Author: Vanyan Gary

Greco-Roman wrestler Arthur Aleksanyan won Armenia’s first gold medal at Rio Olympics.

Aleksanyan beat Cuba’s Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera in the men’s Greco-Roman 98 kg final.

Arrmenia had not claimed Olympic gold since 1996.

The #ARTSAKHSTRONG Telethon, held across Australia on Monday, 18th July 2016, raised $112,175 for the “Republic of Nagorno Karabakh Independence, Security and Peace Foundation” from the Armenian-Australian community,  reports.

The Telethon under the auspices of Australia’s Permanent Representative to the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, Kaylar Michaelian, by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Australia, Hamazkaine, Homenetmen, Armenian Relief Society, the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Armenian Youth Federation of Australia and Armenia Media, Inc. with the active involvement of the entire Armenian-Australian community.

The event featured volunteers fielding calls from the Armenian Cultural Centre in Willoughby (Sydney) and the Armenian Centre in Springvale (Melbourne), as well as live interviews with the heads of all contributing organisations on Armenia Radio and on Armenia TV (Facebook) from Sydney and Melbourne.

Nora Sevagian and Nerses Baliozian expertly directed the Armenia TV Facebook coverage, while Azniv Ingilizian, Hovsep Kopoushian and Nishan Basmajian ran the Armenia Radio coverage.

In his interview, NKR Representative Michaelian passed on the gratitude of the Artsakh government to the Armenian-Australian community.

“The financial contributions of our community will go a long way to helping secure Artsakh and the people of Artsakh, who face a constant threat to their rights to self-determination by the aggressive Azerbaijan regime,” he said.

“We encourage all your donations and are humbled by this tremendous show of support by this mighty community.”

The Telethon began at 7PM, and when the final total was read out at close to 11pm, over 340 donations were recorded with the total at $110,625. This was greeted by rapturous applause from the volunteers at the Donation Centres. The amount was further increased to a total of $112,175 by the time the Telethon reached its conclusion.

Chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Australia, Haig Kayserian congratulated the community.

“Our relatively small community has sent out a message today to our brothers and sisters guarding our Motherland in Artsakh, that although we are 14,000kms away from the frontlines, we are ready to continue to do our part to ensure Artsakh maintains its Independence, is Secure, and achieves Peace,” he said.

Kayserian added: “We thank all those who volunteered to make tonight possible, and to our Armenian-Australian community’s contributors, who answered our call to action and donated sums from $10 to $10,000 to keep Artsakh strong and thriving. Thank you all.”

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire 23 times at the line of contact with the Karabakh forces last night, NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival fired more than 170 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions, including from sniper rifles.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army refrained from response actions and continued the reliable protection of the military positions.

The presidents have expressed commitment to the normalization the situation along the line on contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and agreed to an increase in the number of OSCE monitors there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following a trilateral meeting between the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, reports.

The presentation of the English-language book titled “Armenian Pilgrims in Rome” by Vardan Devrikyan will be held in Yerevan on June 21.

The book was published by the “Scientific bridges” NGO under a competition announced by the Armenian Youth Fund is dedicated to the Pope’s visit to Armenia.

During a visit to any country, the Pope is usually accompanied by a number of clergymen, journalists and pilgrims. The historical-cultural links between the Roman Church of the country and the Holy See are usually being stressed. The book presents all this based on historic sources.

The book will introduce foreign readers and media on the links between Armenian and the holy sites in Rome and the Roman Church.  it emphasizes the idea that despite tragic times, the Armenian nation has always been part of the European society and value system.

Photo: Alexandr Demyanchuk/TASS

 

Marek Hamsik scored a stunning goal as Slovakia beat Russia to secure a first win at a European Championship, the BBC repots.

The Napoli midfielder’s measured pass set up Vladimir Weiss, who cut inside and side-footed Slovakia ahead.

Hamsik then spectacularly doubled the lead, receiving a short corner out wide before firing a shot in off the post.

Russia face disqualification if their fans misbehave inside stadiums and a flare was seen among their supporters when Denis Glushakov headed in late on.

Russia will now almost certainly need to beat Wales on Monday if they are to stand any chance of progress, while Slovakia know victory over England will see them through.

