Author: Kanayan Tamar

French authorities tack between Yerevan and Ankara

news.am
July 29, 2012 | 11:09

PARIS. – French President Francois Hollande and the FM Laurent Fabius
claim the same thing on bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenia
Genocide, Rhône-Alpes regional MP Hilda Tchoboian told Armenian
News-NEWS.am adding one of them calms down the Armenians, the other
the Turks.

In fact, France currently faces a quite complicated situation on the
issue. The highest administration tries not to hurt both sides. On the
one hand the President has to keep his election promise and submit a
bill on criminalizing the denial of the Genocide, on the other, he is
targeted at improving relations with Turkey,’ Tchoboian said.
`Hollande has made clear that the new bill will not be similar to the
previous one, which made it vague. At the same time, it is possible to
claim that it will not satisfy the French-Armenians’ expectations.’

As for the meeting between the President and the representatives of
the Armenian community, which was so much spoken about, Tchoboian
believes it will not be in the near future. In addition, she offered
that the French authorities may initiate a dialogue between Armenia
and Turkey to come out of the complicated situation.

StarNewsOnline.com, North Carolina
July 28 2012

Locals aid Peace Corps volunteers in Armenia

By Judy Smith
Special to the StarNews

Editor’s Note: Dave and Judy Smith are retired Kure Beach residents
currently serving a two-year stint in the Peace Corps in Armenia. This
story is one of their periodic updates from the field.

It has been a full year since David and I arrived in Armenia to begin
our service as volunteers with the U. S. Peace Corps. On that early
misty morning of June 4, 2011, we stood in awe as the sun rose above
Mt. Ararat. Little did we know of what experiences awaited us.

We’ve written about living with host Armenian families, studying a
difficult foreign language, adjusting to wide cultural differences and
finally moving to our own apartment in Dilijan. Now, David and I are
engaged in what we volunteered to do.

My primary assignment is teaching English as a foreign language while
David works in community and business development.

One of my projects involves lessons concerning dental health. In one
class, all but a few students had experienced dental pain. Two
students admitted to being in pain that day. Only one third of the
students in another class claimed to have brushed their teeth that
morning. Many children and adults exhibit decayed or missing teeth and
preventive dental care seems rare.

Recently, members of the Retired Nurses of Wilmington and participants
in the Women on Wednesday (WOW) continuing education class at the
University of North Carolina Wilmington collected and sent several
hundred toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste and packets of floss.
Students and needy community adults are overwhelmed with this
generosity as they listen to my lesson and receive their new supplies.

An exemplary Peace Corps project is managed by Caroline Lucas, who’s
from Cary, and other volunteers who serve in Berd, near the border
with Azerbaijan. Rural women at the Berd Women’s Resource Center make
teddy bears by hand and sell them online through Kickstarter. Peace
Corps volunteers have helped train these women in sound business
practices and money management, thus encouraging the women to earn
their own money for the first time in their lives. The Berd Bears are
becoming popular around the world and even inspired a children’s
cartoon series by the same name.

Talin has a music school but its building is run-down and the
available instruments are in poor condition. There is no appropriate
place in which to hold performances. Peace Corps volunteer Brian
Bokhart, a professional musician before joining the Peace Corps, has
partnered with local organizations to initiate renovation of the
building and to purchase new instruments. A celebratory concert is
planned at the Talin Music School in September.

Susan Linden, Peace Corps volunteer and English teacher in
Noyemberyan, worked with her community to plan and develop a
greenhouse where students could study agri-science and business
management. The greenhouse is heated by waste heat from the school’s
existing boiler system. Funds raised from sale of produce are used to
provide educational supplies to underprivileged students.

My husband David’s work involves helping to write grants for his
partner organization, with the recent success of a grant that funded
the organization to monitor national congressional elections held in
May. This grant provided an avenue of scrutiny so that fair and
transparent elections could be held in the region, including in our
town of Dilijan.

As David and I begin our second year in Armenia, we are planning a
garden, including bee hives, at my technical college to provide income
for the cooking program, which is badly underfunded. That same college
offers a sewing curriculum, yet there is no budget for fabric. Thanks
to the interest of Karel Dutton of Wilmington and the generosity of
Paula Veltz, Dutton’s friend and a quilting enthusiast from Leland, a
contribution of fabric has been shipped to the college. The fabric
will be turned into a future sewing project with items then sold to
fund the purchase of additional fabric for hands-on training in
sewing.

