Author: Markos Nalchajian

Travel: Unlocking Armenia, The Travel Insider’s Destination To Visit In 2020

Markos Nalchajian
Singapore Tattler
March 4 2020
 
 
Unlocking Armenia, The Travel Insider’s Destination To Visit In 2020
 
 
 
By Kissa Castañeda
Mountains, monasteries and a whole lot of mystery await in Armenia, a must-visit this year
There are a few elements that need to come together for a destination to rise in collective travellers’ consciousness, and that build-up has been happening to Armenia. The success of neighbouring Georgia put the spotlight on the entire Caucasus region, an area that also spans Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia and considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia.
 
Still relatively unexplored, the region offers an interesting blend of East-meets-West delights—rich history, gorgeous scenery, novel cuisine, and lots of adventure—without the swarm of tourists. That it ticks all the boxes speaks of its immense appeal, meaning it won’t be long until it floods your Instagram feed. In the case of Armenia, it has already been featured on Kim Kardashian’s account, who visited the country in October 2019 to baptise her children and get to know her Armenian heritage better.
 
 
The Government House of Armenia and the Republic Square in the centre of the capital, Yerevan (Image: 123rf)
 
To get a taste of the region, we travelled on Scott Dunn’s 8-day Essential Georgia & Armenia itinerary, which traverses the dynamic cities of Yerevan and Tbilisi as well as the picturesque passes of the Caucasus Mountain range.

Asbarez: Australia’s Armenian, Assyrian, Greek Communities Launch Joint Justice Initiative

Markos Nalchajian

Representatives of Australia’s Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek communities at Mural Hall

CANBERRA, Australia—The peak advocacy bodies of Australia’s Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek communities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to launch the “Joint Justice Initiative” at a Cultural Cocktail event. The event was held on Tuesday, February 25 at the Australian Parliament House’s Mural Hall.

Around 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media, and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing which affirmed that the public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognize the Turkish-committed Genocide against the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The Joint Justice Initiative’s Memorandum of Understanding stipulates that the Armenian National Committee of Australia, the Assyrian Universal Alliance – Australia Chapter and the Australian Hellenic Council “shall continue and expand their cooperation and joint advocacy for the international affirmation and justice for the Genocides of the indigenous Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government.”

Further, the document confirms the communities participating in the Joint Justice Initiative “shall jointly advocate against any attempt by the Turkish Government to use the sacred ANZAC graves in Gallipoli (and access by Australians to those graves and memorials) as ‘hostages’ or bargaining chips in coercing or persuading the Australian Government in being complicit in the Turkish State’s denial campaign with respect to the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocides.”

From left: Haig Kayserian, Hermiz Shahen, and a representative of the Australian Hellenic Council

Haig Kayserian of the Armenian National Committee of Australia spoke on behalf of the Joint Justice Initiative, stating that the three communities – who are made up of descendants of survivors of the Ottoman Turkish Genocide of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks during WWI – consider this a significant step towards the realization of their collective goals.

“The launch of the Joint Justice Initiative and our signing of this Memorandum of Understanding signals our commitment to redouble our joint efforts to ensure Australia is a party of truth and justice when it comes to the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocide,” he said.

“In recent years, Australia’s Parliament has seen dozens of speakers declare support for Federal recognition of the Genocide committed against our ancestors, and we believe it is past time that Canberra gives up the word games it plays on this issue in the name of a false diplomacy against a bullying foreign dictatorship.”

The Assyrian Universal Alliance – Australia Chapter’s Deputy Secretary General Hermiz Shahen declared: “Denial is the continuation of genocide, and Australia’s inaction in recognizing and condemning means we are failing the very values our country was built on.”

“It was Australians who came to the aid of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek victims of the genocide over 100 years ago, while our ANZACs witnessed the barbarity suffered by the Christian minorities deliberately targeted by the Ottoman government, and it should be in the spirit of those Australians that our political leaders stand up for what is right,” Shahen added.

