Radio Farda At the request of the Republic of Azerbaijan Russia handed over an individual accused of receiving “terrorist” training in Iran, TASS and Azerbaijani media reported July 28. Russian Federation Prosecutor General’s Office announced that Mehdi Shukurov, an Azerbaijani citizen sought by Baku was handed over for criminal prosecution. The accusation against Mr. Shukurov is that in 2016 he crossed the border into Iran and joined an “illegal armed group” receiving training in the use of firearms and explosives and other terror techniques. The group in question is not named and it is not clear whether the Iranian government was involved in any way or Shukurov joined an underground group. After the alleged training the accused traveled to Russia and after Azerbaijan determined he was in Russia asked for his extradition. Russia arrested him earlier this year and finally extradited him to Azerbaijan. Two years ago, Azerbaijan claimed that a suspect in the assassination of the mayor of Ganja had spent eight months in 2016 in Iran’s religious city of Qom and then traveled to Syria for military training. Yunis Safarov was arrested shortly after the mayor’s murder. At the time it was reported that Safarov intended to establish an organization called “Unity of Azerbaijan’s Muslims” and agitating for the assassinations of government officials to prepare the ground for an insurrection to set up an Islamic state.
Author: George Mamian
Remnants of downed Azerbaijani drones displayed in Yerevan, Armenia
15:34,
YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. The remnants of Azerbaijani UAVs downed by the Armenian Armed Forces during the recent military operations unleashed by Azerbaijan have been displayed in Yerevan today, at the Marshal Armenak Khanperyants military-aviation university of the defense ministry.
Photos by Hayk Manukyan
Deputy head of the Air Defense Troops, Colonel Garik Movsesyan told reporters that the servicemen of the Armed Forces will have an opportunity to examine the Azerbaijani drones which are mostly of an Israeli production.
“Our Armed Forces have downed 10 Azerbaijani attacking, 1 strategic and 3 reconnaissance drones”, he said and once again confirmed that no Armenian UAV has been downed by the Azerbaijani side during the recent clashes.
Since July 12th, Azerbaijan has launched a series of cross-border attacks against Armenia’s northern Tavush province, targeting civilian settlements and infrastructures.
Overnight July 20-21 the situation has been relatively calm on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime 17 times from firearms in different parts of the border, firing nearly 183 shots at the Armenian positions.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Central Bank of Armenia: exchange rates and prices of precious metals – 15-07-20
17:41,
YEREVAN, 15 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 15 July, USD exchange rate down by 1.12 drams to 484.50 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.98 drams to 553.64 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 6.83 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.62 drams to 610.52 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 152.32 drams to 28068.26 drams. Silver price down by 3.80 drams to 294.33 drams. Platinum price down by 373.12 drams to 12819.9 drams.
Turkey cannot be involved in any process linked with NK conflict settlement – MFA Armenia
19:34,
YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS. Turkey’s provocative and biased stance seriously undermines the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and proves that Turkey cannot be involved in any international processes related to the conflict, ARMENPRESS reports reads the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of Armenia in relation with the recent announcements from Turkey.
‘’On July 12, following the attack by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of the Tavush region of the Republic of Armenia, the leadership of Turkey, including the President, the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Defense issued a number of official statements.
These statements not only contain commitment of unconditional support to Azerbaijan, but also exhibit clear regional ambitions towards the South Caucasus, which the President of Turkey, along with other officials, attempt to substantiate by referring to Turkey’s “historic mission” in the region.
Invoking its historical mission and ethnic or religious affiliations, Turkey has already destabilized the situation in a number of neighboring regions: the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa causing immeasurable sufferings to the peoples of those regions.
It is noteworthy that in 21st century, Turkey builds its policy in our region on the traditions of kinship, justification of the Armenian Genocide and the impunity of that crime.
Turkey’s provocative and biased stance seriously undermines the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and proves that Turkey can not be involved in any international processes related to the conflict and first and foremost within the OSCE framework.
