10:01,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan is traveling to Geneva for the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the foreign ministry announced Monday.
“On February 27-28, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to Geneva to participate in the high-level meeting of the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council. There will also be meetings with several partners,” the foreign ministry said on social media.
MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. Russian peacekeepers have delivered more than 35 tons of humanitarian aid for residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
“The humanitarian cargo of the Russian multinational project ‘We are United’ was delivered to the capital of the Republic of Armenia by the transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force. From there, the cargo was delivered to Stepanakert via the Lachin corridor by Russian peacekeepers,” the ministry said in a statement published on its Telegram channel.
The peacekeepers distributed food kits to schoolchildren, low-income families, pupils and educators of one of the orphanages.
The kits include flour, sunflower oil, various cereals, canned vegetables, sugar, cookies, condensed milk, jam and juice.
https://tass.com/society/1578641
Mini Kabob is a small mom-and-pop Armenian restaurant located in the heart of Glendale, California.
In 2021, Mini Kabob made it on the New York Time’s list of Best Restaurants in America. They’ve been featured many times in the press because of their delicious home-style Armenian fare.
The restaurant was first founded by a Persian American who owned the mechanic shop behind the building. His goal was to fulfill his craving for traditional mini ground beef kabobs served in Amernian lavash (thin flatbread).
In 1995, current owners Ovakim Martirosyan and his wife, Alvard Martirosyan, bought this business and never looked back. This couple works with their son, Armen, to create delicious, fresh kabobs daily. This family is welcoming and friendly offering home-style Armenian fare for customers.
While the interior of this no-frills joint is small, that’s only because all of the emphasis is on the food, making this a popular spot for takeout.
Guests particularly enjoy the tantalizing aromas as soon as they walk in.
They serve up quality meat such as ground beef/chicken; beef/chicken cutlet; beef shish pieces; chicken breast and thigh skewers; French cut lamb chops; falafel plates, and of course mini kabobs. They also offer homemade Egyptian style hummus, eggplant caviar, and cucumber yogurt.
When I got to Mini Kabob, Armen was at the counter and I told him it was our first time visiting. He asked for how many people (including kids) and I told him 4. He put together a variety of items for us to try and it came out to be around $70 (paid in cash).
We got an assortment of ground beef lule kabob; ground beef shish kabob; chicken thigh kabob; pork shish kabob; chicken breast shish kabob as well as fire-roasted jalapeños and tomatoes, hummus, onions with parsley, and rice.
The meats were so juicy, tasty and flavorful with spices.
There was also homemade Egyptian style hummus with a drizzle of lemon, oil and a sprinkle of red pepper.
We also tried the homemade fresh yogurt and cucumber mixed with a dash of dry mint.
The Greek salad featured fresh feta cheese with black olives on a bed of romaine lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes, with red wine vinaigrette.
The charred vegetables were a nice touch.
They’re a busy spot so try to order ahead if you can. Can’t recommend them enough!
Blocking the only highway that connects 120,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh with the outside world, a fur coat-wearing woman held a dove in one hand and a megaphone in the other as she yelled that the besieged region “belongs to Azerbaijan.” But instead of flying once released, the strangled dove dropped dead. This was meant to resemble an environmental demonstration.
Masqueraded as activists protesting the environmental impacts of ore mining operations, rotating affiliates of the authoritarian regime of Azerbaijan have blockaded the Armenian-populated mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh since December 12. This has left the disputed region, which is still recovering from the 2020 war launched by Azerbaijan, in the cold and on the brink of starvation.
The mining operations, along with much of Nagorno-Karabakh’s economy, have since halted, but the illegal blockade that violates the 2020 ceasefire has not. On Feb. 22 the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to end the blockade. But without an immediate enforcement mechanism, Azerbaijan may try to buy some extra time. Food and fuel are in such low supply in Nagorno-Karabakh that the local authorities now distribute coupons to ratio key groceries. Only vehicles belonging to Russian peacekeepers and the Red Cross have been allowed through, bringing in small quantities of vital supplies for the most vulnerable. But, according to Amnesty International, that’s not enough. On Feb. 9 the human rights watchdog reported that “access to healthcare has become the most pressing issue in the blockaded region”—a cardiologist sees only five or six patients per month, down from the typical 30 to 40, due to insufficient stent supply.
Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s dynastic president—whose 20-year recipe to remain in power has consisted of cultivating anti-Armenian hatred and weaponizing Azerbaijanis’ trauma of losing the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the 1990s—makes no secret of the blockade’s ultimate goal. Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are free to leave: “the road [to Armenia] is open,” he says, suggesting ethnic cleansing as the resolution. It’s not the first time that his regime blends ethnic cleansing with environmentalism: Azerbaijan celebrated the 2020 war victory against Armenians with a stamp of a biohazard remediator fumigating Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the ICJ on January 30 Azerbaijan’s lawyers argued that there is no blockade and that the protesters are engaged in grassroots environmental demonstrations. Never mind that oil-rich Azerbaijan—one of the most repressive regimes according to Freedom House, and home to “the ecologically most devastated area in the world,” including a city dubbed “an ecological Armageddon”—doesn’t tolerate public protest. To science-wash the blockade, as a prominent academic exposed last month, Azerbaijan sought out professors abroad to rubber stamp the ongoing “eco-protest” in media outlets.
This weaponization of environmentalism sets a dangerous precedent for other dictatorships to hijack vital causes.
Scholars have diagnosed such bad-faith goodwill as “sharp power,” a term proposed in 2017 by the National Endowment for Democracy to describe authoritarian states’ efforts to influence the world’s perception of their actions through manipulation and distraction. While the term is new, the phenomenon is not. Exploiting fragile Western institutions and using popular causes is an ongoing authoritarian practice. In environmentalism, Azerbaijan has found a convenient, universal cause. Since losing the first Nagorno-Karabakh war to Armenians in the 1990s, it has long claimed “ecocide” in territories Armenians controlled until the second war in 2020.
But neither private nor public criticism has stopped Azerbaijan from weaponizing environmental movements. Even now, as international bodies and Western governments condemn the blockade, Azerbaijan doubles down on its messaging. It recently announced a “historic” environmental legal action against Armenia under the Bern convention over forest loss and other delinquency in the areas Armenians controlled until 2020. The announcement explicitly justified the blockade, stating that “these protests were not orchestrated by the Government of Azerbaijan.” Commenting on this move, a forest watchdog noted that satellites tell a different story: “between roughly 2000 and 2020, the region had gained more tree cover than it lost.”
More recent forest loss is connected with Azerbaijan’s activities, such as its use of white phosphorus against Armenian forces in 2020, as analyzed by the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, along with the ongoing “victory road” construction. The 63-mile highway follows the military attack route of Azerbaijan’s capture of a key city in late 2020, during which the entire south of Nagorno-Karabakh was ethnically cleansed of Armenians. As a U.N. environmental assessment report requested by Azerbaijan notes, this construction “is also having a significant impact on forest cover.” Satellites show oversized swaths of greenery gone for good.
And as Caucasus Heritage Watch’s satellite reports show, the “victory road” and another highway construction are often accompanied with the flattening of Armenian villages and sacred sites, despite the IJC’s December 2021 provisional order to the contrary. Most ironically, there is also ongoing deforestation caused by the blockade: Nagorno-Karabakh, whose gas supply, electricity, and imported fuel are under Azerbaijan’s siege, is utilizing firewood to survive the winter.
Before the ICJ’s Feb. 22 decision, President Aliyev bragged that nothing would stop his efforts in the Lachin corridor, and he had reason to believe so. The European Union is repeatedly courting him as a “reliable partner” in substituting Russian gas supplies, and the U.S. has continued to waive Section 907 sanctions, a U.S. law meant to stop Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenians. “No one can influence us. There may be some phone calls and some statements, but we do not need to pay attention. We take those phone calls simply out of political courtesy,” he states, “but this will not change our position.”
The remarks primarily target the U.S. and France. During the U.N. Security Council hearing in December and in subsequent statements, both countries, among others, called on Azerbaijan to end the blockade. Russia—the third mediator of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict along with the U.S. and France—has been largely silent on the situation.