The Australian Hellenic Council’s George Vellis declared: “It is time Australia stands up for human rights, truth and justice, and the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian, and Greek-Australian communities have today declared that this is an absolute priority for the country’s lawmakers and government.”

The Joint Justice Initiative invited Members of Parliament and Senators to sign a pledge that declares their support for Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, and event hosts Members of Parliament Trent Zimmerman and Joel Fitzgibbon addressed the audience as co-conveners of the Armenia-Australia Interparliamentary Union stressing their backing.

Professor Peter Stanley, who is the former Director of the Australian War Memorial and co-author of Australia, Armenia & the Great War, spoke to press the importance of Australia’s recognition of the Genocide committed against the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks of the Ottoman Empire.

The Joint Justice Initiative’s Memorandum of Understanding text in full is available below.

JOINT JUSTICE INITIATIVE – MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

ON COOPERATION BETWEEN THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AUSTRALIA, THE ASSYRIAN UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE, AND THE AUSTRALIAN HELLENIC COUNCIL

The Armenian National Committee of Australia, Assyrian Universal Alliance and the Australian Hellenic Council, hereafter the “Parties”:

A. Recognizing the historical and friendly relations between the Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic (Greek) Nations;

B. Attaching paramount importance to the friendly relations, mutual understanding, strong solidarity, and continued close cooperation between the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Hellenic-Australian Communities;

C. Convinced that the cooperation and mutual ties between the three Communities should further deepen and strengthen;

D. Committed to ensuring comprehensive cooperation aimed at the further development of inter-communal ties, exchange of experience, joint deliberations and consultations in areas of mutual interest, and exchange of information on issues of mutual interest;

E. Concerned about the aggressive rhetoric and activities of the Turkish government and its allies in Australia, aimed at deliberately misleading the Australian public and government and spreading disinformation regarding the Genocide of the indigenous Armenian, Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government.

DO HEREBY AGREE ON THE FOLLOWING:

  1. The Parties shall undertake joint advocacy and public education initiatives promoting human rights, peace and the rule of law;
  2. The Parties shall continue and expand their co-operation and joint advocacy for the international affirmation and justice for the Genocides of the indigenous Armenian, Assyrian and Greek, and Assyrian populations of the Ottoman Empire perpetrated by the Ottoman Turkish government;
  3. The Parties shall continue and expand their joint efforts in countering historical revisionism and/or denial of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocide by Turkey and its proxies;
  4. The Parties shall undertake work in ensuring that the Genocide perpetrated against the indigenous Armenian, Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire is properly taught in public and private schools and universities in Australia;
  5. The Parties shall collaborate closely on any Turkish Government bond divestment initiatives as well as any other punitive mechanisms for as long as the Turkish Government continues to deny the truth and bar justice for the Genocide perpetrated against the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek peoples;
  6. The Parties shall advocate in Australia – in particular to the Australian Government, for the protection of the fundamental human rights, including the religious, cultural and educational freedoms of the surviving Christian Communities in Turkey, including the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Communities;
  7. The Parties shall support the internationally recognized status of the Ecumenical Patriarch and for the reopening of the illegally closed Halki Monastery;
  8. The Parties shall support efforts aimed at precluding Turkish Government’s interference in the activities and governance of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople;
  9. The Parties shall coordinate and support efforts aimed at reparation, restitution, and retribution by the Turkish Government as a result of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, including the return to the respective Communities of all religious, national, and private property stolen or otherwise confiscated as part of the Genocides;
  10. The Parties shall continue to educate the Australian people about the deteriorating human rights situation and the ongoing repressions and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities and civil society activists in Turkey;
  11. The Parties shall jointly advocate against any attempt by the Turkish Government to use the sacred ANZAC graves in Gallipoli (and access by Australians to those graves and memorials) as “hostages” or bargaining chips in coercing or persuading the Australian Government in being complicit in the Turkish State’s denial campaign with respect to the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides;
  12. The Parties shall coordinate and support all efforts aimed at increasing awareness of Australia’s first major, international humanitarian efforts to help save the survivors of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides, in particular the orphans.


