Author: Mary Lazarian

Azerbaijani Press: Amendment to European Parliament resolution another political provocation against Azerbaijan

Mary Lazarian
News.az, Azerbaijan
Sept 14 2017

Thu 08:08 GMT | 11:08 Local Time

    
The amendment was passed with 290 voting against and 349 voting for, while its longer discussion was not allowed.

The amendment on Azerbaijan introduced to the European Parliament’s resolution dated , is yet another example of traditional nonobjective policy and political provocation carried by some forces within the European Parliament against Azerbbaijan.

The submission of this amendment on September 7, just two days after the publication of nefarious allegations of corruption set forth against Azerbaijan by some biased media outlets that disseminate false reports and are guided by the Armenian lobby and the Soros Foundation is the indication of pre-production and simultaneous implementation of this unwanted and ugly campaign. 
 
The author of this amendment is Petras Austrevicius, a native of Lithuania. This person has solid anti-Islam and anti-Azerbaijani ideological views. There is a phrase in Azerbaijani, translated as ‘tell me who your friend is and I will tell you who you are.’ His closest friend is former Ambassador to Lithuania Renatas Juska. The same Juska whose voice record with the voice record of another responsible officer of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Zenonas Kumetaitis came viral on youtube. In his voice record she expressed hate towards Azerbaijan and Muslims and his love for Armenia saying that Lithuania should support Armenians because they are Christian.

The amendment was passed with 290 voting against and 349 voting for. Its longer discussion was not allowed. This shows that there are pragmatic viewpoints in the European Parliament that  work for the interests of Europe.
 
As it is stated in the general part of the resolution, while the volume of corruption in the European Union is EUR 179 bn annually, and its share in overall GDP makes EUR 990 bn, it is ridiculous and abusive to indicate Azerbaijan in the amendment to the resolution based on false information and slander.
 
The marginal person who is the author of this amendment consisting of several sentences and his close associates, being narrow-minded, traditionally pursue the anti-Azerbaijani policy .
 
They focus on discrediting international prestige of Azerbaijan, distracting the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from substantial negotiations, creating conditions for continued occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, and undermining Azerbaijan’s cooperation with EU ahead of the planned EU top summit of Eastern Partnership countries due in November of this year, and preventing the successful implementation of the TAP project. It should be taken into consideration that the adoption of the resolution comes at the time of the signing of the new agreement on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field by 2050.
 
Unfortunately, the dubious cooperation between the Armenian lobby and other circles in these European groups has not been investigated yet.

Despite the attempts and provocations of such circles, Azerbaijan will continue its independent and successful domestic and foreign policy for the sake of the people of Azerbaijan.

News.Az

Student Organizations Issue Statement on Termination of DACA

Mary Lazarian
  • Community

    •  

  • Latest

    •  

  • News

    •  

  • Top Stories

10 hours ago

From left the emblems of AYF, ARF “Shant” and All-ASA

GLENDALE – The ARF Shant Student Association, Armenian Youth Federation-Western United States (AYF-WUS), and All-Armenian Student Association would like to express their dismay and disapproval of the Trump administration’s recent announcement that the federal government will effectively end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This regressive move is a broken promise to youths who rightfully call America home. The Armenian youth organizations stand in solidarity with students who face fear and uncertainty in light of the President’s misguided decision.

The DACA program offers young undocumented immigrants, typically brought to the United States as children, a two-year renewable reprieve from deportation and a work permit. Since the DACA program was established in 2012, more than three-quarters of a million young immigrants have pursued a college education.  These students have enriched our university communities and our society as a whole. Unless Congress acts to keep the program intact, DACA beneficiaries will begin to lose protection on March 6, 2018, losing their eligibility for employment and rendering them deportable.

We urge Congress to act quickly to pass bipartisan legislation that would protect undocumented students and secure their future in the United States. Our legislature must work to chart a secure pathway toward citizenship and allow Dreamers to continue to live, work, and serve the only country that most of them know as home. We encourage our community to reach out to their elected representatives to add their voice to those calling for legislation that will allow DACA beneficiaries to live and work without fear of deportation from the United States.