Read More: History Suggests This Winter Could Be Dangerous for Armenians
There is something brazenly cynical about a repressive petro-aggressor weaponizing environmentalism in 2023. Not only does it make a mockery of the existential crisis we face as a species, it serves to further corrode Azerbaijan’s civil society. By undermining the credibility of what is likely the most important cause in the world, Aliyev is setting an example for fellow dictators to pursue “sharp power.” He sends a message that there is no cause too sacred to exploit and no lie too absurd to pronounce if it allows the leader to stay in power.
When Aliyev’s activists transported doves to the blockade, the stunt was in line with a new tradition in Azerbaijan that reimagines the birds as victory symbols of war. But instead, the strangled dove symbolized the blockade’s methodology: choke the besieged people of Nagorno-Karabakh until they have no choice but to flee—an ethnic cleansing strategy of strangle-and-release, sugar-coated as environmentalism.
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Fresno woman passed away at the age of 104 earlier this month, but not before securing a legacy that will benefit families in Armenia now and in the future.
Clara Margossian of Fresno passed away on February 7. Her parents and older brother were survivors of the genocide, leaving Armenia for Russia in 1915. Eventually, the family settled in Fresno in the 1940s as Margossian’s father had other friends from the old country that had also settled in the Central Valley.
Despite living in the U.S., a piece of Margossian’s heart was always with her mother’s country. For decades she found comfort at Saint Paul’s Armenian Church in Fresno.
Margossian’s love for Armenia and her heritage was so deep that, with no family left, she made a generous gift of $1 million to Armenia Fund, an organization that provides humanitarian relief to Armenians victimized by the fighting.
According to Armenia Fund, with the money Margossian donated they were able to build new apartments in Gyumri, Armenia that provided housing to families affected by the Artsakh War.
With the news of Margossian’s passing, the Armenia Fund released this statement:
“It was with a heavy heart that we learned about the passing of Ms. Clara Margossian. Ms. Margossian personifies the will and resolve of the Armenian people for survival and prosperity.
Her one million dollar donation to Armenia Fund provided housing for the displaced families and families who lost their breadwinners during the Artsakh war.
A plaque in her name adorns the wall of the new building. Ms. Margossian‘s name will remain in shiniest pages of our history, highlighting the will of Armenians who give for survival of our people.”
MARIA MEHRANIAN, ARMENIA FUND
Even with Clara Margossian’s passing, she will continue to make a difference.
A friend of Margossian told YourCentralValley.com that there were five other projects to be put into motion after her death, including scholarships for students and an orphanage.
This week the UN’s highest court ruled that Azerbaijan needs to take all steps at its disposal to lift the blockade on the only highway that connects Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh, with the outside world.
This comes after months of Azerbaijan’s blockade, and as the situation for people living in Nagorno Karabakh has become increasingly desperate. Azerbaijan has argued that there is no blockade and that the protesters are engaged in grassroots environmental demonstrations.
Simon Maghakyan, a visiting scholar at Tufts University and a Ph.D. student in Heritage Crime at Cranfield University, joins Thanos Davelis to look at this latest decision by the ICJ and break down how Azerbaijan is weaponizing environmentalism to justify ethnic cleansing.
Listen to the Podcast at
Thursday,
Baku Still Reluctant To Lift Karabakh Blockade Despite Court Order
Nagorno-Karabakh - Azerbaijani servicemen stand guard at a checkpoint at the
Lachin corridor blocked by Azerbaijani protesters, December 26, 2022.
Azerbaijan remained in no rush to restore traffic through the sole road
connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia on Friday two days after a relevant order
issued by the United Nations’ top court.
In a “provisional measure” requested by Yerevan, the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) acknowledged that the land link was “disrupted” by Azerbaijani
protesters more than two months ago. It said Baku should “take all measures at
its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along
the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
The court based in The Hague pointed out that a Russian-brokered agreement that
stopped the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh commits Azerbaijan to guaranteeing safe
passage through the corridor.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday described the injunction as
“extremely important.” He said that the ICJ “obligated Azerbaijan to open the
corridor” and that Baku must at least tell the Azerbaijani government-backed
protesters to stop blocking the road. Failure to do so “could and should lead to
concrete international consequences,” added Pashinian.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry responded by accusing Pashinian of
misrepresenting the ICJ decision. It said the court did not conclude that the
blockade was organized by Azerbaijan’s government.
