Author: nina hovnanian

AN ODE TO THE ARMENIAN APRICOT

EurasiaNet.org
July 25 2013

July 25, 2013 – 5:27pm

A this blog wrote about in a previous post, apricots hold a
particularly important place in Armenian life, both culturally and
economically. Writing for the wonderful Mashallah News website,
journalist Liana Aghajanian delves deeper into this story, producing
a beautiful ode to the apricot. From Aghajanian’s piece:

Indeed, there is not an apricot in the world that tastes like the
ones found in Armenia. It is more than just a piece of fruit – the
weight of a country and a diaspora’s national psyche, with equal
parts tragedy and nostalgia, rests on its shoulders.

Scattered across the world by the horrors of a genocide at the turn of
the 20th century, the Armenian Diaspora’s feet have always been on the
move, planted elsewhere by accident and circumstance, but constantly
pulled back by the heavy gravitational force of Armenia. As immigrants
in faraway lands struggling with a collective, passed down trauma and
relishing in the nostalgic notions of homeland – a place kept neatly
framed in scenic oil paintings hung on walls from Beirut to Boston,
there is an intense longing for home, a place to feel grounded and
whole in again, a place where an apricot can be so delicious, that
no other apricot found in any other corner of the world will do.

The feeling can only be described in words that have no direct
English translation. One of them is the Portuguese “Saudade”, a deeply
melancholic state for the absence of something or someone. The other
is a Welsh word, “Hiraeth”, defined by the University of Wales Trinity
Saint David as “homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the
lost or departed.”

Forever homesick, Armenians are always searching for that fulfillment
of home, for what was lost to be found.

After leaving Armenia, I, too, was searching. My quest for the perfect
apricot however, turned out to be fruitless.

The full story, which thankfully has a happy ending, can be found
here:

CBA HOLDS MEETING WITH DELEGATION FROM KARABAKH FOUNDATION

Economic News (Information Agency Oreanda)
July 23, 2013 Tuesday

Baku . OREANDA-NEWS . July 23, 2013. Executive Director of the Central
Bank Mr Agshin Valiyev held a meeting with the delegation led by Mrs
Diana C.Altman, Executive Director of the Karabakh Foundation.

Mrs Altman briefed the participants on activities of the Karabakh
Foundation, promotion of the Azerbaijani culture in the US and
contributions to development of economic and cultural ties between
the two countries.

A.Valiyev, CBA Executive Director detailed the delegation on the
Bank, including the philosophy and design concept of monetary units
in Azerbaijan.

Participants highlighted the worthy place of Azerbaijan among advanced
countries in terms of economic growth, as well as its recognition as
the country with rich culture.

Joel J.Forman, the member of the American Numismatic Association
informed the participants on the acticle on the numismatic history
of Azerbaijan published in the American Coin World journal he authored.

He articulated that Azerbaijan had been included to the American
Numismatic Association and delivered the relevant certificate to
the CBA.

Cooperation prospects between the Central Bank and the Karabakh
Foundation were also discussed at the meeting.

ARMENIA, GEORGIA, MOLDOVA MAY SIGN TRADE PACTS WITH EU NEXT YEAR – LITHUANIAN FORMIN

Baltic News Service / – BNS
July 23, 2013 Tuesday 7:16 AM EET

VILNIUS, Jul 23, BNS – Armenia, Georgia and Moldova may this year
initial and next year sign free trade agreements with the European
Union, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius says.

In his words, the initialing, or preliminary approval of a text, is
linked with the upcoming EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius
in November, and the signing could take place during the term of
the incumbent European Commission, which ends in the second half of
next year.

Georgia finalized talks on a free trade agreement on Monday. Moldova
did the same earlier, and Armenia hopes to finalize free trade talks
over the upcoming days.

“We can hope for the initialing of free trade agreements with Moldova,
Georgia and, perhaps, Armenia, by the start of the summit in Vilnius.

