Author: Kalashian Nyrie

Azeri Defense Chief Visits Israeli Arms Companies

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Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov

TEL AVIV (RFE/RL) – Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visited the headquarters of Israeli defense companies and met with their top executives during an official visit to Israel, one of Azerbaijan’s main arms suppliers.

The visit comes in the wake of Israeli authorities’ decision to halt exports to Azerbaijan of “suicide” drones manufactured by an Israeli company accused of attacking an Armenian army position with them recently.

On September 14, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that Hasanov familiarized himself with weapons and ammunition manufactured by “leading enterprises” of the Israeli defense industry. It did not name those firms.

In a statement cited by Azerbaijani news agencies, the ministry said Hasanov discussed with their chief executives “military-technical cooperation” between the two countries. It did not elaborate.

Hasanov met with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the start of his visit on Monday. Official Azerbaijani sources said the two men discussed bilateral ties and “regional security.” The Israeli Defense Ministry issued no statements on the talks.

Lieberman, whose party is a junior partner in Israel’s coalition government, is a staunch backer of close ties with Baku. He has repeatedly made pro-Azerbaijani statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks during the International Institute for Counter Terrorism’s 17th annual conference in Herzliya on Sept. 11.

An Israeli drone manufacturer, Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS), said late last month that the Israeli Defense Ministry’s export control agency has at least temporarily banned it from delivering a $20 million batch of Orbiter 1K unmanned aircraft to a key foreign client. In a statement, ADS did not specify the buyer of the sophisticated weapon carrying special explosive payload. But it did attribute the ban to an ongoing inquiry conducted by the Israeli agency.

The Israeli newspaper “Maariv” reported on August 13 that the agency launched an investigation after receiving a formal complaint stemming from ADS’s commercial dealings with the Azerbaijani government. It said ADS representatives traveled to Azerbaijan this summer to finalize a contract for the sale of Orbiter drones to the Azerbaijani military.

The paper claimed that two Israeli drone operators working for the company rebuffed Azerbaijani officials’ demand to demonstrate the use of the deadly drone by hitting the Armenian position. But other, more senior ADS executives agreed to launch the deadly craft on the target, according to “Maariv.” ADS denied the report.

According to Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian-backed Defense Army, the Azerbaijani military most recently attacked its frontline positions with a suicide drone on July 7. The commander of an army unit stationed in northeastern Karabakh said in early August that two of his soldiers were lightly wounded in the incident.

Armenia’s Deputy Defense Minister Davit Pakhchanian last week praised the reported ban on drone sales to Baku but said Israel must be “consistent” in preventing its citizens’ direct involvement in Azerbaijani military operations. Pakhchanian claimed that Israeli arms dealers have repeatedly struck Armenian targets at the behest of Azerbaijani officials.

RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian and Regional Cooperation Minister of Israel Tzachi Hanegbi signed agreements on cooperation

The Azerbaijani army heavily used similar suicide drones manufactured by another Israeli company, Israel Aerospace Industries, during the April 2016 war in Karabakh. Baku had bought the Harop drones as well as air-defense and artillery systems and anti-tank rockets as part of multimillion-dollar defense contracts signed with Israeli firms.

Armenia has long expressed concern at the Israeli-Azerbaijani arms deals, saying that they undermine international efforts to end the Karabakh conflict.

The drone scandal was exposed by the Israeli paper more than two weeks after Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi visited Yerevan in an apparent bid to improve his country’s frosty relationship with Armenia. Hanegbi met with Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and other senior Armenian officials.

In what may be a related development, a group of Israeli parliamentarians arrived in the Armenian capital earlier this week. They include two deputy speakers of the Knesset. One of them, Tali Ploskov, chairs an Israel-Armenia parliamentary “friendship group.” Her Kulanu party is also represented in the Israeli government.

The Israeli delegation met with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Wednesday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the two sides “exchanged views on a number of regional issues.” It gave no details.

Senate Panel Adopts ANCA-Backed Measures Supporting Artsakh and Armenia

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Measures Sanction Ankara and Baku

WASHINGTON – The full U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday adopted a series of Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) supported provisions as part of its Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) foreign aid bill, specifically calling for continued aid to Artsakh and increased assistance to Armenia ($20.7 million), and also imposing weapon and travel sanctions on Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“Congress is clearly turning the corner on both Turkey and Azerbaijan, with senior legislators, from both parties, openly confronting and officially sanctioning Erdogan and Aliyev for their undemocratic abuses and anti-American actions,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  “We thank all those who worked to include these constructive provisions and look forward to remaining engaged in support of each of these issues as the legislative process moves forward.”