A ministry statement said that Baku is interested in a “transparent” functioning
of the Lachin corridor and wants to set up a permanent Azerbaijani checkpoint
there for this reason.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan rejected on Wednesday the idea of such
a checkpoint which Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev discussed with Pashinian
at their February 18 meeting in Munich. He said it runs counter to the terms of
the 2020 truce accord.
The ICJ issued the order during its ongoing hearings on lawsuits filed by
Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other. Analysts believe that the court lacks
real means of enforcing its decisions.
Turkish-Armenian Air Cargo Traffic Yet To Start
• Nane Sahakian
TURKEY -- A general view over of Istanbul airrport, April 5, 2019
Commercial cargo shipments by air between Armenia and Turkey appear to have not
begun yet nearly two months after the lifting of a long-standing Turkish ban.
The two neighboring states agreed to allow mutual air freight traffic last July
after a series of normalization talks held by their senior representatives.
Ankara notified Yerevan in early January that it has formally allowed such
shipments.
Garik Minasian, the head of a customs terminal at Yerevan’s Zvartnots
international airport, said on Friday that no cargo planes from Turkey have
landed there since then. He insisted that no Turkish imports to Armenia are
banned at the moment.
So far there have also been no indications of Armenian exporters airlifting
cargo to Turkey. According to Gagik Musheghian, an Armenian businessman based in
Istanbul, Ankara has still not lifted a ban on imports of Armenian goods which
has been in place since the early 1990s.
“You can’t [legally] bring anything from Armenia to Turkey,” Musheghian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The ban had been imposed in conjunction with the closure of Turkey’s border with
Armenia. Ankara has since made its opening as well as the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this
precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January
2022.
After visiting Ankara last week, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that he
and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu agreed to speed up the
normalization process. Speaking at a joint news conference with Mirzoyan,
Cavusoglu appeared to link that process to the outcome of Armenian-Azerbaijani
peace talks.
Armenia banned most Turkish imports during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, citing
Ankara’s “inflammatory calls,” arms supplies to Azerbaijan and “deployment of
terrorist mercenaries to the conflict zone.” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
government lifted the ban a year later.
Armenia Again Abstains From UN Vote On Ukraine
USA – The results of the UN General Assembly's vote on a resolution demanding
that Russia "immediately" and "unconditionally" withdraw its troops from
Ukraine. New York,
Armenia abstained late on Thursday from voting on a UN General Assembly
resolution demanding that Russia immediately and unconditionally withdraw its
troops from Ukraine.
The resolution adopted on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Russia's
invasion reaffirmed support for Ukraine's "sovereignty" and "territorial
integrity" and called "for a cessation of hostilities." It was backed by 141 of
the 193 UN member states.
"Russia is just as isolated with its war as it was a year ago," German Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also expressed satisfaction, saying
Russia has failed to "undermine the international order" and that the coalition
in support of Ukraine remains broad and strong.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia called Ukraine "neo-Nazi" during
the debate preceding the vote. He accused the Western powers of sacrificing the
country and the developing world in their desire to beat Russia.
Russia and six other countries -- Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali,
Nicaragua, and Syria -- voted against the resolution.
Armenia was among 32 nations that abstained. They included China, India, Iran,
and South Africa.
UKRAINE - A Ukrainian serviceman walks an empty street in the front line city of
Bakhmut, February 21, 2023.
Armenia also abstained when the UN General Assembly condemned the Russian
invasion in March and October 2022. Its government has not publicly condemned
the Russian military campaign, let alone joined the Western sanctions against
Moscow.
Prior to the invasion, Armenia had voted against General Assembly resolutions
condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea and upholding Ukrainian sovereignty
over the Black Sea peninsula. For their part, Ukraine’s current and former
governments have repeatedly voiced support for Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russia has long been Armenia’s main military and political ally. Relations
between Yerevan and Moscow have soured in recent months because of what Armenian
leaders see as a lack of Russian support in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2023 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
Ruben Vardanyan, who was dismissed from the post of Artsakh State Minister, at a meeting of the Artsakh government, spoke about contradictions with Artsakh President.