Fresno State to host presentation on Armenian refugees after WWI

Markos Nalchajian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Feb 19 2020
– 12:59 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Dr. Ari Sekeryan will speak on “The Survivors: Armenian Orphans and Refugees After the First World War (1918-1923)” March 5 in the University Business Center of the Fresno State campus.

The presentation is part of the Spring 2020 Lecture Series of the Armenian Studies Program and is supported by the Clara Bousian Bedrosian Fund, Massis Post reports.

Dr. Sekeryan was appointed the 16th Henry S. Khanzadian Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies for the Spring 2020 semester and the March 5 lecture will be his second public presentation of the semester.

Following the First World War and the Armenian Genocide, protecting the lives of Armenian orphans and refugees was the greatest challenge that the community leadership faced. During the Armistice period, with the help of the Allied Powers and humanitarian aid organizations, thousands of Armenian orphans and refugees were rescued and brought back to community life. The lecture presents the story of Armenian orphans and refugees by employing Armenian and Ottoman Turkish media sources published in Istanbul and Anatolia during the Armistice period. It explores the nature of the aid campaigns organized by the community leadership and the importance of the contribution of the Armenian intellectuals, press and the community members to these aid campaigns.

Dr. Sekeryan will give his final public lecture on “The Armenian Patriarchate, Politics and the Postwar Settlement in Istanbul: the Story of Patriarch Zaven, on Thursday, April 2.

Dr. Sekeryan graduated from the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford, defending his dissertation entitled, “The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire after the First World War (1918-1923).” In the 2018-2019 academic year, Dr. Sekeryan was an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Research in the Humanities. Sekeryan was a Visiting Lecturer in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University (summer of 2018) and a Research Assistant in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford in 2016.

Armenian wines’ show at PRODEXPO-2020 international food exhibition

Markos Nalchajian
Aysor, Armenia
Feb 19 2020

Armenia Wine Company was awarded one gold and two silver medals by the contest jury of ProdExpo-2020 international food exhibition, the company said today in a press release.

The 27th edition of ProdExpo-2020 international food exhibition hosted by Moscow, Russia that featured over 2600 producers from 70 countries ended on February 14.

This major international exhibition is one of the best platforms for acquiring new partners, discussing industry issues, winning new markets and showcasing one’s products to consumers.

During the international beverage tasting competition organized as part of the exhibition, the representative jury consisting of winemakers, experts, representatives of consumer unions and critics evaluated approximately 800 products in accordance with the accepted international standards.
For the 8th year in a row Armenian wines captured the attention and hearts of the visitors to this annual international wine and spirits exhibition with their excellent taste and flavor, forcing them to constantly choose Armenian wines.

Armenia Wine Company was again hosted by this year’s exhibition, presenting a range of its exquisite and unique wines that have received high praise from both consumers and major international partners.

“Each time presenting our wines at international exhibitions, we also present the best traditions of the millennial history of Armenian winemaking, receiving the highest recognition. This time again our company’s representatives returned to Armenia with one gold and two silver awards. We are proud of our achievements, as our company, which has become a symbol of modern winemaking,  presented to the visitors not only the excellent tastes and flavors of its wines, but once again held in  high regard Armenian wine culture,” said Kristine Vardanyan, Commercial Director of the company.

According to Armenian Wine Company, the gold medal was awarded to “Armenia” cherry wine and silver medals to “Armenia Muscat” white semi-sweet wine made from Muscat grape variety and to “Armenia” semi-dry sparkling wine made from Areni variety grape.

ACNIS reView from Yerevan #5, 2020_Editorial_In Advance of the Referendum

Markos Nalchajian
Editorial  

 

15 FEBRUARY 2020  

Armenia enters a dramatic period with President Armen Sarkissian’s February 9 order to hold on April 5 a referendum on constitutional amendments. Any endeavor of a national scale, and especially a referendum, is a challenge in public life which can carry with it turbulence and many questions whose answers the public does not have.

