Author: Kajoyan Gevork

OUTWARD BOUND: EMIGRATION STATS DON’T MATCH REALITY SPECIALISTS SAY

Society | 04.02.14 | 15:39

Photolure

By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian political analysts and economists consider controversial the
latest out-migration figures published by the National Statistical
Service (NSS) that suggest that fewer people left the country in 2013
than in previous years.

According to the statistics, the number of people who entered Armenia
in 2013 made a total of 1,452,085, while the number of those who
departed from the country totaled 1,494,086. The negative balance
thus stands at 42,001 people, which is by 7,659 less than in 2012
(-49,660), which means that the rate of out-migration in 2013 slowed
down as compared to the previous years.

According to the NSS data, passenger traffic by air was down 0.3
percent, which shows no negative balance, but instead the negative
balance is present at the land checkpoints at the Armenian-Georgian
border that people cross by buses or minibuses as a less expensive
and suitable way of traveling for families.

According to the 2013 data a total of 39,726 citizens left the country
through the Bagratashen checkpoint as compared to 21,144 in 2012. The
figures for the Bavra checkpoint in 2013 and 2012 made 13,000 and
8,288, respectively.

“The population shrinks and the outmigration is calculated from
that reduced number. If it continues like that and there is barely a
population left in Armenia to emigrate, for example, in 10 years, I
assure you that the outmigration rate will be down to 10,000-15,000,”
former prime minister, now opposition lawmaker Hrant Bagratyan told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Demographers say that while in the past unemployment and poor economic
conditions were a valid reason for outmigration, then today despair,
lack of confidence in the future in many cases come as the primary
cause of emigration, people no longer believe that their children
can have a good future in their homeland.

“Recently moral and psychological reasons have become more significant
for people. It can also be observed within individual surroundings,
in private conversations, many feel that way, they feel frustrated,
which is connected with the moral and psychological situation in the
country. No tendency for change or improvement of this situation can
be observed yet,” demographer Ruben Yeganyan says.

A majority of emigrants are outraged by the inequality of opportunities
to undertake economic activity in the country, injustices and
exploitation of hired labor.

“People understand the objective difficulties of Armenia, such as
the blockade, a constant threat of war, objective difficulties of
carrying out economic activities. But they no longer understand that
these objective reasons are applicable only to some. A biological
instinct of a ‘closed area’ is used, in this case those participating
in the government of the country maul those who do not,” ethnographer
Hranush Kharatyan told ArmeniaNow.

According to her, it is possible to curb emigration if all people are
equal to law, if no one hinders them to live, work and create. If
people get help in doing all that, according to Kharatyan, then
miracles can happen even in ‘closed areas’.

“Even in a blockaded Armenia the socio-economic climate will be changed
if those in the government are guided by the principle of protecting
the rights and equality of opportunity in our country. Ten percent of
our country’s population is involved in the government system. The
already scarce resources are directed at the maintenance of that 10
percent. This is an abnormal phenomenon. On the one hand there is an
inflated government apparatus that siphons out the last resources of
the people, on the other hand the government itself is an obstacle,”
says the ethnographer.

Government officials in Armenia have long downplayed the rate of
emigration from the country, insisting that many of those who do go
outside for migrant work remain very much attached to their homeland
and participate in its economic life by wiring back home vital cash
remittances.

While acknowledging the presence of social and economic problems in the
country that make a certain number of people seek better opportunities
abroad, in one interview last year President Serzh Sargsyan accused
certain media of creating an improper atmosphere that he implied
contributed to people’s despair and eventual decisions to leave.

BRITISH AMBASSADOR: “THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE RESOLVED WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF AZERBAIJAN”

APA, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2014

[ 07 February 2014 13:05 ]

Ganja. Azer Mammadli – APA. “The United Kingdom supports peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” UK Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Irfan Siddiq told journalists during his visit to Ganja,
APA’s west bureau reports.

The Ambassador said that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict should
be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan: “This
conflict hasn’t been resolved for a long time and the parties suffer
from it. Therefore, this issue should be solved soon. We support the
meetings currently held between the presidents and foreign ministers
of the two countries. We are ready to provide any support as a party
interested in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

The diplomat was informed about the situation of media in the region.

He said that journalists from the region would be involved in the
implementation of future projects.