“I will work here, I will stay by your side. Thank you, Mr. President, for everything. Even though we do have contradictions in different approaches, but the general idea is that we have “red lines” that no one should cross. These red lines are very important for our dignity, in order to keep Artsakh Armenian, independent and dignified. I am confident that we will overcome this way together,” he said.
“First of all, I thank you for the way we have passed together and for Mr. President’s faith in me. It was a great experience for me.
You know that I have been coming to Artsakh for decades, I had great connections, but at the beginning of September I stated that I had come because I felt that we were standing on the edge of a precipice, not fully aware of the situation.
For me it was Sardarapat.
When I say Sardarapat, I understand the crisis, a different agenda, and I perceive myself as a soldier doing whatever it takes to save our homeland. So when I received this invitation, it was unexpected for me, because I had given myself my word that I would not go into government work, but I realized that if I am a man of my word, going to defend my homeland, there can be no “want, don’t want, can, can’t.” If it has to be done, then it has to be done.
It was, of course, a difficult decision for me.
On the other hand it was easy, because I decided for myself that I was here, I would stay, I would not go anywhere, and if I was needed in this direction, then I would work in this direction, if I could be useful to my homeland in another direction, I would work in another direction.
From this point of view, it may be easier for me to both accept the position and surrender it. We are at war, and had to struggle in that direction, I hope that my struggle has somehow helped us all to overcome these difficulties together.
I must respond to a few talking points.
First, why I did not resign. I want to be clear: I thought I was a soldier – I cannot resign. If necessary, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief should relieve me of my job.
Secondly, I’m sure we did a very important job in a very difficult period, and I want to thank all the people who worked in this difficult crisis, from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., without light and gas, showing that as a team they are ready for anything. It was a very important experience for me, for which I am very grateful.
Third, there was really a lot of pressure from the outside. Mr. President has more information, and he understands the situation. But we have an outside world and an inside world. It seemed to me that pressure from the outside doesn’t help us internally to have a situation so that we feel that we are able to fight that pressure harder. I presented to Mr. President the work of the Government in 110 days, and I’m ready to present it to the public in more detail.
To do the work, you first have to draw up a plan, have a sketch, lay the foundation, build the interior walls. We took steps in various directions, which, of course, in crisis conditions were difficult, but we are happy to pass the results of the work done to Mr. Nersisyan and hope that he will continue to work on these directions.
I know that there is some pressure on me to stay in Artsakh, but I would like to note that not only I won’t leave, but I can’t imagine myself outside Artsakh. I’m happy to continue the work that I did before. Our foundation, the agency “We Are Our Mountains” has already done a lot of projects. I would like to say that it was a very important example of cooperation between the state and the private sector, Armenia, the Diaspora and Armenian and non-Armenian NGOs. I think it is very important because if we are talking about the future, it is very important that this cooperation continues.
We will continue our efforts and will do a great job so that as many Armenians as possible come to Artsakh, so that not only Artsakh Armenians don’t feel lonely but also those who left Artsakh in different times, during this crisis, come back and strengthen our Motherland even more.
As I have already mentioned, we have financial and managerial problems, as well as the problem of preparing for the next winter. During this period we have gained quite a lot of experience, we have understood our shortcomings, and we have recorded the shortcomings in which areas of work have been carried out. It is very important to learn lessons from all this and do everything so that these shortcomings are not repeated either in terms of food, or fuel, or in terms of other problems. We have a much better idea of the situation now than we did before the blockade.
More important than financial, managerial and other issues was the fact that Azerbaijan, which hoped to bring us to our knees, to break us, was cruelly mistaken. Azerbaijan saw that we have become more united, and even the indifference has disappeared. In fact, it was very encouraging to hear people in different communities saying: we are ready to endure without gas and light, just don’t betray us and let’s keep fighting.
Indeed, your responsibility as president, who was elected four months before the war, is very heavy, you are in a very difficult position, having carried this burden for so long.