What main purpose does the referendum pursue, what subsequent course of the “revolution” can a change in the composition of Constitutional Court membership possibly affect, how appropriate is the people’s inclusion in the solution of such an intrapolitical agenda item, particularly against the backdrop of deepening contradictions within society?  Is this a show of trust in the people, or an imprudent measure to place the onus of responsibility upon its shoulders?

The body politic does not have the answers to this and other similar questions.  The parliamentary majority “My Step” MPs’ speeches also do not provide any clues.  In the special session of the National Assembly on February 6, the ruling team’s representatives turned to emotional references to “the former guilty regime” and the need to establish “the people’s power” but did not express any clear conceptual, programmatic, or even political argument or basis.

Let us leave our referendum for a bit and see in general who decides, and in what manner, the priority of the issues facing the country, their listing and sequence, as well as the mechanisms for forming the agenda, the forms and characteristics of political debates and discussions, in other words the matter of political technologies.  Here, too, the unanswered questions are many.

In fact, our principal task is the procedural formulation of political agendas and their substantive cultivation, without which there can be no political life or national progress.

In the United States, for example, the formulation of the country’s agenda as far back as the 1960s had become a matter of serious political-science study, and they had begun to look at the mechanisms for setting a given agenda and society’s level of awareness of public-political processes.  Upon the setting of agendas, according to certain studies, significant influence is brought to bear by state institutions and by the existence of a culture of debate between political actors and civil society.

Without mechanisms for formulating a political agenda and a culture of listening to one another, of organizing discussions, we will often find ourselves in a predicament, as now, when an important matter is brought to the public’s consciousness only after it has been given the status of referendum by the parliament and president.  This should have been done earlier, so that people would have been duly and fully informed and oriented as to why this measure is being initiated, what it stands for at bottom, and what it solves in reality.

All of this has to be clarified comprehensively, if of course anyone, including the sponsors of the referendum, can explain in simple language its meaning and worth.

 

 

RFE/RL – Armenian, Azeri Leaders Spar Over Karabakh

Markos Nalchajian
February 15,  2020

Germany — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meet in Munich, .

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev publicly butted heads over the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after holding fresh talks in Munich on Saturday.

Aliyev and Pashinian gave no indications of major progress towards the conflict’s resolution when they spoke during a panel discussion at the annual Munich Security Conference.

“Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, this is the historical truth and … the territorial integrity is recognized by the whole world, and Nagorno-Karabakh is an integrated part of our country,” Aliyev said.

“Over the past 25 years, 30 years, we are repeating every time the same thing,” responded Pashinian. “And I’m afraid that the international community is tired of hearing the same thing, and I think we need to bring some new ideas.”

Echoing statements by Armenia’s former leaders, Pashinian said that Karabakh had never been part of an independent Azerbaijani state and that its predominantly Armenian population exercised its right to self-determination during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He also called on the international community to “make clear” to Baku that there can be no military solution to the Karabakh conflict

Germany — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (L) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev take part in a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, .

“The international community should first and foremost explain that Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan and, secondly, exert pressure on the aggressor,” countered Aliyev.

The public discussion moderated by a former senior U.S. defense official followed a brief meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders. No details of those talks were immediately made public.

Aliyev and Pashinian met in the southern German city two weeks after their foreign ministers concluded two days of negotiations in Geneva held in the presence of U.S., French and Russian mediators.

In a joint statement with the mediators, the ministers said the “intensive discussions” focused on “possible next steps to prepare the populations for peace; principles and elements forming the basis of a future settlement; and timing and agenda for advancing the settlement process.” They did not elaborate.

An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the Geneva talks were “the most intensive” in years.

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30436182.html?fbclid=IwAR2tuitQe9reDyDjdplZelBj3vPDqeoPFhZ3xcG5Q2aNgvWENfJhnihchFk





Vayk Gold files lawsuit against Vayk-Invest

Markos Nalchajian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 15 2020

Author Nune Avetisyan

A regular public hearing was held in Azatek community of Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province on possible exploitation of Azatek gold-polymetallic mine on Friday, February 14. The hearing was initiated by Vayk-Invest LLC.