The Senate foreign aid bill’s “report,” which provides detailed legislative guidance for the executive branch, included language recommending: “assistance for victims of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in amounts consistent with prior fiscal years, and for ongoing needs related to the conflict. The Committee urges a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”

In terms of aid to Armenia, the Committee called for roughly a $14 million increase over the President’s proposed budget: $17.633 million in Economic Support and Development Fund (ESF), $1.5 million for battling narcotics trafficking, $600,000 for International Military Education and Training and $1 million in Foreign Military Financing.  The Senate maintained parity in appropriated military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan.  The Trump budget request for Armenia, submitted in May of this year, envisioned $4 million in ESF, $1.5 million for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, and $700,000 for Non-Proliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs. Military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan was maintained in the Administration’s proposed budget with each receiving $600,000 for International Military Education and Training and cuts Foreign Military Financing to both countries.

Three key amendments targeted Turkey and Azerbaijan in response to the growing human rights abuses in each country, most notably the May, 2017, beating of peaceful protesters by Turkish President Erdogan’s bodyguards in Washington, DC.

Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice-Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced a successful amendment to block the use of funds to facilitate the sale of weapons to President Erdogan’s Presidential Protection Directorate. Sen. Van Hollen told the Washington Post that the appropriations panel’s vote in support of the measure sent “a strong, bipartisan message: We are not going to let President Erdogan’s personal bodyguards attack peaceful American protesters on American soil — and we’re certainly not going to sell them weapons while they do it.”

Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced and passed an amendment to restrict U.S. travel visas to any senior official of the Government of Turkey who is knowingly responsible for the wrongful or unlawful prolonged detention of U.S. citizens or nationals. The move is widely viewed as being in response to Turkey’s continued imprisonment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native who, for more than two decades, has ministered to the Izmir Resurrection Church in Turkey’s third largest city.

Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) called for similar visa restrictions of Azerbaijani government officials involved with the “wrongful imprisonment of Mehman Aliyev, the director of Turan, Azerabaijan’s last remaining independent news outlet.”  The Washington Post editorial board this week called for the Turan chief’s immediate release and noted that under President Aliyev’s reign, “a sustained and punishing campaign has been waged against dissenting scholars, human rights defenders and journalists.”

Startup Institute takes its tech training to Belgium, Armenia

Kalashian Nyrie
Boston Globe, MA
Aug 14 2017

 

Chris Morris for The Boston Globe

Sometimes, the best way to expand isn’t to open new offices in new cities. It’s to work with another company that can do it for you.

That’s one lesson to be learned from the Startup Institute’snew growth push. The Boston-based training center closed its Chicago location a year ago. CEO Rich DiTieri says the institute was spread too thin at the time.

Now, the Startup Institute is taking its curriculum to Belgium and Armenia, through a licensing deal instead. Microsoft will pay for the rights to use the institute’s training program for the tech giant’s Innovation Centers in those two countries. DiTieri says that, hopefully, this will be the first of many such corporate partnerships.

“If we want to expand and grow beyond Boston and New York and help people get access into the tech ecosystem in the digital economy, this is probably the most efficient way for us to do it,” DiTieri says. “This kind of model allows us to go to all those places and start training those folks just like we do here in Boston, without having to raise millions of dollars.”

It’s been a busy year for the Startup Institute’s new chief executive. DiTieri was promoted to the job in December, taking over for Diane Hessan after she left to work on a project for Hillary Clinton’scampaign. (Chief financial officer Kevin Brown had filled in on an interim basis.)

One of DiTieri’s main goals is to develop a sustainable business model for the institute, a for-profit venture backed by Silicon Valley Bank, the local VC firm Accomplice, and angel investor Walt Winshall.

Also this year, his team launched a program for part-time students and ushered in a new system in which employers pay tuition for certain workers. The participants include Gillette, John Hancock, and Harvard University.

