armenian Chamber of Commerce and businessmen

Garo Vardanian

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 20:51,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. As part of his working visit to Switzerland, the President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met the members of the Switzerland-Armenia Chamber of Commerce and Swiss businessmen, including Swiss-Armenian businessmen during a working dinner in Zurich. It was organized by the Swiss-Armenian Chamber of Commerce with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Switzerland.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, the President of the Swiss-Armenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mike Baronian congratulated the President and the Armenian people for the achievements of 2019 and noted that the presence of President Sarkisian at the event is of great importance for the community and members and the Chamber of Commerce.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Sports: Armenian skier left out of Cross Country finals at Winter Youth Olympic Games

Garo Vardanian
Panorama, Armenia
Jan 20 2020
Sport 20:32 20/01/2020Armenia

The 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games are underway held in Swiss Lausanne. On January 19, the representative of Armenia 16-year-old Spartak Voskanyan ranked the 78th among 87 participants at 1.5km Sprint event and failed to qualify for the final. Voskanyan will compete in 10km classic skiing on January 21.

To note, the Youth Olympics kick off on Thursday with more than 1,800 athletes from 79 countries taking part. The Games will feature 8 sports and 16 disciplines to be performed in 81 events.

 The Olympic Games will conclude on January 22.

Sports: Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, Pampero Firpo were one and the same

Garo Vardanian
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Jan 19 2020
 
 
Ervan the Armenian, Ivan the Terrible, Pampero Firpo were one and the same
 
By Patrick Reusse Star Tribune JANUARY 19, 2020
MINNEAPOLIS STAR AND TRIBUNE FILE – RPA –
March 31, 1970: Pampero Firpo
 
Juan Kachmanian came out of Argentina and started wrestling in 1953 as Ervan the Armenian. Ervan wasn’t going to cut it as a wrestling name, so he changed nationalities and became a Russian: Ivan the Terrible.
 
Promoters in the golden age of wrestling from the 1950s into the 1970s, when local cards and story lines were pitched on TV shows, relied on the region’s fans for bouts of amnesia.
 
Example: Kachmanian first came to the Twin Cities market in 1958 as Ivan the Terrible, an evil Russian. When he returned in 1964, he was Pampero Firpo, billed as the “Wild Bull of the Pampas,” and a title previously used by a famed Argentinian heavyweight boxer from the 1920s, Luis Angel Firpo.
 
“He hadn’t changed his appearance any, either; he had the same bushy hair,” said George Schire, author of four pro wrestling history books and counting. “If a hardcore fan noticed it was ‘same guy, different back story,’ the promoters just denied it.”
 
Pampero died Jan. 9 at age 89 in California. He was a member of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 
He had four runs in the Twin Cities region: Ivan the Terrible in 1958-59; an extended stay in the mid-’60s, featuring a feud with the Crusher leading to cage matches; a return after a three-year “suspension” when he wound up teaming with the Crusher against Mad Dog and Butcher Vachon; and a final stay as a good guy in 1974-75.
 
There were interesting twists with his departures, Schire said:
 
• “Suspensions generally didn’t include a time to be served, but it was announced as three years for Pampero due to his complete ignoring of the rules. He spent three years wrestling in Florida, all over, but when he came back, he had a shrunken head around his neck and was going to do that to the Crusher, to make up for three years of lost wages.”
 
• “In 1975, Larry Hennig and Firpo had a losers-leave-town match with the Valentine brothers. Hennig and Firpo won, the Valentines headed for a new area, but Pampero left, too. The joke was Pampero must have misunderstood the rules.”
  
Write to Patrick Reusse by e-mailing [email protected] and including his name in the subject line.
 
PLUS THREE
 
• Pampero’s sign-off on TV interviews was: “It is I, it is me, it is Pampero Firpo … oooh, yeeeaah.” Randy Savage would make the extended “oh yeah” his signature.
 
• Pampero retired in 1986 and spent two decades walking a route as a postal carrier in San Jose, Calif.
 
• Crusher had a mystery partner for the Vachons sitting on a chair under a cloak. He was revealed to be Firpo, which was a great shock to TV interviewer Marty O’Neill.