Author: nina hovnanian

Echmiadzin Condemns Attack on Armenian Clerics in Georgia

INTERNATIONAL NEWS, NEWS | JULY 24, 2014 12:56 PM

TBILISI (RFE/RL) — Church officials in Armenia have expressed their
concern over a violent incident in an Armenian church in Tbilisi this
week that left several clergymen injured.

In a statement disseminated on Sunday the Georgian Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) described the previous day’s
altercation and subsequent violence against Armenian clerics, Diocese
employees and a group of Christian Armenians in the yard of the Holy
Echmiadzin Church in the Georgian capital as a “pre-planned attack”
committed on the grounds of “ethnic and religious hatred.”

It said as many as 50 men, some of whom were armed, committed the
violence that was prompted by an earlier argument over parking space
involving a Georgian woman and an Armenian priest.

Some people attending an Armenian christening ceremony inside the
church at the moment reportedly came out into the yard and were also
attacked by the men.

“Women and children, shocked by what they had seen, hid in the
church,” the statement reads. “We must note that a group of nicely
dressed people were watching the incident.”

According to the statement, clerics and employees of the Armenian
Diocese got physical injuries and one of the attacking men tore a
cross off the neck of one priest and took it with him. The Armenian
Diocese called on Georgian law-enforcement bodies to investigate what
happened as a crime committed on ethnic and religious grounds. But in
a statement issued later the Georgian Interior Ministry said that it
saw no ethnic motives behind the violence.

Meanwhile, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Echmiadzin issued a separate statement on Monday, insisting that the
actions of the men who attacked the Armenian church in Tbilisi
“incited ethnic hatred and religious intolerance.”

“This provocative infringement is a regrettable consequence of
anti-Armenian sentiments being spread by different organizations and
individuals in Georgia, including by certain Georgian clerics,” the
AAC said, stressing that such “manifestations of extremism” contradict
“the spirit of friendly relations” between the Armenian and Georgian
peoples.

“The Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin expects the Georgian authorities to
bring all those who committed the infringement upon the Armenian
Church to responsibility and to ensure the security and normal life
for the Armenian Church and Armenian community in Georgia,” it
emphasized.

Armenpress reported that the head of the Foreign Department of the
Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Gerasim of Zugdidi and Tsaishi,
on July 22 met with Prelate of the Georgian-Armenian Diocese, Bishop
Vazgen Mirzakhanyan and discussed the attack. “The attack on the
Armenian Church of Holy Echmiadzin is unacceptable and the Georgian
Orthodox Church condemns that incident and calls on the parties for
peace and tranquility. Besides, the Georgian Church will try to
contribute to the settlement of the problem and the peaceful
coexistence of all religions,” according to a statement by the
Georgian Church.

– See more at:

Russian prosecutor demands 7 years in prison for Armenian truck driver

YEREVAN, July 24. / ARKA /. A Russian prosecutor demands that Hrachya
Harutyunyan, an Armenian truck driver, who was involved in a bus crash
near Moscow last summer that left 18 people dead and 40 others
injured, be sentenced to 7 years in prison, RIA Novosti reported.

During the trial Harutyunyan pleaded guilty to traffic violation that
led to one of the biggest accidents in the Moscow region.

According to Russian news reports, on July 13, 2013 the gravel-loaded
truck driven by Hrachya Harutiunian, an Armenian citizen working in
Russia collided with a packed commuter bus outside the Russian
capital.

The investigation revealed that the accident resulted from poor
maintenance of the truck resulting in a brake malfunctioning.
Harutyunyan, according to investigators, was to know about it.

The prison term asked by the prosecutor is the longest term for people
accused of road accidents killing more than two persons, if the
perpetrator at the time of the accident was sober. -0 –

– See more at:

Greenhouse company awarded VAT payment deferment

YEREVAN, July 24. / ARKA /. An Armenian company called Greenhouse,
specializing in the production of greenhouse vegetables and flowers,
intends to build new greenhouses in Armavir region of Armenia on the
area of 30 hectares and invest about 8.1 billion drams in buying
equipment that will be imported from France and the Netherlands, the
government said today to explain its decision to grant the company a
VAT payment deferment.

