15:10,
YEREVAN, JUNE 22, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military violated the ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh around 13:00 on June 22 in the direction of Martakert region, wounding Defense Army serviceman Mher K. Hakobyan. The Azerbaijani forces used small arms in the shooting, the Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) said in a statement.
The ministry added that it has reported the shooting to the Russian peacekeeping contingent command.
12:07,
YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Ameriabank has launched a new platform, MyInvest, available in MyAmeria mobile application. MyInvest users are able to trade securities online, have real-time access to the investment portfolio, and obtain detailed information about their holdings.
MyInvest is the first platform in the market giving access to 30 international markets with more than 15000 stocks, as well as to Armenian corporate and government bonds, including Eurobonds.
MyInvest platform offers investment opportunities to everyone looking for alternative saving options since the process of trading stocks, bonds and other financial instruments has been simplified. With just a click, investors can place orders to buy or sell stocks, bonds, and ETFs, monitor order status, and track changes in the executed trades/portfolio at any time.
“Having been one of the most active players in the capital market for years, we have consistently contributed to its development. It is no coincidence that this year Ameriabank has received six awards at the AMX Award ceremony organized by Armenia Securities Exchange and the Central Depository. It is pleasing and binding at the same time. With the launch of MyInvest, we aim to provide an additional incentive and create preconditions for further growth and development of the investment market in Armenia,” states Diana Hakobyan, Co-Director on Brokerage and Foreign Exchange Operations of the Trading Department at Ameriabank.
Since June 7, the shares of Team Telecom Armenia have also been available on MyInvest platform. As part of the initial public offering (IPO), Ameriabank is placing 40 million shares of Team Telecom Armenia with the total volume of AMD 8 billion 240 million. Team is the first telecom company to go public in Armenia. Detailed information about the public offering is available here. Investors who purchase shares of Team Telecom Armenia via MyInvest platform, will be able to open a securities account automatically.
Launched in 2022, MyAmeria mobile application has been specifically designed for individuals.
Ameriabank CJSC
Ameriabank is a leading financial and technology company in Armenia, a major contributor to the Armenian economy, with assets exceeding AMD 1 trillion. In the course of digital transformation, it has launched a number of innovative solutions and platforms going beyond banking-only needs of its diverse customer base, thus creating a dynamically evolving financial technology space.
Ameria was the first in Armenia to create ecosystems for both businesses and individuals, which give one-window access to a range of banking and non-banking services, among them – Estate.ameriabank.am, Automarket.ameriabank.am, Business.ameriabank.am.
As a truly customer-centric company, Ameria aims to be a trusted and secure financial technology space with seamless solutions to improve the quality of life.
10:31,
YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank doesn’t view the fight against inflation to have ended, Central Bank Governor Martin Galstyan told lawmakers.
“Inflation last year was due to both supply and demand. The main component of demand was of external origin, meaning we had an inflow of international visitors who developed the demand for Armenia’s goods and services, and as a result we see that even until now the inflation in accommodation and food services is 8,7%,” Galstyan said, adding that they don’t find the fight against inflation to be completed.
The Central Bank is forecasting 6,9% economic growth for 2023. “But we must understand that in long-term and mid-term the economy can’t endlessly keep on growing beyond its potential,” Galstyan warned.
11:18,
YEREVAN, JUNE 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has offered condolences on the death of former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi.
In a letter addressed to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Armenian Prime Minister said he learned about Berlusconi’s death with “deep pain”. “On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, I extend sincere condolences to you, the friendly people of Italy, and the family and friends of Berlusconi,” PM Pashinyan said in the letter.
“Mr. Berlusconi had significant contribution in ensuring continuous progress of Italy and the development of the centuries-old Armenian-Italian relations. I grieve with the families and friends of the renowned politician at this time of irreparable loss,” he added.
15:13, 5 June 2023
YEREVAN, JUNE 5, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian court has sentenced an Iranian national to 9 years imprisonment for being an accessory to the smuggling of 350kg of heroin from the neighboring country in 2021 with intent to transport it to the Netherlands.
Armenian customs officials discovered the heroin in February 2021 during customs control.