“The discussion took place in haste, with around 100 residents from the village of Azatek in attendance,” Ruzan Ghazaryan, President of Vayk’s Work and Motherland NGO, told Panorama.am in an interview.

The village has a population of 450-500, which makes it one of the largest villages in the enlarged Vayk community. Ghazaryan, who also attended the public hearing, said she noticed guidance during the hearing.

“There were people under the influence of the community head who voiced support for the exploitation. There was even an old man who had been holding a pen in his hand for a long time, but when he saw the village head looking closely at him, he voted in favor [of the exploitation], he blushed a bit,” she said.

The previous discussions, which were then hosted by Vayk Gold LLC, took place in Vayk town. Some residents of the town had struggled and twice failed the public hearings on the matter. The company had also organized a secret discussion in Azatek, with some residents not opposing the mine exploitation at that time as well. However, after the hearing in Vayk failed, the company’s powers were suspended. Instead a new company, Vayk-Invest LLC, emerged. The company also held a public hearing in Zaritap community, but was rejected by the public. But in Azatek, the public hearing was held after a vote of 44 to 42. According to Ruzan Ghazaryan, the company is not interested in how many people had voted for or against the debates, but the fact that a public hearing took place.

However, the whole public hearing was marked by one interesting incident. Vayk Gold’s representative also attended the discussion. The attendees thought that those behind the new company were the same people, simply the company’s name had changed.

“At the beginning we thought, in fact, the companies are the same, they have only changed their name and present themselves with a new name. But it turned out to be a completely different situation. During the discussion, a representative of Vayk Gold asked Vayk Invest whether he had worked with them.

The answer was positive. Then Vayk Gold’s representative said that, ‘You have worked with us, stolen our documents and transferred the secrets of our business to Vayk-Invest, now you have come here to represent yourself as a director.’ He also said that the case was not complete and that they had filed a lawsuit in the court. Besides, he said the hearings were totally illegal,” Ghazaryan said.

According to an NGO representative, representatives of the two businesses started arguing. In any case, two more public hearings are still pending and whether the legal process will be a turning point for the new company or not will become clear during the further developments.

As for the Azatek residents who voted in favor of public hearings, they were interested only in job openings and some social promises made by the company, Ghazaryan said. However, there are a number of factors that neutralize the potential for mine development in the area.

Ruzan Ghazaryan first shared her concerns that the mine has a significant supply of uranium in addition to precious metals. “During the Soviet era, uranium was probably the reason that the mine was not exploited,” she said.

In addition, Azatek fossil flora is listed among natural monuments. That is, the site itself is of great value. There are also more than ten plant species included in the Red Book of Plants.

According to the Vayk resident, Arpa River flows directly beneath the mine. It is not ruled out that the wastewater will be dumped into the river. Meanwhile, agricultural lands of a whole province are located in the valley of Arpa River. This means that it may cause major problems for agricultural workers, whereas Vayots Dzor is famous for its agriculture and winemaking.

A villager’s job is the land and the land must be preserved for a village to continue surviving.

Turkish Press: Upper Karabakh conflict can be ‘resolved in phases’

Markos Nalchajian
Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Feb 15 2020
 
 
Upper Karabakh conflict can be ‘resolved in phases’
 
Conflict cannot be resolved in one day, says Azerbaijan’s president
 
Büşra Nur Bilgiç Çakmak   | 15.02.2020
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (R) attend the 56th Munich Security Conference at Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany on . ( Abdulhamid Hoşbaş – Anadolu Agency )
 
ANKARA
 
Azerbaijan’s president on Saturday said the Upper Karabakh issue cannot be resolved in a day and there is a need to resolve the conflict in phases.
 
“It’s clear that we need to resolve this conflict in phases. We cannot resolve it in one […] day,” Ilham Aliyev said at a session — titled An Update on Nagorno-Karabakh — along with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during the 56th Munich Security Conference
 
“The first phase should be, as Russian proposal [suggested], liberation of part of the occupied territories, return of Azerbaijani IDPs to those territories, resettlement […] and in the meantime, the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said, adding the status of Upper Karabakh can be discussed later.
 
