Author: Hovhannisian John

Armenia expects more addressed approaches from the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs – Armen Ashotyan

Hovhannisian John
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia highlights the peaceful solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to provide stability and security in the region and highly appreciates the role of the USA in this issue as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country, the Chair of the Parliament Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan said at the meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Armenia Richard Mills.

In Ashotyan’s words, Armenia expects more addressed approaches from the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

According to the parliament release, Ashotyan highly assessed the bilateral relations also at the inter-parliamentary level. In this context Armen Ashotyan highlighted the efficient cooperation between the relevant Committees of the two countries’ parliaments and the activation of the contacts between the parliamentary Friendship Groups.

In his turn Ambassador Mills congratulated Armen Ashotyan on being elected in the post of the Committee Chair and emphasized the deepening of the inter-parliamentary cooperation.

“The Standing Committee of Foreign Relations is one of the key structures of the parliamentary diplomacy. We expect to continue already formed partnership with the Committee, now under your skillful leadership and with new members, and record new and new achievements on the way of strengthening of bilateral relations,” Richard Mills said.

Referring to the directions of cooperation of the two countries, in his word the Ambassador has underscored that Armenia-USA relations are firm. At the end of the meeting the sides also talked about the further cooperation and works to be done.

Film: Armenia Film Week in 3 Cities in Iran

Hovhannisian John
Financial Tribune, Iran



Armenia Movie Week is slated for July 23-29 in Tehran, Mashhad and Shiraz.

The program will cover 10 feature films from the contemporary cinema of the Republic of Armenia.

It is organized under the auspices of Armenian Embassy in Tehran and Art & Experience cinematic group, affiliated to the Iranian Organization of Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs.

Art & Experience cinematic group covers 18 cinemas across Iran and provides an opportunity for public screening of worthwhile movies chosen from non-commercial films, in order to demonstrate the brilliance of their creators.

According to the website of Art and Experience (aecinema.org), a lineup of movies by contemporary filmmakers from the Caucasus state will be screened during the film week at Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in  Tehran; Hoveizeh Cineplex in Mashhad, center of Khorasan Razavi Province; and at Golestan Cineplex in Shiraz, capital of Fars Province.

The screening program is from 7-9 pm. Two prominent Armenian artists will attend the week-long event: director and producer Aram Shahbazyan, 46, a graduate of Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinema; and actor and director Aren Vatyan, 40.

Shahbazyan has two films for Armenia Movie Week: ‘Moskvitch, My Love’ and ‘Map of Salvation.’

‘Moscvitch, My Love’ is about Soviet nostalgia. Having fled Azerbaijan during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Hamo and his wife Aroos live a meager existence in rural Armenia, surviving on the little money their son is able to send from Moscow.

It has long been Hamo’s dream to own a bright red Moskvitch, a car symbolizing Soviet technological prowess and modernity. Every morning in a dream-like ritual, Hamo polishes a toy Moskvitch he has cherished ever since leaving Azerbaijan. When local villager Sako puts his real Moskvitch on sale, Hamo seizes the opportunity.

Shahbazyan’s other movie, ‘Map of Salvation’ is a feature-length docudrama made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, starting on April 24, 1915.

The film goes back to late 19th century and early 20th, telling about five European women who were witness to the Armenian Genocide and later helped found shelter for Armenian children and women.

From Aren Vatyan, the event will screen ‘The Clay Man.’ The short film is about a lonely elderly potter living in an abandoned village, who has reconciled with the inevitability of death before he realizes the truth: life ends only when one has nothing and nobody to live for.

Jean-Claude Juncker: Death Penalty Will End Turkey’s EU Bid

Hovhannisian John
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator



EU, Europe, Turkey | 12:30 pm

By Nikolaj Nielsen

BRUSSELS (EU Observer) — European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has warned against Turkey reimposing the death penalty.

Juncker in Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper has said the move would “slam the door to EU membership.”

The comments follow statements over the weekend by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that he would not hesitate to introduce capital punishment should the parliament back it.

