Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Azerbaijani Press: Baku: Armenian FM only harms Karabakh conflict settlement

Tambiyan Samvel
Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 18 2017
19:05 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18

By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:

During his tenure as Armenian foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian has done nothing other than harming the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend.

He was commenting on Nalbandian’s recent anti-Azerbaijan statements.

“From the first day of joining the negotiation process, that person [Nalbandian] felt incompetent and uninvolved. That person distinguished himself only by tautological, baseless and senseless accusations,” Hajiyev said.

He noted that the Armenian FM has no moral right to make any claims regarding the conflict settlement, while Armenia, as part of its aggressive and occupation policy against Azerbaijan, committed bloody ethnic cleansing against more than a million of Azerbaijanis, including such crime against humanity as the Khojaly genocide.

“We would like to remind to the Armenian foreign minister that the Khojaly tragedy was committed with the direct participation of the current political and military leadership of Armenia,” said Hajiyev.

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.

Film: Win A Blu-Ray Copy Of The Promise Starring Christian Bale

Tambiyan Samvel
Filmoria , UK
Sept 3 2017


3rd September 2017 James Thompson      

Academy Award® Director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) brings us an epic story of courage and resistance with The Promise.
Starring award winning actors Christian…

Academy Award® Director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) brings us an epic story of courage and resistance with The Promise. Starring award winning actors Christian Bale (The Fighter, The Dark Knight) and Oscar Issac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), The Promise is based on actual events that took place during the Armenian Genocide during the onset of  the First World War. It arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on 4th September and on Digital Download from 29th August, courtesy of Entertainment One.

To celebrate its release, we are giving away 3 Blu-Ray copies of the film. All you have to do to enter is fill out the form below. Good luck!

Music: Pan-Armenian Symphony Orchestra to perform at Gramophone Awards 2017 in London

Tambiyan Samvel
Public radio of Armenia
Aug 30 2017
16:23, 30 Aug 2017

The newly-formed Pan-Armenian Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2017, widely regarded as the Oscars of the classical music world. Performing under their conductor Sergey Smbatyan, the Orchestra will join some of the biggest names in classical music as Gramophone Award winners past and present take to the stage to celebrate the 40th anniversary of these prestigious awards, which celebrate the very best of the last year of classical music.

Several high profile guests from Armenia are also expected to join the celebrations.

For the second year running, the ceremony will be live-streamed on medici.tv, so classical music lovers from all around the globe will have the opportunity to watch all of the performances, acceptance speeches, and glamour of the night unfold. Many tens of thousands of people are expected to watch.

The Pan-Armenian Symphony Orchestra is comprised of Armenian musicians from all around the world, and players are drawn from other high-profile orchestras such as the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of France. Their conductor for the Gramophone Awards performance, Sergey Smbatyan, is not only the Founder, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia, but is also an ‘Honoured Artist of the Republic of Armenia’.

The glittering event on September 13, which for the first time takes place in the stunning venue of 8 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2, honours the most outstanding recordings of the previous year in 12 categories, with one of these named as Recording of the Year on the night. Other awards announced at the event include an Artist of the Year (voted for by Gramophone’s readers), a Young Artist of the Year, a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Label of the Year.

The shortlist of nominated recordings can be found here, and the winners of each category will be announced on September 1.

James Jolly, Gramophone’s Editor-in-Chief, says: “We’re delighted to be joined once again by an orchestra for the Awards. Drawing on some of the finest Armenian orchestral musicians from ensembles all around the world, the Pan-Armenian SO will add a truly international dimension to the event. And we also look forward to some Armenian orchestral music during the course of the evening played by people who clearly respond to its magic.”

Entertainment: French music icon Charles Aznavour gets star on Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’

Tambiyan Samvel
France 24

Aug 24 2017

     

     

     

     

© Frederic J. Brown, AFP | Charles Aznavour (C) received the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for live performance on August 24.

Latest update : 2017-08-24

With a career spanning eight decades, the crooner has recorded 1,400 songs — 1,300 of which he wrote — and has produced over 390 albums in multiple languages.

Born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian immigrants on May 22, 1924, he has sold more than 100 million records.

"Above all, I did it with love and dedication and for the pleasure for my audience," he says on his website.

Aznavour's parents fled the Turkish-ruled Ottoman empire to escape the massacres then being committed against their compatriots and landed in Paris, where they were waiting for a visa to head to the United States.