Given that the company’s pledged investments exceed 200 million drams
ceiling the VAT payment deferment is three years.

The company expects to produce some 1.72 billion drams worth products
per year from 2015 and export a large part to the CIS and the EU. The
greenhouses will create up to 65-minute new jobs with an average
salary of 125-135 thousand drams.

The deferment was earlier awarded to companies which import more than
300 million drams worth modern equipment or technology to expand their
output and modernize production facilities. On April 17 the government
lowered the ceiling to 200 million drams. ($ 1 – 406.56 drams).

– See more at:

Georgia’s authorities should give proper evaluation to the incident in
Armenian church – Vahagn Chakhalyan

11:30 / 24.07.2014

Nyut.am conducted an interview with the head of the United Javakhq
organization Vahagn Chakhalyan over the recent fight in the Armenian
church in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

– Mr Chakhalyan, according to the official hypothesis what happened in
Armenian church in Tbilisi was described as hooliganism. Are there new
details, new revelations over the case?

– There are new details. The Interior Affairs Ministry has started
investigation of the case under hooliganism article. The time will
show how strong is the will of the Georgian authorities to describe
what has really happened and punish the guilty.

– Is it right to describe it as inter-national clash?

– I do not want to come up with such statements and deteriorate the
situation. We rate high the stability. But it is also very important
for the criminals to be revealed. I want to believe that it was not
pre-determined. To avoid such situations in future it is necessary to
give right assessment to it and give an adequate response. The ball is
now in Georgia’s field and they should respond to it right.

– Has everything been calm between Armenians and Georgians living in
Tbilisi during the recent days? Were there any fights?

– After the incident the situation in Tbilisi is calm. Thanks God, no
new incidents have been registered between Armenians and Georgians.
But two days ago someone left a note on my door: Vahagn Chakhalyan, be
attentive we will kidnap your son! That’s all.

– In your opinion what the both parties must do for such cases not to
affect Armenian-Georgian relations?

– Of course for us the Armenian-Georgian relations are very important.
Of course there is no need to add fuel in the fire, but no one should
be indifferent either as the indifference may work against us. It is
necessary to act right. The Azerbaijani side is interested in
worsening the Armenian-Georgian relations. We must remember it and not
give them a reason for joy.
Very little depends on the Georgian-Armenian community. I once again
stress that as of the moment the ball is in the field of Georgia’s law
enforcers. Of course, we will do everything for this not to grow into
a bigger conflict but we will also do everything not to allow everyone
enter the Armenian church and beat our clergymen.
If we keep silence now and not demand proper evaluation to this crime,
such incidents may become a habit.

Nyut.am

Courses on the “Origins of Armenian Art” to be offered at Columbia University

14:56 24.07.2014

Dr. Helen C. Evans, the Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator for Byzantine
Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has been appointed the Nikit
and Eleanora Ordjanian Visiting Professor in the Department of Middle
Eastern, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University for
the Fall of 2014. She will be teaching a seminar style course entitled
Origins of Armenian Art: Creating An Identity beginning September 5,
according to the Armenian Reporter.

The course, which will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on
Fridays from 11:00 am to 12:50 pm, will use the objects in the
collections of the Metropolitan Museum’s Medieval Department to
explore how the Armenian people, at the levels of elite and popular
culture, used architecture, manuscript illumination, coins, stone
carvings, ceramics, textiles and other media to identify and position
themselves in relation to neighboring or dominating cultures. Focusing
on how to arrive at a definition of Armenian art and how to relate
Armenia to the larger cultural context of early and medieval periods
and later revivals, the course will also examine the reasons for
scholarly interest in a definition of Armenian art over the last
century.