I say with confidence that in order to succeed, the approach has to be systemic. If we don’t build a system, if we don’t put in transparent, consistently created mechanisms, it’s very difficult to achieve success.
The topic of discussion is also that no individual is more important than our homeland.
Trust is also very important; I hope our word, indeed, has not lost its value. I reviewed your speeches before the war: they were very brilliant, profound speeches, Mr. President. I am sure that you will subscribe to your words even now. I just wish you would turn your words into deeds. It’s very important that people don’t lose faith in these words.
I’m sorry, but sometimes we really can’t say what we want to say, or we have to resort to allegories. Nevertheless, people must believe our words and deeds.
As someone who didn’t work in the government system until these 112 days, I realized that the majority in Artsakh are dedicated civil servants. In any case, the challenges that exist cannot be overcome by the efforts of the Government alone.
The problems that we have in the financial, security, and identity spheres require very serious cooperation, so I hope we will understand the importance of that when we try to use the potential of the Diaspora.
The political field has its own laws and it is possible that if we were not in a blockade, we would look at all this differently.
The most difficult thing for me is that I failed to prove and explain two things: that this is not a normal situation, and that crisis has its own laws. This was probably one of my biggest omissions.
The other difficulty was that I failed to explain that struggle means that we have to understand every day what our weaknesses and strengths are, how we need to strengthen our position, how we need to be able to use our limited resources.
Our struggle is both in the economy and in the information field. These 112 days brought changes, which inevitably showed a new situation, a new Artsakh.
On the one hand, we were all in the same boat, and that boat united us all. But on the other hand, we saw the unacceptable examples I was talking about, that some people do not have this understanding of the unacceptable, when, for example, in a crisis situation you send fruits and vegetables to high-ranking officials, being a high-ranking official yourself… The question is not that it is bad. The issue is that out of those few dozen people, only a few people sent it back, finding the phenomenon itself unacceptable. I’m sorry that bringing pineapples or roses during a blockade is considered normal, but of course I know that the number of these people is small. It’s not what they did that bothers me much more, it’s what we think is normal. Second, there was no mechanism to punish. Mr. Nersisian and I have discussed this issue extensively: what in this situation should be punished and what should not.
My approach may have been very harsh, but I don’t regret it. I recently read Nzhdeh’s book – it was interesting to see that 100 years ago Nzhdeh was writing about the same thing. I would like to read a small excerpt from his memoirs: “The fate of the Armenians would have been different if their leaders, instead of devouring each other, had declared war on their shortcomings.” I myself know that I was not a perfect leader, I made mistakes, but I was sincere, I was a patriot, I demanded more from myself than from others.
Mr. President, I want to say we are happy here because we have a fantastic nation. This nation has shown that it can endure anything, it is ready to fight, ready to follow us and it is indeed a great honor that I had the opportunity and from communicating with these people I understood how strong Artsakhis are, I understood the difference between Artsakhis and Armenians living in other places. This is very inspiring.
I am confident that we can overcome the “salami” strategy applied by Azerbaijan, which is very dangerous. I am sure that not just one person, or the Security Council, or a few hundred people should have the right to choose the way, but the whole people should make a very hard and responsible decision, which we talked about before the blockade, during the blockade, and during the rally.
We are all human beings who have our faults. I hope that if I have offended someone without realizing it, I will be forgiven, if I have not done something or done something, I am ready to listen to both criticism and advice, because I have always learned from others.”
St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, March 2019 (Photo: Facebook)
For Western churches, Protestant and Catholic alike, the Lenten season extends over a 46 day period, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Eve. Sundays, being weekly commemorations of the first Easter, have never been considered Lenten fast days. With six Sundays in the period, there are 40 days in Lent, which corresponds to and symbolizes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting, praying and meditating in the wilderness before He began His ministry.
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, Lent is called Médz Bahk, which means Major Feast. It is the period between Poon Barékendan and Easter. Unlike the Western Churches, the Lenten season in the Armenian church begins the day after Poon Barékendan, rather than on Ash Wednesday which the Western churches observe as the beginning of Lent. Each Sunday of Médz Bahk is devoted to a certain event and named accordingly (Sunday of Expulsion, Sunday of the Prodigal Son, Sunday of the Steward, Sunday of the Judge, Sunday of Advent and Palm Sunday.)