It has been busy, challenging and sometimes harsh here in Armenia, but
we and our fellow volunteers survive and continue to work on a variety
of small and large projects in addition to those described above.
Success will occur for each of these projects if they are long-lived
and continue to provide a positive impact, through the work of
Armenians, after Peace Corps volunteers return home.

Austin American-Statesman
July 28 2012

Kirkus Reviews: ‘The Sandcastle Girls’ by Chris Bohjalian; ‘Final
Victory’ by Stanley Weintraub

The Sandcastle Girls
Chris Bohjalian
Doubleday, $25.95

Laura, the narrator of Chris Bohjalian’s latest, is doing genealogical
research, attempting to learn more about a fact that has always
intrigued her: Her Boston Brahmin grandmother, Elizabeth, and her
grandfather, Armen, were brought together by the Armenian genocide.

Flash back to 1915. Grandmother Elizabeth has journeyed to the Syrian
city of Aleppo, on a mission sponsored by an American relief group.
The Turks are using Aleppo as a depot for the straggling remnants of
thousands of Armenian women, who have been force-marched through the
desert after their men were slaughtered. Elizabeth finds the women
huddled in a public square, awaiting transports to a desert
“relocation camp” where, in reality, their final extermination will
take place.

Elizabeth takes in two of these refugees. By chance, Elizabeth also
encounters Armen, an Armenian engineer who has come to Aleppo to
search for his wife, Karine.

Despairing of Karine’s survival – and falling in love with Elizabeth –
Armen joins the British Army to fight the Turks. Among archival photos
viewed by Laura decades later is one of Karine, who did reach the
square mere days after Armen left Aleppo. How narrowly did Karine miss
reuniting with Armen, Laura wonders, acknowledging that, but for
tragic vagaries of fate, the family that produced her might never have
come to be.

“The Sandcastle Girls” is a gruesome, unforgettable exposition of the
Armenian genocide and its consequences.

Bohjalian will speak and sign copies of new his new book at 7 p.m.
Tuesday at BookPeople, 603 N. Lamar Blvd.

Armenian Athlete Secures First Olympic Gold for Russia

by Armenian Weekly
July 28, 2012

LONDON (A.W.) – Armenian athlete Arsen Galstyan secured Russia’s first
Olympic gold in the 60-kilogram judo competition.

Arsen Galstyan with his gold medal
In the semi-final and final rounds, Galstyan defeated double world
champion Rishod Sobirov (Uzbekistan) and Hiroaki Hiraoka (Japan)
respectively.

Commentators deemed Galstyan’s victory a surprise, as he is ranked
number five in the world.

Galstyan had won the bronze medal in the most recent Judo world championships.

Galstyan was born in Armenia on Feb. 19, 1989. The 5’7” (170 cm)
athlete is coached by Igor Romanov. He sometimes trains with his two
brothers, Arman and Tigran.

`When I have nobody to train with, I [recruit] one of my brothers. It
seems to me that my victories give them additional stimulation to
train and win,’ he told Judolinda.ru in an interview published last
year.

Gyumri Mayor to become MP? – newspaper

news.am
July 28, 2012 | 07:20

YEREVAN. – The political `advisers’ of Armenia’s Gyumri city Mayor
Vardan Ghukasyan have advised him: `You went to that man, [and] spoke
some things. Be patient! Let’s see what happens.’ This refers to
Ghukasyan’s recent visit to the Presidential Palace and his
conversation with President Serzh Sargsyan, Hraparak daily writes.

`Vardan Ghukasyan is still hopeful that he will be permitted to run as
mayoral candidate. [Also,] The option of nominating Vardan as MP from
[another mayoral hopeful] Samvel Balasanyan’s electoral district is
being discussed, too.

[But] Vardan is not too enthusiastic over the prospect of becoming an
MP. He said among his close circles: `I was in the [ruling party’s MP
candidate’s] list. If they wanted me to become an MP, they should have
told me properly, [they should have told me] `leave the Mayor’s
office, come to the Parliament. Why do they say this now?’

Serzh Sargsyan, who is on vacation, has said nothing in this regard as
of yet. Everyone is waiting for him to come and `say his manly word,”
Hraparak writes.

