Author: Vanyan Gary

Music: Armenia: Iveta Mukuchyan surprises all in The Voice of Armenia

Vanyan Gary
ESC Today, EU
Oct 15 2017
by Jessica Weaver

Iveta Mukuchyan, Armenia’s 2016 Eurovision representative, made a surprise appearance in The Voice of Armenia this week, performing in the Blind Audition stage of the contest. But all is not as it seems…

Blind Auditions are well and truly underway in The Voice of Armenia, with the 4 judges in the process of selecting their teams for the upcoming stages of the contest.

However this week, viewers were treated to a familiar face onstage in the third week of Blind Auditions, creating much excitement amongst both the audience and the judges!

Taking to the stage in a long hooded cloak, Iveta Mukuchyan gave a powerful performance of the song Running by Naughty Boy, Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin.

Impressing the judges – made up of members Arame, Nune Yesayan, Sevak Khanagyan and Sofi Mkheyan – each member decided to turn their chairs for the outstanding vocalist, before realising who was really performing onstage.

Check out Mukuchyan’s surprise appearance on The Voice of Armenia!


Whilst the Armenian singer auditioned in the Blind stage of the contest, it was only a surprise appearance made to shock the 4 members of the judging panel, something which was certainly achieved!

Mukuchyan was internally selected by the Armenian national broadcaster, AMPTV, in order to represent the nation at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

Performing her entry LoveWave in semi-final 1 of the contest, Mukuchyan qualified to the final of the competition where she received a grand total of 249 points, finishing in 7th place.

The Armenian power-singer brought the country their joint-second best place to date in the Eurovision event, with many fans hoping to see her return in the very near future!

Reps. Smith, McGovern Introduce Legislation to Hold Azerbaijan Accountable for Human Rights Abuses

Vanyan Gary
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10 hours ago

From left to right: Representatives Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)

WASHINGTON – In light of continued human rights abuses by the Azerbaijani regime, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) along with lead Democrat co-Sponsor Jim McGovern (D-MA), introduced H. Res. 537 on September 26, which promotes the rule of law and respect for human rights in Azerbaijan.

“The Azerbaijani regime continues to use torture, politically-motivated criminal charges, harassment, international kidnapping and other forms of intimidation to silence human rights defenders, independent journalists and religious leaders,” said Smith, who chairs the House panel on global human rights. “It is evident that there are important security and economic ties between our countries, however these violations cannot be ignored.”

Among other key provisions, H. Res. 537 calls on the United States Government to prioritize the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people in Azerbaijan when dealing with their government and urges the application of provisions of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (P.L. 114-328) to punish Azerbaijani officials who violate internationally recognized human rights. Further, the legislation calls on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release all political prisoners and prisoner of conscience and to cease targeting those who advocate for government based on accountability and democratic values.

“The Global Magnitsky Act has paved the way for a new era of U.S. leadership in defending universal human rights,” said Smith, who authored the House version of P.L. 114-328. “The U.S. must use this toolkit, consisting of visa bans and asset freezes, to punish the perpetrators of human rights abuses. These penalties would shatter the impunity that rights violators in the government of Azerbaijan enjoy.”

Meanwhile, the ANCA has welcomed the work of the two representatives. “We commend Representatives Smith and McGovern for leveraging the power of the Global Magnitsky Act to impose real-world costs on Azerbaijan for its escalating repression,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian

Smith has held two hearings on Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses. The most recent was entitled “Azerbaijan’s Persecution of RFE/RL Reporter Khadija Ismayilova.”

The participants of the Pan-Armenian festival “Singing Komitas” performed in Shirak Marz

Vanyan Gary 
Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
Sincerely,
Media and PR Department:
( 374 10) 585601, internal 805
----------------------
Sincerely
Department of Press and Public Relations
( 374 10) 585601, extension 805


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Flow of Syrian-Armenians to Armenia sharply decreases after Aleppo liberation