NON-MOSLEM IRANIAN MARTYRS HONORED

Press TV, Iran
Feb 7 2014

Martyred Iranian Non-Moslems honored. High ranking religious officials,
representing Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian community together with
Iranian officials attended a ceremony in Tehran’s Armenian cemetery
to honor those that had sacrificed their lives to bring peace and
stability for all. Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian talked about the
importance of martyrs.

Mother of the first Iranian Armenian martyred in Iraq-Iran war
talked about her sacrifice as a mother An Iranian official at the
event said that all Iranians today owe their security and peace of
mind to martyrs. He added The event is held annually on the first
Thursday of “The Ten Days of Dawn”, marking the victory of Iran’s
Islamic revolution.

View video at

AWARD WINNER KOUYOUMDJIAN TO STAGE ‘ANCIENT GODS’

Friday, February 7th, 2014

Aram Kouyoumdjian presents Levon Shant’s ‘Ancient Gods’

LOS ANGELES–Award-winning playwright and director Aram Kouyoumdjian
will stage a new adaptation of Levon Shant’s play “Ancient Gods”
(Hin Asdvadzner) next month. The re-envisioned “Ancient Gods” will
have its world premiere on March 7, 2014, at the NoHo Arts Center,
where it will enjoy a three-week run through March 23.

Presented by the Garni Theater Ensemble, in association with the
Hamazkayin Educational and Cultural Society, the adaptation by
Kouyoumdjian converts Shant’s sprawling play into a solo performance,
told from the perspective of a single character. The play depicts a
monk’s crisis of faith and struggle with carnal temptation after he
saves a woman from drowning in a storm at sea.

“The play is both classic and iconic, but I’ve tried to contemporize
it and give it a modern edge,” Kouyoumdjian said of the streamlined
work. “It will be a revelation even for audiences who are familiar
with the original text or earlier productions.”

Scripted in Armenian and featuring original music composed by Ara
Dabandjian, the production will star Aram Muradian, a professionally
trained actor from Armenia, who has been acclaimed for his local
performances in such plays as “Averagneri Bahagneruh” (The Guards of
Ruins), “Galank” (Confinement), and “Patand” (The Hostage). He will
perform the play ten times over three weekends – on Friday and Saturday
nights at 8 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm. A special evening performance
on Sunday, March 16, will be accompanied by English projections. Due
to the intimate nature of the performances, no late seating will
be allowed.

Kouyoumdjian is the winner of Elly Awards for directing (“Three
Hotels”) and playwriting (“The Farewells”). He was the co-founder
and Artistic Director of Vista Players, a Sacramento-based theater
company which “set the standard by which others were judged,”
according to the Sacramento News & Review. The Sacramento Bee has
hailed Kouyoumdjian for having “an adventurous artistic sensibility
for intelligent productions.” His directing credits include “Arcadia,”
“Far Away,” “Marvin’s Room,” “The Play About the Baby,” and “Six
Degrees of Separation.” His latest works are “Happy Armenians” and
“Velvet Revolution.”

Tickets may be purchased online at or by
calling (626) 8MY.SEAT.

Performance Dates Fridays and Saturdays – March 7, 8, 14, 15, 21,
22 – 8:00 pm Sundays – March 9, 16, 23 – 3:00 pm Sunday – March 16 –
7:00 pm (with English projections)

Venue NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd. (at Lankershim),
North Hollywood

Tickets Reserved seating. Tickets are $35 and $25 and may be purchased
online at or by calling (626) 8MY.SEAT. No
late seating will be allowed.

COLLECTION OF NOTE MANUSCRIPTS AND FILM MUSIC OF COMPOSER ARAM KHACHATURIAN INCLUDED IN UNESCO MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER

20:35 * 07.02.14

Collection of note manuscripts and film music of composer Aram
Khachaturian has been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World
Register.

Armenia’s Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan handed a relevant
certificate over to Director of the Aram Khachaturian house-museum
Armine Grigoryan.

“The application was submitted on the initiative of Armenia’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture, in 2012. Fifteen
manuscripts and film music by Aram Khachaturian are being kept at the
museum in Yerevan. Among them are also several documents provided by
the composer’s son Karen Khachaturian,” Gigoryan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

IRANIAN GAS MORE PROFITABLE FOR ARMENIA, BUT IMPORTS FROM RUSSIA INCREASED: PAPER

02.07.2014 13:38 epress.am

Last year, 4,082 cubic meters of gas was imported to Armenia from Iran;
in 2012, this figure was higher — 4,912 cubic meters of gas.