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To blow off steam, he sometimes races cars on weekends with his buddies, driving a beat-up 1990 Toyota Corolla covered in thousands of tiny “googly eyes” in the 24 Hours of LeMons endurance series. The “lemons” used in the race can’t be worth more than $500. You learn how to be as efficient as possible, while having fun — perhaps the most important lesson for anyone in the startup world. — JON CHESTO

As the Barr Foundation looks to expand its scope beyond Boston’s borders, an unusual project with the potential to transform downtown Lynn has caught the nonprofit’s attention.

The foundation decided to give $200,000 to the effort, known as Beyond Walls. Its showcase piece took shape last month: 15 murals, some higher than 60 feet, each one reflecting a different ethnic group. Vintage neon signs are being installed throughout the area. Beyond Walls founder Al Wilson says the foundation’s money will be used to light up three dark underpasses, to encourage more pedestrian traffic.

Wilson got the idea after seeing the rejuvenation of a neighborhood in Miami into the Wynwood Art District and London’s King’s Cross area. He grew up in Walpole, but played plenty of soccer in Lynn and had a longstanding appreciation for the city and its many cultures. So he returned last year with a project that has galvanized the city’s business community and its residents.

Beyond Walls used the crowdfunding site Patronicity to raise more than $80,000 from nearly 1,400 donors. That triggered a $50,000 matching grant from MassDevelopment. With the Barr gift, Wilson estimates, the donations — including in-kind services, hardware, and equipment — have exceeded $1 million. Among the most unusual gifts: a 1940s-era jet engine from General Electric that will serve as a focal point for an art installation.

San San Wong, director of arts for the Barr Foundation, says she understood the possibilities and embraced the effort as part of a broader goal for the organization to become more of a regional presence.

“We saw a lot of potential in these six-story buildings that were blank walls,” Wong says. “It’s an incredible story of generating a feeling of ownership within the community.” — JON CHESTO

Bridj lives. Sort of.

The Boston-based city shuttle service shut down abruptly earlier this year after an investment from Toyota fell through. But a sister company that debuted before Bridj, BreakShuttle, will continue to operate under new owners.

BreakShuttle works with colleges and universities to arrange trips home for students. Bridj’s founder, Matt George, launched BreakShuttle while he was in college, before expanding the idea to city transit with Bridj.

Now Wells + Associates, a Virginia transportation planning company, has bought BreakShuttle and hired Jon McBride, the manager who had been overseeing the company under George, to continue operating it.

“BreakShuttle’s always been a profitable business and always been a business that had a lot of growth potential,” McBride said. “Once Bridj launched, BreakShuttle was kind of this bastard stepchild, but a bastard stepchild that was producing cash.”

Boyd declined to say what Wells + Associates paid for the company but acknowledged that it was a low price and noted that it would not require much of an investment to launch a similar service.

The company was interested in acquiring BreakShuttle and hiring McBride because of its existing business relationships with bus companies and about 20 colleges and universities, McBride said. Wells also works with colleges and universities on traffic and parking planning, so BreakShuttle “fits into a much bigger picture,” he said. — ADAM VACCARO

Boston’s commercial real estate business has never been a bastion of diversity. But this summer some of the biggest names in building Boston have been trying to enlarge the pipeline of women and minorities in the development game.

Sixteen interns from five local colleges graduated Friday as the first class of the Commercial Real Estate Success Training Program, interning at 16 local real estate firms. The program included workshops, professional development, and a two-day “real estate boot camp,” along with 10 weeks of paid work at a developer, brokerage firm. or general contractor

“We are well aware that our industry is lacking in diversity and while there is a real interest to work on the issue, not a lot of ideas have been put forth,” said David Begelfer, CEO of the trade group NAIOP Massachusetts. “This partnership introduces the career path to ethnic minorities and women while still in college, so they will be encouraged to enter commercial real estate.” — TIM LOGAN

