Author: Torgomian Varazdat

Ukraine has banned a Russian singer from entering the country to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest, Reuters reports.

Russian singer and composer Yuliya Samoilova has been barred from entering the country for the next three years, over a past performance in  Crimea.

“The Security Service of Ukraine has banned Yuliya Samoilova from entry for three years,” Ukrainian security services (SBU) said on Wednesday.

The SBU has blacklisted at least 140 other Russian artists.

Ukraine is due to host the Eurovision Song Contest in its capital Kiev, in May.

Istanbul Governor claims election of the Armenian Patriarch Locum Tenens is illegal.

On March 15, the Clerical Assembly in Istanbul elected Karekin Bekdjian, Primate of the German Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church as Locum Tenens (Patriarchal alternate) reported Istanbul-based Agos news.

Following the election, a notice was handed out by Archbishop Aram Ateshian to the Clerical Assembly that stated that it was illegal to start the election process, according to Agos. The notice was from the Governor’s office to the press and was signed by Deputy Governor Aziz Mercan.

“Considering the unfavorable developments that took place during the meeting on February 16 at the patriarchate, it is determined that starting the election process is legally impossible given the facts that this process might cause disturbance and divisions in the society, that there is already an incumbent vicar and that your society knows the basic proceedings and practices concerning the patriarchal election,” read a part of the statement.

In a response, Bekdjian stated that a group including Ateshian and Mashalian will go to the Istsanbul Governor’s office to explain the situation.

“In this planned meeting, our party will explain the logic of election of the Locum Tenens,” read Bekdjian’s statement. “Then an announcement will be made within the next couple of days.” Bekdjian added that he will not be attending the meeting.

The election of the Locum Tenens is being considered the first step of the Patriarchal elections. The Locum Tenens is responsible for managing the election process as planned.

Thirty members from the Clerical Assembly participated in the elections.

Initially, General Vicar of the Patriarch Aram Ateshian, Bishop Sahag Mashalian, and Armenian Primate of Germany Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian were named as candidates. However, prior to the election, Mashalian withdrew and declared his support for Bekdjian.

Ateshian will now step down as General Vicar.

The Clerical Assembly is expected to form a commission comprising of clergymen and secular figures to organize the transfer of power from the General Vicar to the Locum Tenens in the coming days.

The elections of this initiative group will be organized within 10 days after the election of the Locum Tenens. The group will then organize elections for the Patriarch of Istanbul within a six-month period.

—The Armenian youth in Argentina held a demonstration during the afternoon of Friday, March 3 in front of the Azerbaijani embassy on the 29th anniversary of the Armenian pogroms in the Azerbaijani cities of Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad.

“The authoritarian regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spends millions of petrodollars on events and publicity to wash away the image of his corrupt government while keeping the civilian population in extreme poverty and harassing and persecuting journalism and opposition,” said Brenda Kechiyan, member of Armenian Youth Federation of South America in her speech. A large number of members of the Armenian community came to support the demonstration, with a strong presence of Homenetmen scouts.

“As opposed to a dictatorial regime that oppresses its population, which censures the press and systematically denies the Armenian Genocide along with Turkey, is the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, which in September 2016 celebrated 25 years of independence, democracy, of elected governments at the polls that work day by day to improve the quality of life of their people,” added Kechiyan, who then demanded freedom of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin.

“This is why today we call the international community, but above all the Argentine authorities, to recognize the self-determination of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh as a free and independent State, and to condemn denialism in all its forms.”

NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will meet with the President of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Serzh Sargsyan on Monday, 27 February 2017, NATO’s Press Service reports.

The NATO Secretary General and the President of the Republic of Armenia will give a joint press conference at NATO Headquarters.

Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has announced the jury of Aurora Creative Contest launched on January, 2017. The jury comprised of artists and art professionals in Armenia will select the best artworks presented by children aged 7-14.

Aurora Creative Contest Jury has 6 members chaired by animator Gayane Martirosyan.

“This contest is a good opportunity for people and especially for children to gather around the idea of humanism. It is very important that Aurora invites everyone to take part in this contest regardless where they live. I believe that the artworks will brighter illustrate what humanism is because children better perceive the world than we do,” said Gayane Martirosyan.

The other members of Jury are Marine Ales, composer, member of the Aurora Prize Creative Council; Eleonora Malkhasyan, journalist and theatric critic, manager of cultural projects at IDeA Foundation; Tigran Matulyan, artist; Arev Petrosyan, artist; and Hrant Vardanyan, film director. The detailed bios of the jury members are presented below.

The results of the contest will be announced in April 2017. The authors of the best three entries will be awarded by Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the best five will have a unique opportunity to attend the Aurora Prize Award Ceremony on May 28, 2017, in Yerevan, Armenia. The deadline to submit the entries is March 31, 2017.

Contest Jury

Gayane Martirosyan – Gayane Martirosyan is animation film director. She is a professor at the Yerevan State Institute Theatre and Cinema leading the class of animation film directing. Gayane Martirosyan is the founder of massive animation at HayFilm studio. She is the author of a number of animations including The secrets of Dragon Carpets series (2008-2013), Three bells (2002), The War in our Street (1989) among others. She is a laureate of various national and international awards.