The Visiting Professorship program, part of the Armenian Studies
Program in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African
Studies at Columbia, is made possible by an endowment established by
the late Dr. Nikit and Eleanora Ordjanian in 1998. Previous Ordjanian
Visiting Professors have included Levon Abrahamian, Vardan Azatyan,
Peter Balakian, Melissa Bilal, George Bournoutian, Seta Dadoyan,
Roberta Ervine, Helen Evans, Rachel Goshgarian, Arman Grigoryan,
Robert Hewsen, Armen Marsoobian, Ara Sarafian and Khachig Tololyan.

The Ordjanian Visiting Professorship is one of several programs of the
Armenian Center at Columbia, the organization that raised the initial
funds to establish a Chair of Armenian Studies at Columbia in 1979 and
which continues to provide funds for scholarships, library
acquisitions, academic publications, lectures, conferences and
symposia.

Construction on New Komitas Museum-Institute to be Completed by This Year

07.24.2014 14:05 epress.am

The Government of Armenia in its meeting today adopted a decision to
create a museum-institute dedicated to Komitas. The museum-institute
aims to collect, research, preserve, and raise awareness of the great
Armenian composer’s life, work, and creative heritage.

Komitas’ creative heritage and personal belongings today are in the
archives and repositories of various organizations — the Yeghishe
Charents Museum of Literature and Art and the Art Institute of the RA
National Academy of Sciences.

The museum-institute will be built at the site of the former Palace of
Culture in the park named after Komitas, the free use of which the
Armenian government provided to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund.
Construction costs are covered by Pyunik Human Resources Development
Foundation with the support of Syrian-Armenian benefactor Gabriel
Jemberjyan. The building’s architect is Artur Meschyan. Construction
of the Komitas Museum-Institute is set to be completed by the end of
this year.

KARABAGH
Cessez-le-feu : la guerre d’information fait rage malgré deux décennies de trêve

Au cours de la guerre du Karabagh et les 20 ans de cessez-le-feu qui
ont suivi la guerre de l’information a été un > constant
du conflit.

Angela Elibegova, un spécialiste des études azerbaïdjanaises basé à
Erevan, a dit que du côté des vainqueurs dans la guerre l’Arménie n’a
pas fait prêté d’attention à la confrontation d’information pendant
une longue période, cependant, quand l’Azerbaïdjan a commencé à faire
des distorsions intensivement de divers faits sur le conflit et la
guerre et les a diffusé l’Arménie a commencé à développer une large
gamme de mécanismes d’intervention à un niveau officiel.

Depuis 2009, un grand groupe de multi-spécialistes a commencé à
travailler en Arménie. Ils ont réussi à coordonner l’information sur
le conflit du Karabagh et les présenter à travers des livres, des
sites Web et des travaux scientifiques.

>, remarque Vrtanesyan.

Le président azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliyev dans ses discours publics
utilise souvent la rh̩torique militaire Рil dit g̩n̩ralement que t̫t
ou tard le Karabagh va revenir à l’Azerbaïdjan, il aime aussi
mentionner les indices de l’émigration de l’Arménie soulignant que
l’Azerbaïdjan est supérieure à l’Arménie à la fois par la population
et par ses ressources naturelles, ainsi ils pourront facilement
vaincre l’ Arménie. Les co-présidents du Groupe de Minsk de l’OSCE
portant sur le règlement pacifique du conflit du Karabagh dans toutes
leurs annonces n’encouragent pas à utiliser la rhétorique de la
guerre, soulignant que cela crée des tensions supplémentaires. Le
président arménien Serge Sarkissian est normalement plus réservé dans
ses déclarations et le plus souvent sur les scènes internationales, il
souligne le fait qu’Aliyev utilise la rhétorique belliqueuse, en
disant que le leader azéri prêche ouvertement la haine et l’animosité.

En Février lors de la réunion de l’Union des Volontaires Yerkrapah le
président Sarkissian se tourna vers l’Azerbaïdjan avec un discours
détaillé. Il a parlé des incidents limites, sur les victimes civiles
et militaires à la suite de violations du cessez-le-feu et a dit que >.

, explique Karen Vrtanesyan.