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 08/14/2017

Kalashian Nyrie 
                                        Monday, 
Israeli Defense Firm Accused Of Drone Attack On Armenians
Nagorno-Karabakh -- An Israel-manufactured Azerbaijani "suicide" drone
crashes in the Martakert district, 4Apr2016.
Israel's Defense Ministry claims to be investigating reports that
senior executives of an Israeli defense company struck an Armenian
military position with a "suicide" drone recently in an effort to sell
such weapons to Azerbaijan.
The Israeli daily "Maariv" reported on Sunday that representatives of
the company, Aeronautics Defense Systems, travelled to Azerbaijan over
a month ago to finalize a contract for the sale of its Orbiter 1K
unmanned aircraft capable of carrying special explosive payload.
Citing a formal complaint lodged with the ministry, the paper reported
that two Israeli drone operators rebuffed Azerbaijani officials'
demand to demonstrate the use of the deadly drone by hitting the
Armenian position in an undisclosed area with it. But other, more
senior representatives of the company agreed to launch the deadly
craft towards the target, the paper said.
One of the operators subsequently resigned from the company in
protest, while the other plans to follow suit soon, according to
"Maariv."
Reacting to the report, the Israeli Defense Ministry said: "The claim
is being examined by the relevant parties at the ministry." The
complaint was filed with the ministry's Defense Export Controls
Agency, reported another Israeli daily, "Haaretz."
Aeronautics Defense Systems, meanwhile, denied the report, saying that
"the operational action was carried out by the purchaser alone."
According to Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian-backed Defense Army, the
Azerbaijani military most recently attacked its frontline positions
with a suicide drone on July 7. Colonel Armen Gyozalian, the commander
of an army unit stationed in northeastern Karabakh, told the "Hay
Zinvor" newspaper earlier this month that two of his soldiers were
lightly wounded in the incident. No Armenian military hardware was
damaged in that drone attack, he said.
The Azerbaijani army heavily used similar suicide drones manufactured
by another Israeli company, Israel Aerospace Industries, during the
April 2016 hostilities in Karabakh, which left at least 190 soldiers
from both sides dead. Baku had gotten hold of them as part of
multimillion-dollar defense contracts signed with the Jewish state.
The Israeli weapons sold to Azerbaijan have included not only various
types of unmanned aircraft but also air-defense systems and anti-tank
rockets. Aeronautics Defense Systems, the Oribter manufacturer,
reportedly started supplying drones to the Azerbaijani military in
2008.
Armenia has long expressed concern at the Israeli-Azerbaijani arms
deals, saying that they undermine international efforts to end the
Karabakh conflict. The Armenian Foreign Ministry on Monday reacted
cautiously to the Israeli newspaper report. "We are aware of problems
and monitoring them," a ministry spokesman told Tert.am.
The report came less than three weeks after Israeli Minister of
Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi visited Yerevan in an apparent bid
to improve his country's frosty relationship with Armenia. Hanegbi
signed a number of bilateral agreements with Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandian and Culture Minister Armen Amirian. He also met with
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian.
Armenia Battling Wildfires
 . Ruzanna Gishian
Armenia - A wildfire in the Khosrov Forest Reserve, 14Aug2017.
Russia sent a large water-dropping aircraft to Armenia to help
authorities there contain a massive wildfire in a forest southeast of
Yerevan that raged for the third consecutive day on Monday.
The fire in the historic Khosrov Forest Reserve broke out on
Saturday. Helped by an unusually hot and dry weather, it quickly
spread to more than 200 hectares of land, threatening to engulf the
entire state-protected area encompassing 9,000 hectares of forest
founded by a 4th century Armenian king.
The Ministry for Emergency Situations scrambled to contain the blaze,
sending dozens firefighters to the area. They were joined on Monday by
over 200 Armenian army soldiers and police officers as well as
hundreds of residents of nearby villages and volunteers from other
parts of the country.
They continued to battle the fire as it burned down more trees on
Monday afternoon, sending a thick smoke billowing skyward. Ministry
officials complained that the Khosrov reserve's mountainous terrain is
making is practically impossible for them to deploy fire engines.
An Armenian military helicopter was therefore called in to join the
operation. Water dropped by it on burning trees provided insufficient,
however.
Armenia - A wildfire in the Khosrov Forest Reserve, 14Aug2017.
Emergency Situations Minister Davit Tonoyan called his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Puchkov to ask him for urgent
assistance. Tonoyan's press office announced later in the day that the
Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations will dispatch a special
plane designed for dealing with forest fires.
A statement by the office said the Ilyushin-72 plane can drop more
than 42 tons of water and protect almost 5 hectares of land against
flames during a single flight. Preparations are now underway to
ensuring necessary water supply to the plane, added the statement.
The water-dropping plane arrived at the Erebuni airbase in Yerevan at
7 around p.m. local time.
"We hope that the plane will arrive and we'll extinguish the fire with
