Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Azerbaijan’s President: “The Right To Self-Determination Should Not Run Contrary To The Principle Of Territorial Integrity”

MilAz.info, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

“We highly appreciate the statement issued by the leaders of the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states as a part of G-8 summit and
thank them for focusing attention on the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict”.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said this at the joint press
conference with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy,
APA’s Europe correspondent reports from Brussels.

He stated that the Azerbaijani side fully supports the statements on
the necessity of proper steps for finding a solution of the conflict.”

According to the Head of State, it is important that the statement
refers to the principles of Helsinki Final Act as the basis of the
solution of the conflict.

“The right to self-determination should not run contrary to the
principle of territorial integrity. Armenians have already achieved
self-determination, they have the state of Armenia,” he said.

Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan is interested in the soonest solution
of the conflict basing on the international law and principles,
as well as UN resolutions.

EU CALLS FOR FAIR RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AGREED PRINCIPLES

Trend, Azerbaijan
June 21 2013

The European Commission calls for a fair resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the agreed principles,
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at a
press-conference in Brussels on Friday on the results of the meeting
with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Barroso’s statement is posted on the European Union’s official website.

“We know well that for countries in the region to realize their full
potential they need to be secure and at peace with their neighbors,”
he said.

According to Barroso, the EU supports the international mediation
efforts through the OSCE Minsk Group and stands ready to play its
part for a lasting and peaceful settlement.

Barroso said that broader issues were discussed during the meeting
with the Azerbaijani President.

“Azerbaijan is an important partner with whom we cooperate closely
on a number of regional and global issues. We also looked ahead to
Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe next year,” he said.

“We also shared our views on key domestic issues for Azerbaijan. The
Presidential elections are high on the list. We expressed our hope
that these can take place according to the highest standards, with
the support of international observers including from OSCE-ODIHR,”
Barroso said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

FEATURED VIDEO: RARE SYRIAN BROWN BEAR CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Mongabay.com
June 19 2013

By: Phyllis Sena
June 19, 2013

New camera-trap footage from the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge in Armenia,
has captured rare footage of a Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos
syriacus), a subspecies of Brown Bear native to Eurasia. This is an
important recording as there may be just one or two bears in this
reserve and the animals are listed as vulnerable in Armenia. The exact
population of this subspecies is unknown and likely to be declining
due to poaching, habitat destruction and diminishing sources of food
in the wild.

Agriculture, mining and quarrying are some of the reasons for their
habitat destruction, and bears damaging bee hives and orchards is
the main cause of conflict with local farmers. According to the
Foundation for Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets Program
Director Barbara Siebert, “CWR is so important because we provide
an area free from conflict for wildlife such as bears. We also plant
wild fruit and nut trees to encourage bears to use the protected area
rather than farmland.”

FPWC uses camera-trap images to assess population numbers of wildlife,
and numbers are compared year to year to show if they are increasing.

Additionally, images of injured animals may be a sign of poaching
and will prompt greater security in a particular area of the refuge.

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
June 21, 2013 Friday

Iran exported over 1.5 billion cub.m. of gas to Armenia during 6 years

Baku/20.06.13/Turan: From 207 to 2012 export of Iranian gas to Armenia
exceeded 1.5 billion cub.m., reads the report of the National Gas
Company of Iran.

According to the report, Iran exported 1,558 billion cub.m. of gas in
exchange for power from Armenia. In 212 export of Iranian gas totaled
481 million cub.m, reported Iranian FARS agency.

Last week Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Reisi said that Iran
is ready to help Armenia with gas. He said it is up to Armenia to
decide if it wants to use Iranian gas as an alternative to Russian
gas, reported Iran.ru.-0—

DNA Daily News & Analysis, India
June 22 2013

Documenting an Armenian heritage

Saturday, Jun 22, 2013, 19:02 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

A British born researcher is actively working to preserve photographic
evidence of every birth, marriage and death of the Armenian community
in India, a process which if done earlier would’ve helped Prince
William find his Armenian roots.

Liz Chater was born in the UK. When the news broke that Lady came from
a family that could be traced back to Armenian ancestors in India, she
was bombarded with queries from interested people interested in
finding the family’s graves. Chater, after all, is quite the expert on
Armenians in India. This family history researcher specialises in
Armenians in India and the Far East and is dedicated to Armenian
family history in India (1600-1950).

