20:56, 7 February, 2020
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. Ryanair airlines will carry out also Yerevan-Paphos-Yerevan flights, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Facebook page of Yerevan’s “Zvartnots” airport.
The low-cost Yerevan-Paphos-Yerevan flights will start from June 2020, with a frequency of two flights a week.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
15:05, 6 February, 2020
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 6, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian received today Ambassador of Italy to Armenia Vincenzo del Monaco, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.
The Armenian President and the Ambassador discussed issues relating to the upcoming official visit of President Sarkissian to Italy in September 2020.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Participants of the ARS of Western USA’s first Leadership Development Series Seminar of 2020, held on Jan. 25
GLENDALE—The Armenian Relief Society of Western USA held its first Leadership Development Series Seminar of 2020. Invited to this unique event geared toward empowering the existing and up-and-coming leadership were ARS chapter executives, members, and various ARS regional and committee members, as well as members of other organizations based in Southern California. Also in attendance were current and former Central Executive members, including ARS Central Executive Chairperson Dr. Nyree Derderian. The seminar was held on Saturday, January 25, at New York Life’s conference center.
Greeted by the tunes of classical Armenian music as they checked in, attendees received an ARS branded swag bag, t-shirt, seminar folder, and an “I am ARS” card to use in photos as they entered the seminar venue.
The program opened with a music video and vintage footage of the ARS at its start 110 years ago. ARS Regional Executive Board member Anita Altounian welcomed the attendees and introduced Steve Artinian as the seminar’s main presenter. Artinian is currently Vice President of Marketing for a national company with locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The first topic was about leadership, different styles, and differences between effective and ineffective leadership. Topics presented throughout the day included: team building, public relations, social media, fundraising, estate planning, planned giving, grants, marketing, and event planning.
Additional presenters at the seminar included: Krestina Torossian (Public Relations and Social Media), Christina Malyan, Esq. (Estate Planning and Planned Giving) and Suren Seropian (Grants).
As the ARS enters its 110th year, some of the discussion during the seminar focused on effective ways of attracting the next generation to get more involved and help shape the future. “We must involve our next generation, while we stay true to our identity and who we are. We must do all that we can to let our lifelong members lead, while we work towards increasing our reach,” remarked ARS Regional Executive Chairperson Silva Poladian.
Two of the presenters, Torossian and Malyan, were young American-born professionals who do not have backgrounds in organizational work – a part of the “next generation” that the ARS is hoping to attract as members. Both women expressed their appreciation for the warm welcome they received.
The organizers surprised the audience with a number of raffles throughout the day, which were announced as guests returned from the seminar breaks. Emily Samvalian and Sarelle Janoian assisted with both the raffles and the audio and video used throughout the event. Halfway through the seminar, Samvalian and Janoian announced to attendees, in Armenian and in English, that they were going to become future “Homouhies” – future ARS members.
Following the presentations, attendees were asked to participate in a breakout session. The nine groups were given different topics to analyze and discuss, after which they presented their findings to the entire group. The topics included fundraising, community outreach and programs, perception of ARS, chapters and membership base, and the ARS in future decades – 2020, 2030, and 2040. Based on the reports, the general thinking was that the ARS and its membership should embrace growth, contemporary methods, and inclusiveness.
In closing, ARS Regional Executive Chairperson Silva Poladian thanked the presenters, the public relations committee members, the volunteers that helped organize the event, and the attendees. The presenters were given Certificates of Appreciation for their vision and support in helping make the event a success.
ArmInfo. Our work in the framework of the winter session in PACE was quite successful. This was announced on February 4 at a press conference by the head of the Armenian delegation to PACE, MP from the ruling “My Step” bloc Ruben Rubinyan. The MP noted that during the visit, certain agreements were reached. Rubinyan also touched on the discussions that have unfolded in PACE on the issue of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
“As you know, during the winter session, a resolution was adopted on political prisoners in Azerbaijan. That is, it was once again noted that there are political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani delegates strongly denied this fact, and very reluctantly admitted the adoption of this resolution,” – stressed the MP.
Moreover, Rubinyan noted that the head of the Azerbaijani delegation asked one of his British colleagues to speak in support of them, but the Azerbaijanis did not receive any support.