Erdogan, addressing crowds in Istanbul on Saturday (15 July) to mark the one year anniversary of the failed military coup, vowed to avenge the deaths of some 250 people.

“We’ll first rip the heads off these traitors. We will cut their heads off,” he said.

Turkey says that the Fethullah Gulen movement, now labelled by Ankara as a terrorist organisation, was behind the coup. Gulen, an exiled cleric living in the United States, denies any direct involvement.

Turkish authorities have purged some 150,000 people since last July, including the chair and director of Amnesty International Turkey. Turkey says it has since reinstated over 30,000 public employees and set up an inquiry commission to probe wrongful detentions.

Erdogan was also critical of the European Union. He said the EU had failed to live up to its agreements with Turkey.

Turkey hosts over 3 million Syrian refugees as part of an agreement with the EU to prevent them from arriving in Greece.

Turkey wants short-term visas lifted on its nationals travelling throughout the passport-free Schengen bloc, as a result.

The EU refuses, given Turkey has yet to meet a half-dozen benchmarks, including demands to reform its counter-terrorism laws and implement a readmission agreement for non-Turkish nationals.

Those benchmarks will be discussed at a high-level political meeting between Turkey and the EU commission on 25 July.

The agreed “statement” also requires the EU to finance refugee projects inside Turkey to the tune of €3 billion. Some of that money has also gone to Turkey’s ministries of education and health.

The tug of war between the two sides is underpinned by conflicting messages. Senior diplomats and officials on both sides say membership remains a priority, despite Erdogan’s threats, as efforts remain to strengthen trade relations via the Customs Union agreement.

Tough path towards EU membership

Last week, Ankara had sent its deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, to Brussels where he met EU commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani.

Mehmet Hakan Olcay, Turkey’s ambassador to Belgium, also told reporters on Friday, July 14, that “Turkey’s strategic position remains for full membership of the European Union.”

But he had also defended a BBC interview with Erdogan, where the president said Turkey could stand on its own “two feet” and that the EU was wasting Turkey’s time.

Turkey is the single largest beneficiary of the EU instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA), with more than 40 percent of all IPA fund allocation.

Turkey was allocated just under €5 billion over a seven-year period, with around a third of that geared towards areas such as building democracy and the rule of law.

Asked why the taxpayers in the EU should continue financing Turkey, given Erdogan’s comments, Olcay said the amount was small.

“It is not that much funding to start off with,” he said, noting that Turkey’s membership process dates back to the 1954 Ankara agreement.

The EU parliament wants talks, which are already frozen, to come to an official end following Turkey’s widespread crackdown on different sectors.

Turkey has opened 16 out of 35 of the EU’s accession negotiation chapters. Of those, only one has been completed so far.

Ankara’s path to membership has also been frustrated, in part, by Greek Cypriot demands, given the outstanding territorial dispute in Cyprus.

France, while under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, also opposed the opening of a number of accession chapters.

Europeanization of Turkey or Turkification of Europe?

Hovhannisian John
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator



Editorial | 12:28 pm

By Edmond Y. Azadian

The tug of war between Ankara and Brussels continues. Turkey is a candidate for membership in the European Union. It persists in joining the EU, but refuses to abide by its rules and then blames Europe for blocking its entry into the family of Western nations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlined the current standoff in the following manner: “The stance of the European Union is clear to see … 54 years have passed and they are messing us about.” He then criticized Brussels’ failure to keep its promise on everything from a visa deal to aid for Syrian migrants.

For Europe, Turkey is the necessary evil to execute any plan concocted in the West to deal with the crises in the Middle East. But for Ankara, assuming that role comes with the entitlement of joining Europe, a dream which has kept Turkey languishing at the gates of Europe for a long time.

It is characteristic of Turks to conquer nations and usurp their wealth as they have done to the Armenians and the Byzantines. Since Fatih Sultan Muhammed conquered Constantinople in 1453, the eyes of the Ottoman rulers have been set on Europe. But the invasion of Soliman the Magnificent was stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1529, as the Frankish warrior Charles Martel had stopped the Muslim armed expansion to the North at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD.