The Iranian citizen was charged on January 8 in 2022 with accessory to smuggling narcotics, accessory to drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit smuggling of narcotics.
The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction found the Iranian national guilty on all charged and handed over a 9-year sentence.
The Los Angeles City Council earlier this month unanimously approved a measure to rename an intersection in Brentwood where the consulate of Azerbaijan is located.
The intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue was designated “Republic of Artsakh Square,” named after the breakaway region of the dictatorship that has ethnic and historical ties to neighboring Armenia.
In December 2022, Azerbaijan instituted a blockade on the Republic of Artsakh, threatening the lives of thousands of people who call the region home.
The renaming of the intersection is a symbolic gesture from the City Council to protest the blockade and the Azerbaijan government, which city officials say has a “long and sordid history” of war crimes, threats of genocide and violating international law and breaching internationally recognized borders.
The proposal to rename the intersection was drafted by Council President Paul Krekorian, who was the first Armenian American elected to the city council in Los Angeles.
“Azerbaijan’s dictator has explicitly threatened genocide and called for the expulsion of all Armenians from territories he claims, once again threatening the annihilation of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland,” Krekorian said in a news release. “We have taken this action to affirm the solidarity of the people of Los Angeles with the indigenous people of Artsakh who struggle to maintain their tiny democracy in the face of oppression, violence and expansionist threats from Azerbaijan.”
Los Angeles is home to one of the largest populations of ethnic Armenians outside of Armenia, and the Republic of Artsakh is considered to be of extreme importance to the Armenian population located thousands of miles away.
Council member Traci Park co-authored the motion to designate the intersection as Republic of Artsakh Square. The intersection is located within Park’s council district, and she hopes the honor will “stand as a symbol of Artsakh’s self-determination and our unequivocal opposition to the Azerbaijani dictatorship’s unprovoked aggression to erase Armenian history and culture.”
The Republic of Artsakh was formerly known as the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. However, it’s recognized by the majority of the international community, including the United States, as part of Azerbaijan. California, however, has independently recognized the Republic of Artsakh since 2014.
A view of an Azerbaijani checkpoint recently set up at the entry of the Lachin corridor, the Armenian-populated breakaway Artsakh region’s only land link with Armenia, by a bridge across the Hakari river on May 2, 2023. (Getty Images)
Its autonomy has been the subject of global conflict for decades, with Artsakh receiving support from Armenia to the west, while its existence is ignored and disputed by Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over the region, which resulted in thousands of deaths. In 2020, Moscow brokered a ceasefire and posted “peacekeepers” along the Lachin corridor.
The conflict has intensified in recent months due to the ongoing blockade. The Lachin corridor is a thin mountainous roadway which is the only artery between Armenia and Artsakh. Azerbaijan has set up checkpoints along the corridor with the backing of Russia.
As part of the dedication, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation was directed to erect permanent signage to identify the intersection as Republic of Artsakh Square.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/los-angeles-names-intersection-in-front-of-azerbaijan-consulate-to-protest-blockade-of-artsakh/
Alessandra Bajec
31 May, 2023
The reported involvement of Jerusalem’s Armenian Orthodox Church Patriarch, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, in real estate deals in the Armenian Quarter has provoked outrage in the community and concerns about the erasure of its historic presence.
The deals, reportedly signed by the patriarch, involve the lease of a substantial number of Armenian properties to a Jewish Australian investor.
The land includes the Hadiqat Al-Baqar (The Cows’ Garden) and its surrounding properties, including the Qishla building in Bab al-Khalil (Jaffa Gate), located in the Armenian Quarter.
Reports first emerged of the deal in 2021, when a priest, Baret Yeretsian, the then director of the patriarchate’s real estate department, told Armenian media that land had reportedly been leased to businessman Danny Rubenstein for 99 years.
“It’s a huge tract of land. By conceding it, they are erasing the Armenian presence historically, demographically, and culturally”
The priest said that the developer intended to build a luxury hotel in the sensitive area, located between the Armenian and Jewish Quarters, and that the land would then be returned to the Armenian patriarchate after the lease period ends.