Her interest is tracing her family stems from not knowing anything
about its origins – she knew about her mother’s side (who is Welsh)
but Liz’s father, who died in 1983, never talked about his family back
in Kolkata. `My search took me to the British Library in London where
on my first visit, I was lucky enough to be able to trace many members
of my father’s side of the family. I posted some queries to a
genealogy mailing list and an Armenian researcher called Nadia Wright,
who specialises in Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia, told me the
names were Armenian. This was the first I knew that I had Armenian
ancestors in my family,” she says.

Having discovered her Armenian heritage, she started looking for
information. “There was very little, if any, information on the
internet. Wanting to help others with their own Armenian family
history in India I started a small website and with each new piece of
information or discovery, I added it on,” she adds.

In 2005, she made her first trip to Kolkata where she visited the
church and the graves. She then started photographing graves and in
the evenings would transcribe them and upload it on her website. “It
was an immediate hit.” By the end of her trip, she had taken over
3000 photographs of graves and church registers with a view to
transcribing them. After six months, she found an Armenian doctor
willing to translate the registers. At the end of 2007 The Families in
British India Society had placed the whole of the
Armenian Church baptism register (1793-1859) of the Holy Nazareth
Church Kolkata on their website. This was the first time that it had
been translated from Armenian into English.

“By 2007, I had decided that I wanted to start a project `Armenian
Graves in India’ and I travelled to India and photographed the whole
of the churchyards at the Holy Nazareth Church, St. Gregory’s, and
Tangra respectively. In 2008 I completed Chinsurah, Saidabad, and
Chennai (Madras) respectively and along the way donations of
photographs of graves in Agra , Mumbai (Bombay) and Surat have helped
to continue my Armenian history in India project,” she says.

Many of the graves in Chater’s collection have dual inscriptions in
Armenian and English. But Chater still has some 3,000 photographs of
Armenian graves whose inscriptions are written only in Armenian that
she hasn’t been able to translate yet. For this she is relying on the
Armenian community to help her.

Chater’s work can be viewed on website

The Daily Star, Bangladesh
June 21 2013

The last of the Armenians

Once a flourishing community in Bengal, Armenians have dwindled in
number to such an extent that only one man now represents the entire
community in Dhaka. He is known by his Anglicised name of Michael
Joseph Martin.

When Martin, now in his late seventies, dies, it will throw into
doubt the future of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Holy
Resurrection, one of Dhaka’s most beautiful churches.

Martin, whose Armenian name is Mikel Housep Martirossian, shoulders
the responsibility of preserving the building against the ravages of
the weather and pollution.

The cemetery in the church is akin to a huge history book,
chronicling the history of the Armenian people in the region.

Founded in 1781, the Armenian Church is a historically significant
architectural monument situated in Armanitola in old Dhaka. The church
bears testimony to the existence of a significant Armenian community
in the region in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Following the domination of their homeland by the Persian powers of
the time, Armenians were sent by their new rulers to the Bengal region
for political and economic reasons. They came to Dhaka for business
and traded in jute and leather. The area where they lived came to be
known as Armanitola.

The now famous church was built on Armenian Street in Armanitola,
then a thriving business district. The site was an Armenian graveyard
before the church was built, and the tombstones that have survived
serve as a chronicle of Armenian life in the area. Agaminus Catachik,
an Armenian, gave away the land to build the church.

In the fifty years following the church’s construction, a clock tower
was built on its western side. It is said that the clock could be
heard four miles away, and people synchronised their watches with the
sound of the tower’s bell. The clock stopped in 1880, and an
earthquake destroyed the tower in 1897.

The church plan is rectangular. Features include an arched gate and
an arched door. There are four doors and 27 windows. The main floor is
divided into three parts: a pulpit enclosed by railings, a middle
section with two folding doors, and an area separated by a wooden
fence for seating women and children. There is a spiral staircase
leading into the church.

Today, the church is usually closed. It has been the subject of BBC
and AFP documentaries, and has received recognition from the
Bangladesh government as an archaeological site.
Martin, the custodian of the church, came to Dhaka in 1942 during
World War II, following in the footsteps of his father who had settled
in the region decades earlier.