For his part, Pashinyan said that there cannot be a military solution to the conflict in the region.
 
Upper Karabakh is the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan illegally occupied by Armenia through military aggression since 1991.
 
Four UN Security Council and two General Assembly resolutions, as well as decisions by many other international organizations, refer to this fact and demand withdrawal of the occupational Armenian forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.
 
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group — co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S. — was formed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but has not reached any results yet.

ACNIS reView from Yerevan #4, 2020_Weekly Update_1-8 February

Markos Nalchajian
Weekly Update  

09 FEBRUARY 2020  

 

President Armen Sarkissian’s Office has received the parliament’s decision on calling a referendum for the bill on ending the terms of Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan and several justices of the high court, Sarkissian’s aide Hasmik Petrosyan told ARMENPRESS. She said the Speaker of Parliament sent the draft legislation to the President. By law, now Sarkissian has 3 days to sign or not sign the bill.

 

After following, with deep concern, the events that unfolded in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on February 6, we state that the legislature’s decision to designate a referendum is an overt violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and constitutional legislation. This is stated in the statement issued by first Human Rights Defender of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan, President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan and lawyer Ruben Melikyan, said NEWS.am.

 

ARMINFO reported, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian considers the legal justification of the amendments adopted by the National Assembly regarding the disclosure of banking secrets controversial and appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to consider their compliance with the country’s Constitution.  This was reported by the press service of the President of Armenia. According to the information, the matter concerns additions and amendments to two laws: the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Bank Secrecy Law. These amendments were adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on January 22, 2020.

 

RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) reported, in a move denounced by the Armenian opposition, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc has drafted constitutional changes that would dismiss seven of the nine members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court locked in a bitter dispute with the government. The amendments were unveiled on Wednesday one day before an emergency session of the Armenian parliament which will discuss a separate My Step bill limiting the court’s powers. They call for the replacement of the court’s embattled chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, and six other judges who were installed by the former Armenian governments.

 

The Presidential Office informed, President Armen Sarkissian today at the Presidential Palace had a working meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Stressing the importance of the regular working meetings, which have become a tradition, Armen Sarkissian and Nikol Pashinian discussed issues pertinent to the country’s current agenda.

President Armen Sarkissian: Mr. Prime Minister, I am glad to host you today. This, it looks, has become a tradition – to meet regularly, to discuss all events which are going on in the country and beyond, on the international arena, and share information about visits, meetings, achievements, and difficulties of our own – government and presidential institutes. Thus, I once again welcome you at the office of the President of Armenia.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian: Thank you, Mr. President, I am glad to see you. This is actually our first working meeting in 2020, and I am glad also to note that year 2019 was successful for the Republic of Armenia. Data on the economic activity in 2019 has been published and I can state that in 2019 we had the highest index of economic activity since the application of that method of the economic analysis which was introduced in 2011. In 2019, we registered the period of transitional governance after the revolution and the topic of institutional changes in our country has been becoming more and more important in our discussions as well as the conceptualization and introduction of the strategic governance logic.

I believe, in 2020 we will enter such a phase and maturing of institutions in our country, introduction of the system of checks and balances has always been in the center of our attention and stay there. We have also responded to the situation around the Constitutional Court, the crisis, if I may say so, and I hope that today we will discuss problems related to it and will exchange views.

I certainly share your viewpoint that we should approach the problem based on the logic of the country’s institutional sustainability, our country’s national and state interests’ logic, the logic of having a clear-cut and working system of checks and balances because only then we will have the irreversible democracy, irreversible rule of law with all the ensuing consequences and, certainly, irreversible constitutional reality which has always been in the center of our attention and the focus of our working discussions. So, I am very glad to have this opportunity.