The electricity price will be reduced to AMD 48.78 (down from AMD 46.2) from August 1, 2016.

Garegin Baghramyan, Head of the Tariff Policy Department of the Public Services Regularoty Commission, revealed the news to reporters following the Commission’s sitting on Wednesday.

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman attended the opening of the Armenian-Czech Business Forum.

Serzh Sargsyan greeted the participants and organizers of the Armenian-Czech Business Forum, which became a traditional event, and expressed hope that the Forum will promote friendly relations of the two countries and further expansion of the economic ties as well as the discovery by the Czech businessmen of Armenia as a land of opportunities.

From the viewpoint of deepening the trade and economic relations, the President of Armenia stressed the importance of the February visit to Armenia of the Czech Minister for Industry and Trade Jan Mládek and the Business Forum organized in the framework of the visit.

The President of Armenia noted with satisfaction that today there are nearly 20 companies with Czech capital functioning in Armenia. According to Serzh Sargsyan, the citizens of Armenia have already had to some extend discovered for themselves Czech companies such as Czech Avto, Chantan, Praha, which imports Bohemian crystal glass, and others.

In his message to the participants of the Forum, Serzh Sargsyan presented in detail the favorable investment climate present in Armenia, current stage of the economy, Armenia’s leading role among the CIS countries in terms of economic freedom and doing business which is also registered in the rating reports of prestigious international structures. From the viewpoint of attraction foreign investments, the President of Armenia stressed in particular two factors – stability and economic interest. He underscored that with this regard Armenia possesses every prerequisite. President Sargsyan also underlined that since independence the macroeconomic stability of the country has been a priority and thanks to wise tax and budget, as well as monetary policies Armenian now has a stable macroeconomic environment.

“Nowadays, it is impossible to attract foreign investments if there is no political stability and predictability. By the way, when we say political stability, unlike some countries of the region, we first of all mean democratic stability based on human rights and the rule of law which allows to keep the country free from political shocks without endangering the future of the investments. Constitutional reforms in our country are also called to serve this purpose,” said the President of Armenia.

Serzh Sargsyan spoke about the comprehensive reforms carried out in Armenia and underscored that along the way the role of
the European Union – one of Armenia’s most important partners – has been significant. With the assistance of the EU,
trade regulations, food security, and intellectual property rights have been brought in compliance with the European standards.
The President of Armenia assured that Armenia will continue resolutely to move forward the agenda of reformation.

Serzh Sargsyan presented also new opportunities for the development of the Armenian economy and foreign investments and
favorable conditions which have appeared with the accession of our country to the Eurasian Economic Union. He underlined that Armenia has a preferential access regime to other economic areas, such as the EU, the US, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Norway and some other countries. According to the President, thanks to the preferential trade regime offered by these countries, Armenia can export goods of the Armenian origin to these markets with considerably low or zero tariffs.

“We are confident that enhancement of the high-class education and human potential are the most important guarantees of our country’s development, and we pay special attention to them. We have high-quality, educated labor force which can adapt to the requirements of modern labor markets,” said the President of Armenia.

President Serzh Sargsyan thanked the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman for his participation at the Yerevan Business Forum and expressed confidence that thanks to diligent and efficient work, Armenia and the Czech Republic can register considerable results, defining new areas of bilateral cooperation.

Photo: Reuters

 

The Iraqi army says it has begun an operation to storm Falluja, a bastion of so-called Islamic State (IS), the BBC reports.

It comes a week after the government launched a concerted effort to retake the city, which has been held by the jihadists since 2014.

An estimated 50,000 civilians are trapped inside, with only a few hundred families escaping so far.

As the army pushed on Falluja, a wave of bombings in and around the capital, Baghdad, killed at least 20 people.

Throughout his career in the NBA, Steve Kerr has achieved great success winning five NBA titles as a player and one as a head coach. But tucked behind all of the glory Kerr has achieved on the hardwood is his grandparents’ incredible story providing relief in the Middle East for Armenians during the first genocide of the 20th century.

