Author: Khondkarian Raffi

At least two killed in fire at brandy factory in Armenian village

Khondkarian Raffi

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 13:27, 1 September, 2020

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. At least two people have died after a fire broke out at the branch of Proshyan Brandy Factory in the village of Armavir, Armenian healthcare minister’s spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan said on Facebook.

Four citizens have been hospitalized with various degree burns. The citizens are currently in intensive care unit and will be transported to the National Burn Center once their condition stabilizes.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Pashinyan Administration calls for stronger anti-domestic violence actions after 6-year-old’s death

Khondkarian Raffi

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 12:30, 26 August, 2020

YEREVAN, AUGUST 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan issued a statement on the domestic violence incident in an Armenian town which left several children injured and one 6-year-old dead.

Gevorgyan stressed that the incident must receive the strongest assessment by the law enforcement agencies.

“I am shocked by the news of a 6-year-old child’s death caused by the child’s grandfather’s violence,” Gevorgyan said on social media. “This inhumane act must receive the strongest assessment by law enforcement agencies. Horrifying cases of domestic violence continue in our society, and it is time to adopt a stronger toolkit in the fight against domestic violence, and to encourage the people under the spotlight to actively work with law enforcement agencies to prevent and rule out such cases.”

She reminded that the victim of another domestic violence case, a 14-year-old girl from Gyumri, recovered from injuries and was discharged from a hospital several months ago, while the child’s mother was once again subjected to domestic violence.

“Law enforcement agencies must carry out quick and comprehensive investigations into these incidents. I think that judicial outcomes of these cases will prevent their repetition to some extent. My condolences to the child’s relatives,” she said.

A 28-year-old woman from the village of Khashtarak, Tavush was arrested last week on suspicion of severely beating her five children. The woman’s father, 57, is also arrested on the same suspicion. A preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman has also regularly battered her two nephews. The 7 children have been recognized as victims in the criminal case. 

One of the children, a 4-year-old, has suffered severe head injury, while a 6-year-old was hospitalized in critical condition. The 6-year-old failed to regain consciousness and died from multiple traumas.

 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

No more state of emergency extensions in Armenia

Khondkarian Raffi
JAM News
Aug 28 2020

    JAMnews, Yerevan
 

The government of Armenia has approved a suite of legal changes that will allow them to stop extending the state of emergency.

The laws will enable them to impose quarantine if infectious diseases make their way into the country, taking into account they danger they pose and how quickly they spread and whether any outbreaks have occurred. Moreover, quarantine will imposed on specific cities and villages or even just institutions, and not the whole country. 

The legal changes were developed by the minister of justice and the minister of health together. For the changes to take effect, however, parliament must also approve them, which is not yet certain. However, it is unlikely they will refuse, since both the ruling party and the opposition have been talking about the necessity of these changes for a long time.

The state of emergency in Armenia started on 16 March and has been extended five times, most recently until 11 September. The parliament meeting to discuss the legal changes has been set for that date.

What will change?

As Rustam Badasyan, minister of justice, states, the suite of legal changes will allow the fight against the pandemic to continue effectively even after the state of emergency ends.

Quarantine will also be able to be imposed by the federal government, applying to the entire country, or by the mayor of Yerevan and other governors, in which case it would apply to specific localities or organisations.

«When and if quarantine is imposed by governors or the mayor of Yerevan, the following measures may be taken: a checkpoint system for entering and exiting the epidemic zone, temporary cessation or limiting of transport across state borders, limiting of the rights of people to freedom of movement for themselves and their vehicles”, said Badasyan.

If quarantine should be imposed by the government, stronger measures may be taken. There is talk of limiting the right to assemble and participate in meetings or protests of multiple people, setting up regulations for sanitary and epidemiological safety in specific workplaces, limiting the transportation of goods, and closing schools and universities.

According to the minister of justice, the new system will be different from a state of emergency in how much it limits people’s rights, in the severity of the measures introduced, and in having more fine-tuned mechanisms for protecting the rights remaining under restrictions.

«In particular, we will no longer monitor people’s locations electronically. And there will be no more economic lockdown. It is possible that we may have to introduce restrictions on economic activity, but it will not be shut down completely”.