However, the Turks kept the Balkan nations under their rule for more than four centuries leaving a legacy of death and destruction to this day.

Thus far, Europe has been saved from the menace of Turkification, but no one knows for how long. Turkish leaders do not mince their words. Their intentions are crystal clear. When President Erdogan orders every Turkish family to have at least five children in Europe “who eventually will decide the destiny of Europe,” then the handwriting is on the wall for everyone to see. He also blackmails European leaders by letting them know that if they don’t give in to his wishes, they will no longer walk safely in their streets. Yet, European leaders kowtow to Erdogan driven by a civilized code of conduct.

Turkey is polarized demographically. There is a segment of society that has given the world top notch, world-class literature, such as Orhan Pamuk, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature, and then there is another segment of society, jingoists and religious fanatics living in the backwaters. When the Islamic mobs vote for the likes of Erdogan to assume the powers of a dictator, the first casualties are those in the first segment, with many living in self-imposed exile abroad or languishing in Erdogan’s overfilled jails.

Of course, there is a third segment in between, namely the Kurds, who constitute fully one third of the population and who aspire to autonomy or independence.

But Erdogan is riding high in Turkey, projecting his arrogance towards Europe.

In the current state of affairs, Europeans see very clearly that once they open the floodgates in front of the Turks, the likelihood of European Turkification is more than Turkey’s Europeanization.

On July 15, President Erdogan and his AKP ruling party used the anniversary of the botched coup to flex their muscles. Erdogan needed to demonstrate his bravura to his domestic foes as well as his European challengers. Indeed, a few weeks ago, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s party and Erdogan’s main opponent, has called the putsch a “controlled coup.”

Kiliçdaroglu had walked from Ankara to Istanbul to protest the president’s repressive rule. It was a walk longer than that of Mahatma Gandhi when he protested British rule over India.

Upon arriving in Istanbul, Kiliçdaroglu gave a scathing speech to a crowd of 1.5 million. To outdo this challenge, Erdogan rallied a crowd 5-million strong at the Istanbul Bridge, which henceforth has been renamed the July 15 Martyrs Bridge, to give his fiery speech.

He walked through the crowd, protected by a police force of 25,000. Then he flew to Ankara to continue the commemoration in the parliament, which had been bombed during the coup, at midnight, to a crowd of 170,000.

Erdogan was very defiant in his speech. He said, “We cannot defeat the queen, the king or the sheikhs without defeating the pawns, knights and castles. Firstly, we will rip the heads of these traitors.” Then he added that he would approve the death penalty “without hesitation” if the parliament voted to restore it.

This kind of rhetoric draws Turkey closer to Saudi jurisprudence rather than to Europe.

Erdogan is a man of his word. His tough talk does not offer empty threats; to date, he has detained 155,000 people; 50,000 have been jailed and 140,000 have been dismissed from their jobs, on suspicion of having participated in the coup. Those who have been dismissed include a third of the judiciary, a tenth of the police force, 7,800 military officers, more than 8,000 academics and 33,000 teachers. As well, 942 companies have been seized.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists calls Turkey the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, with 160 detained.

Under Erdogan’s emergency rule, the police do not need any proof to arrest journalists as “terrorists” or “terrorist sympathizers.”

A report by the Venice Commission of the EU found that the constitutional amendments were “a dangerous step backwards” and “degenerative of Turkey’s constitutional democratic tradition.”

Alarmed by those developments, the European parliament voted (477 out of 638 members) to suspend accession negotiations with Turkey, which was a resounding “no” to Erdogan’s dictatorship.

Erdogan has given the EU an ultimatum, that if that body does not continue the negotiation process, then Turkey will simply walk away. However, in a statement, the European Chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced that the EU remained committed to a dialogue with Turkey and asked Ankara to strengthen its democracy, adding at the end, “If Turkey were to introduce the death penalty, the Turkish government would finally slam the door to EU membership.”

