Author: Kanayan Tamar

CYPRUS PRESIDENT TO VISIT TSITSERNAKABERD WITH A REPRESENTATIVE DELEGATION

17:37, 8 April, 2015

NICOSIA, 8 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades
will be accompanied by Members of the Parliament of Cyprus and
representatives of the Cypriot-Armenian community during his April
22-25 visit to Armenia. As a representative of the office of Armenian
Member of the Parliament of Cyprus Vartkes Mahdessian said in an
interview with “Armenpress”, the President will be accompanied
by members of the country’s three major political parties at
Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex. “Member of
the Parliament of Cyprus, leader of Tisi Party and chair of the
Cyprus-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Averof Noephytou,
secretary of Akel Party of Nicosia Stefanos Stefanou and former leader
of Cyprus’s TICO Party and former parliamentary speaker, current
Member of Parliament Marios Garoyian will also be participating in
the ceremonies commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide
to be held in Armenia on 22-25 April,” as reported from Nicosia.

Armenian Member of the Parliament of Cyprus Vartkes Mahdessian will
also be joining the President on his visit to Armenia.

BACK TO ROOTS: KIM KARDASHIAN ARRIVES IN ARMENIA

21:23, 08 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Armenian-American reality star Kim Kardashian has just arrived in
Armenia, accompanied by her husband Kanye West and sister Khloe.

She was greeted at Zvartnots Airport by tens of journalists.

“I’m very happy to be in Armenia,” Kim said.

Once outside the terminal the reality stars left in a minivan together.

On a visit to the country of her ancestors, Kim Kardashian will pay
tribute to the victims of the Armenian genocide.

The Kardashians will be followed by camera crews from the broadcaster
E! to film several episodes of the reality seriesKeeping Up With The
Kardashians, but no official meetings or press conferences are planned.

Her late father Robert was a third-generation Armenian American,
and on several occasions she has publicly supported international
recognition of the Armenians’ systematic extermination at the hands
of the Ottoman government.

ARMENIA’S SECOND PRESIDENT FINDS CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM SENSELESS

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan
finds constitutional reform senseless.

He is convinced that the country’s problems are not connected with
the Constitution, especially with the type of governance.

Kocharyan said in an interview he posted on his informal
website.

In his opinion, important is an accomplished system of parties and
democracy and struggle inside parties that renewed their leadership
and update their strategies.

“Do you know such parties in Armenia? Unfortunately, even the level
of political discussions is extremely primitive here,” he said.

“It is naivety to think that a parliamentary governance model will
automatically create democratic and competitive environment for
parties. It is more likely to strengthen cronyism in the governance,
which is dangerously commonplace in Armenia and is one of the
country’s woes.”

On March 14, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan approved the concept
of constitutional reforms that has been worked out by a professional
commission.

In compliance with the president’s instruction, the commission must
organize discussions with political parties and respond to their
proposals and remarks.

The concept is focused on reasonability of transition from

ARMENIA’S ELECTRIC POWER OUTPUT 7 751 MILLION KWH IN 2014

YEREVAN, April 7. /ARKA/. Armenian Energy and Natural Resources
Minister Yervand Zakaryan, presenting today the 2014 activity report
to the prime minister, said the country’s electric power output was
7 751 million kWh in 2014.

He is quoted by the government’s press office as saying that 3 288.6
million kWh here is the electricity generated by thermal power plants,
1 992.6 million kWh by hydro power plants and 2 464.8 million kWh by
the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.

The minister also said that the electric energy generated by the
country’s power plants and imported here from the outside in 2014
totaled 7 528 million kWh – 65 million kWh more than in 2013.

He said the 2014-2020 program of measures to be taken to enhance
Armenia’s energy security was approved in 2014 and additional
preferences were implied for development of alternative energy.

Besides, in his words, AMD 278.5 million was invested in enhancement
of energy saving in 31 units as part of the WB-supported program.

Zakaryan said that a program implying prolongation of operation of
the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant has been approved and an appropriated
cooperation agreement has been signed with Russia.

He said cooperation with international organizations and banks was
continued to keep implementing some investment programs. —0—–

STORIES OF STRUGGLE: ISTANBUL ARTIST’S NEW EXHIBITION ON 1915 FOLLOWS WOMEN WHO RESISTED

14:00, April 7, 2015

Aret Gıcır’s second solo exhibition, Between Fire and Sword, will
run from April 10 to May 9 at the Oktem & Aykut contemporary art
gallery in Istanbul.

Its title inspired by the writer Zabel Yesayan’s depiction of the 1909
Cilicia massacres, Between Fire and Sword explores the irreversible
rupture that took place in Anatolia one century ago. The artist
attempts to approach the Catastrophe through the stories of Armenian
women who struggled to protect their children, families, churches,
schools and land by taking up arms and who resisted in order to stay
alive in the period leading to 1915.