When the visa never materialized they ended up making their home in France, producing shows which Aznavour and his sister would take part in from a very young age.

He said he always saw himself "more as an actor who sings than a singer who acts" in an interview with BBC radio.

Aznavour left school early — and said he was always uncomfortable about his lack of higher education — but after World War II he teamed up with fellow French icon Edith Piaf, who took him to America and a solo career.

As her manager and songwriter, Aznavour lived with Piaf for eight years, once remarking he saw many of her lovers come and go but he was not one of them as "she was not my type."

Either way, Piaf's endless badgering for Aznavour to get a nose job eventually paid off.

"As for criticism, I have heard it all: They said I was ugly, short, that the ill should not be allowed to sing," he once told AFP in an interview.

"I had an exemplary career I never could have dreamed of."

(AFP)


Chess: Sinquefield Cup 2017: Levon Aronian crushes Wesley So

Tambiyan Samvel
Panorama, Armenia
Aug 9 2017

Sinquefield Cup 2017: Levon Aronian crushes Wesley So

The games of the sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup being held at Saint Louis, United State, resumed on Tuesday, where Armenian GM Levon Aronian defeated Wesley So of the Uited States, the National Olympic Committee of Armenia reported.

After six rounds, Aronian shares the 2-4 places with 3.5 points. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave leads the tournament with 4 points. In the seventh round of the tournament Aronian will face Hikaru Nakamura.

Tank Biathlon 2017: Armenian tank crewmen capture 3rd place

Tambiyan Samvel 
Armenpress News Agency, Armenia
August 4, 2017 Friday


Tank Biathlon 2017: Armenian tank crewmen capture 3rd place



YEREVAN, AUGUST 4, ARMENPRESS. The tank crewmen of the Armenian Armed
Forcesparticipated in the 1st stage of the Tank Biathlon 2017 which is
being held within the frames of the International Army Games in
Russia, reports Armenpress.

The Armenian crewmen completed the race in 32 minutes 12 seconds and
captured the 3rd place.

The Armenian crew consisted of 19-year-old soldiers Harutyun Davtyan,
Artur Grigoryan and Hayk Grigoryan.

Armenian tankers competed with crewmen of India (1st place), Venezuela
(2nd place) and Nicaragua (4th place).

Book: ‘The Sandcastle Girls’ tops 206 titles to become the 2017 One Book, One San Diego selection

Tambiyan Samvel
The San Diego Union-Tribune

Aug 6 2017


Linda Ball

KPBS today announced the 2017 One Book, One San Diego book selection, “The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian, the critically acclaimed novelist whose books frequently make the New York Times best-seller list.

“I am deeply honored by the selection,” Bohjalian said. “San Diego is a wonderful reading community. I’ve made appearances there off and on over the years, and I’ve always been dazzled by the bookstores and the libraries and the readers.”

One Book, One San Diego is a community-wide reading program in its 11th season and includes more than 20 community partners. Started in 2006 by KPBS, along with the San Diego Public Library, the program encourages everyone in the region to read and discuss the same book.

Bohjalian will speak here on Sept. 12 and 13, the first of many One Book events held by KPBS and community partners that will run through December. KPBS will give away 100 copies of Bohjalian’s book at the inaugural San Diego Festival of Books, organized by The San Diego Union-Tribune in partnership with KPBS, at Liberty Station on Aug. 26. In addition, KPBS will announce the One Book for Kids, One Book for Teens and One Book Sin Fronteras selections at the festival.
Bohjalian’s novel, a multi-generational tale that spans nearly 100 years, is initially set in Syria during World War I and focuses on the Armenian Genocide.

“These days it is very important for me to tell people that I am the grandson of two Middle Eastern immigrants,” Bohjalian said. “We are a nation of refugees and immigrants. The novel is set in Aleppo — yes, that Aleppo that has broken all of our hearts the last five years — and the city as it appears in the novel exists now only in romance and memory.”

The all-volunteer One Book Advisory Committee, comprised of literary experts, discussed the merits of 206 titles submitted by the public before choosing “The Sandcastle Girls.”

“It’s important to the committee that we choose a book of high literary quality that’s prime for discussions by all types of readers,” said One Book, One San Diego Program Manager Clare Pister. “This book is just right. It’s beautifully written and makes an important, rarely told piece of history accessible to a modern audience.”