Vanyan Gary 
Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Saturday
Flow of Syrian-Armenians to Armenia sharply decreases after Aleppo liberation
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. After the liberation of Aleppo the
flow of Syrian-Armenians to Armenia has sharply decreased, George
Barseghyan, president of theCoordinating CenterforSyrian-Armenians'
IssuesNGO, told Armenpress, adding that at the moment there is a
certain activeness among Syrian-Armenians departing for Aleppo from
Armenia.
“The Syrian-Armenians who were here and tried to achieve certain
result, to have their own business during these years, and failed for
some reasons, of course, were always waiting for an opportunity to
return. Thus, after the Aleppo liberation some of them return to
Syria, especially when they have their homes, workshops and stores in
Aleppo. The markets have been liberated, and people return to their
works”, George Barseghyan said.
He couldn’t mention an exact statistics on those who return since
Syrian-Armenians are in constant movement. According to the latest
data, 22.500 Syrian-Armenians are registered in Armenia. The
Syrian-Armenians in Armenia are connected with the theCoordinating
CenterforSyrian-Armenians' Issues which continues providing
assistance. Syrian-Armenians are provided with food, clothing, hygiene
items by the assistance of the government and cooperation with
international organizations and NGOs.
One of the main assistances provided to the Syrian-Armenians is the
medical service. There is a clinic in the second floor of the Center.
All this is being done for charity purposes.
“Of course, the main share of the medical assistance lies on the
Armenian government. The diaspora ministry managed to reach success
thanks to its gratitude work. When a Syrian-Armenian needs medical
assistance, he/she applies to the ministry, and the latter organizes
the issue of state order through the healthcare ministry within
several days. Additional assistance is provided by the Izmirlian
Foundation, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin”, he said.
However, Syrian-Armenians still face the problem of housing rent.
Assistance is also provided on this path. The money for rent is being
provided to those who arrived in Armenia in the first 3 months, and
then if that person is really in need, 60.000 AMD is being provided on
monthly basis. There are families who received assistance for 15
months.
George Barseghyan said there are numerous Syrian-Armenians in Armenia
who have their own business. They are engaged mainly in services,
restaurant fields.

20 Years for Murder, 28 Years for Book on Murder

Vanyan Gary
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
Sept 2 2017
August 16, 2010

by

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

ISTANBUL (Hurriyet) — More than two years after Agos editor Hrant Dink was shot dead, a reporter stands trial for writing about the circumstances surrounding the murder. For his alleged crimes, he faces 28 years in prison, eight years more than what the murder suspect would serve if convicted.

A reporter who wrote a book about the intelligence failures before and after the murder of Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian weekly Agos, is facing a prison term of 28 years if found guilty. The chief suspect in the murder case could serve a maximum of 20 years if convicted.

Milliyet daily reporter Nedim Sener’s book, The Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies, focuses on the intelligence deficiencies by security agencies before and after Dink was shot dead, leading to a police officer and three senior Police Department intelligence chiefs filing complaints against him.

Dink, who was prosecuted for insulting Turkishness, was killed in front of the Agos office. The chief suspect, a teenage nationalist, is currently on trial along with several alleged accomplices.

Milliyet daily reported that the complaints have led the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office to charge Sener with publication of secret information and turning antiterrorism officials into targets. The reporter faces a maximum prison term of 28 years if found guilty.

Sener, speaking to Anatolia news agency on his way to the opening hearing this week, said he is facing a total of 28 years in prison if convicted on two charges, obtaining classified documents and insulting government officials.

                                          

Sener has two trials pending as a result of the complaints. This trial at the Istanbul Second Court was for revealing official secrets. Sener, who faces up to eight years in jail on this charge, defended himself by saying that the information in his book was from phone conversations that were made public in the media months before his book was printed. “These conversations are also on the Internet and can be found when one searches Google,” he said.

Sener said the trial aimed to prevent the public from learning the facts about Dink’s murder and the status of press freedom. He asked the court to find him not guilty. The judge decided to postpone the trial to another date in order for the defendant’s lawyers to prepare for the prosecutor’s case.

Milliyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin told the Anatolia news agency that his presence at court was to support not only Sener but also press freedom in Turkey.

“We are showing this solidarity in order to ensure press freedom in respected,” he said.

The Turkish Journalists’ Association, or TGC, released a statement on the case, saying it was “worrying” and a problem for democracy. It said it was necessary to reassess a law that prosecuted a journalist for trying to uncover the facts behind Dink’s murder, reported Milliyet. “Expert journalists like Nedim Sener uncovering crimes and making the facts public is a service to address the public’s anger about such crimes,” said the TGC. On the issue, Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review’s Editor-in-Chief David Judson said: “Institutions of free _expression_ and individuals expressing themselves freely have collectively made great strides in recent years. That some institutions of the state lag behind in understanding the nature of these important democratic concepts in unfortunate. But we are confident at the Daily News that they will mature along with the rest of society.”