Coronavirus situation

207 new cases of coronavirus were recorded on 27 August, bringing the total to 43,270. Out of that number, 36,988 have recovered and 5,153 are still undergoing treatment. 864 people have died. 200,507 tests have been administered in total, including 1,938 in the last 24 hours.


“Why don’t you protect the Armenian Cemetery in Ankara?” Paylan asks Turkish Minister

Khondkarian Raffi
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 20 2020

 
<img width=”794″ height=”623″ src=””https://en.armradio.am/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/xArmenian-Cemetery-ANkara-1-1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.M137USIXMG.jpg” class=”attachment-full size-full wp-post-image” alt=”” srcset=”https://en.armradio.am/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/xArmenian-Cemetery-ANkara-1-1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.M137USIXMG.jpg 794w, 300w, 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px”/>

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Garo Paylan has submitted a parliamentary question to Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy about the photos showing the damage on an Armenian cemetery in Sincan, Ankara, Bianet reports.

He noted that the Stanoz Armenian Cemetery was declared a protected area in the 1990s and added, “This area’s loot by treasure hunters and contractors deeply upset the Armenian community in Turkey and all our conscious citizens.”

He asked the following questions to the minister:

Why don’t you protect Ankara Stanoz Armenian Cemetery?

Do you have a plan to protect the numerous Armenian cemeteries in the country?

Have you had an attempt to catch the treasure hunters, who loot the Stanoz Armenian Cemetery?

Located in the Zir Valley in the Sincan district’s Yenikent neighborhood, the cemetery has a second-degree protection area status.

A part of the cemetery, which has agricultural lands next to it is also used as a picnic area. The barbed wires put by the Sincan Municipality to protect the cemetery are removed and cemetery’s land is added to the land of the vineyard houses in the valley.

The barbed wires around the cemetery pulled by the Sincan Municipality in recent years have been removed and added to the land of the vineyard houses built in the valley.

Photographs of human bones coming out of places dug by treasure hunters in the cemetery have been seen on social media many times.

CivilNet: Government Begins Cleanup of Lake Sevan Shoreline

Khondkarian Raffi
CIVILNET.AM

13 August, 2020 22:41

✓According to the PM, the government has injected $300 million into the economy. 

✓Lydian International has responded to the termination of the EBRD’s investment in Amulsar. 

✓The Environment Minister states that the cleanup of the shores of Lake Sevan has begun. 

✓A state prosecutor has demanded long sentences for the members of the Sasna Tsrer Party.

✓The government is to provide a stimulus package for Armenia’s tourism sector.

Captain Ruben Sanamyan to be awarded with title of National Hero

Khondkarian Raffi

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 19:13,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has signed a petition asking President Armen Sarkissian to award a group of participants of the recent clashes along the Armenian-Azerbaijani borer with the first and second class Order of “The Combat Cross”, as well as to honor captain Ruben Sanamyan with the title of National Hero, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page.

Pashinyan noted that he has presented 71 servicemen for state awards, 16 for first-class Order of “The Combat Cross” and 55 for second-class Order of “The Combat Cross”. Captain Ruben Sanamyan is presented to the President for the title of National Hero and Motherland Medal.

‘’A while ago I had the honor to meet with Sanamyan. This is a real act of appreciation to all the participants of the victorious clashes in Tavush, all the servicemen of the Armenian army, officers and Generals, as well as all our heroes of the past and present, all our martyrs who inspired our present-day heroes with their own example’’, Pashinyan wrote.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

ANCA Burbank Commends Local Businesses for Removing Turkish Products

Khondkarian Raffi
August 12,  2020


A Turkish Product Free Zone sign in front of Raffi Market in Burbank

BURBANK—The Armenian National Committee of America – Burbank Chapter commended local store owners for removing Turkish products from their store offerings.

ANCA members presented certificates of appreciation to two local businesses that have joined the “Make Burbank a Turkish Product Free Zone” movement. Red Top Market & Kitchen, and Raffi’s Market recently decided to remove all Turkish products from their store shelves.