We would then seek the signature as soon as possible, and the best
thing would be to do this during the term of this European Commission,”
Linkevicius told BNS by phone from Brussels late on Monday.

The three above-mentioned countries as well as Azerbaijan, Belarus
and Ukraine are taking part in the EU Eastern Partnership program
aimed at bringing the eastern post-Soviet neighbors closer to the
EU. Ministers from the six countries discussed the program with EU
counterparts in Brussels on Monday.

As the Vilnius summit is approaching, major attention is being given
to Ukraine that hopes to sign a free trade and association agreement
during the meeting. By then, the West want Ukraine to prevent
“selective justice”, a term used to describe opposition persecution
and the imprisonment of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Lithuania is holding the presidency of the EU Council in the second
half of this year.

CATHERINE ASHTON AND STEFAN FULE: ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT WILL BRING ARMENIA CLOSER TO EU

July 25, 2013 | 20:32

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commisioner Å tefan Fule
labeled as “positive development” completion of the negotiations on
the future Association Agreement between the European Union and Armenia

“We are delighted to confirm the substantive completion of the
negotiations on the future Association Agreement between the
European Union and Armenia, including the establishment of a Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), on which negotiators reached
agreement in Yerevan yesterday,” they said in a statement.

“This is a very positive development, and we look forward to the
initialling of this Association

Agreement at the next Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius
on 29 November 2013, and to the subsequent signing of the Agreement
as soon as the technical procedures are completed.

The completion of these negotiations, launched in 2010, represents
a significant achievement for

both the European Union and Armenia. The Association Agreement will
allow the EU and Armeniato drive forward together a programme of
comprehensive modernization and reform based upon shared values,
political association and economic integration.

The Agreement will have a direct positive impact on daily life and
will bring Armenia and all its citizens closer to the European Union.

We express our appreciation to the negotiators on both sides for
reaching this excellent outcome.”

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIA JOINED REVISED KYOTO CONVENTION

[ Part 2.2: “Attached Text” ]

20:39, 25 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 25, ARMENPRESS: Armenia on July 19, 2013 joined revised
Kyoto convention. Armenpress” was informed about this from Information
and Public relations department of State Revenue Committee.

The International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of
Customs procedures (Kyoto Convention) entered into force in 1974 and
was revised and updated to ensure that it meets the current demands
of governments and international trade.

The WCO Council adopted the revised Kyoto Convention in June 1999
as the blueprint for modern and efficient Customs procedures in the
21st century. Once implemented widely, it will provide international
commerce with the predictability and efficiency that modern trade
requires.

In words of Armenian customs attache in European Union and World
Customs Union by joining the convention Armenia presents a bid
to integrate in world trade at the same time assuring the customs
procedures in our country are brought in compliance to international
standards which encourages the facilitation of trade.

The revised Kyoto Convention entered into force on February 3, 2006.

SEMI-CLOSED WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT ABOUT 70% OF FISHING FARMS, EXPERT SAYS

YEREVAN, July 25./ARKA/. The shift to semi-closed water recycling
system will make nearly 60-70% of fishing farms close up in Armenia,
said Artur Atoyan, Head of Association of Fish Farmers of Armenia,
on Thursday.

Armenian government instructed all fish farmers to shift to semi-closed
water recycling system within the next 1.5 years. Thus, 70% of water
can be used several times, and the consumption becomes more rational
and it cuts expenses. But the shift to such system requires new
expensive technologies, the price of which may vary between 700,000
to 1.5 million euros.

“By introducing this method, we will make a negative and forceful
interference into the business of fishers. Many of them will get
closer to bankruptcy as they are already heavily burdened by loan
commitments,” he said.

According to him, 57 out of 234 farms in Armenia have already closed
up due to severe competition and debts.

The new system will also require complete upgrade of the farms,
which will also cost a lot, he added.

Atoyan came up with a number of new proposals to avoid introducing
this system. He said some other water consuming systems with cheaper
technologies could be rolled out instead, and the responsible bodies
should stop issuing licenses for new fishing farms.