Now, it remains to be seen who will blink first. If we remember Erdogan’s standoffs with Israeli leader Benyamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it will not be hard to guess his moves.

Turkey’s relations with its neighbors and faraway nations undoubtedly affect Armenia. The Russo-Turkish rapprochement will certainly make it more conduce for Moscow to trample Armenia’s interests. Similarly, Turkey’s admission into the EU will have negative fallout for Armenia. Many pundits and statesmen in Armenia believe that Turkey’s entry into the EU will enforce Ankara to behave with more civility with its neighbors. They also advocate that with Turkey’s admission into the EU, Europe’s borders will extend all the way to Armenia, therefore Ankara will no longer be able to blockade Armenia.

But precedents vigorously discourage such theories. It suffices to mention that Turkey and Greece are members of NATO and yet Ankara continuously bullies Athens, has occupied Cyprus and fellow NATO members cannot budge Turkey from its arrogant position. Therefore, joining the EU can hardly serve Armenia’s interests. Turkey will always force its way, it will try to eat its cake and have it, while Europe looks the other way.

Culture: On Language: The Identity-Forming Element

Hovhannisian John
Armenian Weekly



By Gegham Mughnetsyan on  

Special for the Armenian Weekly 

The colloquial language of my hometown, Gyumri, is a concoction of the dialects brought from historic Erzurum and Kars, mixed with the occasional Turkish of the borderland, and peppered with Russian influences stemming from a Russian military presence in the city since the 19th century.

The author in first grade, after learning the Armenian alphabet (Photo courtesy of Gegham Mughnetsyan)

The Gyumri dialect is unique. The utterance of your words identifies you like an invisible passport or business card. Among locals, the language serves as a sign of authenticity, of true belonging, and it’s flaunted in its full range and scope. Outside of Gyumri, it serves as an object of amusement and fascination. So, at times, feeling like a circus monkey asked to perform for the spectators’ entertainment, you conceal your speech under the blanket of “standard” or “dominant” Armenian.

In a way, the language—the communal _expression_ or restriction of it—becomes a defining, identity-forming element.

I went to first grade almost exactly 20 years ago. At the end of the first semester, we mastered the alphabet. Then, as we began to learn the language, the “proper” literary language, it became clear that it was not the same as our colloquial  lingua franca. Suddenly, in the classroom, we had to speak in this “proper” tongue, while everywhere else we were back to our identity-forming, “improper,” local lingo.

My paternal grandparents, who were originally from Lori, and for half a century had been teachers who used “proper” language, spoke a certain way. My maternal grandparents, who had repatriated from Iran to the Soviet Armenia in the 1960s, spoke a different way. And so, which of these languages was to become the identity-forming one was getting complicated to identify, and the language of my thoughts was like a colorful carpet being woven daily as I grew up.

When my family moved to the United States, I went to high school. Since the student body was predominantly Armenian at Glendale High, the school offered Armenian as one of the language options that students could take to fulfill their foreign-language requirement.

I did not take the class to learn Armenian; it was more of an excuse to regularly read and write in Armenian.

The class was taught by an Eastern Armenian speaker, but the textbook was written in classical orthography, which is not used in the Eastern Armenian of Armenia; moreover, the book consisted mostly of the works of Western Armenian writers.

I discovered many Western Armenian writers who had been overlooked by the curricula in Armenia, and who were most likely unknown to my Soviet-trained teachers. I read Shahan Shahnur’s Retreat Without Song, which I consider one of the most beautiful literary works in Armenian. In a way, I felt some sadness that had I not been in America, I may have never been exposed to such works.

Although Western Armenian literature has never been alien to me, and I have read extensively since childhood, many of my peers, either recent immigrants from Armenia, or Iran, or children of immigrants who grew up in Eastern Armenian-speaking households, rejected this language that was being presented to them as Armenian. They did not see it as theirs.