At this trying time, we look to our education institutions to provide resources for undocumented students as well as support for various programs that aid these communities. Further, we urge the administrators and officials at our colleges and university campuses to use their influences and agencies to advocate for affected students. We commend the university officials who have already issued strong statements against the current decision on DACA and encourage others to follow suit.

Our organizations, which are comprised in large part by descendants of victims of crimes against humanity, civil wars, and economic hardship, firmly believe in the American values of equality and opportunity. This decision is fundamentally incongruent with those ideals.

We believe that our nation must be a vibrant and diverse setting fostering all human progress. The individual must have the broadest set of opportunities for intellectual and moral development, interaction and personal growth. DACA has brought countless young people out of the shadows, allowing them to live without fear, obtain an education, and contribute to the prosperity of our society.

Although this decision is deeply disappointing, it provides an opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to the struggle for diversity and inclusion in the United States of America.

Tamanyan’s layout stretched towards Ararat

Mary Lazarian
  • 19:35 | August 31,2017 | Social
  • Armenian:

Many of Tamanyan’s layouts continue to remain on paper. One of them is the tower drafted in the yard of the Government building of the Republic Square. It became a topic of hot discussions years ago.

The reason was that in 2010, March 18 the RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made a decision (569 A), according to which within 18 months a tufa tower of 50 meters high and 30 meters in diameter was planned to be constructed in the central square of the Republic. The tower would cost USD 10 million. After making the decision it was largely discussed by the state bodies and architects. As a result months later a decision was made according to which the square wasn’t subject to changes, as it is included in the list of immovable monuments of history and culture and is untouchable.

But what was the spirit of the architect Alexander Tamanyan put in his projects. On this issue “A1+” interviewed Anush Ter-Minasyan, Director of National Museum-Institute of Architecture after Al. Tamanyan.

“For Tamanyan the Square was the most important part of the architectural solution of Yerevan. He wanted not only to create a wonderful architectural draft, but also an ideological construction. The building of the Gallery wasn’t included in Tamanyan’s draft. The Government building itself should have been dominant. The Government building must have been the back of the Square, from which the streets must have started. The territory of the building of the Gallery should have been open, which had its ideology. That open territory would show that the layout was open towards Western Armenia, towards the Mont Ararat. It was the embodiment of national dreams, which proved that Tamanyan’s draft wasn’t simply an architectural draft. There was the national idea.”

According to Anush Ter-Minasyan, North-South axis would unite the city and would connect the square with the theatrical square, “Those avenues, besides having separating role, would have a uniting role. The square would be the beginning of the avenues, where the movement of the city would start and would end in the square. That was the reason that Tamanyan paid more attention to the square, as it would be the main features of the city. We should also state that the square and many of his buildings were constructed after Tamanyan’s death.”

The Director of the Museum highlighted that his heritage will increase and will be reconsidered, but at the same time she expressed her concern, “As a result we have what we have. No one can say what the architect would do with the square now.”

With the draft of Tamanyan architectural buildings were constructed also outside of Armenia. His first work was the reconstruction of Armenian St. Katarine church in Saint Petersburg. Besides, in Russia he constructed the mansion of Kochubey, the house of Scherbov, the hospital complex of Moscow-Kazan railway and other buildings. Tamanyan’s first architectural work was the main layout of Yerevan, which was intended for 150 000 people. That layout was approved in 1924. In 1934 the architect started developing the layout of “Big Yerevan”, which was intended for 500 000 people. But that draft remained unfinished as in 1936 Tamanyan died.



Film: Burbank Film Festival to feature Armenian Genocide documentary

Mary Lazarian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Aug 29 2017
– 13:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – “Crow’s of the Desert: A Hero’s Journey Through the Armenian Genocide,” a 2016 film by director Marta Houske telling the story of the destruction of 1,5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire will screen as part of the Burbank International Film Festival.

The festival on Monday, August 28 announced official program selections for the 9th Annual edition of the festival set for September 6 through September 10.