After the book’s release in January of this year, Muhittin Zenit, a police officer working at the intelligence division at Trabzon when Dink was assassinated, filed a criminal complaint about Sener for “targeting personnel in service of fighting terrorism, obtaining secret documents, disclosing secret documents, violating the secrecy of  communication and attempting to influence fair trial” through his book.

Case for Other Accusations

At the end of the investigation, Prosecutor Selim Berna Altay charged Sener with “making targets of the personnel in service of fighting terrorism, and obtaining and declaring secret information that is forbidden to be declared,” asking for a prison term of 20 years.

Since they do not fall under his authority, Altay sent the dossier on “violation of the secrecy of communication” and “attempting to influence fair trial” to the Istanbul Second Court. In the meantime, it was also claimed the book contained the offense of “insulting governmental institutions,” and that too was added to the second investigation. Prosecutor Ismail Onaran handled this investigation and filed a second case against Sener asking for his imprisonment for three to eight years.

There is another case ongoing in a Trabzon court against eight personnel from the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command who are accused of neglecting their duties regarding Dink’s death. The accused are facing up to two years in prison if found guilty.

“Some of the security personnel that sued me are under investigation for neglecting their duty for Dink’s murder. They want to punish the journalist writing about the responsibilities of those people,” said Sener.

Armenia’s Artur Aleksanyan Becomes World Wrestling Champion for Third Time

Vanyan Gary
The Armenian Weekly

Aug 21 2017

By Weekly Staff on


PARIS (A.W.)—Reigning Armenian Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan became the world Greco-Roman Wrestling champion (98 kg) after beating Russia’s Musa Yevloyev 3-1 by decision at the World Wrestling Championship in Paris on Aug. 21.

Reigning Armenian Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan became the Greco-Roman Wrestling champion (98 kg) after beating Russia’s Musa Yevloyev 3-1 by decision at the World Wrestling Championship in Paris on Aug. 16.

Aleksanyan is now a three-time World Champion (2014, 2015, 2017), and a three-time European Champion (2012, 2013, 2014).

Artur Aleksanyan won Armenia’s first gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after defeating Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera of Cuba in the Greco-Roman Wrestling 98 kg final on Aug. 16. Aleksanyan, the two-time reigning world champion, won back-to-back matches by technical fall in the quarterfinals and semifinals. He beat Turkey’s Cenk İldem in the semifinals.

During the Olympic medal ceremony, Aleksanyan wore a shirt with an image of Robert Abajyan—a junior sergeant killed in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh/NKR) in early April. Abajyan was posthumously awarded with the “Hero of Artsakh” award, which is Artsakh’s highest honorary title. Abajyan, who was 19 years old when he was killed, is the youngest person to be awarded the title.

Aleksanyan was born on Oct. 21, 1991 in Gyumri. He started Greco-Roman wrestling in 2000 under the guidance of his father, Gevorg Aleksanyan, a respected wrestling coach in Armenia.

Armenia to host one of Army Games competitions in 2018 – General Staff chief

Vanyan Gary 
ITAR-TASS, Russia
August 12, 2017 Saturday 5:34 PM GMT
Armenia to host one of Army Games competitions in 2018 - General Staff chief
KUBINKA /Moscow region/ August 12
Armenia plans to hold one of the competitions within the framework of
the International Army Games on its soil, Chief of the Armenian Armed
Forces’ General Staff, Movses Hakobyan, told reporters on Saturday.
KUBINKA /Moscow region/, August 12. /TASS/. Armenia plans to hold one
of the competitions within the framework of the International Army
Games on its soil, Chief of the Armenian Armed Forces’ General Staff,
Movses Hakobyan, told reporters on Saturday.
"We are planning to hold some competition in our country. Let's see
what competitions we will have, and we will choose the one that can be
held in Armenia," he said.
Hakobyan noted that the Tank Biathlon is one of the most spectacular
and important competitions.
"The technical condition of the tank, its ability to overcome
obstacles, conduct accurate fire and, of course, the crew’s readiness
play a special role. What we saw today is impressive, especially the
tank crews' training," he said, adding that Russia created good
conditions for the competitions.
The International Army Games were held in five countries from July 29
to August 12. The Russian team won the Tank Biathlon competition.

There will be 5 candidates for Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul – member of Initiative group

Vanyan Gary 
Armenpress News Agency , Armenia
 Friday
There will be 5 candidates for Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul – member
of Initiative group
YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. Sepuh Aslangil, member of the
Initiative group responsible for the elections of the Armenian
Patriarch of Istanbul, made clarifications over the elections, Agos
reports.
According to him, the number of candidates for the Armenian Patriarch
cannot exceed 5.
“If the number of candidates for the Patriarch is more than 5, the
religious council of the patriarchate should hold a special session
and reduce the number to 5”, he said.
Sepuh Aslangil also stated that locum tenens Archbishop Bekchyan will
sent a letter to the potential candidates, after which the candidates
will inform about their nomination to the Initiative group.