In October of that year, 12 Armenian priests alleged that the deal was done illegally without ratification by the Synod and the General Assembly.
A year earlier, in 2020, reports that the Armenian patriarchate had struck an agreement with the Israeli Jerusalem municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority to turn unused land into a parking lot, mainly for Jewish residents visiting the Western Wall, had raised suspicions about the scope of the deal.
Last month, these fears were heightened when the parking lot in the Armenian Quarter was taken over by a private company called Xana Capital. The land is thought to be part of the location for the purported hotel development.
The land deals have drawn strong criticism from the Armenian community. Three Armenian clubs in Jerusalem issued a statement last week demanding that the patriarch reveal the details of the contentious lease, revoke the disputed contract, and withdraw from all other promised deals regarding Armenian properties. Manougian has not yet issued a statement about how the sale will affect residents.
“It’s a huge tract of land. By conceding it, they are erasing the Armenian presence historically, demographically, and culturally,” Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Ambassador to Denmark, told The New Arab. As a Palestinian-Armenian diplomat, he has been acting as a consultant on the issue of leasing The Cows’ Garden estate.
The mishandling of the real estate fiasco prompted both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan to suspend Manougian from his role as the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem on 11 May. In a joint statement, they said that the patriarch ignored demands from Armenian institutions to stop any actions that could affect the historical and legal status quo of these historical sites.
The PA and Jordan asserted that, through his dealings, Manougian, who is responsible for Christian properties in the occupied Palestinian territories and Jordan, violated international covenants protecting the status quo of occupied East Jerusalem and preserving the Armenian Quarter, as well as the religious character of the city.
The site is an integral part of the Old City of Jerusalem, part of the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, and to which a number of UN resolutions apply. The Old City is also recognised as part of the endangered World Heritage list, based on several resolutions issued by UNESCO.
Christians, who represent a slender two percent of the Israeli population, face heightened uncertainty due to land deals of this nature, which could result in a significant loss of property and therefore threaten the Christian presence in Jerusalem.
The controversial move is feared to alter the nature of the Armenian Quarter, which holds cultural and historical significance, and further diminish the Christian presence in the Holy City. The disputed land makes up roughly 25% of the current Armenian Quarter, which itself is about 14% of the Old City.
When members of the community learned about the long-term lease two years ago, they began to mobilise locally to publicly denounce what the Armenian patriarch and his real estate manager had done. Solidarity groups abroad have also supported the Armenian struggle in Jerusalem.
“We’re very angry, we feel that we’ve been fooled. The only way to stop this deal is to reverse the contract in order to protect the Armenian Quarter”
Based on recently leaked information from sources, the plot of land in the deal currently hosts the parking lot, a seminary, five private homes, several shops, and a restaurant named ‘Bourghoulji’.
In the last three weeks, Armenians in Jerusalem have escalated their actions to try to repeal the agreement after they found out that it includes more land than originally thought.
Since the announcement by the PA and Jordan to freeze recognition of the patriarch, every Friday some 200 to 250 residents are holding protests in the square of the Armenian convent compound to decry the patriarch’s involvement in property agreements with Israeli investors, urging a withdrawal of the signatures to lease the lands of The Cows’ Garden.
“We’re very angry, we feel that we’ve been fooled,” Hagop Djernazian, a young Armenian activist in Jerusalem, told TNA, speaking out against the patriarchate. “The only way to stop this deal is to reverse the contract in order to protect the Armenian Quarter.”
The activist warned that the loss of Armenian land would potentially push locals to move out of their homes and force the school and community centres to close or relocate.
“We are fighting for our existence,” Djernazian said, speaking on behalf of Jerusalem’s Armenians.
Earlier in May, Archbishop Manougian defrocked the Armenian church’s former real estate director amid growing discontent in the community at the role that Yeretsian allegedly played in organising long-term leases of church property to Israeli developers.
The defrocking of Yeretsian was ordered shortly before the Jordanian-Palestinian decision to suspend their recognition of Patriarch Manougian. In response, the dismissed priest addressed a letter to the patriarch reiterating that the sale agreement was signed by the archbishop himself who refused to present it to the Holy Synod meeting for approval.