The documentary is based on the “Memoirs of Levon Yotnakhparian”, a true story of one man’s brave adventures to stay alive, and help save his people from near extinction.

More than 180 feature and short films representing 60 countries will be presented during the five-day event, along with artist tributes, panels, and festivities.


The Prime Minister emphasized the implementation of consistent steps aimed at reducing corruption risks

Mary Lazarian
  • 28.08.2017

    •  

  • Armenia:

    •  

  • arm

1
 233

A session of the Anti-Corruption Council was held in the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, with the participation of civil society representatives.

During the session, the experts of the independent expert committee presented the corruption risks identified by the Police in the fields of providing services to citizens, healthcare, education and state revenue collection and the action plans aimed at reducing them. A wide discussion was held around them, a number of recommendations and observations were presented. 

Prime Minister Karapetyan emphasized the implementation of consistent steps aimed at reducing corruption risks in the mentioned areas and gave appropriate instructions in that direction. In particular, Karen Karapetyan instructed the Ministers of Education and Science, Health, the Chairman of the RA SRC and the Chief of Police to discuss all the submitted comments by September 20, to revise the drafts if necessary in cooperation with experts, and to present the revised version to the government staff. 

In addition, in order to implement the program’s activities, the Prime Minister instructed to allocate financial resources within the budget budget and, if necessary, make them a subject of discussion during the budget discussion. Karen Karapetyan instructed the head of the government’s staff to complete the document by discussing it with other interested bodies in November and submitting it for the government’s consideration.

Karen Karapetyan in Gegharkunik: the process of planning community budgets for 2018 will be held under strict supervision

Mary Lazarian 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Saturday
Karen Karapetyan in Gegharkunik: the process of planning community
budgets for 2018 will be held under strict supervision
Yerevan August 26
Naira Badalyan. During the first 7 months of 2017, the own incomes of
the Gegharkunik region of Armenia were fulfilled by 88%, the
performance of the regional budget increased by 12.8% compared to the
same period 2016. Karen Botoyan, the head of the regional
administration, reported this to Karen Karapetyan, the Prime Minister
of Armenia. In the city of Gavar, Gegharkunik region of the republic,
on August 25, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the head of
the government to discuss the progress of development programs of the
region and communities, work carried out and forthcoming plans.
As the RA government press service reports, presenting the social and
economic situation in the region and macroeconomic indicators,
Governor Karen Botoyan noted that the share of Gegharkunik in
Armenia's GDP is 5%, and the GDP per capita in the region is 1 million
64 thousand 900 AMD. The volume of industrial production in 2016
amounted to 31 billion 728 million 800 thousand, per capita - 136
thousand 900 drams.
Mining is the main direction of the region's economy, and agriculture
is a priority area, Botoyan said. The volume of gross agricultural
products for the previous year was 153 billion, per capita - about 660
thousand 100 drams.
According to the head of the regional administration, 9 investment
programs were submitted to the Government from Gegharkunik for a total
of 2 billion 56 600 600 drams. Approval was given to 6 of them. The
development of tourism is also the focus of the region, Karen Botoyan
stressed. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development
and the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments, as well as
the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, presented 33 investment programs that
are under discussion. As Botoyan assured, the issue of creating jobs
is at the center of attention of the administration.
With the exception of the Artsvashen community, all the others (91)
have approved development programs. All communities also have
developed digital, which provides information on the socio-economic
situation in a particular community and its investment potential.
Concerning the collection of own incomes, Prime Minister Karen
Karapetyan stressed that in this respect the lowest level in the
region is due to weak discipline. According to him, the envisaged
increase in the region's own revenues is 9%, and in the other 15-20%.
As the head of government noted, the process of planning community
budgets for 2018 will be held under strict control. "All heads of
communities should know that there can not be such that according to
the republican budget the fees were 100% and the deductions to the
communities were according to the plan, and the communities themselves
planned at their discretion," the prime minister said. "We want to
create equal partnership relations, we respect the rights of the heads
of communities, but this does not mean that they should work in the
same regime in our community, and we in the other. We generate budget
revenues as a result of working with the same citizens that the heads
of communities," he said.
The head of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers was informed about the
progress of work in the spheres of agriculture, health, education,
recycling of garbage.

