Author: Jirair Kafian

AW: New youth ARF members take oath in New Jersey

Jirair Kafian
January 9, 2024 Guest Contributor Diaspora, Youth 0

HACKENSACK, N.J.—Four youth members of the Armenian community of New Jersey joined the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) on December 23, 2023.

After successfully completing the ARF New Jersey novice program, the new members took their oaths, which were administered by their godfather Unger Vartivar Keshishian, underscoring their dedication to the ideals and mission of the ARF.

Unger Vartivar emphasized the pivotal role of these young individuals in advancing the Armenian cause. His speech not only commemorated Arshavir Shiragian’s pivotal role in Operation Nemesis but also highlighted his active participation in the New Jersey and New York Armenian communities. As a dedicated ARF member, Shiragian’s service extended beyond his historical actions to his significant contributions within the diaspora, exemplifying a lifetime commitment to the Armenian cause. This multifaceted legacy provided a profound backdrop for the ceremony.

Arshavir Shiragian’s gravesite in Hackensack, N.J.

The ceremony held profound significance, taking place at the Hackensack, N.J. cemetery—the final resting place of Arshavir Shiragian. Shiragian, an esteemed Armenian writer, made his mark in history through an act of retribution, assassinating Said Halim Pasha, Cemal Azmi and Behaeddin Shakir for their unforgivable roles in the Armenian Genocide. His gravestone bears a powerful inscription, “Through Him Justice Was Served.” This setting serves as a symbol of the unwavering dedication, passion and leadership embodied by the ARF youth and future generations in their relentless pursuit of a free and independent Armenian nation. In this union of past and present, the ARF youth’s commitment stands as a testament to the long-lasting determination driving the Armenian community forward.




Cheerful giving: AMAA NY/NJ orphan and child care fundraiser for displaced families of Artsakh

Jirair Kafian
January 2, 2024 Armenian Missionary Association of America Nonprofit News 0

By Gilda Buchakjian Kupelian 

PARAMUS, N.J.—As we celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in the spirit of charity, a fundraiser was organized by the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) NY/NJ Orphan and Child Care Committee to raise critical funds for the displaced families of Artsakh. The AMAA continues to advance its mission to support these families to restore their normal lives and meet their long-term needs. A private, curated museum tour of the exhibited artwork of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat on December 13, 2023, at the Brant Foundation in New York City, added a touch of cheer to the attending generous givers.

Art enthusiasts, old and reconnecting friends and new acquaintances, many traveling by a chartered bus from the Armenian Presbyterian Church in Paramus, New Jersey, gathered at the Brant Foundation to view the unprecedented, private exhibition of the collaborative art of Warhol and Basquiat, led by Contemporary Art Advisor Aileen Agopian and The Brant Foundation’s Docent Mario Fasani. Agopian’s authoritative input about Warhol and Basquiat and their impact on contemporary art informed guests and enhanced their appreciation of the two icons.

AMAA fundraiser at the Brant Foundation in New York City

Fasani spoke in detail about Warhol’s emphasis on consumerism, his celebration of pop culture and his elevation of everyday items like lemons, apples, soda bottles and soup cans. He noted that Warhol painted mundane items to depersonalize himself from his art. Fasani also spoke about Haitian American, Brooklyn-born artist Basquiat’s expressionism and highlighted his extraordinary collaboration with Warhol, their use of the same canvas at times and ‘reforestation of each other’s art,’ as shown in this special exhibit. The artists used mediums such as silk screen ink, acrylic, synthetic polymer paint, watercolor and oil stick on linen, canvas, wood panels and even on punching bags.

After being treated to an exceptional experience, guests had the opportunity to pose questions and be privy to Fasani and Agopian’s expert elucidation. According to the Brant Foundation, the “Basquiat x Warhol, is an exhibition of works from the artists’ influential collaboration in the early eighties. Curated by Dr. Dieter Buchhart and Peter M. Brant in collaboration with Dr. Anna Karina Hofbauer, this is the first time this iconic collaboration has been the subject of a major New York exhibition in over twenty-five years.” Peter Brant is one of the most important collectors in New York. He started collecting contemporary art at 19, focusing on young emerging artists upon the recommendation of eminent art dealer since the 1960s Leo Castelli.

AMAA fundraiser at the Brant Foundation in New York City

Those in attendance included members from the NY/NJ evangelical community as well as the NY/ NJ Armenian Relief Society (ARS), the Tekeyan Cultural Association, the ADL, the Daughters of Vartan, the Diocese, the Prelacy and guests from California, Colorado and Chicago. After the tour, the attendees gathered at the Yara Lebanese restaurant in New York City in a convivial atmosphere of fellowship. The festive dinner of Middle Eastern delicacies was preceded by a thoughtful prayer filled with expressions of gratitude by Jennifer Telfeyan-LaRoe.