Forecast: New US sanctions against Moscow can help liberate Armenia from Russia’s imperial encroachments

Vanyan Gary 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Friday
Forecast: New US sanctions against Moscow can help liberate Armenia
from Russia's imperial encroachments
 Yerevan August 11
17. Arminfo, David Stepanyan. New sanctions in general Congress shows
the world the next axis of evil in the face of Russia, North Korea and
Iran. Thus, a new blow is being struck across Russia in the form of
determining its place in the international coordinate system in the
American sense. Director of the Armenian Center for Political and
International Relations Aghasi Yenokyan expressed this opinion to
ArmInfo. US Vice President Michael Pence conditioned the possibility
of lifting new sanctions "by the Kremlin's fulfillment of its
obligations," regretfully stressing that "Russia's recent diplomatic
moves are telling the opposite."
"As for Iran, his so strong rejection of President Trump, in my
opinion, is due to his personal inability to form a fundamentally new
foreign policy agenda of Washington .In this light, he is compelled to
simply destroy everything that was created by his predecessor Barack
Obama, including Including significant progress made in the settlement
of US-Iranian relations, in general, and Iran's nuclear problem, in
particular, by the way, this aspiration is felt not only in foreign
but also in domestic policy. United . X US In this case, in a hurry
and congressmen, trying to tie the hands of Trump and prevent the
realization of his personal ambitions and preferences in this matter,"
said the analyst.
Yenokyan is convinced that the new package of US anti-Russian
sanctions will have negative consequences for the Armenian economy.
According to his estimates, this scenario is inevitable, given
Armenia's serious dependence on transfers received from Russia. The
political scientist believes that it is already clear today that the
new sanctions will lead to their further reduction. He is also
convinced that finding Armenia in the area of Russian influence as a
result of tightening the US sanctions policy will automatically lead
to even greater isolation of Armenia.
At the same time, Yenokyan does not rule out that the implementation
of all the latest US sanctions against Moscow is capable of leading
Russia to significant changes that are fully capable of helping to
free Armenia from Russian imperial encroachments. According to his
estimates, the impulses towards Russia can be so lightning that
Armenia will not even have to withdraw from the EEU or CSTO.
"The new sanctions are directly affecting and exerting pressure on the
interests of the significant stratum of the Russian oligarchy, and as
a result, these people are quite capable of refusing to accept the
internal results of external Putin's policies. Light, the likelihood
of cardinal changes within the Russian ruling class is, in my opinion,
sufficiently substantiated, tangible and therefore predictable.
Possible," summed up the political scientist.

Armenian MFA Deputy Minister: US has always been sympathetic to the friendly relations of Armenia with Iran

Vanyan Gary 
ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
 Thursday
Armenian MFA Deputy Minister: US has always been sympathetic to the
friendly relations of Armenia with the Islamic Republic of Iran
 Yerevan August 10
Naira Badalyan. Armenia is interested in deepening cooperation with
Iran and in this issue has never built relations with countries with
an eye on others. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh
Kocharyan stated in a conversation with journalists after the August
10 meeting of the Government, commenting on possible negative
consequences for Armenia from the presence of President Serzh Sargsyan
at the inauguration of the reelected Iranian President Hassan
Roukhani, during which anti- American statements were made
According to the Deputy head, good relations with the Iran and their
development do not harm the Armenian-American relations. "Even at a
time when Iran was under the strictest sanctions of the West, the US
was sympathetic to Armenia's friendly relations with Iran, and if the
country is honest in its foreign policy, does not speak one thing in
one place but does another, everything should be normal ", Kocharian
noted.
Earlier, according to the expert, on the background of the weakening
of Turkey's positions, Iran's role will increase. In this connection,
the Turkologist notes the importance of the presence of the Armenian
delegation headed by the president at the inauguration of the elected
head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hasan Ruhani. According to Ruben
Safrastyan, the Armenian-Iranian relations have already moved beyond
the bilateral, becoming a factor of regional stability. The factor
that Azerbaijan did not participate in the inauguration of the Iranian
president, according to the turkologist, says that Baku is reviewing
its regional policy, hinting at the US that follows the regional
policy of Washington and encourages pressure on Iran.