“These days our organization has addressed a letter to the president
and prime minister clarifying all these proposals,” he resumed.

The volume of fishing and fish farming rose by 27.8% in May 2013 from
a year earlier to 534.2 tons. ($1- 410.33 drams). -0- – See more at:

ARMENIAN PM : PROTESTERS IN YEREVAN SEEK TO ESTABLISH SOCIAL JUSTICE

YEREVAN, July 25./ARKA/

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan thinks that the activists
who are protesting against the increase of Yerevan public transport
fares seek to establish social justice and solidarity.

“The movement Yerevan is witnessing these days is spontaneous, it
is not coordinated by political parties. Of course, some parties are
already trying to take a chance, however the genuine reason for this
movement is an intention to establish social justice and solidarity,
and we understand that pretty well. A very strong civil society is
forming in Armenia at present, and we should not ignore it while
making decisions,” PM said at Thursday government session.

He noted the government prioritizes independence of local
administrations, which is one of the main principles of democracy.

“Of course, the City Hall is in charge of regulating transport fares,
but the government is obliged to keep this issue in the limelight,”
Sargsyan said and ordered to invite the civil structures to discussions
from now on prior to making decisions.

“Of course, this practice is not satisfactory yet since we usually
have discussions with a limited number of civil organizations which
represent the interests of just few people. We must organize bigger
hearings and discussions and invite more structures. There is a need
to fill this gap legislatively,” he said.

Sargsyan also underscored that the government and he personally had
been monitoring the situation carefully.

Starting from 20 July, Yerevan residents will have to pay 150 drams
(36.5 cents) for bus and minibus tickets instead of current 100 drams
(24.4 cents). The trolleybus fair will be 100 drams instead of current
50 drams, and metro fares are not subject to change (100 drams).

This raised a wave of discontent among the residents of the capital,
who have been protesting against the hikes. The main motto of the
protesters is “Won’t pay 150 drams.” Another campaign is called
Free Car. Famous showmen, politicians and journalists give a ride to
Yerevan residents for free.

The day before, ombudsman of Armenia Karen Andreasyan has sent a
message to Yerevan Mayor Taron Margarayan asking him to clarify the
issues related to public transport fare increase. He also said that
increase in public transport fares is possible only by the city
mayor’s decision and asked Margaryan to answer is it true that he
signed this decision and whether he made it public or not. Otherwise,
the decision is not valid. -0-

– See more at:

DOCUMENTARY ON ARMENIA’S ZVARTNOTS CATHEDRAL WINS NATIONAL FILM AWARD (VIDEO)

July 25, 2013 | 11:49

YEREVAN. – The “Awakening of Armenian Film Film Center” NGO Board
bestowed the National Film award upon filmmaker Lusine Gevorgyan’s
documentary entitled “Zvartnots.”

The award was given for revealing and publicizing in a new way the
secrets of Zvartnots Cathedral, the exclusive colossus of Armenian
architecture.

“Awakening of Armenian Film Film Center” NGO Director Armen Aharonyan
informed, however, that Gevorgyan is seriously ill and she does not
have the opportunity to receive treatment.

To note, the documentary attempts to shed light on the exclusive
codes which are put on the foundation of the cathedral, and from the
perspective of secret science. This unique monument of early medieval
Armenian architecture was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site
list on 1989.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ALEPPO’S IMPERIAL BARON IMPERILED BY BOMBS

Irish Times
July 20 2013

Tales of a travel addict
by Manchan Magan

Sat, Jul 20, 2013, 01:00

The bar of Hotel Baron in Aleppo was full of drop-in tourists wishing
they were staying there, while I wished I wasn’t. That was a decade
ago, but I remember the bites from the bedbugs whose ancestors may
well have bitten Charles de Gaulle and Rockefeller.