Turkey’s deplorable Human rights record, military alliance with Azerbaijan, and denial of the Armenian Genocide lead storeowners to reconsider the stocking of Turkish exports. “The Republic of Turkey fully supports Azerbaijan’s recent and ongoing attacks against Armenia. Purchasing Turkish products enables Turkey’s persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, and its occupation of Armenian lands, lands that rightfully belong to the Republic of Armenia by way of the Wilsonian Arbiter Award of 1920. ” stated ANCA board member Shant Charshafjian.

Burbank ANCA calls on all residents to make informed consumer choices and to boycott Turkish products.

ANCA–Burbank advances the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the area’s Armenian community and promotes its increased civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.

President of EU Council gets symbolic Armenian pomegranate as a gift

Khondkarian Raffi
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 9 2020

<img width=”714″ height=”584″ src=””https://en.armradio.am/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/xPomegranate-Charles-Michel.jpg.pagespeed.ic.Yoz7t7nPOI.jpg” class=”attachment-full size-full wp-post-image” alt=”” srcset=”https://en.armradio.am/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/xPomegranate-Charles-Michel.jpg.pagespeed.ic.Yoz7t7nPOI.jpg 714w, 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px”/>

The director of the Lebanese-Armenian Karagheuzian Medical Center offered a symbolic Armenian pomegranate to Charles Michel, President of the EU Council, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) informs.

In the framework of his visit to Lebanon after the Beirut blast, Charles Michel visited the Karagheuzian Medical Center in Bourj Hammoud, the Armenian quarter of Beirut.

Despite the damage caused to the center by the explosion, the medical staff is helping the injured residents of Bourj Hammoud.

The Karagheuzian Armenian-Lebanese socio-medical center focuses on children development, with services ranging from the medical to the social, as well as psychological and educational fields.

The services of the health center are offered to people of all backgrounds, religion, ethnicity, and citizenship.

Criminal proceedings have been opened in Ukraine in connection with call to refrain from using "Armenian Genocide" term

Khondkarian Raffi
Arminfo, Armenia
Aug 6 2020

ArmInfo.  The State Bureau of  Investigation has opened criminal proceedings under Article 367 of  the Criminal Code of Ukraine based on the materials of an appeal  regarding an amazing message to civil servants about the prohibition  of even mentioning the phrase “Armenian Genocide” on the eve of  Memorial Day. MP Daria Volodina, (“Servant of the People” faction),  announced this on her Facebook page.

 

To recall, in April of this year, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine  Vasily Bodnar wrote a letter to Ukrainian officials, where he asked  the latter to refrain from using the “Armenian Genocide” term. The  letter specifically states that Ukraine does not recognize the  Armenian Genocide, and the diplomat asked Ukrainian officials to  refrain from participating in commemorative events on the occasion of  the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and refuse to use this  term. Such behavior of the official was sharply criticized by MP of  Ukraine Daria Volodina. “My personal opinion is that it is necessary  to conduct an internal investigation in relation to Mr. Bodnar. In  such letters, to name a country that is our strategic partner,  indicating its belonging to one or another geopolitical alliance or  country, is completely inappropriate behavior to a diplomat, “the MP  said.

To note, Ukraine has not officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.  But, now under consideration in the Verkhovna Rada is a draft  resolution initiated by People’s MP Anton Polyakov “Draft Resolution  on the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide” (registration No. 2376  of 11/05/2019).



Massachusetts Senate passes genocide education bill

Khondkarian Raffi
Public Radio of Armenia
Aug 1 2020

     

The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill that requires genocide and human rights education for middle and high school students, CBS Boston reports.

“It is shocking how many young people today have never heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Holocaust, or other heinous genocides perpetrated in the past,” said Sen. Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education.

“This important legislation will ensure that more students understand the history of genocide so that it never happens again,” the Senator added.

“To forge a more just future, our next generation must be educated on the tragic history of the Holocaust and other instances of genocide,” stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). 

“The importance of this bill cannot be overstated, and I say this as a Jewish woman and the daughter of a World War II veteran who helped liberate the victims of Nazi concentration camps,” she said.

The bill would require all schools to annually submit their lesson plans on genocide education to the Department of Education and establish a Genocide Education Fund that would “ensure the development of curricular materials, as well as to provide professional development training to assist educators in the teaching of genocide.”

The Mass. House of Representatives is now considering a genocide education act.