its help," a senior official at the Armenian Rescue Service told
reporters.
"This is a disaster, this is not an ordinary fire," he said. "I've
worked in this area for many years and haven't seen a fire like this
before."
Although Armenia has been affected by an intense heatwave for the last
few weeks, law-enforcement authorities suspect that the Khosrov forest
fire was the result of human negligence. The Investigative Committee
launched a criminal inquiry under corresponding articles of the
Armenian Criminal Code.
Another massive wildfire broke out near a village in the southeastern
Vayots Dzor province last Thursday. It reportedly affected about 650
hectares of land partly covered with trees. Tonoyan's ministry
announced on Monday that the fire has finally been contained with the
help of army soldiers and policemen.
RFE/RL Reporter Harassed In Armenia
Armenia - A vanadlized car that transported an RFE/RL car to Sevan, 14
August, 2017.
A correspondent for RFE/RL's Armenian service was threatened and
chased by a man while reporting on safety standards at Armenia's
liquefied gas stations on Monday.
The furious young man turned on the reporter, Narine Ghalechian, when
she approached one such station in Sevan, a town 55 kilometers north
of Yerevan, and started filming it. He didn't explain his rage during
the incident.
"I switched off and hid the video camera to prevent him from damaging
it but kept holding the microphone in a visible way, which was enough
for him to understand that I'm a journalist, then ran away and got in
the car" Ghalechian said afterwards. "I told him not to approach me or
I will call the police, which made him even angrier.
"He reached for the car's door which I already locked. When he
realized that the door is locked he started kicking and punching it."
Ghalechian then headed to a police station and reported the incident
to senior officers there. The man was brought into the police station
for questioning later in the day.
Police officers also inspected the damaged car used by the RFE/RL
crew. They pledged to hold the violent man accountable.
Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, was quick to express
concern at the incident. A statement by Tatoyan's office said he has
formally appealed to the Armenian police to conduct an investigation.
Russian PM Hails Rising Trade With Armenia
Kazakhstan - Prime Ministers Dmitry Medvedev of Russia (R) and Karen
Karapetian of Armenia meet in Astana, 14Aug2017.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev welcomed a continuing
double-digit growth of Russia's trade with Armenia when he met with
his Armenian counterpart Karen Karapetian on Monday.
The two men held talks on the sidelines of a meeting in Kazakhstan's
capital Astana of the prime ministers of Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
member states.
"On the whole, the situation is not bad because there is an increase
in both deliveries of goods from Armenia to Russia and overall
commercial exchange between our countries," Medvedev said in his
opening remarks at the meeting. "We are continuing to coordinate our
positions on joint investment projects, on a number of areas of
economic cooperation which have emerged of late."
"So on the whole, things are going well, but this doesn't mean that we
have nothing to discuss," he added.
"I also want to discuss a number of issues, including dates for your
visit to Armenia," replied Karapetian.
Official Armenian statistics show that Russian-Armenian trade
increased by over 23.7 percent to $737.5 million in the first half of
this year. By comparison, Armenia's trade with the European Union
amounted to $677 million in the same period. It was up by 18 percent
in absolute terms.
Russia surpassed the EU as Armenia's leading trading partner after a
similar rise in bilateral trade recorded last year. Armenian exports
to Russia alone jumped by 51 percent in 2016. Officials in Yerevan
attributed that to Armenia's membership in the EEU, a Russian-led
trade bloc comprising five ex-Soviet states.
Analysts believe that a stabilization and certain strengthening of the
Russian ruble in 2016 was also a key factor. The Russian currency
weakened sharply against the U.S. dollar in 2014 and 2015 due to the
collapse of oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed on
Moscow. As a result, Russian-Armenian trade plummeted in 2015.
Press Review
(Saturday, August 12)
"For the [Armenian] authorities, the population is a gray mass which
should be bribed, bullied and suppressed during elections so that they
can achieve their desired results," writes "Aravot." "The people then
had better not disturb the authorities for the next four or five
years. And they may not disturb. But that is not an ideal solution for
the authorities because humiliated people are not inclined to work and
create and may have a latent hatred towards those who humiliate them."
Armen Badalian, a political commentator, tells Lragir.am that
Armenia's civil society must have a staunchly pro-Western
orientation. "Russia has serious problems with civil society and you
can't build a civil society through integration into Russian
integration structures," he says.
Writing in Civilnet.am, a prominent journalist and columnist, Tatul
Hakobian, looks at opposition calls for renaming street names in
Yerevan that were named after controversial Armenian Bolshevik
leaders. He brings the example of a village in Armenia's Gegharkunik
village that was named after one of those leaders in the 1920s,
wondering whether it too should be given a new name.
(Sargis Harutyunyan)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