This hotel in Syria shared some of the allure of Raffles of Singapore
and Mena House Cairo, but not their luxury. Creaky iron beds, crumbling
ceilings and percussive plumbing are my memories. Yet, it attracted
a crowd curious to see where Agatha Christie began writing Murder on
the Orient Express, and where Lawrence of Arabia slept during breaks
from shaking up Arab discontent in the Middle East. The A-list of an
earlier age stayed here: Mountbatten, Lindbergh, Gagarin, Roosevelt,
showing how central Syria was in an era when a direct train line was
the equivalent of a Ryanair route now.

It’s sad to think of the Baron now surrounded by blockades, bomb
craters and rubble. I’ve read that its owner, Armen Mazloumian, is
sheltering from the grenades behind the grand French shutters. His
last guests came two years ago, exactly a century after his grandfather
opened it in 1911.

Neither rebel nor government forces have directly targeted the
building – both valuing its significance: the fact that it was from
here King Faisal declared Syrian independence in 1919, and where,
in 1915, thousands of Armenians were given shelter in its rooms from
the genocide in Turkey.

The Baron was always of barometer of Syria’s status. Mazloumian’s
grandad built it just before the planned arrival of the
Berlin-to-Baghdad railway, which they felt would put Aleppo on the
international map again, as it had been in the Silk Route era. The
hotel thrived as Syria flowered in the mid-20th century, becoming a
centre of international trade, spying and archaeological excavation.

TE Lawrence was there under the guise of being an archaeologist,
while actually spying ,and Agatha Christie’s husband Max Mallowan
was a genuine archaeologist, suspected of spying.

Aleppo has a cosmopolitan feel – at least it did until the recent
exodus. A certain French sensibility lingers from its occupation
by France in the interwar years, Russian investors then flooded in,
and the Armenian Christian influence is most potent of all, having
absorbed large influxes of Armenians fleeing Turkey in the 1920s and
Lebanon in the 1980s. New boutique hotels in 17th century Armenian
homes now attract the type of tourist who used to frequent the Baron.

Their fountained courtyards and jasmine walls photograph well in
magazines.

Previously accommodation was in enclosed Medieval courtyard inns with
warehouses and stables below (where traders and travellers could
protect their goods and animals at night). Aleppo’s great gift was
that these old buildings had survived so long; it’s great tragedy is
that they are being destroyed so quickly by bombing.

CAN A WOMAN’S ROBE UNDERMINE ARMENIA STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH RUSSIA?

ValueWalk
July 24 2013

July 24, 2013
By EurasiaNet

At first glance, the connection between a fatal July 13 traffic
accident outside Moscow and Armenia’s strategic partnership with
Russia may not be obvious. But, to many Armenians, a link exists, and
it comes in the form of a woman’s yellow-and-pink flowered bathrobe.

Armenia

The robe, worn in court by 46-year-old Armenian truck driver, Hrachya
Harutiunian, who is charged with causing the crash that killed 18
people and injured 30, has sparked a massive outpouring of anger
in Armenia at what is seen as a deliberate humiliation by Russia,
long touted as the country’s “closest friend.”

Russian officials claimed that Harutiunian was dressed in the robe
(and bedroom slippers) only because his own clothes had been ruined
in the crash. But the explanation fell on largely deaf ears.

With his head buried in his hands, the weeping Harutiunian, a veteran
of the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, quickly became a symbol
of other alleged recent affronts by Russia – in particular, Moscow’s
$1 billion arms deal with diehard Armenian foe, Azerbaijan. Photos of
the bedraggled Harutiunian and a video report by Russia’s state-run
RTR TV that described him as a “mooing Armenian murderer” fueled
protests on July 16 and 17 outside the Russian embassy in Yerevan
and consulate in the northwestern town of Gyumri.

In Armenia, as elsewhere in the South Caucasus, perceived public
affronts to a man’s dignity can quickly spell trouble. A response to
defend that dignity is considered obligatory. In this case, though,
protesters and others saw the “humiliating, belittling” insult
as directed not only toward the Armenian defendant, but Armenians
in general.

Discontent has been growing for months against Russia for supposedly
not treating Armenia as an equal, and, in this macho, conservative
society, the sight of an Armenian veteran dressed in a woman’s robe
proved the last straw for many.