With its approaches, Turkey is a security threat for Armenia and the region, and broad regional and international cooperation is needed to counter it'', reads the statement.
Asbarez: Gulbenkian Foundation Awards Educators for Teaching Armenian Online
July 7, 2020
An educator teaches Armenian to a student online
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation has granted 49 awards to educators for teaching in Armenian language classes online.
The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation launched “Prizes for Teaching in Armenian Online” in April 2020. The aim of this initiative was to encourage Diaspora teachers who use Armenian as a medium of instruction in their efforts during the sudden shift to online teaching platforms caused by the forced lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus.
Teachers were asked to send samples of their materials, examples of their interactions with their students, and an explanation of how their lessons were implemented on the online platforms they were using.
The program was open for six weeks, and entries were evaluated biweekly by a committee of seven people within the Foundation. The following criteria were used in the selection process:
- Innovative use of online mechanisms and originality of idea.
- Adaptation of teaching methodology and teaching approaches.
- Student involvement/interactivity (the “fun factor”).
- Quality of execution and use of the Armenian language.
- Potential of use by others.
Some 106 applications were received from 13 countries, from teachers who worked in daily and weekly Armenian schools. The majority of the applicants were language teachers, but the prize was not restricted to them. Teachers of history, religion, math, science, art, and even physical education also participated. The average age of applicants was 44.
In order to be as supportive as possible, and in recognition of the excellent work many of the teachers are doing, the Foundation increased the number of prizes granted from 30 to 49. As such, 46 percent of applicants were successful, each receiving a $500 financial award.
“We congratulate all the winners! Regrettably, we could not support all the applicants,” said Razmik Panossian, the Director of the Armenian Communities Department, “we do, however, want to acknowledge and applaud the efforts of all the participants, as well as the ongoing efforts of Armenian teachers around the world during these difficult days of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Turkish-Armenian MP regrets Hagia Sophia conversion into mosque
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 12:35 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkish Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan has said that the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in Istanbul will make life more difficult for Christians in Turkey and for Muslims in Europe.
"A sad day for Christians & for all who believe in a pluralist Turkey," Paylan said on social media after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision after a court annulled the site's museum status.
"Hagia Sophia was a symbol of our rich history. Its dome was big enough for all."
Built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
In 1934 it became a museum and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. Now, once again, it will be a mosque.
Turkey’s ‘last Armenian village’ displays heritage that survived genocide
The Guardian, UK
More than century on, descendants of survivors who returned home open a museum to celebrate and preserve their culture
The Armenian graveyard at Vakıflı: 4,200 villagers fled during the 1915 genocide – the current population is 100. Photograph: Joerg Boethling/Alamy
Published onSat 11 Jul 2020 16.30 BST
Vakifli, a village in Hatay, the small wedge of Turkey sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the border with Syria, has the melancholy honour of being known as the country’s “last Armenian village”.
These days, it is home to just 100 people, but Vakifli’s orange groves and traditional stone houses are rich with history. Every summer, thousands of visitors in search of a connection to their Armenian past descend on the tiny village to visit its church, buy locally made jams and soap, and listen to the West Armenian dialect.
Lora Baytar, a journalist and art historian, decided a long time ago she wanted to create a dedicated exhibition space to celebrate the local Armenian culture. After five years of work, Vakifliköy Museum – the first such undertaking in Turkey – has just opened its doors.
“Visitors to Vakifli just come for the day, they take a picture of the church, and they leave again,” she said. “I wanted to give people the opportunity to really understand and preserve our heritage.”
Turkey’s reckoning with the past is long overdue: the government still refuses to recognise the events of 1915, in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed, as a genocide.
Inside the Armenian church at Vakıflı. Photograph: Joerg Boethling/Alamy
Vakifli’s community is descended from Armenians who successfully resisted the Ottoman army’s attacks. The area’s 4,200 residents retreated to the nearby Mount Musa, holding out for 53 days before being rescued and evacuated by allied warships to Port Said in Egypt. When the first world war ended, they returned home.