BAKU: US politician: Albanian Ganjasar church has nothing to do with Armenian Gregorian church

Kalashian Nyrie
News.az, Azerbaijan

Aug 7 2017

Mon 06:28 GMT | 2:28 Local Time

“Changing name of church is a clear violation of International humanitarian law.”

“The Alban Church located in Kalbajar, an Azerbaijani district occupied by the Armenian Armed Forces, is one of many examples where Armenian authorities purposely change the names of these Azerbaijani cultural sites”.

American politician Peter Theis told Report regarding the ceremony held recently by the Armenian separatists in the Albanian church of Ganjasar, which the Armenians renamed Gandzasar.

He noted that the Ganjasar Church of Caucasian Albania was built in 1216 upon the order of Prince Hasan Jalal, one of the rulers of Ashagi Khachin. P. Theis stressed that it became the residence of Albanian Church worshipers and a cradle of Albanian culture.

“The Ganjasar Church, based on its archeological discoveries, has nothing to do with the Armenian Gregorian church. The repeated actions of misappropriating Azerbaijani cultural and religious treasures, by the government of Armenia are a clear violation of International humanitarian law”, Theis added. 

News.Az

Génocide arménien : Aznavour remercie Sarkozy

Kalashian Nyrie
Boursorama–
31 juillet 2017


Le Parisien le 31/07/2017 à 14:54

0

Après l’adoption par l’Assemblée nationale du projet de loi sur la pénalisation de la négation des génocides, dont celui des Arméniens en 1915, le chanteur Charles Aznavour a fait part dans une lettre adressée à Nicolas Sarkozy de ses «sentiments de fierté, de reconnaissance et de justice rendue». Le texte doit encore être approuvé par le Sénat, alors que la Turquie a pris des mesures de rétorsion.

Le site en ligne du magazine «Nouvelles d’Arménie» a publié en intégralité le courrier adressé au chef de l’Etat français par l’auteur-compositeur né à Paris en 1924 de parents arméniens. «A Erevan (la capitale de l’Arménie, ndlr), lors de votre visite d’Etat exceptionnelle en octobre dernier, en vous rendant au Mémorial du Génocide arménien, vous avez appelé la Turquie à revisiter son histoire», écrit Charles Aznavour à Nicolas Sarkozy. «Vous avez redit tout votre engagement en faveur de l’adoption d’une loi française sur la condamnation du génocide arménien et de leurs descendants».

«Des mots de sincère gratitude»

«Aujourd’hui», les 500 000 Français d’origine arménienne sont fiers «que notre Assemblée nationale préconise la pénalisation du négationnisme», ajoute l’artiste. La France est devenue «le premier Etat au monde à donner force de loi à la reconnaissance du génocide arménien». «Aujourd’hui, ce sont des mots de sincère gratitude que je voudrais vous adresser», poursuit Charles Aznavour.

Le 12 mars 2011, lors d’un rassemblement de la communauté des Français d’origine arménienne devant le Sénat, le chanteur avait réitéré qu’un vote sanction contre le candidat Sarkozy à la présidentielle de 2012 était possible, lui demandant «d’honorer sa promesse », rapportent «les Nouvelles d’Arménie».

L’artiste mène depuis longtemps un combat pour la reconnaissance de ce génocide commis en 1915 sous l’empire ottoman. Depuis 2009, il est l’ambassadeur de l’Arménie en Suisse. …

Lire la suite de l’article sur Le Parisien.fr

Turkish hackers crack Sevan Nişanyan’s Twitter account

Kalashian Nyrie
Panorama, Armenia

The Turkish group of hackers identified as “Ayyıldız Tim” has cracked the Twiiter account of Turkish-Armenian intellectual, travel writer, entrepreneur, and researcher Sevan Nişanyan, Ermenihaber reports.