 

President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio has issued a statement over the situation surrounding the Constitutional Court of Armenia, emphasizing the principle of voluntary early retirement of the judges. He urged to de-escalate the situation and resolve the situation in an atmosphere of restraint and mutual respect. ARMENPRESS reports the statement of Gianni Buquicchio runs as follows, “Following my statement of 29 October 2019, I remain preoccupied about the open conflict involving the Constitutional Court of Armenia. I share the concerns of the rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in this respect.

 

Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the draft strategy for public administration reform was discussed in Government, the Prime Minister Office Opening the meeting, Nikol Pashinyan noted that the public administration reform is very important. “Our goal is to ensure that the citizens of the Republic of Armenia experience as little discomfort as possible in relations with the public administration system. To solve this problem, we must make the public administration system more attractive for highly skilled professionals who can live up to the task in all aspects. On the other hand, we have set ourselves the task of ensuring higher efficiency in public spending. The ultimate goal is to create a business-friendly environment and make people’s life better through a citizen-centric public administration system,” Nikol Pashinyan said. The meeting discussed issues related to the development of policies in the areas of public administration, human resource management, the provision of public services, accountability and institutional development. The Premier emphasized the importance of establishing clear-cut assessment criteria and instructed those responsible to continue developing the strategy.

 

Sources: https://www.president.am, https://www.azatutyun.am/en, https://armenpress.am, https://news.am/eng/, https://arminfo.info/, https://www.panorama.am/en/, https://www.primeminister.am/en/press-release/.

  

Asbarez: L.A. County Women and Girls Initiative Announces Art Competition

Markos Nalchajian
February 7, 2020

The Los Angeles County Women and Girls Initiative is proud to kick-off a year-long celebration of the suffrage movement

Los Angeles County is celebrating the centennial anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment. On August 6, 2019, the LA County Board of Supervisors introduced a motion directing the Women and Girls Initiative to collaborate with the Department of Arts and Culture to commission artists to create commemorative artworks for the Centennial Celebration of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Arts and Culture is proud to hereby invite its creative community to reflect on the centennial, celebrate the achievements of the suffragists, and place the movement in a larger historical context. LA-based artists are welcome to submit their qualifications, including a letter of interest, resume, images, and annotated image list to be considered for the final award.

Final awards of $4,000 each will be offered to a maximum of five artists. Selected artworks will be accessioned into the County’s Civic Art Collection, framed and installed in the LA County Board of Supervisors and Arts and Culture offices. There is no entry fee. The deadline for the application is Monday, February 17.

Additionally, the original artworks will be fabricated by Arts and Culture into 18”x24” posters for distribution throughout all 34 LA County departments, and duplicated into a limited run of LA County Library cards.

Submittal materials must include the following components in the below mentioned order:

  1. Resume including name, mailing address, phone number(s), email, web page (if applicable), and bio. Resume should not exceed three pages.
  2. A maximum one-page letter of interest addressing your artistic practice, sources of inspiration, why this project interests you, and how you plan to celebrate women’s empowerment and equity in the final artworks.
  3. Up to five images of your relevant work.
  4. An annotated image list that indicates title, date, medium, dimensions, and brief project description of the maximum five images submitted (maximum 100 characters).

The required method for submitting materials for this RFQ is through WeTransfer.

Wetransfer Instructions:

  1. Resume, letter of interest, and annotated image list must be saved as a PDF document.
  2. Images must be saved as a single PDF or Powerpoint document. Individual images that are not compiled into a single pdf or Powerpoint document will not be accepted and your application will be considered incomplete.
  3. Save your application materials in a single folder. Name your folder using the following naming convention: FirstInitialLastName-Application (example: JJones-Application). If you are applying as a collective, use your collective’s name instead of FirstInitialLastName (example: JonesStudio-Application).
  4. Submit your application file or folder through Wetransfer.com to [email protected].

Please submit additional questions about the competition to Civic Art Project Manager Marah Morris at 213.202.5923 or [email protected] before February 7 at 5 p.m. PST.

Responses to additional questions will be posted on the Arts and Culture website on February 12.