Analyzing the official figures, local daily Haykakan Zhamanak draws
attention to the fact that from one year to the next gas imports from
Iran declined by about 17%, while imports from Russia during the same
period increased.

“What’s noteworthy is that at the Republic of Armenia border Iranian
gas is cheaper than Russian gas: Armenia pays for Iranian gas not with
actual money but with electrical energy. Logic dictates that under
such conditions the volume of Iranian gas should have increased,
but the complete opposite occurred,” reports the newspaper.

Interfax, Russia
Feb 6 2014

Demonstrators in Yerevan meet OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs with protest

YEREVAN. Feb 5

Members of the youth branch of the Armenian revolutionary federation
Dashnaktsutyun met the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with a protest picket in front of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry building in the center of Yerevan as they
were coming in to converse with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on
Wednesday, an Interfax correspondent reported.

The protesters criticized the OSCE Minsk Group’s neutral position on
incidents at the Armenian-Azeri border and the contact line between
the Armenian and Azeri forces.

The demonstrators were holding banners saying in the Russian, English
and French languages ‘No to Double Standards’ and ‘Stop Unjust Policy
Supporting Azerbaijan’s Aggression’.

“We demand that no equal sign should be put between Armenia’s and
Azerbaijan’s policy. This policy promotes not peace but the
continuation of Azerbaijan’s militant rhetoric,” Gerasim Vardanian of
the youth branch of Dashnaktsutyun told journalists.

David Babaian, a spokesman for the president of the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh republic, told journalists that the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs would not visit Stepanakert this time around.

“The mediators’ agenda presumes the organization of new meetings
between Yerevan and Baku,” he said.

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Eulogy: Vahram Danielian

By Contributor // February 5, 2014

The following eulogy was delivered on Jan. 11, 2014, at the funeral of
Unger Vahram Danielian.

Your eminence Srpazan Anoushavan Tanielian, ARF Central Committee
representatives, Homenetmen Central and Regional Executive Board
representatives, distinguished guests, sireli unger-ungerouhiner,
yeghpayr-kouyrer:

I would like to say a few words on behalf of the “Rosdom” Gomideh, the
local Florida chapter of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

January 1, 2014 was a very significant day for us.

On the first day of the New Year, we had to learn to function as a
community having lost our father–one of the key founding fathers of
our community.

In our lifetime, we rarely meet individuals like Unger Vahram Danielian.

I would like to talk about Vahram Danielian the man, and not just the
accomplished community leader,Unger Vahram or Yeghpayr Vahram.

I would characterize him as a gentle giant…always willing to help,
meaning to help and helping.

Unger Vahram worked hard not only to succeed as an entrepreneur and a
family man, but he took the responsibility of fatherhood for his
community on his shoulders and he did it with class.

He always worked as a humble servant. He was not only an executive and
decision-maker, but also a worker and a major contributor in many
ways.

He not only decided to build a community center, but he organized the
fundraisers and he was the first to reach into his own pocket and
donate generously.

He not only organized the volunteers, but he rolled up his sleeves and
jumped on the project.

Many of us here remember how he built the altar of Saint Gregory
Armenian Church in Fort Lauderdale with his own hands.

Vahram was a man who selflessly served his people, the organizations
he belonged to, the Armenian Church, and ultimately his beloved
country, Armenia.

He always had a kind smile and sincerely loved his friends, and he
approached them as a father figure.

People would turn to him for advice on personal or organizational
issues, and he would always take his time and enlighten them, make
other’s problems his and find wise solutions to them, just like a
father would do.

Earlier, I characterized Unger Vahram as a gentle giant.

He sure was a kind, gentle person, but he was also a no-nonsense kind
of guy. He didn’t care if you mistreated him on a personal level, but
if you dared to hurt his country, his people, or the organizations he
served, you knew you would be in trouble…

Unger Vahram was a distinguished whistleblower. He would never let a
person take advantage of the organizations he cherished. He was the
honest guardian of the fort he was assigned to. He was always the most
respected person in any given group of people. He was notorious for
his righteousness and trustworthiness.

He was mostly surrounded by people who admired him… And since he was a
consummate whistleblower, he naturally had a few opponents who envied
his greatness and straightforwardness.

After all, even Christ was stoned and ridiculed, but the evil-doers
disappeared one by one.