The source informs that according to CNN Türk, the hackers also tweeted on behalf of Sevan Nişanyan, noting that ‘a bird fled abroad and is proud of it’, adding that now ‘it’s up to us to catch that bird’.

Nişanyan has made a Facebook post regarding the above mentioned, confirming that his Twitter account has been hacked.

To remind, Sevan Nişanyan was jailed on Dec. 2, 2014 for “construction infractions”, being sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison in Turkey. He escaped prison and fled Turkey on July 14, 2017.

According to some reports, Nişanyan was allowed to leave prison for one day every three months and simply did not return after his latest sanctioned leave.

“The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,” Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14, after his escape.

According to the latest reports, he applied for political asylum in Greece.

Kalavan – ‘chocolate’ village where oligarchs are banned to enter: photos

Kalashian Nyrie
Aravot, Armenia

Nelly BABAYAN 

Kalavan residents upgrade their village on their own

Amrkher village, formerly fully resided by Azeri people, again turned into an Armenian populated one throughout Artsakh war, it was renamed as well, now it is the prospering Kalavan. As said by the villagers, this village located at the “edge of the world”, started to “get revived”, when the villagers got a dream.

Kalavan resident Robert Ghukasyan was 9 years old, when his family was displaced from Azerbaijan’s Sumgayit city: he says he remembers those cases, but does not feel hostility towards the Azeri people, they were political “games”. Robert proves by his example that if one loves his village very much, he will develop it. As soon as he starts to tell about the village, he notes first and foremost that it was an Armenian village, they started to populate it with Azeri people in 1800s, back then even Azerbaijan as a state and nation did not exist.

During the years of war the Armenians started to resettle in this village of Gegharkunik province, they came from several villages of Azerbaijan’s Shamkhor region. 113 residents live in the village, 3 families from Yerevan have settled in Kalavan, surrounded by forests. Entering Kalavan, it is difficult to believe that it is a developing community: abandoned and destroyed houses are all around, these destroyed houses have been Azerbaijani people’s houses, but they, as Robert says, are interesting to the tourists similarly. Robert has succeeded to turn the flaws of the village into places of tourists’ interest. Today Kalavan is one of the world best places for adventure and ecotourism and Robert has accomplished this in simply a few years, he has brought his plan and dream to life in 2014.

Kalavan is visited from various countries, even Peru and Chile, Australia and Israel. Robert Ghukasyan says, this is not tourism development, this is community development which encompasses all fields.

Archaeologist and zooarchaeologist Robert runs “Time Land” foundation through which they have generated ideas for the development of the village. “I have traveled a lot, but every time, for example, being at the center of Paris, I wanted to return to my village do something good. I did not expect where I would reach, I did not have an idea of neither tourism, nor community development. But I succeeded, I started and after a year Kalavan village became rather famous”, tells Robert.

Asked how he started, Robert answered: “With 20 USD. My friends came, we built a Stone Age shelter in the forest and had dinner. And the idea came out. I made out the game Mammoth. The tourists come here and start to live with the life of Stone Age people. They make fire by themselves, make tools and build Stone Age shelter.

Last year Kalavan received 2500 tourists. Robert had to sell his cow to have means to participate in the International Conference in Alaska and present the village. After this visit, the village had a demand of 10.000 tourists. “Now we have given a pause, we cannot receive 10.000 tourists, we should receive cheap loans from Small and Medium Entrepreneurship Development National Center and build the guesthouses, that is – the villagers will make their houses resemble guesthouses and we will receive a lot of guests 2018 onwards again”, tells Robert.

The launch of the village’s development was not difficult, as Robert says, they started to examine human resources and the villagers did not need to have knowledge of computer or foreign language, good knowledge of flora and fauna and of making tasty dishes and tea from plants was enough.

“And an important thing is that the villagers understood that they are a value and not a voice”, says Robert.