The Sunday preceding Lent is Poon Barékendan (Carnival), a day of celebration, an occasion for festivity and merrymaking. It is an observance of God’s creation of our first parents Adam and Eve and their life and joy in the Garden of Eden. The sharagans of the Armenian church also speak of Christ, “the Second Adam,” through Whom mankind was saved and became worthy of the heavenly happiness of paradise.
The first Sunday of Médz Bahk is Artaksman Kiraki (Expulsion Sunday), dedicated to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, and relates how Christ opened the gates of paradise to those who repent and accept Him.
The second Sunday of Lent is called Anaraki Kiraki, dedicated to the parable of the Prodigal Son, who after repentance came to his father’s home and was restored to his original state (Luke 15:11-24).
The third Sunday is called Tntesi Kiraki (Sunday of the Steward) and takes up the parable of the dishonest steward (Luke 16:1-9). It recommends the practice of prudence and wisdom for better ends.
The fourth Sunday is called Datavori Kiraki (The Judge’s Sunday) and treats the parable of the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). The teaching of the parable is persistence in prayer.
The fifth Sunday is called Galustyan Kiraki (Advent Sunday) focusing on the second coming of Christ.
The sixth Sunday is Tzaghkazard (Palm Sunday), dedicated to Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The rite performed on that day is the Drunpatzek (opening the door). It is a reminder of the coming of Judgement Day.
The English word Lent is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning “spring.” In the Armenian tradition, it is “fasting.” It is abstinence and restraint from eating certain foods and time spent for meditation, self-examination and repentance. But whatever tradition one belongs to, Lent is a period of the deepening and broadening of spiritual life; that is, a deepening of insight, self-discipline and dedication, and a broadening of outlook, compassion and vision.
Early church leaders realized what this period of self-denial, self-discipline and prayer meant in Jesus’ life. They established this period to help the early Christians realize that the complete fulfillment of Christian living came through these very acts.
Today, people observe Lent in a variety of ways. Some observe it by giving up certain things—some by taking on certain things. The danger is that when Lent is over, the deepening and broadening process may not have occurred or may come to an end. Lent, however, is designed to be a period of such significance in our lives that what occurs in it may be that which makes possible a continuing growth and advancement in Christian faith and practice. Self-denial, giving up something just for the sake of giving it up, means nothing. Each of us needs those times when we set out for ourselves to think of the primary concerns of our lives. We need to put aside all the extraneous, unimportant activities and interests and center our thinking and action on that which gives the proper direction to our living. Lent prepares us for the atonement of Jesus Christ. Atonement means unity; separating the three syllables, you have “at-one-ment”, and this is descriptive of its meaning. It is fulfillment, totality, personality integration and being in tune with life and life’s Creator.
In our spiritual life, may Lent be synonymous with spring and its meaning, emphasizing reawakening, renewal and rebirth for all of us—a time to reject our old, tired selves and to recreate anew our image. But most of all may it be a season to revive and reaffirm our faith in God.
15:26,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Moscow is suspending its participation in the last remaining nuclear treaty between Russia and the US, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced.
During his key address to the Russian Parliament on Tuesday, he noted that Moscow will not exit the New Start Treaty, but is temporarily withdrawing, RT reports.
Explaining the decision, Putin noted that the agreement was initially drawn up under completely different circumstances, when Russia and the US did not perceive each other as adversaries. Now, however, according to the president, not only is the US issuing ultimatums to Russia, but NATO itself has essentially made an application to become part of the treaty as well.
The bloc members are now demanding an inspection of Russia’s strategic facilities, Putin said, noting that Moscow’s requests to inspect Western nuclear facilities under the treaty are systematically denied with only formal explanations for the rejection.
Putin noted that the US has continued to insist on maintaining hegemony, while its NATO partners openly admit that they want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
“Russia cannot ignore this. We cannot allow ourselves to ignore this,” he said.
“Before we return to discussing this agreement, we must understand for ourselves what the intentions of countries like France and the UK are and how we will consider their strategic arsenals as well, which is the cumulative striking potential of NATO,” Putin said.