The head of the Armenian delegation noted that during the PACE winter session, issues related to peace in the regions, fake news, political prisoners, as well as holding fair and transparent elections were discussed. “These are issues that are important both for Europe and for Armenia,” Rubinyan concluded.
15:29, 29 January, 2020
YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Economy of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan received the delegation of Jordan led by Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tareq Al-Hamouri, the Armenian ministry told Armenpress.
The delegation arrived in Armenia for the preparation of the upcoming visit of King Abdullah II of Jordan to Armenia, as well as for discussing the bilateral cooperation agenda.
“Welcome to Armenia”, the Armenian minister said in his opening remarks. “We are happy to host you in Armenia to discuss the agenda of economic relations. Our countries have a huge economic potential which is not utilized, and the opportunities of its utilization are in our today’s dialogue agenda”.
Minister Khachatryan introduced the recent changes in Armenia’s economy and stated that all participants of the economic life in Armenia have equal opportunities.
“On behalf of myself and my delegation I want to thank you for such hospitality in our friendly country. This derives from the high-level political relations between our countries. Nevertheless, in such relations the mutual economic partnership is very modest”.
The Armenian minister proposed the Jordanian delegation to discuss the cooperation in the tourism sector as a dynamically developing direction in the two countries. They also discussed increasing the trade turnover volumes between the two countries based on bilateral interests. He informed that the Investment Support Center operating in the ministry will assist the delegation on holding discussions and establishing contacts with the private sector in Armenia.
The Jordanian minister touched upon Armenia’s IT development potential, stating that in this sense the economies of the two countries have commonalities, and thus cooperation opportunities.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Armenia lifts visa requirements for Serbian citizens
12:13, 30 January, 2020
YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government approved today the draft decision on abolishing visa requirements for the citizens of Serbia.
During today’s Cabinet meeting deputy foreign minister Avet Adonts said on October 25, 2019 the government of Serbia adopted a unilateral decision to abolish visa requirements for the Armenian citizens holding ordinary passports. This decision came into force on November 2, 2019.
The Armenian government’s today’s decision will enter into force on the tenth day after its official publication.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attached importance to the adoption of this decision. “It’s a good decision, and I think that this trend of eliminating visa regime with different countries is a good reaction for our country”, the PM said.
In response the deputy FM said Armenia currently has a visa-free regime with 63 states, adding that in line with this the launch of talks on setting visa-free regime with the EU remains a priority for the Armenian foreign ministry.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
2020 will be fertile year and not only in agricultural sense – PM Pashinyan
11:07, 1 February, 2020
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Heavy snow increases our expectations for favorable economic year, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page.
”2020 will be fertile year and not only in agricultural sense”, he wrote.
Diego Maradona’s Gimnasia played against Huracan in the 18th round of the Argentine Super League. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
At the end of the match, Maradona highly praised the performance of Huracan and Armenian national football team striker Norberto Alejandro Briasco Balekian. The Armenian footballer played the whole match and created some dangerous moments for the opponent.
“He’s a real revelation,” legendary Maradona said of Balekian.
Balekian has scored two goals so far in the current season of the Argentine Super League.
The 23-year-old striker has played in four matches so far for the Armenian national team.
16:47,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS. Israel will not win the battle against antisemitism until it recognizes the Armenian Genocide, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian said in an interview to The Jerusalem Post.
Sarkissian, who was in Israel over the past week for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, which marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, said that most of the Armenian population does not understand the logic behind Israel’s refusal to officially recognize the mass killing of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children by the Ottoman government between 1915 and 1917.
The Armenian Genocide is recognized by more than 30 countries, including the United States as it adopted a respective resolution in October 2019, but Israel has resisted formally naming the genocide for what it is.
“A lot of Armenians ask, ‘Why on earth would Israel, a country whose people have seen their own huge tragedy, not recognize the Armenian Genocide?’” Sarkissian said. “There is no logical answer. I cannot say that Israel has relations with Turkey and that is why – I cannot say that.” But he acknowledged that Israel-Turkey relations, which were formalized in March 1949, are likely the catalyst for Israeli silence.