Marc Chery, supervisor of humanities section at San Diego’s Central Library, said there are plenty of benefits to community reading.

“You’re taking part in a shared and privileged conversation with the author and with each other as readers,” he said.

KPBS General Manager Tom Karlo said that One Book is one of his favorite KPBS community engagement events.

“To have the opportunity to partner with The San Diego Union-Tribune, as they bring a book festival to San Diego, will help our effort to encourage more reading. We’re very excited about this opportunity and we’re looking forward to a partnership that will last many years.”

Linda Ball is a KPBS staff member.

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That is a loaded question because so many of my friends are writers and I never want to hurt their feelings. So I am going to rephrase the question and share with you the last great book I read by a writer I have never met. In fact, I will offer you two books. I absolutely loved “Fates and Furies” by Lauren Groff. And I was mesmerized by every word of “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles.

My first edition of “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” by Franz Werfe. It was a gift from my lovely bride.

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“The Coyote’s Bicycle” by Kimball Taylor

“Barbarian Days” by William Finnegan

“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi

“When the Moon is Low” by Nadia Hashimi

“Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic” by Sam Quinones

“The Mothers” by Britt Benett

“News of the World” by Paulette Jiles

“The Queen of Katwe” by Tim Crothers

2016: “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire

2015: “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

2014: “Monstress” by Lysley Tenorio

2013: “Caleb’s Crossing” by Geraldine Brooks

2012: “Into the Beautiful North” by Luis Alberto Urrea, “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert, “Sky of Red Poppies” by Zohreh Ghahremani

2011: “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” by lê thi diem thúy

2010: “Outcasts United” by Warren St. John

2009: “The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman

2008: “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson

2007: “Enrique’s Journey” by Sonia Nazario

2015: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by William Joyce, “It’s a Little Book” by Lane Smith

2014: “Cora Cooks Pancit” by Dorina Lazo Gilmore

2013: “Jingle Dancer” by Cynthia Leitich Smith

2012: “Armando and the Blue Tarp School” by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, “The Secret Message” by Mina Javaherbin

2015: “The Dumbest Idea Ever!” by Jimmy Gownley

2014: “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang

US sanctions against Russia will ‘hamper’ Armenia’s economy

Tambiyan Samvel
Aravot, Armenia

The US Senate has decided to impose economic sanctions against Russia. How will those affect Armenia, since Russian is one of the main partners of Armenia, and a member of the EAEU? Answering the journalists’ question, politician Stepan Grigoryan said, that formally, the restrictions are not against the EAEU, but if Russia’s economy is going to further regress, as most of the restrictions refer to not providing new technologies to Russia, of course, it will also affect the economy of Armenia.

The politician draws attention to the fact that the EU is against the US sanctions on Russia too, particularly Germany, as the restriction on technology transfer to Russia will directly affect the German economy.

“I’m not a specialist, to tell in detail what impact this will have on the Armenian economy, but we cannot trade freely with Iran, Georgia and the EU, as we are a member of the EAEU, so these products will be taxed”, said the politician.

In response to the question of Aravot.am: the EU agreement is scheduled to be signed in November. The Armenian authorities, like in 2013, promise that the agreement will be signed, it’s clear that Russia will not “sit in idleness”, what developments are expected? Stepan Grigoryan noticed, that, first, the new framework agreement does not hinder the commitments undertaken within the EAEU, then, if Armenia for the second time withdraws from its commitment and does not sign its initial agreement, it will seriously spoil the image of the country.

Nelly GRIGORYAN


The investigation finds out the causes of the death of a soldier-conscript

Tambiyan Samvel
ArmInfo, Armenia

ArmInfo.A criminal case was opened in the fourth garrison investigation department of the Armenian Armed Forces of Armenia to clarify the circumstances of the death of the  junior sergeant, military serviceman Vardan Melkonyan.

As reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee of  Armenia, a criminal case has been instituted on part 1, article 110  (bringing a person to suicide by threats, cruel treatment or  systematic humiliation of personal dignity, committed with indirect  intent or negligence). "An investigative plan has been developed, the  necessary investigative, procedural and other actions are being  carried out to establish the circumstances of the death of a  serviceman. The forensic medical examination was appointed," the  ministry said.

To recall, on July 23 at about 06.30, near one of the military units  discovered the body of junior sergeant Vardan Melkonyan, born in  1998, who left the unit on his own. The Melkonyan was found hanged.