The villagers, all of them are engaged in the field of tourism, one takes the tourists to the village by his Vilis, the other makes tasty dishes, the 3rd one receives tourists in his house, the 4th one knows the surrounding well, recognizes the birds by each tweet, tells the tourists about the location, nature and animals during the hikes. Robert says, the women of the village have a special talent, they make 102 types of dishes from the plants: “The tourists are attracted by the harmony between the humans and nature in our village. The visitors can recognize the edible plants and get acquainted with preparation method. We have non-standard hikes, dance of the Caucasian grouses, during which we see the grouse from the Red Book.”

Entrepreneurs’ and oligarchs’ entry is banned in Kalavan: Robert says the villagers strictly refuse the investments of the foreigners: “They will come and think solely of their business, provide their income, and that will not have an influence on the living standard of the villager, even if they work in the hotel built by them. And via our community development program, every villager should be involved and have his work. We refuse other investments forasmuch as we have a dream and will realize it by ourselves. We refuse, because we have made a “chocolate” village by our inner resources, and the businessman will come and provide his income based on that? Business will contaminate the village. Strangers have nothing to do in here, we will do everything on our own.”

The road to the village is difficult to pass, ruined, no asphalt is in place, it is again a Stone Age road. Robert says it does not upset the tourists: “This is the very weak side that we have converted into a competition privilege. When one knows s/he goes to a heavenly place… the asphalt can never lead to a heavenly place.”

Asked whether they will replace the Vilis taking the tourists to the village by Jeep one day, Robert replied: “At the very second when Vilis is replaced by Jeep, the interest of the village will disappear.”

Even the uncultivated lands of Kalavan have turned into a competition advantage for the development of the village: Robert says, when people have not cultivated the lands maybe from laziness, maybe from hopelessness, they have not filled the soil with pesticides, they have created ideal conditions for organic agriculture. Kalavan has received now a 3-year grant for the organic agriculture development – they do beekeeping and gardening, grow raspberries.

“Not a community exists which has not a development opportunity, they simply have to use the human resources correctly and appreciate people”, says Robert. Although people leave Kalavan to work abroad, Robert says: “It is temporary, we need money to build guesthouses at the moment, they leave. Our victory is that Kalavan residents see their future in the village, and previously no one wanted to associate their lives with the village. Formerly, when they wanted to tell about the place they lived in, they described the neighboring villages, now they proudly indicate Kalavan.”

NELLY BABAYAN

The article has been prepared via International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) support. “Aravot”  


Azerbaijani Side Fired at Village of Barekamavan

Kalashian Nyrie
Lragir, Armenia

Lragir.am
Country – Sunday, , 00:53

The head of Barekamavan village told tert.am that on June 21 the Azerbaijani side fired in the direction of the village between 11 pm and 1 am, using heavy machine guns and automatic rifles. The head of the village said there are no casualties. Only the roofs of some houses were damaged. He noted that they fire at the military positions regularly but last time they fired at the village was a year ago.

Azerbaijan hampers Abkhazia railway plan to keep Armenia in isolation – Russian expert

Kalashian Nyrie
Tert, Armenia

10:51 • 15.07.17

The Azerbaijani authorities are intentionally hampering the Abkhazian railway construction plan in an attempt to keep Armenia in isolation, says Stanislav Tarasov, a Russian expert specializing in Middle East and Caucasus Affairs.

According to him, Russia and Georgia are currently in serious talks over accelerating the process, with the Russian foreign minister who recently visited Abkhazia having already given his approval to the project.

“I think the opening of the Azbkhazian railway will re-establish the communication between Russia and Georgia in the nearest future. Baku is hampering the process through Georgia, and so is Turkey in a way, with the official Ankara’s attention being currently focused on the Middle East,” he told Tert.am.

The expert said he thinks the Azerbaijani authorities have serious fears that the plan, if realized, will open up new opportunities to Armenia, expanding its communication network. “It offers us a new opportunity to deepen the ties with Russia. As a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Armenia has numerous trade, military and other agreements implying an active cooperation with Russia,” he noted.

As for the official Ankara’s stance, Tarasov said he feels that the Turkish authorities are now preoccupied with absolutely different problems.

“Turkey is playing football on its own court, and playing football on one’s own court implies defeat at times or evening the scores at others and victory in very rare cases. Ankara can exercise influence on Baku to make it adopt a more consistent position on the issue. But Turkey currently doesn’t have the time,” Tarasov added.

In his words, the railway will have real chances to open only after establishing relative peace in the region.

Tigranuhi Martirosyan