“Israel has relations with Turkey,” Sarkissian said. “Today, those relations are good, tomorrow they are bad, and then the other way around. But the truth will remain the truth.”
He said that recognizing human tragedy is a matter of morality more than anything else, and he can only hope that one day Israel will recognize the genocide and that “human values, moral values and the importance of history will prevail. “Recognition will not be connected with this or that interest of the State of Israel or something else that is important only in the moment”, the Armenian President said.
But he also believes that Israel’s failure to commiserate with Armenia over their comparable tragedies – the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide – is harming Israel and the Jewish people’s efforts to combat an ever-expanding epidemic of antisemitism.
“All of the reasons why this happened have not disappeared,” Sarkissian told the Post, referring to both the Holocaust and the Genocide. “Antisemitism is alive. Extreme nationalism is alive everywhere in the world…. It can all come back.”
He said that human tendency is to forget the lessons of history for the convenience of the present.
Sarkissian believes that Turkey has not recognized the Genocide because it would be “inconvenient: millions of people lost their lives; a culture was destroyed; and Turkey is probably afraid of claims – material and moral claims.
“Maybe they are afraid because for years they didn’t tell the truth to their children and grandchildren in their schools,” he continued. “It does not matter to me personally whether this country or that country will or will not recognize [the genocide]. It will not change my life or the lives of the millions of Armenians who lost their homes and are scattered all over the world in the Armenian diaspora. But it is going to backfire.”
He said that a country’s recognition of the Genocide or not will decide if that country is able to build for itself a tolerant society. A country that does not recognize the Genocide, he said, is a country that will ultimately lack tolerance for other people’s religion, nationality, faith and culture.
“The biggest disease of humanity today is not a virus in Hong Kong,” Sarkissian said. “It is not AIDS or cancer. With new technologies we are learning more and more how to fight cancer and defeat viruses. But technology will not teach us how to cure the disease of inhumanity.
“No medicine can be taken with water to help you become more human, more tolerant – this is much more problematic,” he explained. And he said that only in the moment that Israel recognizes the Genocide will it truly be able to move into its rightful role as the worldwide leader in the fight against antisemitism and extremism.
“It will make Israel’s case much stronger when it partners with Armenia, Rwanda, Cambodia,” Sarkissian stressed. “Then, we can come together and say, ‘This is enough.’ If we don’t do that and everyone plays the game on their own, we are going to lose the battle.”
President Sarkissian said that he attended the World Holocaust Forum because he does not think “it would have been right for any Armenian to connect the remembrance of the Holocaust tragedy” with whether the Israeli parliament recognizes the Armenian Genocide or not. “There is no way that, as president of Armenia, I would ever consider not being here,” he said.
Asked that Armenia has held Israel to a double standard in its conflict with the Palestinians, voting against many resolutions in the UN relating to this conflict, President Sarkissin stated: “The Armenian state has to think of protecting Armenian life, and the Jewish state has to think about protecting Jewish life. Both Armenians and Jews are human, and yet politics decides many things. Armenia is a landlocked country; it has only four neighbors: Turkey – and you know our relations with them; Azerbaijan – and you know our relations,” he continued. “Armenia has only two ways of communicating with the world: One is Georgia, and the other is Iran. I’ll stop there. Don’t take me into the jungle of politics.”
Until the countries come to terms on these differences, Sarkissian said, he hopes that they will identify other areas in which they share common ground.
After the Holocaust Forum the Armenian President met with top Israeli universities and with the Israel Innovation Authority, for example, and noted there are plans to collaborate on new projects in the artificial intelligence arena.
He also said he hopes to increase tourism between the two countries. “Once we have Israeli citizens traveling to Armenia and learning about its history and culture, our beautiful land and fantastic food, and once more Armenians come to Israel and spend the holidays here, the better the world will be,” he concluded.
French President Emanuel Macron addresses the Armenian community at the CCAF dinner on Jan. 29
For the third consecutive year, President Emanuel Macron of France attended and delivered remarks at an annual dinner hosted by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), where he lauded his efforts to make April 24 a national day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide and said Turkey’s “revisionism” on the matter is undercutting history.
The CCAF also honored Turkish historian Taner Akcam for his contributions toward the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and advancing the issue within Turkish academic circles.