True to her magnanimous nature, Vicki Hovanessian spoke of the impetus for the event and had a kind word to say about each guest. The attendees echoed co-chair Seta Nalbandian’s remarks about chairlady Hovanessian’s phenomenal contributions and myriad accomplishments amid further testimonials and appreciative applause. An impromptu birthday celebration for committee member Dr. Celeste Telfeyan Helvacian was a much-appreciated gesture before everyone departed the venue with hearts filled with the spirit of giving and a sense of benevolence.

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The Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) was founded in 1918, in Worcester, MA, and incorporated as a non-profit charitable organization in 1920 in the State of New York. We are a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Our purpose is to serve the physical and spiritual needs of people everywhere, both at home and overseas. To fulfill this worldwide mission, we maintain a range of educational, evangelistic, relief, social service, church and child care ministries in 24 countries around the world.


LCF Armenian Class Celebrates Holidays Through Music

Jirair Kafian
Dec 26 2023
The Armenian after-school program for LCE, PCR, and PCY elementary school students celebrated its first Christmas concert and performance on Dec. 19.
Led by the highly experienced and dedicated teacher Marianna Khachatryan, the students memorized and recited Armenian holiday poems, sang Armenian Christmas songs and played instruments.
The enthusiastic students included PCY first grader Emin DerHartunian, PCY fourth grader Mihran DerHartunian, PCY second grader Vahan Gozumian, LCE first grader Arka Terzian, LCE transitional kindergartner Arpi Terzian, and PCR fourth grader Alec Tsaturyan.
The students were also recognized for their personal achievements and were awarded certificates, highlighting their strengths in their learning. Parents were invited to the classroom to see the performance and experience the progress the students made in their Armenian language skills throughout the school year.
This initiative, which embraces diversity and inclusion in our community, is taught by the Davidian and Mariamian Educational Foundation. It is a reputable organization that has successfully implemented similar programs in 25 schools across Southern California.
The program officially started for the three elementary schools in February 2023 and offers a six-year curriculum that includes Armenian language and cultural components. Open to any elementary school child in the La Cañada school district, the program accommodates students of all proficiency levels. Currently, the class is divided into beginner and intermediate levels. Upon completion of the program, students will receive a graduation ceremony, marking their linguistic and cultural accomplishments.
For those interested in enrolling, classes are currently held on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at a La Cañada Unified School District office classroom and will begin on Jan. 9. Further details can be found at DMEF.org.

https://outlookvalleysun.outlooknewspapers.com/2023/12/26/lcf-armenian-class-celebrates-holidays-through-music/

Parliament ratifies protocol, allowing Armenia nationals to travel to the UAE without visa requirement

Jirair Kafian

 18:54,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The Parliament of the Republic of Armenia has ratified a protocol by which Armenian citizens will have the opportunity to enter the United Arab Emirates without a visa requirement.

88 MPs voted in favor of making amendments to the memorandum of understanding signed  on June 21, 2009  between the governments of Armenia and the UAE on the exemption from the requirement to obtain an entry visa for persons holding diplomatic passports. No lawmaker voted against or abstained.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan noted that the cooperation between Armenia and the United Arab Emirates is developing with dynamism in almost all domains.  Vahan Kostanyan noted that the UAE is the first trade partner of Armenia in the region. 

“There are approximately 30 weekly flights between Yerevan and various cities in the UAE. As a result of the protocol's ratification, citizens of the two countries, possessing passports with a validity period of not less than six months, can enter, exit, and move through the territories of their respective countries without a visa or fee. Passports exempt from the entry visa requirement include valid, diplomatic, special, official, and ordinary passports from both countries. Holders of these passports are permitted to stay in the other country's territory for a maximum period of 90 days," said Kostanyan.

ICC Chief Prosecutor’s Second Report on Nagorno-Karabakh Genocide Emphasizes Prevention and Punishment

Jirair Kafian
Dec 20 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, /EINPresswire.com/ — The renowned first chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has published his second report on the 2023 genocide of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) people by Azerbaijan. After 9-months-blockade, Azerbaijan made an aggression in September, as a result of which hundreds of people were killed and practically the entire people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been forcibly displaced to Armenia within 6 days. The full report can be found here.

This paper focuses on the Nagorno-Karabakh situation, affirming the urgency to release more than twenty victims of genocide, including three former Nagorno-Karabakh presidents and five other community leaders, incarcerated in Azerbaijan. Their captivity is part of the genocide and a message to their community: if you come back to Nagorno-Karabakh, you will be starved, incarcerated or killed.

The 75th anniversary of the Genocide Convention’s adoption exposes the consistent state parties' position to deny the commission of genocide. In the last months of 2023, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide alerted about six different situations where there is a risk of genocide against ethnic groups, including the Rohingya, the Nagorno-Karabakh people, the Tigray in Ethiopia, the Israelis and Palestinians, and the Masalit in Darfur, Sudan.
State parties of the Genocide Convention, like the US, France, the UK, Germany, Israel and Russia, ignored information about the serious risk of genocide for the Nagorno-Karabakh people. Instead, they wanted to facilitate an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan to avoid new hostilities and to achieve economic and geopolitical national interests. Israel, for instance, benefited from substantial weapons sales to Azerbaijan. State parties of the Convention should not benefit from genocide.