This is my 11th year of living in America, and in May I went back to Armenia for the first time. Relatives, childhood friends, and new acquaintances alike kept expressing surprise that I had a strong command of Armenian. I guess, somehow, the expectation was that within a decade I should have forgotten the language.

Is that what should have happened? Do people leave the language at the port of entry when they walk in?

During these 11 years, English has grown to occupy a sizable space in my day-to-day activities. Although it could be said that in Glendale one is continually surrounded by Armenian, I do find myself thinking in English, writing in English, and (most of all) reading in English. At home, the language spoken is that of Gyumri. Outside its walls, the Armenian I speak is the “proper,” dominant dialect of the Ararat Valley. The English I speak has hues of various Armenian accents all over it.

In short, there is a distinct language of home, and distinct languages of the world outside of home.

I work as a researcher in Armenian Studies, and a considerable amount of my time is spent reading old letters and translating from early 20th century Armenian publications. I am in my happy place among those yellowing pages. But I increasingly find myself alone in my excitement as I come to see the language on these pages as a remnant of a bygone era, when the language was a living, breathing organism and not just a relic preserved in old volumes that brings joy to an intrigued researcher.

In the course of next three weeks, I will be visiting an Armenian summer camp near Fresno to teach two of the educational sessions—one on identity, and one on traditions. My audience will consist of 8-16-year-old Armenian Americans.

How do I tell them in English that Armenian matters? Does my telling them in English make it matter less? And what do I reply when they ask “why?”

For a couple of days during my trip to Armenia, I got to go back to Gyumri and visit friends and family, and for the first time in a very long time my tongue was free. There was no need to polish words into “proper” forms, or speak in cold English phrases (once, a graduate school classmate who is from Kosovo said speaking in English is like speaking in traffic signs: bland, emotionless).

In reality, language was what I had returned to… In language is where I was—and have been, I realize—at home.

Education: Beeline holds Safe Internet courses in Armenian summer camps

Hovhannisian John
iTel.am, Armenia

Beeline holds Safe Internet courses in Armenian summer camps 


Management teams of Beeline Armenia and World Vision Armenia visited Zepyur summer camp in Hankavan, where Safe Internet courses are held.

The courses are aimed at teaching 11-14-year-old children a number of skills on how to safely use, properly orientate and avoid negative outcomes dealing with Internet. About 20 children from Talin took part in the courses.

“Being a responsible IT company, Beeline is interested in delivering services in favor of subscribers. Safety on Internet is important especially among teenagers, so we are doing everything possible to provide the knowledge required. We are sure that they will pass these skills to their families and friends, which will change their lives for the better,” Beeline Armenia CEO Andrey Pyatakhin remarked.
 

The courses are implemented within the frames of Internet Security for Children program, launched in March of 2017 by World Vision Armenia and Beeline.             

                   

Armenian healthcare minister, Czech counterpart discuss enhancing cooperation

Hovhannisian John 
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
 Wednesday
Armenian healthcare minister, Czech counterpart discuss enhancing cooperation
YEREVAN, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian healthcare minister Levon
Altunyan had a meeting with his Czech counterpart Miloslav Ludvic.
The ministers discussed the opportunities for expanding cooperation,
namely in the directions of information-analysis, improvement of
e-healthcare systems, development of medical tourism and others.
They also discussed the results of the Chinese Investment Forum 2017,
which was organized in Prague.
The Armenian delegation visited Prague’s Hematology and Blood
Transfusion Institute and the Motol University Clinic, toured the
hospitals and got acquainted with the scientific potential.
Back in 2014, when Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan visited Czech
Republic, the Hematology and Blood Transfusion Institute of Prague and
Armenia’s Yolyan Hematology Center signed a memorandum of cooperation.
Under the memorandum, 10 Armenian doctors trained in the clinic during
the last 3 years. As a result, a rare stem cell recruitment and
successful bone marrow transfusion of two patients was carried out in
Armenia’s Hematology Center.
Afterwards the Armenian delegation participated in the official
gala-dinner of the Czech President.