BAKU: “EU will soon take more principled stance on Karabakh conflict”

Mary Lazarian
Trend, Azerbaijan

Aug 23 2017


By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:

The EU will soon take a more principled stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and show will to resolve it, Nikita Isayev, political analyst, leader of the New Russia public and political movement, told Trend, Aug. 23.

“In this case, the EU may express its position on the behalf of France, which is one of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group,” the expert said. “Unfortunately, this will happen without paying significant attention to Russia’s position.”

The analyst noted that the principles of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the proposals on its settlement that were previously voiced by international mediators, may change in this case.

“The current settlement principles lead to impasse and don’t resolve the conflict, they are fraught with escalation of tensions in the South Caucasus region,” he said. “The escalation of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is dangerous not only for the direct participants of the conflict, but for the entire region.”

According to the expert, it is necessary to find new ways for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the topics of the Russian and Armenian presidents’ meeting to be held Aug. 23 in the city of Sochi, the Kremlin’s press service reported earlier.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

BAKU: Turkish origin German writer whose works focus on so-called “Armenian genocide” detained in Spain

Mary Lazarian
APA, Azerbaijan

Aug 19 2017

German-Turkish author Doğan Akhanlı was detained in Spain on Aug. 19 after Turkey issued an Interpol warrant for the writer, APA reports citing the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.

 The man was reportedly detained in the city of Granada at about 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT), where he was spending his holidays.

 The police reportedly acted instructed by the Interpol.

 The 60-year-old writer has been living in German city of Cologne since 1992. His works mostly focus on the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

USC to Host 3rd Annual Innovate Armenia Festival

Mary Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia

Aug 18 2017


14:25, 18 Aug 2017
Armradio

On Saturday, September 23, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies presents Innovate Armenia 2017, a day of discovery, technology, music, food, wine, chess and lively conversation headlined by a pair of celebrity-journalist brothers and two 2016 Pulitzer Prize winners, Asbarez reports.

The brothers are Washington Post columnist David Ignatius and Harvard Business Review editor Adi Ignatius.

The Pulitzer Prize winners are poet Peter Balakian, of Colgate University, and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, a USC professor of English and American studies.

A Vietnamese-born English literature professor headlining an Armenian diaspora festival may seem strange, but it goes to the heart of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies’ outward-looking, internationalist philosophy.

“We take global Armenian questions and explore them as part of big world issues,” says director Salpi Ghazarian. “Innovate Armenia is the platform where we make the best of scholarship accessible.”

The Armenian diaspora experience has lessons for everyone, according to David Kang, a featured speaker at Innovate Armenia 2016. A professor of international relations, business and East Asian languages, Kang heads USC’s Korean Studies Institute. His presentation last year focused on the fluidity of hybrid identities. “Armenians are going through very similar issues that Koreans have,” he said in his talk.

In a city as multiethnic as Los Angeles, the immigrant experience is something most of us can relate to, Ghazarian says. “Anyone, including those whose ancestors arrived on the Mayflower, will find something to pique their interest at Innovate Armenia.”

Last year’s festival, which focused on digital humanities, drew 3,000 attendees and 20,000 more watched online. This year’s program — with a focus on rethinking, relearning and reimagining identity, language, history and technology —is expected to draw even larger crowds.

Armenian church to be restored into cultural center in Turkey

Mary Lazarian
PanArmenian, Armenia

Aug 18 2017
– 16:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Armenian church in the Turkish town of Aksehir, Konya will be restored, while the priest’s house behind the church will serve as a boutique hotel, Agos reports.

To be restored in the framework of the World Humor Village Project, the church will start operating as a cultural center.

Aksehir Mayor Dr. Salih Akkaya said repair projects will be prepared for the Armenian bath in the village of Mizah and that restoration works will be completed in the coming years.