Catholicos Aram I: We must support Armenians of Syria

armradio.am
28.07.2012 17:33

Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church continues to be in contact with the clergy members of
Syria’s Armenian community and to follow their activities, press
service of the Great House of Cilicia informs.

Learning about the financial difficulties of some Syrian-Armenia
families, the Catholicos allocated money to the Armenian Prelacy, to
provide food and other necessities.

He underscored the need to provide support to Syria’s Armenian community.

`Considering our nation’s common and paramount interests, the Middle
Eastern communities’ preservation is a priority. During the days of
the terrible Lebanese war, the Armenians of Lebanon remained intact
owing to collective will, faith and unity. The Armenians of Syria must
do the same. We must support the Armenians of Syria, so they may
surmount the difficulties,’ said the Catholicos.

Also, Aram I instructed the dioceses of the Great House of Cilicia to
provide monetary assistance to Syria’s Armenian schools.

Armenian judoka Hovhannes Davtyan is in ¼ final

15:47, 28 July, 2012

YEREVAN, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS: In the London Olympic Games 2012 member
of Armenian national team judoka Hovhannes Davtyan (60kg) overcame the
stage of 1/8 final. Armenpress reports that Davtyan celebrated an
absolute victory against Erkebulan Kosaev.

In ¼ final Hovhannes Davtyan will meet Italian judoka Verde Elio. In
1/32 final our judoka defeated German Tobias Englmayer, in 1/16 final
Azerbaijani judoka Ilgar Mushkiev.

Hovhannes Davtyan (born November 25, 1983) is an Armenian judoka. He
fights in the under 60 kilo class, and is very tall compared to the
other fighters in his weight division. He twice gained silver medals
during Europe judo championships in 2007 Belgrade (Serbia) and in 2012
in Chelyabinsk (Russia). In 2009 he was the third during the Judo
World Championship in Rotterdam (Netherlands).

ARMED ASSAILANTS ATTACK BOURJ HAMMOUD RESIDENTS

Now Lebanon
July 27 2012

Armed assailants attacked a number of residents in Bourj Hammoud and
vandalized their cars on Thursday evening, the National News Agency
(NNA) reported on Friday.

The report added that the victims had been heading back from a visit
to the Armenian “martyrs” cemetery when the assailants attacked them
and vandalized four of their cars.

Security forces arrived at the scene and raided the suspects’ homes
in an effort to arrest the culprits, according to the NNA.

Bourj Hammoud is located in the eastern suburb of Beirut and is mainly
inhabited by Armenians.

-NOW Lebanon

To read more:

Only 25% of a given NOW Lebanon article can be republished. For
information on republishing rights from NOW Lebanon:

CLEVELAND MIDDLEWEIGHT TERRELL GAUSHA TO FIGHT ARMENIAN AT 3:30 SATURDAY IN BOXING DEBUT AT LONDON OLYMPICS
By Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer

July 27 2012

LONDON – Cleveland’s Terrell Gausha will make his Olympic debut
against an Armenian fighter at about 8:30 in London on Saturday,
which is 3:30 in Ohio.

The boxing draw conducted on Friday set the format for the 32 fighters
in each weight class, with the top four boxers seeded. Gausha is not
seeded and landed in the portion of the draw with the No. 3 fighter
in his class, Bogdan Juratoni, a 22-year-old Romanian. They could
potentially meet in the quarterfinals.

First, Gausha will fight Armenia’s Andranik Hakobyan, who is ranked
No. 23 in the world by the International Boxing Association. The
television schedule calls for boxing to be shown on CNBC on Saturday,
so Gausha’s fight should be on live around 3:30 Eastern time.

ARMENIAN HERITAGE PARTY OFFERS TO ESTABLISH TEMPORARY ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION

news.am
July 28, 2012 | 00:04

YEREVAN. – Armenian opposition Heritage parliamentary group has put
into circulation a bill on establishing temporary anti-corruption
commission regarding corruption manifestation and facts for the
Parliament’s approval, Heritage group head Ruben Hakobyan told
Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Experts have worked on the bill and it is already ready. According to
Hakobyan, temporary commission will aim for the Parliament within its
authorities to study and control corruption cases, facts and submit
corresponding initiatives to Parliament.

According to the bill, the commission will have 6 members, including
two members from three opposition groups (Heritage, ARF Dashnaktsutyun
and Armenian National Congress).