Art: New York-based Armenian artist uses smoke to explore the fragility of life and death

Hovhannisian John
Public Radio of Armenia
July 4 2017
14:49, 04 Jul 2017
Siranush Ghazanchyan

New York-based Armenian artist Mher Khachatryan is intrigued by the grace he sees in smoke and fire, linking it to the wonder of life and death.

He depicts scenes in smoke created with oil on canvas, and although – especially in light of recent, tragic events – smoke isn’t generally seen as something positive, Mher looks to find beauty in it as an art form, Metro reports.

Although he is obsessed with the stuff, ironically, the artist has never tried smoking as he’s always been aware of its health risks.

‘When I was very young, one of my favorite commercials was the Marlboro commercial, where you saw this strong cowboys riding the horse in the beautiful nature and you wish you were one of them,’ said Khachatryan.

‘But the reality of the beautiful commercial was not very beautiful. Wayne McLaren, who once portrayed the “Marlboro Man” died after a long battle with lung cancer.

‘Some of his last words were: “Take care of the children. Tobacco will kill you, and I am living proof of it”.’

Khachatryan was asked to show his work at the World No Tobacco Day in May this year.

The artist first became interested in art at just five years old, and began drawing soon after.

He later began painting when he discovered his uncle’s paintings.

After being self-taught for years, he attended the Hakob Kojoyan art school in Yerevan in Armenia, and then the Art college of Panos Terlemezyan, before upping sticks and heading for the bright lights of the USA.

He started using smoke in his paintings because: ‘it reminds us of our own life, how it can just start and finish and we have no control over it’.

His next exhibition will be in Michigan, USA, at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum Grand Rapids, in September, and it will depict scenes from 9/11.

The exhibition will be dedicated to the victims of the 2001 terrorist attack.

Preparation works of “Our Village” festival discussed in Yerevan

Hovhannisian John
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia’s ministry of economic development and investments organized on June 20 a round table discussion devoted to the “Our Village” project that aims at organizing annual festivals to feature and sell the agricultural products from Armenia and Artsakh.

The discussion, chaired by Director of the State Tourism Committee of Armenia’s Ministry of Economic Development and Investments Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, brought together the authors of the projects, representatives of the interested state and private structures.  

“The festival will help the tourists visiting Armenian as well as the locals to get familiarized with agricultural and cultural specifics of Armenia and Artsakh, discover their achievements promote the small and medium-sized business and boost the internal and external tourism,” Mrs. Zeytuntsyan noted in her remarks.

During the discussion, the possibility of organizing the festival in September-October of the current year in Yerevan was discussed. It is expected that villagers, entrepreneurs, farmers’ groups throughout Armenia’s regions as well as Artsakh will present their products on the sidelines of the festival.

Longest zip-line expected to be commissioned in Armenia by the end of June

Hovhannisian John
Public Radio of Armenia
June 9 2017
17:36, 09 Jun 2017

 

 

 

The world’s longest zip-line is expected to be commissioned in Armenia’s Yenokavan community by the end of June.

Tigran Chibukhchyan, founder of the Yell Extreme Park project, which has undertaken to construct the zip-line, says $22,167 has been raised in a month-long crowdfunding launched on May 4. An overall $100 thousand has been collected during different fundraisers.

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and Russia-based businessman Ruben Harutyunyan have been the biggest contributors, having donated $1,000 each.

He said, however, that a total of $200 thousand is needed, and the rest will be funded by private investors.

Authors of the project hope it will help boost the development of tourism.

Today the longest line is 750m long with the height of 200-300m and the speed of 5-7m/s.

The new zip-line is expected to be 2,680 m long and have a height of approximately 250 m and a speed of 120 km/h. There will be four parallel zip-lines from Yell Extreme Park to the village of Yenokavan.

After completing the project in Armenia, Yell Extreme Park plans to have 2-3 bases in Artsakh.