Their obligation to prevent genocide requires to continue assessing President Aliyev's genocidal intention to attack Armenia, ensure reparations for those who have lost their lives and their property in Nagorno-Karabakh, guarantee the rights of the ethnic group to return to their ancestral land safely, and to release the “Armenian prisoners.”

Artak Beglaryan's testimony, the short video version here, is evidence of the serious mental harm suffered by the entire ethnic group as established by the Genocide Convention Article II b).

The report analyzes in detail three topics:

a) the ethnic cleansing against a group of Armenians living for centuries in Nagorno-Karabakh constituting genocide and deportation as a crime against humanity.
b) regarding the prevention of genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh, the consistent state practice was to ignore the information about genocide against the targeted ethnic group.
c) regarding the obligation to punish genocide, the International Criminal Court will obtain jurisdiction at the beginning of February to investigate President Aliyev for crimes committed in Armenia since 10 May 2021.

Artak Beglaryan
Unblock Humanity
email us here


https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/676284640/icc-chief-prosecutor-s-second-report-on-nagorno-karabakh-genocide-emphasizes-prevention-and-punishment
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Armenpress: Armenian Prime Minister, Iranian President hold phone talk

Jirair Kafian

 21:48,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  had a telephone conversation with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, the PM’s Office said.

The interlocutors discussed issues related to the agenda topics of Armenian-Iranian relations. Reference was made to the implementation of bilateral agreements.

They also exchanged ideas on the "3+3" regional platform, and both parties considered the meeting held in Tehran productive.

Security Council session held chaired by Nikol Pashinyan

Jirair Kafian

 20:11,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a meeting of the Security Council was held.

In addition to the members of the SC, the President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan, the President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly Sargis Khandanyan, the head of the "Civil Contract" faction of the National Assembly Hayk Konjoryan participated in the session, the Prime Minister's Office said.

During the session, issues related to the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, food security of the Republic of Armenia, the automated system of unified management of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and other security issues were discussed.

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Edward Asryan, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan and other officials delivered reports.

Prime Minister Pashinyan, Anna Hakobyan visit Ghosts of Communism’s Demise exhibition in Gyumri

Jirair Kafian

 13:57,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan have visited the Sergey Merkurov House-Museum in Gyumri to view the Ghosts of Communism’s Demise exhibition by painter Karen Ohanyan.

The exhibition will be open until the end of January 2024. Most of the paintings are in the genre of landscape and still life.

“These two traditional genres have gotten an unexpected, innovative and impressive interpretation in Karen Ohanyan’s new series of work,” the prime minister’s office said in a press release.

“In his works, he expresses himself about the demise of communism and war sometimes directly, and sometimes by creating impressive artistic symbols and metaphors.”

EU to increase monitoring mission in Armenia to 209 observers from 138

Jirair Kafian

 09:54,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the bloc will increase the number of observers for its mission in Armenia (EUMA) to 209 from 138.

“You know that we are currently working on strengthening our relations with Armenia. I see that Armenia clearly sees the benefits of increasing cooperation with us, and we are ready to respond positively. As a first step of this increasing cooperation, today the Foreign Affairs Council agreed to strengthen our civilian [CSDP] mission in Armenia (EUMA), increasing our presence on the ground from 138 staff to 209. This is an important increase of the size of the mission, and this is a way of increasing the stability of Armenia’s international border with Azerbaijan.  We believe that there is a historic chance to achieve peace in the region. It is an opportunity. We are committed to continue our support to these efforts – by working together with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. The fact that we have decided to increase by such an important number our staff on this mission shows our clear commitment to the stability in the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and [is] an important contribution to the peace efforts,” High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels after the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Armenia expects international support to implement Crossroads of Peace project – Arayik Harutyunyan to EU Ambassador

Jirair Kafian

 14:55, 6 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office Arayik Harutyunyan has met with Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos.

Harutyunyan thanked Ambassador Maragos for the efforts aimed at intensifying partnership and expressed hope that the mutual commitment to deepen Armenia-EU cooperation will contribute to the swift implementation of expected initiatives, Harutyunyan’s office said in a readout.

Speaking about the problems of the forcibly displaced persons of Nagorno-Karabakh, Harutyunyan attached importance to the EU’s continuous support for addressing the needs of the refugees.

Harutyunyan and Maragos exchanged ideas about the course and prospects of cooperation between Armenia and the EU, and discussed the regional developments, security developments and the course of the reforms undertaken by the Armenian government. In this context, the sides discussed strategic communication, the imperative of introducing and developing it as an institution and looked into the opportunities and mechanisms for studying and localizing the best experience of the EU.

Chief of Staff Arayik Harutyunyan presented the Crossroads of Peace project to Ambassador Maragos and said that the government of Armenia expects effective support from all international partners in implementing this important regional initiative.

An agreement was reached to jointly make efforts to make the current Armenia-EU partnership more effective.