Marine Ales – Marine Ales is a composer and theatre critic. She is the author of 300 songs in Armenian and Russian. Her songs were released in 5 albums: I’ll Leave You (1999), My Poplars (2001), Thoughts (2003), With and Without You (2007), Barefoot in the Sky (2010). She was jury member of the 2016 Golden Apricot International Film Festival. Marine Ales is co-founder of Gift of Life Foundation. She is the laureate of numerous awards for life-time achievements. In 2010, Marine Ales published the collection of her poetry Shards. Marine Ales is the member of the Aurora Prize Creative Council.

Eleonora Malkhasian – Eleonora Malkhasian is a journalist and theatre critic. She is the manager of cultural projects of the Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) Foundation. Eleonora Malkhasian has worked for many cultural journals including Muse journal published in Los Angeles, CA. She taught History of Art and Theatre in various art universities and institutions in Armenia. Eleonora is the co-author of Museums of Armenia book published in 2002.

Tigran Matulyan – Tigran Matulyan is contemporary artist. He is a member of Artist Union of Armenia. His works were exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions around the world. Matulyan’s artworks are part of the collection and permanent exhibition of the Armenian Museum of Contemporary Art, Arame Art Gallery, Armenian National Gallery, Khrimian Museum of the Holy See Echmiadzin, The Museum of the History of Yerevan. He holds the title of Honorable artist of Armenia.

Arev Petrosyan – Arev Petrosyan is the founder of Arev Art Gallery in Armenia. Arev is the author of the stained glass picture The Power of Unity put on display in the Assembly Hall of Coucil of Europe. She was presented in many national and international art exhibitions and galleries. She has designed TV studios for various TV shows. The artist is also known for her charity and social activities aimed at the solution problems and healthcare issues of socially vulnerable people, namely the poor, orphans, the elderly, women and children with disabilities.

Hrant Vardanyan – Hrant Vardanyan is a film director. He made his first short “Silence” in 1995. Since then Hrant Vardanyan has made a number of short and feature films. He directed music videos for well-known Armenian musicians. In 2011 Hrant Vardanyan founded Arev Film Studio in Armenia. He is the laureate of national Hayak film award for his The dream of sheep film(2014).

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire about 20 times at the lien of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used firearms of different calibers as it fired over 220 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front troops of the NKR Defense Army confidently continued with their military duty all along the line of contact, resorting to response actions, when necessary.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s remarkable scorpion kick for Manchester United against Sunderland has unsurprisingly taken a landslide victory in our latest Goal of the Month poll, according to United’s official webpage.

The instinctive, skilful finish, which sealed a 3-1 win over the Black Cats at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, claimed 79 per cent of fans’ votes on ManUtd.com, from a 10-goal shortlist.

After the game, Mkhitaryan admitted to MUTV it was “the best goal I’ve ever scored”, adding: “I was very excited. The first thing I did was look at the assistant and I saw it was not ruled offside so I just started to celebrate.

“I was expecting the ball to be in front of me and then I realised I was in front of it. As the ball was behind me, the only thing I could do was a backheel so I did that and I succeeded.”

In an unprecedented result, the playmaker also finished second and third in the voting, for his efforts against Zorya Luhansk (nine per cent) and Tottenham Hotspur (four per cent).

They were Mkhitaryan’s first three strikes in a United shirt and capped an impressive December for the Armenian, who also finished as runner-up to Zlatan Ibrahimovic for our Player of the Month award.

The Armenian government has approved the President’s draft degree on the opening of a Consulate General in Dubai, considering the progress in the relations and multilateral cooperation between Armenia and the countries of the Gulf.

Dubai is currently one of the most important commercial-economic centers of the world.

According to estimates, about 2,500-3,000 citizens of the Republic of Armenia currently reside in the United Arab Emirates.

Along with the diplomatic services, the opening of the Consulate General will allow to launch activity targeted at the deepening and development of trade-economic ties and investment projects.

Turkish police have detained 118 Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) officials over alleged links to Kurdish militants, state media report, the BBC reports.

They were rounded up on suspicion of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), reports said

The arrests come two days after twin bomb attacks near a football stadium in Istanbul which killed 44 people.

Meanwhile, Austria says that talks with Turkey over membership of the European Union should be suspended.

The OSCE is concerned by the recent events in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said, addressing the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.

“In April, there was an escalation in the zone of the conflict, which shows that there is a danger of the re-ignition of this conflict,” Steinmeier said.

According to him, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains dangerous and it is necessary to hold negotiations to find a solution to this conflict.

He also attached importance to the humanitarian aspects of the conflict resolution.

Steinmeier expressed full support for the OSCE Minsk Group. “There is a format for mediation in the negotiations on this conflict – this is the OSCE Minsk Group. It is now necessary for this process to get a second wind,” he added.