In his paintings, Gıcır abstracts once again the already isolated
geography and people by displacing them onto different, estranged
spaces. He also challenges the perpetual reproduction – through
politics, art, literature and cinema – of images of Anatolia that
have depicted it as a lonely, romantic, forlorn or static landscape
since the late years of the Ottoman Empire and the early years of
the Republic. Against recent revived attempts at re-signification,
Gıcır’s paintings suggest that such imaginaries of Anatolia did
not correspond to reality in the first place.

The women whose stories and names are barely known except for the few
photographs they have left behind and who are caught Between Fire and
Sword (in Armenian, Unt Hur yev Unt Sur), now stand suspended before
us between, on the one hand, bearing witness, and on the other hand,
the impossibility of witnessing. The paintings ultimately question
whether it is indeed ever possible to depict the Catastrophe within the
limits of the artist’s grasp, since, in the words of the novelist Hagop
Oshagan, “The Catastrophe, immensurable yet at the same time peculiarly
uniform, will always elude the artist who tries to penetrate it.”

The show will open at 6:30pm on April 9 at the Oktem & Aykut gallery
which is located at Buyuk Hendek Caddesi, Portakal Sokak No:2 34420,
Galata, Istanbul.

Born in Istanbul in 1978, Aret Gıcır graduated from the Department
of Painting of Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts in 2008. His first
one-person exhibition entitled “Yerevan” was held in Tokatlıyan Han in
2009. He was awarded an artist residence in New York for his project,
The Affliction of the Patriarch by the Moon and Stars Project-SVA in
2013. Gıcır lives and works in Istanbul.

ROBERT FISK: THE CHRISTIAN TRAGEDY IN THE MIDDLE EAST STARTED WITH THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

16:05, 07 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Christian tragedy in the Middle East did not begin with ISIS,
writes Robert Fisk, The Independent’smultiple award-winning Middle
East correspondent, based in Beirut.

According to him, “hundred years on from the Armenian genocide,
a Christian minority is again suffering.”

“The Christian tragedy in the Middle East today needs to be re-thought
– as it will be, of course, when Armenians around the world commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the genocide of their people by Ottoman
Turkey. Perhaps it is time that we acknowledge not only this act of
genocide but come to regard it not as just the murder of a minority
within the Ottoman Empire, but specifically a Christian minority,
killed because they were Armenian but also because they were Christian
(many of whom, unfortunately, rather liked the Orthodox, anti-Ottoman
Tsar),” Robert Fisk writes.

“And their fate bears some uncommon parallels with the Islamic State
murderers of today. The Armenian men were massacred. The women were
gang-raped or forced to convert or left to die of hunger. Babies were
burned alive – after being stacked in piles. Islamic State cruelty is
not new, even if the cult’s technology defeats anything its opponents
can achieve,” the author continues.

ISSY 1915/2015 – CONCERT CROSSROAD “LES ARMENIENS ONT LE BLUES”

Publie le : 07-04-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – “Les Armeniens ont le
blues” : C’est sous ce titre evocateur que l’association Crossroad,
qui organise des concerts de blues a Issy-les-Moulineaux, participe au
centenaire du genocide armenien avec un concert de la Bako’s Family le
jeudi 9 avril 2015 a 20h30 a l’Entrepont. Gageons qu’on y retrouvera
toute la famille elargie, avec Lucile, jeune prodige des bidouillages
sonores, son père Pascal “Bako” Mikaelian, harmoniciste, Stephane
Mikaelian (frère de Bako) a la batterie, Slim Batteux a l’orgue et
Stan Noubard-Pacha a la guitare. Entree 6 EURO pour les adherents, 10
EURO pour les autres. Un grand merci a Michel Bertrand, aux manettes
de Crossroad, pour cette programmation engagee que le Collectif VAN
vous invite a soutenir. Vous y prendrez en plus beaucoup de plaisir.

Crossroad

L’Issy-Blues Club presente

“Les Armeniens ont le blues” (avec la Bako’s Family)

le 9 avril 2015 a 20h30

a l’Entrepont 24 chemin d’accès a la gare, 92130 Issy les Moulineaux
gare RER C Issy-Ville

Direction artistique: Norbert Krief

Adherents : 6 EURO Invites : 10 EURO Adhesion : 20 EURO

Avec le soutien de la ville d’Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Source/Lien : Crossroad

GYUMRI FAMILY CLAIM TO BE KARDASHIAN RELATIVES (PHOTO)

23:05, 06.04.2015
Region:Armenia
Theme: Society

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Gyumri city Kardashian family are sure they are
the far relatives of the Armenian American TV star Kim Kardashian.

They hope to have the opportunity to meet the Kardashian family during
their expected visit to Armenia. Martoun Kardashian, 70, told Armenian
News – NEWS.am that he found out about the star’s expected arrival
in Armenia two days ago.