“It’s going to be very difficult for the patriarch to continue to ignore this pressure,” Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist and media activist, told TNA. “The problem is how much the Armenian population will be affected”.
Efforts to obtain details of the leases and revoke the contracts are also being made at a state level.
After writing letters to the Armenian Patriarchate in vain, a Palestinian committee led by Ramzi Khoury, the Palestinian Supreme Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, along with a Jordanian delegation, made an official visit to Yerevan in December 2021, where they met the Supreme Patriarch of all Armenians and raised the case.
As a result, a trilateral committee representing the Armenian, Palestinian, and Jordanian governments was formed to work on the file. Last week, the committee held a meeting in Amman to discuss options in seeking access to the land lease contract and the penalty for its cancellation.
Giving up the land has the potential not only to damage the diverse character of East Jerusalem but also to facilitate the expansion of the Jewish Israeli presence in the Old City, as the Armenian district is adjacent to the Jewish Quarter. Israel has long attempted to take over property in the Old City to weigh the demographics of the area in favour of Jewish Israelis.
This is why the PA and Jordan intervened in the matter, since the transfer of any land or properties in Jerusalem could grant Israel the prerogative to claim their ownership, which could, in turn, would modify the Old City’s demographic landscape.
“There is a constant effort by radical Jewish groups to obtain land and property in the Old City. This falls within the Judaisation (of Jerusalem) that’s been going on for decades”
Hassassian, who was in charge of the Jerusalem file during the 2000 negotiations in Camp David, argued that any concession of Armenian church land would also “jeopardise” negotiations on a final status agreement regarding the city. Former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat refused to concede the Armenian Quarter to Israel in the Camp David negotiations.
Real estate transactions in the Armenian Quarter are part of Israel’s relentless expansionist occupation of the ancient city. If the Armenian district were to lose a quarter of its land, as is implied from the land sale deal, the Jewish makeup of the Old City would expand in a contiguous fashion from its own quarter to, and including, Bab al-Khalil (Jaffa Gate).
“There is a constant effort by radical Jewish groups to obtain land and property in the Old City. This falls within the Judaisation (of Jerusalem) that’s been going on for decades,” Kuttab said, noting that settler organisations are a driving force behind the many sale deals initiated by Israeli investors, which results in Jews taking over Palestinian properties.
Palestinian-Armenians in Jerusalem number between 2,000-3,000 in the Armenian Quarter. They are regularly harassed by far-right Israeli extremists in different ways, whether it is spitting, cursing, or pushing over Armenian clergy in the alleys of the Old City.
“We are increasing pressure, trying to corner the patriarch to rescind the lease contract and salvage the land so as to return it to the Armenian community,” reiterated Hassassian, who’s a member of the Armenian-Palestinian-Jordanian committee. “We are willing to cover the costs of the contractual penalty”.
The Palestinian negotiator anticipated that a committee of US lawyers is set to travel to Amman and then to Jerusalem next week to meet the trilateral committee as well as the Armenian patriarch.
Alessandra Bajec is a freelance journalist currently based in Tunis.
Calcutta, 1869. A 10-year-old Armenian boy arrives in the city from Julpha, Iran, to live with his uncle in order to receive better education. He is enrolled in the Armenian Philanthropic Academy. Whenever he has some time off, the young lad is found at the Maidan, trying to master a piebald pony. With time, he hones his riding skills, aided by tips and encouragement from the officers stationed at Fort William, many of whom frequented the Maidan. Eventually, it is thanks to one of them that the boy, named Johannes Carapiet Galstaun, has his first experience of horse racing. He wins that first race. The tale of J C Galstaun would span the next eight decades in Calcutta and would leave tangible remains we can see in Kolkata even today.
In time, the young man would emerge as the finest jockey in the city and later on, as age caught up, Galstaun would be the owner of the greatest array of race horses in Kolkata, and have stables in England. His stables were legendary and his horses would sweep the races more often than not.
