Author: Parkev Tvankchian

 

 

 

Masha and Misha – the two bears from the Gyumri Zoo will be moved to Romania with the help of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. The bears had been at the Yerevan Zoo from January 22 for treatment and rehabilitation. The three lions are now at the Urtsadzor rehabilitation center.

President of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC) Ruben Khachatryan says the condition of the lions is satisfactory.

The noise around the Gyumri Zoo has brought forward the issue of animal welfare in Armenia. A task force has been established to develop amendments to the government decision on the rules of the content of wild animals, and animals included in the Armenian Red Book in captivity and semi-free conditions, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection Khachik Hakobyan told reporters today.

“The legal regulations and the government support are important, but not enough for solving the issue,” said Elodie Jerome of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. According to her, such issues are nearly “unsolvable” without public support and active participation of the civil society.

“Armenia: The Spirit of Ararat” exhibition opened at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens on the eve. The opening ceremony was attended by the Presidents of Armenia and Greece, Serzh Sargsyan and Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

More than 100 items on display present Armenia – from Bronze Age to the 20^th century. The artifacts are unique findings excavated exceptionally from the current territory of the Republic of Armenia, high-value samples of architecture and sculpture, unique items used for worship and ritual, as well as manuscripts and examples of applied art from different historical- ethnographical periods.

The exhibition consists of three parts – “The Fascination and Power of Armenian Civilization,” “Armenia in a changing world,” and “Appeal to posterity” (dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.”

On a working visit to Switzerland, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the developing relations between the two countries, which, he said,  further the continuous high-level dialogue.

Didier Burkhalter noted, in turn, that Switzerland attaches importance to the deepening of relations with friendly Armenia.

The interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation. Reference was made to commercial-economic, cultural, inter-parliamentary ties and deepening of cooperation within te framework of international organizations.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Switzerland discussed urgent regional and international issues. They voiced hope that the Russian-American agreement on Syria truce would pave the way for th establishment of peace and stability in Syria.

Minister Nalbandian briefed his Swiss counterpart on the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

At the end of the meeting Edward Nalbandian and Didier Burkhalter signed an agreement on visa facilitation between the Republic of Armenia and the Swiss Confederation.

February 25, 2015 marks the 151st birthday of Andranik Ozanian (Zoravar Andranik), Armenian military commander and statesman, key figure of the Armenian national liberation movement.

He became active in an armed struggle against the Ottoman government and Kurdish irregulars in the late 1880s. He joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktustyun) party and, along with other fedayi (irregular soldiers), sought to defend the Armenian peasantry living in their ancestral homeland, an area known as or Western Armenia—at the time part of the Ottoman Empire.

His revolutionary activities ceased and he left the Ottoman Empire after the unsuccessful uprising in Sasun in 1904. In 1907, Andranik left Dashnaktustyun because he disapproved of its cooperation with the Young Turks, a party which years later perpetrated the Armenian Genocide. In 1912–1913, together with Garegin Nzhdeh, Andranik led few hundred Armenian volunteers within the Bulgarian army against the Ottomans during the First Balkan War.

Since the early stages of World War I, Andranik commanded the first Armenian volunteer battalion and led them within the Russian Imperial army against the Ottoman army. After the Revolution of 1917, the Russian army retreated and left the Armenian irregulars outnumbered against the Turks. Andranik led the defense of Erzurumin early 1918, but was forced to retreat eastward. By May 1918, Turkish forces stood near Yerevan—the future Armenian capital.

The Armenian National Council declared the independence of Armenia and signed the Treaty of Batum with the Ottoman Empire, by which Armenia gave up its rights to Western Armenia. Andranik never accepted the existence of the First Republic of Armenia because it included only a small part of the area many Armenians hoped to make independent. Andranik, independently from the Republic of Armenia, fought in Zangezur against the Azerbaijani and Turkish armies and helped to keep it within Armenia.

Andranik left Armenia in 1919 due to disagreements with the Armenian government and spent his last years of life in Europe and the United States seeking relief for Armenian refugees. He settled in Fresno, California in 1922 and died five years later in 1927. Andranik is greatly admired as a national hero by Armenians; numerous statues of him have been erected in several countries. Streets and squares were named after Andranik, and songs, poems and novels have been written about him, making him a legendary figure in Armenian culture.