In his remarks, Macron touched on France-Armenia friendship, the imperative for Genocide recognition, as well as the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
President Emanuel Macron with Prof. Taner Akcam and CCAF co-chairs Mourad Papazian and Ara Tornian
During last year’s event, Macron pledged that he would begin the process of formally declaring April 24 a day of national remembrance in France, drawing Turkey’s anger and rebuke. On Wednesday, he reflected on the first such commemoration, which took place last year, saying that France was engaged in the Genocide recognition process for almost 20 years.
“The struggle that the Armenians are waging for the recognition of the Genocide is also a struggle against silence, against forgetting,” Macron told the crowd gathered at the at l’Hôtel du Collectionneur in Paris.
He then turned his attention to Akcam, who was being honored, and thanked him for his efforts to combat the denial of the Armenian Genocide around the world.
“You denounced the denial,” Macron told Akcam, who is the author of the book “Killing Orders: Talat Pasha’s Telegrams and Armenian Genocide,” saying the book constitutes “the scientific establishment of clear intentionality of organized crime.”
“You brought out what some wanted to plunge into oblivion, Genocide denial,” said Macron. “It is an essential stone in this deeply political debate with the Turkish leaders.”
“We don’t build any great [his]story on a lie, on the policy of revisionism or a denial,” said Macron denouncing “the shadow cast by [Turkey’s] strategy which aims at a new expansionism in the Middle East, deny the crimes and strive to regain the strength of the past, a fantasized past, very largely.”
France is one of the main guarantors for the continuation of peaceful negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Macron said as the president of one of the three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minks Group, which is task to find a settlement to the conflict.
Macron said he is in regular contacts with both the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan, stating that ensuring the operative connection between the two leaders is one of the key steps to ease tension.
President Emanuel Macron flanked by CCAF co-chairs Mourad Papazian (left) and Ara Toranian.
Macron praised Armenia’s continued advancement of democratic principles, pledging France’s support to Armenia on its path to strengthening civil society through reforms.
“France just ought to stand with Armenia taking into account the democracy created by the efforts of a very young state of a millennia-old nation, as well as the achievements that are now being recorded thanks to the recent revolution,” said Macron, referring to the popular movement in 2018 that toppled the former regime.
At the beginning of the event, those in attendance observed a minute of silence in honor of former French President Jacques Chirac, who died in September.
After being presented by the Courage Award by CCAF co-chairmen Mourad Papazian, who is also a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau, and Ara Toranian, Akcam, whose book was presented in France earlier this week, thanked the CCAF for honoring him, saying humbly that he did not deserve the honor.
“It’s not only a great honor for me, but it’s also a turning point in my life. I tell you with all the more humility, even a certain inconvenience, that I know I don’t deserve it fully,” Akcam told the crowd.
Below is the complete text of Akcam’s remarks at the CCAF dinner.
First of all, let me thank the organizers for inviting me to this important reception, and to thank them so much for the award so iconic that they give me tonight.
It’s not only a great honor for me, but it’s also a turning point in my life. I tell you with all the more humility, even a certain inconvenience, that I know I don’t deserve it fully.
French President Emanuel Macron praised Prof. Taner Akcam
This is not false modesty from me. There is really nothing special about my work that deserves to get this reward and I guess you are many tonight to know what I’m talking about. My research is almost ordinary to the point of being even boring. I’m just trying to tell the truth: that the truth and nothing but the truth…
Telling the truth is not—or at least it should not be—an act worthy of such extraordinary praise. But, let’s say it is. Why am I here tonight? And what is the reason for your admiration and your interest in truth?
With irony, the reason why I am here among you refers to the Turkish government and its policy of denial. In the face of turkey’s long-standing and increasingly ridiculous politics of turkey, such an ordinary act that consists of simply telling the truth gives the right to a public celebration and justify an award!
The question is then what we can do to tell the truth finally becomes ordinary and nothing more than an informal act that deserves no reward.
I know, however, it’s not that simple. If you are from turkey, there is often a very high price to pay to tell the truth; sometimes the price of your life.
My dearest friend, was murdered precisely for this reason.