The folks on the Maidan, who had witnessed the young boy with his pony, would probably have never imagined that he would go on to become one of the richest men in colonial Calcutta. In addition to being the overlord of the race course, J C Galstaun was a prolific real-estate developer. He leased plots from the military and developed prime residential projects.
The areas of Mayfair (Road), Queen’s Park (Road) and Ballygunge Park, in today’s Ballygunge neighbourhood were leased out by Galstaun. Standing even today are many of the properties that Galstaun had built — Freemason’s Lodge on Park Street, Saturday Club, Harrington Mansion on Ho-Chi-Minh Sarani, Dalhousie Institute, the Royal Calcutta Turf Club building on Russell Street, Galstaun Mansions (renamed Queen’s Mansions to commemorate queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Calcutta in 1961) at the crossing of Park Street and Russell Street.
At one point in time, Galstaun had over 300 properties to his name in Kolkata. He was also a contributor in the funds raised for construction of Victoria Memorial.
Galstaun’s most famous building in Kolkata is Galstaun Park, now known as Nizam Palace, which stands on A.J.C. Bose Road. The massive art-deco structure on the southern end of Chowringhee was built for his beloved wife Rose Catherine. In its prime, Galstaun Park was known to be the envy of Indian kings and British lords. In fact, when the then-Prince of Wales (King Edward VIII) visited Calcutta, he stayed at Galstaun Park. Since by this time, Galstaun owned a fleet of horses greater in size than the Viceroy’s cavalry, one can assume that the Prince of Wales’ honour was in no way lowered by staying in the home of a non-titled member of society.
Galstaun was also a philanthropist and supported institutions like St. Joseph’s Hospital financially. During the Second World War, the mansion’s grounds were opened to the troops, to make a temporary hospital for treating injured and sick Allied soldiers.
The magnificent five-domed mansion stands tall and proud to this day, only known by a different name. It’s not clear how the property was transferred to the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Some sources say that it was sold to him in 1933, however there does not seem to be any documentation supporting the sale. According to one of Galstaun’s descendants, he lost it to the Nizam over a game of cards. A compulsive gambler, Galstaun was always known to pay up his dues, no matter how steep they were. He also had a dry sense of humour and dedicated his reminiscences to the assorted bookmakers who drained him of large parts of his fortune.
After Independence, Galstaun Palace was acquired by the government and it now houses several government departments including the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), and the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
Sadly, the thousands who walk past one of Kolkata’s most recognised landmarks every day probably have no idea about its fascinating past. Characters like J C Galstaun arrived in the fledgling city of Calcutta and made tremendous contributions in transforming it into the sprawling metropolis it is today. Unfortunately, in the rush towards modernisation, their stories and their signatures are getting erased every day from the face of the city they helped create.
10:59,
YEREVAN, MAY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government is spending debt only for capital purposes and it doesn’t take debt for raising salaries or pensions, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told lawmakers at a joint committee session for preliminary debates of the 2022 government budget report.
“We have a debt management strategy. We’ve also recorded in the government program that we will be satisfied if the debt-to GDP ratio stands below 60% by 2026,” Pashinyan said, adding that the debt-to-GDP ratio was 46,7% in 2022, while in 2017 the number was 58,9%.
Nominal debt has increased unavoidably, Pashinyan said, noting the loan projects such as the North-South and other programs, which were planned to be carried out by foreign resources from the beginning.
The COVID-19 pandemic also claimed much resources and the debt increased back then as well.
NATO’s representative to the Caucasus Javier Colomina (left) meets with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on May 23
Issues related to security along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, as well as stability in the Caucasus region were the topics of discussion between Armenian leaders and Javier Colomina, NATO’s special representative to the Caucasus, who visited Yerevan on Tuesday.
While meeting with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan the recent developments in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed.
Mirzoyan reportedly emphasized the imperative for Azerbaijan to stop its aggressive policy, “which would be an important factor for progress in the talks,” according to a press statement from the foreign ministry.
The Armenian foreign minister also highlighted the importance of “practical steps” by stakeholders interested in the region’s stability.
When Colomina met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan they “discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation, delimitation and ensuring border security and stability between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, particularly the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, the introduction of an international mechanism of dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert and other issues,” according to press statement.