In his advanced age, he now worries about who will look after the church.

`This is a blessed place and God won’t leave it unprotected and
uncared for,’ he told an AFP interview.

He added, hopefully: `When I die, maybe one of my three daughters
will fly in from Canada to keep our presence here alive.’

Sources: The BBC, AFP, The Independent and works of Muntassir Mamoon
and Sushil Chaudhury.

Kent Messenger, UK
June 21, 2013

Wife of Lib Dem politician joins Turkey protests

by Anna White

The wife of a political figure will join thousands of campaigners in
her home country in protests against the Turkish government.

Diana Gerard will leave behind her husband Jasper, the Liberal
Democrat’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Maidstone and the
Weald, when she travels to Istanbul.

The world has watched riot police clash with peaceful demonstrators
who are fighting the demolition of Gezi Park, a rare green space in
the city, to make way for a mosque and a replica barracks from the
13th Century Ottoman Empire-era.

This protest has been swelled by those who accuse prime minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and
of trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state.

Mrs Gerard, an Armenian Christian who was raised in Instanbul, said:
“I just feel I have to go. I certainly don’t support violent protest,
but I believe it is right for people to stand up for what they believe
in.

“When I grew up there people enjoyed more freedom. But gradually the
government is bringing in creeping Islamic laws, and that is very
dangerous.”

Mr Gerard said: “London is where I would prefer my wife to
demonstrate, rather than Istanbul, as the last thing I want is for her
to be caught up in trouble. But she will stay away from anywhere
violent.”

Two boxers to represent Armenia at 2013 Universiade

June 22, 2013

By Lusine Shahbazyan

YEREVAN. – Armenian boxing national team is drawing major importance
to Universiade, head coach Karen Aghamalyan said in an interview with
NEWS.am Sport.

The 27th Summer Universiade will be held in Kazan on July 6-17 and
will include 27 sports.

Armenian athletes will participate in chess, swimming, wrestling,
boxing, judo, sambo, weightlifting and athletics competitions.

Two Armenian boxers will compete for the Universiade medals.

`Koryun Simonyan will represent Armenia in the category of 49 kg and
Arthur Kirajyan – in 64 kg,’ he said, adding that boxers will face
serious competition.

`Such teams as Russia and Cuba will present their boxers.
Participation in the games will help us gain experience and prepare
for the world championships,’ he added.

Karen Aghamalyan noted they do expect medals, since it is senseless to
participate in any competitions without a hope of winning a medal.

NEWS.am Sport

Ancient Armenian church’s fate is questionable – historian

June 22, 2013 | 12:58

YEREVAN. – The preservation of the integrity of Armenia’s Sanahin
Monastic Complex is questionable, historian Gevorg Melkonyan stated
during a press conference on Saturday.

`The monastery [which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site
list] is in a very weak condition, and a complete restoration issue
may come up in several years. In 2016, we will mark the 1050th
anniversary of the church and the university of Sanahin,’ the
historian noted.

He added that Sanahin was also an important learning center.

`It is unique not only for its architecture, but by the fact that a
scribe school, a library, a master’s college, [and] the shrines of
[several of] our princes were there. The area is also rich with
chapels.

`The initiative group decided to create a fund to assist the
restoration of Sanahin. There also will be cultural events, [and] a
book about the Church of Sanahin.

`This is a task for us all. The Church of Sanahin is the property of
the Armenian Church; and if the reconstruction had been undertaken
earlier, less means would have been needed,’ Gevorg Melkonyan
concluded.

Russian ambassador to Armenia not commenting on Moscow’s sale of
military equipment to Azerbaijan

June 22, 2013 | 15:51

YEREVAN. – Newly appointed Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Ivan
Volinkin, did not comment on the news about official Moscow’s sale of
military equipment to Azerbaijan.

The ambassador, who was attending the official opening of a medical
center, refused Armenian News-NEWS.am’s request to comment on this
information.

Instead, the Russian diplomat pointed to the importance of the opening
of the aforementioned medical center.

`See what an important event we are attending. I will not comment on
it now; I will comment [on it] later. There will be a press
conference,’ Volinkin added.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am