The anger with Moscow began brewing in Armenian political circles last
month, when it became known that Russia, which holds a 49-year lease
on an army base in Gyumri, had sold $1 billion worth of armaments
to Azerbaijan, including 18 powerful BM-30 Smersh multiple-rocket
launchers.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev characterized
the deal as “purely commercial,” but some Armenian analysts call it
purely treacherous. “This is an important expression of Russia’s
cynical policy, demonstrating . . . that the complementary policy
[of building close ties with both Russia and the West] is no longer
acceptable” to the Kremlin, commented Stepan Grigorian, director of
Yerevan’s Analytical Center of Globalization and Regional Cooperation.

Armenian-Russian relations undergo periodic strains, but the publicity
about the arms deal with Azerbaijan appeared “a deliberate calculation
to let Armenia know that it should no longer rely on them,” argued
political analyst Aghasi Yenokian, director of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies.

Analysts link that alleged shift in attitude to Armenia’s pending
Association Agreement with the European Union, scheduled for signature
this fall. Yerevan has dodged joining the Russia-led Eurasian Customs
Union, a sort of post-Soviet alternative to the EU, and Moscow has
not hidden its irritation. On July 11, Konstantin Zatulin, director
of the Commonwealth of Independent States Institute, warned that
“Yerevan should not forget that Russia is Armenia’s security guarantee,
not the European Union.”

But many Armenians would like to forget just that. Russia’s hold on
Armenia’s economy – via energy, railway, telecommunications and as a
market for Armenian labor migrants – doubles as a noose, some say. The
recent increase in prices for Russian gas, on which Armenia depends,
and subsequent protests over higher transportation fares in Yerevan,
only underlined that dependence.

Against that backdrop, Russia’s behavior toward Harutiunian and
offhand attitude toward arms sales to Azerbaijan have delivered
the message that “‘I own you and will do whatever I want to,” argued
parliamentarian Lyudmila Sarksian, a member of the opposition Armenian
National Congress faction.

Opposition leader Raffi Hovhannisian, the former presidential
candidate, agrees. “If Russia, our strategic partner, is supplying
a billion dollars’ worth of weaponry to a country that wants to
erase Armenia and Karabakh from the world map, what kind of strategic
partnership is that?” he asked reporters on July 17. The treatment of
truck driver Harutiunian should serve as a further “alert,” he added.

Sociologist Aharon Adibekian, head of the Sociometer Research Center,
believes, though, that, ultimately, the truck-driver scandal will
have only a “temporary” impact on ties between Armenia and Russia.

“There have been similar cases when passions flared up, but public
revolts such as this do not have a tangible impact on global politics,”
Adibekian said. “This is a merely emotional upheaval, and public
memory is short.”

Hovhannes Sahakian, secretary of the ruling Republican Party
of Armenia’s parliamentary faction, concurs. The outcry over
Haruitiunian’s court appearance “has such a resonance just because
its timing coincided with the arms deal with Azerbaijan, but they
shouldn’t be connected to each other”

Nonetheless, sensing themselves on the defensive for Armenia’s policies
toward Russia, pro-government politicians such as Parliamentary
Speaker Hovik Abrahamian have condemned the treatment of Harutiunian
as “unacceptable and inhumane” and called for those responsible to
be held accountable.

Statements by the Russian embassy in Yerevan and Ministry of Foreign
Affairs indicate, however, that Moscow sees Armenians’ anger more as
an attempt “by certain people” to try and “manipulate the tragedy”
of the traffic accident and “ignite anti-Russian passions.”

Some Armenian observers have echoed those allegations, claiming that
either “certain Western elements” or Russia itself, in a supposed
bid “to get rid of their commitments to Armenia,” stand behind the
protests and criticism.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has stressed that
investigation of the accident will be fair. Harutiunian, who faces
seven years in prison, currently is undergoing psychiatric treatment
in Moscow.

Editor’s note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter and editor
in Yerevan.