Andranik died from angina on 31 August 1927 at Richardson Springs, California. Andranik’s remains were originally planned to be buried in Armenia; however, the Soviet authorities refused entry.He was first buried at Ararat Cemetery in Fresno, and his remains were moved to France and buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris on 29 January 1928.In early 2000, the Armenian and French governments arranged the transfer of Andranik’s body from Paris to Yerevan.

The Azerbaijani side used weapons of different caliber as it fired more than 700 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions last night.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army confidently continue with their military duty and resort to retaliatory measures if necessary, the NKR Ministry of Defense said.

World renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler’s documentary film, “The Eye of Istanbul,” has become a finalist at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival, the  reports.

Produced by Ümran Safter, the documentary will premiere in the U.S. and Greece in March. Recently, the documentary was also chosen as a finalist at the Washington Film Festival.

The “Eye of Istanbul” tells the story of Güler in conjunction with the preparatory stages of a retrospective exhibition of his in Istanbul. The documentary follows a non-linear narrative and explores the artistic process and the impulses that lead to his works of art. Güler’s curiosity, resourcefulness and fearlessness – all of which play a part in making him who he is – are showcased through a series of stories in the film.

The core team members behind the film are co-directors Fatih Kaymak and Binnur Karaevli, Director of Photography Zafer Bir, Script Writer Ahsen Diner, Editor Engin Yıldız, Composer Derya Türkan and Project Consultant Nezih Tavlas.

 

 

 

Germany has assumed the chairmanship of the OSCE. The Head of the OSCE Office in Armenia, Ambassador Andrei Sorokin and German Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Matthias Kisler met with reporters today to present the priorities of the German presidency.

Ambassador Kisler said the resolution of conflicts will be a priority for the German presidency. Referring to the Karabakh conflict, he said “Germany is convinced the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group is the only forum for organizing the dialogue between the conflicting parties.”

The German Ambassador expressed his concern over the situation at the line of contact, especially the use of heavy weapons, which results in casualties.

“Germany closely cooperates and fully supports the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ initiative to create a mechanism of investigation of border incidents,” he said. “Germany is aware of the importance of the mechanism for both parties and wants the sides to agree to its implementation,” Amb. Kisler stressed.

Andrei Sorokin, in turn, reminded that the issue was discussed during Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Germany. The Ambassador refuted the rumors about Germany’s intention to replace France as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Without going into details about the two anti-Armenian reports debated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe yesterday, Matthias Kisler said “the Minsk Group is the only forum for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, other movements and forums are unacceptable.”

The Head of the OSCE Office in Armenia said “the two reports were obviously very unpleasant and anti-Armenian.” According to him, the fact that the more important of the two was rejected can be seen as a victory.

“I think PACE is following some policy line, which ignored all principles, including the basic principles of the OSCE,” he said.

“There are no restrictions, when it comes to the development of Tehran’s relations with Yerevan. Armenia and Iran have always enjoyed good-neighborly relations,” Iran’s First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said at a meeting with visiting Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Gagik Beglaryan.

“The lifting of sanctions opens up new perspectives for the development of banking cooperation between the two countries and raise the level of bilateral relations to a new level,” Eshaq Jahangiri said.

Touching upon the joint projects in the transport sector, Gagik Beglaryan noted that “Armenia is willing to use the capacities of the Iranian companies and contractors, considering their huge experience in the implementation of such projects.”

Photo: AFP

 

Dozens of people have died in an offensive by so-called Islamic State on government-held areas of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria, local media say, the BBC reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 85 civilians were killed in the attack, as well as 50 Syrian soldiers.

Syria’s state news agency Sana reported that around 300 civilians had died in the Baghaliyeh area of the city.

Meanwhile, the UN warned of “sharply deteriorating conditions” in the besieged areas.

Around 200,000 people were in these areas, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

NKR President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree on awarding posthumously private of NKR Defense Army’s N division Aramayis Voskanyan with the “For Service in Battle” medal for bravery shown during the defense of the NKR state border.

Aramayis Voskanyan, born in 1996, was killed in Azeri firing in one of the military units located in the eastern direction of the line of contact on January 9.