“One of my relatives rang me up and congratulated me on the arrival of
my relative. I was both surprised and happy,” Martoun Kardashian said.

Mr Kardashian was born in Gyumri. According to his parents, their
ancestors had migrated from Kars. He also knows that several Kardashian
families resided in the United States, that’s why he is sure that
the father of the famous TV star must have been his relative.

“My father used to say he had brothers, but I don’t remember them.

I’ve also heard about my grandfather’s many brothers who were all
killed by the Turks. With the years Kardashians scattered all over
the world,” Martoun said.

He also told that some Kardashian families who used to live in
Vanadzor City have also died long ago. Currently some Kardashian
families mainly live in Gyumri, the others in Artik city.

Martoun Kardashian is the youngest of his four brothers, who have
died. His only sister lives in Yerevan.

During Kim Kardashian’s visit to Armenia, it is planned to perform
shootings for the Keeping up with Kardashians reality show. Part of
the shootings will take part in Gyumri.

EL GENOCIDIO SILENCIADO

Cronicas de la Emigracion, España
6 abril 2015

Roberto Mansilla Blanco | 06 de abril de 2015

En mayo proximo se cumple el centenario del genocidio armenio,
cuando las autoridades del entonces imperio otomano ordenaron el
desplazamiento y exterminio de poblaciones armenias historicamente
asentadas en la provincia de Anatolia. Así, el año de 1915 constituye
un doloroso recuerdo para los armenios, y para muchos su dolor ha
sido el primer genocidio de la historia contemporanea.

El genocidio armenio ha sido objeto de polemica durante años. La
diaspora armenia en Europa, EE UU y America Latina ha sido
especialmente activa a la hora de presionar a traves de lobbies para
que se reconozca la matanza de armenios por parte de las autoridades
otomanas. De hecho, en 1965, la República Oriental del Uruguay,
que cuenta con una notable diaspora armenia, fue el primer país en
reconocer oficialmente este genocidio.

Por su parte, la actual República de Turquía, sucesora del imperio
otomano, se ha negado sistematica y oficialmente a reconocer
este genocidio, un aspecto que ha provocado una fuerte tension,
principalmente en las relaciones turcas y armenias con diversos países,
principalmente europeos.

Es de reconocer que la actual República de Armenia es un país
independiente desde 1991, tras la desintegracion de la URSS (Union
de Repúblicas Socialistas Sovieticas). Durante casi todo el siglo XX,
siete decadas, entre 1921 a 1991, la actual Armenia formo parte de la
URSS como República Socialista Sovietica de Armenia, sin capacidad
legal y jurídica como país independiente como para erigirse en el
portavoz estatal y oficial de la condena y reconocimiento de este
genocidio. De allí a que, entre otras cosas, diversos historiadores
denominen al mismo como el “genocidio silenciado”.

Según diversas fuentes, el genocidio armenio cobro la vida de mas
de millon y medio de armenios. El presidente estadounidense Woodrow
Wilson reconocio la existencia de este genocidio en 1918, incluso
estipulando la independencia de Armenia tras la disolucion del imperio
otomano. Otras fuentes, principalmente armenias, presuntamente
adjudican a Adolf Hitler su justificacion del Holocausto judío
reconociendo que “los turcos hicieron los mismo con los armenios”
en 1915.

Cien años despues, la polemica sigue servida. Armenia celebrara un
genocidio que ha sido paradojicamente un símbolo de su identidad
nacional. Por su parte, Turquía celebrara en esa misma fecha su
triunfo en la batalla de Gallípoli de 1915, donde lograron derrotar
el dominio naval britanico.

El estratega de esta defensa otomana en Gallípoli, ubicada en
el estrategico estrecho de los Dardanelos, fue un joven oficial,
Mustafa Kemal, posteriormente nombrado Ataturk, creador de la moderna
República turca en 1923, y a quien los armenios tambien acusan de
perpetrar otro genocidio contra armenios y kurdos entre 1922-1923.

Memoria historica mediante, hay heridas que no cierran.

PATRICK FIORI : COMMENT SA FAMILLE A ECHAPPE AU GENO-CIDE ARME-NIEN

Voici, France
6 avril 2015

>

Très emu, Patrick Fiori est revenu sur le geno-cide arme-nien auquel
sa famille a echappe, alors que son village etait en train de se
faire massa-crer.

Patrick Fiori est revenu, pour C’est au programme, diffuse sur France
2 aujourd’hui, sur l’histoire de sa famille, et notam-ment sur le
miracle par lequel il est par exten-sion un > du geno-cide
arme-nien. Invite a parler de son enfance, Patrick Fiori remonte
encore plus loin, en 1915, a l’epoque où la commu-naute arme-nienne a
ete frap-pee par le geno-ci-de… >

Celui qui s’est revele dans la come-die musi-cale Notre-Dame de Paris
pour-suit son recit avec emotion : >