Elibegova souligne également que la rhétorique militaire d’Aliyev est
très efficace pour le public interne. > dit le spécialiste qui suit de près les
médias azerbaïdjanais.

Les experts considèrent qu’un grave problème dans la guerre
informationnelle entre l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan est le fait que les
médias arméniens reproduisent souvent des informations
azerbaïdjanaises fausses sans vérifier les faits, sans chercher à
recevoir des informations plus valables d’une troisième source.
Toutefois, Elibegova et Vrtanesyan disent que cette tendance était
plus répandue il y a quelques années, aujourd’hui les médias arméniens
sont plus prudents.

>.

Par Siranuysh Gevorgyan

ArmeniaNow

jeudi 24 juillet 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Zhoghovurd: Armenian authorities make U-turn on Azerbaijan’s accession to EaEU

10:01 * 24.07.14

Artak Zakaryan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations, Parliament of Armenia, told RFE/RL that Azerbaijan’s
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) would run counter to
Armenia’s interests.

“Azerbaijan’s accession to the EaEU would create much greater
difficulties in implementing our foreign policy,” he said.

Mr Zakaryan’s words are interesting in that just a few weeks ago,
Artashes Geghamyan, a member of the same Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) parliamentary group, stated in Baku that Azerbaijan’s accession
to the EaEU would be the right step, which would facilitate the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

One can easily guess that Me Geghamyan’s statement was “OK’d” by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. However, the ruling circles’
position on this fundamental has now made a U-turn. Moreover, this new
position on Azerbaijan’s possible accretion to the EaEU, in the
context of Russian-Azerbaijani arms deals, is obviously a follow-up to
the Armenian president’s “concern” over the deals.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Charles Aznavour to perform at the Theater at Madison Square Garden

13:02 24.07.2014

Charles Aznavour

The legendary French Armenian singer Charles Aznavour will perform a
farewell concert at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Saturday,
September 20, the Broadway World reports.

With a career spanning over 70 years, garnering over 100 million
records sold, 1200 songs, 80 movies, and 294 albums, Charles Aznavour
has recorded and performed in 7 languages, and is the longest standing
“A list” star, still filling major venues all over the world including
the O2 Arena in Berlin, Festhalle in Frankfurt, and the Royal Albert
Hall in London. Besides numerous prizes and awards in 1986, he was
inducted into the American Songwriters hall of Fame; and in 1998
Charles was named “Entertainer of the Century” by CNN/Time Online,
edging out Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Since 2009, he has been the
Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland, and is a permanent delegate to the
United Nations in Geneva.

Charles Aznavour’s songs have been recorded by many artists including
Elton John, Edith Piaf, Celine Dion, Fred Astaire, Sting, Ray Charles,
Bing Crosby, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Laura Pausini, Placido
Domingo, Sammy Davis Jr, Julio Iglesias, Nina Simone, Liza Minelli,
Petula Clark, Andrea Boccelli, Josh Groban, Paul Anka, Serge
Gainsbourg, Engelbert Humperdinck, Elvis Costello, Bryan Ferry, Andy
Williams, Dusty Springfield, Marc Almond to name just a few.

Besides being a singer, songwriter and actor, a public activist and a
diplomat, Charles founded the charity “Aznavour for Armenia” and has
raised many millions of dollars for this cause.

PayPal accounts can now be cashed in Armenia through Idram

18:39 23.07.2014

Liana Yeghiazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia

Armenian users can now cash their PayPal accounts or transfer the
money to Idram accounts, Head of Idarm’s Development Department Narek
Vardanyan told reporters today.

A specialized paypal.idram.am website has been launched, where users
can fill in their name, surname and passport data and later get their
cash from any of the 14 branches of IDram.

Director of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE)
Karen Vardanyan said, in turn, that the application of the new
mechanism in the PayPal system is especially important from the point
of view of making electronic commerce transactions. The sums on
different international electronic wallets can not be cashed without
any problem.

About 1,500 people in Armenia are working on-line today (translating,
providing psychological consultation, etc) , and before the
application of the new mechanism, getting the money for their services
was a problem, he said.