Baytar and her husband, Cem Çapar, are part of Vakifli’s church foundation, which maintains the village buildings, but the couple realised they’d need outside help and a much bigger budget for the museum.
A first application for funding in 2015, made with the help of the Hrant Dink Foundation, didn’t lead anywhere, but a second attempt in 2018, with support from the nearby Hatay Archaeology Museum and the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, successfully won a government grant.
Vakifli’s residents then recorded oral history interviews and donated objects including clothes, traditional lacework, jewellery and photographs to create what Baytar calls a “story-driven” experience for visitors to the space in the existing cultural centre.
Vakıflıköy Museum shows how villagers speak, our beliefs, our traditions, what we eat – human and migration stories.
Lora Baytar, journalist and art historian
Sections focus on religious traditions, cultural celebrations such as harisa, the summer grape festival, the impact of migration on the Armenian community and unique local architectural and agricultural practices.
Baytar is particularly fond of a donation box from the now-destroyed Armenian church in Mersin, and a wedding dress and songbook from the 1920s owned by local figures.
The Covid-19 crisis has delayed the official opening until the end of the year, or possibly next summer, but Baytar and Çapar are keen to welcome visitors before that.
“Vakifliköy Museum shows the visitor how villagers speak, our beliefs, how we celebrate holidays, what we eat, how we succeed in agriculture and architecture, marriage traditions, music, photos, human and migration stories,” Baytar said.
“When people come now they won’t just leave with one photograph. Their memories will be filled the same way ours are.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/11/turkeys-last-armenian-village-displays-heritage-that-survived-genocide?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR25senP4jOH_V9gNnJon9z4rTdo-2irVXcw6lKLo5AtN1FyKD9VeJzk8HU
Armenian parliament asks Constitutional Court to postpone July 7 hearing on Article 300.1 legality
Panorama, Armenia
July 3 2020
A representative of the Armenian National Assembly in the Constitutional Court has petitioned the top court to postpone the July 7 hearing on the legality of Article 300.1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code dealing with “overthrow of the constitutional order”, a provision which is at issue in former President Robert Kocharyan’s case.
The official has asked the court to provide the National Assembly with the Armenian versions of the advisory opinions issued by the ECHR and the Venice Commission on the matter, as well as set a reasonable period of time for lawmakers to get acquainted with them, the parliament’s press service reported.
Earlier in July 2019, Kocharyan and his lawyers, as well as judge Davit Grigoryan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction asked the highest court of Armenia to determine the constitutionality of Article 300.1.
The Constitutional Court in turn decided to request an advisory opinion on the matter from the ECHR and the Venice Commission, which offered their assessments in May and June this year, respectively.
In the meantime, Kocharyan’s lawyers decided to withdraw their appeal from the Constitutional Court a few days ago.
FMs of Armenia, Artsakh discuss current stage of NK conflict settlement
18:02, 4 July, 2020
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Masis Mayilian met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan who is on a working visit to Stepanakert on July 4, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh.
During the meeting, the sides touched upon a range of issues related to the current stage of the process of peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. In particular, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan presented the results of the recent video conferences with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan. In this context, the sides noted the importance of taking practical steps to reduce the risks and to maintain stability in the conflict zone, aimed at ensuring the irreversibility of the peaceful settlement process. The Foreign Ministers stressed the inadmissibility of the bellicose and provocative statements recently voiced by the Azerbaijani authorities at various levels, noting that such rhetoric jeopardizes the peace process and hinders the formation of an atmosphere of confidence.
At the same time, the need for the full-fledged participation of official Stepanakert in the negotiations to increase the efficiency of the peace process was reiterated.
Then, the meeting was continued in an expanded format, with the participation of the senior staff members of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh and the delegation of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia. The sides touched upon the process of implementation of the plan of consultations between the two Ministries. They noted with satisfaction the high level and practical nature of cooperation between the Ministries. They also exchanged views on the prospects of expanding the international relations of Artsakh and its involvement in international processes, as well as on the coordinated steps in this direction.