Kerr’s grandparents, Stanley and Elsa, settled in the Middle East in the 1920s and established the Near East Relief, which helped provide aid to Armenian women and children trying to escape marauding officials in the Turkish Ottoman Empire, Uproxx reveals. They also established an orphanage for Armenian children.

The Kerrs were on the frontline of American relief after World War I. Stanley Kerr arrived in Aleppo in 1919 and began photographing, documenting, and rescuing Armenian women and orphans. He then transferred to Marash to take charge of an American mission. His memoir, The Lions of Marash, is set at this location and describes how the armies of Mustafa Kemal eradicated the Armenians from the new Turkish republic.

Private American charity reached the Armenians first. In response to the massacre of over 1.5 million Armenians, philanthropist Cleveland Dodge formed the Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. Former president Theodore Roosevelt advocated intervention, saying, “All Americans worthy of the name feel their deepest indignation aroused by the dreadful Armenian atrocities[a].”

As a junior at Occidental College, Ann left to study abroad in Lebanon. Three days a week, she taught at a Catholic Armenian girls’ school — the Immaculate Conception. She met Malcolm at AUB while he completed his Master’s, and they were soon married in Santa Monica in 1956. Today, Ann continues her work with Fulbright to engage the Middle East with American higher education.

On February 10, 1920, the French garrison at Marash withdrew abruptly, and thus abandoned more than 20,000 Armenians to the marauding insurgents of Mustafa Kemal. The Turks threw kerosene-doused rags on Armenian homes, and churches were put to flame. Sickened missionaries like Stanley Kerr could only observe helplessly through binoculars[b].

The “Marash Affair” gave rise to an irreversible tide that swept Kemal to power; for the Armenians of Cilicia, it marked the onset of a new round of devastation and the final exodus from their ancestral homeland into permanent exile.

Unlike Armenians in Beirut, Steve Kerr was not raised on stories of genocide, but he was aware of his forefather’s humanity in the face of atrocity. “I was aware of my grandparents running an orphanage in Marash and eventually finding Beirut through their travels,” Kerr says. “I have a great deal of pride in knowing how much they helped.”

Susan van de Ven, the daughter of Ann and Malcolm, has an exchange of letters with her grandparents about their experiences, which she used for her thesis at Oberlin College, and later presented at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1986 for the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Her grandmother, Elsa Reckman, volunteered as a schoolteacher in Constantinople, and later met Stanley Kerr while working in Marash.

Elsa and Stanley ran an orphanage for Armenian children in Lebanon in the 1920s after leaving Marash until an outbreak of typhoid forced the orphanage to close. Elsa lost an unborn child when she contracted typhoid. They eventually married in Beirut in 1922, and Stanley became the chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at AUB, while Elsa served as dean of women. Following 40 years of faculty service, they retired in 1965.

The American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, later known as the Near East Relief, is credited with helping preserve the Armenians in the face of the genocide that sought to destroy them. They pioneered the idea that all Americans, regardless of age, income or background, could help others.

The Near East Relief campaign raised a staggering $19.5 million from private donations by 1919, and $117 million by 1930 — over $1.6 billion today when adjusted for inflation[c].

Despite the monumental efforts of the Near East Relief, the Armenian Genocide is not recognized by the United States.

“Everybody learns about the Jewish Holocaust, but very few know about the Armenian Genocide,” Kerr says solemnly. “It’s not taught in schools, and obviously there are still the political issues of whether Turkey is willing to use the word ‘genocide.’”

After Game 3 of the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs last April, Dr. Douglas Kerr, Malcolm’s younger brother, gave a presentation in Cleveland entitled “Witnessing the Genocide,” based on Stanley’s book. In May, after Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, several members of the Kerr family received a posthumous award in Washington, D.C. on behalf of Elsa and Stanley during a national commemoration of the centennial of the genocide.

In 1965, Antranig Chalabian uncovered a box at AUB containing Stanley’s copies of The New York Times, which eventually inspired Stanley to write his memoir. “Lots of Armenian names in my family history,” Kerr says before retelling when family friend, Vahe Simonian, called him and broke the news of his father’s assassination.

“We’ve had so many Armenians at our house over the years. I felt like an honorary member of the Armenian community through my family.”