Unger Vahram, being a typical Tashnagtsagan–or dibar Tashnagtsagan, as
we say in Armenian–never sought recognition or fame for his selfless
devotion to his people…

During his tenure as a community leader, he was invited to meet with
President Bill Clinton, and he’s had meetings with at least two
Armenian presidents since our Republic was established. He was even
invited to the presidential palace of Greece for a high-level meeting.

All these accomplishments made him even more humble than he naturally was.

One of his latest accomplishments was to raise $12,000–literally in a
matter of hours–for Syrian Armenian relief… Again, he was the first to
chip in generously.

A few months after that, he was diagnosed with cancer…

Despite that, he continued to attend to his community service in an
active way until only a few weeks before he passed away.

When we visited him about a week before he passed away with a few of
our ungers, Unger Vahram was thrilled to see us… He opened his eyes
and extended his hand to us… We all held his hand firmly… He smiled…
And that’s when we felt that we were holding the hand of a great man
for the last time… We knew that from that point on, Unger Vahram was
not the unger we loved, we respected, we looked up to… Unger Vahram
was already a legacy…

That’s when we realized the secret to the longevity of the ARF: Dibar
Tashnagtsagans like Unger Vahram Danielian.

Hoghuh Tetev Kah Vrat, Unger.

Collision happens between participants in the rally and policemen,
several activists beaten

by Marianna Lazarian

Thursday, February 6, 13:44

The collision has happened between participants in the rally against
the accumulative pension system and policemen. As Arminfo
correspondent reported, policemen barred the way trying not to let
activists of the movement “I am against” to the building of the State
Revenues Committee. As a result of the scuffle, several activists out
of several thousands were beaten.

Finally, activists reached the building of the State Revenues
Committee and demanded not to force employers to keep back from salary
of employees.

Employees are discontented not only at the mandatory component of the
system but also at the absurd situation following the Constitutional
Court’s decision of January 24 that suspended some provisions of the
Law on the Accumulative Pension until the Court considers its
constitutionality on Mar 28 2014. The Court suspended Article 76
stipulating responsibility for refusing to make compulsory pension
contributions or failing to do in time and Paragraph 3 of Article 86
saying that the employees covered by the system should choose a
pension fund. Nevertheless, the Finance Ministry of Armenia urges
employers to calculate and make accumulative pension payments and
employees to choose a pension fund and a manager for it. The
picketers call the given approach a robbery.

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Azerbaijani terrorists in Syria confess they fight against Armenians,
Russian and Iranian

18:19 06/02/2014 » SOCIETY

Azerbaijani terrorists fighting in Syria against the governmental
forces issued a statement confessing that they had come to fight
against the Iranians, Armenians and Russian. As the Avropa.info site
reports, they made an appeal to the Azerbaijani Muslims.

On the sites controlled by the Mujahideen the message of the
Azerbaijani terrorist named Furqan Azeri, who said that his message is
addressed to “the Azerbaijani Muslims who suffer under the yoke of
repression, and to those who threaten the Mujahideen that are fighting
against the Armenians, Iranians Russians and the tyrant Assad.”

The Azerbaijani terrorist admits that the Azerbaijanis have also
joined the forces fighting against Assad. He accuses Iran and
Syrian-Armenians of murdering rebel-terrorists.

Note that since the beginning of 2014 Azerbaijani news agency “APA”
reported about elimination of 16 terrorists from Azerbaijan in Syria.

The relationship between international terrorist groups and Azerbaijan
originated in the early 1990s. That time, the Azerbaijani army, having
failed in the aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR),
retreated with losses. Trying to save the situation, the Azerbaijani
leadership, headed by Heydar Aliyev attracted to the war against the
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh international terrorists and members of
radical groups from Afghanistan (groupings of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar),
Turkey (“Grey Wolves”, etc.), Chechnya (groupings Basayev and Raduyev
etc.) and some other regions.

Despite the involvement in of thousands of foreign mercenaries and
terrorists in the Azerbaijani army during the war, the Azerbaijani
aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Republic failed, and the Baku
authorities were forced to sign an armistice with the NKR and Armenia.
However, international terrorists found ties in Azerbaijan, and used
them in the future. Recruitment was conducted among Azerbaijanis, who
then were sent to Afghanistan and the North Caucasus, where
participated in the battles against the forces of the international
coalition and Russian organizations.