Hrant [Dink] was just asking for simple and very harmless things. He wanted historical truths to be known and recognized, and that as an Armenian citizen of turkey, he could live in his own country without a doubt, enjoying the same legal and civil rights as other citizens. Hrant also dreamed that one day the walls of mistrust and hatred between the two countries, Turkey and Armenia, will collapse and their common border will open, and that Turkey and Armenia can live side by side as friends and neighbors.
As a close friend of Hrant, I asked myself several times: what should we do to achieve his vision?
Hrant fought the darkness, darkness that the century of revisionist policies of turkey has caused to wrap their nation and cloud the vision of his people. But it is not only the eyes that were blind by these policies of denial: hearts have also become hard. What Hrant accomplished was to create a small opening in the wall of denial, a breach through which rays of light could reach the eyes and hearts closed.
And that’s when I found the answer to my question. My task—the one I am working toward—is to expand this gap and allow the passage of more light. I consider myself forced to fight the denial of the genocide that covers turkey and clouds the details around the murder of hrand
There are two false perceptions around the denial of genocide—false perceptions that create major obstacles in the fight against this denial and in the process preventing its return. First, denial is often considered to be an acceptable, though wrong, political attitude towards the horrors of mass crimes. The second mistake, linked to the first, assume that facing denial is only to establish a “moral” attitude towards this crime, which has long disappeared in the pages of history. Any connection with the present is indeed impossible. These false perceptions are a logical result of what I call “time compartmentalization,” which it is a trend to place the past and present in different categories and ignore their interwoven aspect. In reality, the links between denial and current political problems are strong and cannot simply be ignored.
This is something most European and North American political leaders do not understand and that is why most western states pay tribute to the recognition of the genocide of Armenian while continuing their business-as-usual relationship With Turkey. This reminds me a little of the mafia bosses who go to church every Sunday—they may sincerely repent for their sins—while continuing their criminal activities as they leave the religious building. It’s not just a hypocricy. This is a mistake and it has to change.
Denial is not only about an ideological approach to the past, nor is the demand for recognition of historical crimes is simply an _expression_ of moral conviction about past events. Denial is a structure that cannot simply be reduced to yesterday’s horrors. The denialist structure has produced and continues to promote real state policies.
To this end, it would be appropriate and reasonable to compare Turkey’s denial with the racist system of South Africa. The System, state of mind and institutions of the system were built on race differences. The denial of the Armenian genocide has similar roots. It is based on the discrimination and the exclusion of religious-religious minorities and believes that the democratic requirements of these groups pose a threat to national security, which must therefore be eliminated. One of the main reasons why turkey cannot solve its internal problems related to democracy and human rights and continues to carry out an aggressive foreign policy towards its neighbors is precisely this very denial of the Armenian genocide.
Ending the denial and acting in favor of the recognition of the genocide of the Armenians is not simply an academic judgment, nor simply a “moral” question about a historic event. Rather, it is a must-have condition that must be continued in the Middle East. Recognizing this genocide is vital for turkey, because this recognition is necessary for the development of a truly democratic and free society, in which the regime is forced to recognize the civil rights of its citizens.
Turkey’s recognition of the crimes of its previous, the Ottoman Empire, is a pre-condition for its people to live in peace and tranquility, not only with each other, but also with the other peoples of the region. As long as the Turks continue to deny the genocide, Arab, Kurdish, Christians and others in the region will continue to consider them as the potential and potential authors of new “ethnic cleansing.” Turkey’s revisionist policies are a clear and Obvious threat to regional security.
If we really want peace and stability in the region, if we really want to see democracy thrive in turkey, if we want to see turkey and Armenia maintain friendly and good-neighborhood relations, if we want to see Armenians and Muslims live as full and equal citizens, with why not hope to see a Turkey where the Hrands are not being murdered on the streets, then we must raise the fight against this denial to the scale of current major political problems like other contemporary issues.
For me, this is the meaning of this special prize that you are giving me: a recognition of the fight for truth and justice against denial. It is the only way to respect the victims, to get out of this jacket and to ensure a future of democracy and peace in the Middle East.
I am deeply honored, humble and grateful to have been considered a person worthy of receiving this award. Thank you.