Sports: Erik Bazinyan: I Want To Become Armenia’s Next Great Champion
Boxing Scene
July 4 2020
By Manouk Akopyan
Published On Sat Jul 4, 2020, 06:25 AM EST
Multiple weight world champions Arthur Abraham and Vic Darchinyan are Armenia’s most decorated professional boxers of all time, and the closest the country has come to producing Hall of Fame-caliber fighters.
The quadragenerians, however, are no longer actively fighting, and the torch has been passed to a select few fighters who have the makings of becoming the country’s next champion.
Twenty-five-year-old Armenian-bred super middleweight Erik Bazinyan (25-0, 19 KOs) is ready for the opportunity.
The Montreal-based Bazinyan brings a decorated amateur background into the ring with a 109-1 record. Bazinyan and his family left Yerevan and moved to Quebec in 2011 when the fighter was 16-years-old, and he is now promoted by Golden Boy, Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management and is trained by the well-regarded coach Marc Ramsey.
“I’m sure I will be the next great Armenian fighter,” Bazinyan told BoxingScene.com in an interview. “I don’t mean that in an arrogant way, I’m going to do everything to become the country’s next champion. I have a great Armenian fan base. They support me and are very proud of me. I’m not going to let them down.”
Last December, after cruising to a crushing KO over Saul Roman, Bazinyan moved to be the No. 1 contender to Billy Joe Saunders' 168-pound title. Now, he is currently ranked No. 4 by the WBO and No. 15 by the IBF and is ready to make himself a serious threat in the division.
“At my age, I am in my prime. It starts now. I had a good statement-win in my last fight. I have enough experience for a big-time fight. I am ready for a step-up fight,” said Bazinyan.
“I like to remain humble and not really talk about myself. If I were to describe my style, I’m a smart and technical fighter, but I can do everything. I have a great jab and boxing IQ. I do everything possible to win. I can brawl. I can box. I have good power. I concentrate on being an accomplished fighter. That’s what you have to do to be great in boxing and to make history. I try to do my best.”
Bazinyan said the plan was for him to be showcased on the May 2 undercard of the Canelo Alvarez versus Saunders fight in Las Vegas, an event that was scheduled yet never officially announced due to the global pandemic caused by Covid-19.
Now, Bazinyan plans to make his return in September in the United States during one of Golden Boy’s shows. Bazinyan said he is not one to call out names, but he said he’ll grow into that demeanor the day he becomes a champion.
“I leave it to my team to choose my opponents and manage my career. I trust them. I’m ready to fight anyone in the top 10,” he said.
In the meantime, Bazinyan is gaining championship-caliber confidence through his training mates. He is surrounded by top-tier talent including Ramsey fighters in fellow Armenian David Lemieux as well as Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez and Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Bazinyan has even served as a sparring partner and received heavy leather from the unified light heavyweight champion Beterbiev.
“I know what it feels like to get hit in the ring. If my opponents hit like a rock, now I won’t stress or panic because I’ve felt it before,” Bazinyan said.
Bazinyan has also crossed over to the MMA side and even sparred boxing with fellow Armenian middleweight and undefeated UFC touted prospect Edmen Shahbazyan at the Glendale Fighting Club in California.
Each of them is now looking to be the country's flag bearer in their respective sports.
Bazinyan joins a group of active up-and-coming Armenian fighters like Azat Hovhannisyan, Gor Yeritsyan, Narek Abgaryan, Aram Amirkhanyan — all of whom are trained by Freddie Roach — as well as Zhora Hamazaryan and Ferdinand Kerobyan for a shot one day at a world title.
WBA cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian and WBA flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian are the only active Armenian crownholders produced from the country.
Could Bazinyan be next?
“I looked up to Darchinyan and Abraham, and they helped me a lot. They were national heroes for the Armenian people. We were very proud of them. They gave me the motivation to be like them,” said Bazinyan. “I want to make history and become a champion, and stay champion for a long time.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at].
https://www.boxingscene.com/erik-bazinyan-i-want-become-armenia-next-great-champion–149962